DonaldSmith

Jefferson went with the Italian pronunciation, which we would spell as "chello".

I presume that you are talking about the semi-automatic case, which has a tag saying add 10 weight oil only, and not the fluid coupling. Someone said that the tractor-type hydraulic fluid is the same as 10 weight. I hope they are are right. I filled my M5 with it.

The wiring diagram for my 47 DeSoto shows the left turn as green and the right turn as brown. This is the opposite of the modern convention - brown, left; green,right. My turn signal came from a donor car some years ago, so it is vintage wiring, green for left and brown for right. Just to confuse everyone.

Do you have radials? I ran across a dire warning that these old wheels can have fatigue cracks from running radials. The first sign may be leaks. Soap the whole wheel, to check for such cracks.

The tail lights are not dim because of 6 volts, but because of bad ground. Add grounding straps from the sockets to the fenders, from the fenders to the body, from the body to the engine, from the frame to the engine, etc., and things will get much brighter.

Yes, mother, I checked TDC and 7 o'clock! OK, just one more time, (grumble, mumble). Compression gauge in No. 1 spark plug hole, crank it around, puff. One o'clock!? That must have just happened. Someone sneaked in the garage and is messing with me. OK, reset TDC and rotor at 7 o'clock. Set the major adjustment and minor adjustment near the middle of their ranges. Put the test light on, rotate the distributor counterclockwise till the light goes out. Hey, with the major adjustment loose, it's possible to set the dizzy for the wrong plug. I had the dizzy too far clockwise to start, set the wrong plug to fire. No wonder things went Boom. Being sure that the rotor was at 7:00, not 8:30, I did the trick with the light just going off, at the major adjustment and again at the minor adjustment. Plugs back in, wires back on, the engine started and ran. But now I think I blew out the muffler. But what a sweet sound. A muffler is no big deal. Thanks, guys, for harping on me. (edit; add:) BOOM!

You may have an export DeSoto that is based on a Plymouth body. The 1946 through early 1949 DeSotos had the front fenders flaired into the doors. The Plymouths did not. So, body and chassis parts may be in common with Plymouths. If the car came from Canada, it would have the 25-inch engine block, instead of the 23-inch block that USA-made Plymouths had.

Compression on No. 1 thumb hole - Yep. Rotor pointing at 7 o'clock - Ayup. No. 1 spark plug wire at 7 o'clock - Right. Here's the mystery: Engine started and ran. I marked the minor adjustment, removed the bolt there, and removed the distributor. I dressed and gapped the points. I reinstalled the distributor in the same location. I verified that the shaft and rotor were not 180 degrees off. I checked TDC and tweaked the distributor rotation with the test light until the light went out. I verified that I got compression on No. 1 before the spark. Nothing but backfire (out the carb). I tried retarding the distributor progressively to the extremes of travel, and nothing but backfire. The specter of the timing chain jumping a tooth presents itself. Can I verify whether the timing chain jumped, without removing the front cover? Otherwise, it's off with the front cover,an elaborate procedure, and possible dead end.

I rotated the distributor clockwise, in successive tweaks, at the major adjustment bolt. I went from one extreme of travel to the next. The pops came out the carb, but with less cranking each time. Each time, I quit cranking after the first pop. Something has to be way off. I am contemplating the wonders of removing the chain case cover to inspect the chain and sprockets. If there is no problem there, maybe I'll crank on the crank to get absolute TDC, per depth gauge at No. 6 cylinder, and verify the accuracy of the pointer at the damper. Any other suggestions?

I had TDC at the damper with the brass end of the rotor pointing at 7:00. I have not moved any of the plug wires from the distributor cap, nor misconnected them to the plugs. I double-checked the wires. I checked the spark against a compression gauge, so I know I'm not 180 degrees off. But I may be be far enough off to cause this misery. I had to extend the TDC pointer because I had added a pulley for the power steering. The pointer could be a few degrees off Tom, you say that if the backfire comes out the carb, the timing is too retarded; out the exhaust, too advanced. That's the information that I was looking for. The backfire was so loud under the hood that I suspect it was out the carb. (My ears were ringing for a half-hour) Let's see: too advanced, rotate clockwise to retard.

Engine overhauled in 2004, some 3,000 miles ago. New timing chain and sprockets back then. Was the chain properly oiled all this time? I think I got the little tube back where it's supposed to be. Is there a way to tell if the chain has slipped, without removing the front cover? Can I observe the valves closely enough to tell? The key question: "What did you do just before this trouble started?" Well, the engine had been running, with an occasional stutter, and symptoms of a stuck valve. I removed the distributor, after carefully noting the position of the minor adjustment; I removed that bolt. Then I set the points and reinstalled the distributor, at the same setting of the minor adjustment. .

Totally mystified! I set the crank to TDC, with the rotor pointing at 7 o'clock. (The shiny brass end of the rotor, not the fat end.) I connected a test light from the battery to the wire from the distributor (disconnected from the coil), and rotated the distributor counterclockwise until the light went out, and tightened the distributor bolt. Nothing. Did I rotate the distributor clockwise instead of counterclockwise? I installed a compression gauge to the No. 1 cylinder, with the release button clamped in, so that the reading would not build up and hold. I installed a neon plug tester to the No. 1 plug, which was resting on the head. Crank, crank. Spark, then puff! Dizzy way off! Back to TDC, 7:00. Dizzy clockwise until the light comes on, then counterclockwise until the light goes off. Try it again. Puff, spark. Puff, spark. But crank, crank, bam! Is my timing close, but far enough off to backfire? Maybe my TDC measurement is off. Which way can I nudge the dizzy?

Oh, Don, don't be silly. He's talking about the license plate.

What make and year car? The older ones have bolts threaded into the hub (left hand left side, right hand right side). Cars these days have studs pressed into the hubs and wheel nuts, like the ones that Ralphey spilled all over the sides of the road. ("Oh, Fudgggge")

Sisson choke - half & half. The solenoid closes the choke plate partially, for extra mixture when starting (and setting the higher speed idle). The bimetallic strip closes the choke plate partially, til the engine warms up.

It keeps going pop when I try to start it. I'll do the static timing.

My ears are still ringing. Maybe fifteen minutes to a half-hour ago, I was working on my ignition when I heard the loudest bang. I tried to adjust the points on my distributor, and did something wrong. At one point I used white-out to mark the minor adjustment, so that I could get the distributor back where it was, but in my fumbling, I got some on the points. A test light showed that I was not getting the interruption of the ground circuit for the coil. Then I bench-tested the distributor and couldn't get any grounding. I filed the points and set them, and was getting good action with the test light. I reinstalled the distributor, and tried to start the engine with my remote starter. Button for neg cable to solenoid, ignition switch to power the negative post of the coil. It's worked before. I cranked the engine and could see the the plugs were firing, with a neon tester that goes in series with a plug wire. Maybe a few cranks, no firing, and BAM! I undid the remote starter and tried to start the car from inside. More bangs. maybe not so loud. Theories: Could I have loaded the exhaust piping with fuel-air mixture, just waiting to blow? When I was a kid, I would shut off the ignition when the car was moving, and turn it on again, to get a pop. Once, I did it once too often, and blew the muffler, The driveway was next to my folks' bedroom, so I couldn't sneak up the drive. Maybe this is payback time. I haven't checked the exhaust system today. I did advance the timing a bit before this episode. Could that do it? Should I try to start the car again? Any more suggestions?

Maybe a screw is too long and is shorting the wire to ground. It has happened before.

Installed the thicker "3V" belt. No more squeal, for now. We'll see if that cures the problem of excessive wear and early onset of squealing belt syndrome.

Gyromatic is the Dodge term for the semi-automatic transmission with clutch and fluid coupling. The coupling is the Fluid Drive, and Gyromatic, tip-toe shift, etc. denote the semi-automatic transmission. Use the clutch for shifting. You can let up on the clutch with the car in gear if you have your foot on the brake. At idle speed, the fluid coupling will slip. Accelerate, and it will smoothly engage. Gearshift lever Neutral is where you would expect. No "First", no pull toward you and down. Usually shift away and down where you would expect "Third". That's the "drive range". You are taking off in 3rd, but the fluid coupling makes it possible. At appropriate speed, maybe around 20 mph, let up on the gas and the car will shift (klunk) into 4th. Reverse is where you would expect it. If you are pulling stumps, push the gearshift lever away from you and up. The car will be in the "power range", will take off in 1st, and will upshift into 2nd. This is seldom used.

Speedway has a selection of steering stuff,including shafts, U-joints, and a gadget that offsets the center of the steering shaft by 8,10,12,14 or 16 inches. It depends on what you want to do.

Huh? I altered my steering column to get in U-joints to a power steering gearbox.

Don, we were just ignoring your pun. It was a conspiracy of silence, like a practical joke in the dugout, where the rookie hits a grand slam and the teammates ignore him when he gets back off the field. Although I wouldn't call your pun a grand slam. I would give it a 6 point 7.

My power steering belt only goes between the crank shaft and the power steering pump. I could add a pulley to the crankshaft, but had no easy way to add a pulley to the water pump. So I can tighten away. But thanks for the caution. It's not a good idea to overtightern V-belts. Maybe this fatter belt won't have to be tightened so much as it took to make the thin belt work.

Oh, by the way, hub removal comes after removing the humongous nut on the end of the crankshaft.