knuckleharley

[quote name=.... I think I am going to use Castrol 20W 50 oil, nice and thick.............Fred[/quote] Use either Shell Rotella 14w-40 diesel oil or Mobil DX-1300 14W-40 diesel oil,but ONLY use it if you have a modern engine with full-flow oil filter,or a rebuilt can clean inside older engine. If you are using modern oil in a old car engine that is gummed up with older non-detergent oil,you need to drop the oil pan first and clean out all the sludge in the base pan and oil pickup tube,and then run several cans of engine flush though a hot engine and change the oil filter after each run. Once you get it cleaned out detergent oil should be ok to run. If you don't want to do this,only run non-detergent oil in it. You can buy it by the case at your local NAPA store.

Did it use oil before you started using the China Outlet Mall crap? If it didn't,stop using it and go back to using the oil you were using before. I can't explain it because it defies logic,but some engines will use a LOT of one brand oil,and not burn a drop of another brand oil. I had a 400 Pontiac once that would use a quart of Exxon gold 10w-40 oil in less than 90 miles,and when I switched to 10w-40 Havoline it would use a pint in 3500 miles. I have a 350 Chevy engine right now that used 4 quarts of Mobile 1 5w-30 in less than 200 miles,but doesn't seem to burn a drop of the Mobile 15w-40 DX-1300 Diesel oil. What makes this the most puzzling to me is I never saw any smoke with either engine,and I couldn't see where the oil leaked out. It just seemed to disappear.

My suggestion is to buy a MIG welder. Don't make the mistake of buying a cheap (in quality) one,though. Buy either a Miller or a HTP. I have a HTP,and can't recommend it highly enough. 1-800-USA-WELD. That doesn't mean you have to get carried away and buy one like used in shipyards,though. Mine is a 140 amp that will weld up to 1/4 inch steel with one pass,and I will never even weld steel that thick with it. Best of all,mine is 110 volt that can be plugged in anywhere,and it is AC/DC that will use any size wire,even flux core wire for welding outside. Mig welding is so easy you could train a monkey to do it in 30 days. HTP used to sell a video tape of their MIG welder being used to show you what it will do,and if you bought one of their machines they would give you a 20 dollar refund on the videotape you bought. Once you buy a welder,you will be surprised at how often you can use it to make brackets or repair things.

Guys,let's not forget that the old parafin-based non-detergent oil of the time played a large factor in that. The oil created sludge that stuck to the bottom of the pan and the sludge trapped any loose metal particles floating around,as well as any dirt and grime. Most of it got drained out when he you drained the oil,and this was the big reason you always drained the oil with the engine hot. The crap was still in suspension. True story. I bought a 1957 Ford tractor that held 40 psi oil pressure at idle when I first bought it. I used it to pull a bushhog for maybe 20 minutes at a time,and to move cars and parts around the yard. Which means I didn't really work it hard or use it very often. After maybe 20 hours of use I noticed it was slowly building up less oil pressure every time I used it. It finally dropped down to around 5 psi and I figured the guy had STP'ed it to death before putting it up for sale,and the STP had broken down and I would have to pull the pan and put new bearings or even a crank kit in it. It did not smoke or knock at all,but no oil pressure. I decided to go ahead and change the oil to see if that would help because I needed to use the tractor that day. When I pulled the oil filter off (standard Ford spin-on filter) the damn thing must have weighed more than 5 lbs. It was filled full of sludge. Evidentially the guy I bought it from had changed the oil and filled it with detergent oil instead of the 30 wt non-detergent it had been using since new,and the detergent oil broke up enough sludge to clog the oil filter. I put a new filter on it,added a quart of kerosene to the oil,and ran it until it got hot and then drained the oil and changed the filter again. I then filled it up with straight 30 wt non-detergent oil and now the damn thing pumps up and holds 50 psi oil pressure at idle! Yeah,I could probably change the oil and filter a half dozen times after running engine flush or kerosene through it to clean out all the old sludge and then start using regular 5w-30 high detergent oil,but I really don't want to spend the money and I see no reason to fix it if it ain't broke. It runs like a new one now,so why bother? BTW,for those of you too young to remember,most cars built back in the early 50's had solid lifters,not hydraulic lifters. Non detergent oil worked fine for them,but hydraulic lifters require detergent oil to break up sludge in small enough particles to keep the lifters pumping. In other words,you can use non-detergent oil in cars,trucks,or other equipment that has solid lifters and it will work just fine. Keep your oil and filter changed and you won't have any problems. The reverse isn't true,though. If you have a more modern engine with hydraulic lifters you MUST use detergent oil. If you have a engine with hydraulic lifters built prior to around 1987,use a heavy duty diesel oil like Shell Rotella or Mobile DX-1300 because they are the only oils being produced today that will handle the loads placed on your cam in these older engines. I prefer the Mobile oil,and use it in all my old cars with hydraulic lifters that don't use roller cams.

I'll be damned! I never knew that. Thanks for educating me!

I've done that a couple of times so I could use Ford wheels on early Mopars. BTW,I did use Ranger wheels on a 59 DeSoto with no problem,but have no idea what year Ranger they came from. Jeep and AMC wheels also fit.

There were a couple of them in the frame of the 33 Plymouth I bought,and they had been there long enough to rust away the bottom of the frame rails where they were. I'm going to have to cut them out and butt weld replacement steel in the bottom rails.

Do NOT use front motor mounts with a Turbo 350 or any other aluminum transmission. You will end up breaking the bellhousing The engines with front mounts also had rear mounts that bolted to the bellhousing,not the tailshaft.

I'm running both in my coupe. Actually,the tranny is the Turbo 250,but it is the same overall length as the 350. Yes,it has a short tailshaft. I plan on replacing it soon with a 700R4.

Norm,wouldn't you get pretty much the same sound with duals and a balance pipe? Anybody tried that? I'm going for a 50's hot rod look with my Dodge coupe,and want the twin chrome tailpipe extensions coming out from under the bumper.

Thanks. I have been planning on running split cast iron manifolds too,but I was planning on running a dual exhaust

I live in northeastern NC,and have a fixable 48 5-window cab with doors on a rolling 1/2 ton chassis with a title that I will sell for $250. Been trying to sell this thing for months to keep from having to take a titled truck to the crusher,but that day will be coming soon if I don't find a buyer.

I keep seeing a lot of old car talk about Petronix,but has anybody tried the Jacob ignition?

BTW,what kind of mufflers are you using?

Damn! I have GOT to get my 42 Dodge in my shop and get it running! I can't wait to hear that sweet sound in person.

Where will you be on the field? I'd like to stop by and say hello if I go there.

>>Tim Adams;67986] Also retaining the fresh air cowl duct was a prime goal..<< You have fresh air cowl ducts in your 41? Did you install them? I have been thinking about cutting the fresh air ducts from a modern car and welding them into the cowl of my P-15. Is that what you did? Or are you talking about using the fresh air cowl duct in the center of the car right in front of the windshield divider bar as a fresh air intake for your heater and ac system? If you are,are you using a little motor to open and close the vent? How do you keep rain out when it's raining and you are using the system?

Thanks,Tim,but I don't have one of those. I do have a Sentra,a Stanza,and a Mitzibushi whatever 4 door out in the yard that have factory air. I'm thinking the Sentra would be a perfect unit for a 1 seat coupe or a pu,but may be too small for a P-15 Club Coupe. Once I get 50 other more important things done I will strip the Stanza and let everybody know how that would work out. The AC units in Japanese cars cool pretty good now. I also have a Astro Van I will be stripping out to get the AOD,but I'm thinking the ac/heat unit in that one will be too big. At any rate,once I get around to it,I will start a thread here about it to tell everybody if these mid-sized imports are good sources for ac units. BTW,I will probably be using one of those old GM Fridigaire units for a compressor. Those things worked about as good as ac compressors get. I have a couple of GM radial units,too. I might use one of them if the old long compressor causes clearance problems. I have a off-brand V-8 in the car.

Thanks,I sure will.

Anybody going to the Charlotte Auto Fair the first week of April? I'm hoping to be there with my 48 coupe. Finally got it back on the road after 2-1/2 years of throwing money at it for new parts. Still working the bugs out,but hope to have it ready to go by that weekend. BTW,anybody have a unpitted P-15 windshield divider bar for sale?

>>james curl;67532]So many times I pass on those because the seller says local pick up only or the shipping for 80 lbs halfway across the nation is another $100.00 plus crating costs.<< Maybe,maybe not. If you can keep the weight below 70's lbs,you can mail it at the post office for less than 40 bucks. I mailed a 50 Ford 3-speed (69 lbs 8 ounces) from NC to Ca last year before the rates went up for $26 and change. That included insurance. I didn't crate it,either. I just wrapped it in bubblewrap,scotch taped a address card to it,and sent it out.

Did it leave you enough room for a glovebox?

Check these guys out. I found out about this company right after I spent more than their complete assemblies cost to buy a pair of used taillight bezels and get them rechromed. Yes,they come as a complete unit including glass and bezels. http://www.shiny-hiney.com/rodcustom.html

How does the size of that unit compare to the factory units in 80's Japanese cars? Do you have any idea? I have a couple of those things laying around the yard and would like to use one in my P-15 coupe if I can. If that doesn't work I will use the factory underdash unit from a 55 DeSoto that I have. All the underhood stuff is coming out of a 72 Chevy parts truck except for a new NAPA drier. I'm tired of throwing 100 dollar bills at this car.

>> No, I didn't believe it either, at first so I had him hold it there while I got the camera on it. All this while wearing white pants in a junk yard.<< I hate people like that. I once went to a junkyard with my older brother when I was about 13. He went there and jacked up a 50 Chevy to pull the ring gear to use in his car. Crawled under it while wearing a white t-shirt and had me hand him the tools he needed. When he got it out his hands were greasy up to his wrists,and I was filthy and my t-shirt was covered with grease stains.