Robin (UK)

Hey Bill, Welcome aboard. I'm running a 47 Convertible, in the UK. I love both stock P15s and hopped-up cars and I'd agree with most of the posts here... Lower the car, go with the engine hop-up and add overdrive - but think VERY carefully before going with the roof chop. The great thing about the P15 vert, is that the front screen is already chopped - it's only 12 inches high - and with the victoria hood, it already looks like a custom 3-window coupe with attitude. If you go too radical, the car can look a bit comical and overstyled. I'm running a Dodge 230 motor, with Fenton head, Sharp intake, Fenton headers, twin pipes with Smithys mufflers and Dodge overdrive tranny. The difference in performance, compared to the stock car, is amazing. And the sound is PURE VINTAGE!!! Longer-term plans will feature a mild cam. Body-wise, my car's stock, except for fender skirts dressed with 41 Buick trims, and blue-dot rear lenses. It rides at the standard height. It's a vintage-style hop-up, but can go back to stock very easily. Just my thoughts and preferences, but good luck with whatever you decide to do... and PLEASE keep us posted. Robin (UK)

LOVE the Zeppelin, but I'd rather see it in more original guise. It kinda reminds me of the 1936 Stout Scarab... This car is one of probably nine that were built by William Stout, an aeronautical engineer in Dearborn, MI. It was sold to a French publishing magnate and spent its entire life in France, supposedly used by General Eisenhower in North Africa and then by General DeGaulle. It was then used by a circus to house monkeys until Philippe Charbonneaux, a French automotive designer, bought it in the early sixties for his museum. Not only did it have a unit construction body made out of light aluminum, it featured the famous Ford flathead V8 engine placed at the rear driving the rear wheels via a Stout-built three-speed manual transaxle. It has a 135-inch wheelbase, 4-wheel independent coil spring suspension, and the most spacious cabin of any American car as the result of no running boards and no drive shaft tube. This $5,000 aerodynamically vehicle was well ahead of its time. More pictures at: http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z9131/default.aspx

Not my cup of tea, at all. But this truck was at Paso - my friend in California sent the picture. Hey... what's that behind it?!!!

I don't think that's the REAL Marilyn. Here she is, in the UK, with my son...

The loops in the fuel line are, as suggested, to allow flex in the lines when the engine moves on the mounts. The fuel is feeding through a Fenton fuel block on the inner wing. Not sure if I'll stay with this set-up. Might just get rid of the fuel block and feed up to the carbs more cleanly. To answer Fireball: I collected the pieces through Ebay and via members on this Forum. The air cleaners are from Vintage Speed. Keep looking and asking and you'll eventually find the parts you want.

Guys, My car's home at last. New front springs and re-tempered rears mean it now sits quite a bit higher (I kinda like that look). New shocks all round, plus Charlie Akers' front shock re-location brackets, have given it a much smoother and tighter ride - AND IT NOW GOES ROUND CORNERS!!! Also, I now have the Fenton head and headers, plus the Sharp intake all running and looking great. The high-compression head means I now have to be a bit more careful to shift down and use the gears, rather than relying on the torque of the engine from low gears... miss the down-shift and it'll start pinging a bit. But it sounds great and is very smooth and powerful. A big difference. I'll report more, when I've had a chance to use the set-up a bit more. Robin. PS Chet - email me regarding the George Asche manifolds, if you're still interested.

Bob, You're a lucky guy!!! I'll happily go and claim it for you..... But first, you'll have to deposit $250,000 into my account, to cover expenses (ha ha). R.

Congratulations David, An inspiration to everyone else. R.

Guys, More great pix on this page... http://atascadero.name/wordpress/2006/02/27/armandos-41-plymouth-at-the-tijuana-drag-races/ Isn't the internet a great place!!!

I just ordered a seal from Roberts. I had one in my garage that I was sure was correct, but it's turned out not to be (internal diameter way too big). Anyway, hope the one that arrives in a few days will be right. It's the only piece keeping my car off the road at the moment. The only good thing is that it's pouring with rain, so I wouldn't have seen much on-the-road Plymouth action this weekend, anyway. As always, thanks for the tips. R.

Guys, I came across these pictures on the web. Hadn't seen them before, so thought I'd share them. All the best. Robin.

Bob, Thanks - please check your email. R.

The ClassicHeads ignition is a Pertronix set-up. I believe that for the distributors in our cars they can't provide a reversible set-up (i.e. the conversion involves a change to the base plate, which means it can't be put back to mechanical points). That's whay Pertronix themselves don't offer the kit. I'm looking at obtaining a spare distributor to undertake this conversion - keeping the original as a spare. Any other advice or reports of experiences would be appreciated. Thanks. Robin.

Guys, I need a pinion seal for my P15 - QUICKLY. Does anyone have one which they could send by UPS next day to the UK? Please email me - Robin@RockTheJoint.com - if you can help. Thanks. Robin.

Don, I'm sure I have a spare hood ornament in far better shape than yours. I'd happily send it to you for the price of the postage, but I'm guessing that from the UK it would be about 15 or 20 bucks. If you can't get one cheaper, closer to home, let me know and I'll find it in my garage and pop it in the mail. Robin.

Great to hear that another beautiful car is coming to Europe. Good luck! I bought my P15 convertible without seeing it. My first sight was at the docks. Unforgettable! The car was largely as I expected it to be. Some things better, some things worse. But all was OK for me and I felt I got a fair deal. Hope all works out well for you. Robin.

Has the car been switched to negative ground? If so, maybe the owner didn't bother to sitch the fuel gauge wires. What's the ammeter showing?

Robert, Good to see you back on the Forum. Looks like some good advice above, but I just thought I'd give an opinion... Your problem sounds very much like a radiator issue, to me. If the temperature gauge capillary or bulb was broken, the gauge would not work at all. I had a problem with my coupe, some time ago. Would run fine all day if kept below 60mph. Go to 61 and it would start to boil, very quickly. Turned out that the radiator was partly blocked with sludge and, over 60mph, the faster water flow through the parts of the radiator that were working would not allow enough cooling before the water flowed back to the engine. Bryan bought the car, re-cored the rad straight away and has never had a problem since. Good luck with the fix. Let us know how you get on. Robin.

I posted a picture while you were on your vacation. Check out my posts to see the car - it looks just like yours. Robin.

Wow! That's a beauty.

As of next week, my car will be running a FENTON head with a SHARP dual-carb intake, FENTON headers and repop EDMUNDS CUSTOM air cleaners. Looking forward to hearing that run. In the future, I'd quite like an Edmunds water-heated intake and I'm considering a lumpy cam.

Guys , Thanks for all the info, on and off the Forum. As usual - you are such a great source of knowledge. I have to confess that my intake is a Sharp unit (not Fenton) but I knew a lot of you run Fentons so I was trying to tap into your knowledge. It seems that the intake has thinner flanges than the Fenton headers, so it's not possible to clamp the parts with the standard clamping washer. The guys at the shop are now going to machine a set of stepped washers, so that the hold-down pressure is correct on each piece. They are hot-rodders, so they’re used to solving those awkward little problems. And it’s good to know my car’s in safe hands. Thanks again. Have a good weekend. Robin.

The intake has flanges which need to be clamped to hold the intake in place, but the flanges on the headers are thicker, so it won't clamp down. I've been told that Chevys use 'bridges' on the bolts, to hold the intake.

Guys, Does anyone have any idea where i can get a set of four offset clamps for fitting the Fenton dual-carb intake? I believe the Chevy stovebolt uses something similar. Thanks. Robin.

Don, Thanks for the video clips. That engine sounds amazing. Wow! Makes me consider it even more. I'll catch up with George Asche about specs. Anyone else got experience of George's (or other) hot cams? Thanks. Robin.