Kilgore47

There are several clips that are broken on the P15 wheels. I only put the hub caps on when I get to a cruise night or show. Then hope I remember to take them off before I leave. Ordered the new clips and now they just need to be installed. Then I can leave the hub caps on.

If you find that the axel bearing is bad you should probably replace the other side also. These bearings don't have grease fittings so they are often over looked during normal maintenance. When I pulled the axels on the 47 P15 both sides were really bad. The bearings were rusted and fell apart. Don't forget to replace the inner and outer seals while you are at it.

I have been rebuilding carburetors most of my life. Started when I was about 12 (68 now). Dad told me I could have the old lawn mower and I was determined to make it run again. Got it to run. So I'm the carb guy in our group of car people. The latest one to show up is a 1405 Edelbrock 600cfm four bbl. This has been one of the easiest I've have worked on in a while. It was fairly clean inside. It is on a 1964 Impala SS. The carb I worked on before the Edelbrock was off a 1969 Cutlass. A Rochester 2bbl. That thing looked like it had lived in a swamp for a couple of years. It was in the trunk when he got the car and the trunk leaked so it sat in water for a while. Took three days but I got that Rochester cleaned up and working. I use an old cookie sheet so parts don't roll away. A picture of the Edelbrock after cleaning and a picture of the Rochester before and after cleaning are attached. Just can't resist trying to save old car parts.

Years back I got a set of punches. They are very helpful when making gaskets.

I agree - The modifications I made to this car are not logical. I was getting close to retirement and knew that if I was going to build a quick car that I should get on with it while I still had the disposable income to do it. Spent more on modifications than I paid for the car. But this car is a total adrenalin rush. No drugs required. Zero to 60 in just under 4.5 seconds. When I can find enough traction.

I have been telling myself that I would get the Miata back on the road for about four years. Finally ordered a new top for it and got it installed. First time to replace a convertible top. Turned out pretty good. The tops for these cars are basically unbolt and bolt the new one back on. But you have to take most of the interior out to get to the bolts. A few other mechanical fixes, new tires along with a good detailing and I'll have the car back on the road. This car has been modified. Almost 300 HP to the ground. When people ask what was done to the car it's easier to tell them that the fenders are stock.

Inspect the brake lines also. If original they will be rusted. Those lines are not that hard or expensive to replace.

The 47 P15 turned over slow when I got it. It has the original 6 volt system. So I cleaned all the grounds and battery connections and it still turned over slow. Next I removed the starter - cleaned and re lubed it. Still turned over slow. Then I replaced the cables with 00. Still turned over slow. After all that I replaced the battery with one that has 1000 CCA. Spins like a 12 volt now.

You may be able to take your ignition switch apart and repair it. It could be a dirty contact. I always try to repair what I have before buying a new one. What could go wrong - it's already broken.

Nice car. That's the way they came from the factory. The brake light was the single light on the trunk. I rewired the 47 P15 with a standard 6 volt wiring harness that included connections for turn signals. Had to change out the pig tails on both sides from single contact to dual contact for the dual filament bulbs. The pig tails are a standard size and I found them at the local auto parts store.

A good resource for a socket you need for a one time use is a pawn shop. You could pick it up for a dollar or two for that size. And no shipping.

I think they started putting date codes on tires in the 60's or 70's. If there is no date code on the tires then they are probable too old to use. When I got the 47 P15 it had 45 year old bias ply tires on it. They worked for loading the car on a trailer and once around the block when I got the car home. The next morning the sidewalls on two of them were blown out.

Go through your distributor and check for shorts. I added this post May 2 but on my computer it looked like the picture wasn't there any more.

Just to be clear. When the P15 was going 80 it was on a trailer.

When I got the P15 I had a friend with a dually pickup and a car hauler trailer pick it up for me. On the way back to the house he was running about 80 at one point. That's probably the fastest that car has ever gone. It will never go that fast again as long as I own it. I did hit 65 one time on a down hill run.

Made it to the syrup festival last Saturday. There must have been a hundred cars on display. It was a perfect clear fall day. High in the 60's. There were four of us that made the trip. From a 1968 Camaro with a 502 to my 47 P15. In one picture you can see the trunk of the P15 in the bottom right. There were just as many people and cars looking the other way. It was a fun day and I got my yearly corn dog fix.

Yes - good write up Sniper. I'll look for a couple of those kits. I always thought you were supposed to back the nut off for expansion. So that the bearing wouldn't be in a bind when it got hot. But I'm not a trained mechanic. I just do many things the way grand dad and dad did them. These old cars are very forgiving when it comes to some tolerances.

The speedometer in the P15 was pegged a 100 when I got it. The speedo was broken. Looked like the mag drive locked together somehow and broke the speed cup shaft and twisted the clock spring beyond repair. Picture attached. This speedo is repairable but I couldn't find the correct speed cup on line. After days of searching I found an instrument cluster for 150 bucks. It had all but the temp gauge. Took a chance and got it. Had to disassemble the speedo to clean and lube it and it works good now. The speedo that was in the car when I got it was an Autolite. The replacement speedo is a Stewart Warner. They both bolt in place.

Still getting tee shirt adds. One said something funny about "being the same age as old people". May get that one.

Thanks - I changed my email password.

Tried to log onto the site this morning and I kept getting an error message. Something wrong with my name or pass word. So I hit the change your pass word button and was told to check my email for instructions. When I got to my email account I found two messages from the site. The first one told me that someone in Germany tried to hack my account and my account was locked. Good job P15/D24. Thanks for catching that. The second email had instructions to change my pass word. Changed it and I'm back on line. I have a better pass word now. I use a different pass word for every site I go to. That way if someone is successful hacking into one account they will not be able to get to other information.

First - where can I get one of those flux things. The bulbs I installed on the P15 are halogen. And on the top of the bulbs is stamped "2D1". I don't know if that's the size of the bulb or if that's telling me it's 6v or 12v. I have an old Jeep with sealed beams so I looked at it. It is a 12v system. The bulbs in it have the same "2D1" on the them. Maybe I need to remove the P15 lights and look at the back of them to see if they're 6v. The picture below are the bulbs installed in the P15.

I clicked on a tee shirt add on this site about a year and a half back. So most of the adds I see are for tee shirts.

Bulbs are new. Grounds are fresh. Just rewired the car. I ordered 6v bulbs but I don't remember verifying that they were 6v when installed. I'll check that and get the multi meter out to verify grounds and voltage while I'm at it. I will look into the halogen sealed beams. I have another project going now so it may be a week or so before I can get back to the P15. More news latter

Being out of alignment is most likely the biggest problem. I'll fix that and try again. But only around the block