Loren

Vintagepowerwagons.com has dip sticks and the tube they go into all brand new. The tube just pulls out.

The way the shifter works inside is the shift forks on the rails have the detents. The levers on the outside do not, so they kind of flop around. While you have the linkage off, check the shaft lever. If it moves tight up and down then the bushing at the steering column needs some lube. It’s made of a kind of webbing ( cotton maybe ) so go easy on it. You can take the two screws out of column and pull the lever away from the column a little to double check and lube it. A shot of PB Blaster will limber it up.

Wow! You do drive your car a little hard! The governor enables shifting into O.D. at approx 27 mph. With a 3.73 axle ratio it takes some practice and determination to shift into 2nd O.D. 1st O.D. Is theoretically possible but the engine doesn’t have enough useful rpm left to trigger the governor. Seems to me your governor might be out of adjustment. If you are working with a 4.1 final drive I would be changing that right away! Although the mid year 1952s were spec’d with 4.3s. I have several 3.9s I would donate for the shipping. It would be a small improvement but worth the effort. As a rule cruise speed would be determined by 80% of peak horse power which is 3,600 rpm, thus 2,880 rpm. If you’re wringing more than that from it you’re off the power curve needlessly because the engine’s pulling power drops off.

For my 49 Bus Coupe I have acquired a 230 engine with an aluminum head and a two single barrel Thickstun manifold with a set of Red's tube headers. So I expect some additional H.P. The newly rebuilt R10 I put together has the 1940 gear set. With some extra power under the hood I feel the engine can handle a 3.54 gear ratio, which I have on hand. Remember a flathead Plymouth was good for a 22 sec 1/4 mile, so don't be expecting to out run too many modern cars. They will cruise nicely as described above at 65/70 all day, however. 2500 pounds sterling is rather steep even for the other side of the pond! Which is about $3,175 in U.S. dollars!! I don't know what shipping and duties are but you could probably get a really good one from someone in the U.S. for a good deal less. I've been collecting them and I like to pay around $250 for a used one of unknown shape.

My first choice always would be a Plymouth R10 G1 Overdrive. I feel the stock rear axle is a good design with standard off the shelf Timkin Tapered Roller bearings. However finding 3.73 or 3.54 ring and pinions new is difficult. Finding a 3.54 carrier from say a 55 or 56 DeSoto or Dodge V8 with automatic is much easier. Back to the Overdrive All the gearbox parts are the same as a 3 speed, except for the Overdrive parts and they are nearly all the same as the 11 other makes of cars that used the B-W R10. So parts are not that hard to find and while a R10-G1 ( the MoPar version ) might be priced pretty high others are much cheaper and you can harvest them for parts. So taking an Overdrive and rebuilding it is not out of the question. On the road the Overdrive transmission performs just like the 3 speed you already have, except when you get up to cruising speed it automatically shifts into another gear dropping engine rpm by 30%. A 55 mph car suddenly becomes a 70 mph car with no performance loss in the lower gears. If you change rear axle gears to get higher hiway speeds you will lose acceleration. It’s that extra gear that makes it worth the effort. It should also be mentioned that if you’d like a closer ratio transmission you can install a 1940 second gear and cluster gear to raise second gear. Since the 3 speed Overdrive transmission is a Plymouth, it will fit with no modification. I’ve done it.

Kencombs is right about the design. As far as keyed tapered axles are concerned, you do know they were used on midgets, Indy cars and are still used for land speed record cars. Yes you need a good Hub Puller and the knowledge of how to use one properly ( there is a technique for keys even with pullers ). For some of us one more tool is the charm of the thing! As some of us know there is a recurrent thread "Show us your tools". What I don't get is why anyone would swap to the axles that are most commonly used. Those have the differential carrier built integrally. Meaning if you want to do any repair work or change ratios, you either pull the complete axle or you work on it under the car. No thanks! At least with the stock axle you can pull the third member and repair it on the bench or change it for one with the ratio you want. As far as U-Joints and drive shafts go, if you don't like the stock one, change it. You don't have to change the whole axle to get Spicer U-Joints! Other MoPar cars of 40s & 50s had them AND they used the same axle. There's driveline shops everywhere that will be happy to make you anything you want. The other objection is the brakes. Another tool for your toolbox. I have seen home made tools and cheapie tools available, so I don't think that argument holds much water. The real challenge is to understanding how to make the Lockheed brakes work properly and then do it. If you can't be bothered then why are you driving an Antique Car? Same with the parking brake. The most popular axles for hot rods are the Ford 9 inch ( very strong but has considerable parasitic drag ), the Dana 44 ( integral differential carrier ) and the MoPar 8 3/4. The MoPar axle is strong has lots of ratios and limited slip differentials. It has a removable third member for easy service and ratio changes. It is the same design as the stock axle but has a 1/2 inch larger ring gear so it is stronger for the heavy horse power later V8s. "But I want performance!" Guess what? An axle does not make horse power! Engines make horse power. Bigger stronger axles can take away horse power and they do not add it. Considering these factors there's nothing to be gained by changing the rear axle. If you can generate enough power with a flathead to break the stock axle...well I'd like to see that!

No generally they are a resister type. The one you showed is a step up type. You have to mount it in a spot which has no chance of anything combustable touching it because they make a lot of heat. As I recall there's four levels of Windshield Wipers, Vacuum, Vacuum with a dual chamber fuel pump, single speed 6 volt and 2 speed 6 volt electric. The parts book isn't a lot of help. It shows one speed and two speed motors for 1951-52 Plymouth or Dodge and they seem to have two suppliers with variations based on where the car was made. What a mess! I think I'll stay with my vacuum wipers and add a dual chamber fuel pump, that seems to be a whole lot simpler and cheaper. There were electric vacuum pumps back in the day for wipers. The aftermarket pumps today are designed to produce enough vacuum for power brakes so they are over kill and pricey. Another way to supply vacuum would be an alternator driven pump as used on diesels for power brakes. If you are going to change to an alternator anyway that option has merit. The last one I bought came from eBay at a reasonable price.

Yes the push/pull movement is not good. Once fully assembled you can really see just a little movement yields a lot of slop in the steering wheel before there’s any movement in the pitman arm. Going down the road you’d have a real see saw battle to keep the car going straight. So you want it with some preload on the bearings. With the sector removed you should feel a very slight drag on the wheel. Lastly, the sector engagement with the worm should be left at the factory setting. This adjustment can be used to take up wear in the gears BUT and it’s a big but, if you get in tight in the center, it will be really tight on the on the right or left. ( as the worm wears in the center ) Thus I’d leave it alone. You would not want the steering to lock at right or left.

The reason for doing it is the cover won’t slide off the sector. A full turn will do it and it’s easy to put back to the original adjustment. I can’t stress this enough, the sector adjustment will not take the slop out of the steering. It only controls the engagement of the gears. The main culprit is the tapered rolling bearings on the steering shaft. The manual says to grab the steering wheel and see if there’s any movement. If you can feel any it really makes a difference if you can adjust it out. Do that check with the sector out of the box. Tapered rolling bearings seem to like some preload so don’t be shy about taking some shims out. Just make sure the steering doesn’t get heavy without the sector.

I asked about this too. The 49 P17 has a P18 engine number which I am told was normal.

Do a search of the topics, there are a number of posts on steering gear adjustments or send me a PM and I will walk you through it. Most of the time the slop is in the tapered roller bearings, which can be adjusted if they are not too bad. Because the seal is on the bottom the lube runs out over time and things wear. It's real job to remove the steering gear but you can replace the bearings in the car if needed, but even that is not fun.

The 230 Dodge engine was in a car and running when I first saw it. The owner drove it on a 1900 mile trip and had zero problems. I got the engine with the flywheel, the bell housing and the starter he used. The only issue is the number of bolts in the flywheel vs the crankshaft. The shop manual is pretty clear about keeping the bell housing with the engine it was made for. They do tell you how to check it however. The Plymouth 230 engine block is cracked beyond economical repair so I plan on transferring the crank and rods to a 218 engine in my Suburban. This engine has a 4 bolt crankshaft. So I need to drill both the crank and the flywheel.

Before you do anything, check the brake adjustment. If your brakes are out of adjustment you'll have to pump them to get them to work. Get a shop manual if you don't have one and follow the directions.

I got two engines recently, one is Plymouth with 4 bolts in the flywheel and one is a Dodge with 8 bolts holes in the crankshaft flange but 4 in the flywheel. I have truck flywheel with 8 bolt holes but it is really heavy and I would prefer a lighter car type. If you examine the 8 bolt pattern it is not evenly spaced. This is so the flywheel only fits one way. Obviously more bolts are better especially since I am taking advantage of the stock flywheel being drilled for a 10 inch clutch. I have machinist friend who has Jig Boring machine ( which is an extremely accurate machine for making drill jigs and other precise parts ) so I am thinking of having him make me a drill jig to drill the extra holes in a flywheel. This way a simple drill press can do the job quick and easy. The drill jig could also be used to drill the crankshafts as well. You’d have a set of dowel pins to located the original 4 holes. Anyway my friend is really meticulous so I’ll get an honest opinion if it’s feasable.

It’s just my humble opinion and you know what that is worth since you pay nothing for it but…. As a long time racer money was always tight. You don’t change anything until it proves it can’t do the job. If you need a different gear ratio, there are many to choose from. The stock axle is really pretty good and the next MoPar axle is highly regarded for strength and it is the very same design with a half inch bigger ring gear. The stock axle uses Timkin tapered roller bearings that are standard over the counter stuff. Nothing proprietary that you can’t buy every where. So save your money there’s other things to spend it on. If I haven’t convinced you, take a look at the MoPar 8 3/4 axle, they are very good and highly prized. They have lots of ratios, limited slip differentials and they don’t have the drag of a Ford 9 inch and they do have a removable pumpkin.

Yes the grey one is my 49 P17. lots to love about them and lots to improve. They were the lightest cheapest car MoPar made. I’ve owned a 49 Special Deluxe Club Coupe and I can tell you it was a much nicer car. Things like an air cleaner that was silent, a horn ring, much better seat, nicer door panels, a passenger door lock, 2 horns, chrome around the windows, a front sway bar, a radio grill and more. The customer for a 3 passenger business coupe bought for the price. Where as the Special Deluxe cost more but you really got your money’s worth. I think. That said, you can always add the good stuff to one, then have the style and nice parts. In a nutshell the Deluxe models aren’t very and Special Deluxe ones really are.

Boy are you right! I have a 31 Model A 5 window coupe and it is tight quarters! Can you imagine a chopped top?! I couldn't drive such a car. Mine has a Miller-Schofield over head ( early Cragar ) on an A block, an F100 steering gear and it will have a 39 V8 trans with a torque tube mounted R10 Overdrive ( once I get rid of the T5 ) Just about as old school as can be ( vintage 1950s ) If you've ever driven a Model T or a Model A, you really appreciate a "Bigger on the inside, smaller on the outside" KT Keller Plymouth. Might as well be comfortable.

There was a time when fiberglass copies of old Fords were popular. It was a cheap & quick way to build a hot rod. Then that fell out of favor and guys bought complete restored cars and built hot rods out of them. They took a lot of heat for that so now you can buy complete 32 Ford bodies that are much better than any original for a reasonable price. I love the sales pitch, “All original! Even has a brand new Chevy crate motor!” “One of 400 made and 600 still existing!” We are stewards of cars that are older than we are ( in most cases ) they have survived wars and rumors of war ( I am thinking of the scrap drives of war ). To get to be 75 years old somebody had to preserve them. Actually many somebodies. So a great car can survive many owners. At 75 they start to get a little more respect than they did at 10 & 15. My goal is to be thought of as a good steward of my cars. I am not good at restoration but I can bring the mechanicals up to new standards and keep them there. You just have to do what you can….and have some fun!

What has always bugged me about engine swaps is it seems like there is no other engine in the world except a small block Chevy. It just seemed to me there was no imagination used when selecting them. However I am getting over that in my old age. Why not swap something like a Lexus V8? There's lots of them in wrecking yards and they are cheap because they just don't break and the market for them is slim. If I was to swap an engine it might be a Diesel. Plymouth experimented with Diesels ( Perkins ). I think I would use a Nissan SD6-33T engine from an IH Scout ( 1980 ). Since Chrysler was the importer of UD Nissan Trucks and engines at the time the valve cover even says "Chrysler Nissan" on it! If that's too run of the mill how about a real exotic? The V8 engine out of a Daimler SP 250? The ugliest sports car ever made had a small Hemi V8 which kind of goes with the MoPar theme. Maybe when AI becomes SOP one could try out the exotic combinations without spending much money. Bill Harrah had plenty of money to burn and when a Ferrari was wrecked ( I don't know if it was his or not ) He had the engine installed in a Jeep Wagoneer! If I was a friend of his with his kind of money, I would have bought a Wagoneer and had a 427 Ford installed, then challenge him to a race! Wagoneer to Wagoneer Mono a Mono. lol In a prefect world they would never let me get close to his kind of money because chaos would ensue! lol After all my years and all the cars I've worked on, I still think the body on frame MoPars were pretty damn good. Good enough to be the basis of somebody's dreams.

Diaphragm pressure plates usually require a different Throw Out Bearing. The T.O. Bearing needs to have a rounded contact surface so the spring fingers can roll over it. The fingers ( for want of knowing a better word ) on the standard pressure plate slide across the flat T.O. Bearing. So that is an item of concern if you're making the switch. Diaphragm Pressure plates have a low pedal pressure until they get worn, then it goes up. If you're familiar with this you can tell when a car needs a clutch just by stepping on the pedal. Plymouth made a lot of Taxi Cabs and one of the mods in the Taxi package was a 10 inch clutch. Thus they drilled all the flywheels with two patterns of bolt holes. However if you're planning to replace a worn 9 inch with a new 10 inch clutch you need to know the 10 inch uses bigger bolts. They are 3/8 x 16 nc which seems to be just like Big Block Chevy ( forgive my foul language ) I just ordered some from Summit Racing $9.99. ( back ordered at this time ) The 10 inch original type clutch that I got came from AB. I told them I had a 49 Plymouth and I wanted a 10 inch clutch, no problem. When you go to install your new clutch, you have to run a tap in the 3/8ths holes as they will have lots of crud in the threads. Start the tap on the clutch side as there is a straight section ( without threads ) which will align the tap and prevent cross threading. Rockauto has SKF T.O. Bearings which I hope are better than the noisy Chinese ones the AB sells. ( assume the Chinese bearings will last as long as the American made ones. I just can't put up with the noise )

0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds!? My Dad used to talk about Bonneville a lot when I was a wee child. He always said the land speed record could be had easily with electric power...you just needed a really long extension cord! That was well before Bullet Trains and lithium ion batteries, so it was funnier then than it is now ( hey I was a little kid and my Dad had a sense of humor ). I used to ask him who held the land speed record ( largely to see if I had met him. My Dad knew all the hot rodders at the time ) He'd say John Cobb and then he'd name the speed which was slightly over 400 mph as I recall. His buddy Tom Beatty had a Drop Tank who was going around 250 mph at the time on gasoline. He was very thrifty and didn't use alcohol because it was expensive, until they caught him. But he never used nitro for the same reason. lol I last saw his car in the Henry Ford Museum ( on loan ). Plymouths were a good low priced car that got repurposed unintentionally. Lee Petty figured out how he could use all sorts of stuff from the MoPar parts bin and actually make money racing....nobody does that! As Briggs Cunningham was fond of saying, "You know how to make a small fortune in racing? Start with a large one!" Just for reference a Flathead Plymouth could do the quarter mile in 22 seconds ( the decimal point numbers don't matter at 22 seconds lol ) or just about as fast as a Porsche 924! I love that statistic and bring it up as often as I can, having friends who were in love with that German company. So a 1950 Plymouth doing 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds would be a rather impressive ride! Too bad we couldn't get a flux capacitor and go back to the 1950s to race for pink slips!

I can’t tell you about the 40, I can tell you about the 49. If you want a better than stock ( my 49 Bus Coupe didn’t have one either ) “Sway Eliminator” I used a 50 Chrysler Windsor which is nearly 3/4 inch ( stock Plymouth is nearly 1/2 inch ) I believe Bob Riding put the same on his 40 Wagon. My point is with the Windsor/Royal bar you don’t have to do any engineering or modification. You just bolt it on. Take you about 15 minutes.

Hi John! Hot rodding seems to be very human. Everybody has their own take on it. Mostly we try to recreate our youth. When I got into Plymouths (49-54) they were called “Transportation Cars” and were available as needed for a standard price of $150. Out of high school I got a new car and over time it became my weekend race car, so I needed something more reliable. Thus I got a 49 Special Deluxe Club Coupe for $150. I could afford it and as long as I didn’t abuse it, I knew it would serve me forever. Now days old Plymouths are not $150 and they have decades more wear on them. So sometimes they need to have lots of deferred work done on them. Back in the 60s & 70s you never did any work on one. You got another one. It’s the American way that if you have to work on it, you want to make it better. I am caught up in that mode right now. I started off with a noisy throwout bearing, which became an Overdrive transmission with a new T.O. bearing that’s noisy, which became an Overdrive transmission with a 1940 gear set and an American made NOS throw bearing. You get the idea. It’s a fun thing that brings me joy. I am realistic, at my age I am not “restoring” this car. That’s too big a project. I am just having fun.

I replaced the seal on my 49's steering box as it was leaking badly. The seal is at the bottom of the box and that means if it's bad anything you put in there will leak. NAPA still has the listing for the seal. Here's how I did it. 1) take the pitman arm off the bottom of the sector. There's no need to remove the tie rods, but the car needs to be on reliable jack stands. 2) remove the lock cap from the top of the sector adjustment screw. ( do not mess with the adjustment! ) remove the top plate's bolts. Now mark the position of the slot in the sector adjustment screw on the top plate. If you push up on the sector the plate comes with it. The sector adjustment screw has a plate that slide into a slot in the top of the sector. Now this is tricky, you need to screw the adjustment in one turn in order to clear the housing to remove the top plate, when you push the sector up. ( the dimple in the top plate prevents it from coming off, so you have to turn the adjustment one turn ) 3) with the top plate off you can slide the sector completely out. This is where you want to inspect his for damage and extreme wear. If it looks reasonable replace the seal. 4) here's the key to the whole job. Grab ahold of the steering wheel and see if you can feel any play. Sometimes you can't but if the steering wheel turns super easy the bearings may have some wear. To get the play out of the tapered roller bearings on the worm gear/steering shaft, there are gasket/shims under the end plate. They come in various thicknesses and you will want to remove at least one. On my 49 I couldn't remove the end plate as it hits the frame but I could slide the end plate down a little to select the gasket I needed to remove. ( the tube that runs up the middle of the plate is for the horn wire and it doubles as a breather ) 5) put the bolts back in the end plate and check how the steering wheel feels. If it's tight you took up too much clearance and you'll need to add a thin gasket. If it's still loose try another thick gasket. I have found there's more play to be removed from the steering in this bearing than there is in the sector adjustment. In fact I try not to disturb the factory adjustment. They knew what they were doing. 6) Set the steering wheel at center and drop the sector in, slide the top plate into the sector and once in place turn the adjustment back one full turn. Now you can put the bolts in the top plate and add the oil. Put the pitman arm back on and check the steering. If you can't help yourself screw the adjustment in ONE notch and lock it in place with the cap. 7) road test. If all is well you're golden! In my humble opinion it's easier to try to fit the steering box than it is to replace it. The problem is usually in the preload of the tapered roller bearings. However there is always the possibility that it's too far gone.

Please don’t think I still get upset about hot rods. I’ve out grown that. The hot rod guys love really nice paint and chrome. Their cars look fantastic! But the fact is, they were never built that nice even by accident when they brand new. I’ve had the pleasure of closely inspecting genuine “original” Model T Fords. Let me tell you they were just awful! However original Model Ts are extremely rare, they all have been repainted with modern paint and if the owner repaints the car they usually make the body parts fit right. Henry never made them that nice and if he ever saw one that was perfect, he would be mystified how that happened. lol In my miss spent youth I was a dealer mechanic. My Plymouths follow the formula of what a dealer mechanic would drive back in the day. If I can find an improvement from another MoPar vehicle that a dealer mechanic would know about, my car will have it. I have a Model A that the previous owner installed a T5 in. I really don’t like it. I am changing it to a 39 V8 gearbox with a torque tube mounted R10 Overdrive. As far as the wiring and switches and solenoids go….well a dealer mechanic would have an Overdrive that worked as designed. I appreciate the charm of the 49 to 52 Plymouths. I don’t want to get too far away from that charm. I think the Overdrive does nothing to diminish that charm. That’s my formula and while I like it, no one else has to like it. In fact I like the idea that most folks would think my car is dead stock. It’s all about fun and enjoyment.