Dan Hiebert

I do part-time work for a local remodeling / renovation general contractor. We do everything except plumbing. I'll encourage a previous message - look up and follow your local codes. What you have in place may have been copacetic when it was installed (except maybe for that 110 off of 220 thing), but if you are changing any little thing you should go by code, which in theory makes older construction safer. The codes are for safety and ease of inspection (certainly not for ease of installation!). There is that national code already mentioned (NEC) for electrical and depending on where you live, there may be local codes which, as mentioned, generally follow the NEC, but can have rabbit holes - such as prohibiting certain lighting. Where I live there aren't "local" ones, so we go by the State's code. Electrical code tends to mirror Federal, the construction stuff can be all over the place. BUT - "by code" is also assuming you had to get permits to do that work or are a licensed contractor. The general rule for needing a license is that you don't need that license to do the work, unless you are getting paid for it. If you are doing your own work, no license necessary, but if you had to permit the job, local code enforcement has to sign off on it. If it's in the cards, a future buyer would be concerned with something being up to code if they know renovations were done, regardless of who did the work. Most States have their codes posted online, some require that you either have a license or pay to access it. The short version is to strive to follow code. Most of it makes sense, some of it is there for the same reasons they but "do not eat" on those silica packets. It does not hurt anything but can be a tad more expensive to do that just winging it. Assuming that 110 off of 220 circuit is spliced directly, that is not good, if you don't change anything else, fix that. Any circuit should be run off of its own breaker(s). If it was run through another, maybe smaller, service panel, after the 220 fixture it may be OK as long as that 110 circuit has its own breaker or fuse. That could be one of those vintage things, OK then, but may not be OK now. Power to switch vs. power to fixture is a matter of preference and often depends on the switch or fixture requirements, although I've heard there may be code changes for that. Many codes are driven by the manufacturers. I've been entertained a few times listening to contractors argue the merits of their preferred method. I don't know about 12VDC switches for 110 fixtures. Haven't run across that...yet. I've got a weird blown insulation in my attic, not the cardboard stuff, it's something they quit using in the '80s, almost looks like mica, but it isn't. I forget what it is called. It is supposed to be super efficient, but was too hard to make and lost favor as fiberglass insulation got better. Up here, to keep drafts out better in the old houses, we'll seal walls or ceilings up with that spray insulation. If it needs a higher R value, then we'll use regular ol' fiberglass insulation on top of it. Good luck with the reno! I enjoy doing that stuff (unless the homeowners are slobs), the results are always fulfilling.

One of those things that if you don't know it, you don't notice it. But once you do... I have bulbs with the alignment nubs on them on the car now. Sold as replacements for the GE4030, albeit with the nubs. A while back, I had an original bulb, and a later one on it, didn't notice the lack of the nubs on the original until someone herein pointed that difference out. Then I couldn't unsee it. I put a pair of later bulbs in so they would match and am casually looking for a pair of 4030s. Although I prefer the look of the "nubless" bulbs, it's a good bet the vast majority of folks out there wouldn't notice. We had the car in many shows with the usual contingent of nit pickers in attendance, none of them ever pointed that out.

10,000 years ago - a lot of us would be having this conversation under a mile of ice. Mother Nature runs her course, nothing humans could do about climate change then, nothing we can do about it now.

Excellent! Good to have a garage built to accommodate a lift. Our garage was originally built to grow marijuana year 'round (well before our ownership, when it was still illegal in ME) so I've had to sidestep some minor design shortcomings, but the overall size outweighs those. It's well insulated, though - I can almost heat it with a match.

I think you're being at least quasi facetious, but yes. Although it was an after-the-fact and unintentional comparison. And since you mention it - here goes; Each USBP Sector (20 of them) doesn't buy its own vehicles, HQ in DC does, but it does buy its own expendable parts - tires, oil, maintenance items when out of warranty, etc. El Paso was the only Sector that bought bias-ply tires for its Bronco fleet. Every other Sectors' Broncos lasted as long as they were supposed to. El Paso Sector had to ask for supplemental funding for maintenance and had to ask for vehicle replacements out of the fleet cycle. (The latter wasn't approved, no money, so we had to drive junk for a couple years.) HQ and the Union duly noted the difference, neither were happy about it, and let that be known, which is how the rank-and-file found out about it. I wouldn't go as far as to call it a scandal, but it was used by other Federal fleet services as an example of what not to do. FWIW - the Border Patrol's fleet program vastly improved once it went under DHS's Customs and Border Protection.

I don't think there is much to worry about as far as wear and tear. Skinnier tires will probably improve low speed and parking handling because they have a smaller contact patch with the pavement. I've read that bias-ply tires actually put more stress and strain on the steering and suspension components than radials, if so, then the components that were originally engineered for bias-ply would probably breathe a sigh of relief with radials. Story time - when I was working for the Border Patrol in west Texas, (early 1990's), we got a bunch of shiny new Ford Broncos for patrol vehicles that were delivered with radial tires. Border Patrol operations go through tires rather quickly. Someone got the bright idea that we could save money by buying a truck load of bias-ply tires to replace the radials when it came time. Bias-plies at the time being notably less expensive than radials. That idea drastically shortened the service life of those Broncos. Where usually a cruiser could go a normal 4 or 5 years of service with no major issues, just about every one of those Broncos had to have the steering rebuilt at least once, suspension components replaced, and they all developed body cracks. Only lasted 2 or 3 years. Moral of the story being that those Broncos were engineered for radials, running bias-ply tires destroyed them.

If you're asking me, I'm in northern Maine. Other side of the continent.

I've got a parts car that might still have those cables, I just got it last fall and haven't really inventoried it. But it is under four feet of snow right now and won't be accessible until the end of April, or maybe even May. Don't wait for me, but I'll keep an eye on this thread and PM you with what I find once I can get to the car.

Unknown if it works the same on the '41, but for '48 cars, if those are original clips, you remove the beltline trim by pushing down on the top of the trim while you (gently) pry the bottom off. I'd think they would at least be similar. Then you can deal with the mounting clips if you still need to. Once again referring to '48, but the clips are removed after the trim is removed. I'd at least try this unless you know those are not the original mounting clips.

This is sounding like an internal problem to me. If it is affecting only one gear, it probably is not the lubricant. The advice you've received about end play is probably pretty close, the end play for the intermediate gear set/countershaft is supposed to be negligible. That tolerance is set with thrust washers, if they used original specs, that wouldn't account for wear and the end play would be too much.

Saw a similar Peugeot sedan on the Smithsonian channel last night on the "D-day to Berlin" program. Pressed into service with the German army - the headlights behind the grill were a dead giveaway. One of those "Hey, I know what that is!" moments thanks solely to Bob's post.

I can appreciate the Airflows, but they don't really blow my skirt up. As nice as it is, that coupe looks too much like a classic VW Beetle. I know that's putting the cart before the horse, but that's my frame of reference. They just don't have what I consider that pre-war pizzaz.

Judging by all the "bad" things that have been banned or their use minimized, my brother and I should be dead. DDT, asbestos, mercury, lead, etc. I remember saccharin being banned because it caused problems with lab rats, but the folks who were ostensibly looking out for us never mentioned that a human would have to drink ten cases of diet soda per day for several months to equal the amounts given the lab rats. All well and good in the long run I guess. Too much of anything can kill you. As they say, "The odds of being killed by a cow are low, but never zero."

My brother and I used to do that, chase the skeeter fogger through the neighborhood when we were visiting our grandparents in Illinois. They didn't do that mobile fogging thing in south Texas where we lived, so we thought it was an exclusive thing that we could brag about when we went back to school. One of the culture shocks we experienced when we moved from Dallas to the Rio Grande Valley was no closed hallways in the elementary school, so the classrooms would fill with mosquitos, and the teachers would have to set off those DDT bomb foggers in the rooms. MOST of the time they would usher us out of the room until the haze subsided. I remember the hubbub about DDT on the news, but no one seemed to think anything of it where we were.

Sorry folks, musta left the door open. -12 up here this morning, toasted right up to 4 with plenty of electric blue sky. A bit blustery, but quite pretty. We shut the door, now it looks like you'uns will be warming back up.

Our D24 sits for at least 6 months here for the winter. I do the same as all the responses so far. In addition, just before I park the car for the winter, I add fuel stabilizer and make sure it has run throughout the system. And already knowing I'll have to crank it a bit before it starts, I'll do that until I see oil pressure. If it hasn't started by the time the oil pressure shows up, I'll put some gas down the carb that has some Marvel Mystery Oil added. I don't just pour it in with abandon, though, I kind of tease the engine until the fuel pump catches up and it starts on its own. My thought is that putting too much "raw" gas down the carb cleans too much oil from the cylinders. That could probably be debunked, but that's just how I've always done it.

The only way to reduce the "black" is to reduce the carbon. Either the production of, or buildup of. That is what the aforementioned remedies do. The water itself is inevitable, that is just condensation from the combustion process working its way through the exhaust system. New cars spit water, too.

The joint between the pedal and the small plate that bolts to the floor is a hinge joint, ergo "hinge" in my vocabulary. Depending on the pedal assembly, that plate could be a block of rubber molded with the pedal, or a metal plate attached with a rod, pins, bolts, etc. to the pedal. Semantics whether or not "hinge" is the right word. Two different pedal assemblies would most likely have different measurements between each other. What I was trying to get at is that each pedal assembly could have two measurements, too, depending on which way that attachment plate is folded. They still may not fit, just something to try.

Just a thought here - The one on the left looks just like the one in our D24. On the D24, the hinge part at the bottom is folded (closed) under the pedal, like curling your arm. If attached the way you have it laid out in the photo the pedal would be too long and the shaft would not fit. You have to detach the shaft from the top of the pedal to rotate the pedal towards the seat to get at the bolts attaching the hinge to the floor. So, the way the one on the right is laid out would be how the D24 version would be attached to the floor. The one on the right looks like the hinge should be extended (open). Either way would affect how the shaft lines up for that upper attachment. It looks like if either one is attached the way you have them laid out, they wouldn't fit. You wrote that the car has thick carpet, assuming that the pedal was attached on top of the carpet, the "shorter" version may have been used due to that thick carpet.

As noted, what is shown as the ball joint does not come apart. The end of that ball piece is bolted to either the bell crank or shaft. The threads on each end of the rod are both right hand (it does not work like a tie rod), so to adjust the length of the rod, you would have to detach the ball joint from either the shaft or bell crank. Loosen the lock nut at the end of the ball joint where the rod threads into it and make your adjustments.

I'm having trouble envisioning what you're describing as far as the mechanism. But the symptom you describe is really not that uncommon. The Bendix drive assembly that engages the flywheel can wear out or get stuck. Removal of the starter is necessary, and you can do a bench check to see if the pinion moves like it's supposed to. The service manual I have describes how to check the Bendix drive for wear and tear. It can just be stuck, or there is a spring in it that can break that keeps the pinion from moving out like it should.

You can also remove the whole bushing from the a-arm. It won't adversely affect the front-end alignment, you'll just have to be careful to stabilize the a-arm when you take it off and appropriately torque the bushing when you put it back on. All of my manuals show that zerk as a fitting into the end of the bushing. That way you can clean it/them really well and determine what you need to do about the nipple while it's on a bench, instead of under the car, much easier to work on. Any drilling or tapping you may need to do won't affect the rest of the assembly, and you can install a metric component if that's all you can find. Then you'll probably never have to worry about it again.

Ditto Bob Riding's first post. I bought run channel from Restoration Specialties and Supply for both our D24 and the '57 Ford I was working on a couple years ago. I'll be buying the run channel for our '37 Terraplane from them in a few months.

The Drug Enforcement Administration's museum in their headquarters in Arlington, VA used to have a Tucker on display. It had been bought with drug profits (it was the en-vogue antique car to have back then) and was ultimately seized when DEA wrapped the case up. I saw it there in '94, but I vaguely recall that since then they have gotten rid of it, donated to the Smithsonian, I think.

Ditto kencombs' recommendations. I have not stored an engine for more than a month or two, but I have several friends who have stored engines over long periods of time, and that is what they all did to preserve their engines. The only variations were exactly what oil to use, they used some sort of engine oil and never considered using penetrating oil. I would not recommend penetrating oil for the reasons already stated. There are companies that make oils specifically for preserving stuff in storage if you're so inclined to go that route, but that is probably unnecessary overkill. The prime enemy of storing machinery for long periods is moisture/condensation, followed closely by contaminants - to include wee critters and their detritus. Wherever you store the engine, it should be in a relatively constant climate. If you're in a humid area with four actual seasons, you shouldn't store it in a shed, even well-oiled and covered it will still get condensation on and in it. My vote would be to get it in that basement in one piece and covered, with occasional manual rotations. That will have the tertiary benefit of maybe being in the way and prompting quicker action with it.