Loren

I love automobiles, always have. My view of what makes an "interesting" car is far different from most people. I spent a lot of my youth as a dealer mechanic, so my view is effected by that. My cars tend to be period correct within 5 years and are what a dealer mechanic would build for themselves. A dealer mechanic would put the best stuff from the MoPar parts book on their car, usually the lightest car with components from the bigger cars. That focuses on what was possible in the day. That I find entertaining. If I were doing an engine swap in my Plymouth it would be a 265 Chrysler flathead 6. (got one almost ready to go in my Suburban) Or if I really got kinky perhaps a Perkins Diesel as the factory did. (and only because the factory did and I happen to like diesel engines) It pains me greatly to hear folks doing "swaps" of well designed original components and in the process creating new problems for which they have no solutions. I've seen cars that could be driven and enjoyed laid up seemingly forever with projects that were well beyond the skills of the owners. It just seems to be a word to the wise that if it isn't broke don't fix it. Keep it simple. You'll get to enjoy more time with your car in motion. There is a certain "charm" to an old car. Seems a shame to change a car so much that it no longer has that charm. If one wants a car to perform like a Mercedes, perhaps they should buy a Mercedes. Sure seems like a lot less work. I mean just sayn'. A 49 Plymouth is never going to drive like a modern car or even a premium car of its era. That's what you sign up for when you get one. That's the charm of it. That's what I love about it. I want the best example of what it could have been back in its day. I want the car Lee Petty drove to work everyday. That's what seems like fun to me. Call me a purist, but do not call me an engineer, I don't qualify or pretend to.

In regards to the "K & N bandwagon" I am reminded that everything is relative. For decades car makers didn't even bother to worry about ingesting dust. The primary worry was backfiring into the intake so they put screen like devices on the carburetor such as the accessory "Air Maze" for Model A Fords. Later on they decided that carburetors make a lot of noise and should be quieted down. When you think about the millions of miles run without any air filtration on dirt roads you wonder how those old cars lasted as long as they did! My feeling about K & N and other oiled gauze filters is they are better than nothing at all and nothing at all is what I have run for decades in places that are known for being dusty. Some would say the air doesn't stay in the engine long enough to worry about dust. Not too sure about that! lol I can telling you that a paper filter can plug up with dust so badly that a diesel engine can collapse it before losing power! I've seen paper filters run over by a truck not collapsed as thoroughly! So...without a filter of any kind you will never know how much dust the engine is taking in. Just sayn' So is ignorance bliss? You decide. For my money I want silence. If an air cleaner can give me silence and clean the intake air that's "A-Number One"in my book.

For clarity the GPS I am referring to is an old Garmin that I used before "Siri" on my iPhone (actually Google Maps). I can't speak to a GPS speedometer as I've never used one. Since my old (at least 5 years old) Garmin is somewhat obsolete (seems like everyone has an iPhone except for the luddites still carrying flip phones) I figured I didn't have much to loose if I burned it up. The maps are totally obsolete but the speedo works very well indeed.

As much as I like your Crosley air cleaners I wonder if they might be causing an air flow issue. Oil Bath air cleaners were dropped when Karl Kiekhoffer found they restricted the air flow in his NASCAR Chryslers. A check could be made by plumbing a vacuum gauge to one of the carburetors under the air cleaner. If you see any vacuum then carburetor will run rich, like the choke is on. I have a pair of 32 Ford Detroit Lubricator Air Cleaners that I am considering opening up to install K & N oiled gauze filter inside for my 97s. It would be a no-brainer except for the fact they are so rare. The K & Ns have virtually no restriction to them, while even a paper filter has a lot. Once I had the great idea of using the engine air cleaner as a vent for the transmission. Well, the cloud of smoke that came from the exhaust told me two things. The transmission 90 wt oil was being burned in the engine and the air filter was too way restrictive. Just a thought

Fuel pressure regulators were all the rage years ago. The idea being that if you wound the engine up in racing the pump could overwhelm the floats. What the racers figured out was that if the carburetors were in good condition and they were jetted right you didn't need a regulator. In fact the regulators proved to be the source of more trouble. So the "Keep it simple" principle wins again. It's not too hard to put a gauge on the fuel line to see what the pressure is at high rpm. You'd like to see about 2-3 lbs. I worry more about fuel starvation than over pressure and that was the main reason the racers got rid of their regulators.

Some good news for you. You do not have to change to 12 volts to use a GPS or a phone charger for that matter. The power adaptor has a circuit which regulates the variation in automotive charging systems to 5.5 volts. That's a drop from 14.5 volts (12 volt system) or 7.5 volts (6 volt system). The one thing you have to do is change the polarity. I found out my speedo read 5 mph slow by using the GPS which was confirmed by the speedo repairman. So while I had the speedometer out for repair I used the GPS as my speedo. Easy peezy

The vacuum line to the distributor is "Ported" vacuum and would not be suitable. There should be an 1/8th inch plug on the manifold which would work for "Manifold" vacuum. For cars with dual diaphragm fuel pumps designed to boost vacuum to the wipers, you can use the same port. The vacuum diaphragm connects here on its "pressure" side (the vacuum side goes to the wipers). It's not really a pressure side or even an "exhaust" side. Its function is to use manifold vacuum to boost the pump on start up.

I learned my locksmithing skills as a dealer mechanic for SAAB. The model 99 & 900 had the ignition key between the seats and dirt used to get in the cylinder. Another factor was an anti-pick leaf in the ignition lock which meant the key was necked down next to the grip. You had to put the car in reverse to get the key out as well. So…valet parking attendants broke a lot of keys off. Mechanics who didn’t care about quality of workmanship, would simply put another cylinder in and call it done. Now the car had two keys. My M.O. was to remove the shifter and take the lock cylinder out on the bench. With the broken off key still in it, it wasn’t that hard. Once the cylinder was out you could poke the stub of the key out with a thin wire. The key code was on the side of the cylinder and the parts dept had the key cutter and code book. I found out only the ignition lock had the anti-pick leaf. It wasn’t rocket science to figure out that if you opened the lock you could remove that leaf and cut a new key that wasn’t necked down by not cutting the last cut. After that the owner never had another key problem again and they could still use an original necked down key. I’d ask the owner if they wanted the reverse locking device removed at the same time. Double sided keys use leaf type tumblers while single sided keys use pin type tumblers. If a locksmith says they don’t have the pins, that means they don’t want to take the time to do the job. There are two pins for each depression in the key. There are 5 depressions, so there are 10 pins 5 of which are exactly the same length. The combination is the 5 pins that are different. The DPCD locks have 5 different pin lengths. In my case I needed to make a key for the doors and the trunk. I could not re-key the ignition because the side grooves were different on a Pentastar key. So I had no need of alternate pins. However, if I did, I would measure the diameter of the pins and find some brass rod that diameter and cut it to length as needed. I think at least one existing pin would work and if you had any more that were too long you could file them down. Two or more working pins equal a working lock. I have no expectation that anyone but me would find making a key or re-keying a car lock fun and entertaining. However if you have a mind to do so, it can be done. Most folks probably should just find a locksmith willing to do the job. Locksmiths from my experience work pretty cheap and can use the business. Like shoemakers and mechanical speedometer guys, they are a dying breed.

I'd bet they will fit. Might even be easier to install too. Have a look at the ignition lock as well. The door key should be the same. If not you could have a locksmith re-key the ignition. On my 49 I took the driver door lock out and made a key to fit it. However a previous owner replaced the ignition with one with a "Pentastar" key that has different grooves and the DPCD key won't go in the lock, so until I find an original DPCD lock I am stuck with three keys.

My theory has always been, if you look at the oil passages you will see that the cam bearings get more oil than they should. As the engine ages the cam bearings wear and the pressure drops. This is not exclusively a Plymouth problem many engines need restricters in the oil lines to the cam bearings. The fact that your engine was recently rebuilt might mean that the cam bearings are nice and tight. Some Mopars have two sets of holes for oil in the bearings. The guys who know use the small ones. You might try replacing the bearings cleaning things up and see how it runs. Bearings are fairly cheap.

My Dad had a 53 English Ford Zephyr Six with a Raymond Mays cylinder head on it. That cylinder head boosted the power to 90 hp, enough that all the english Zephyr police cars were equipped with them. At that time one of his pre-war buddies worked for Frank Millard (whose partner was Roy Rogers). One of the other notable employees was Ken Miles. Millard sold Porsche cars and Miles had one like James Dean. Miles also had a Pirelli tire sponsorship, so he got a new set of tires regularly. My Dad used to buy used tires from him because they were very sticky and cheap, but the wrong size. When the new Thunderbirds came out my Dad went to the Ford dealer and ordered 4 wheels. Now he could use Mile’s tires. Of course the change in gear ratio and the added torque of the hot rod engine put loads on the drive train the English Ford engineers had never anticipated. Some thing had to give and it was the axles. The Zephyr had very typical designed flanged axles that tapered down from the wheel bearing to the spline at the differential. In a space not more than 1/4 inch long all the twisting stress was concentrated. The axle would twist nearly a full turn before snapping off and they would fail at a rate of one a week alternating right to left. My Dad knew that he drove like a lunatic and enjoyed every minute of it, so he wasn’t perturbed by the failures in the least. By the time that axles became scarce the Zephyr was pretty worn out and smoking, so he parked it. Later I wondered about why they made the axles that way. I always figured it was to keep them from deflecting with side loads. Now I think it just had to do with the way they are forged. I suppose you could turn them in a lathe (or a grinder) and reduce the diameter to the 5% formula and get better life from them. But since the Zephyr is long gone and I haven’t broken an axle in any of my cars since, I haven’t had the need to experiment.

Because so many folks have problems getting their ODs wired up properly and don't want to spend the big bucks on reproduction switches and relays, I've done some research on how to do it on the cheap. There are alternatives. I've found "modern Bosch style" relays in 6 volt which will do the job for about $8 and government surplus throttle switches for $6.50. I even found one source of "Bosch style relays" in 6 volt with a fuse on top! (but they are in England and want $18 for their's) A nicely made linkage mount for the switch and a color coded wiring harness would go a long way to get folks to hook up their OD properly. Just thinking out loud.

So glad to see someone wise enough to repair an original axle rather than cause more problems by replacing it with an inferior worn wrecking yard axle from some other junk! Honestly there is a lot to like about the original MoPar axles. I've had to make axle shafts from bar stock for off road racing and I used Carrol Smith's (Prepare to win) ideas on how to do it. The first Plymouth axle I took apart had all the design features that Smith taught. The necked down shaft between the the splines (or in this case the wheel bearing) 5% smaller than the smallest portion of the spline. This spreads the torque load over the length of the axle rather than concentrating it right at the spline. Ever seen how a flanged "Modern" axle breaks? For my money I'd fix a Plymouth axle rather than replace it. They are a very good design!

I have that Edmunds manifold. On the bases for the carburetors are bosses for a throttle shaft to pass through. You can get a kit from Summit Racing or Speedway that has all the bits you need.

Regarding the Power Pack: I found both manifolds (intake and exhaust) but I had to pay a steep price for them. (hey it's a hobby right?) Then I cast about for information regarding the right code numbers for the carburetor. Found that too but at a reasonable price. So I am set. If you happen to have a photo of the linkage I sure could use that. I don't know what I'll use for an air cleaner yet, so a photo of that would be helpful.

Chrysler Industrial Models 5 & 5A are basically Plymouth engines: Bore 3 1/4 with Stroke 4 3/8 or 217.8 cid. The nice part of Chrysler engines is that they were both (23 & 25 inch )designed by the same team of engineers. Their mandate was to save money while giving the customer value. So most things like pumps (oil & water) Timing Chains will interchange and some require a bit of machining (4 bolt vs 8 bolt flywheels). Bearings and other things will differ. So before you order you should check an interchange book. I could not determine the difference between a Model 5 and a 5A However, when used in forklift trucks the engines have Gears instead of Timing Chains. The gear driven camshafts turn backwards and require a different cam and oil pump gear (such as a Melling M37 for Timing Chain engines and a Melling M37R for Gear Driven cams). The purpose of the gears is to turn the hydraulic pump that Forklifts have.

For clarity the pumps with grease fittings do not have bearings sealed or otherwise, they have bushings. The reason my pump worked was that it needed grease, it never got it and began to leak. Once it got grease it was happy. Which tells me the original bushing pumps were pretty good but needed some love once in a while. So if you find one don’t toss it!

Back in the 1970s I had a 49 that had a "Growl" in the transmission when you operated the clutch. It wasn't the throw-out bearing it was in the gearbox itself. I'd sit at the stop lights and use the clutch pedal to make it growl hoping to get the attention of a dog in the car next to me. The ears would go up and sometimes they'd bark. Great fun! The retail price was $75 exchange at my local wrecking yard and yes they had lots of them.

Back in the 1970s the 49 Special Deluxe Club Coupe I had developed a water pump leak. So I went to the auto parts store and got a new one. This one had no grease fitting as described above. All was well for a couple of years then it leaked! Even then I didn't toss stuff, so I retrieved the old pump, looked it over and decided to re-install it. Since it had a grease fitting, I pumped it full. It never leaked again....and I never greased it again as long as I had the car. So....word to the wise.

Vaseline is the approved “retention grease” for automatic transmissions. I use it almost everywhere else. On overdrive lube: my thoughts are that the reason B-W didn’t want anything but GL-1 lube in them is because of the sprag clutch rollers. You do not want them to slip at all. Hypoid gear lube or EP lube have additives to promote the sliding of one gear against another. So my thinking is that ATF or motor oil will work just fine in an Overdrive. Since Automatics have sprag clutches planetaries and a much higher heat load, ATF should work great. A friend of mine who builds automatic transmissions for racing has used motor oil in his customers boxes. ( John Kilgore ) So either one should be servicable.

Lee Petty said his 49 P17 could do 92 mph. He used Imperial wheels, tires, shocks and springs. The Imperial tires were very large diameter so he changed the final drive gears to 4.3. We worked it out that little 218 must have been turning 5,200 rpm! Which must have been really flogging it. But then he only had to do it for 500 miles. Peak output is listed as 3,600 rpm so…. Maybe that’s why he got torn down 15 out of 19 races. Enzo Ferrari loved his race cars and he didn’t put much effort into his street cars even though they paid the bills. So you don’t see many Ferraris at the supermarket. The reason is the cars he spent his time perfecting only had to last 24 hours. The typical “licensed” Ferrari was lucky to make it to its first or second tune up before major work. Lee Petty’s P17 I am certain was pushed beyond all reasonable limits. So kids, don’t try this at home! I would think a redline at or near 3,600 rpm is good unless you do some serious work to the engine.

If the contacts aren't pulled together swiftly and tightly they will burn. That becomes a downward spiral. When contacts start to burn the resistance goes up and they burn more. Good solenoids have an almost violent action. They snap closed like a rat trap. lol

A solenoid is nothing more than an electrical switch. It does nothing magical to the electricity. The signal wire goes to a coil which when energized becomes a magnet drawing two contacts together. The contacts connect the battery to the starter with a very low current drop. On a 6 volt car the cables have to be very heavy because the low voltage takes a lot of amps to turn the engine over. You will note how small 110 volt cords are by comparison. A 12 volt solenoid won’t last long in a 6 volt system because the coil will see an under volt condition and won’t pull the contacts together efficiently. A 6 volt solenoid in a 12 volt system won’t last long because the coil will overheat from excessive voltage. So if you question the voltage or the functioning of a solenoid it’s easy to check. A “real time” check involves two volt meters, one at the battery and a second one at the load. Trigger the starter and see how much the voltage drops. If they both drop the same and it’s a lot, you may need a battery (or a better ground cable connection) If the load side drops more then you have to isolate wether it is a cable or the solenoid by working your way back from the starter. The cable from starter to the solenoid. The solenoid or the cable to the battery. A safety note: Never allow any kind of sparks near a battery! Don’t connect wires that can make a spark (loads will make a spark). If you have to jump a battery connect the last cable at the engine block. Batteries give off hydrogen gas which is explosive. Try and cover the battery with a fender cover and don’t lay tools on it. A bad connection inside the battery has blown up many of them in my experience. Some brands are notorious for this.

To be honest with you, the only folks who should be touching those galley plugs are the machine shop guys. They take those out every day and have the right technique to do it....and best of all they don't charge, it's included in the cleaning. Just sayn'

A personal opinion, worth exactly what you pay for it: A radiator shop can...if they will fix it, that's what they do. However, if it were me, I'd take the opportunity to install a Stewart-Warner SouthWind heater. Those things are collector's items by themselves and they put out heat like nobody's business! The guy that invented them was a Canadian and got tired of freezing his keister off. They run off gasoline from the carburetor so they heat up within a minute (as advertised). They were UL approved and also used on aircraft so they were FAA approved as well. All the combustion takes place under vacuum and so if the engine stops so does the fuel flow. Very safe and they don't leak coolant or gasoline for that matter. Just my humble opinion. Ebay has 223 listings for them but I have the name of a guy who repairs them and has complete kits.