DonaldSmith

Once upon a time, I made a special spring for the window, from a binder clip part, as inspired by a safety pin. (I couldn't find a blanket pin, like I had in the Boy Scout days.) That was years ago, (the window repair, and also the Boy Scouts) and the window still works

One Sunday, the Reading was how we are all part of the Mystical Body, how we all have different roles but part of the one body. After Mass, I commented to the priest, "Sometimes when I'm driving, someone will suggest what part of the body I was."

I like the zipper idea for merging. Something like yielding to traffic from the left in the roundabout. Something we are still getting used to around here. . As far as left turns, assuming that both the left turning car and oncoming traffic stop at the yellow light. it seems that if oncoming traffic is heavy, a left turn would be impossible. Around here, major intersections will have green left turn arrows timed with the other signals.

Does the middle seat fold down to form part of the cargo floor? I looked on line, and it seems to do so. The previous station wagon body, up to 1953, had removable seats. A pain. It also had a central light that pivoted when the tailgate was lowered. The 54 had tail lights in the fenders.

Maybe I'm old and cranky, but some things that the driver(s) in front of me do, irritate me. "Complete Left Turn when Traffic Clears" Car ahead of me in the left lane. We are waiting for oncoming traffic to clear. "Pull into the Intersection!", I yell. "If you pull into the intersection and the light changes, you have the right of way and can complete your turn!" "And maybe I'll get to turn." They can't hear me, and if I honk, they will get flustered. I get really flustered if the light turns red, and we couldn't move. Maybe some states forbid pulling into the intersection. Maybe the driver is a college kid from some other state. "Left lane closed 2 miles ahead". An interstate highway. So many people immediately switch lanes, I guess to get it over with. I'm the type that will stay in the left lane until the last minute. People get mad when I finally try to pull over into line. A recent example had three lanes merging into two and then one. Two empty lanes for a few miles - go for it! Why tell the drivers which lane will be closed? Maybe the signs should say, "Lane closure 2 miles ahead. Stay in your lane." Then "Merge Zone. Lane closed ahead, Merge right." Or maybe the orange cones will show which way to merge. Stopping at the red light. Some cars hold back one, two, or even three car lengths. "Move ahead; close it up! There's cars back there that are trying to get in this lane!" The light turns green, and there's no motion ahead of me. "Wake up." After a few seconds I give the car a quick beep. Not a mad honk, just a reminder to get moving. If no reaction, longer beeps. There. I've vented.

My head is exploding, but I think I figured out the heat riser valve, or flap. I studied and re-studied Keith's video, and my own presently disassembled, um, assembly. We want the flap to be vertical when the engine is cold, to divert the exhaust to heat the intake manifold. When hot, not - flap horizontal. The spring is counterintuitive. I would think that when heated the spring would contract and pull something. Just the opposite. The counterweight tries to close the flap, for straight-through exhaust, but when the engine is cold the spring keeps the flap vertical. When heated, the coils contract, but the effective length of the spring increases. The spring allows the counterweight to close, allowing straight-through exhaust . That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I would forget where I put the notebook.

If you screwed a filter directly into the tank, would you have to drain the tank each time you replaced the filter?

I put reading glasses behind my regular glasses. It helps for close-up and looking-up jobs.

Another:

I remember seeing a movie shot, maybe from White Christmas, looking down on a long Cadillac with P-38 tail lights and fastback styling. The the P-38 tail lamps would date the car as 1948 to 1956. Cadillac had a fastback Sedanette, but the limo, the Series 75, always had a bustle back. Been wondering about that for years. Recently I searched the internet. (You can find anything on the internet, and it's always true.) I looked for 6-door and eight-door Cadillacs, custom-bodied professional cars, and found examples of fastback styling. First the Sedanette: Now 6- and 8- door Cadillacs. Here's a Woodie, but before the P-38 tail lights. Here we go. This could be the car in the movie. It doesn't look so fast-back from this view, but from above, it would. (Or maybe someone stretched a Sedanette.)

Here are my rod connector pieces. Nor pretty, but they work.

The rod in the photo is the "choker connector rod', which pulls the throttle linkage up when the choke is on, to increase the idle speed. (The rod from the Sisson choke (the auto choke rod? fits the other lever on the choke shaft, and its length is adjusted at the Sisson, with a pin gauge used to set the length.) The dimension of the choker connector rod is fixed. You could bend or straighten if it got out of whack, but the idle speed is adjusted at the idle screw.

I just placed a want ad in the classified. I put in the part number that Sniper found in his parts catalog, 666348. The fifth number could be a 7 instead of a 4, but we'll see. The year range for the 25-inch engine should cinch it. Check your stash. See if you have an extra manifold lying around.

The number: (Upside down!)

Actually, it's right-side up. as in position on the car. (The intake manifold outlet in the center of the photo has the hole for the infamous 13th bolt.)

The exhaust manifold on my 47 DeSoto has damage at the cast-in holes for the bolts that hold the exhaust manifold to the intake manifold, and at the exhaust pipe flange. Several years ago, I attempted to patch these areas with JB Weld. On driving to and from a car show last Fall, as I neared the end of the 40-mile trip each way, I sensed a strong phenolic smell from the engine compartment. I have the manifolds off now, and I see that the epoxy patches have been burnt. A welding shop advised against trying to repair the manifold. I am going to put in a want ad for a replacement exhaust manifold. I tried to read the part number. It could be 666376-4, or any one or more "6" could be replaced with an "8". Maybe someone verify the number, '47 DeSoto, 25-iinch block. Here's the main broken area, an angle I had put at the bolt heads, and what's left of the epoxy patch. (Upside down, I don't know why, maybe because I took the photo left-handed.)

I think the intent of the bumper guard/ over rider on your car was to keep the bumper of the car in front of you, which you just bumped into, from riding over your bumper and squashing your die-cast, chrome plated grille. Some of the parking maneuvers back then relied on sound and touch.

If I saw all those Chryslers and Plymouths coming at me, I might change lanes. Then there's the story of a country that changed the driving from one side of the road to the other. The first week was for cars, the second week for trucks. It didn't work out so well.

The diagram has parts of letters missing. I think the word is "battery", not RATTFRY, although that would be an interesting accessory.

There's no kickdown switch in MarcDeSoto's Dodge carb. I think the Dodges of that era had the fluid coupling with the 3-speed trans. The DeSoto had the semi-automatic trans that needed the kickdown switch. Is there a dashpot for a stick shift trans?

In 2015, I got my fluid drive carburetor exchanged at Carburetor Exchange, www.carb-x.com. It's been good. No more demons or gremlins. The only recent problem was that the link from the throttle shaft to the choke interfered with the downshift switch. I may have distorted the link somewhere along the way. A little judicious bending corrected the issue.

I have enjoyed this forum for years. It's been a great help and source of knowledge, and every once in a while I get to contribute my small sliver of knowledge. And then there's the banter and occasional smoke bomb. (Haven't had a knock-down, drag out fight for several years, thanks to the monitors.) We all have to consider that the printed word can be taken differently from the writer's intent, especially when the opinions get a little heated. And thanks to the administrator and monitors for keeping us on track.

Some guys put in a vacuum reservoir, to keep the vacuum wipers going during acceleration. I think the late, great Don Coatney did that. Some cars had a vacuum pump as part of the fuel pump.

Just as a test, try starting off in the "Drive" mode, and see if it slips out of gear shifting from 3rd to 4th. (Give yourself [plenty of time to get up the hill.)