DonaldSmith

When I turned 80, I didn't feel that old. When I turned 81, I began to feel that old. Everything hurts, thankfully not all at once. The other day, nothing hurt at all. I felt like I was 65 again. I find that I can still put in a full day's work - it just takes me a week or two. The mother of four next door mentioned that she was going to turn 40. She knew what I was thinking, ah, to be 40 again. She said, "You've already been forty again." That's all i have to say about that.

Rex52, the innards of your steeering wheel look different than the DeSoto versions. I wonder if you have parts missing. (In the steering wheel, that is.) In the center, I see the horn wire sticking through a kiind of cap. Then the hollow steering shaft, a gap, and a maroon round thing to which the horn ring is attached. I see nothing that would contact the horn wire. We need more help from the 52 Plymouth experts.

Here's my 47 DeSoto horn ring, etc. A cover is held on with screws on the backside (the side facing the windshield). The cross bar has tubular things that go through the plastic wheel and are attached to the hornring on the backside. (My wheel has the third leg, attaching to the bottom of the horn ring.) Now, before you separate the horn ring from the cross bar, make sure that the horn is not powered. Behind the crossbar is the magic thing that makes the horn honk. The brass thingie behind the cross bar is connected to the ground wire that runs through the steering shaft to complete the circuit to the horn relay. The thingie contacts the spring, which is grounded to the steering column. The cross bar has lugs on the back that push the spring away from the thingie, keeping the horn from blowing. The lugs provide an even pressure, unless the horn ring is pushed. Then the spring contacts the thingie, and the horn blows. f

The Previous Owner put in DOT 5 when he redid the brakes, many yeers ago. I figure I'll keep wtih it unless and until the brakes get ccmpletely redone. A few years ago. our 2008 Ford was recalled because there was reason to believe that the the DOT 3 had allowed some sensor to corrode. The dealer checked the sensor, replaced it if necessary, flushed the system, and put in DOT 4. Like the man said, DOT 3 and DOT 4 are compatible. But DOT 4 must be better for some reason.

Are you ever tempted to put a life-size manniquin of Alfred E. Newman (What, me worry?) in the usual left-side driver's position? Or have a large dog sit there?

I looked up "catch as catch can" on the internet, but it didn't tell me what a catch can is. But the guys 'splained it to me. (Keeping it light-hearted.)

I've heard "catch as catch can", but what is a "catch can"?

The points are what ground the coil, to make the spark.

I've got to imagine that 6v and 12v sockets are different, considering the many years cars of both voltages were commmon and they didn't want a lighter of the wrong voltage to damage the socket. If you need a 12v socket for your lights, get one at the local auto store.

My battery tender has a 6-volt setting.

A photo of the Optima battery shows the positive post to the right when the "Optima Battery label is read right Maybe your pics will show whichway the label reads.

The light tube is to light the glove box and ash tray on an S-11 DeSoto. It's wired with the clock light and the other dash lights. The round thing is the back of the clock. Its light socket is barely visivle behind the socket-light tube. The light socket for the glove box is at the foreforont. It's light tube descends to the ash tray, the rectangle at the bottom of the picture. This socket needs that shabby ground wire, since the glove box is non-metallic cardboard

Mzy be Victorinox (maker of the Swiss Army Knife) makes knives to order, with the customer's logo. I spent my youth making Pocket Protectors, many of whicn were imprinted with the customer's logo.

The tri-bar is the "thingie", of which I spoke. The dark brown thing is the hub and spokes of the steering wheel, which are plastic and isolated from ground. As pictured, the spring is in contact with the tri-bar thingie, to which the horn wire is connected. Completed circuit, horn soundsconstantly. The shiny metal thing, the horn ring, has lugs in itw back side, to hold the spring down. The steering wheel and the horn ring cover are plastic, so the horn ring is isolated from ground. What's missing is a center piece to push the horn ring and its lugs against the spring, breaking the contact. The horn ring spends most of its life pushing evenly against the spring. Push or pull the horn ring and the lug or lugs opposite where you push will pull back, allowing the spring to make contact - honk.

With the horn ring setup,there is a big spring that is grounded, that tries to contact a metal thingie where the horn wire is connected. The horn ring itself is isolated from ground, and has lugs that push the large spring away from the thingie. When the ring is pushed, it rocks back from the spring, opposite from where it is pushed, allowing the spring to make contact and blow the horn. Horn rings are counterintuitive. You would think push to make contact, like maybe a horn button, but in reallity, it's push evenly to keep from making contact. Disurb this evenness, like pushing the ring in one place, and contact is made.

My 2011 Enclave, with all-wheel drive, needs all four tires the same diameter, or the differentials make the computer crazy, or everything wears out, or something bad happens. If I mount a compact spare, the computer is supposed to figure it out, and disconnects the rear drive.

Fess up. hep2jive, is that really your picture? Recent? or 60 years ago?

Baed on my one year of mechanical knowledge repeated sixty times, I would opine: Valve job needed: Low compression in one or more cylinders. Vacuum gauge needle swinging widely in sync with engine speed. Magical suction test at the exhaust pipe, with dollar bill alternately blown out and sucked back.

The litle dog laughed to see such a sport...

Slap a little joint compund on that hole and call it a day. The house equivalent of "It'll buff out."

Dodge limo? We need photos! How come the front running lights are blacked out? Or do they flash red while some foreign dignitary parades by? Dodge limos have to be rare. I heard that foreign countries would tax horse power, so a Dodge, with the Plymouth-Dodge 23-nich engine, would be taxed less than a DeSoto with the larger DeSoto-Chrysler engine.

I'm an excellent driver. But not everyone thinks so. Visitng my daughter's parish, the epistle and sermon were about us all being part of the Mysical Body, all of us with different functions but part of the same body. After Mass, on the way out, I told Father that sometimes when I am driving, people suggest what part of the body I am. He laughed.

My photo is looking across the engine at the transmission relay. (The Voltage regulator was to the right of, or in front of, the transmission relay.) Upper left is TH. Looking doen on the relay, top left would be BAT with the fuse, top right would be TH. Afrermarket relay? Huh?

Here's a photo of the transmission relay: TH (Yellow to carb) BAT PRI SOL INT

How about "Kickdown Circuit for M5? The kickdown circuit goes from the kickdown switch at the carb (yellow wire) to the TH post on the transmission relay and to the governor at the transmission. The kickdown swiurch is at the back of the carburetor and is acturated by the throttle linkage and grounds the circuit. Normally, the transmission downshifts when the governor senses that the speed has dropped below a certain point. The kickdown circuit overrides this, to shift at a higher speed. I forget what the circuit does within the transmission relay. The shop manual shows the circuits and the functions. In the meantime you can connect the wires and get the transmisison to downshift when you floor it.