Marcel Backs

I seen the bead sealing trick on a tire and it is sure as hell something that would have the skittish runnin for the woods!

Crystal meth for your motor! LOL

If you have the room, adding a couple extra breakers to distribute the electrical loads and lowering current through each breaker would work wonders. Fusing the battery side of each breaker will help to protect that expensive wiring harness. The picture of the wiring above is indicative of why a problem exists. M

If your garage is heated, starting the engine every coupe of weeks to monthly keeps oil everywhere inside the engine which is beneficial. If car is kept in unheated cold storage, it may be more detrimental than good to try and start it when the engine oil has the consistency of molasses. Make sure your battery gets some attention every so often during storage.M

Other than installing a motor when the front clip is off the car, a cherry picker has limited uses. I find a chain block is much safer in any case. I am kinda weary of "across the pond made" hydraulic cylinders found in certain discount tool outlets. I am glad that some people are keeping with the made in America credo and building set ups that are beyond any quality that is industry made nowadays. I think that I will be selling my discount tool store cherry picker to free up room in the shop since my motor installation phase is behind me. M

That roof is not my cup of tea. One advantage I guess is a panoramic view when operating the car in reverse. LOL

stay away from starting fluid at all costs unless you want your cylinder bores to look like 33rpm record grooves. It is best to be patient and figure out why it will not run.. If you have spark a fuel delivery problem is present and I would start with fuel pump and carb for issues. Again ether in not your engine's friend since it washes the bores of any oil which is not good for even a microsecond! M

Best thing for any battery is a slow charge. My old Marquette booster/charger mostly gathers dust since I find the new low current chargers are not harsh on your now very expensive battery. In my opinion, AGM batteries are the way to go, hands down! The important thing with any battery, is to charge it at low current at regular intervals during storage (not so important if your climate allows year round use of your vehicle). A battery which has been totally discharged will never be the same, even if left in such a state for a short amount of time. Optima batteries are very sensitive to this situation. Their reliability has room for improvement since they only last 5 or 6 years which is the rate my 39 Chevvy consumes them. I am presently researching the Lifeline GPL-4CT 6 volt AGM for the D-14. It is used in marine and RV applications, Mil rated and most of all made in the USA. A battery is never a component to cheap out on and is really a component that drives the "you get what you pay for" saying home. M

I opted for the finned core installed on my stock thanks. The high price was worth it though since the shop in Long Island NY took all the dents out of the tanks before re-coring and essentially restored the whole assembly. Apart from the fins no one would know the difference, This core looks like it will transfer heat more efficiently, given that the fins present more surface area than the honeycomb style of core. The replacement rad you are looking for should do the job pretty good since aluminum has excellent heat transfer properties. Also try Minnaker's in Ontario since they may have a NOS version given their very large inventory. Happy 2023! M

Welcome to the site and merry Xmas! M

been on generator since 6am here. No sign of blizzard letting up. Hoping hydro failure rectified by tomorrow morning or turkey is going on the charcoal BBQ. Xmas dinner will be interesting this year! LOL!

not when the computer is on the fritz though! LOL Thus the nightmare

I can attest to the lag in the vacuum wipers when they are operating under acceleration. They practically stop! A dual chamber pump is on the list for my 39 Chevvy. My D14 luckily has electric wipers but I do not expect to get caught in the rain too much once it is finally on the road. M

I watched my buddy time my 218 without even starting it using a spark gap device connected in series with the high voltage terminal of the coil. It fired up right away and was running fine until my " new" so called oil pump failed firing the initial start up. Try that on one of today's computerised nightmares (setting timing)! M PS will soon be firing it up again to hear that old mill purr like it should.

That would be a honeycomb rad core on your 38 which are a real $pain$ to replace which I can attest to having just done so in myD14 (new core is now horizontal fins like a GM core mated to MOPAR box header and re-soldered to my original tanks). Your rad tank and bracket will clean up very nicely with a small dremel and wire brush which can also be used to remove green corrosion stain . Your tank can be polished up to a shiny brass and then coated with VHT clear caliper aerosol paint. The bracket can be painted black with the same type of paint. Avoid applying too much paint to the core if any. M

I picked up my muffler at NAPA and when I had the car running on initial start up, I could not believe how quiet it ran even when revving it a wee bit. I will see if I can get an audio clip when I fire it up again after the holidays. The loudest exhaust I had in my young hooligan days was a set of supertrapps on my 68 Mustang fastback's 289. That and AC/DC concerts have probably contributed to the decline in my hearing LOL!

My friend has a 38 coupe and it is definitely a class act decked out with a Dakota V6 an a 5 speed.. Given the price of petrol up here, he hit a home run in all respects with that beauty. And I agree with Sniper, your model is one of the nicest from the late 30's. M

Reminds me of a story my brother told me. While getting ready for dinner at the fire station one night, a car which was on fire in the back seat area drives into the station with open flame and lots of smoke. Their first drive in fire! They put it out and found that a hole in the floor above the catalytic converter caused the carpet to ignite. The car had some damage but the driver was taken by ambulance for smoke inhalation. That guy must have really liked that car. Personally, I would have bailed given the proximity of the fire to the petrol tank. I am glad you saved your ride and you are OK. M

I'm glad I did not video it, since my old heap's initial start up was an absolute disaster! I am just getting caught back up months later thanks to the famous honeycomb rad core and repoop oil pump fiasco. Rad was re-fitted with a GM style core eliminating the tractor like MOPAR core. Cost with shipping was about 2000$ CDN. Chinese oil pump was put in appropriate trash container and the engine refitted with a prepped NOS device which cost less than the contemporary replacement. Hoping to hear that old flatty purr like she should very soon! M

by the amount of rust built up on the inside of the heater box and the fan blade, it is probably time to pull the unit appart. Hammertone paint is widely available and easy to apply on the heater box. Clean all moving parts making sure the motor bushing has a bit (a drop) of 3 in 1 oil applied. Check frayed wiring to the heater and replace accordingly. Your heater probably slowed down a bit with age like I have. M

Welcome to the site. Before jumping into your endeavor it is important to understand that there are many products out there which will help you greatly in your project's completion. By the same token there are many reproduction parts made off shore which will cause you grief and cost you a premium price in the process. I am speaking through my own experience so far. Since I have restored cars from all of the big three, I have found that restoring a GM product is much more economical. Although MOPARS (and to a slightly lesser degree Fords) are beautifully appointed automobiles with great style, be ready to pay more to get your project to completion. Sticker shock is more relaxed when buying parts for my 39 Chevvy compared to the 40 Dodge. Parts availability, quality and price is way better for the GM crew. Since you are building a hotrod, and using many new parts. you will be affected less than someone taking on a full body off restoration (like me) to original condition . I suggest you stick to NOS parts when possible since period parts are of much greater quality than the "stuff" from your big Chinese made North American parts "suppliers". Do not be afraid to ask when needing advice because you have thousands of years of collective Knowledge on this site. All the very best to you and may your project go smoothly. M

The NOS one with the most prominent oiling hole was still in the wrapping paper and in the original box, therefore the oil hole was factory pierced and countersunk. It is quite obvious that the NOS piece is a better design than the mass cranked out "replacement". M

here are some pix comparing the Chryco part with the Brand X. Chryco and BX have paddle type impellers as opposed to the cloverleaf style. Chryco gear is riveted and BX has a roll pin. Images 2 & 3 show the different shaft castings and countersink on oil hole. NOS part clearly has a better design. M

Given that the pump seizures occur in the shaft area, in my honest opinion the oil hole on the top of the shaft is essential. This seems to be a weak spot in the design. My NOS Chryco oil pump has the oil hole with a very pronounced countersink in it allowing the most oil to funnel in reaching the shaft. This pump has a heavier shaft housing which is not stepped like the contemporary replacement which have the oil hole countersink drilled in the middle of the step letting some of the oil to get by the oiling hole and less effectively reaching the shaft, These are some personal observations that resulted from my own oil pump crisis and luckily drove me to the NOS suppliers. M

One of the smaller displacement late 50's hemi motors may be a better match for the narrow engine bay in that beauty. A well done up one of those would be eye candy to anyone checking under the hood! Is she a 3 or 5 pane? Welcome to the site. M