Tony_Urwin

P.S. My trunk lid is a near pristine lid, it is even perfectly rust free along the bottom edge. No sign of any metal bumping at all. The LED guys made paper templates of the trunklid and seemed to think that the curves were different than the business coupe.

My Master Parts List for 1936-1948 Plymouths only (No Chrysler or DeSoto) shows two part numbers for the P15 Head Lamp Beam Indicator. Available with or W/O Directional Lamp Indicator. 1163840 Without 1163876 With It even shows a picture of the one with the arrows. That leads me to believe that it was a Plymouth option as well, albeit a rare one. The same book only shows two Stop Lamp shells for the P15.

Those guys who make the LEd taillights (the ones Don Coatney has on his car) visited me last week to check the fit on their brake light. They have made one for the sedans and recently they created a new base to fit the P15coupe. Well, they shipped the coupe brake light to a business coupe owner, and SUPPOSEDLY it fit. However, the same light does not fit my P15 Club Coupe. My parts book only lists two part numbers for the brake light (coupe and sedan). So it is a mystery why their coupe light would fit a business coupe and not my club coupe. Anyone know if the business coupe has a different brake light than the club coupe? BTW, they are also looking to reproduce the high beam indicator with the turn signal arrows. They are quite generous with anyone who can help (they gave me a set of their taillights for my assistance). If you have that rare part, they would be very interested in talking to you.

I, too, am running a pusher fan in front of an A/C condensor and the radiator on my Pilothouse truck. I did not notice any difference in performance. Right now I have the fan wired to the ignition switch through a Painless Performance fuse block. I will likely add a relay later, but have not blown a fuse yet.

Pat, in my opinion, 95% of that article is hysterical horsepoop. I do agree wholeheartely that ethanol is a porkbarrel scam propagated by the oil companies and corporate farm lobby. Ethanol is more expensive to produce, and ultimately raises the price of produce and meat for consumers, as well. Another nice feature is the additional water pollution from the run-off of pesticides and fertilizer.

My personal belief is that Global Warming denial is in the same class as Holocaust denial. Totally irrational. And to blame dog-eating third-world countries for climate change in the same thread that we deny the science? At least leave Jesus out of the discussion, please.

An acquaintance recently returned from China. She was very surprised at the beauty and quality of everything in the homes she visited. It seems they have enough sense to buy quality goods, and sell the junk to greedy foreign corporations. My dad bought a drill in the '50's (I think it was a Black and Decker), and used it often. After he died 5 years ago, my brother claimed it, and it is still working fine. I buy drills regularly. They seem to last about one month longer than the warranty these days. I think they are designed with that "product lifetime".

That's true, but his Plymouth pings unless he uses high-octane. I think he took 90 thou off that head.

Reg, how does "Ole Yeller" do off the line? Is the acceleration adequate with the 3.0 rear?

That's where I got mine. I think he still advertizes in the Bulletin.

Butch Bunn is a great car guy and he was a great car builder, but he has retired and sold the business. The last I heard, they were still operating a mail order business, but I can't recall the name.

I think $30k could be considered reasonable if the restorer does excellent quality work. I don't know how much David Maxwell spent on his 100 point restoration (and I'll bet his wife doesn't either), but it was probably in that $30k ballpark. Just be sure to get recommendations, check out other cars he has done, and make sure everything is spelled out in the contract. Very few restored cars are wise investments, but they can be a joy to their owners. Good luck!

I have an extra I will sell for $14, postage included, if anyone is interested.

Sorry, Dave, I beg to disagree. 55 mph is OK if you are a Sunday driver. 55 mph may be top speed if your suspension needs a rebuild. But 55 mph is definately not OK when you are driving at night and you have a pair of 18 wheelers on your tail. I've been there and it surely is not comfy. Get the 3.73 if you can find one. Sorry to be contrary. I just had a fight with the wife.

I bought new bedstrips for my truck from Horkey's. My experience was good.

I emailed Wilcap about the price of their adapter kit, and was told it was $725, plus you need to buy another starter.

I have a DeSoto with the long block. George Asche's son rebuilt mine for 12V. The flatheads were manufactured until about '62, right? Seems like the starters from any late fifties flathead would be 12V. Maybe someone else could confirm that.

I'm probably gonna be wrong (as usual), but I don't think there ever was such a thing as a stock dual intake or exhaust for the 217/230 short block. The larger trucks had stock duals, but they all had larger motors. Offenhauser dual intakes are still being manufactured for the short block in the Pilothouse trucks. About $285 or so. Vintage aftermarket intakes are also out there, but they can get pricey.

For a lot of applications, another issue is the position of the shifter. Most T-5 transmissions have the shifter mounted pretty far back on the housing. If you can find one that has the shifter mounted farther forward, it will be a better fit for a car with a bench seat.

I'm replacing mine on my back in the driveway. I had trouble getting enough clearance to get the ole squashed mount out, and there was no way to get the new thicker mount in place. I thought that the motor had been jacked up as far as it would go and was hitting the cab. Duhhh... I finally realized that the upper bracket for the mount unbolts from the bellhousing. It was hitting on the top of the frame rail, and that's why I couldn't get clearance. I started on the driver side, which has the pedals and the brake lines in the way. It would be pretty obvious, if you have a lift and good lighting. Still, what I thought would be a one hour job has turned into a pain in the rear. First, the old mounts have to be chiseled off the brackets. After 60 years, they just don't want to leave. Very little room to work in there with a chisel and utility knife. Then, the new rubber mounts I got from Roberts are just oversized enough that they don't want to fit down into the hole in the bracket. I bought some longer bolts and hopefully the rubber will squeeze into the hole as I tighten it down. Maybe a little dishsoap would help. The biggest problem is the rain that kicks up everytime I get started...But that's the thing. You come home from a frustrating day at work, and tackle an even more frustrating problem of your own choice.

I see them on eBay all the time. The guy who sells them has 2 models, one for trucks with defrost and one for trucks without defrost.

I can't answer your question, but the dual exhausts were installed on the larger trucks. They were common on the 2-4 ton models, some that had the 265ci engine, but many of those trucks had an even larger block with a 31" head. I doubt that the manifolds from those trucks would fit the 23" or 25" blocks. Tom Langdon sells an aftermarket set of cast exhaust manifolds for the short block. http://www.stoveboltengineco.com/whatsnew.htm

Charlie, I wonder if a smaller master cylinder like this one might fit without the modifications? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mopar-Hi-Po-Lightweight-Alum-Dual-Master-Cyl-Adapter_W0QQitemZ280171661602QQihZ018QQcategoryZ34199QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

I took the wife out for a late lunch this afternon. When we returned, the postman had brought a box from Roberts Motor Parts with the rear motor mounts I had ordered. Hard-working, intensely focused individual that I am, I went right to work. An hour later, I had managed to get the driver's side mounts removed (in several pieces), but for the life of me, I could not squeeze the new upper mount into place. I guess I will have to loosen the bolts that hold the cab to the frame. Has anyone else replaced these mounts with the cab in place?

Here's an interesting eBay auction. The auction itself shows over 20 pictures of the assembly line as they build a '55 Chrysler. Not P15-D24, but interesting just the same. http://cgi.ebay.com/Dec-1954-Chrysler-Factory-Magazine-Virgil-Exner-Factory_W0QQitemZ320180340939QQihZ011QQcategoryZ1317QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem