DonaldSmith

Ignition switch: COIL: short post, single wire to (-) post of coil. Hot only when key is turned clockwise. Long post: Accessories, powered only when the key is turned counterclockwise (or anti-clockwise in the Commonwealth) or clockwise. The other short post: Power from the ammeter, always hot; hot power to other devices. That's enough for now. My head hurts just trying to remember what wire went where. Ask me about other devices when you get to them.

Ammeter: Post near the left end of the dash: (right side of photo, wires hidden from view) Power from same starter solenoid post as the (-) cable from the battery. Power wire to the cigar lighter, so that the lighter does not draw through the ammeter. The other post of the ammeter is power to various places: White wire to the headlight switch circuit breaker. Black wire back to the voltage regulator (or to the alternator if the generator was replaced.) Brown wire to the always-hot post of the ignition switch. (Added wires, yellow to added headlight relay, various wires to other accessories to be always powered.)

The various devices have cryptic letters to suggest which wire goes where. Here's the headlight switch: A Power wire goes to the end of the circuit breaker. Power may come from a hot post on some other device, like the ignition switch. "H" goes to the headlight dimmer switch on the floor. "R" goes the tail lights. "A" goes to the (correction:) to the front fender lights. Post of the circuit breaker nearest the switch: automatic door switches and map light switch and to the stop signal switch. "D" goes to the dash light dimmer switch (ya, I know, dim, dimmer and off). I'll dig up photos of other devices. Another view of the headlight switch; red wires to stop switch and map light switches:

They'll probably make maybe fifty of those suckers! I know what you're thinking. I mean Tuckers.

The steering wheel is on the right. Maybe that Richards guy built the body.

Carbs worked fine until EPA regulations called for extreme tuning. I had an 80-s Datsun that would not want to start and run. And the idle screws on the carburetor were gummint-sealed to prevent intervention. Fuel injection to the rescue - and computers. Nowadays, a car will idle all day, which my son found out after work one day.

DIY window roller spring: (The safety pin gave me the idea, but I used a binder clip spring. The broken spring is under the invisible tape, which you can sort of see. Crude, but the DIY spring works.)

That looks like a right-handed handle; extremely rare! Maybe it's for something else in a station wagon besides the front seat. Now, the right-handed steering-wheel cars must have a right-handed seat handle. The middle seat of my DeSoto Suburban has a handle on each side, both chrome. Photo:

When a added an alternator to my 47 DeSoto, I grounded the brown wire. This now means that I can grind the starter with the engine on - no longer foolproof. If I were concerned, I could rig up an oil pressure shutoff switch, like I did for my electric fuel pump.

Vintage gas caps - be sure any replacement cap is vented, otherwise the engine will eventually stop, and opening the cap will produce a sucking sound. So let that be a lesson to you. Modern gas caps - sealed system, with some sort of carbon vapor trap at the engine to let air in and capture any vapor trying to escape. With this type of gas cap, be sure to close it firmly, at least three clicks, or else your engine light will come on and the car will not start remotely. I heard that on the internet some time ago, and verified it for myself just now. A few days ago I filled the gas tank, and must have given the cap just a lick and a promise. Th engine light came on, and the car would not start remotely these last few days (and it's cold! out). After my new Harbor Freight code reader refused to work, I set up an appointment for next week to have the code read by an expert, and the problem fixed. But, acting on a hunch, I tightened the cap this morning before running some errands. No engine light! Car starts remotely. "Honey, I startled the car!" So let that be a lesson to you.

Who sharted!?

Is that Ed Norton (Art Carney), popping put of the sewer?

Internet-guided repairs: Panasonic microwave, replaced the fuse, hardware store cheap. Honey, I fixed the microwave. Computer flat screen monitor, replaced condensers per internet kit. Still going strong. Neighbor's Odessey van, helped neighbor replace sliding door rollers each side, 30 bucks each, vs $350 dealer charge, per door. Retired my HP Laserjet printer, memory problem. (The computer's memory, not mine.) Baked the circuit board in the oven, per internet suggestion. I still have to connect the printer to a second computer to tee if it worked; worth a shot.

Christmas photo, car in the snow. (I'm cheating; the car got caught in a March snowfall years ago.) It needs a big red bow on it. Are car advertisers on to something, touting cars with seasonal trappings? Would you buy a car because it's Christmas, or Presidents Day? Oh, ya. Merry Christmas!

The chickens throw snowballs at the cows?

Long ago, I got some old seat tracks and disassembled them, to get balls to install in my track, Here, from the distant past: From the distant past: seat track 2005, 12/10 DonaldSmith Thanks to steve m, OXU762X29@aol.com for sending seat track, some door cylinders and door strike. Mailing token of appreciation. Used ball bearings from his track. Description: Track formed from two heavy gauge pieces, "CL" shape, with top of C touching the L. Pieces rotated 180 degrees to each other, forming two outer races for small ball bearings and middle race for large ones. Each end has two small bearings and one large one. Travel of small balls limited by indentations in track. Travel of large balls restricted by heads of bolts to the seat, and heads of rivets that attach track to base that bolts to floor. Disassembly: Remove lever from the handle on side of seat to latch under track. Drill out rivet that connects lever to latch. Slide track toward each extreme position, and push out upper bolts at ends. Drill out 4 rivets that attach base to track, making room for large ball to move. (If large balls do not come out, drive large balls to center of track, to provide slack for popping out small balls. 3/8 drive extension works well. Small balls visible in their race. Use large screwdriver or similar to pry tracks apart and pop the balls out. With small balls out, the pieces will separate, releasing the large balls.) Assembly: Sort of reverse of disassembly. Connect track to base with No. 10 machine screws at two middle holes. Leave end holes open. Grease the race surfaces of track. Grease four small balls to hold them in place. Slip two pieces of track together. Tape them, so they won't separate. Drive large ball in each end. Slide track toward each extreme, and install seat bolt and the end bolt to the base. Draw seat bolt home with nut and washer, so square end fits in square hole. Edited typos

Don Coatney put a 25-inch DeSoto engine in his Plymouth. Doable, but radiator gets moved and cross member gets wallowed out.

What about timing the engine to maximum vacuum at idle? I put in a Pertronix system and the car ran awful. I rotated the distributor till I got the max vacuum and it runs fine. But I discovered that the timing marks are way off. I think my vibration dampener has slipped. Oh, ya. I was going to take it off this Fall and send it to the damper doctor (?). Didn't get a round tuit. Another "Oh, ya". Make sure the distributor alignment is close to where it should be, 6th cylinder TOC measurements and all. In my labors, I got the distributor off one tooth, and a backfire blew out the muffler. Loud! The sound stayed with me for a half hour. I just wanted to tell you ... Good luck; we're all counting on you.

Regarding the condition of that U-haul trailer, I had heard or read somewhere that U-Haul never sells used trailers, but scraps them. So if a trailer has "U-Haul" painted over, it's stolen.

Restoration Specialties.

Here's my 47 DeSoto with an alligator hood. The chunk of rubber is to fill in the recess for the butterfly hoods on the Dodges. I have such a chunk of rubber somewhere; now I know where it goes.

I found that GM boxes had the right size pitman shaft. I got a Cardone remanufactured box, listed for a 1970 Pontiac Safari. There may be other boxes that would do as well or better. I have a six-chapter report on my power steering project.. Send me a PM if you want me to send the electronic files.

I managed to put power steering in my 47 DeSoto. I kept the steering wheel, shaft and jacket. I terminated the jacket under the hood at the firewall, cut the shaft and extended it with U-joints to a new power steering box whose pitman shaft matched the existing pitman arm. I added a brush contact for the horn grounding wire. A added a crankshaft pulley and power steering pump. A lot of work and sweat, but it works sweet. Now, some of the guys would add a rack-and-pinion steering assembly with integral power steering. But they would still have to cut the column, add U-joints, and add a crankshaft pulley and power steering pump.

The Greyhound site says that they have a 100-lb limit. The freight goes in compartments under the floor.

How did the 30-cylinder tank engine handle oil for the 6-cylinder blocks that were on their sides?