DonaldSmith

Pertronix also sells a coil to be used with their igniter, and someone on the forum recommended particular spark plugs. Just to stir the pot.

Here's a prettier view of my carburetor heat shield, and my professionally rebuilt carburetor: (The black piping is my PCV system.) (The transmission wires were wrong; the trans wouldn't upshift.)

So, desoto 1939, you discovered my auxiliary battery! Plymouthy Adams recalls correctly. The main battery, by the left fender, has the thick cables. The auxiliary battery, by the right fender, powers my pusher fan and electronic gadgets, so it doesn't need the heavy cables. . (One problem is that I have to charge the auxiliary battery occasionally, and if I'm ever in a long parade, the pusher fan will start drawing down the auxiliary battery. Never satisfied, I have a 6 volt pusher fan on the way from Speedway. That would make the auxiliary battery too klunky for powering just a GPS and some cell phones.) (I started looking into a 12 volt mini alternator, and how to mount it to the right of the engine, and how to arrange a pulley and fan belt, but then I thought, I should have gone with a 6 volt pusher fan to begin with, so that's now the plan. A portable power pack can take care of GPSs and stuff.)

Here's a photo of my carburetor heat shield:

It's a good idea to put your name and contact information inside your hubcaps. Years ago, I lost a hubcap on the way to a DeSoto convention. Someone had seen the hubcap rolling away, some distance back from where he caught up with me. Later, and several times, I scoured both sides of the highway for miles, but didn't find the hubcap. I put an ad in the National DeSoto Club magazine. Someone had found the hubcap and contacted a co-worker who was a club member. Seeing the ad, the club member contacted me, and I was reunited with my hubcap. Then I put my name and phone number in each hubcap, just in case.

Does your transmission have wiring? (Must be semi-automatic or overdrive.) Per my previous posts about the Pertronix with a semi-automatic or overdrive, especially post #11, a resistor and wire are added to to the transmission wiring. This info was not in the installation instructions. I called Pertronix about wiring their ignitor for the Tip-Toe semi-automatic, and they gave me the specs and possible source for the appropriate resistor and told me where to wire it in. (Edited spelling of "they"; but you knew what I meant.)

Those "freeze plugs" are actually just plugs to seal the block after the casting sand is removed. That's what I've been told.

Leather universal joint boots? I never heard of a leather universal joint, but I guess it would work for a while. (Never mind; just making fun of English word order.)

If I'm apologizing too much, I'm sorry. File that with: They say I'm paranoid, but that's because they hate me. If this hijacks the thread, I'm somewhat sorry.

The M-5 has a removable cover over the filter. They must have saved 5 cents per unit on the M-6's. (The cover is that lozenge-shaped plate with two bolts, partially obscured by the parking brake cable fitting.) The M-6 has to have the cases separated. Bummer. Maybe I'll check my filter.

Can you be sure it's really Heavy DuhTOOoey?

It helps a lot to have a remote starter and ignition switch. I mounted a starter button and a toggle switch in bottom of a small can. A common wire, clipped to the battery hot post (negative for our positive ground cars), connects to both the starter button and the toggle switch. A wire from the button connects to the starter solenoid post that's connected to the car's starter button. A wire from the toggle switch clips to the hot post of the coil (negative post for our cars) that is wired to the car's ignition switch. This gizmo allows me to crank the engine while observing it, and even while having my thumb over the No. 1 spark plug hole. The toggle switch allows me to crank the engine without it trying to start, or to shut off the engine after running it under observation. The only oddity is that if you have left "on" any accessory that is controlled by the ignition switch, that accessory will turn on when you turn on the toggle switch. Not a big deal, but maybe a surprise.

You can be sure that No. 1 is at the top of the compression stroke by holding your thumb over the spark plug hole while you look at the rotor and crank the engine. It will be obvious whether the rotor is pointing to 7 o'clock or 1`o'clock when you feel the pressure on your thumb. (When you do this, have the coil disconnected, and of course, the plugs out, for easier cranking.) For several years after I got my car, the rotor pointed to 1 o'clock and the spark wires were deranged accordingly. Finally I took the bullsh by the horns and set things right.

If you are talking Second Series '49, probably not. The First Series would be the same at the 46 to 48, if the Plymouths are the same of the Dodges. My DeSoto manual shows the 49 box with the pitman shaft pointing sideways, with an arm clamped on for the drag link to a bell crank in the front. The pitman shaft has some sort of notch. My 47 DeSoto has the pitman shaft pointing down, with a splined end.

For the movies, they don't like cars with too much shine in the finish. The Happy days DeSoto Suburban had the top repainted, for less gloss. (And there were fluorescent lights inside, for the close shots.) (Sometimes when I drive my Suburban at a show, someone will call out "Howard Cunningham!) The Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum (guess what city that's in) has a Tucker replica made for the movie. It's fiberglass, on a Ford chassis, with painted chrome. Looks great on film.

If I tried to paint my car, I would begin with an image of perfection, and end with a series of compromises, The job would go from No. 1 Barrett-Jackson to No. 3, 20-footer, if I'm lucky. But there's much to say for 10-footers and even 20-footers. My car, with all its nicks and minor dings, is still an attention-grabber, and photographs very well.

I looked at the diagrams for the M6 transmission. The hydraulic circuit seems very simple. At low speed, a ball valve dumps the oil back into the case. Pump fast enough, and the pressure builds, the ball valve is pushed closed, and the transmission upshifts. Slow down, and the oil is dumped, and it downshifts. This is ignoring the solenoid. There is also a "shuttle valve" at the pump. I guess this is to relieve pressure at high speeds. So, one of these valves may be the culprit. That's my guess.

Does "dropping out of" 2nd or 4th mean that it upshifts, but then downshifts again? Just a note: Do you start off in 1st and have it upshift to 2nd? If so, why? 1st gear is "stump puller" gear. With the fluid coupling, the usual mode is to start off in 3rd and have it upshift to 4th. (This doesn't answer your problem, but that didn't stop me from chiming in on a tangential issue. That's the fun of this site.)

It's like the puzzle, to find the things different between two pictures. The first dashboard has the ash tray(?) on the right. The second has it on the left. Why would Chrysler make two different dashboards,and not just vary the level of accessories and decoration?

Power pole at fault - old lawsuit. A man's house was at a tee intersection, with a road stopping right in line with his house. He got tired of drunks driving into his house, so he put a large boulder in front of the house. A drunk drove into the boulder and suffered massive injuries. The plaintiff's lawyer argued that if the rock had not been placed there, his client would not have been so severely injured. If the rock were there as a force of nature, there would have been no case. Go figure.

He must have been in quite a skid. He didn't hit the pole head-on.

There is a procedure in the manual for replacing the ring gear, rather than replacing the entire fluid coupling.

From my previous post: "Driver and passengers would enter by the right door, and the driver would slide over." The girl might slide over to the middle of the bench seat. Remember bench seats?

In the old drays, some jurisdictions prohibited entering the car from the road side. Driver and passengers would enter by the right door, and the driver whould slide over. So why pay for a left door lock times X number of cars?

Oh, I get it.