desoto1939

five lug rear brake drum puller with the sixth hole for the mounting pin that was used on the MoPar cars that use bolts instead of studs. I like this style because you get equaly amt of pulling on each std or mounting bolt versus the three arm puller that has more pulling on the arms that are close to each other. Took me awhile to find this puller but was worth the wait to purchase one. The 6th hole is the one at the top of the puller at 12 o-clock Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com Here are pictures of the pullers taken from the Miller tool company that supplied tools to the Dealerships

ED: when you say the threads are worn and you state that one of them will pull off the stud when cranking on the puller. I would be real concerned right now becasue if they are that bad then how do you tighten down each lug nut to insure that the rim is on tight to the drum? If they are that bad then your first concern is to get new studs installed. Since they are lefthand threads did someone try to take them off incorrectly at some point in time? Rich Hartung

Yes I am well aware of that fact. So this is why I have over the years collected several NOS Autolite IGS3004A breaker plates that are complete, NOS rotors, Condensers that I have tested distributor caps, AutoliteA9 sparkplugs, vacuum advance units, several IGS4102C complete Distributors and one is even NOS and other items that will keep my car running down the road. So when your Pentonix system craps out on you in the middle of nowhere how are you going to fixit. With spare points,condensor, rotor,cap and plugs I can get the car running again. I am not knocking Pentronic's but the tried and true old points sytsems still provide good service t these older cars. Also from 1939-48 the chrysler products used the same parts so there still be aviable and also parts from Echlin, Blue Streak, Standard and several other manufacturers. But I prefer Autolite as my first choice. Rich Hartung

I have a 39 Desoto that still runs the original stock 6v system and still uses the old points and condenser setup for the past 35 years and the car is 84 years old and still goes down the road smoothly at 50-55 mph. I only use Autolite electrical components becasue they were the factory installed parts. The good old quality parts make a difference instead of the Chinese junk! Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

are you using a 3 arm puller or a 4 or 5 arm puller? If one of the threads are weak on one of the studs then move the arms so that the week threaded stud is not being used to pull the drum. Also which drum is in question you also might have left hand threaded studs on the driver side of the car versus right handed threads on the passenger side of the car. You could have the mechanic change to all right hand threaded studs on both drivers side drums. Then go to a good mechanic and have him replace the band studs. This can be done. Rich Hartung

Dave - Rich Hartung adding some info from my Airtex catalog for you. Here is info on Autolite fuel pumps: look a the model FA- 40035 same arm as on the 588 model that Andy B sent you.

yes on Tuesday f this week the Hemmings Motor News and Cocker tire was hosting the Great Race from Kty to Maine which ended today. Gettysburg was a stop over location and day ending finishing point. The race which really is not a race but a time and endurance rally is held every year. Original it was an event that went across the USA. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

if i remember correctly these are cast housing so with that in mind I can see that they might get brittle and crack apart when taking them off. Over the years I have obtained several of these housings. Rich Hartung

I know that we are talking about putting cars up higher off the ground with wooden jack stands/supports. My main concern is that the entire car is off the ground but no one has mention that if you are working under the car that you should have someone in your house if the garage is attached or even if its a detached garaged to be on a standby situation in case of an accident. When working under the car my suggestion is that you go to a resale baby store and pickup a two way baby monitor and have the sending unit close to where you are under the car and that the other person in the home can also hear you and communicate back to you. These are cheap and just an idea to help incase you need help. Also shake the car or bump into the car to make sure it is stable. Another idea is that you should have some form of a tire stop or wedge built into the stand to prevent the car from rolling forward or backward if holding the car up on the stands via the tires. Most f this is common sense suggestions, but just a reminder to play safe. If the car seems to move when working on the car then stop what you are doing and safely get out from under the car and then get it to a mechanic that has a certified lift to work on the car. The extra cost is minimal when compared to you getting hurt and even killed under the care. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

yes you can arch any style drum brake shoe but not disk brake pads. It is all in the setup of the machine and also having the drum miced to know how the diameter of each drum, you can not assume that each drum is a perfect 10, 11 or 12 inches. If the car is old is probably has been cut down at some point. This is the reason why you have to mate the shoes to the drum. So there is some time that the owner has to spend to get the proper measurements and then that has to be setup on the ammco safe arc tool. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I am going to Gettysburg on Wednesday 6/26/24 This is one of their stop over locations. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

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