TJM70's_48

Beautiful day here in Western Pennsylvania...around 67 degrees and sunny. Our dirt roads have dried up, but not yet become dusty...and I was itching to take out the car. I charged the battery yesterday and got it re-installed and started in about a half hour. Took it out for a medium drive and warmed everything up. So far so good...just great to have the old machine out again... This is year #2 for me as an old car owner...after many years of wishing. Let's hope for a nice dry & long summer. Anybody else recently take a car out after a few months in storage? Tom

I bought a Cen-Tech auto meter at Harbor Freight...dwell, tach, normal elec. meters plus a few other features. Worked great on the 6V system and helped me get the tuneup right. Not too expensive, either.

Yes...that's it...plate topper. The "bumper sticker" that's era appropriate to our cars? Not to be against the cloth patch idea, but, I'd be proud to support the forum with the purchase of a P15-D24 plate topper...

Guys...not to add another option, but, I'd really like to get a bolt on license plate reflector with the web site on it instead of a holder or bumper sticker... Not sure if I'm calling it the right thing...it bolts above the license plate thru one of the holes....

Prior to buying my Plymouth last year, it had been 20 or so years since I had driven / worked on anything with points...I had forgotten all about them. The strongest case made for keeping the points is this: they don't often fail completely right away...you can maybe make it home on failing points but you won't make it home with a failed electronic ignition. I learned this when the points failed in our car over the summer...I had a troublsome and very intermittent miss...the points were relatively new, put in by last owner about a year prior...gradually the miss got worse until I barely chugged home one night... It took me a while to figure out the points...after I checked every other component of the ignition and replaced the coil...even those small wires in the distributor... Anyway, the old timers who have sage wisdom beyond my experience or years know how to set points with a match book and time their cars by ear and from memory...maybe I"ll never get that good but the system does work and even when it's problematic, it shouldn't leave you stranded. Just my .02

I have been considering a company called Auto Interior Systems of Cambridge, Ontario...they sent me some fabric samples and have some that look pretty close to stock. I haven't dealt with them yet, though.

Yeah...I know what you mean. I worked on a big budget movie around 10 years ago and if I recall, I got $125 / day plus they fed us some pretty good grub (after the actors and crew got to eat first). I recall eating salmon and green beans at 2 or 3 AM. Long hours, but, very interesting. I guess he's looking for people who would be more interested in being in an indie film than in making some money. I can't make it.

Independent film shooting this Saturday...found it on Craig's List so take it for what it is worth...but I did a day on a movie set a few years ago and found it to be pretty interesting. Doesn't pay much, but, might be fun if you are in the greater Pittsburgh area and have Saturday free. I am not affiliated with the movie, just thought someone may want to check it out. http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/wan/1487947853.html

No, I didn't have anything in there. My car is, however, stored in a neighbors garage for a couple more weeks - I only have a 1 car garage and I need it for work right now - and it makes me anxious to have it elsewhere.

Caught this on the morning news...no matter what one collects, the worst nightmare. http://www.abc23.com/News/NewsDetails.asp?NewsID=1373

I have two wishes: First that a car like this should pop up in Pennsylvania...second that I could spread fertilizer on my one car garage and help it grow to house three. I actually passed up even looking at a 47 Chevy over the summer...driveable for $2500...local. No sense in torturing myself, I have one old car...and no room for another.... I am starting to understand why some people have 50 cats...nice cars, in need of good homes...same thing.

Thanks, guys...looks like these GM shoes have multiple applications...there ought to be numerous people who would want them. They must have been sitting around since the early 60s on a shelf.

I bought a few odds and ends for my car in a box lot deal. I ended up getting 4 new sets of relined Bendix brake shoes for '56 Buick, '58 Pontiac, two other sets...in other words, nothing I have a need for but someone should. Other than trying to go with Ebay...is anyone aware of an outlet for these? I'm hoping to break even on the stuff I got for my car in the deal by selling these off... ~Tom

Thanks for the replies...I think I've got the bases covered, I used Seafoam as the stabilizer, it's what I had on hand...out of Stabil. It's been running great & I want to be able to pull it out in the spring still working right! Does anyone pull the plugs and put Marvel oil in that way? I've never used it, but there seems to be a good opinion of it. BobT...great New Year's day tradition...if it's dry, clean and clear here I may do something like that! We hit 70 degrees once about 10 years ago, I'll never forget that day...it's usually pretty cold here in W PA all winter long. ~tom

I am a new old-car owner...aside from a dry, protected garage (unheated), pulling out the battery...what else should I provide for a safe winter rest? Full gas tank? Empty tank? Engine fogger? Pest control? Change oil now? Change oil in spring? Emergency brake on / off? In gear or out? Is seafoam a good gas stabilizer? Many questions. What suggestions can you offer? ~Tom

I have purchased and used two 'at home' windshield repair kits...I got good results with both on my modern cars. I read a review at Popular Mechanics online...and decided after watching Safelite do it to my cars a couple of times...to try it myself. I used a Permatex and a "Fix-a-Windshield" (from the Fix-a-flat people). I ended up liking the fix a flat product because it could do more than one crack with a kit. Seemed like a better value. The fix a flat kit seemed easier to install and more like the professional setup. The Permatex setup has a single use foam backed adhseive attachment for the vacuum unit / product dispenser. The Fix A Windshield kit has a suction cup attachment that's reusable. I've done 5 of them myself now over the course of about two years and all but one, the most severe, are completely invisible. The results with both brands were the same - both very nice. My really bad star crack has gone thru two winters with no growth. The others were done this summer, but they disappeared completely so I'll be surprised if we have any other trouble with them. I have bad luck with taking windshield hits and got tired of paying for the repair company to come out & fix it. I have been wondering if this would work on my P-15 - I think I'll give it a try. I have a couple stable, small cracks I'd like to keep from spreading.

Norm...that's sort of where my thinking is going, too. I need seat covers and interior work...but only so much money to go around...I just didn't want to make him such a low offer as to insult him...but I also don't want to have a parts warehouse.

I met a fellow at a car show who had some '48 parts he wants to sell me. Since I'm new to antique cars in general, what is a fair price (for both of us) for a transmission and gas tank? Both out of a running car that caught on fire and was parted out. Both items are good on my car...although I have a slow transmission leak and the idea of having a spare gas tank is appealing....I don't "really" need either thing so I don't want to overspend if I buy them. ~tom

Just to update the thread with some results. I ended up putting new points in the car and re-adjusting the timing. Once the points were done, it finally restarted (after not starting at all for a while). Drove fine after getting the timing right...I have limited experience with the timing and not for many years. I still had the most minor, but annoying, miss from time to time...just something sapping the power a little bit. That turned out to be a bad spark plug wire on #4 cyl. It was arcing at the distributor and I just happened to catch it in dim light. Thanks for all the help and pointers in the thread as I continue to get to know my car. Tom

Jim....the high side of the volume control pot will be the terminal that has a changing value as you turn the control - measure it with an ohm meter. Three connection points, it won't be the center one. Then (referring to your question about the wire originally on the volume control), disconnect the wire from the volume pot and connect it to pin 3 on the new jack...via a shielded wire. I used coaxial cable because that's what I had on hand. There's probably a better choice - more like the original. With my installation under the glove box and to the right a bit...I had two long runs of coax to and from the jack location. It's a nice modification because it's 100% reversible. You are left with a working radio too for those times when you want to use it. Just unplug the jack and the radio is back on. If my explaination still isn't clear, please ask as many follow up questions as you want...it took me a while to understand it and, since it wasn't my modification to begin with, I also asked a lot of "dense" questions...once it clicked, it was a breeze. -Tom

Here's a link to a pretty easy modification you can make to a working original radio. If you have general schematic skills, soldering skills, etc. it's very easy to do. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=16566 I have an MP3 player that's the size of a package of chewing gum in the glove compartment - it holds hundreds of songs, old radio shows, 1948 news casts, etc. Tons of fun and very confusing to some passengers. TM

I have a computer that streams to the TV in the living room...we watched it online last night here: http://www.wliw.org/productions/travel/classic-american-cars-of-cuba/342/

I have a very good friend who has seen this first hand when on a visit to Cuba. It's unbelievable. Although I'm told that many of the cars are very worn out and not as sharp as those shown in the film. Especially in the countryside. Many of them drive at night with no lights of any kind...they've been burned out since 1974, etc. There are also a ton of old Soviet cars...I think they are called Lada? And many new Daewoo, Hyundai, etc. for tourists only. Driving past one of the few factories, one may see a parking lot loaded with pre-59 cars...I have to imagine that it would look like the factory where my grandfather worked in the heyday of American manufacturing. The oldest car my friend saw driving around was a lat 20s Ford delivering ice blocks. The ice man owned it! Thanks for pointing up this film.

I live on a dirt road and I can vouch for the damage done by the calcium chloride dust control. I can't keep a new car nice...stuff that normally doesn't rust, rusts. Since getting my P-15 in April, I've avoided driving it on our roads when they are wet...the mud is tenacious...and I keep it inside. We used a product called Coherex one year, but the yahoo who applied it and graded / rolled the roads didn't do it right so the borough council gave up on it as a failed experiment. It was probably similar to the soybean based idea mentioned above.

Where are you in PA? I'm in the Ligonier area...climbed Laurel Mountain (in much cooler temps, though) and warmed my car up pretty much the same way. I'm one of the ones who will run the heater from time to time.