Jump to content

DonaldSmith

Members
  • Posts

    2,439
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    24

Everything posted by DonaldSmith

  1. I've been wrapping wires with regular, cheap black plastic electrician's tape, only to have a gummy mess later, when I have to undo some of it. Cheap adhesive on cheap tape. The existing wires were wrapped with a plastic tape without adhesive, with the ends tucked under the previous lap. Friction tape - hmm. Or maybe someone has found a premium electrician's tape that doesn't get gummy. (Do electricians have wire nuts? They would look at you funny if you ask.)
  2. Salt on the roads eats cars, but I'm sure it saves lives. I've got my DeSoto sequestered in the garage till Spring when the roads are clear of salt. Sometimes I'll venture out early, after a few good rains wash the salt away.
  3. People will be able to text safely, while the car does the driving.
  4. Someone developed a parking assist package for a Cadillac, with the spare tire mounted in the trunk to drop down and move the rear of the car side to side. This Continental version seems simpler and woud require less modification of the car. Now there is a self-parking feature in some cars. What will they think of next? Automatic braking at obstacles? Self driving cars?
  5. I think that your exhaust pipe is hitting something as it vibrates with the car is in gear, the clutch out and the brakes on. Your muffler pipe hangers incorporate a flexible strap to isolate vibrations. Maybe the hangers are not installed correctly.
  6. Who should help you get it there? Ralph, Ralph.
  7. Could it be that someone put 12 volt bulbs in a 6 volt system? You can buy 12 volt bulbs almost anywhere, but they would be very dim. Yes, take a bulb out and check the model number.
  8. Before the age of large rubber tires, tractors had lugs on steel wheels, as seen in Pflaming's post above. I remember seeing old road signs that read: "Tractors with lugs not allowed on pavement" One could imagine why.
  9. When walking down the aisle of a store, or a church, or whatever, I keep to the right of someone approaching. Of course, in the good ol' USA, we drive on the right side of the road. You chaps across the pond and in Oz, you mates with the steering wheel on the right side of your cars, when someone is heading toward you in the aisle, which side do you go to? Inquiring miinds need to know.
  10. Usually, for an old bulb, you push down and turn counterclockwise, until the bulb separates from the base. Then you remove the base with needle nose pliers. But it's a burnt-out bulb anyway. You might want to put bulb grease on the new bulb, so it will come out easily forty years from now.
  11. Dpollo said that the Spitfire head would lower the compression ratio, and stated some bore and stroke dimensions. I guess I don't understand. Don't the pistons rise to be level with the top of the block, regardless of bore and stroke? I can see different heads having different combustion chamber volumes. I could see a problem with a head cast for a small bore, but used with a large bore. The pistons might kiss the head at the edges of the combustion chambers.
  12. Is 4-4.5 volts the generator output at idle speed? Generators need rpms to have adequate output. That's the advantage of alternators. They have good output even at idle speeds.
  13. My son works on computer systems for a company that does invenory control. They back up very frequently. Some employee opened malware, thinking it was from someone within the company, and the compnay was faced with a ransom demand. My son merely restored the most recent back-up and deleted the data with the embedded malware, avoiding paying ransom. Further, he instituted a way of determining whether a message was truly coming from someone within the company or from the outside. Smart boy.
  14. Some jurisdictions prohibited entering or exiting a car from the traffic side. The driver had to slide over the seat to or from the passenger door. So the key lock was on the passenger side.
  15. It seems that a PO had a modern ignition lock in my 47 DeSoto, which I replaced with a '40s lock. You could wire a modern lock to turn the key all the way clockwise to start the engine, and/or use the starter button.
  16. $1.80? How much is that in Canadian? (Just kidding. Canadian nickels would work just fine.)
  17. Is the device in question mounted on the cowl? The voltage regulator is usually on the inner left fender. This device looks like my NOS headlight relay, which I mounted on the cowl, but a bit higher. Two wires from the dimmer switch under the floor, some power wires, and a high beam and low beam wire.
  18. Get an inverter with ample amperage rating, to power a 12 V pump from a 6 V system.
  19. Oh, I thought that the Energizer Bunney was quitting his job to start a new line of cosmetics. According to the internet, that's what all the stars are doing. But It's a scam. To get your free sample, you pay shipping and handling with your credit card, and agree to the small print. Gotchya! Soon you get unwanted products delivered and your charge account dinged accordingly. Nothing is free.
  20. Never had the lead spring wrappings. Springs squeaked. Disassembled and greased the springs; squeaks came back. Then I bought spring liners from one of the on-line speed shops. Photo shows the liners in place as I was adding lowering blocks.
  21. The basics is the connection of the cables to the battery. Positive ground, cable from (+) post to engine block. Negative ground, cable from (-) post to block. The wiring loom doesn't know the difference. Certain polarity-sensitive accessories, like the radio, will know. The coil shoild have the polarity as marked. This may be an oversimplification, but it's the place to start.
  22. Adding another alternator would require some pulley and belt work, just as adding power steering or air conditioning. It could be done, and has been done. Electrically, I don't see a problem with a separate 12-volt system. But maybe could use a 6-volt to 12-volt inverter to power the electronics, if they do not draw too much current. Remember that the 6-volt side would require more than double the amperage of the 12-volt side, so you would need adequate wiring and fuse or breaker. I had a 12-volt pusher fan and a jury-rigged second battery to get the 12 volts. I replaced the pusher fan with a 6-volt unit, and deleted the second battery. Then I added an inverter for cellphones, GPS devices, etc. So far, so good.
  23. The diagram does not show power to the dimmer switch. (Maybe it's understood; existing power circuit.)
  24. I still have the bottle of lead substitute that I bought 15 years ago when I first got my 47 DeSoto. (Newby exuberance - buy whatever the car might need.) Then I read on this forum that the valve seats are hardened, and these engines don't need Ethyl gas, or a lead substitute.
  25. Deep in our family history is the tale of the time our father ran out of gas in his 47 DeSoto Suburban full of kids. We were traveling at night, and the nearest gas station was closed. My dad borrowed a small, enameled potty chair, and headed to the station. He returned with the potful of the necessary essence to get the car running. Then he proceeded to the station, and since the pump was left on, he filled the tank. Being an honest man, he slipped the dollar and change under the door of the station.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Terms of Use