knuckleharley

Not to mention a LOT of patience unless you get very,very lucky.

I agree,but the "easy way out" when you are first "learning" a old car that has been sitting and you know nothing about it is to keep it as simple as possible. IF it has been running detergent oil,a fill or two with non-detergent isn't going to hurt anything,and you can alway switch back later with no harm,no found. You can't say the same about assuming it has been running detergent oil,and then filling the base with it before you even start and run the engine. After all,it ain't like a new owner of a old car that has been sitting needs any "new hills to climb".

Ok,so now we know it uses non-detergent oil. Now that you know this,you can change the oil to a 30 wt non-detergent oil,plus a new oil filter. If it were me,I would then "filter" the oil I just drained out of it to trap any metal particles or particles of any other type. You can do this by a method as simple as pouring it into a container over a shop rag. The rag will catch the trash. Since you know nothing of the cars maintenence history,plan on keeping a close eye on the oil,and the changing it again when it seems to be getting dirty,once again filtering the used oil so you can visually look at anything that came out. I would suggest taking the gas tank out so you can properly clean it and look for rust. If there is any rust in it,buy a new gas tank. It's cheaper than a ride home on a roll back if you are very far from home. Do NOT forget to visually check the brake lines and hoses,and to look inside the master cylinder to check for rust/dirt. I go a step further than that on mine. I just assume from the beginning there is rust inside the factory brake lines,and that the hoses are dry-rotted and brittle,so I replace them with new copper/nickel brake lines and new hoses. I also replace all the wheel cylinders and the master cylinder with new ones,too. I consider this to be cheap insurance for both the car AND for me. There just ain't NOTHING about the car more important than stopping. Nothing. While you are crawling around under the car doing all this,you might as well check for worn tie rods,steering links,and shocks. Grease up everything that takes grease while you are doing this,and look around for frame damage from rust or accidents while you are at it. After that,I would check the tires for being brittle and cracked. If the car has been sitting for 7 years,you can bet your bippy the tires are not safe to drive on. To ME,all this is more important than how it runs.

I disagree. I can't think of anything worse that a terminal illness,paralysis,or death that would be worse than not having a project car.

Judging from what LOOKS like freeze plugs being pushed out of the block by rusty water pressure,I would say that crack is not your only problem. Yes,you CAN fix one by welding it up if you or whoever you turn it over to knows what they are doing,but given what looks like all the rust inside that engine,I would just be looking for another block. Try to find one with the same bore and stroke as the one you have now so maybe you can reuse some of the parts in the future. Yeah,so I'm cheap. Sue me! I know if it were ME,I wouldn't think about doing anything to that engine but pulling it out and using it for parts. I hate the idea of having to do the same work twice.

Really? I have to admit this surprises me. I would have thought the 2drs would have been VERY popular with people who had small children.

Amen,brother,amen!

A Motors Manual was the first tech book for autos I ever bought,and this was back in the mid-1960's. Maybe the smartest money I ever spent,and I am always recommending them to newbies.

Not much shakes up stuff more than cannons! I do believe it is the 1812 Overture that has the cannons,though.

Yeah,I can see how that would work good!

What is "real"?

Bingo! If you have trouble starting your car with a 6 volt battery,tune it up!

Thanks again for the tip. If I am ever able to work again,you can be sure I will be buying one of those babies!

Seems to me like the best place for a spare in a biz coupe would be the same place as every other car. Bolt it against the retaining (?) wall and you would have to unload all your sale items to change a flat. You would want it where you could get to it easily withought unloading everything. This wouldn't be a big issue with today's tires,but with the tires available in the 30's and 40's,flats were very common.

Holy CRAP,Batman! Thanks for the link. I don't remember hearing about such a thing before!

I must be having a senior moment. What is a "Ultrasonic cleaner"? A stereo blasting AC/DC at max volume? Enquirin mines,and all dat.

It really doesn't work that way. Lube is lube,and the quicker your engine gets the lube,the less wear it will receive. As for Harley's, I happen to know a thing or two about them,having build and ridden knuckleheads,panheads,and shovelheads. The one I have now is the only one that didn't come home in boxes missing a bunch of parts. Comparing the needs of air-cooled engines to water cooled engines is apples and oranges.

That sure is a purty Plymouth!

True,but if you have "Lamborghini money",you can afford to hire people to carry your suitcases for you.

When I think about it,it is actually shocking to see people restoring 4 dr 40's and 50's cars these days. Everybody back in the 60's and 70's wanted coupes,tudors,or convertibles,and you couldn't hardly give a 4 dr away to anybody but a junk yard. Where the HELL were all these things hiding?

It's simple. The thinner oil starts flowing and lubing the bearings quicker. Why would you think this is a bad thing,or even not desirable? The cars were designed to use 30 wt non-detergent oil when they were new because it was the best oil they could get at that time. The modern oil starts out thinner and gets heavier/thicker as the engine warms. I can think of no set of circumstances where this would be less desirable.

Use 30 wt non detergent oil for break-in. Switch to your favorite 30 wt /5w-30wt/10w-30 wt detergent oil after break-in. Non-detergent oil doesn't keep any "break-in trash"in suspension,but allows it to fall to the bottom of the oil pan so it can be drained away. A VERY minor worry,but why take the chance? This isn't a problem with modern cars because they have much more effecient oil and filter systems.

Castrol 20w-50 is fine oil,but it is a high-detergent oil,and you can't just dump it in an old engine that has been using non-detergent oil and expect good things to happen. What WILL happen is it will break free the sludge the non-detergent oil has allowed to build up in the base ban,the lifter area,and anywhere else it can build layers,and your oil pressure will drop to zero,and your oil galleries will be clogged with sludge. If you run an oil filter,it will feel like it weighs 100 lbs when you go to pull it out. Yes,you CAN keep changine the oil and filter every day until you manage to flush away most of the sludge,but do you REALLY want all that trashy oil running through your bearings and oil pump? If you want to run modern oils,which are certainly much better than the old non-detergent oils,the way to do it is to drop your base pan and clean it out to the point it is squeaky clean,and spray something like carb cleaner up into the the block to flush away as much of the old crap as you can get to. It is a good idea to replace the front and rear oil seals while you have the oil pan off. Oftentimes,changing over to detergent oil will create front and rear main seal leaks. Once you have done this,buy a case of the cheapest 30 wt high detergent oil that you can find and at least a half-dozen GOOD,high-quality oil filters. You are then prepared to run your engine while parked with your eye on the oil pressure guage,and the instant your oil pressure starts to drop,change the oil and filter. Repeat as necessary until your oil remains clean on your dipstick and your oil pressure remains steady. This,of course,only applies to engines that haven't been rebuilt and switched to modern oils after the rebuild. The word "Detergent" really means something when refeering to detergent oils. You will wonder how the damn thing managed to stay together with all that crap that was in it by the time you are through. This all seems to apply x100 if your old engine used non-detergent Quaker State oil. I will physically hurt anyone I catch putting Quaker State oil in anything I own. I would rather have you spit in my face. I know this is irrational because the modern Quaker State detergent oils are PROBABLY ok even with all the wax in it,but don't care.

I wish I had been smart enough to "start out at the top". It just doesn't get any prettier than a convertible. "Yes", for the lead additive to the gasoline. Lead helps cool your valves.

So,why are you wasting your time telling us about it,when you should be out driving around in it?