Desert Rat

I can say I have seen the vapor lock issue before during the summer when the car was under more extreme conditions. I put in a heat shield and that seemed to help a little bit. But these other times seemed different. Two of these no start incidents were in cooler weather only about 10 minutes or less into the drive. I tried the squirt of starting fluid even after waiting about 5-10 minutes for things to cool and settle, still no start. The spark plug checker is a great idea though. I picked up a new coil from NAPA yesterday but I'll bring my plug checker along if it happens again. Thanks for the input on the resistor. Just wanted some feedback to make sure I didn't have the wrong coil or a missing part from PO possibly.

After a couple of frustrating hot no- starts and scouring the forums, I think I may need a new ignition coil. A bit of reading here had me going in the direction of a Pertronix coil but a call to them for an exact part led to them telling me they don't make a coil for my car because they contain internal resistors. Looking through my books and wiring diagrams, I don't see anything about a ballast resistor or see anything wired in the engine compartment that looks like one. Question is can I just swap out this old oil filled coil with a new 6 v Pos grd coil or should I be running a ballast resistor, or do I need an entirely different coil? 1937 P4 Plymouth coupe 1954 218 Plymouth engine 6V/ Pos ground Points Existing firewall mount coil Echlin IC-7 1.2 ohms primary resistance

I mentioned using the the A-9. It is an aluminum cutting fluid. We've been using this on the job drilling and tapping for years and it works great.. Even with steel.

I just did the Rusty Hope conversion and had trouble drilling the large holes out on the spindle and tie rods. Since I didn't want to go through the whole king pin removal headache, I thought I would drill these on the car. . My bits kept jamming and twisting out of shape every time they would bite into the steel. So I ended up just hogging out the holes with a rotary file on a drill (not a large amount of material to remove) then moved on to tapping the spindle. I used plenty of A-9 and took it nice and easy.. Have an issue with some brake hose clearance but other than that, really happy with the end result.

Its been a minute since my original post but I took a common sense approach and pulled the plug. Nice and tan. No signs of oil blow by from the rings and the engine has been running the same as the day I picked it up. So I can rule that out. Looked a little closer and it appears to be a very small leak at the bypass elbow. Many have speculated here that may be the case of the water being cooked out of the antifreeze leaving a oil-ish residue. Sure looked like oil but indeed was coolant. Thanks everyone.

I have a paper air filter so I can rule out the oil bath. . Still convinced it is oil, just has the color and lubricant feel of oil. Although I did see what looked like possible weeping from the water pump elbow (which I did replace a water pump about six months ago). Might try the radiator stop leak..

Tried searching this on the forum but didn't see anything that addressed this in particular. . Getting some oil built up in the #1 plug well on my flathead. Just a little bit, nothing that is spilling off the head, yet enough to dab up with a rag. I haven't driven her much since I've noticed. I was going to do a compression check but thought I might damage my compression gauge if fluid got into it somehow. Maybe I'm overthinking this. Head gasket, bad valves, rings?? Hoping someone has seen this before and can shed some light. 37' Plymouth P4 coupe Engine is 218" from a 53' single carb, mostly all stock

I agree.. The 6v alternator swap was some of the best money spent on this car. It seems like it starts easier, especially on cold days. I feel like I was having to put a trickle charger on it constantly. Haven't had to for a couple months now. And besides, the genny was making some awful noise that couldn't be remedied with the proper generator lubrication.. It was time.

I discovered a helpful trick when re-installing. There was two bolts mounting the radiator to the frame. I thought I would give it a shot and sure enough they were slotted. Just take them loose and give yourself another 3/8" or so. .A world of difference when the clearance is nothing.

Patience is key.. I ended up soaking it for a few days in Free. Since it had about 3/8" of thread exposed, I ground down two nuts really thin and jammed them together on what was sticking out of the block. Spun it out no problem. ?

In replacing my pump, I ended up shearing off the center mounting bolt. Since it has a good 3/8" or better sticking out of the block, I figured i could use one of those bolt extractors.. Hoping it won't spin on the threads Ive soaked it in Free for a couple days. Gonna try somehow to squirt some in from the back as well. Anyone been down this road or have some tips? My radiator is still in btw. Just like others have pointed out. Its a knuckle scraper and just BARELY has room but I made it happen. Also, any RTV gasket sealant when this goes back together?

I discovered a new noise recently that was the water pump. Found some water pump grease on Amazon. I've read not to put "too much" grease in.. So how much is too much? I estimate I've put in maybe a teaspoon judging by what came out of the gun.. The noise has gotten better but hasn't completely gone away. Next question is what happens when you use too much? I may end up buying a water pump after all trying to figure this out.

Excellent! Thanks for all the input here. My first “classic” was a 64 Plymouth as well. Barracuda with push button tranny. . I love all cars but Mopars always seem to fall into my lap

Can anyone tell me the torque for the castle nut on a front axle spindle? Car is a 37’ Plymouth coupe. When I took it off it was nearly hand tight. . Can’t seem to find it anywhere in the manual or the forums.

Not a 38' but close enough.. It's about time I get it out here on the web. My 37' P4 coupe. Same color as your 38 I believe. Stock drive train but engine is a flathead out of a 53'.