DonaldSmith

Oh, we're drifting away from the subject of the thread, but here goes: My Daughter got me a Zero Gravity card for Father's Day. It reminded her of me and my sense of humor. Man and boy at the checkout counter: Clerk: Sir, would you like the milk in a a bag?" Dad: "No, just leave it in the carton." Son: "Every. Single. Time."

TGIF: At work, I used to say, "Thank Goodness it's TGIF Friday!" It drove one of the secretaries mad. In the same vein, there's the International House of IHJOP Pancakes. It sets me off when someone says "VIN Number", so I outdo the redundancy. But I digress.

Any tank available locally that the metal wizards could modify to fit? Down under, Andy D has scrounged parts from other makers of vehicles, with names unfamiliar to us. Whatever works.

Why should I hang around with a bunch of smartasses? Because I love you guys, and I'm a smartass in my own right. I'll continue to vicariously wrench with you guys, and chip in when appropriate, or when inappropriate. My mind is still sound, and I'm healthy, aside from limitations in activities. Although I'm beginning to worry about myself. I turned right the other day, and found my left turn signal on.

I've had my 47 DeSoto Suburban for the last 20 years, and have had some good times. But chronic back problems spoil the fun. I anticipate no improvement in my back problems, which rule out heavy lifting, and limit standing and walking to ten minutes before a mandatory sit-down. Plus I've suffered a big hit to patience and perseverance. Routine maintenance is difficult, dreaded and delayed. The car runs, but roughly. I'm not up to troubleshooting it, but it should be no challenge for the gurus on this forum. The car needs maintenance, some minor body work, and minor items on the frozen-in-time to-do list. More details in the Classifieds. I pegged the asking price somewhere between Number 3 and Number 4, negotiable, of course. I think I will continue to lurk on this site, and chime in occasionally.

Y not?

Lock and Stitch was used to repair the dome of the US capitol building. (Trivia: The city is Capital; the hill, building and its dome are Capitol, after the Capitoline hill in Rome.)

A first series '49 Mopar looks just like a 46-48 Mopar. It took a while to get the newer models in production, so they kept making the older style for a while.

Per my DeSoto Manual, Gauge C-705 is for the post-war Mopars, S-11, to first series '49. (I made mine from foamboard, per the downloadable template.) Gauge C-853 is for Second Series '49, and '50 (S-13 and S-14). Someone needs to download a template for the latter gauge

So, Knuckleharley is a COF. (New acronym?) We appreciate and cherish our COFs; they give character and depth to life. Knuckleman, you have a handle on life. Enjoy it to the most.

My 47 DeSoto Suburban is 67.5 inches high, and that includes the roof rack. Your 40 Plymouth isn't going to be that high.

When the engine is cold, a bimetallic spring within the Sisson choke partially closes the choke plate in the carb. While the starter is engaged, the Sisson choke electrically closes the choke plate an additional extent. Once the engine is started, it doesn't need this additional choking; as the engine warms up, the bimetallic spring gradually opens the choke plate completely. The starter solenoid incorporates a heavy-duty switch to connect power from the battery to the starter. Now, as I'm looking at the engine end of the starter solenoid, the lower right post is the "hot" post, connecting the cable from the battery to the heavy duty switch inside the solenoid housing. This post also connects other circuits to the battery: formerly red wire to circuits at the instrument panel, and formerly green-and-black wire to the horn relay. The upper right post has the formerly black-and-yellow wire from the starter switch. This powers the solenoid windings. The upper left post provides the ground to the solenoid windings. This post has a formerly brown wire going to the to the generator, or if an alternator replaces the generator, this wire goes to a convenient ground. (When the engine is running, the generator does not provide a ground, saving accidental engagement of the starter. Clever.) The lower left post connects the other side of the heavy-duty internal switch to the Sisson choke. This is where you connect your Sisson wire. Pressing the starter switch provides power to the upper right post, and through the solenoid windings to the ground at upper left. This energizes the solenoid winding and closes the internal switch. This connects the power from the battery (lower right post) to the starter itself, which is grounded to the engine, and to the Sisson choke (lower left post), which is grounded to the manifold.

Would a Cadillac convertible have a painted dash, but the other models would be woodgrained, as was the Mopar practice?

and 5 mpg more.

Has the front end been lowered, or is something broken? No bid deal, though. Just another thing to fix. .

Now, it's important, when fabricating an over-center spring gauge, to exercise the utmost care and precision. Try not to get the Elmer's glue on your fingers. Foamboard. it worked. x

Maybe it's an early version of coax cable - prevent radio static.

I would expect the generator to be attached to the bracket with a short bolt front and rear. If someone used a long bolt from the front, removing it would hit the radiator. However, if that's the case, check out the two bolts that connect the generator bracket to the engine block. These can be removed from under the car, freeing the generator and bracket.

A few years ago, I added power steering to my 47 DeSoto, using a GM power steering gearbox instead of the Mopar unit. No rack-and-pinion transplant to the suspension. No loss of the column-mounted shifter. But I had to cut the steering column under the hood, and add U-joints, add a horn grounding brush to the steering column under the dashboard, added a pulley on the crank for a power steering pump, and of course, added a power steering pump with a mounting frame for tightening the belt. A real cobble job, but it works. Electric power steering was available at a price, but could not be put under the hood. That would screw up the column shifting. Maybe someone makes an electric unit that can live under the hood. Splice it into the steering column, and done.

Wraparound windshield - 55.

If a windshield wiper motor were to go the other way, would the wipers, instead of going back and forth, go forth and back? Maybe they would park pointing up instead of across?

The step-up piston, on the left of Kennyc35's photo, has some function at speed. James Douglas stated some time ago that ethanol in the gas can corrode this piston, inhibiting its function. I found that this piston in my carburetor has some corrosion. Every few years I take the top off the carburetor and make sure that this piston is free. I don't know if this is contributing to the problem at hand.

Mine is acting screwy , too.

139.5" wheelbase. 225.3" length. It just fits in my garage. 3,974 lb. curb weight. The long wheelbase sedans were 18 inches longer than the regular sedans. The doors were 9 inches longer. I believe that the front door is the same as in a two-door sedan. The top edge begins to drop down. The back doors, unique to the long-wheelbase sedans, are curved to match. The trunk lid is a bit heavy to heft. The wood-grain Bakelite liner adds some weight. (By the way, Bakelite is not Bake plus light, it's named after a guy named Bakel, who developed this phenolic, thermosetting product more than a hundred years ago. So it's Bakel -ite. But we pronounce it Bake -Lite. "Thermoplastic" materials soften and melt when they get hot; "thermmosetting" materials, like Formica and other plastic laminates, do not soften and melt; they scorch and stink. Phenolic sheets and other products have been used as electrical insulators for ages.

The post-war DeSoto Suburban had the trunk open to the cabin, so there was no space for the usual big springs that counterbalance the lid. So, struts were used. Open the lid and the struts click locked. Raise the lid some more, and the locks retract. That's the way they are supposed to work. Sometimes one strut will lock and the other won't. Raise the lid to release the one strut and the other one locks. It takes some artful twisting of the lid to counteract this and get both struts in sinc. I've been tempted to use gas struts instead of the mechanical ones. To-do list. James Douglas did this to his Suburban. My lid still has the Bakelite liner, so its weight would have to be figured in.