Barabbas

Ryan, Watch this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DODGE-PLYMOUTH-230-FLATHEAD-6-ENGINE-COMPLETE-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem230d0195c8QQitemZ150542063048QQptZVintageQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Well this is embarrassing Took my trusty voltmeter out yesterday and checked the voltage across the coil primary--12.4v and then I started to crank the starter, the voltage dropped to 8.6v! I starting cleaning the connections and looked at my battery to ground wire-4ga:eek:. The first questions I was asked on this thread was "what gauge battery cables did I have" and my answer was 1 gauge. Well that was half right, I did have a 1-gauge ground cable but it was in a box in the trunk. I had intended to install larger cables when I did my 12 v conversion but must have forgot. Put the 1 gauge ground cable on and the voltage across the coil with the starter cranking was up to 10.2 volts. She started no problem. I hope I remember to buy a 1 gauge positive cable to lessen the voltage drop at starting even more. I have a 12 volt system but still have the starter wound for 6v so I need the large cables just as much as a 6 volt system does. DOH!!

have a good time---I'm aiming for next year to have mine in good enough condition to attend

It was a clear dry day yesterday--temps in the lower 30s; thought I'd go for a drive. But first I wanted to check out my point gap. The Gap was really small, down around .010 I'm guessing. I reset the gap to .020 and tried to start her. Cranked well, gas flowed but no Spark. I tired by passing the switch to the coil--still no spark. Took off the dizzy gap to make sure I hadn't dislodged the connections to the condenser & points--verified continuity between the coil and the points. Tried to restart--no spark. Hooked up my dwell meter and tried to measure dwell while cranking--needle didn't move? Rechecked gap -still at .020. I've got some circuit chasing to do.

Kyle, I was surprised at how well the notebook was preserved---it made me wonder about the previous owner, kind of like a Carcheology find. BTW when Doris says "E" she only takes 5 gallons of gas. I'm assuming that she still has 5 gals in the tank--I'm sure that assumption will get me in trouble on some lonely highway Mike

I agree Tim--I don't worry about the cost/mile of gas but MPG is a good measure of performance

JipJob, At what museum was the picture taken? I saw a Tucker at the Auburn-Cord-Dusie museum in Auburn IN-very interesting cars If you are even the the Fort Wayne In area make take time to go to the museum, it's well worth the time. Miike

Thanks Rick and Eric your info helps a lot. I'll just assume then that I have a "generic" Dodge 230 circa 1949,

Rick, I wondered if the head were a little different or the cam which would affect timing etc. The engine runs fine but I was curious for future reference. I already found one oddity-- I had a mechanic replace my real seals because they were leaking so badly, well my engine uses rubber seals and not the expected rope seal--

I was working on my car the other day (P23) and for the heck of it checked out the engine serial numbers: T137-13856---a Power wagon number. I was told the engine was rebuilt when I bought the car but I thought it was the original engine that was rebuilt. So how does the power wagon engine differ from a standard dodge 230? What should I be using for tuning specs? Can anyone tell me from the serial numbers what year the engine is?

It's been dry here for 36 hours so I thought I'd see if I could get Doris to start. Opened the hood and everything looked dry except #1 sparkplug that had a fair amount of fluid in the well. I dried it out and noticed that it had a green tint; so I looked at all my hose connections and found nothing. What the heck, I'll see if I can start her before doing a lot of diagnostics. I manually set the choke on 1 carb and pumped once to set the fast idle. I thought I would try the Don C method of starting that I found on an old post-short burst of cranking followed by 5 secs of waiting. She almost started on the first try. Almost on the second try. On the third try I got a little anxious and cranked for about 5 or 6 seconds. On the forth try--she fired alright;backfired--a 12 guage backfire. Two construction guys from across the street came over to see what happened. We talked for a minute or two and I gave her a final try--started instantly. We took an 80 mile cruise and she never missed a beat. When I got back I opened the hood and saw a little moisture on my Alternator, and a little on my oil breather cap and SOME ON MY SPARKPLUG WIRES AND COIL WIRE. I finally found the source. The bolt that attached the water plug and alternator bracket to the block was loose, and antifreeze was leaking out the bolt hole and getting blown by the fan over all my connections on the driver side of the engine. I expect I'm due to replace all my sparkplug wires Thanks to all for their suggestions---I will be checking out the distributor points and gap but I'm going to wait til the mercury rises a bit

Thanks James, I'll give that a try. I'll also Jury-rig a manual choke. I'll run my jumper from the starter solenoid on the normally open side, that way I can drive the car temporarily w/o having to pull the jumper off.

The car has been hard starting for the past 6 weeks, but once started she runs fine. This is the first time I couldn't get her started. I was suspicious of the fouled plugs since I've seen it mentioned on the Forum and since I am running Dual carbs with only 2" high intakes. So even before I tried to start this time, I took the plugs out and cleaned them with a wire brush.They actually didn't look too bad. The discussion is making me consider my coil--one thing that sticks in my mind is that the few times I got the engine to fire it was right when I turned the key from the Start Position to the Run position. So for one or two revs of the engine, I would have had full voltage to the coil. It will be a few days til the weather clears here but when it does I'll check for spark, dwell and compression. If that's all good then I might buy a coil and ballast resistor for a slant six , unless there is a better combo someone can recommend, and wire it up with the starting bypass. I also did not mention that I have no choke connected, last year with different carbs and 6 volts that was no problem down into the low 40s-so I didn't think it was the issue.

James, Interesting solution, unfortunately I'm using a coil with an internal resistor. What lead you to by-pass the resistor during starting, is low spark energy a typical starting issue? Mike

Frankie, Fuel seems fine--if I move the accelerator I get a good squirt. I'm running 2 single barrel Ball & Ball carbs on an Offie manifold. Ever since Nov 1 she's been hard starting but once started she runs like a champ, no missing good accel. Also once started she'll start fine the rest of the day--but let her sit for a week and she gets stubborn. Today she just wouldn't go Mike

John, We didn't get as much as Bremerton--you guys really got hit, but we did get a few inches and some goodly winds so I expect that there is moisture in some unusual places. They don't forecast a dry day around here til Thursday--I'll see what I can do then. Mike

This starting problem has given a good reason (excuse) to buy some basic tools I don't have. I've ordered a compression tester, remote starter and line spark tester (I'm tired of gving myself shocks)

Could be the plug wires---they came with the Car 3 years ago, so I have no idea how old they are--heck they could be original. I'll try the wire dry.

Thanks Don, I'll try that---May be couple days before I can report back---next rain front is passing thru

I'll try drying out the distributor. I've tried starting fluid but only get one or two fires, can't sustain and run. I have a 12 volt system with 01 cables, she turns over fast. Thanks for the suggestions

It's finally stopped raining here and I thought I'd take Doris out for a ride, well she won't start. It's about 48 deg out and there was condensation all over the engine compartment. The #1 plug well was full of water--I cleaned out the water, I tired to start her and no luck. I know she's getting gas and at the moment I can't check for spark (no one to turn the key). The plugs themselves have about 1000 miles on them and look dusty brown. The old girl has been hard starting the past month as temps have been around 50 and lots of fog and drizzle. I keep her under a cover but there is always a lot of condensation in the engine compartment. She's on a brick driveway. Are these old distributors susceptible to condensation?

Greg-congrats on your 'new' plymouth! This forum also seduced me into buying an old Mopar--you won't be let down, this place has support for any issue you may run into Mike

okay I've done some googling and it looks like "Back in the day" gas had 125,000 Btu and today's 10% Ethanol blend may have 112,000 so your 10% guess is right on. I expect that my foot is a little heavier than the little old lady from Des Moines, but I'm still impressed that she could get 22.7. I did do some checking on the Drag Coef and the best estimate I could find for a P23 is .75! (about double that of current cars)--so speed does kill gas mileage for these old girls. I guess I will live with the 18.8, I would much prefer going 60+ than getting increasing my MPG by going 45

Actually Ed, I'm at 3 years and 2 months----

I was working on the interior of Doris (52 Cranbrook) and found a mileage notebook from 1969. I was shocked to find that she averaged 22.7 mpg over a 16 month period (12000 miles) with a standard tranny. I remember my the '52 Cambridge that I had in High School got about 17mpg and now Doris with radials and an O/D gets about 18.8. Now part of the difference is that in 1969 Doris was driven around the cornfields of Des Moines and now she is driven in the foothills of the Olympics but still...22.7 mph? BTW I have calibrated the odometer and it's within 2% of actual. What do you guys get?