Loren

As far as suppliers go I’d like to throw one more into the mix Van Pelt V8 transmissions sells the same items for about $200 less. On their order form there’s a box that asks what transmission the parts are for. I put in 49 Plymouth. I got the parts shipped to me without comment. Why? Because they fit. The Overdrives do not cost $1800. On eBay there is one guy who offers one for that much...but only because after months of offering it at $2100 he lowered the price. He watched as 6 other guys sold their’s for around a thousand. Considering how much work is involved with installing a 5 speed, it’s my humble opinion your time and labor are worth something. So can you bolt in a 5 speed in a morning? I don’t think so. In my 3 passenger Business Coupe a 5 speed would turn it into a two passenger coupe. I am loathe to do that. And another thing, (this a question I don’t know the answer to) what is the Overdrive ratio in the various 5 speeds? The Plymouth Overdrive offers a 30% reduction in engine rpm. Are they better than that? Will installing a 5 speed increase a cars collectability? I am thinking that a Plymouth Overdrive does.

It’s just my humble opinion but if your car is 1939 or earlier (meaning a floor shift) a modern transmission is a viable option. However, choose wisely grasshopper! The S10 T5 has the right shifter location but awful ratios. (They could have dropped one or two gears keeping an overdrive top gear) If I had such a car I’d be looking for a 1972 Volvo 164 4 speed with the Laycock-De Normanville Overdrive. It’s not automatic like the Borg Warner but the transmission is great with good ratios and very refined. Much smaller in size widthwise so it would be easier to fit. But since I don’t have one, it’s easy to have an opinion. Plymouth Overdrives are fairly priced between $1000 and 1200. When I got my Plymouth Bulletin this week I spied an ad for one with lots of additional parts for a reasonable $1200. The big cost is the shipping which the seller and I are working out. I’ve learned to jump on parts when they come available. You’ve just got to keep looking and you have to ask.

Before you alter a nice car, consider my post on "Installing an R 10 Overdrive Transmission". I'd be doing you a disservice not to mention it. My 49 is a daily driver which means I can't have it laid up for long periods of time. The Plymouth R 10 Automatic Overdrive is a factory engineered bolt in, so you aren't re-inventing the wheel. Other than the cable pull handle (which is only to block its operation for reasons such as a push start. Ordinarily you never touch it) or looking under the car it is undetectable and reversible, no cutting. You can not describe the work required to install a T5 in a short post like you can an R 10. I have a T5 from an S10 in my Model A Ford (installed by the previous owner) I absolutely hate the damn thing. It's coming out and a 1939 V8 transmission is going in. You know they are bad when an owner thinks a 3 speed is an improvement over a 5 speed! The main reason is the incredibly poor choice of gear ratios in the S10 box. The only desirable feature of the T5 is the overdrive 5th gear. An R10 gives you that Automatically. All you have to do is lift your foot from the accelerator and it shifts. When you want to down shift, you press the accelerator down to the stop. An added plus is that you don't have to use the clutch anywhere near as much as in a T5. My intention is only to offer a viable alternative you might not know about. The R10 while not that common for the Plymouth was used by 11 different makes of cars and trucks. Of those I personally feel the Plymouth benefitted most from them. Parts are widely available in original and reproduction. The R10 was introduced for the Plymouth in May of 1952, at a time when automatic transmissions held the public's interest. People bought Fords and Chevys because you could get automatics in them. So before rushing head long into a big engineering project, consider the R10...it works!

There are two different fastenings to these distributors. That flat plate under the distributor head can be moved two ways and that should be plenty to get you in the ball park. VWs had the same system. The distributor can be rotated in the plate and the plate can be rotated on the engine block.

Okay I spotted an intriguing idea made for VW 6 volt vehicles. It's a circuit board which reduces the current from 12 volts to 6 volts and adds the infinite speed option. Best of all it's under $60! I found it at www.2.cip1.com Part Number C13-9344 I thought about it for a while and I concluded that you could add an intermittent wiper feature if you added a 12 volt relay. That device works by giving the wiper motor just enough "ON" to get it past the Park Position, then the automatic parking contact of the motor takes over to return the wipers to the Park Position. They add a variable timer circuit to add more versatility. If you want to go to the two speed 12 volt electric route many outfits have them which bolt right in for around $290. These could have the intermittent feature added even easier (no relay required).

One of the tools I always have in my box or travel bag is a test light. If you have a non-starting car, a test light will tell you if you have power at the coil (ground at battery to negative at coil - assuming you have positive ground). You can tell if the points are working (ground at battery to positive side of coil at cranking - the test light will flash each time the points open). Lastly you can check the initial timing (ground at battery to positive side of coil, turn the engine by hand to the timing mark then turn the distributor until the light just goes off) When the light is on the points are open, when the points close the light goes off. When you are timing the engine you want to be at that critical point when the points are opening - that's when the spark is created. The test light will not tell you when you are 180 degrees off. That's another procedure which involves knowing where the cam shaft is in it's rotation. On an overhead valve engine you can remove the valve cover and see which valves are opening. Number 1 and number 6 are at TDC at the same time but 180 degrees apart in cam timing. 2 & 5, 3 & 4 are paired the same way. The valves at TDC don't look like they are open or closed - they are rocking because they are going from closing exhaust to opening intake - the cylinder on compression has both valves closed for the power stroke and that's the one that is firing. On a flathead the simple way is to do the above tests with your test light then pull the distributor and rotate the rotor until it points to the paired cylinder such as 1 to 6. Now your'e 180 degrees from where you started. If it runs, good...if not something else is wrong. Having the firing order in front of you and checking the rotation of the rotor when cranking will tell you if you have the plug wires right. There's nothing magical or secret here, it's all logic.

The first thing is to get (or borrow) a real hub puller. The Chinese eBay pullers aren't going to do the job. A used puller is fine as long as it's a good one. The better the hub puller the less work it is to use it. Use several types and you'll see what I mean. Heft is the key. Once you get a good one, taking the rear drums off is not the terror it is with a crumby one. I think nothing of it any more. ALWAYS put a cotter pin in the nut if the wheel is going to touch the ground. We have a way of forgetting to do that and then you'll be singing that old country & western tune: "You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel!"

I've been wanting to do this from the moment I heard there was such a thing as a Plymouth Overdrive. I was able to buy one from a fellow who had a 1952 Suburban like mine. I got the drive shaft, a 12 volt relay and a throttle switch. The Solenoid was used but it was also 12 volt. I had planned to put this one in my Suburban which will be 12 volt, so all was good. However, my plans changed when I scored the 49 Business Coupe. This car will stay 6 volt. So that meant changing the Solenoid and the relay. When I went treasure hunting in my storage I didn't not find the throttle switch so I bought a new one. (more on that later) If you have to buy new, you will find they are reproductions and unlike the originals the terminals are not labeled. Confusion reigns! I decided to follow the Mopar shop manual as closely as I could using wires in the colors they used in the schematics. More confusion. As always you will need the trouble shooting section of the manual to diagnose why it does work the first time. Then you find that they didn't always hook things up the same. One drawing has the wires going to the Horn Relay and the other has the Ignition Coil (two wires) and the Voltage regulator as connections. Either set up will work but I like consistency. The reproduction Solenoid has terminals which should be labeled #4 and #6 and are not. Look for the drain opening and install that towards the bottom, The #4 terminal this the one closest to the bottom when installed. The Relay has no markings either. The Trouble shooting section of the manual is helpful here with much better drawings. Note: if you don't see it right away, IGN means the power source from the key switch not the Ignition Coil. The Ignition Coil is grounded via the #6 terminal on the Solenoid thru the momentary contact side of the Throttle Switch. The BAT terminal is hot all the time. It's the one with the fuse (but not all relays have the fuse) Before you go to all the trouble of installing the Kick Down Switch, check the continuity between terminals #8 & #9. Those are the ones nearest the threads. The reproductions are assembled with what looks like wheel bearing grease inside and that blocks the contacts. I had to pry mine apart and clean out the grease. I tried replacing it with Vaseline but that didn't work either so I put it back to gather dry. One thing you will need to do on the short wheel base cars is make an extension to the hand brake cable. The thread is 5/16 x 24 and you will need a coupler. Most hardware stores have 5/16 x 18 couplers in the bin next to the all thread rod. I found mine in the drawers with the hardware. There was no all thread rod in 5/16 x 24 so I had to buy a rod and thread it myself. Looks better anyway. Next is the Overdrive Cable. I used the full length of the reproduction cable I got. The fewer the bends the better. Route the cable in the same path as the hand brake cable except near where the HBC attaches to the transmission. Just let it go under the Solenoid with the bracket attached on the bottom bolt. Finally you have the speedometer gear. When I test drove my car I was passing everybody and then it dawned on me the speedo gear was wrong. Overdrives from the factory had 4.1 to 1 rear axle gears. My 49 has 3.73 gears (currently). I pulled the speedo gear from the Overdrive and something did not look right, it had big burrs on a plastic gear. There is nothing on a 49 that's plastic I was thinking. Then I got the gear from my old transmission and it was completely different and metal. So very carefully I inserted the gear first to see if it felt right. Then I screwed in the collar. A 1 1/16 inch 12 point short socket fits. A road test proved all was well. The Overdrive is absolutely transformative! There is a certain charm about the 1949-54 Plymouths and the Overdrive does nothing to diminish it, in fact it enhances their charm and makes them even more useful. Some may find it takes getting used to the Freewheeling feature but as an old-time SAAB owner (dating back to 1969) I am right at home with it. Not having to use the clutch to shift every time is most welcome. In off road racing we always used the Freewheeling to save the ring & pinion gears. I liked it because when you're screaming around a corner things get busy and Freewheeling allowed you to "Pre-Select" your gear shift for the next straightaway. I know some folks are using the T5 transmission. I do not like them. The T5 has an overdriven 5th gear which is good. However, it is a 5 speed which means you have 4 other gears when you really only need 3. When it comes to a three passenger Business Coupe, the T5 turns it into a 2 passenger coupe. Most are sourced from S10 pickups and they have the worst selection of gear ratios I've ever seen (even the automatics!). So with the T5 you have to clutch in every gear, while the Overdrive you don't. In traffic you "row" the car! If anyone needs more information, I am happy to help.

I found a Double Diaphragm pump. I also found a new production rebuild kit for it. I just scanned the manual and it says there is a very strong spring inside which requires special handling. It suggests replacing two of the screws with longer ones to gradually release the pressure. That's advise I intend to pay close attention to as I have very bad luck with spring surprises. Must go back to my early years and Jack-In-the-Box toys. lol

Get an ohm meter and check the resistance of the wires. No more than 10,000 ohms. The wires are when old can be damaged just by moving them. That was probably your rough idle.

Just a reminder, never ever remove the battery cable on a car with an alternator! Generator okay, alternator NO. The alternator generates A/C (hence the name) to convert the A/C to D/C that the car can use. It uses the battery as an active part of the system. A bad battery or a loose cable or someone removing the cable puts an infinite load on the alternator and at the speed of light burns up the diodes. A simple volt meter will tell you a lot about what is happening with your charging system. Hook up the meter at the battery and observe the voltage. Then crank the starter. You should see a voltage drop while cranking. Once the engine lights up rev it once and see what the voltage is. If it climbs over the battery voltage your generator is working. The ammeter will tell you how hard. A check of the manual will tell you what voltages to expect so write them down. Sorry I don't have the 6 volt readings committed to memory like I do the 12 volt.

Yes, they work very well. Here is the repair on the pinion/U joint flange. 878CC068-5A3D-4120-9AD5-940CE4861657.heic

Yes there are a couple. All 12 volt, all 2 speed. If you could find the original 6 volt electric wipers there were two versions of those. If new manufacture 12 volt wiper motors are $275 (plus changing over the car to 12 volts) how much would you expect to pay for one of the 6 volt originals? A guy could wire in the intermittent wiper control with the electric 12 volt wipers. So there is that. Or you could use the infinite control on the vacuum wipers to approximate that feature. A dual diaphragm fuel pump will give you enough vacuum to operate them like the electrics and if you ever feel the need to change to 12 volts, that's one less thing to worry about. Plus that was the period correct solution to engine vacuum loss under acceleration. This car is so original, I feel that keeping it that way has value. Dual Diaphragm fuel pumps were an extra cost option and are mentioned in the Owner's Manual. This car still has the original upholstery too! The Owner's Manual also tells you that you can get extra seat springs if needed. That's an option I am going to take advantage of. The seat in this car reminds me of an old cheap mattress. The springs struggling to accommodate your weight when you sit on the edge. I am starting the installation of the Overdrive transmission tomorrow. More to come.

First of all I didn't put the aluminum head on the T. I know better. The issue was that the head was poorly designed. It had too much compression. The valves were shrouded and the pistons touched the head when they rocked at TDC. Modifying a Model T for more power is much more involved than just slapping on a cylinder head. If you think a Plymouth is a slow speed engine, look into a Model T! They will go 35 mph and feel like it's 100mph. The crankshaft looks like a piece of bent wire and the oiling system is 100% splash. My philosophy about mods to a collector car go along like this. What would a knowledgable Mopar guy build way back in the day? A period correct car with the best stuff available (say within 5 years of when the car was manufactured). I like the KT Keller 1949-54 Plymouths. I do not want a Chevy powered anything period, full stop. My Suburban (when I can get it out of storage) will get the 265 Chrysler flathead 6 I have built for it. I don't like T5s so this car gets a Plymouth R10 Overdrive transmission (just got the parts I need for that today). I don't like the idea of changing the rear end, so I have a 3.54 pumpkin from a 56 Plymouth. I don't like the idea of Disc Brakes, so I have a set of 12 inch Chrysler drum brakes. All the kind of stuff a Mopar mechanic would want on his car. That to me has more value than the bragging rights to all that modern V8 stuff. Yes disc brakes are so simple a monkey could fix them. The Lockheed brakes are a little more challenging, you have to read the manual and have the tools. I can do that.

Hey you might be right! I was working on a Model T Ford and I was not impressed with how it ran. It had a high compression aluminum head and I would have expected it to run much better but it didn't. I put the original iron Ford head back on and guess what? It ran much better! The great Ed Winfield had a charming term for such stuff that guys buy without proving they work first: He said, "They Hop their engine DOWN." Staying with the Model T theme, Winfield was the guy who beat the 16 valve DOHC Frontenacs with a flathead. Arthur Chevrolet (the Indy racer and Frontenac manufacturer) said "I see it but don't believe it!" Tommy Thickstun was a protege of Ed Winfield (like so many) and he knew all about the flathead T Ed built. The concept Winfield imparted on him was separating the intake pulses 180 degrees if you can and if you can't, build a manifold that will help the flow not hinder it. That's why the Thickstun Manifold looks like it does. If it works it stays if it doesn't, it goes on eBay. When I started this post I was talking about Windshield Wipers. Somehow the virtues of electric fuel pumps captured it. However, electric fuel pumps can do nothing to help Vacuum Wipers so on this car I'll use a mechanical pump.

$350 is a lot of money for a generator! I am positive there are local shops which could rebuild one for less. Then there is eBay. You can get a lot of used generators for $350! Most auto parts stores will test your generator for free. I'd be pulling it first, then have it tested, then repaired if that is what is wrong. Remember there's a regulator involved too. If it were me, I'd get it tested, take a peek at the brushes. If they are worn, they are very cheap to replace. You might even spoil it by taking some sand paper to the commutator. Then get it re-tested. These cars are old basic technology, translation? Easy to fix. Get a manual

When I bought my 49, the seller told me the wipers didn't work. Being a business coupe, the cheapest Mopar made, I knew they'd be Vacuum powered. In the box of spares that came with it were old wiper blades and arms. That should have been a clue as to the problem. This last week I decided to renovate a Wiedenhoff Distributor Machine I've had for years. Inside there is a robust Vacuum Pump to test the vacuum advance units. So I removed the Vacuum Wiper Motor from the Plymouth figuring it would be a good test of both. In all of my Mopar shop manuals there is nothing on Vacuum wipers. I suppose there were so many of them for so long they saw no need to tell the mechanics what they already knew. When I had done the TLC job on the pump I tried it out. The thing works perfectly...both of them. The first thing I did before pulling the Wiper Motor was pry off the wiper arms. Once I got the motor re-installed I hooked up a new hose to the engine and tested the linkage. I didn't realize it but vacuum wipers have a park position and an infinitely variable speed control. Electrics of the era had two speeds, too slow and way too slow. The next step was to mount the blades. I figure someone wanted to change the blades and could not figure out how to get them back on right. Park is achieved by going a little backwards when the vacuum is relieved. They must have given up and plugged the hose. Now of course vacuum wipers don't care what voltage the car runs. My car is so original (and low mileage) that it still has the Bull's Eye Head Lights and other stuff I am loathe to change for 12 volts. So I've decided to keep the 6 volt system intact. Vacuum Wipers of course run nearly acceptably fast enough at idle but the wider the throttle opens the slower they become until they sometimes stop altogether. There was an extra cost fix for that problem. You could buy a Dual Diaphragm Fuel Pump. The manual says very little about them but has one exploded view. A quick scan of eBay and I found two! The top chamber pumps vacuum, the bottom pumps fuel. So when you accelerate the wipers speed up and when you encounter a hill they just keep going at whatever speed you set. That infinitely variable speed control sounded real good. There is a consequence to this fuel pump. You can't run the Cast Iron Headers. In fact you can't run any stock fuel pump with them. Which means you have to go to an electric pump and since there are not that many 6 volt pumps....you're back to 12 volts again. So...When I get around to putting my Thickstun Twin Stromberg manifold on I am going to carefully work over the stock manifold with the Rusty Hope kit. However, I will braze in a divider. Rusty Hope adds a second exhaust flange under the carburetor heat stove area but makes no provision for divided exhaust. So that's my wiper story...and I am sticking to it.

I did a quick check on eBay. French Lake has 4 1955 DeSotos. If they have a Powerflite Automatic (and most of them do) they will have a 3.54 gear ratio. That's one wrecking yard, one year of one Mopar brand. Me thinks they are easier to find than most people would believe. And yes I do agree with the sentiment of not farming out a 3rd member overhaul. We must be in the minority on that however. I went to a large Toyota dealer in Reno, NV asking for bearings for an 2008 FJ Cruiser....even though that axle is weak, they don't stock parts for them. The mechanics change out the whole 3rd member assembly! (at $3,600) Because not one of them is qualified to set one up and they can't be bothered to learn. On special tools: You need a decent hub puller made for the tapered axles and a means to center the brake shoes (the manual calls that a major adjustment). I bought my Ammco 1750 from a guy who charged me what he paid for it, so you can get your money back. The really good hub puller I have was given to me by a friend.

Okay so let me recap: The reason someone would change a rear axle is because it's too much trouble to find a lower numerical ratio? I found 3.54 from a '56 on eBay. I paid $275 delivered. I then took it completely apart, cleaned & painted it and replaced the bearings and seal. Since the parking brake is on the transmission I don't have to engineer a connection to the hand brake. Since the U joint flange is the same (and in the same place) I don't have to engineer a new drive shaft. Since the axle housing stays with the car, I don't have to worry about alignment. If the car crabs now (or doesn't) it will (or won't) crab when I am done. Since the service brakes go back on I don't have to worry about hydraulic compatibility with the rest of the car. If I did change the brakes I would stay with the Mopar type going to 11 or 12 inch drums which use the same hydraulic parts on all the sizes. Since the axle is basically the same (just a different ratio) I don't have to have different wheels and lug nuts (or bolts) front to rear, not to mention remembering right hand thread, left hand thread front vs rear. There is a ripple effect. You change one thing and you end up changing everything to accommodate the first change. Seems to me that retaining the original axle and just changing the ratio via the pumpkin is a lot less trouble than changing the entire rear end. If one does not have the skill/experience to set up the ring & pinion, I would suggest taking it to a 4 wheel drive shop as they setup rear ends all day. The last place I took a heavy duty truck drive shaft to (to be shortened) could have done it. I was a dealer mechanic for years and I think like one. We don't like to cut and fit. We don't like to re-engineer things. If better parts bolt right on, those are the ones we use. We absolutely hate it when a car comes in and has odd ball stuff on it. None of the bolt sizes are what we expect and the procedures to service/fix it are unknown. It's like asking a surgeon to do veterinary work. A mechanic who works regularly on Plymouths can easily work on DeSotos or Dodge or Chryslers. In my collection of shop manuals I have them all because some times the Plymouth manual doesn't mention something the DeSoto manual does. It's one of the reasons I like Mopars, "continuity of design". Don't disturb the continuity! lol

I am just curious. Why would someone want to go to the trouble of changing the rear axle? The stock 8.25 axle has a pretty good reputation for durability and it's very easy to change the gear ratio. The follow on Mopar axle, the 8.75 is the same design just bigger and it has an extremely good reputation. The Ford 9 inch and the Dana 44 are its only rivals and the Mopar (like the Ford) have pumpkins which make gear ratio changes easy. The bearings are Timken tapered roller bearings and none of them are proprietary. The seals are readily available and upgradable. If you want to change the ratio, all you have to do is change the "Pumpkin" and if you get it wrong, you can change it back. Most of the axles I've heard suggested do not have Pumpkins (like the Dana 44) and you either change the Ring and Pinion under the car or you remove the whole axle to do it on the bench. It just seems to me to be a lot of work for very little gain. The last point: would you buy a car with an odd ball rear end? I would not. At least not without following it down the street to see if it "Crabbed". The only two justifications I can see is a gear ratio change and different brakes. The stock rear axle has ratios from 4.3 to 3.54 and brake sizes of 10, 11 and 12 inch. What's not to like about that? Besides 80% of your stopping power is on the front anyway. Changing the rear axle does not pass my Cost Benefit Ratio (work being a "cost" along with $$). I used to get in arguments with my Dad over "Needs vs Wants" on a regular basis. He would come up with all these mad scientist ideas on what he wanted. I would listen with polite attention and then tell him he didn't need that stuff to go faster and his money would be better spent elsewhere. He'd get mad as hell but then when he wanted to race...he drove a car I built because his was still on the "drawing board." Just sayn'

First and foremost DON"T JURY RIG IT! Get rid of the "flip switch" Send me your email and I will send you a scan of the Dodge Manual. (this site limits the size of files sent and the manual is too large) There's an excellent color wiring diagram available free from one of the suppliers (they specialize in 12 volt conversions as I recall). B-W Automatic Overdrive is a wonderful thing and of all cars that it was available on the Plymouth benefits most from it. The only exception is when it is jury rigged, then it's on the fast spiral to the scrap pile. As I told one guy I sent the manual to, "I am on a mission to get every Overdrive hooked up right!"

Make sure he has the battery hooked up right. Positive ground Then the valve on the gas tank has to be open. I’ve had the float stick in the carburetor. Usual stuff. Oh and retard the spark before you hand crank it. Better yet don’t try to hand crank it. One of the reasons for self starters is the potential of kick backs. That’s what killed the guy who owned the Thomas Motor Co. The company that built the Thomas Flyer which won the New York to Paris race of 1908.

I ordered some parts from AB a while back. AB notified FedEx the package was ready Friday 11 June. FedEx picked up the package the following Monday 14 June. It is Saturday 26 June and the package isn't here yet nor can they tell me when it will be. Several messages from the FedEx tracking site said it would be delivered that day...without it happening which is really frustrating. Since October last year FedEx has been struggling and it's only getting worse. (I know cause I looked it up) Oddly enough of UPS, FedEx and the Post Office, the Post Office has the highest on time record at 90%! Which is by my expectations, awful. Two years ago Wall Street Journal did an article on UPS and their antiquated systems. One of their major distribution hubs is so old it has machinery that can only read bar codes on one side of boxes that have 6 sides. They have to employ people to set the boxes right side up before the machinery can read the codes! The building can't be updated so a new one has to be built at a cost in the billions. At the time of the article they were still thinking about it. eCommerce will be handicapped if these folks can't get their act together. The wheels have fallen off at FedEx and it's a shock that the government's USPS is better that the guys who "Run the tightest ship in the shipping business." Then there is Amazon. I saw a meme on FB that wanted people to sign a petition asking the government not to allow Jeff Bezos to re-enter the country after his space flight. As long as you order from Amazon direct (not one of its 3rd party sellers) it might get shipped on the Amazon Prime carrier. Which means it might get to you in good time. No telling if Amazon Prime beats the Post Office. Okay there's my rant for today.

The by pass oil filter was an original Chrysler idea, nobody had one before. The bypass oil filter cleans a small portion of what the pump puts out as many here have said, BUT it cleans the oil to a greater degree than a full flow filter can. Full flow filters have to pass the oil in a volume that doesn't restrict the oil pressure the engine needs so it can't filter out the finer particles that the slower bypass filter can. There are spin on by pass oil filters available from WIX (NAPA sells their own using 4 digits of the WIX 6 digit p/n). They use a thread size smaller than the typical FL1A which is good because even in by pass duty an FL1A won't filter as fine as a proper by pass cartridge. There has been a write up on the installation on this web site. Then there is always the Frantz By Pass Filter. Frantz has ready made filter media now which I am sure works even better than the old toilet paper. For the Hot Rod Cool Factor you can even get a reproduction "Bee Hive" by pass filter off eBay. For my money the drop in cartridge by pass filter is worth having and maintaining. If you really want to keep your oil free of sludge, then install a PCV system such as the one Vintage Power Wagons sells. By putting a small vacuum on the crankcase you eliminate the moisture from combustion blow by that combines with acid which forms the sludge. (all my engines had PCV systems, even the race cars) Detergent oil will take care of the acid and the by pass filter will take care of the rest. Oil filters were optional for years on a lot of cars after WWll. My first car a 1959 Hillman didn't come standard with an oil filter.

There is a sizable dent in the trunk lid that really offends me. I got my local good ole boy body shop to look at it. Without painting the whole car the quote I got was around $280! I can't let that price get away from me so... it will be done. There's couple of places I am going to try to protect myself, but I've got more immediate things to work out like a windshield seal. When I do get it painted it is going to be first class cause I really like this old car.