Dan Hiebert

I'm reading it thinking if my kids, who are nominally proficient in antique auto work, could follow it. They could, so I like it. The PDF version is nice and clear. And while I can read that font just fine, I would recommend a more common one, too (for the text - the heading is awesome). FWIW - The Dept. of Homeland Security uses Arial in all correspondence because some sage in D.C. determined it was the easiest for the masses to read, but it's rather plain and boring. Nice job!

I had to replace that one, too, about 10 years ago. Indeed a good opportunity to do some flushing of the coolant passages, mine had quite a bit of stuff built up behind it, including what looked like some sand from the casting process. A rubber expansion plug will work, and work well. Personally, I don't care for how they look, and I know/knew how to do the metal ones, so I did that. Got the replacement from an AutoZone. It is a tad tricky to get to, but significantly easier than anything on a modern car. Our car does not have the dip stick tube feature, so I didn't have to work around that. I believe those are not permanently affixed and can be wiggled out, then tapped back in, anyway.

Still rather depends on the traffic laws of the individual States. I.e., Maine specifies that rear lights and brake lights must be red. Taillights with blue dots simply do not shine red when lit. There is no ambiguity in how it's written, or how it's interpreted in Maine. As Maine laws tend to be, "Blue dots" aren't specifically prohibited in the traffic laws, but several court cases have affirmed that red means red. But the rub is also how vigorous the local constabulary is with traffic enforcement, some places won't stop you unless you are a dire threat to public safety, some cities prohibit their officers from proactively working traffic, others will stop you if your car is too dirty. I got pulled over in Virginia once because my license plate light wasn't bright enough. And I was being spitefully mindful of the traffic laws where I was because I knew the police were bored and on the lookout for my ilk.

I wouldn't call it better, just another option.

You'll like that! I got the same kit from Marden's last year. First cordless tools I've ever bought, makes me question why I never bought cordless tools before. Marden's is a quintessential Maine surplus and salvage store with several locations throughout the State. Good stuff at really good prices, just as bad stopping by one as wandering around shopping sites online.

I replaced the valve guides in our '37 Terraplane with the engine still in the car. Virtually the same procedure as with our flat sixes, except the exhaust guides are not reversed in the Hudson 212 engine. All the manifolds were removed, which on the Terraplane made it much easier, the exhaust ports and manifold are on top of the block, not the side. Used a manual valve guide driver with no issues, and although prepared to, I did not need to ream the guides after they were installed. Removal of the guides was relatively easy (other than appropriate application of muscle) if I remember correctly, three came out the top with the valves when I removed them, the others I drove out through the bottom. Just enough room in the Hudson engine to do that. Patience and attention to detail are very helpful.

The one with the screw connection on the outside and screw securing the cap at the apex is the original style.

I used to subscribe to HMN when it was the cat's pajamas for finding stuff...before internet days. I haven't subscribed for a while, but would pick one up off the news stand if I needed to find something. Now I've a friend that passes his HMN on to me when he's done with them. To me, it's still a good reference for services mostly. There are quite a few good operations that don't seem to do the internet thing.

Yep, it's my "other than winter" bombing around car. More powerful than a heard of stampeding earthworms, faster than a speeding tortoise, able to leap a stripe in the road in a single bound.... But it is easy to work on, runs like a sewing machine, and is a hoot to drive. I'd drive it in the winter, but its heater is a heater in name only. Cosmetically it's just "OK", which is fine with me. I'm very gradually improving on its looks, but I'm not fretting about it ever getting "done". Too much fun driving it as is to worry about making it pretty. I don't have any good photos of it - just picture a dull red Beetle with a few primer spots. I see you've got some paint on that EMPI. Got it running yet?

Silver lining - Good thing that whenever Mother Nature strongly hints that I should stay inside, where I live, it also usually means there won't be any internet to tempt me into unplanned purchases....

The service manual calls for 8 volt generator output at 2,000 rpm.

A pox on ye, Kieth! ? I couldn't help it after that lead-in and ended up binging quite a few episodes of "Highway Patrol". It was stay-inside weather today...-24 with high winds gave us a nice wind chill of about -50. I always enjoy watching old shows for the old car spotting, and I certainly appreciate when someone drops a dime on where to find an old series. There's certainly an eclectic representation of highway patrol cruisers, but if I remember correctly, the round porthole Buicks in this series are actual California Highway Patrol cars. CHP custom ordered them from Buick and allowed the TV show to use them for promotional purposes since there was only one place to find those cars. They're the ones with the rear facing flashing light (it's yellow/amber, CA law for emergency vehicles, even today) on the driver's side package tray and red driver's side spotlight. I don't remember the exact year of manufacture, but it was only one or two years, and CHP was the only agency that had them. Those would be rare cars nowadays. Off to watch a few more episodes!

Looks to me like the clutch is out of adjustment, not the linkages. Or, the clutch could be kaput altogether. After all, the clutches do go out on these cars. The car not seeming to have power can be attributed to the clutch as well. Actually, diminishing then no power (assuming the engine is running as it should) is symptomatic of progressing clutch problems, not linkages, especially given how you described your issue.

That bottle tree looks good. Just a thought, how would it look if you put some mini-spotlights at the base shining upwards to make the glass glow and sparkle at night? It'd be awesome when everyone's chilling in the yard. I've seen down south where they do that with big old oak trees, looks both creepy and awesome...awesomely creepy?

Clearance or marker lights mounted by brackets onto the bumpers work nicely if you don't want to drill any more holes in the car. Several herein have done that. I did as some above have done, converted the marker light sockets to use two filament bulbs. Left the original brake light as is, so it now acts as the "third" brake light, rather than the only brake light. I did the same as Sniper, cleaned and painted the reflectors white. I think the white works better than silvering on these older marker lights, since they are not truly reflectors - not really designed to focus reflected light outwards.

FWIW, I had a '52 Ford F3 many years ago. It had been converted to 12v negative ground and had the original 6V electric wiper motor and starter. When I first got it, for a few months, there was no power converter. The wipers ran like gangbusters, almost scary how fast they ran. I put an inexpensive converter in that I got from JC Whitney (this was so long ago it was from the print catalog, there was no internet as we know it at the time.) No polarity change, and the wipers ran just fine, afterwards. All I did with the starter was put in a 12V solenoid. It cranked faster than normal but fired up in one or two turns.

This is for '46-'48 Dodge but should still apply to your car. The over center spring attaches directly into that groove. The spring tension holds it in place. If it won't stay, it's not adjusted right.

I like warm weather as much as the next guy, but I like my winters, too. When it's cold, you just layer up. Reversing the process when it's hot...you can only take off so many layers before the cops get called. At home, not much of problem, but them little old ladies downtown seem to have a real problem with it...

This is how I remove the hood(s) on our D24. That center strip is also the hinge for both hoods. It bolts to a bracket on the firewall at the rear, and to a bracket on top of the radiator support just behind the nose piece that holds the ram hood ornament. There are bolts holding the front bracket to its mounting locations, and a single captured bolt holding the center strip to the brackets. The head of that captured bolt (probably technically called something else) fits into, and can slide in, that center strip, for fore-aft adjustment of the hood. I loosen the rear captured bolt. I remove the front captured bolt. It has to be removed because it holds the hoods in, it just slides out the front once the nut is removed and the front of the hood raised a tad. I find it a bit easier to get to the nut on the front captured bolt if I unbolt the bracket from the radiator support. It helps to have two people to do this part, but I manage by putting a block under the front of the center strip to raise it above the nose piece. Each hood half will then slide, independently, you don't have to do both at the same time, out to the front. Voila, hoods are removed.

Welcome! Your car's serial number is not consistent with Dodge's U.S. serial numbers. For one, it has seven digits, rather than the eight U.S. cars would have at the time. U.S. models should begin with 3 or 4, you may be "missing" that first number in some fashion. I don't know what the Canadian serial number series are. D24 is the model number for '46-'48 ('49 first series) Dodge cars like yours (and mine, bigger body, longer wheelbase, clamshell hood, front fender styling that goes into the front doors, etc.) regardless of where it may have been built. D25 is the model number for '46-'48 Canadian built Dodges that were basically Plymouths with Dodge trim and badging. Ditto Cannuck's note that "C" designates it as a Custom trim series, vs. Deluxe trim, rather than being a Canadian built car. Your paint code also does not match U.S. built paint codes, which at the time were three numbers. Door handles. Does the outside handle come out with the trim piece still attached? If so, there are also two screws in the trim piece that the handle goes through (the one that matches the belt molding). The handle's shaft was originally attached to that trim piece, so if those two screws are missing along with the inside screw it will come out. If for some reason the shaft is no longer attached to that trim piece, and that inside screw is missing, it'll come out. On our car, those inside screws are all missing, the only thing holding the handles in are the screws through the trim piece. You'll like this Forum.

Installing headliners is not as difficult as it may seem. I've done a few, but not enough to be a whiz at it. Just takes patience and attention to detail. "Manage expectations" I tend to tell people undertaking something new. Remember that you do not do this professionally, so don't expect to go in and get it done as quickly as the reality shows, upholstery shops, etc. If something gets frustrating, stop. Do something else for a while. There are restoration books out there that detail headliner installation in a way that you can easily adapt what they teach to your car. Well, I say that. My books are about 40 years old, but I'm sure there's some still, or something else, out there. The basics are the same for every car. To do the job right, I would plan to remove all the interior trim and garnish on or about the headliner, even if that means removing the rear quarter windows. You'll be happier with the process and results if you do. You may even discover that you have a knack for installing a headliner!

So, yes - where the wiper switch is in your car is the original factory location. Your car is modified, so it's up to you where it is "supposed" to be. Not a great picture, but I've attached a photo of our D24 dash that shows the original wiper switch bezel, which would be the same for a DeSoto. The switch knob (chromed metal) in ours is originally from a DeSoto, so it would be correct for your car if you're going that direction. A Dodge switch is the same shape but is made out of tan plastic. I would use a bit of caution when you delve into your cowl vent. With that air conditioning unit under the dash (where the cowl vent handle was), whoever installed it may have permanently closed the vent. I don't remember if the handle is necessary to lock down the vent, and I'm currently too lazy to go out and check.

I could launch into a long diatribe about how we've stored our cars over the years, but won't, other than to say when we lived in Michigan, all the old cars were in cold storage for the winter, one even being kept outdoors, when we lived across the border from you in Wheatfield, NY, one was in cold storage, the others in an occasionally heated garage, and here in northern Maine, all are in a constantly heated garage. So, I've got experience with different types of winter storage. Once we moved to Michigan, I don't dare take the cars out in the winter for all the salt, which is even in the air where they salt heavily and have a lot of traffic. Taking them out was/is not an option. The only real issues (I wouldn't call them a problem, just something to be aware of) I've had are with condensation from warm / cold cycles, and that's from both heated and cold storage. You've got a good handle on what needs to be done to keep your car safe. If you didn't have your battery on a trickle charger, I'd recommend taking it out of the car and storing it in a warm place. You do not need to run the car, but if you choose to, ensure you bring it up to operating temperature to "burn" the condensation out. You didn't mention it, but mouse proofing and checking occasionally to see if the wee beasties circumvented your mouse proofing. One thing I've always done after a long idle period is disconnect the coil and crank the engine to circulate the oil before starting it. I don't change the oil in the oldies until the end of their hibernation.

One of the reasons I like this Forum, the regular provision of "duh" moments. It never in over 30 years occurred to me to use a scissor jack for our D24, so much easier to store securely. I keep a small hydraulic floor jack in the trunk that I've never actually used. I don't remember where I got it, but I do recall that it was free, and I picked it up just to use for the Dodge. I'd keep an original bumper jack in it just for the sake of having an original bumper jack, but it is not something I lose sleep over.

You still have to be careful with dogs - especially in NY and places with similar ideology. Keep in mind this noted trend is to give criminals more rights than law abiding citizens. Do not put up "Beware of Dog" signs, the State of NY's court system, for one, considers that to be acknowledging that you are aware your dog(s) is(are) dangerous, and you knew beforehand that Fido would shred that burglar. Heck, NY courts even consider you to premeditate harming burglars just by simply owning certain breeds of dogs. So the fact that Joe or Jane Criminal was in your house becomes irrelevant, and you become the criminal for knowingly inflicting harm to a misunderstood segment of society that is only trying to better its lot in life. If you feel compelled to put up a sign, use those silhouette signs just showing that you have dogs, but not indicating their demeanor. I prefer the option of having your dogs' presence known to your neighborhood. As a couple of you noted, thieves will more than likely bypass property known to have dogs. The "known to practice firearms proficiency" option is also a good one.