Marcel Backs

Truthfully, the Plymouth coupe will be around long after the Nissan (or any other "modern" set of wheels) has been eaten up by earth's big conveyor belt! LOL M

Minakers is pretty much a time capsule and has been in the auto parts business since 1925. You won't see much on any website but they do have lots of pretty cool NOS parts for all makes with MOPAR well represented. They can be reached at 613-476-4547. You are best to call and state what you need because they have a huge inventory of NOS and good used parts for early cars and it takes a couple of days to locate them sometimes in stock that their grandfather ordered & stored away for decades. Their prices are more than fair and I usually tack on extra $$ due to the quality of the parts. M

Try Minaker's or Pre Sixties Vintage Auto Supply. NOS @ Canadian prices. No repoop schwag parts from these vendors! They are both located in Ontario and have webpages. Hope this helps. M

As a rule of thumb, any fluid that you have not changed yourself is probably due to be replaced. After break in you can stay with non detergent oil or since the engine is sludge free you can use regular oil or synthetic blend. Castrol makes oil called castrol classic which has extra zinc in it for older design engines. I will be using a modern oil with superior lubrication capabilities once my motor has been broken in. As far as the tranny goes, consult someone who has done it before because I am sure changing the fluid in these early fluid drives is a little more involved than topping up a manual gearbox. M

Kudos & great work! Sewing is way beyond my skill level and probably would sew myself to something in the attempt. All the Best! M

The big red garbage dragon strikes again! I ended up using my original bearings (all of them) & do not have the heart to re-sell the repoop stuff to someone. I doubt the supplier will take that crap back either. They may help me make a good camera swivel on my weather ballon project. It would be an excellent way to ship these parts back across the pond where they should have bloody stayed in the first place! M

I purchased a Blue Point flaring tool kit some 30 years ago when they were still affordable. It has never really produced a bad brake line or any other flare. A quality (mostly American made) kit combined with proper prep of the cut line to be flared eventually leads to dry junctions & reliable operation of a critical system on your vehicle. M

I would not recommend using any type of metal tool to clean out this area. Isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush should be tried first in order to clean out any accumulations. Another real good (indispensable but a bit pricey) electrical equipment cleaning solution is Deoxit D5 which cleans contacts, switches and any other type of electrical connection that has been exposed for years to adverse conditions. It flashes off quickly and does not leave a film. It does not harm any insulation or protective coatings. Never use any tool which is made of a harder material than the one you are setting out to clean especially if that tool's name starts with "hack". Diligence and care must be taken in order to remove decades of accumulated crud on your old car's electrical system. What you are doing now is a step in the right direction and will prevent any electrical surprises in the long term. All the Best! M

Are the halogens wired directly or through a headlight relay of some sort?

A good set of nitrogen filled direct bolt on shocks which are around 300$ plus install (which is very easy ). It is probably the most gentle option on your wallet and time considerations. Also check if it is time for a front end rebuild which is essential for the front end assembly to work effectively with the shocks. M

Don"t bother 30W looks exactly like what you put on your salad! LOL

The estimate above is pretty much in line with what it cost me about 3 years ago for American parts, machining and re-assembly. Make sure you are using parts from a reputable US manufacturer when you are rebuilding. The reliability of the final product depends on it. M

I think Castrol has a new oil for older engines called Classic with extra zinc. How essential (if at all) is zinc content in oil for the flathead sixes? I use 30W in the Chevvy and that is what has been used for decades in it. If I rebuilt that 235 OHV 6, I would use a good modern oil and possibly even a synthetic blend. Regular non-detergent oil is getting expensive and harder to get. M

I got all of my signal lights and bumper bracket mounts in NOS on ebay. Good brands to look for are Guide and Federal Mogul because they are of very nice quality. The selection available is excellent. My front lights will mont on the bumper brackets and the rear ones are mountable on the rear bumper gravel shield. wiring up the signals is a pretty easy task. Lots of wire should be on hand. Make sure your final set up is properly fused. With all the dummies on their cell phones and texting while driving, good signals are a must in order to keep some form of safety margin. All the Best M

you mix Aqua Kleen half with water and spray it on with a garden sprayer. It wipes out caked on petroleum crap in short order. You need only go to the KBS website and see how their products are applied and work. Cheers mate! M

Check out KBS Coatings. Their Aqua Clean de-greaser, KBS Blast surface treatment and Rust Seal paint are second to none. The final finish is bulletproof and rust is completely arrested. I am using this system on my D-14 with great success. I get it up here at NAPA M

It seems that your flanges are not seating themselves properly at the manifold outlet. A flat heat resistant gasket should be enough to seal up the exhaust pipe/ manifold flange junction. The engine sounds pretty good. It is important to have your fuel-air mixture right before extended periods of running to avoid carbon build up in combustion chambers and plugs. The plugs should be tan at the electrodes and not black. You should have a good feeling of accomplishment at this point! M

Is the plug actually wet with oil or does it have sut built up on it? 2different situations and hopefully the latter. Best to find out what is fouling plugs prior to running the engine for any amount of time.

That car will be beautiful to run around in when on the road. It is definitely a solid old mopar and a very worthwhile model for what you want to do with it. When buying parts for the engine, stick with American made current parts (eg Sealed Power engine parts) or New Old Stock parts. The reproduction replacement parts suffer from many quality issues due to cheapo production methods and inferior materials used at the factories in the eastern hemisphere. Fixing an 80 year old car will give you an extreme rush of accomplishment, especially when you head out on the highway! M

Hey L_C I'll trade you my little frozen paradise up here in Qc for West Texas any day! LOLOL

At 5.9 cents a Kwh here, my primary heat sources are air to air heat pumps. I have had both units keeping my house and garage heated and cooled for a good 10 years now costing me a couple hundred dollars in hydro every two months (including the rest of hydro usage). With the price of fuel going through the roof, putting your home heating on the electrical grid is becoming more economical in many areas. I have never had any problems with breakdowns and my 24000 BTU unit in my house is also wired into the Generac 11 Kw stand-by unit. It swings between approximately -30 Degrees C in the winter and +30 C in the summertime with 80% humidity. I rarely have to help out the heat pump with one of my 3 other sources except for a few nights in the winter when the mercury dips to the extreme. If your region in North America has good hydro rates, these heat pumps will save you money. We have more than a foot of snow on the ground from over night an it is not letting off until late Saturday. I will need to do some snow removal pretty soon since my laneway looks like a quagmire ! Luckily the Polaris SxS is sitting in the garage and has a heater and a beverage holder! I envy you folks in warmer climate right now. At least I have a never ending list of things to do in the garage. Best to everyone M

Everything just fits together perfectly on that car! Makes me very anxious to get mine to that stage. This fine ride is reminiscent of the song "Copper Head Road"! M

I think that the export models had 25 inch heads and the American market cars had 23 inch head engines as the 218 has in my D-14. One thing for sure, the 1940 D-14 and D-15 are completely different with very little parts interchange opportunities.

I think I will be going to Steele Rubber Products since I was not too happy with some of the pieces I had already purchased elsewhere from supplier mentioned above. Just a personal observation, but I never really had quality problems with parts for the 39 Chevvy in my years of maintaining it. The parts that I bought for the D-14 restoration so far have had numerous quality issues (tie rod bushings for starters &&&). A repoop oil pump that could have ruined an expensive rebuilt motor has sent me on a boycott of these" purveyors of the questionable" and sourcing as many NOS ones as possible for the rest of the project. They are a little harder to get but well worth the wait and $ compared to the alternatives. The only way to correct the quality situation is to go elsewhere until the big suppliers get the message! M

wonder what that pine sol & water mix would do in an ultrasonic cleaner? It sure did a good job on it's own. Thanks for the tip! M