Art Bailey

So, did you file your own key? I kind of half-arsed my door lock...I discovered that 3 pins were the same as the ignition, removed one altogether, and filed another down until it fit. Not a great solution.

I've got a thing for Divcos. One of my old man's favorite stories was when he was in high school, he had a job driving a milktruck, and rolled it over, taking a corner too fast on an icy road. Looking at how tall and narrow that thing is, I'll bet plenty of reckless teens did the same thing.

He also mentioned how Mopar "did away" with the drain plugs altogether. I'm pretty sure I noticed plugs on my '48 when I was in there...

Of course you do.

More progress! Last winter, I set the modest goal of being able to drive the 20 ft. out of the garage, and not have to push it back in. The summer was kind of a bust for wrenching...it was a tornado of family obligations, my house slowly falling to pieces, and brutal weather. So, here we are in October... No one was around to grab an action shot of it pulling out of the garage, but take my word for it, I got it back in, no problem. No fire, no smoke, no Exxon Valdez all over the driveway... I got the idle down to 450 rpms more or less, it seems pretty happy there. The second rebuilt carb really made a difference, and also the rebuilt distributor. Finding the hack repairs on this thing is kind of hilarious, sometimes. The dizzy was frozen to the engine block, you couldn't turn it, so someone broke off a hunk of where the distributor cap locks in, so they could rotate the cap and advance the timing. What a scream. Don't even get me started on the collision damage some genius bodyman "repaired." It still has little hiccups when it idles, I think that will clear up when I learn about and deal with timing and dwell. I'm still learning the ways of this ancient beast. When I was revving it, I heard a distinct "clunk" every time the rpms came back down, and I really got sick to my stomach, until I realized it was the famous clunk of the Clunk-O-Matic transmission--- in this case, the sound of the mechanical governor flapping around. I also learned never to leave the oilbath air cleaner sitting on the carb loose, because there's a law in physics that says you *will* knock it over, spill oil everywhere, and swear a lot. In my last post back in May, I mentioned rebuilding the starter and generator. I really got hung up on those tasks, but I'm very pleased with how they turned out, and glad I did them. There were some pretty hinky repairs on the starter, and the coils were absolutely soaked with oil from the profusely leaking oil filter. Coils before: After: Starts like a champ now. Replaced all bearings, retaped coils, painted inside of both with red Glyptol to help insulate it, cleaned, lubed, painted. This article was a huge help, and gave me the courage to tear into the starter, too: https://www.1942mb.com/article/96/G503-WWII-Jeep-6-volt-Autolite-Generator-Rebuild-Restore. The starter is a really robust looking thing---I used to get nervous that when it burns out, it'd all be over, since those square solenoids are incredibly scarce, but I think the only way it'd burn out would be through sheer abuse and neglect. You could probably pull a dumptruck with this thing. The coils in the pic above aren't wound with wire, they're some kind of thick, tinned flat stock, wrapped in the shape you see. As for the generator, no charging is happening while idling in the drive, but the ammeter shows some rising amp action when I rev the engine, but not off the charts, so it would seem the regulator is doing its regulating thing. What else...? Cured the oil spewing oil filter today, by running a bead of JB Weld around the seam at the bottom of the can. I can't believe that wasn't welded at the factory. It's weeping out of the brass junction at the engine, just the tiniest bit, oozing out around the nipple that threads into it. I wasn't able to come up with a new fitting there, unfortunately, so I'm going to have to live with it. I've driven worse, for sure. I got tired of looking at the huge triangular dent that someone mule-kicked into the right rear fender (you can see this in the winter video made in my driveway), so I pretended I knew how to do bodywork, and dollied it mostly out without making it worse. I pulled out the wire looms under the hood, made tape flags on all connections noting where they go, and now I'm getting ready to wire this sucker. Brakes are next, gonna have the original cylinders resleeved. Once I have brakes, I can start menacing the neighborhood. Thanks, as usual, for all the help I've been given here!

I have the ET 910, and same, it wouldn't work on 6v pos. I dug up a 12v wallwart, clipped and stripped the end, and used it to power the tach. Worked great.

I got my hoses from Rock Auto, I just picked what I guessed would be the best quality, Dayco. Belt from Napa. I shopped around for a Gates water pump, got it from a place called Stockwise Auto. I got two fuel pumps, the one on my car and the one I destroyed (d'oh) from Ebay, and rebuilt them with parts from Then and Now. For bolts, I've been using McMaster and getting grade 8, though I'm not crazy about how the yellow zinc coated stuff looks on the engine.

OK, now you're really rubbing it in with that steering wheel ? Mine is cracked, missing hunks and smells like vomit. I'm on the fence about cloth covered wiring. So much of it isn't even visible, and even under the hood, most of it is wrapped in some kind of vinyl tape--it's original, but just looks like someone went nuts with a roll of Scotch electrical tape. It'd be a lot quicker to just get one of those Painless wire looms, and hit the road.

Let me be the 4th or 5th person to say...holy wow, that interior! The seats in my '48 Desoto are a decent reupholstery job, probably dating from the late 50s, judging by the gold and brown burlap, but I really lust after the original pinstripe broadcloth. Congrats, man. The woodgrain looks amazing, too. This place is a fantastic resource, I've been bailed out of trouble many times by the good folks here. Looking forward to seeing your progress, keep us updated! Not that you won't be getting this thing knocked out in record time, but be aware that masking tape has a tendency to dry out and crumble over time. Certain ballpoint inks fade pretty badly, too. I scrawl all my important info on scraps of paper with a Sharpie, and stick them in the bag.

...completely forgot I have a copy of the Autolite maintenance manual.

It was driving me nuts not knowing which way was the right way to place the yoke shoes. From Militarytrader.org: Also, if the yoke lever has little shoes that ride between the flanges of the clutch drive, the curved sides of the shoes face the engine’s flywheel. I almost broke google trying to find this one piece of information. Both shoes have a pronounced convex belly on one side, so I'm pretty sure that's what the author is referring to when describing "the curved sides of the shoes." So, opposite of what I thought. Here's a link to the article with a lot of good info on these Autolite starters, and starters in general: https://www.militarytrader.com/mv-101/starting-something

Yeah, I think I'll do that. I'm going to assume the heavier wear was caused by pushing the gear into the flywheel, and flip that to the back. Thanks!

Thanks for your reply. I found the description for adjusting the solenoid plunger in my manual. As far as filing the gear, what part of the gear exactly should I be filing, and to what kind of a shape or profile? As far as the two shoes in the yoke, they look like this: It would seem that the clutch would wear out before these, they look hardened. In any case, they're worn in a specific way. My question was, is the greater wear from driving and holding the gear in the flywheel during starting, or from the opposite side of the clutch, when the gear is being retracted? And, should I try to figure out how they were oriented when I took them out, or can I flip them around? Finally, should I simply be trying to find a replacement for this part? Thanks Art

Hey All, Several questions. In the pic, there are two ways the yoke shoes (don't know the correct term for these things) can be oriented to engage the clutch collar. I'm guessing that the way I have them in the pic is correct...what say you? I have it so the step is toward the gear on the clutch, and the convex rounded part pointing toward the back of the starter. There appears to be a lot more wear in the step than on the rounded part, so this would make sense to me. One day I'll learn how to anticipate stuff like this, and take better notes during disassembly ? Next, at what point is the clutch gear dogmeat, and ready for replacement? Here's a pic: Teeth are pretty sharp and worn, but it was working fine. Is there any danger to the flywheel (which is already missing a tooth) in continuing to use this? Also, I vaguely remember reading that the bendix starter drive was improved in the early 50s, and replaces the earlier ones, but I can't find where I read this. Am I making this up? Last, it seems like it'd be a good idea to lube the spline on the armature, the clutch collar, and also the plunger in the big, square solenoid. What's the recommended flavor of grease for this? Thanks, Art

Everyone always says don't buy a car with no title, so I went ahead and did just that. For what it's worth: https://www.hagerty.com/media/archived/answering-questions-about-lotus-and-vermont-loophole/ I got a pretty solid '48 Desoto coupe with no title for about the same price as many floorless rotboxes I had been looking at. Getting it registered in VT was a piece of cake (I'm in NJ). I haven't done the final step of trading in my VT plates for NJ, but the last time I went to the DMV, they made it sound like it was no big thing. We shall see. For me, driving to VT for an inspection once a year would be a little nuts, but Idaho to VT is a hell of a commute.

Ha...someone in the deep, dark past did exactly that with one of my "Custom" scripts! As far as the trim matching, I was thinking of getting some Desoto door belt molding, and hacking and shaping to fit, but I know I won't be able to make it look as good as the Plymouth delete trim I posted from Ebay. James Douglas' idea is good, too, probably the easiest for me to execute---we'll see.

Hey All, The cowl mounted, high quality pot metal mirrors on my '48 DeSoto are pretty much dog meat, and need to go. I've seen pics of 46-8 Desotos with that space filled in with stainless trim. The 48 Plymouth body looks pretty darn close, and I'm wondering if the '48 stainless cowl trim would fit right in there with no sweat? Ebay ad for reference: tinyurl.com/6hpszuyw Thanks, Art

Is "C Lester" the name of the company? I'm having trouble finding them on google...

Love it! The designers got their roof line game together in '53. Ditto on the service manual, and I find having the parts manual indispensable. It's great not only for knowing the part numbers, the exact name for every little bit in the car, but also for having incredibly detailed drawings of almost every system in the car, great for knuckleheads like me who think, "yeah, I'll totally remember how that goes back together 3 months from now." Good advice I got here was to just buy a new gas tank and be done with it. Keep us updated!

In my non-gearhead life, I'm a musician. Oilite bearings are an important ingredient Hammond organs and Leslie cabinets---part of the reason they're such indestructible tanks is thanks to the Oilite bearings that will allow knucklehead owners to ignore routine maintenance for 40, 50, or 60 years. It's rare that an old Hammond or Leslie can't be brought back from the dead. "Spending an extraordinary amount time on the minutia of banal yet interesting." This is actually on my family crest.

Oh, I don't think it matters what it's for, the guidelines from Oilite was for their bushings in general, regardless of application. Which I've recklessly decided to ignore ?. There is a thick disc of felt at the bottom of the hole, though, and I'm tempted to drill into the center of the cover, and put in an oiling cup that would keep it saturated with oil.

I did a bunch of reading, and yes, the Oilite literature tells you to never do what I did, exactly as you say. But then, in discussions on machinist boards, some professional machinists say they do this all day, every day. The only warning was to use a dead sharp reamer, which this brand new one was. My rationale was 1. I had no choice, an off the shelf sized bushing for this shaft was either way too big, or too small, 2. the car is going to be driven 3 times a week, 9 months out of the year at most, so it's hopefully going to be awhile before it fries, 3. a starter isn't in constant use, it's under heavy load for under 10 seconds during each use, and 4. if it fries, I have a NOS end plate, and as long as the damage doesn't take out any other parts, no real harm done. We shall see.

All right, got it done. Behold, the RatBailey patented beer-powered milling machine. I first tried to hold the bushing in my hand whilst reaming...ha, ha, ha. Then, I ruined one by putting a hose clamp around it and tightening it the tiniest amount. They're pretty soft. Shoved this one into a hunk of leftover heater hose, then into a deep socket. Reamed out the bushing about .015 to fit the shaft. Went .001 over, to accommodate the effects of pressing it into the hole. Badaboom. The fit is comparable to the NOS endcap I picked up, which is to say, it can be rocked a hair on the shaft, but it's tight at the end, if that makes sense. It's not possible to shift it perpendicular to the shaft. Close enough for government work (I hope). I can't thank you all enough for all of your input--more boneheaded questions for your entertainment coming soon... -Art

You can get a flickr.com account, upload the pics, and simply paste the url where the photo is into the post.