desoto1939

Thank you, I am just trying to guage how much interest there is within the members t o proceed or not to proceed with this option. And yes if I do go with this arching I will then list it in Classified section. Thanks, Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

to replace the small 1 inch rubber hose for the by-pass you either remove the thermostat housing or the by-pass housing unit. The hose is a very tight fit in space so that is the best way to replace the hose. When I did mine I also installed a shut off vale in the bypass unit so I could control all water flow from and to the heater. So I had a shutoff valve at the rear of the head by number 6 sparkplug and then one on the bypass adapter. The reason is if I had to work on the heater i could then cut off the entire flow of water at these two point and then only have a small amt of water in the two hoses and in the heater and could drain the heater without draining the engine of AF and water. Think ahead for future project and think about how much time this just saves. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I have an opportunity to purchase a working Ammco Safe Arc Brake shoe tool. My question at this point is there any interest from the members of having me cam grind the shoes to match each of your drums? Yes I would be charging for this service but at a reasonable cost. You would have to have each drum measured to let me know how far over the drum might have been cut. The owner you also need to have a picture taken of each drum so i could make sure I am setting up the machine to the proper specs. Also each shoe would have to be identified as to where it is on the car such as Front Right, Front Shoe, Rear shoe and this would need to be done for all drums and individual shoes. The cost of shipping to me and return of the shoes would also need to be calculated into the cost. So just trying to see if there is any interest of me purchasing the tool and for me to cam grind the shoes to fit your car Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

No wonder that you kept getting caught by the Fed's when trying to run the moonshine through the backroads. You made it too easy for them to catch you. Especially in thse dry counties. Rich Hartung

Helpful hint on tires. n my 39 Desoto I have bias-ply tires on all 4 wheels, but I have an old rug under the entire car and also the four tires. The car is in a garage unheated and the floor is cement. The rug helps prevent the flat spot on the tires when sitting also it helps with the dry rot of the moisture coming up from the cement floor. If you have white wall tires do not use the White wall bleach product also know as Westley or Brite White product to clean the whitewalls. This product will dry out the sidewalls of the rubber. Instead use Simple Green and a soft brush to clean the tires. I was informed of this from the Universal Tire representative. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

The difference between the two shaft lengths is that the blocks are probably different sizes. The Chrysler is the 25 inch block and head and the Plymouth is the 23 inch block and head. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I had a similar issue but always thought it was the ethanol crap gas. I took off my carb and found out hat there was a 1/4 pool of gass sitting i the top of the intake manifold. When I took the air horn off the carb I discovered that the issue was the float. It had developed a home in the brass float and I could hear gas inside the float. The gas was then making the float sink and cause extra gas to flood out the carb and made it so hard to start. I put in a NOS brass float and now the car starts right up even when hot after driving it and then getting back in for a restart. A very small issue that caused my hot starting pbm. Just took sometime to figure what to look for to diagnose the pbm. Rich hartung desoto1939@aol.com

But no one stated the obvious things to do before jacking up the car from the rear. The real first important agenda is to have someone at home and tell them that you are working on the car with it up in the air just incase if something back happens. I have a two way baby monitor system so my wife has one end with her at all times incase if I need her help for incase of an accident. Be prepared!!!!!!!!!! 1. Put wheel cocks in front of the front tires to prevent the car from rolling forward since the rearend will be off the ground and the trans can no longer prevent the car from rolling. 2. If you are working with the rear end up in the air then loosen the lug nuts/bolts so that when the car is up on stands you lessen the possibilty of the car falling off the stands. 3. try to predetermine how high you want the car off the ground and preset the jackstand height. This way you just have to slide them under the axle and not fool around when the car is up in the air. Set the heigh to the lowest point to limit how high the car is off the ground based on what you need to fix. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Some people taken the plastic weedwacker trim line and then insert it into the end were the small bend its. filling the tube with the plastic trim line gives support and also helps prevent the tube from getting to sharp of a bend and the plastic fills the space to support the tubing. Try it on a piece of tubing and see how it works for you. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Modern shocks are like a piston style. the older lovejoy shocks have an arm that connects to a reserviour and these can be rebuilt but are not cheap. Hope you have the modern airplance style that bolt through a loop at the top and the bottom. This is a modern shock or airplane style Lovejoy or rotary lever shock. Very hard to find and expensive to rebuild Rich Hartung

If your tires are the bias ply tires they will follow every little crack in the road. Even if the last sticker shows 1988 it is definitely time for new tires. so you might have 26 year old tires that have dry rot and a whole host of other issues. If just trying to get the car road worthy again and just going around the block then you might be fine but nt out on any major roads. Looks as if you have a tire lift in the garage. but the car up off the ground and hand spin the tire looking for any sign of the tires wobbleing. Check the king pins to see if any movement also entire front suspension, are the lug nut/bolt all secure one could be loose, check the wheel bearings, Is there oil in the steering box. start at one point and then use a checklist to keep track of what you looked at. You will find the issue but it takes time. Get the car running engine wise then you have that knock out of any issues. Keep reporting on what you have done so we can all have some input to help advise you. According to my MoPar shock catalog in 1937 they started using the airplane style shocks. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

suggest that you use the Nickel Clad tubing because of the bending that the air line has to do to connect to the carb and distributor. Rich hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Keith: I also agree with the tight fit and limited amt of room to rotate the obstruction wrench. If the bolt head is 1/2 inch then the possibility of using a ratcheting radiator fan blade tool might work just another thought on this topic. Rich Hartung

Here is a suggestion that might make it easier to get the unit back in the car. On the lower outside home insert a threaded rod that is just long enough to catach some thread and then protrude out the flange end of the starter motor. Now you will have something to hold up the unit and then you can at lest roate the motor so that you can then get the inner bolt started to hold the unit in place. Brin the inner bolt up snug then remove the lower supporting rod and then run that bolt in by hand and then get it snug. Then tighten up the entire unit. Sort of like alignment rods when putting the clutch and tans back in your car. Just a thought. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

The correct grease is called Dialectric grease and just a very light smear is placed on the distributor cam. Also if you have an external grease cup on your early distributor body approx every couple of months rotate the cup clockwise approx 1/4 to 1/2 turn to force grease into the inner bushing. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Sniper: I have been running a carter carb in my 39 Desoto for over 35 years with the original carter parts and it also has the leather accelerator step up piston. There are really no rubber parts to be concerned about with the ethenol gas. Yes some people have gone to the rubber tipped needle valve but the original need valve was originally entirely metal, so no issue with the full metal valve. Yes there are cardboards gaskets and the regular factory gasket that are used between each section of the carb but inall reality they are not going to have any real contact with the enthinol gas. My carb builder who has been in the business for over 40 years told me that the leather accelerator piston will not get affected by the ethinol gas issues. So that is why it always try to get true rebuild kits and sometime can get them cheaper that the more modern kits. I will have to agree that the old fuel pump kits are not good and the new ethanol diaphragm is the real replacement that needs to be installed. I in in the process of rebuilding my Carter E6N1 carb that has been on my car for the past 35 years and I am using a total rebuild carter carb kit that has all of the plugs, gaskets and small internal parts and springs. I purchased the original kit for $35. The main get is brass and so are all of the other internal parts so ethinol is not going to affect these parts. People can use what ever they prefer. Just adding in my $1.00 worth of input. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I looked in my Autostat Temp gage catalog here are screen prints of their thermostats. you should be using the 75-fht or the 95-fht model. refer to the second and third screen shot. The 3rd page show what each thermostat looks like. I think you might have an incorrect stat in your car according to the picture you posted versus what this major supplier of thermostats produced from early 1930 - 1950. I would go by his information. Just some FYI for you. This is why i stress the collection of older catalogs to support your hobby of older cars. Hope this solved your heating issue. Rich hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Here is what is included in a newer kit: Where is the new replacement jet and th small pump high idle brass parts. So basically you get new gaskets float needle small gaskets, I do not see any plugs no small ball bearing that are part of the internal parts no venturi tube all of the parts that are included in an original repair kit. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I just did a search on Ebay here is the lisiting: 1937 C6F1 PLYMOUTH REPAIR PARTS MANUAL CARTER CARBURETOR NIB OEM KIT cost $65 Rich Hartung

Look on the air horn which is where the air cleaner mounts to the car. There should be a metal flange and on this flange should be the model number of your carb like B6G1. Then do some searching on ebay for a carter carburetor kit for the specific model and carb number and or carter carburetor kit for 1937 Plymouth. The old original kits had all of the brass internal parts were as the newer replacements kits do not contain all of the parts. I prefer the original kits. Also with the carter original kits each Carter part number is listed on the front of the box lid. You will then have the appropriate carter part numbers and then you can also search when at swap meet to see what other carb kits contain the same internal parts and then have some real time assembled kits. The old original kits are much better and they also contain the accelerator pump that has the leather part to make the seal. I have a large collection of these kits for my 39 Desoto. These older kits are getting harder to find so if you find one then get it for future use. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

OK, I already have a dual 6v headlight relay on my 39 Desoto. I pull the power from my starter solenoid that is on top of the stater motor. I have the old style push rod style starer system, old floor plunger setup. The single and double relays both have protection by a fuse and this is where the power supply wire is attached to the relay. As you all know I recently purchase a set of senior Trippe 8 inch driving lights and they are currently installed and working on the car. I use a remote rotary switch that is attached to underside of my dash and is connected to the key switch also on the dash. I want to hook up another single 6v headlight relay to make the Trippe Lights perform brighter. So here are my options: 1. Run a new 10 gage wire from my solenoid to the new 6v single relay and then connect the wire coming from the switch and wires running out to the driving lights. 2. Run another 10 gage wire from my existing 6v dual headlight relay connection to the single headlight relay and then complete the wiring from the on/off switch to each individual Trippe light? Not sure if connecting to the dual relay might cause more issues or if better to just run an additional circuit to the second single relay. I think that having two seperate circuit is a better option, What is everyone's thoughts? Rich hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Where the linkage comes across over the top of the head look at the point where the linkage attaches to the bottom of the carb. There might be a rod that control the throttle speed and also a very small piece of metal called the throttle shaft dog. You mght have a groove in the shaft dog and it is sticking and keeping the idle high on your carb. I had this very same issue with my 1939 Desoto. The throttle shaft dogs are hard to find. Might find a used carb and it might still have this on the base. In the picture it is the metal piece that is to the left of the throttle adjustment. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com 1939 40 41 42-54 Throttle dog.docx

kouseneric39: I am sorry that you did not get the complete answer to your question. At first you stated that you did not have a wire diagram for your 39 Dodge so I took my time and copied the wire diagrahm and the wire number section so you would know what wires went to from the switch to the wiper motor. even my shop repair manual does not specifically state which is the power wire sending current to the wiper motor. So yes now that you know where each wire should be attached to the switch and to the wiper motor you can now use your testing lamp to help identify the power source. i did tell you that the power to the switch comes from the fuel gage. Yes your wires might have changed colors but you will still have to look under the dash a physically trace which wire and color goes to each switch. Sometimes the best knowledge is received via the effort to learn by doing things yourself with a test lamp. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Here is the wiring diagram from my 39 Desoto it basically should be the same for your 39 Dodge. Part AA is the electric wiper motor. Note the A,B,C wires connected to the wiper motor. The wire number 41 supplies power to the wiper switch and connects to Y the fuel guage on the dash. This should help you get to know your car. The 1939 Chrysler, Desoto and Dodge basically used the same wiring pattern. This page was taken out of my 1939 Supplemental service manual for the 39 Desoto. Rich Hartung

In the picture going from left to right the contacts are marked as A, B, C. Go to your service and parts book for your car adn then go to the wire diagram. It will show you which wire is connected to your wiper switch and the power source. If you do not have these basic two manuals then you will need to have them so that you can understand how your car is wired and how to fix items that need repair. each of the wires will then connect back to the wiper switch and each terminal is also labeled as A,B or C. you will have to trace the power source from the switch. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com