DonaldSmith

From my powee steering report: "I decided to replace my manual steering gearbox with a readily available power steering gearbox. This would allow me to keep the steering pitman arm and tie rods. "I verified that the pinion shaft on the manual box was 1-1/4-inch diameter at the root, with 40 splines (Four of the splines are flattened, so that the pitman arm for various applications is in one of four positions.)"

The metal channels, which I primed in a blue color, have teeth on the backside, to catch the edge of the headliner fabric that is pushed up behind the channels. x x

Years ago, i removed my seal and recoated it. I slit the seal to remove it, and coated it with tool handle dip. Looks good enough from a distance. I also did the door sills, but the tool dip has been peeling.

Years ago, I cut a notch in the wiper blade connectors, to receive the hooked arms. (The white arrow is new; I could use more practice with the editing.)

At the generator (alternator) bracket, I replaced the water pump bolt with a stud and nuts, so that I wouldn't compromise the water seal when adjusting the belt tension. A nut and lock washer on the stud secure the pump housing, and another nut loosely holds the adjustment bracket. I drilled through the stud for a cotter pin to keep the loose nut from backing off too much.

The "Enjoy quick starting..." promotional artwork took some artistic liberties? I only see five spark plugs and five spark plug wires. There are strange white blobs, where the spark plug would be, at the wires coming out of the tube, and at the distributor cap. Maybe the Ever-Dry works for 5 out of 6 spark plugs.

My neighbor has forbidden me to get on the roof. A few years ago he saw me upon the roof, and shouted, "Are you crazy?" I answered, "I may be crazy but I'm persistent." This neighbor will give me a hand where I need it. And I lend him tools and advice. We have keys to each other's house. HIs kids own our driveway, yards, and screened porch. That's being a neighbor.

I see it's the somewhat rare Town Sedan, with the rear doors hinged at the front, like modern cars.

I lost a hubcap from my DeSoto on the way to the 2003 DeSoto convention. Days later I searched the roadside with no luck. I put an ad in the National DeSoto Club magazine, and got a hit. One of the home owners along the road found the hubcap and notified a fellow employee who was in the club. Reunited with my hubcap, I sent the home owner an club member a DeSoto mug. I since marked the back of each hubcap with my name, address and phone number.

It helps to think that whatever we engineer (cobble) is really a prototype. A prototype is "try it and see", and re-engineer (re-cobble) it later, based on what we find has to change. The only difference between us and the world of commerce is that we don't make a billion units based on what we learned from the prototype. We do have this forum, however, so that others can benefit from our experience. And, somehow, we're having fun in the process.

The hinges are spec grade stainless steel, but without bearings. Rust-resistant, but low frequency. I drilled a set screw into each pin, for security. The door sags noticeably, but there is a "ramp" to raise the door as it closes. I open the door a few times a year, to break it free if necessary. Once, the three-year-old neighbor girl saw the sign and read, "Exit!" The neighbor kids are fascinated by the window, especially when I open it and yell at them in their yard. The neighbor kids own our front screened porch. It's sometimes a hair salon, and sometimes a dentist office. With the patient reclined in the anti-gravity chair, the "dentist" proclaims, "Let's see if you're ready for braces." Our driveway, three cars wide at the garage, is their race course, for skates, bikes, and battery-powered kid-size cars. Our front yard is a gymnasium in season, for cartwheels and other feats. After a few inches of snow, the yard was a bobsled course, with mother and oldest daughter pulling the youngest daughter and the youngest, a boy. (The second-in-line daughter was probably inside reading, or doing piano lessons.) And they all enjoy the basement rec-room, with an array of Fisher-Price toys for the younger ones, and puzzles to challenge all of them. My son says that these kids are our surrogate grandkids.

So nobody is taking the bait: "How do you fit through an 8 by 16 vent in your glass block window?" The Secret: I thought it was so clever that I sent photos to Pittsburgh-Corning. No word back, yet.

I know that my exit window doesn't meet code. Each minimum dimension and the minimum total area has to be such that a fireman (or firewoman) can go through the opening with a SCUBA tank on the back.

Several years ago, I re-glazed my basement windows with glass blocks. Knowing that all livable spaces in a basement are required by code to have a secondary exit route, I provided an exit window. I was much smaller then, but I can still get out that window.

Try Summit Racing instead of Speedway. Search "adjustable mechanical brake switch". Should show a KICBKSW, $21.99.

Try Speedway 1107.

Hydraulic brake switch failed more than once. Installed a mechanical switch on my 47 Desoto, under the floor. I cut a subpanel out of the large removable floor panel, to get at the brake switch and the bulb for the Jiffy Jet windshield washer. The photo shows the large panel removed and the subpanel in place. The mechanical switch has an arm riding on the brake pedal arm.

Maybe the front track is wider than the rear track?

Yes, ground the brown wire that went to the A post. This was Walter's scheme to keep the starter from running when the engine is running. Normally, the solenoid can be grounded through the generator field. But when the generator is running, the back current, whatever it is called, prevents this grounding. You can ground the wire closer to the solenoid, at some convenient point. Remember your star washers, kids. (Excellent for grounding through paint layers.)

As I remember from my motor rebuild a dozen years ago, the pump gears are helical, so that if you line up the slot of the shaft. and insert the pump, the shaft rotates a bit. So you have to anticipate that rotation. I saw the instructions somewhere in the shop manual. But now I can't find it.

I could have that nut off in 10 minutes! (After my back gets over the aches and pains of old age.) Do I hear five minutes? five minutes? ... anyone?

To check if the ammeter is wired right, turn something on while the the motor is off, so that the generator and regulator are not in play. The ammeter needle should go to the minus side.

How to get a massive charge every ten seconds, with the motor off? Is the ammeter connected correctly? Or is it showing an intermittent discharge as a charge? Then what would draw so many amps? Every ten seconds or so?

Isn't the steering wheel centered by adjusting the tie rods? The steering wheel only fits on the shaft one way.

Photos of dryer vent - exhaust connection. Lots of beating and muffler sealer at the transition to the exhaust pipe. Short piece of pipe fits over exhaust pipe.