Norm's Coupe

Sorta like the dealers and shops tell you to change your oil every 3,000 miles, when the auto manufacturer says 7,000 in their owners manual.

Ahhh.......geez, that's so simple, if it had been a snake it would have bit me. I saw those slots but didn't look in them. From the parts book it looks like the whole thing would slide out by simply disconnecting the control lever. Oh well........tomorrow is another day. Will get it out then. That old gasket is so hard it cracks when you touch it. No wonder the thing leaks. By the way, while under there do you know if Steel Rubber has the gasket for the other vent? If not, I'll check them out. That one seems to be bad too. But.......if I get the top one done, the bottom one shouldn't leak because the water can't get there after I put in the new gasket. Thanks guys.

Have had the coupe sitting outside. With all the rain we've had the past week noticed the cowl vent was leaking. I have a new gasket from Steel Rubber but never used it since the vent never seemed to leak when I washed the car. But.....now it needs changing. I removed the bolt on the lever that attaches the cowl vent shaft to the lever. I then removed the cotter pin that was was holding the washer on the rubber bellows where the vent shaft goes through. But..........still can't lift the cowl vent out. Looking in the book both for the cowl vent and dual heater setup I can't see what's holding that thing in. Anyone have the cowl vent out that has the dual heaters in the car. Below is a picture of the bellows and where the shaft goes through it. The only thing I can think of, I may have to remove the screws around the bellows also. Will the cowl vent then come out without any trouble.

I call stuff like this snake oil. QUESTION: Why do they call it Marvel Mystery Oil? ANSWER: Because it's a Mystery as to what it actually does.

47heaven, I'll agree the news media does play up things to be larger than what they really are. While we do get snow here it doesn't stop life like it does in some southern states. Even on real heavy snow days, people are still going to work and shopping usually. As for tornados, I've never seen one myself. I also have never actually seen any hail big enough to do any damage to anything. Now, as for you comment about southern California becoming like a third world country. Well..........California is not the only one in that boat. You'll see that in just about every major city in the U.S. Some area's in all larger metropolitan area's the people aren't even speaking English. And, as far as the economy of California, yes the state is having problems. But........at the same time Wisconsin and many other states are in the red too. That's just a sign of the times. Yes, we can move someplace else. But.......is that the answer. I don't think so myself. Moving doesn't stop anything because the same problems you now have will also show up in the other area you move to over time. Are you then going to move again? So........the best thing to do is learn to live with it and the people. Those people speaking a different language only want what everyone else wants. That's to make a good living for their self and their families. The people moving out is actually what's causing the mess in the large metropolitan area's. Not the people moving in. Ooops. Sorry Gerald, this is beginning to get political, so that's all I'll say on the subject.

Fred, A little caution about using the stainless screws with a padded covering over the kick panels and door panels. With the padded coverings, the top vinyl/cloth covering is not directly attached/glued to the panel on front side, the padding is. Therefore, when you run the screw through the vinyl covering it will cause the covering to bunch up in the screw threads, because the covering comes away from the padding. There is a way to prevent that though. Go to a sewing store and pick up a package of grommets and the tool to press them onto the material with. Then put the grommets in the screw holes first in the material. The tool works similar to a rivet tool, except its for applying grommets to material. Doing it this way, the screw has a nice clean hole to go though and won't get caught in the threads, causing it to bunch up. The grommets come in different sizes and the tool can be used on any size.

You guys living near the ocean do get salt air, whether you know it or not. I'm walking, living proof of that. While in the service my first duty assignment after my training was in Korea in 1962. Took a troop ship from Oakland, CA to Korea with layovers in Hawaii and Japan. Took a total of 18 days for the trip over there. When I got off the ship in Korea I weighed 30 lbs. more than I did when I got on it. My uniforms were even a little too tight for me then. I went from slim and trim to looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Without going on any diets of any kind, I lost the 30 lbs. in about 5 or 6 months. A year later I came back home on another troop ship. That trip was only about 15 or 16 days because we bypassed Hawaii. But..........I again gained weight, just not as much, and I also lost it in a few months. Being young at the time, I really never bothered to find out what caused me to gain weight on those two trips. But.........years later (sometime in the 70's) I mentioned it to my doctor in the course of a conversation. He said it was because I was on the ship in the ocean breathing salt air. The winds pick up the ocean spray, it dries and is carried in the air. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

They don't irritate me. After all, like you said we have salt, snow and ice. That may harm a car in the winter, but it will take many years to do so if we keep the cars clean. However, those California people can have their car destroyed in one day by one of those fires. So.........I'd say we are better off with our cold winter weather. Not only that, but consider where their wind comes from. The Pacific Ocean, which is salt water and the air carries the salt air right into their back yards, onto their cars 24/7, 365 days a year. We have no salt air around us.

I needed a new front bumper when I first bought my coupe. Was looking at the Briz bumpers and the 49 Plymouth bumpers for several years. Was really trying to find some nice 49 originals cheap. Finally found a pair at a swap meet one day for only $100 that weren't too bad. But.........after thinking about them didn't buy them. Then a guy in the Ford V8 club had a real nice pair I could have bought cheap. But..........by then had decided what I really liked was the nice smooth look of the original P15 bumper. I don't think I care for the 49 Plymouth or Briz bumpers on a P15 after all. When it comes to reproducing the 52 DeSoto grill, it's probably not worth the start up cost. About the biggest use in the street rod field is in 49/50 Merc's. In the original, well there probably isn't enough people who have that model DeSoto. That along with the same would apply to the 49/50 Merc's. Don't forget, not all street rodders would with those models of the Merc want that type of grill to begin with. So.........the demand would probably be too small either way. That would make the cost of reproductions way out of the price range people would want to pay.

I don't do anything to my coupe for winter. It's ready to go anytime of the year. And, I will usually pull it in and out of the garage on nice days during the winter, as shown in the picture below. I only used stabil one year in the tank. Since then, it's just the gas from the pump. If moisture should get in the gas, I just dump some "HEET" into the tank and that takes care of that, plus any ice that may get into the line. When I do start it in the winter, I always let it run at least 20 minutes before shutting it down to get any moisture out of the system. So.........even the oil looks good in spring. Do the same with the snow blower and lawnmower. Never had a problem doing it. I never drain the tanks on either. Just started up the snow blower for a test run about a week or so ago. Still had about half a tank of gas from last winter in it, without any additives for storage. Started right up and ran fine, with the old non treated gas.

Joe, I haven't replaced my voltage regulator on my coupe. Don't know how old it is, was on there when I bought the car in 1995. When I did my engine compartment, I simply painted the regulator cover to make it look good. I did buy a new one right after buying the car...........but, it's still in the box it came in. Figured I'd get as much out of the old one before changing them. It doesn't take much time or effort to change that should it go out all of a sudden. So........if you feel like you want to be safe, then buy a new one just in case. You may never need to change that old regulator though.

It's true that the Ditzler numbers are obsolete. But.........some paint retail outlets do still have the numbers to cross them over to a PPG number. Tower Paint in Oshkosh, WI (they do have a website) is one of those retail outlets. Several years ago I was looking for Cruiser Maroon. I called Tower Paint and simply gave them the Ditzler number from the service manual. They made up a few aerosol cans and shipped them to me. They were the right color when I got them. So.......if nothing else, Robin could order one can from them using the Ditzler number. Once he had that, he could match the color at a local paint supplier.

My coupe windows were like that when I first bought the car in 1995. All I did was spray some good penetrating oil (not WD40) on the gears and wheels. Freed them up real nice. Haven't had to touch them since. I would not put anything in the tracks. You should be able to see the gears in the window cranks without removing them. Just spray them and work them until they free up.

Guess that's one advantage by going to swap meets. As mentioned got mine from a Ford Vendor that deals both in new and old parts. Bought them from him at the swap meet. Think his price on the clips were about .60 each at the time. But........by the time I counted them out and put them in a bag he only had a few left in the bin. Ask him how much and he said $12 for them all, so took the remaining few that were left too. So.........I have a few extras now.

Ed, I really can't tell from that picture. I do see something there, but.......it could also be a reflection of the bolt head that holds the plate on the back of the water pump.

Fred, I bought all new clips from an old Ford vendor when I did mine. Didn't want to have to clean the rust off the old ones and repaint them. Think it only cost me about $12 for enough clips to do all the interior panels. Think I got twice that much for the old rusty ones when I sold them on ebay.

Ed, You may see people running with those gaskets. But.......when you lay the gasket with the bump onto the engine block, the holes do line up exactly as they should. You can still get the bolts through the holes though, just not through the center of the hole. The mechanic who was helping on my engine recommended I not use it.

Don't have a truck, but I have the same engine in my 48 Plymouth coupe. That was the only reason I replied to this question. I did buy my gasket set for the engine though from NAPA. Only had to return the head gasket. It's not included in the gasket set anyway, so it was easy to return it and keep the other gaskets. While on the subject, the timing chain cover gasket isn't included in the gasket sets either. You also have to order that separately.

When I rebuilt my engine, I bought all my gasket sets from NAPA. However, had to return the head gasket. NAPA only had the one with a bump on the front edge as Merle's Internal bypass picture. Holes would not line up properly, so returned it and picked up the correct one from Gasket City.

You guessed it.

Sounds a little scary to me. Is "Freddie" also invited?

Robin, If you take that number and colors mentioned by Ernie, your paint supplier should be able to mix any brand of paint to match it. They usually have crossover books that show the mixing formula.

Actually, Robin has the right idea. He does need a nice piece painted with fresh paint to get a good accurate sample so the paint people over there can match it up. Trying to use a small sample chip or flake off the car really wouldn't be that good for the paint people to match up. And, of course, paint does slightly change shades over the years, even if it is covered and out of the light. Actually, a piece painted with paint straight from the can (not mixed) would be best. That's because when you thin it, it does slightly change the shade again.

Robert, Most custom and hot rod guys I've met don't throw good parts away, even if they are not going to use them. They hang onto them to make trades with. Or, they sell them at swap meets, etc., just like we do to help pay for their car. I helped a street rodder load a 52 DeSoto on a trailer a few years ago. He only bought the car for the grill, to put in his 49 Mercury. He gave me the generator and the windshield wiper motor, arms and switch. The other dash parts, some engine parts he was going to sell, then junk the car. The body really wasn't any good on that car. Was too far gone, you could stick your finger through the rusted metal. Most street rodders and custom guys also appreciate a stock original car, so they don't like to throw away anything that is usable.

Sounds like the body needs a lot of work due to rust though. Did you notice the rear door where it meets the rocker panel on one side. Looks like the rockers may be shot too. There's probably more problems under there that we can't see, but the owner did, so he's only asking the $1500. The car does look and sound like it's fixable though, but just needs a lot of body work on the bottom side. The biggest problem at the price though, it's a 4 door sedan. Would cost you more to fix the body than the car would be worth afterward. If it was a 2 door sedan or hardtop, or 4 door hardtop, then it would be worth more fixed up and you wouldn't mind sinking the money and time into it.