Loren

Since I was small I fed on Henry Ford this or that. I learned never to look too closely at my heroes as they just end up being men (or women). I paid a visit to The Henry Ford Museum a few years ago and I learned a great deal more about him than I could read in a book. I found this enormous steam generator in the back. This thing was huge! It had been installed in Ford's Highland Park plant to generate all the DC power for the plant. Henry was a good friend of Thomas Edison so his plant was all DC. I was so struck by the size of this thing, then I read the sign next to it and I found out it was one of 8 in the power room! Henry had saved this one. It occurred to me that if your name was on the building and you stood over looking this massive machine and its 7 brothers all grinding away making power for your factory, it could twist your mind a little! It is no wonder he thought he was some kind of a God. Henry Ford should have retired by 1925 and let his son Edsel run the company. It is estimated that from 1925 to his death the Ford Motor Company lost $70 million all because of his stubborn belief he knew more than anyone in the room. Walter P. Chrysler I believe had more on the ball than Henry. Chrysler was about achievement, Ford was about power.

The quick way to see if the ignition is working is to connect a test light on the ground side of the coil and the other end to the ground. Turn the starter and the light will flash on and off. You can even use the test light to make an initial setting of the timing. The absence of the ground wire between the two plates of the breaker plate usually makes itself known by a miss when the vacuum advance pulls on the movable plate. But any poor ground at the breaker plate can cause the ignition to fail. Ignition in point type engines is the usual culprit. A change in the weather would bring lots of cars in on the hook to repair shops. Ignition Coils are remarkably reliable. The bakelite ends can develop carbon tracks and of course cracks or chips will cause the spark to go to ground. One coil I replaced had exploded with a bang. It must be remembered that we are dealing with old cars here. The formulation of gasoline has changed over the years and when a car has sat for years it dries out and becomes like varnish. That varnish can flake off and plug up the jets (usually just the main jet, thankfully).

I love the tractor story! It would have been better if he saw you using it day after day with zero problems and wondered how that could be! The reason I asked this question was to get other folks thoughts on the matter. Thank you all! The engine is fresh and clean in the inside so there is no reason to go backwards on oil. It will have a Positive Crankcase Ventilation kit on it so sludge will not be a problem. Sludge being moisture and acid from combustion blow by. The vacuum placed on the crankcase absorbs the moisture before it can combine with the oil. The float pick up really doesn't have a function anymore that I can see but I am not going to defeat it. The screen with the valve action is harmless as far as I can see, so I will make sure it can work. However, this engine will turn higher rpm than it did when it powered a forklift (or a Power Wagon) so I am going to modify the cover plate. That's a fairly benign mod as most cars now days do not have a cover over the screen and I've seen some with much courser screens. To be real scientific about it I think I will weigh the cover before and after I modify it, then add back the weight removed. That way the float function will remain as designed. These Full Flow oil filter engines have already had the "Second Chance" oil filter by pass system defeated. That was designed to by pass oil thru the gallery if the oil filter plugged up. Since that never seemed to be a problem they made a plug which block that off. Baby steps into the future...

I just got a used oil pump pick up and in my examination I noted it had two small holes that looked like they were put in it with an Ice Pick. Chrysler pick ups are supposed to float just below the surface of the oil with a limited up and down travel. Most of the pick up is an air chamber which in this case has been compromised with the holes. The idea being that by floating they would stay out of the gunky crud on the bottom of the oil pan and if the engine ran low on oil it would still pick up oil at the highest possible level. I don't know if this has any benefit with modern oils. Then there is the cover over the screen which is so close it touches. If you pry off the cover you will find a hole in the screen with a metal ring. Seems like a funny place for a hole until you remember the cover. The idea being that the cover provides a valve action if the screen clogs up. The screen is domed and if plugged it will be sucked up uncovering the hole. Again I don't know if this has any benefit with modern oils. An old timer I knew talked about how the old engines would get full of sludge. He once opened up an engine which was so full of sludge there was only enough room for the crankshaft to turn! So this must have been a very real concern at one time. Unless someone can tell me a reason to leave the holes in the chamber I think I'll braze them up. Same with the screen. I think I'll put the cover back in place so the valve action can work, but I am going to cut some holes in it to allow more oil to reach the available screen. For their time these really were better engineered cars.

I've bought manifolds on eBay without being really sure if they'd fit the Chrysler. (They usually don't, so I have a couple of extra Plymouth Manifolds) But that's what you have to do to get what you want. However, if that Shanafelt had been a Plymouth, I would have built an engine around it. Those Ford 94 carburetors are an excellent choice! They flow more air than a 97 and are quite a bit cheaper. (My Dad called them Chandler-Groves) I think what you are seeing in my photograph are the bolt holes for the exhaust manifold. Every time I think of Studebakers I remember the pair of Hawks that used to run at Saugus Stadium in the sportsman class. They of course were re-powered with Chevrolet V8s (They could do that because the last years of production had Chevy engines). Somebody spent a ton of money to make them competitive and they were real crowd pleasers! As much as I dislike Chevrolets and the concept of stuffing them in everything with four wheels, I'd approve of that swap. But only because the factory did it. Besides a Studebaker V8 was the same displacement of a small block Ford (289cid) with the size and weight of a Cadillac and the gas mileage to go with it. All the Mopar 49s were great looking cars! Straight 8 engines are kind of interesting as you don't see them that often anymore. Trading a high torque low revving Straight 8 for a V8 might work I don't know I am not that good of an engineer. I am pretty sure souping up a straight 8 would be expensive, but fun.

I am all for "period correct hot rods". A Shanafelt Manifold is very special (rare and pricey) and would be as good a reason to retain a 230 as I can think of by itself. COVID has slowed down many projects this year. I dropped off a 265 back in October and got it back the beginning of this month! I sent a camshaft in to be reground in November and got it back last week because nothing had been done. To feed your enthusiasm for a "period correct hot rod" let me tell you of my project. A 1952 Suburban with a Chrysler Industrial 265 cid (25 inch engine) dual Bendix-Stromberg model WW carburetors, HEI ignition and cast iron headers from Langdons. Overdrive Plymouth transmission with 1940 2nd gear. 3.54 final drive ratio. 12 inch brakes from a 1950 Chrysler Windsor. I came very close to buying a Shanafelt Manifold here's a photo of it. At the time I failed to realize its true value and it got away. I bid twice what I would pay for an Edmunds and it wasn't enough! Three or four times might have bought it!

I am a total contrarian on the issue of brakes and rear axles. When you pull apart a Mopar rear axle the only thing that's old timey are the tapered & keyed axles. You have to remember that's what pretty much every car used before the war and clear into the 1960s. All the bearings are Timkin Tapered Roller Bearings and you can't get much better than that. The seals are old fashioned unless you get modern seals but they have them. For a Plymouth there is an upgrade path for better brakes. Original 10 inch, DeSoto 11 inch or Chrysler 12 inch. Ratios available for the 8 1/4 rear axle go from 3.36, 3.54, 3.73, 3.9 and 4.1, what more could you ask for? It is an excellent design having a 3rd member (pumpkin) for easy ratio changes. The axles are necked down in the middle to spread the torque load. No stress points at the splines to snap off. (Check any flanged axle and you'll see they all break at the inner spline. Have fun fixing that!) From a Plymouth to a Chrysler they all use 5 on 4.5 inch bolt circles and there are lots of wheels available. When you change rear axles you can easily end up with different wheels front and rear. Then there's the engineering to make your hybrid brakes work. Thank no, not for me. The hydraulic pieces for my Plymouth are exactly the same as the DeSoto or Chrysler Windsor (which I got my brakes from). If you find the 8 1/4 is not strong enough, you can get the next in the line of evolution 8 3/4. It's the same design only larger has a very good reputation and can be had with tapered and keyed axle if you want to be stealthy about an up grade. They even look the same and if you don't have an 8 1/4 sitting right next one you have to have a sharp eye.

I bought one of the eBay pullers so that I wouldn't have to borrow my friend's again. Well, first it wouldn't fit. The 5 on 4 1/2 inch bolt pattern was too small for the puller, so I ground the offending part down. Then after beating the thing silly, I got out the hot wrench and repeatedly heated and allowed the hub to cool. At the arm end which fits on to the disc, I noticed it was stretching! So I borrowed my friends old puller and within 5 minutes I had a very stubborn drum off and no broken parts. I am thinking you can't buy a new puller with the heft that the old pullers had. So... you might find one in a pawn shop or Craigslist or you might have a friend who will take pity on you and gift you his that he hasn't used in 40 years. Well I keep hoping...

James was right. I found a set of NOS NAPA Kingpins with the Torrington NB-15 needle bearings for $40 ($52 delivered) on ebay. So all is well. Since the seller did not unwrap the needle bearings I am sure anyone who looked at the photos thought it was an incomplete set. I could see a wrapper which clearly said "Torrington NB-15 bearings" so I pulled the trigger. If you bought your kit from Andy's, they have a black oxide coating on them. I would imagine that could be smoothed down with a Scotchbrite wheel. I don't think I will use the black oxide pins, I'll use the bright NAPA pins...just say'n.

Thanks James There is a kit available from www.fcrcmachine.com which includes a substitute brass bushing for the needle bearing their P/N 30124. I would imagine there should be plenty of new old stock parts available as Chrysler made these cars for years. I have a local source I am going to try before I spend any more time on this. If worse comes to worse I will just turn my own bushings. The fcrcmachine website confirmed all my measurements so it's no big deal.

I am so late to this party! I am just about finished with my 12 inch brake project for my 52 Suburban and I've stumbled on the King Pins. The 50 Chrysler Windsor I got the brakes and spindles off of had Torrington NB-15 upper needle bearings on the king pins. Googling "Torrington NB-15" brings you back to P15-D24.com and the news that Torrington hasn't made that bearing in 40 years! Another site gave me a description of that number: Prefix: NB "Drawn shell Needle bearing, single row of rollers, no inner ring, open end, Non-Standard Size" Oops! My usual source for bearings has been Motion Industries for about 45 years...so Monday I am going to pay them a visit. I may have found an easy solution on my own, you simply install two narrower bearings in the spindle. The likely suspect is an INA brand HK 2012. If it will fit, two will have a nice gap over the grease fitting hole and will actually be better than one big one but twice as expensive. If that isn't going to work I will have to consider other approaches.

16s make it even better as there is more cooling space around the drums. With 15s it is a close fit but they do fit. I am sure you don't plan to haul trailers in the mountains or race the car so you could get by with 15s if you had to (for tire availability). With a disc brake car the bigger the discs the better and when you go bigger you need larger wheels to fit them into. You know large diameter wheels are for styling only, when they still put small discs inside. Bigger discs are also heavier (along with the wheels to accommodate them) so that's where the unsprung weight discussion starts. Disc brakes are more weight dense than drums and I think 12 inch are about as big as they go for domestic passenger cars. Personally I am not fond of strut equipped vehicles. The reason they exist is they are cheap to build. They do not make a better handling car. Struts have all sorts of issues like binding when they should be responding to road undulations. Factory struts most of the time can be drained and heavier oil can be put in them. Once they've been changed to the sealed cartridges that option is gone. Still I wouldn't worry too much about unsprung weight. Automobiles are compromises on every level. You trade suspension longevity for better braking and that's a good deal.

Hmmm Unsprung weight isn't thought of much when it comes to passenger cars. (and not at all in Pickup trucks judging by the weight of the steel spare vs the aluminum road wheels) There is certainly a little more weight going up and down with the wheels but not as much as a disc brake conversion. It's my opinion the suspension is plenty strong enough to handle the extra weight. Where it might show up is in the action of the shock absorbers. Wheels and tires make up the majority of variables in unsprung weight. A change in brand of tire or size can really change the weight. Then there are the wheels. I've seen an out of balance tire overheat and explode a shock (luckily it didn't catch fire). I'd say the difference between 10 and 12 inch brakes can't be more than a pound or two and less than Disc Brakes. If no one has complained about the extra weight of Discs then I think we're safe. Besides I have great faith in the engineering of the ZSB team.

The drums in the photo are 12 inch. I got everything sand blasted and painted (drums and backing plates and spindles). The hardware I wire brushed and then soaked in "Evapo-Rust" solution. I finally got my order of parts from a well known supplier. They kept a record of my car and when I ordered 12 inch brake shoes they called me up to make sure I knew what I was ordering. When I got the box one of the wheel cylinders had fallen out thru a hole and I was sent Plymouth 10 inch shoes! So now I am waiting for the second round. In cleaning the hardware I decided I was going to replace all the split ring lock washers (as everyone I looked at had a crack in it) and all the common nuts (6 qty). There are some special nuts but they looked good (4 qty). Easier said than done! At first I thought they were 1/2 x 20, not so. Locally you can get 1/2 x 20 but the anchor bolts are bigger than 1/2 and smaller than 5/8....they're 9/16 x 18 so I ordered them from McMaster-Carr. The lug bolts are 1/2 x 20 thread both right and left hand, so I have taps and dies to clean them up. I also labeled the drums so as not to waste time guessing what side they go on. Once I get the brake shoes I'll turn the drums and arc the shoes to fit. The Chrysler Windsor weighed about 600 lbs more than the Suburban and was intended to have better brakes as a premium car should. So I am expecting a nice improvement.

One small thing that should be checked (if all else fails). The push rod from the pedal to the Master Cylinder has a length adjustment. In the shop manual there is a spec for pedal movement before any hydraulic action occurs. Assuming the pedal return spring is operating as it should, you can check this by looking into the reservoir of the M.C. Push the pedal down by hand and when you release it you should see a jet of fluid coming out of the relief port. No jet and the brakes will stick. Checking the pedal push rod & return spring should be part of a M.C. change.

I have a Lincoln wire welder (a really nice one too) Miller used to be the one to get (I think 225 amps as I recall). It depends on your welding supply shop as to which they recommend. My guys sell both but recommended the Lincoln for a good price at the time I was ready to buy. I've used both and they are superb. Harbor Freight continues to move up market (and up price too). They certainly have the best toolboxes for the money and a new credit deal but for a welder I'd rather have good 'ole American made stuff. That said, the resale prices of used welders is pretty low for some reason. So... take your choice, I always buy new however. One thing I would recommend is to buy the best Professional self darkening helmet you can buy. My weld jobs suddenly got much better and the work got easier, so much so I was glad to spend the $300+ for the Jackson helmet. One thing I've found about TIG welders is you have to use them everyday to get the hang of all the new whistles and bells. Most are just way too complex for the hobbyist. I have an old Airco (circa 1984) which has very few adjustments and settings and serves my purposes just fine. On the used welder market it might be worth $200.

Here's an example of a brass emergency core plug. It's a Dorman product so it has wide availability.

There is also an all brass version which can be permanent. Sometimes you just can't get to a core plug without pulling the engine so there has to be a fix.

A sprue is a channel for air to escape the mold as the metal is poured in. They are usually cut off and remelted. This one originated in the water jacket somewhere and fell back in when it was "broken off" or otherwise separated from the casting. The water distribution tube pushed it into a corner where it had been for decades. Once the tube was removed it fell out and made its presents known by wedging near the opening for the WDT. Usually you find wire that held the core together in water jackets. The foundry rarely gets it all out. I make a point of looking for stuff like that. The machine shop pulled the WDT out and I replaced it with a stainless steel version. BTW The one I put in is going to be in there a very long time as I really had to hammer it home. It seems it needed a little more "forming" to slip in.

Well, you can go to Wikipedia under "Chrysler Flathead 6" for a quick look at all the combinations ever made. The 25 inch Chrysler engines that I am familiar with (namely 237, 251, 265 cid) all have 3 7/16 bores. The stroke and connecting rod length is what makes the difference in displacement (the longer stroke requires shorter rods as all the pistons are the same). I am building a 265 right now. I bought two engines a 237 & a 265. The 265 had a bad block while the 237 had a good one, so I mixed and matched the parts which you can easily do. Where it gets confusing are the Canadian Plymouth engines which are 25 inch blocks with displacements much smaller than we got in DeSotos and Chryslers. For parts there are many suppliers and don't forget Vintage Power Wagons for surplus government parts. Hope this helps.

I take it to be a sprue. It is cast iron, which I figured after moving it around a little, so I was careful not to try to bend it. If I had snapped it, I knew I'd have a devil of a time to fish out the other piece. Usually you find wire in the water jacket but this is the first time I got something that substantial. Happily Chrysler gave us nice big water jackets. I can tell you, you'd never get a piece like that out of a Ford V8!

I got my engine back from the machine shop (been there since October thanks to COVID) and I am doing my usual inspections and thread chasing. On examination of the front end I noticed an obstruction in the space for the water distribution tube. With all the cleaning and tumbling the block had gotten something either fell in or shock loose. I tried fishing it out with a pair of needle nose pliers. After much playing around with it I finally twisted it and was able to get it out. It's about the length of a ball point pen. I first thought it was a piece of carburetor linkage but then once it was out I understood what it was. Can you guess?

First there's no way you'll get 10 to 1 compression. I won't bother to enumerate the reasons. The question was how to make a higher compression head reliable. (if I may restate it) First, the head must be flat. You may assume a new head is flat. Second, the block must be flat. In nearly 70 years an engine can be brutalized a great deal by over torquing the head. The area around the threads might be raised or there might be corrosion working its way from the water jackets or the combustion chamber. Third, bolts and studs should be changed. They get fatigued just like everything else. ARP studs are the gold standard for quality. Forth, use a thread sealer on the studs and only screw them in enough to protrude into the water jacket less than one thread. Of course the threads should have had a tap run down them to clean things up. Fifth, A sealant can be applied to the gasket. The FIAT guys used to put spray Permatex High Tack on their gaskets and said that was the only way to get them to seal. I never saw a "comeback" so it must have worked or at least did no harm. Sixth, Torque the head to the proper torque, then once started let the engine warm up, then re-torque again. Don't wait a month or two, re-torque on the first start. When I say re-torque that just means run the torque wrench over the studs (you don't need to loosen them first as some modern cars require). If you used a thread lube on initial assembly it will make this re-torquing a lot more accurate. I happen to have read this just last night on a tech tip section of a major engine rebuilder's site (Ferrel's). They also talk about the gaskets available (in this case for Continental Red Seal engines). The gaskets I've seen lately (Best Gasket brand comes to mind) are acceptable.

This is one of those questions that comes up regularly. I think of it as the old question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? The fact is today motor oil, any motor oil is better than what you could buy in say 1941. So you can't hardly go wrong. I read many places that oils no longer contain zinc and so there is a lot of handwringing over that. To tell you the truth I am not sure oil manufacturers ever intentionally put zinc in the oil. There may well have been some in there but I have no evidence they knew about it. Lead on the other hand got in the oil from combustion of Tetra Ethyl Lead in the fuel. (That's the grey gunk in the bottom of an old oil pan) Lead had lots of lubricity especially in places that got hot like valve seats. So if zinc has a place in an old engine it likely is to replace lead. I am facing the assembly of my engine in the next week. I think if you use a high quality assembly lube with zinc you're covered. Too much of a good thing is never better only toxic. If you are using fresh gaskets and seals I would think you don't need to worry about synthetic oils eating them. Stuff has gotten better. So as long as you use oil that is commonly available and not the exotic lubes from Europe and Asia, the rings will seat and the gaskets won't leak. I used to live near a facility that reclaimed oil. The owner had me convinced he made a very good product. So I bought it by the drum and never had any lubrication issues. There are companies (Caterpillar for one) that advocate drain oil testing. Once you pick a lube oil and stick with it you could get your drain oil analyzed from time to time. That might put your mind to rest.

I went out and checked just to be sure. The bolt pattern and center hole are exactly the same. There is still a question about the Plymouth wheels fitting over the Chrysler/DeSoto brake Drums, but I've never heard anyone mention that. I am not keen on changing wheels on this car as it might change the appearance more than I'd like. It's going to be somewhat of a "Q-Ship" in character. When I went to get the parts the temp was 109 degrees, so I wasn't into swapping parts they had laying around to make sure stuff would fit. After playing around trying to get the rear drums off I determined I need my "Hot Wrench" to break the rusted taper loose. I ended up buying the whole rear axle just to get outta there. The car had been stored without wheels in a wet or flooded area so there was plenty of rust. At first I was disappointed to see it had a 3.9 ratio but then it's one more ratio to have on the shelf. My tape measure says it is nearly the same width as the 54 Plymouth rear axle I have.