desoto1939

When you took the carb apart and I am assuming that you have a Ball&Ball carb did you put the small ball bearing back in the incorrect holes. These two small BB's look to be the same size but are different. Did you soak the accelerator pump leather in light oil to soften up the leather. If you rebuild the carb suggest that you get several cardboard egg cartoons and then number each hole. As you take apart the car but each part in the appropriate numbered hole. This way you just go backwards to re assemble the carb. Do you have a Sisson choke on the car and has it been setup correctly. I have lots of info on these sisson chokes. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

not so sure on nylon fuel lines will hold up or react to gasoline. I would use the new Nickel-Copper lines. They are easy to bend and with the proper bending tools this can be accomplished. Yes it will take some time routing up in the engine compartment. Also would suggest that you get the fuel line wrapped with the springs to protect the line so that stones do not ding the lines also would suggest that you also install a 6 volt electric fuel pump at the same time and have it mounted as close to the fuel tank as possible. Electric FFP like to push fuel and not pull fuel like the mechanical pump. I have a toggle switch setup so that the El pump can be turn off or on as needed. My key for the ignition switch has to be turned on and then I use the toggle switch to turn on the electrical FP. I primarily use fine to prime my engine after it has sat for a while. Less wear and tear on the battery when starting also canbe used if you get vapor lock on a hot day or if the fue has evaporated after the engine has run because of the heat from the engine Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

your eccentrics should have to flat spots so that you can slip an open end wrench on the end to hold the eccentic so it does nt rotate. Then you take your torgue wrench witht he appropriate socket and torque the nut on the back of the backing playe while also holding the eccentric pin so it does not rotate. ON the front wheel you will have a castle nut with the slots that need to align up with the hole for the cotter pin on the rears it is just getting the nut tigh so that the eccentric does not move. The final setting of tightening is done after you have adjusted the heel and the toe to be within the 6/12 thousand measurement. After the they have been tightend then slip the drum on and make the final adjustment with the upper half moon adjusters. Rich Hartung

How old is the battery? Did you take off the three caps and check the electrolite reading for each cell. Remove the battery cable and clean the posts so there is not corrosion, clean the inside of each cable put on the battery felt washer to prevent corrosion tight cables. Also are you using the correct size cables. Richw

Los-Control You stated that the engine used a 1/4 qt of oil every 3k in milage. With an engine with the mileage that you stated did you every record the type of mpg that you were getting when the car was using oil? Also did you ever notice that upon acceleration. I had a dodge gran caravan in the 80's in which they had valve guide issues and noticed that Iwould get blue smoke upon acccerlation. Maybe you had broken rings whenyou purchsed the car. I also would think that there would have been other signs that the engine was getting tired prior to the piston failing. Rich Hartung

Here is the info taken from the article Tech 101: Zinc in oil and its effec on older engine. As a quick answer zinc, phosphorus and boron are all contain in our modern oil. Yes it has been reduced over the year but has not been eliminated. So from my reading I do not think the use of Castrol oil would have casued the rings to break and the broken piston pin. The prior owner did not state what oil he had used but the current owner stated he switch over to Castrol. So its a crap shoot to determine what caused the issue. Thefirst column is the API product rating such as SL then the P=phosphorus the ZN = Zinc and the B = Boron. So when our otiginal motor oils were being produced the API use back in 1947 only state Regular, Premium andn Heavy Duty motor oils. And the quality of the motor oil was a crap shoot. In 1952 the API was starting to be put on the bottles and this has continued up to the current time frame. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

question for the group? So the API ratings for the motor oils have changed over the years. Who is under th eimpression that all of the ZDDP and the Phosphorus protection elements have been removed from our modern engine oils? Plese come back with your thoughts on this part of the motor oil discussion. After getting some replies I willthen post some facts for everyone to view regarding current motor oils. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I was at Chryslers at Carlise and pickup two small tubes of diaelectric grease for $1. I purchased 4 tube. Hopefully will never run out. As the old Brilcream ad state a little dap will do ya. Rich Hartung

Los Control: you did nothing wrong. It forced all of us to look deeper into the SAE and API information on each bottle of motor oil. I am not a chemical engineer, so I do not have the qualifications to officially endorse or not endorse any specific brand of motor oil. All I was trying to do was indicate that there isa a brand of motor oil that now contain a significant amount of ZDDP and Phosphorus already in the bottle of oil. I know that Castrol is a major player in the automotive oil products world. So I was just trying to pass along the info. So if anyone can make qualified documented breakdown of the Castrol then they are welcome to supply the information and also compare it to the other brands. But according to the Hemmings document it explains the amount of zddp and phos contained in the various API grades of oil and then you have to use the appropriate SAE weight for your antique or modern car. Lets keep the discussion open and keep digging to get more info for the guys in the P15D25 forum. Any Chemical Engineers out there in the group that can provide some input please chime in on the discussion. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Sam: i just read the article that Hemmings had written regarding the motor oil. I also compared the amt of zddp and Ph and the Castrol GTX Classic is what I also saw along with what you just stated. So the questin for any car owner is if they want to use the product or not. Again I just posted the information to let the other owners know that we can get a modern oil that has these additives. Felt as if the messenger was being shot but that is par for the course in our current times. Information is always appreciated by some and not by others. Rich

Los-Control: Thanks for trying to get the information. I always thought that if an oil has been rated as an SAE oil it had to meet the standards and requirements to be approved. So am i wrong in this opinion or is the rating system incorrect. Oils also have an API stamp and log on the bottles so now it gets even more confusing. I always look for the modern oil to meet the requirements for the specific car manufactures requirements. Had a Foord 500 and they had their requirements and i alwasy looked to verify if the oil I was using meet the ford standards to insure that the oil could be used without any potential motor issues. When our older cars were produced they used the SAE system: Here is what is printed in my 938-39 Master service and repair manual for my 39 Desoto under Lubrication: Oil used in the engine should always be a high grade, well-refined oil. The recommendations made in the Lubrication Section are based on the S.A.E. viscosity numbering system. The numbers used indicate the viscosity of the oil only and do not take into consideration the quality of the oil. So I am assuming from the gentlemans statement that the SAE oil made by Castrol and the GTX product might not be meeting specific requirements for specific car manufactures to insure that that specific brand has the appropriate properties. So basically the SAE ratting is either a straight weight, mutit weight, blended or full synthetic that we can now purchase at the stores.. The above screen print is the definition for the S.A.E Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

los-control: is there any way that you could post the comments from your chrysler guy as to stating what and what not the Castrol Gtx is not meeting for the SAE requirements. I know that on the SAE information the label on the bottle also states which other requiremnets that the oil covers and you should always check these against what your specific requirements are for your engine. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

At the same time I was talking with the Zerex vavoline rep we also talked about the VR1 motor oil. He stated that the VR1 was developed for the more high powered cars, hotrod that everyone is switching to and for the performance engines. They added the extra protection becasue of the wear with added protection. He basically stated that with our low rpm flat head engine and with the average speeds that we drive them at and the low acceleration factor that the use of the ZDDP and Phospohous was not really needed. The regular oils of today do have stronger anti wear additives that are 100% better in quality than what was used back in the 1920 and later uptil the 1950's. So basically we even dicussed that the Walmart branded oil is of great quality and was entirely better than the oils when our cars were produced. My point that I am trying to get across to the owners is that you no longer have to go out and purchase ZDDP in a bottle as an extra additive. The Castrol GTX Classic now has it mixed in with the oil. So baiscally you will spend around 20 dollar for 5 qts of regular oil so why not spend the extra few dollars and th eoil will include the ZDDP and Phos additives. Yes this has been dicussed many time so basically it is personal choice for each car owner to determine if they want to use it. I am not getting any endorsment fees. Just rying to pass along new product info to the members as to inform them of the motor oil product that they can use. This is what the forum should be all about. Providing updates and links to information to keep our cars running and new products. Comments are always welcomed. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I looked in my Federal Clutch release bearing catalog and according to them the correct clutch release hosuing number for Mopar number 671950 and 658998 is P-1054. The P-1050 is the housing and also has the throwout bearing attached to the housing and these were used for MoPar cars from 1937-41 the bearing number sold seperately is a 1054 bearing The housing that you have shown is the same housing that is used inmy 39 desoto without the bearing attached to the housing rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

ALSO could be a condensor going bad also check the points gap and also the condition of the contacts in the top of the dizzy cap to see if there is any pitting and also the rotor. When the car is just started is there any type of sputtering when cold or only the sputtering when the engine has gotten hot? do you still have the original coli in the car. This also might be starting to wear out. Also check the little wires in the dizzy to make sure they have not lost the clot covering. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I contacted the Zerex Antifreeze technical service department regarding the proper Antifreeze that we should be using in our old cast iron engines. The rep informed me that we should be only using the Zerex Green Original Antifreeze for our cars that uses the IAT technology. We should not use the OAT type in our cars. Please read the attached information sheets to help you understand what product to use in your cars. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.comAntifreeze in classic cars.pdf Zerex Original Green Antifreeze .pdf Anti-Freeze and flushing cooling system.pdf

I was doing some searching on motor oil for our old flat head with tappets. Alot of discussion has been posted over the years about the lack of Phosphorus and ZDDP in the motor oil and alot of owners are worried about the camshft lobes and flat tappets get excessive wear. Castrol has recently started a new product for our classic cars call CASTROL GTX CLASSIC 20-50 weight. I wrote to the Castrol Company and was asking for the amount of ZDDP and Phosphorus that is in each quart. They did indicate the parts per million for each. So if you are worried about the lack of these two products then you can use this newer product. I have found out that some Walmart stores carry the Castrol GTX classic product. The average cost is around $23 for a 5 quart container. Suggest that you either singon to the web page for each store and search for the product or go to your closest store. I have attached a copy of the information that they sent me. Please note that this oil SHOULD NOT BEUSED IN ANY OF OUR MODERN CARS THAT HAVE A CATALYTIC CONVERTOR. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Castrol GTX classic 20-50 oil zddp & Phosphorus.pdfCastrol GTX classic 20-50 oil zddp & Phosphorus.pdfCastrol GTX classic 20-50 oil zddp & Phosphorus.pdfCastrol GTX classic 20-50 oil zddp & Phosphorus.pdfCastrol GTX classic 20-50 oil zddp & Phosphorus.pdf

I just had a very interesting phone conversation with a tech rep from Valvoline in regards to their Zerex Original Green Antifreeze Coolant. This coolent is an IAT type of collent and this is the product that they recommend to be used in out older cast iron block engine. Make sure that the bottle has the wording ORIGINAL Green and the part number on the container is listed as ZX001 ZEREX Original Green. This comes in a 50/50 mixture. This product is good for 5 years or 100k miles but their tech rep states that we should basically drain every 3 years to keep up the anti rusting agent. Also if you had used the type that has the OAT products that you should drain the system and flush becasue they have found that some of the gaskets and seals do get compromizsed. attached is the Tech sheet on the Zerex Original Green product. Hope this solves the question on AF. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com US_Val_ZXOGreen_AFC_EN.pdf

Yes I agree that keeping the car original has its appeal. So as many of you have read that I drove my stock 1939 Desoto from valley forge Pa to Altoona Pa to attend the National desoto clubs car show and convention back in June. I drove the car on the Pa Turnpike the posted speed limit goes from 55-70 MPH. I drove the 39 at the average speed of 50-53 and stayed inthe right lane. I had blinker lights like what would be used on a bicycle attached to the my license plate and also reflective plastic strips over the rear bumpers. We drove a total of 550 miles. I would like to say that i did not have any issues with truckers or other car. They all gave me plenty of room and no one was on my butt going each direction. On my way home i even had a tractor Trailor stay behind me all the way from Harrisburg Pa to valley forge for an approx distance of 75 mile and acted as a buffer to my car. When he went around me I waved a big thank you to him and he replied with a pull on his air horn. So yes you can still travel with these older cars but you also have the responsibility to be aware of your surroundings and to give the other guys the room they also require. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I have written to the Prestone corp regarding what specific product line in their products will be the best one to use in our cast iron blocks in requard to the IAT versus the OAT versions. When I receie their reply I will post the information. Rich Hartung

sniper thank you for pointing out that the type should be IAT, Inorganic additive technology Rich Hartung

first wash the car to get any road grimes and dirt off the car. Use a car cleaning product to wash the car and do not use kitchen dush soap it removes the wax from the paint. Then go get some microfiber cloths and some detail spray and a clean claybar. Spray in a small area the detail spray, this acts as a lubricatant so that the clay bar will slide over the paint and not stick to the body. The clay bar will clean the body or paint of alot of the road grime and weather contaminents that are onthe paint. Do the complete car. Then put on a quality paste was or polish of your liking. I use Mcquires products. I have then finished the since with a ceramic spray on coating. The process will take you several hours but the color might come back Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

In the older flat head engines you should be using the old original GREEN colored antifreese and not the newer modern 100000 mile AF. I had a conversation with a Prestone rep and he also stated that the original green AF is the only product that should be used ALso suggest that you also put in a bottle of antirusting agent which comes in an 11 oz bottle this chemical helps prevent rust from forming and keeps the antirusting agents active in the AF. I put in a bottle of the antirusting agent every fall. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I know that these bolt on pedal pads have gone up in price. I remember going to Hershey and also spring and Fall Carlise and you could find a set for around 15-20 dollars. I have noticed that these items are not being displayed at vendors sites so you are stuck with getting them off the ebay for the $45. Just like everything else the originals and the replacements are getting harder to find. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

in my 39 desoto there aree five mounting holes that hold the unit to the top of the tank. These 5 holes also determine which way the arm swings to indicate full or empty and also a gasket so everything has to align for my tank. Might be the same with your tank. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com