DonaldSmith

It's not big enough. It'll fill up in no time. It always happens that way.

The "suicide" doors are neat! Sleek! Front edge sloped like the windshield. Lots of foot room, getting in and out. Rear doors were suicide, except for the Club Sedans. Could have benefitted from modern safety latches and electronic latching. Thrilling days of yesteryear- My dad pulled his 50 DeSoto Suburban up to the gas pumps. I was sitting behind him in the second seat. I opened the door to see what was going on, and the door hit the pump. The door was pushed full open and dented the fender. Flash forward- A few years ago, I pulled my 47DeSoto suburban out of the garage. I forgot that I had left a rear door open. The door was pushed full open and dented the fender.

I'm so jealous of you guys, with your large multi-bay service barns, equipped with lift, compressed air, and professional welding and machine shop equipment, not to mention LED lighting, while I get by with an extra stall in my 3-car garage. But I get by. "I cried because I had no shoes. then I saw a man who had no feet." {Wise-ass retort: "So I took his shoes.")

I meant to say that the front doors for the 2-door sedans are the same as for the 7-passsenger car body. Maybe the front doors of the Town Sedans are also the same. The coupe door has the top swept back to meet the belt line.

Your Dodge body is the same as the DeSotos and Chryslers of the same era. The front doors are the same as for the coupes. The rear doors are special for the 7-passenger/limo/Suburban, being 9 inches wider than the standard sedan doors. The rear vent windows are the same.

Robert, where have you been getting your news? There is a great divide between the "Establishment" or "Legacy" news and the upstarts like Newsmax and even Fox News here in the States. And the there are the pocasts which have sprung up overnight. It's possible to get two widely divergrent views of the world. We'll miss you a lot. Come back some day.

Going from memory, on my 47 DeSoto Suburban - Map light in the instrument panel - pull switch on the instrument panel, and door button, right front door. "B" pillar lights - Slide switch one side lights both lights. I added a slide switch to the opposite pillar. I forget which was original, maybe the right. Dome light over the back window - door buttons left and right rear doors. One trick Walter W did was to ground a light circuit through the switches. Theoretically, you could have any number of switches capable of turning on the light.

I don't think the instrument panel - steering wheel made it. I think I had heard that Tuckers had Lincoln steering wheels.

Hole-cutting the hard way. Sometimes it's the only way.

My 47 DeSoto had a "Handbrake On!" light somewhere, where I wouldn't notice it. I made an auxiliary instrument panel, with a large "Handbrake ON, Dummy!" light. Quite visible, but still not noticed. So I put a flasher in the circuit. Now I notice the Blinking Light. Only thing, the flasher needs a a few seconds to warm up. Just enough time to take off, with the parking brake still on. .

My 47 DeSoto has disconnects at the battery ends of the cables, and these have served me well. I had been in the habit of disconnecting a cable whenever the car was to sit idle for any length of time. Lately, though, I just keep a trickle charger on it. No worries about the clock or something else running down the battery. Maybe this battery will last longer than a year. I also have a 2011 Buick, whose battery failed earlier this year. Too much electronics and not enough driving. So I have a trickle charger on this car, too. We have a 2008 Ford, which we drive all the time. No problem. (How I remember what model Buick I have? Well, where do they elect the Pope? The conclave. It's a BuickEnclave.) (What model Ford is it? Too many choices - Confusion. It's a Fusion.)

Maybe a local automotive electric shop (if there is one) can fix your generator/regulator. A local auto shop assembled my 6 v alternator, lo these many years ago. He mentioned that to adjust a regulator, he had the car running in the shop for an hour, just to get everything settled down. Sounds elaborate. My 47 DeSoto had the grounding wire for the starter solenoid connected to the "A" terminal of the generator. With the engine running, the back current kept it from grounding the solenoid, thus no grinding the starter teeth. After installing the alternator, I just grounded this wire to the nearest convenient grounded surface. I could install an oil pressure switch, contact off when pressured (engine running), to keep from grinding the starter, but I don't do that often. Grounding, grinding, my head hurts.

My dad did our vacation travel mostly at night, when the traffic was very light and there was no sun flickering through a row of roadside trees. (But no gas stations were open.) Once, he did run out of gas, but within walking distance of a gas station. We had an enameled steel potty or two in the car, for small children's imminent needs. My dad took one to the station and returned with it filled with gas, enough to get the car to the station. Luckily, the gas pumps were still turned on, so he filled up the car. He slipped the $1.40 under the door and drove off into the night.

The last photo shows the mad scientist. No, wait! it's Ulu.

I see it as a mystery, awaiting more clues. Grampa's car is not at hand. He can go see it next with a list of possible culprits. Then he can return with updated clues.

"Fluid drive" - do you mean the fluid coupling? Remove the access cover in the floor pan. (Of course, after moving the carpet back.) Remove the access cover in the bell housing. Then the trick is to rotate the crankshaft until the fill plug is accessible. Stuff a rag between the bell housing and the fluid coupling, so that then when you drop the plug, it won't fall down the rabbit hole.

Why separate them? Clutch work? Engine removal?

Babies. Try adjusting valves when you're 82. The things I have done, when I was so young. Maybe that's why feel so old.

OH, there's also an interrupter switch in the transmission, to ground the coil momentarily during the normal shifting. A work of engineering genius. But sometimes it's hard to understand genius.

Keith is on to something. My S-11 Shop Manual has 3 pages of wiring schematics for the M-5 transmission. The third page is "Accelerator Pedal Kickdown and Ignition Interruption". Hmmmm. A wire from the grounding side of the coil goes to the PRI contact of the Kickdown Relay, where all sorts of magic happens, like momentarily grounding the coil when kicking down. Check the Shop Manual, or the info from the Imperial website.

What is the wisdom of the assembled multitude? Engine under low speed load, slap. slap, slap, vacuum down to 14, no needle flutter? Does that eliminate valve issues? Where does that leave me? Yes, I still have to look for a mechanic. In the meantime I can surmise, I suppose,

Vacuum gauge: Idle, 19, barely perceptible flutter. Reverse, backed up to teh back wall, loud tick or slap, vacuum gauge at 14, no flutter.

Thanks, guys, for something to chew on. I don't remember losing any screws or other objects, but I could be wrong. Vacuum gauge - It's on the cowl, so the car is idling nicely when I see the gauge. Just a slight flutter. I can locate the gauge so that I can see it from the driver's seat, to check for gauge flutter as the engine is loaded, as in reverse with the car already against the back wall. Boroscope? Yes, no. 2 had the lower compression. That's a hint. The spark plug is over the valves. I'll see what I can see with my HF scope. Years ago, a guest was able to see the combustion chamber on his slant six. (That was OHV. The scope showed the piston, but not the valves. But that's what he wanted to check. No loose screws.) Leakdown test? I don't have a rubber tipped air gun. Maybe the mechanic of my dreams will have one, and will find a screw loose (in the combustion chamber). National DeSoto Club. Yep. A few years ago, the Great Lakes guys gave me a lead on mechanics. Maybe I can dig out the list. Somethings to check this week.

The engine was rebuilt 20 years ago, after the No.6 rod bearing failed. It's gone 3,500 miles since. The car is not a trailer queen, but not taken out much. I need to find a mechanic who can diagnose and fix the problem. Or else throw in the towel. I'm in my early 80's, with back and hip problems.

Update: Son-in-law and I drove 16 miles to Windsor last Friday, schmoozed with the Chrysler restorers, did the show Saturday, and came home. Tick-tick be damned. This last week, I tried smoking out a possible exhaust leak, dribbling distilled water, and even Sea Foam, down the carburetor. The engine labored, but no smoke. So maybe it's not an exhaust tick-tick. It's loudest at low speed pulling, like backing in reverse, riding the brake, till the car nudges the chunk of tire at the back wall. A bearing going somewhere? I may have to overcome my reluctance to take the car to a mechanic. There's got to be a good vintage flathead mechanic in the Detroit area.