Tony_Urwin

I copied the text from that link, but like I said, the forum there is worth a look. and NOW FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE.....DESOTOLAND! What follows is a tragic story. For those of you who may think I brag a little about how much I drive my car, this takes me down a peg. I pulled my distributor last winter to check the points because I hadn't made a note of the last time I changed them. They were perfect, and I put the distributor back in and timed the ignition. All was right with the world. I took a trip to Santa Cruz in February, and I noticed the engine pinged hard at low elevations where there's a lot more oxygen in the air. As soon as I rose to higher elevations -- say, above 1,500 or 2,000 feet -- it quieted down and was fine. I figured the timing had slipped a little after I put the distributor back in. I also thought that, because it's only pinging at low elevations, the timing must have only been off by a little bit because, if it were way off, it would ping all the time no matter the elevation. My mother died in March under especially tragic circumstances, and being that the car wasn't pinging around town at high elevation, I wasn't even thinking about it. I then took off for a trip to Phoenix, and the car pinged hard climbing out of all those low valleys in the eastern Mojave Desert on California Highway 62, and when I crossed the Colorado River at Parker, Arizona, it really pinged until I had driven far enough to get up to a better elevation. I knew this was hard on the engine, but I still thought that it must only be off by a little, otherwise, it would ping at the higher elevations. Phoenix is very flat, and it was fine around the city, but when I headed for Kingman on US 93, it pinged for miles and miles until I was high enough that it stopped. After all this, I also took it down to Los Angeles a couple of times having forgotten about the pinging at home in my usual elevation but was rudely reminded climbing on the way home. Last Sunday, I pulled the oil pan to change the leaky rear main seal, and as long as I was in there, I had decided to change the rod bearings just as a preventative measure because my engine had overheated badly three times in the last five years during mishaps like the time my radiator cracked open in nothern California at 4 PM on the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend in 2003! I figured the bearings were probably pretty worn from the crankshaft expanding during these incidents, but I wasn't prepared for what I found. The top halves of all six rod beatings were shattered! That is to say, the soft coating was shattered and blasted off of them. All that pinging must have been smacking the piston downward while it was still coming upward. The gases in the combustion chamber were also reaching their highest pressure when the crank journal was straight up instead of having just passed its arc and on the way down. I also get the feeling that the extra oxygen at low elevations just made the advanced timing audible and that, in fact, it was badly advanced all the time, but I could only hear it when there was enough oxygen to make the sound. As you all know, it's not like me to let a symptom go like that, but I'm trying to not beat myself up over it considering the circumstances with my mother and selling my house and the fact that I was fooled by its silence at elevations above 2,000 feet where this car spends all its time. When I finally checked the timing a few weeks ago, it was six or eight degrees advanced at idle -- a sure sign that the distributor slipped because I sure didn't put it there. Needless to say, I did the rear main seal, but my mind was far more occupied with and interested in the rod bearings. The crank looks great! The crank journals look like they just came out of a machine shop. I used Plasti-Gauge on all the new bearings, and they checked out perfect, so I know it didn't hurt the crank. I pulled a couple of main bearing caps, and the mains look great, too, and for that, I thank the full-flow oil filter. I also think today's gasoline might have played a part in this. I'm not an expert, but I've heard the old-fashioned gasoline burned more slowly and pushed the piston all the way to the end of its stroke, while todays gas goes off with a quick, violent bang, and the piston more or less coasts all the way down from the shock. I realize this is happening in about 1/20 of a second at highway speed, but you get the idea. This could mean the effects of advanced timing are worse nowadays because the burning happens more quickly and the maximum pressure is reached in a more violent fashion, meaning the still-upward-moving piston is smacked harder than it would have been with the gas of yesteryear. I'm not as sure of this, but it's a thought. Maybe one of you knows more about gasoline than I do. So, CHECK YOUR TIMING! ! ! Here's a bad image of one of my upper rod bearing caps. I just set the cap on my scanner so it's not the best quality, but you'll see the damage clearly enough. I went all over the internet looking for images of bearing damage. I finally landed on the Lycoming Diesel web site and looked at all their images of "bearing failures." What they call a "bearing failure" from pre-ignition is a fraction of what I found in my engine. My bearings were WAY beyond what Lycoming calls a "bearing failure." JON

the website is www.desotoland.com the forum link on that website is "the despatch" it's a great forum, lot's of flathead discussion. got t desotoland, register, and then try the link

Here's an interesting post on flathead timing from over on the DeSoto forum... http://www.duricy.com/~desoto/despatch/despatch.pl?read=17281

It seems that the original sytle mounts were actually one of the selling points for our cars. "Floating Power" wasn't it? Perhaps newer, softer motor mounts would suffice. Pretty cheap from Roberts or Vintage Power. You can spend more at Steele, but probably not necessary.

Great-looking engine, but wouldn't the glare from that dash be a little dangerous? You might have to wear sunglasses all the time!

As Greg mentioned, a stroke of 4.75" means you have the 265ci flathead.

First, outside the frame rail, you need to completely remove the retaining bolt and nut. Then you can use a drift or a long bolt to punch it out from inside the frame rail. The service manual shows a special tool for removing this bolt, but really, it's as easy as pounding it out from inside the frame rail.

Walker makes a bolt-in radiator for our cars. You can get them w/ or w/o a condensor for A/C, but they are kinda pricey...

Looks great! I like the interior. It looks like you padded the cardboard before you attached the vinyl. Got any more pictures?

My '52 DeSoto wagon w/Tip-Toe tranny has the 3.9:1 ratio.

Peace should not be confused with sloth, drug use, or misguided actresses. To characterize legitimate dissenters as hippy protesters demeans those patriotic Americans who care deeply about their country. I opposed the war in Vietnam, and I never spat on anyone, especially not on the brave servicemen and women who served at the whim of idiots in Washington. Dissent keeps our government honest. Without it, Democracy cannot exist. Whether I agree with your opinion or not, Norm, at least you feel deeply about your country. That I CAN respect. Besides, you are a gentleman and a friend. Tony

Oh yeah. It's 72-74" long. Might make a nice side rail, but I only have the one. It would be hard to shorten it because the carving goes right out to the ends. Here's a picture of the one I am using. This was taken before I narrowed the stakebed, but you get the idea.

P.S. Love the sound of those old tube amps. I only wish I could play.

I'm curious, too. Why would anyone take offense at a peace sign?

The 9 foot boxsides are longer between the front panel and the wheels. So I don't think you can make it work unless you break out the shears and the welder. I narrowed my stakebed by 10", since I am using it as a daily driver (when it's not too hot anyway). Improves visibility and makes parallel parking a little easier. As a result, I have this engraved rail that is too long for my new bed. Used to fit below the rear window. Anyone interested? It's available for the cost of shipping and handling!

Oops, he's right. I can find pictures of the B2D-126, but no B2C-126. Looks like half-tons were 108 or 116, three-quarter ton were all 116, and one ton were availabel as 116 or 126.

That's a huge A/C condensor! Give us A/C wannabees the story on your A/C setup when you get back.

I believe that would be the B2C-126.

Steve, PM me with your address and I will send you some.

I have a few used ones that I can send you. I recently switched to 12V.

What kind of oil is everyone using? This will vary with the age and condition of your engine of course. I'm using synthetic in my flathead that was rebuilt a few thousand miles ago. I used Pennzoil Platinum 10W50 just because it was on sale this week.

I have the same DeLuxe (I guess it's a DeLuxe) filter in my B1C. I changed the oil and filter today with a NAPA 1011 filter. A new rubber gasket comes packaged with the filter. The perforated cone in my filter is not attached in any way, it simply sits atop the filter and the mounting bolt goes right through the lid and the cone.

Take a couple deep breaths, maybe count to ten...I sometimes think about choking certain people myself, but I don't think it's too healthy for us to share our rage. Sounds like Pete is taking it in stride. let's not sink to their level, guys. Less than a month after I bought my last "new" car, I was approached by a panhandler on my way into work. This guy was young, healthy-looking, well-dressed. I simply muttered, "Get a job." and walked inside. You guessed it, when I came out, there was a scratch all the way down one side of my new car. Now if I ever find THAT guy, I'm gonna wrap him in barbed wire, boil him in oil, feed him to my dogs, electrocute the....

I would dearly like to know how the back edge of a stake is finished off. Sounds stupid, but I bought a stake bed (in pieces). I have re-assembl;ed the bed and replaced the wood, bedstrips, etc., but I cannot for the life of me figure out how the back edge is finished. If you visit this truck, take a look for me. A picture would be great.

The door stop may be source of his trouble. I have never removed the doors on a Pilothouse truck, but most Mopars of the era have that door stop that is riveted to the pillar. On my cars I had to drill out the rivet and relace it with a special kind of hardware. Here's one that is on eBay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1950s-1960s-Mopar-Door-Limiting-Arm-Rivet-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33642QQihZ001QQitemZ110156378710QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW