DonaldSmith

So, the mystery is why the marks on the damper are so far off. Maybe something slipped. I suppose I could determine Top Dead Center to find out. I know the rotor will be pointing right, so I don't need the thumb-in-spark-plug-hole test. Just highest travel at the No.6 pipe plug. Meanwhile, some new NGK spark plugs are waiting for me at O'Reilly's. Easiest to turn the crank with the plugs out. I'm beginning to see a plan come together. The fallback is to set the timing by maximum vacuum at idle. Some guys recommend it. If so, I'm getting there. From 5 to 16, let's go for 20 or so.

Jeff, thanks for the tips. I'm beginning to like my car again. I gave you a "like this".

Last Fall, I installed the Pertronix ignition in my 47 DeSoto, and barely got the car running . Driveability stunk, or sucked, as the younguns say. The engine idled very slowly, yet it would not die. vrump ........vrump........vrump. Vacuum was only 5 inches. I figured the timing needed adjustment, But enough messing with it for the season. Today, I loosened the distributor bolts and found that the tube to the vacuum advance was keeping the distributor set where it was. I started the engine and pushed down on the tube, advancing the distributor and greatly improving the idle. So I advanced the distributor (rotating clockwise, right?) by an imprecise amount. Idling is good, driveability is good, and the vacuum is up to 16 inches. Room for improvement, of course. So, maybe the secret to the Pertronix installation is to rotate the distributor clockwise, as in advancing the timing. (But since the igniter is not where the points were, maybe the timing was way off.) But the timing marks seem to show the timing retarded.(?) I still have to figure this out. As seen from the front, the crank and pulley rotate clockwise, and the marks are past the pointer when the timing light fires. But the car is running much better. I've forgotten more about auto maintenance than most people know. But the problem is that I have forgotten more about auto maintenence than I need to know.

I mounted my electric fuel pump on the frame rail ahead of the rear axle, in line with the existing fuel line.

There's probably an 1838 Studebaker in a museum somewhere. (horse-drawn)

In a television version of "Death of a Salesman", Lee J. Cobb the salesman waxed exuberantly about his life on the road, how he would crank open the windshield of his Studebaker, and just take in the breeze. But this was the 50's, and windshields did not crank open any more. The salesman was beginning to lose it.

I googled 33 Studebaker, and the cars looked just like this one.

Milton Berle had a schtick where someone would scold someone else, and would say "Look ashamed!" The dog and those guys would qualify for the "Look ashamed" look.

If one wheel is on the ground, the other wheel will rotate twice as much. For a 3.7 ratio, 3.7 revolutions of the drive shaft will produce not one, but two revolutions of the free wheel.

I guess that the hole in the front is for drilling holes through the case and inserting a shift rail or similar part, during assembly. Why put in a freeze plug if a simple gasket will work?

I believe the Checker had a pivoting rear section of the roof, all metal. Pivot open, pivot closed. The DeSoto cab had a metal frame around on the rear door windows, probably to keep exuberant passengers from breaking the glass by leaning out. The New York cabs were specially fitted out.

It works well to send a personal PM message (yes, I know it's redundant) if you are going to take issue with someone. The response may be that there is not so much an issue, when you understand the other fellow's point of view. (If you disagree with me, to heck with you. Nasty PM to follow.)

Dad's new 1947 DeSoto Suburban, blackwalls, white trim rings - (Pardon the fuzzy photo; but you can get a good view of the front wheel and tire.)

I think the primary purpose of junction blocks was for sub-assembly of the car. I'm sure that Briggs had the body pre-wired, especially considering that the wires to the rear were run behind the headliner. I'm guessing that the dash was a separate assembly (installed by Briggs or by Chrysler?). Then came the chassis with engine, and the doghouse, on the Chrysler assembly line.

Good advice on checking the two wires to the carburetor, to make sure they run to the right places. Maybe this belongs to the "stupid is as stupid does" thread, but on my car I had the two wires switched, and things didn't seem to work right. A major "Duhhhh!"

If your car stops running, and there is a great sucking sound when you open the gas cap, you may have a problem. The problem has been posted before. My 47 DeSoto has a vent tube along the filler tube (it whistles when I put the gas in, until the gas gets to toe the top of the filler tube). And the cap is vented.

If I were driving where you were, I would have to have the upholstery cleaned.

As I remember, the windlace tacks into a tack strip along the edge of the door frame. First, the edge of the headliner has to be worked out of the metal retainer strips and then the retainer strips have to be removed. The best photo I have shows the windlace at the windshield and a the door top. The photo shows the windlace stapled at the windshield, but the retainer strip covers the tack area over the door.

Some stainless steel alloys are non-magnetic, some are.

The choke plate linkage sets the fast idle cam. But to do so, the throttle position has to be somewhat open. That's why we push the pedal halfway down before starting. A few photos of my professionally-rebuilt Carter B&B:

Maybe he can't remember. Sorry. Danger, Will Robinson! We are approaching a danger field bordering on politics (minimum wage) and unintended nuances. Party of the first part: "What we have her is a failure to communicate." Party of the Second Part: "(I wonder what he meant by that)?

The voltage regulator is not regulating. Or else the battery is really run down and needs a healthy charge.

So happy for you! Jump up and down and shout! (Honk your horn!) It really feels good to finally solve a perplexing problem. And your solution will live on in this forum's vast pool of knowledge and experience.

One other wild goose chase: When the end of the spring is pushed in one spot, does the spring tilt freely? It should. When the horn ring is pushed, it's supposed to let up on part of the spring, allowing it to tilt and contact the plate. ("Plate" is what the diagram calls what I started calling the gizmo. I have an exploded diagram of the Plymouth steering wheel assembly, but it's pretty small.) Gee, that enlarges enough when clicked.

In post No 36, Dodgeb4ya said: "I will have to take one apart to see how it grounds. "I know that 1948 wheels ground different than 1950 wheels and same goes for 1951-52 chrysler wheels. "It's the way the steering wheel hubs are made. "I went through this a few years back having issues trying to get a ground when swapping 1949 to 1952 chrysler wheels and horn parts." Awaiting word. Maybe my 47 works differently than the later Mopar cars. Can anyone help here? Anyone? Anyone?