Loren

When I was young and dumb ( friends tell me I may not be young anymore but not much else has changed ) I used to feel bad when someone stuffed a V8 in an old car. Even though I lived for 30+ years in Northern Nevada, I never once bothered with Hot August Nights. Every nice old car had a Chevy V8 which was nothing I cared to see. Well I am changing my tune. Took long enough I suppose. I now love hot rods & resto-mods! You see the folks that build them usually have some great stuff to sell so they can pay for their new V8! And you can get some great deals. In the last couple of months I scored a 50 Chrysler Windsor chassis which yielded 12 inch brakes, a 3/4 inch front sway bar and a set of wheels ( wider by about an inch and a half ). I haven’t done the measurements yet but the lower front A-arms have the spring plates on the bottom, so you could lower the front if you used stock springs. This came from a guy who is putting a Dakota frame under his car with a V8. Yesterday I scored a very nice 230 engine with an Edgy head, Thickstun manifold, Stromberg carbs, rebuilt damper, T5 adaptor ( which I will never use as I prefer an Overdrive ) Reds headers and boxes of parts. This came from a guy who is putting a Chevy V8 in his pre-war Plymouth. I love the charm of my two flathead Plymouths, I always have. Putting a V8 in one just doesn’t fit with how I enjoy them. However, I no longer look down on what other folks do with their’s. Now I get excited by their engineering and craftsmanship. I am no engineer but I appreciate those who are. Are we in any danger of “running out of stock unmolested” cars? Probably not in my lifetime.

6 volt positive ground makes finding the right ignition a little troublesome. If you’re old enough you remember the point triggered CD ignition such as the Delta Mark Ten. You could buy them as a kit or fully assembled, so there are lots of guys out there who know how to fix them. A 6 volt Delta Mark Ten is rare and they are positive or negative ground ( but they can be changed ). In Canada the son of the inventor of the CD ignition has a little cottage business making 6 and 12 volt point triggered ignitions. Fred Winterburn, a very nice fellow. While none of the 6 volt Deltas had the switch to convert back to Kettering ignition ( like the 12 volt Mark Ten B ), the Winterburn does. In a CDI the points carry no load. They only act to provide a signal to the ignition so they last a very long time. Also because of this the point gap isn’t as critical as in Kettering type. Yes rubbing blocks wear but they wear less if lubed once in a while. So there’s a lot to like about a point triggered CDI. If you worry about EMP issues there is no substitute. lol

Try AMC/Nash/Rambler Overdrive Kick Down Switch

Here’s a new idea Generally Mopar carburetors have a bracket and a pad on the throttle for the kick down. Rarely can you find one of those. When you do you can use the small switch that was also used on Studebakers. I found an almost identical switch that was used on bus doors and found a government surplus seller on eBay who had them for $6.50! They are very similar to the through the floor switches Ford products use. Many guys have put together attachments to the linkage. Some look good others look like crap. Here’s the new idea: Nash and ultimately Rambler used a switch I had never seen before until I went looking for parts for my Model A drive shaft Overdrive. It uses a cable operated switch that is small and simple and could mount under the coil/spark plug wire bracket. I bought two for $22 each nos on ebay. They are really slick you might have look at them. AMC / Nash / Rambler Overdrive kickdown switch eBay item #185671194447 p/n 3136724 $21.99 with free shipping I am ditching my crappy switch for one of these.

1940 is a little early for my experience but most I have seen are 9 1/4 inch. For a project I am working on I drug out a couple of flywheels I had surfaced a while back and discovered both were drilled for the 9 1/4 and the 10 inch clutch. I bought a flywheel from Vintage Power Wagons for a 251 ( government surplus ) and it was only drilled for the 10 inch. However it’s intended use was for a truck. A car could be for private use ( 9 1/4 ) or a taxi ( which we know had a 10 inch clutch as part of the taxi package ). 9 1/4 might be cheaper and 10 last longer, your choice. I would call A B and ask them as they have both. However get your throw out bearing NOS somewhere else.

How to get another gear? The easy answer is a mid 1952-55 ( 56 is 12 volt ) Plymouth Automatic Overdrive transmission. Turns a 55 mph car into a 70 mph. Uses the same shift linkage, same parking brake, the speedometer gear transfers from your old 3 speed and if your car is 118 inch wheel base it uses the same drive shaft. If you have a 111 inch wheel base you will have to make an extension rod for the parking brake and shorten your drive shaft. If you drive at 55 mph it makes the engine so quiet you’ll think your going 35! Check your rear end gear ratio by looking at the flat section under the fill plug, 3.73 works very nicely.

I was going through some parts for a project engine I am working on and I noticed that the 4 crank bolt flywheel I had resurfaced was drilled for both the 9 1/4 inch clutch and the 10 inch clutch. I remembered that the taxi package included a 10 inch clutch. It seems the factory drilled them all. So since I have a new 10 inch clutch kit on the shelf, that’s what is going on the engine. Can’t imagine taxi drivers would put up with a stiffer clutch than a standard car is I am assuming the bigger clutch is for longer service life. Am I wrong?

Here’s a photo of the 12 inch beside a 10 inch for comparison. One of the highly desirable features of the KT Keller era cars is the continuity of design. You can mix and match parts in creative ways. Unfortunately sometimes its a pain like two different brake sizes in the same year and all you can find is the wrong one.

Decades ago I worked in a combination Olds dealer and when the parts department issued a water pump or a radiator they gave you two biscuits of “GM Sealant”. The biscuits were the diameter of the radiator filler and about an inch thick, so they would just drop in the radiator. It was “come back insurance”. Somehow those biscuits really worked and they didn’t coat the inside of the cooling system with crud that only a radiator shop could remove. Fast forward to modern times. I have a 2008 F 250 diesel and they are famous for their crappy plastic tank radiators. Like so many owners of these things I noticed an antifreeze puddle under the front of the truck one morning. A close inspection revealed a crack in the tank at the return hose about 1 3/4 long. I stopped at NAPA and got a package of those biscuits which are now available on cards everywhere, the patent has long ago run out. That was about 10 years ago and when the coolant went down a little about 5 years ago, I put two more in. I carry a couple in the truck but no coolant ( too bulky ). I like the original “Bee Hive” radiators and if mine springs a leak I’d find another and get it fixed. But I would not recore one. If it was a weeping leak I would use the biscuits first. It’s just my personal preference.

They are different right to left. What size brakes do you have? Each size has a different spindle, that is 10 inch, 11 inch or 12 inch. I have a set of Plymouth 10 inch spindles I would donate for the shipping cost. For my cars I am changing over to Chrysler Windsor 12 inch brakes, so I have the “take offs” gathering dust.

I have one of Langdon’s HEI distributors too. I changed my mind about using it, so there it sits. One neat thing about them is you can use a multi-spark unit with them. Interestingly the ones I looked at are only in multi-spark mode until 3,600 rpm, which on a flathead is pretty much all the time. I am not certain if that would be beneficial but it is fascinating. I am staying with 6 volt and a point triggered CDI. I have two Delta Mark Tens and two much more modern Winterburn CDIs.

I just thought of something. ( I do think every once in a while lol ) On the old Saabs I still work on, they have a "T" shaft end which fits into a slot in the "inner driver" as we call it. After years of service they get a wear "divit" in the inner driver which makes itself known as a kind of "Clutch Chatter" as the front of the car raises upon taking off from a stop. The fix is real simple, you pop the inner drivers out and exchange them right to left. ( or left to right if you will lol) So my question is, if you take the drive shaft out will you find a wear spot in the trunnions? If so can you swap the drive shaft end for end or should the trunnions be replaced? It's only a guess so please don't hate me. lol

Thanks Sam I looked too. One thing I am going to do is use the harness & relays for the Scout. They have the creepy GM headlight switch that is so common and burns up the connector plug when you use halogen lights. One of the IH parts suppliers has a “bright lights kit” that puts relays in the system and takes the load off the switch. For the price of their kit you could buy between 5 & 10 Toyota kits! My Plymouths are 6 volt and I plan on keeping them that way. 12 volt wiring is not approved for my 6 volt cars so I am going to roll my own for them. I have German made 6 volt “Bosch” type relays ( they aren’t Bosch however ) that should be perfect and ceramic headlamp plugs.

Sam, In the packaging there are instructions which seem to be printed for round, rectangular and small 4 lamp systems. I could really use a set of rectangular lamps for my 1980 Scout ll. However there are no part numbers for the other lamps. Do you think they can be bought on the same deal?

I agree too much grease and you’ll have grease invading the brakes instead of oil. However if you lube up the bearing it will help. As I recall there’s a plug and a grease fitting. If you grease up the bearing as you put it together you don’t need anymore. If it’s altogether you might pull the plug and put one good shot of grease in the fitting. Pulling the plug allows air out so the grease doesn’t go out the seals. Another tip: when you remove the backing plate, tap out the bolts holding it to the housing. The 5 bolts tend to hold the plate making it difficult to remove without scrapping up the threads.

When you have Bolts or studs that go into the water jacket they build up a rust ball on the end. That’s why they break. Just about the only thing you can do is to screw them into the water jacket and retrieve them later. When ever you rebuild an engine you find all sorts of core wires and bits of metal in the water jacket from when the engine was made. So that is what I would do. One thing is for sure they are not coming out the top, without careful drilling and finally chiseling the bits out. When you put it back together, measure the holes for depth and make sure the bolts or studs are not longer than the threads. Get some low strength loc-tite and use it on the threads. That keeps the rust out of the threads.

Another important thing is to use the grease fitting for the outer bearing. Some grease there will hold back the oil too. The bearing looks a little dry.

My theory is worth exactly what you pay for it and my experience is worth a little more. I was a Saab mechanic & racer for years. The Saab 96 has freewheeling in the form of a sprag clutch like those in Overdrives and automatics. Two stroke engines need freewheeling because the lubrication is in the fuel and when the throttle closes the lubrication is greatly lessened. Freewheeling was carried over to the V4 four stroke era for other reasons ( better control on slick roads for one ). Since engine life was no longer part of the reason for it’s existence drivers often shifted to direct drive and forgot about it. The crud that develops in manual transmissions likes to collect in the freewheel unit and when called upon to function they some times slip. The old timers ( like me ) observed that automatics get hotter but never develop the crud and they are as clean as a clock inside. So the idea that it was the fluid that kept them clean grew. The question became could we use temporarily ATF in a freewheel gearbox to clean it? When I found that old Mercedes transmissions specified ATF as the lubricant of choice that cinched it. When a customer complained about a slipping freewheel draining and refilling with ATF temporarily became the fix. The lube became a series of changes starting with 90wt. Then the factory learned that lowering the viscosity also lowered the running temperature, so 75wt became the standard. This caused distribution problems because it wasn’t commonly available here and thus the factory had to supply it. Finally the factory came to the conclusion that 30wt motor oil was just as good and they could get out of the oil distribution business. In our off road race cars we always used freewheeling ( Saab used on center ring & pinions which were not as strong as we needed especially in backlash. Do not push start an old Saab ) thus the lube we needed had to be freewheeling friendly and high heat friendly too. Redline made the right stuff ( Redline is a brand of Conoco-Phillips ). It was designed for manual transmissions had a thin viscosity and could take high heat. The modern equivalent is Redline MTF. So here’s my theory: When ever you plan to change lube or overhaul a manual transmission, drain it and refill with ATF ( the cheapest will work just fine, don’t over think this ) drive it a week normally and either refill it with the lube brand of your choice or remove it for repair. Lower viscosity will lower the running temperature a noticeable amount. Never use an EP rated lube in something that has a sprag clutch. Many sources recommend GL-1 lube for Overdrives but I am not one of them. You just can’t beat modern synthetic “Transmission” lubes but…when you start looking at auto maker branded or recommend lubes the price gets out of line. Remember the last car ( or truck ) to use Overdrive 3 speed manual transmissions was about 1973 and there weren’t any wizz-bang super lubes then. So I think you could safely use a good synthetic 30wt motor oil and it would work fine in a pinch. For my money the old stand Redline MTF is my first choice in everything. It’s Baja proven!

In my college days I had a 49 Special Deluxe Club Coupe. One day the water pump started to leak so I got a rebuilt one from Pep Boys or some such place. I changed it and about two years later the pump leaked again. In those days I never threw anything away ( still true sometimes ) so I got the original out of the trunk and gave it an inspection. There was a grease fitting on it I hadn’t noticed before. So I took a wire brush to it and cleaned it up then shot some grease into the fitting. I reinstalled the old pump and surprise! It never leaked again! The replacement pump went back in the box and assumed it’s position in the trunk….just in case.

I should learn to keep my mouth shut until I check on Amazon! They have everything and if they don’t they have partners who do. One company sells a reformulated version 3 pints for $52. I am not going to spend $52 just to try the reformulated version. There has to be a reason nobody sells it anymore! Can’t fool me, I am too ignorant!

What ever happened to “Mystic Metal Mover”? They used to have a counter display with a tap, the product and a container of un-threaded nuts. To demonstrate the product you’d start a tap in a nut and when it hung up you could squirt some of the product onto it and zip the tap went magically through the nut. In that setting it really worked! But I will be darned if I can find anymore.

I was on facebook the other day and saw a post by a guy with a 49 Dodge. The car didn’t come to him with a engine just a whole bunch of parts. In one of the photos there was an engine with what looked like a torque converter with a small clutch on the end and no bell housing. To be sure it was a torque converter I asked him what the oil pump looked like. He put up a photo of the oil pump with its signature pressure relief. A Plymouth HyDrive. The factory material on the Hydrive says it can’t be retro fitted to another Plymouth because there’s just too many special parts. However, I supposed that if the Dodge had Fluid Drive, the HyDrive might fit ( engine and transmission of course ). One’s imagination takes hold and you start to thinking about it. My auntie had a HyDrive Plymouth and she was still lovingly talking about it into the 1970s! I found a newsletter online of the Cascade Pacific Plymouth Club ( of which I am a member ) from 2016 written by a long term owner of one. I highly recommend it if you like obscure engineering. www.cascadepacificplymouth.org/509PhilHallHyDrive.html If this link doesn’t work just google: Plymouth HyDrive and the Cascade Pacific Plymouth Club article will be very close to the top. The HyDrive name has nothing to do with Oregon Weed, its a reference to shifting the transmission into high gear and leaving it there. The engine developed 117 lbs feet of torque, then the torque converter multiplies it 2.6 times! Which is a pretty respectable number. Anyway its a fun thought exercise, enjoy!

If you need or want a chunk of frame, I have a 50 Windsor frame I am going to scrap and I’d be happy to donate a section to help your repair.

I’ve checked out the Mahle system it is interesting. Not something you can screw in like a spark plug, it’s much more complex. I can’t even say for sure if the pre-chamber spark plugs such as the Jet Ignition plugs could have any value in higher compression OHV engines. I really doubt that they would work with multi spark ignitions. They remain a curiosity from a by gone era.

On the topic of old spark plugs, old being the key word as opposed to worn out spark plugs, I offer a plug that hasn't been made since 1965. I became aware of these via a friend of my Dad's, EJ Brown who was one of Briggs Cunningham's mechanics. Back in the 1950s EJ thought these were the secret weapon. My Dad put a set in our 49 Mercury and he ran the wheels off that thing. My experience with them was with my Quarter Midget when I was a kid. It normally had a Champion plug and it was hard to start with so so power. You put the Jet Ignition plug in and Hang On! I maybe biased but I was impressed! It's a "pre-chamber" type plug in that it has a chamber in its tip like the pre-chamber of some diesel engines. One thing that bothered me was the numerous types that were made. It seemed like every engine had its own part number and design. With so many types it's no wonder the company finally closed down. The inventory must have been massive. Unlike regular spark plugs which have very minor differences the pre-chamber plugs had those plus the tip designs for each engine. There is a company in the UK which makes a pre-chamber unit for a regular plug that is supposed to preform the same. But they only make 14mm 3/4 inch long units and they are pricey. I've chatted with several "Spark Plug Collectors" and nobody ever heard of them. So... For your entertainment I offer this photo of some I have gathered.