Happy 46R

Merry Christmas to everyone and to all you celebrate it with. I spent a little time in the garage enjoying the +1C weather and getting ready for a little spreading of the Christmas spirit around town this afternoon. Professor Plum and I have about 13 miles planned at sunset to go up and down each street with carols playing and lights flashing. Should be a hoot, Dave

Sorry rcl700 I did not have access to the car to give you full details. I sent you a message about the tires. P215 75 R 15.

Coker Classic 15".

So here is the end of the saga! I made the trek to the parts store and bought a cigarette lighter extension that I was able to connect to the 12 V lawn tractor battery and strung the lights and this was the final product. Looking forward to Christmas Eve when Professor Plum and I get to travel through town. Merry Christmas or Seasons Greetings to everyone.

Thanks everyone. The problem was of course the converter plugs into a cigarette lighter socket so direct wiring was troublesome. The parts are not expensive but it is the travel to get them that adds to the cost. New part from the store is probably the best solution.

My 1946 D25C Club Coupe has a working original 6V positive ground cigarette lighter. I do not want to break it so am looking for some expertise. This year near Edmonton has been unseasonably warm and we are currently talking no snow for Christmas. I was looking to take my car for a Christmas Eve tour of town with some Christmas lights and Christmas music. The music I have figured out. I don't have easy access to auxiliary parts and was thinking to save an hour or so of driving I would take the cigarette lighter socket out of the dash and hook it to a 12V garden tractor battery. I would then use it with an inverter to power the Christmas lights. My concern is will the cigarette lighter socket be damaged with a 12V input instead of a 6 V input. If there is a chance of that I would make the journey to a parts store instead of taking any chances. Thanks for any ideas.

I recently installed a tach in my 230 ci 102 hp 46 Dodge coupe. Using a GPS app on my phone I can do 90 KMH at 2750 rpm. At 3000 rpm she touches 105 KMH and this is with a standard 3 spd transmission and no overdrive. Sorry I don't have the gear ratio for you. Dave

Thanks Cannuck. Appreciate the response. I got mine out yesterday and cleaned it but wanted to make sure I put it back correctly or repaired if needed. Have a great summer hope you haven't been hit by any of the crazy weather the east has gotten this year. Dave

I was looking back at old articles for some help with the draft tube mentioned by Plymouthy Adams above. Three questions I have are: 1: is there supposed to be a screen on the open end of the tube. My car is a daily driver not a show car so I am interested only for operation necessity. 2: is there a proper way to position the tube once it is installed. My car was tilted back towards the transmission, my spare engine has it tucked up under the exhaust manifold and the parts car I have access to is positioned more to the front than the rear, 3: is there an O ring or gasket of some sort between the block and the tube. My manual does not have an exploded view or any part reference at the join. Thanks Dave

Hey Keith, a beautiful car to go with a beautiful part of the world. Being an old Pentictonite I know what I am missing when I see your pictures. Have a great return trip. Dave

I am not a mechanic but have certainly barked a knuckle or two on a stubborn nut and bolt assembly. I knew my parking brake was nearing its end of life so this winter ordered in the parts to change out the lining. I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure I knew enough to handle the job and I could not find any Youtube or video files that would step by step it for me. I am not a computer wizard either! Sniper was kind enough to post a relining of a tractor brake on a forum post that gave me some guidance. I challenged myself last weekend and although the test is yet to come after install I think I managed to do a competent job that will allow me to confidently leave the car with the brake applied. Not being as skillful with the video camera as KeithB7 I am going to rely on a few still pictures. Initial removal was easy enough as I removed the anchor bolt on the passenger side of the parking band. I then removed the Adjusting Bolt Nut from the driver's side of the parking band and removed the bolt and two springs. This was followed by removing the Guide Bolt Adjusting Nut and Lock Nut which freed the parking band so it would slide over the splined area of the drive shaft. After removing the Clevis Pin from the Clevis on the end of the Parking Brake Cable and the Spring and Extension I removed the two mounting bolts from the side of the transmission so that the Activating Mechanism could be cleaned and inspected at the same time. Once the parking band was on the bench it was easy to see just how worn out the lining was. Using a 1/8" drill bit I then drilled all the Rivet Heads on the outside of the parking band. Any residual rivet pieces were punched out of the band with a small drift punch. I then clamped the new lining onto the old lining and marked the rivet locations with a felt marker. The new stock was about 4" longer than necessary but it gave me a little sample piece to practice on. The material is 5/32" X 2 1/2" and is a non- asbestos woven material that is fairly stiff. After removing the clamps I inserted the material into the parking band and clamped it in place ensuring the marked holes on the lining and the drilled holes on the parking band aligned. The hole pattern on the parking band is not symmetrical so you have to be careful to make sure your alignment marks are matched at each step. After drilling out the relining material through the parking band I unclamped the lining and clamped it flat on a scrap piece of 1" X 4" with the inside of the band face up. I wanted to countersink the new rivets about 1/2 way through the material but I do not have a drill press. I was also concerned that countersinking with a regular drill bit would create a void between the flat bottom of the Rivet Head and the beveled surface of the countersink hole. I used an 11/32" Pilot Point Bit with a depth collar attached to countersink the rivet head holes. I was able to use the extra material to practice a number of times to make sure I got the vertical alignment correct. After countersinking all of the holes I then realigned the new lining on the parking band and ensured the holes lined up before putting the rivets into place. The rivets that came with the lining were Split Rivets and I simply put a small cold chisel into the split to force the two sides apart and then secured them with a Drift Punch to completely fold the tabs over. As the parking brake is not normally used for stopping a car in motion I felt the split rivet would be sufficient rather than a rolled finish. I finished off the process by drilling a hole in an old H beam I have and attached a nut and bolt. The protruding part of the bolt made a perfect fit onto the head of the rivet and a sharp rap with a small ball peen hammer set the rivet head in the countersunk hole and finished the flatenning of the rivet. Turning the parking band 180 degrees was all that was need to complete the other row of rivets. Tomorrow I am taking the parking band on a 60 mile round trip to a brake and clutch shop in Edmonton Alberta to have longer rivets installed in the four end holes on the lining. (Two on each end) as these holes go through double layers of parking band material and the supplied rivets were not long enough. Hope they appreciate my efforts. I also cleaned, lubricated and prepared all the parts to reverse the removal process and put the brake back together. I also gave the drum a light dusting with some 3000 grit sandpaper to ensure it was ok to go. It would appear that I did this project just in time as the rivets had just started to mark the drum. I will let you know how the install goes!

great information. Thank you for that. Dave

I do not have any records that correspond to the numbers you have. I would think the BC references the Business Coupe but that doesn't relate to the Chrysler / Dodge / Plymouth coding system of D24 etc. As far as body style, color etc. your car's Canadian cousin has a plate identifying each component located on the firewall above the brake / clutch linkages. I am not sure if you have access to alternate light sources or not but maybe a nearby university or college might have a lab that would take a look to see if any subsurface writing becomes visible with the various colors??? Might be worth a try for both plates. Good luck. Dave

So adding a lilttle "North of the Border" info to this memory tells me the Mounties never had AM/FM radios in the cars until well into the 1980's when they found out it was costing them more to have the production line stopped to have the "standard equipment" removed. They never had vehicles with "air conditioning" until it became standard equipment from the manufacturer or unless they were ordering a car for the dog unit. They also changed from the black and white color scheme in late 1973 / 74 when they moved to the blue and white scheme. From there it was some where around 1994 when they went to straight white with a decal kit for accent. That was all due to reductions in cost per unit. It was some where around this time that the roof becons also changed to light bars and then more recently the LED lights installed in the lighting fixtures. This increased top speed capabilities until you factored in the hundreds of pounds of equipment they had to carry in the trunks. Early decals were unilingual english, then bilingual french and english and then reflective unilingual. Some are very collectible. Don't ask how I know all this! Dave

Hope these help. Not sure what car you have but this is from a 46 D25C. Not the best but it appears that the back end of the spring curls up in the back corner of the seat frame?? If someone has their seat appart a picture from underneath would be the best. Sorry I couldn't be more help. Dave

We have a few of the local not for profit groups in the area that have paid entry events. Entry fees are always less than $20.00 Canadian. Usually a majority of the money goes towards some prizes and trophies and a percentage stays with the not for profit group to help sponsor their projects. Two examples are local Agricultural Societies which sponsor youth actitivites such as 4H and Junior Achievement. I don't have trouble helping those groups by entering my car because a much bigger dollar value is raised by the volunteers who cater to the general public by charging entry, selling snacks, meals or paraphernalia. These events usually last about 4 hours and are come when you can and leave when you have to. I know there are other larger events that have larger entry fees and no "community" advantage and I stay away from them. My prize is the drive to get there and back, always fun to drive!

Sorry my ideas didn't solve your problem. Best I could come up with but I am hopeful you get an answer soon as exploding heads are messy to clean up. Probably something simple that everyone will say "Why didn't I think of that?" Good luck and let us know. Dave

I like Keith's comments for resolving the problem. I did however notice you mentioned vapour lock and ambient temperature in your post. Is there any chance that your temperature gauge is faulty and not registering your engine temp correctly? That would certainly affect what is happening with the mechanical pump and could confuse the trouble shooting. Am I correct in assuming you have the heat shield in place above the fuel pump? Just a thought. Dave

It is just the right size to view through the spokes of the steering wheel and to not block the speedometer or control knobs. I could not find any markings on the differential housing and have as yet not had to re & re rear seals, knocking on wood as I type, so I wasn't able to calculate the engine speed as mentioned by Sam. My next best option was to touch base with P15-D24 member Loren who had mentioned one in her post and from there it was dropping big hints to my children with Christmas coming. We settled on WESTACH.com and Pete was really great in helping my daughter get the right unit. Nice thing about it is it is a simple spring clamp to install and two wires to hook up. Dave

Thanks Sam, great answer made it understandable right away. Followed your advice and wired coil properly which matched the tach companies instructions and car runs smooth with 675 RPM at idle. Thank you again.

I purchased a 6 volt positive ground tachometer for my 230 cu in flat six. Car is all original and the reason for the tach is to see what my engine revs are at highway speeds when I can't hear the engine. While attaching the tach wires to the coil I noted that the Tach diagram is different than the cars actual wiring. On my car the single wire to the distributor goes from the negative terminal on the coil and the dual wires that go to the ignition system are on the positive terminal. The Tach diagram Is reversed. I cannot determine the correct orientation as neither my wiring diagram nor shop manual show the terminal markings on the coil. Another concern was that when I pulled the coil out of the car I found the manufacturers markings on the coil were on the bottom of the coil where they could not be seen so was the coil rotated 180 degrees at some point? I have not looked at the wiring in my car since purchase and wonder if it is possible the coil was hooked up backwards or is the tach diagram wrong. Any help is appreciated.

I had some bounce problems with the needle on my speedo and at the time read on the forum about lubricating the cable. I used the white Lithium grease on mine just over 2 1/2 years ago now and it has worked great. Not saying it is the right thing just what was mentioned at the time. Good job Keith, small parts scare my big hands also. Dave

Just for information when I am contorted under the dash I have an old canvas air mattress that I only inflate about a 1/4 to 1/2 full. It just seems to take the weight off my shoulders and neck and being that thicker material it doesn't puncture easily on any protruding metals. It also makes sliding from side to side a little easier than the rubber matting. Dave

I had the exact same plug go. As the pictures show a new plug is the way to go. Bit of a process as that particular plug is hard to get a hammer swing onto. I think a full set of plugs has two sizes in it and I got mine from Bernbaum. The good thing about popping the plugs is you can run a hose into them and flush lots of sediment out. Bit of a two for! Good look at what the block sediment looks like and new plugs. Have fun as Andyd says.

Hi Ron, Not sure I understand the question. It is my understanding that you cannot use the turn signal device to activate all four turn lights at the same time. This is done through a seperate relay and switch. The 4 way flasher and relay can be wired back into the turn light wiring or relay but to activate the four lights together a second switch /flasher and relay are required. Not sure if this will help your question or not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnhMx-fnUmI Let me know if I missunderstood or if this helps. Dave