DonaldSmith

The glass is cracked on the outside, starting at the top about six inches from the back, going down half way, then jogging forward maybe four to six inches, and then down all the way. The top weatherstripping is a nice fuzzy lined channel so the beltline weatherstripping is suspect. I'll double check the small screws which I used to hold the beltline weatherstripping in. About the door latches, I remember seeing a safety film of a 57 Plymouth getting in an accident and spilling the dummy passengers out. This was before safety door latches, and of course before widespread, mandatory use of seat belts. Recently I opened the first of the grisly photos posted in this site recently, but it was enough to resurrect some former reservations about the safety of these old cars. But there's plenty of room for varying opinions on the topic. The existing latches latch sometimes an allow the door to bounce back other times. It seems to be a fine art to adjsut the strikes just right.

I had to remove the glass from my right front door, because it cracked. (Maybe one of my weatherstripping screws was not in far enough and hit the glass, starting the crack.) To remove the glass channel, I had to remove the lockset, which I had been meaning to do anyway, to try to figure how to adapt bear claw latches to the doors. I've had a good look at the existing lockset, how the inside handle rotates levers that do their tricks, and how a thing slides up to lock the outside handle. Maybe that part of the mechnism can be salvaged, to support the outside lever shaft and key shaft, and the mechanism's motion converted to operate a bear claw latch on the outer edge of the door. I can grind off a few big rivets and remove the rotating latch mechanism, and see what I've got left. Then I can buy a set of mini-bear claws, without the locking device, and devise something. But I hesitate to go beyond the point of no return with my existing latchset. Does anyone have a spare lockset that would be donated to the advancement of technology? My car is a '47, but I suppose any post-war Mopar through the early '50's would be the same.

Did you take the latches from a Dodge Dynasty? Did you cut the mounting plates out of a Dodge? Was the owner mad when he came back and found his doors wouldn't latch? Seriously,what year Dynasty? I presume the same latches fit a series of Chrysler products.

I found installation photos of bear claw latches mounted flush (notch the inner door panel to clear strike post) and surface (build out a box with the mounting plate). It's not the sort of job to knock out in a weekend. But that does ont stop the mind game. There is a recess in the door post where the strike is. Will the small bear claw body, mounted on the door edge, fit into the recess without enlarging the recess? It looks like the small bear claw latch with the locking lever would be too high. The latches come with and without the locking lever. Do I need the locking lever? Can someone post a schematic of the existing latch and lock setup?

It was recently debunked again, somewhere. It takes energy to release hydrogen from water. File it away with the snake oil remedies. I think some of the reputed good results may be by persons who are now driving more carefully and efficiently, now that they have some mileage gizmo to keep mileage on the mind. I improved the mileage of my 03 Venture (25 mpg) on a recent trip by relying on the speed control to accelerate and coast instead of using the gas pedal and brake. Following at a good distance is part of it, maybe a large part of improving the milage.

Yep, removable floor pan, with its own access covers for the master cylinder and the tip-toe transmission electricals. (I would call them electronics but they aren't that fancy.) But removing the floor panr did not remove the interference I had in trying to slide the transmission back to remove it. In my mind games I'm figuring if I can pull the transmission without removing the floor pan. I would probably get halfway through and wish i had removed the floor pan.

I plan to pull my tip-toe transmission this Fall, to check the clutch and the input shaft bearing in the drive plate, to replace the spring on the throwout bearing, and to put that elusive gasket between the transmission and the bell housing. During my engine rework a few years ago, I had considerable trouble removing and later re-installing the transmission. It would go back so far but then hit a reinforcing channel at the floor hump. Also, the speedometer cable at the transmission is ver-r-r-ry close to the floor. I retrieved Don Coatney's annotated photo of the motor mount parts, and I see that the top one is 1.12" thick. (Call it 1-1/8" for those of us who think in fractions.) The sides taper evenly. My upper motor mounts seem to be 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" thick; I'll try to get a closer measurement The sides taper, and then go straight for another quarter inch. Now, the rear of the transmission is half again as far from the front mount as the rear mounts are. If the rear mounts are 1/4" too thick, the rear of the transmission would be 3/8" too high; If 1/2", then 3/4". Hmm... (If the front mount is compressed, say 1/4" too much, the rear of the transmission would only be 1/8" too high, so I don't think the front mount is the problem.) I remember seeing a cross section through the motor mounts with some instructions for one mount versus the other. Can someone post it again?

My DeSoto Suburban has coupe-stile folding backs on the front seat and middle seat. great for getting at stuff, butr not good in an accident. A few years ago, Tony Urwin got some locking seat hinges from Glide Engineering. I just e-mailed them, and await their response. Also, a Honda dealer has posted on the internet parts for locking the folding backs on a rear seat. There should be many other makes with similar devices. But what would really work? Maybe someone here can chime in with some info or ideas. Thanks.

The doors pop open on old cars when the door frame is distorted enough to pull the strike away from the latch. Modern latches engage a post with a head on it, so the parts cannot separate. Juliano's sells bear claw latches, but they would require extensive modifications,even cutting into the inner door panel to clear the protruding post. I think when safety door locks first came out, they were like the older style latches, but with overlapping parts to keep the latch and strike from separating. Are there any such door locks that would be interchangeable with the postwar Chrysler products? Is there any other device with a part on the door that would overlap a similar part on the jamb when the door is closed, to keep door and jamb from separating?

I'm looking into modifying my '47 steering column to look stock but colllapse if ever called upon to do so. One grisly photo was enough. I've seen steering column implants with tilt and all the other modern acutrements, but I want mine to look stock, with the stock steering wheel. Maybe I'll keep the column stock down past the shifters. Then I have about 12 inches to the top of the steering box to do something. They sell collapsible steering columns for racers, and they sell universal joints, etc, and the salvage yards must be full of good pickings. Maybe even think rack and pinon. First, I'd like to get the steering column out, to measure everything and figure out what to do. Can someone post a diagram of the steering column and explain how it comes out? I've read of people cutting off the tube and re-welding it later. I would rather get it out in one piece, in case I get cold feet and want to put it back in. Has anyone made their stock steering column collapsible, or have any info on doing it?

Clean off all the old grease. Mine had turned solid.

I met the guys at the POC meeting. The POCs let me park in the outcast row. People loved the car. I hung out with Don Coatney and the guys. After the show, we lined up our cars for a photo shoot. (Reportedly there was another kind of photo shoot that morning, but I will leave that story for someone else to report.) I'll try to post photos later. Maybe I'll start another thread. I did get the DeSoto to some local shows. Ypsilanti's Orphan Car Show let Plymouths in this year, so the Chrysler Museum sponsored it, and the local chapter of the National DeSoto Club showed up in force. I won a "Sponsor's Favorite" plaque. I went to Ann Arbor's Rolling Sculpture Car show, and stayed there till 9:30 showing off the car. Shows can be fun.

Coming up soon, from Detroit to Pontiac, August 16, millions of people driving and watching cruisers along Woodward Avenue. But it builds up the few weeks before. Already, people are sitting along Woodward Friday and Saturday nights, watching the classic cars and cruisers go by. Last year, Jon stopped by the house, and my '47 DeSoto and his '51 Plymouth got together to swap tales. Lemme know if you will be in the neighborhood in the next few weeks. Send me a PM, or look me up in the book, 2007 Earlmont in beautiful Berkley. (Only two "e"s in our Berkley) We'll be out of town the weekend of the 8th, but otherwise, we'll be around. (Don Coatney is rumored to be on the way to this general area, to meet up with some of the guys and do "the Henry Ford" (museum, Greenfield Village). Any way to get in touch with those guys?) Donald J. Smith

Does it have a Jiffy Jet windshield washer? If it does, there's a tube inside that runs from a hole in the top of the dash through the windshield divider bar to a siamese squirter. Then there' some sort of foot pump, and a glass jar under the hood. Let me know if it has one. Anyone else, for that matter.

Looking up Jiffy Jet Windshield Washer, I was informed that the imperial club downloads may contain dangerous stuff. Anyone know what's going on? I've downloaded really helpful technical booklets in the past.

My 47 DeSoto is running happily on its 6 volt positive setup. Leave well enough alone? But- my son got me a Garmin, which works on 12 volts, not to mention other modern accessories. (I can't think of any, so I won't mention them.) Am I really going to drive the DeSoto far enough that I would need the Garmin? Never mind. We don't have to be practical to play mind games. I have a spare 6 volt battery to play with. What if? What if? If I converted the car to 6 volt negative ground, I could add the other 6 volt battery in series, to get 12 volts negative ground, for the Garmin, etc. The 12 volt circuit would share the same negative ground. The starter, lights, etc. would remain 6 volts. I would have to trickle charge the second battery occasionally, depending on usage. What to change? Reverse the gas gauge wires and the ammeter wires. Starters, wiper motors and fans don't care about the polarity. Something about how the motor is wound determines its direction. The radio? I checked the circuitry on my Colonial 602, and I didn't see any diodes in the 6-volt circuit. The high voltage circuit is negative ground anyway. (I found that out when I blew out some large capacitors, thinking that they should be positive ground.) I remember reading that Chrysler provided police cars in negative ground because that's what the Motorola radios took. Those radios must have been polarity sensitive. The charging circut? Hmm... Does the generator's output polarity depend on the polarity of the field circuit? (the thin green wire at the generator) Does the regulator care what the polarity it is? Does the coil care? Has anyone changed the polarity while maintining 6 volts? What does it take?

The didn't have the permanent magnet technology that we have today. The big, heavy thing at the back of the speaker is an electromagnet, powered by the car's 6 volt battery. Modern speakers have permanent magnets so they don't need that third wire. I took a speaker out of an old stereo set the kids left here. It works without the 6 volt power.

On a four-door hardtop like the "57 Chev shown, the reason that the back edge of the rear door extends back behind the edge of the roof is to make room for the door glass to do its little dance when opening. The rear glass had to extend forward to meet the front door glass, so in opening, it backs up while it lowers. Once the front of the glass clears the front of the rear door shell, the glass can lower all the way. Then the front of the glass drops faster than the rear, and the glass tucks itself into the door shell. It took GM some special geometry of the roof and the glass linkage to do the trick. 1956 was the big year for 4-door hardtops. Ford managed to do it too. In 1956, Chrysler used the basic four-door roof shape, so they had to do some tricks to make the rear door glass work. Basically the glass was in two overlapping pieces. The '57 Caddys and Buicks had a little wing at the back of the door that the glass retreated int when it opened. I took a keen interest in those things back then. Daddy had a cream over blue Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday 4-door hardtop. Beautiful car.

Or maybe it was the nostagiaair site.

Was it last August? I replaced the capacitors in my radio and rejuvenated the vibrator. The trick is to run house current (120 volt AC) through the vibrator, in series with a 40 watt light bulb. I guess that reduces the voltage and maybe acts as a buffer. The AC gets the points moving, and the high voltage burns off the crap. I used an old drill motor cord with switch, so I could intermittently jazz the vibrator with the AC. (Be sure to tape uo the connections - their house voltage.) It took a couple of shots, and the vibrator worked for a while during bench testing. It quit, but another session worked for good, and the radio has been working since. I think it was the antique radio site that helped me with technical issues.

My dual heater setup has the cowl vent to let air in to the plenum and from there into the heaters or to the cabin. A "weather door", operated by the smaller of the two levers under the dash, lets fresh fresh air from the plenum directly into the cabin... "Danger, Will Robinson!" Rain will get in through the weather door if it is opened when the cowl vent is open. And the radio is right in the way. I put a plastic shield over the back of my radio when I reinstalled it. (The plastic also protects the circuit breaker I mounted no the back of the radio.) Also vulnerable below the weather door is the carpet. I made the mistake of washing the car with both the cowl vent and weather door open - once. Had to pull up the carpet to get it dry. The plenum has a drain hole at the bottom and a hose under the hood. I made sure the hjole and hose were clear. The elbow was corroded shut, so I replaced it with a copper elbow.

I'm getting old, and the eyes aren't as good as they used to be. (Hit the enter key a few times) When I start reading someone's post which is all solid words, I get to the end of the lliine and get lost trying to find the beginning of the next line. My eyes start watering and I give up. (Hit the enter key a few times) It's so much easier to read if the paragraphs are only a few lines long, with some space between them. (Hit the enter key a few times) Isn't that easier to read than if everything is run together? (Hit the enter key a few times) I'm getting old, and the eyes aren't as good as they used to be. I'm getting old, and the eyes aren't as good as they used to be. When I start reading someone's post which is all solid words, I get to the end of the lliine and get lost trying to find the beginning of the next line. My eyes start watering and I give up. It's so much easier to read if the paragraphs are only a few lines long, with some space between them. I'm getting old, and the eyes aren't as good as they used to be. I'm getting old, and the eyes aren't as good as they used to be. When I start reading someone's post which is all solid words, I get to the end of the lliine and get lost trying to find the beginning of the next line. My eyes start watering and I give up. It's so much easier to read if the paragraphs are only a few lines long, with some space between them. I'm getting old, and the eyes aren't as good as they used to be. I'm getting old, and the eyes aren't as good as they used to be. When I start reading someone's post which is all solid words, I get to the end of the lliine and get lost trying to find the beginning of the next line. My eyes start watering and I give up. It's so much easier to read if the paragraphs are only a few lines long, with some space between them. Give up?

Right.

I have a few pictures; I can PM them to you.

Several years ago I used hardware gasket, pieced together, for my cowl vent. I have the drain tube in the air box, so if the cowl vent leaks a little, I don't know it. Recently I made sure the drain hose is not plugged. I replaced a rusted and partially clogged steel elbow with a copper one. A few weeks ago I recounted my adventures checking my windshield seals with the cowl vent and air door open. Bad. Tip to the not-so-swift: close the cowl vent when it's raining or when you are washing the car. I made a plastic shield for the back of my radio, so that in the event water does get in, it won't damage the radio, or short out the circuit breaker that I mounted to the radio bracket.