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blucarsdn

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Everything posted by blucarsdn

  1. I might have used the wrong term when I said " Quick easy solution", it is very apparent that the person that did the T-5 conversion did not really think the whole process out, he had to use a new/altered drive line, and most likely never gave the rear end ratio a thought. When I was in the process of building my '39 Plym conv I knew I was going to use a V8 engine, auto trans, disk brakes, therefore I changed the front suspension to a unit that was built for that purpose. I changed the rear end to a later model that had larger brakes, internal parking brakes and modern rear springs/shackles to eliminate axle wrap. I'm using the same thinking for my '38 Buick with the T-5 conversion. I try to live by one of the basic rules my father taught me.. "Don't let the directions on the can out smart you, and if you can't find time to do the job right, when are you going to find time to re do it". Wm
  2. Scrolling through the many comments with solutions to the parking brake issue I did not note any comments about changing the rear end in the vehicle to one with internal parking brake. Most people that I know are unaware of changing the rear axle when converting a vehicle to an OD trans.. Historically a vehicle that comes from the factory with an OD trans will have a gear ratio that is several ranges lower than the standard ratio. IE a 59 Ford F100 with have a standard ratio of 3.73, an OD trans will have 3.89. I am going through a project to put a T-5 trans in my '38 Buick Special w/3spd and 4.40 gears. The T-5 will work well with 4.40, but it will work better with 4.10, therefore I have to change the rear end to a later model that can be re-geared to 4.10. My brother made this mistake on his '54 Chevy that he put a 200R4 trans in with the stock 3.71 axle. The car would not run in OD in town, only D, on the highway he could run in OD if he kept the speed above 65/70. The quick easy solution to the problem of no parking brake is to use a rear end with internal parking brake hooking up the new brake cables to the cars existing parking brake cable. Wm
  3. I am not to sure how other models of cars handled the seating arrangements in their rumble seat equipped cars, I do know that the '39 Plymouth convertible coupes had a 'toe-board' foot rest that was on an angle adjacent to the floor of the rumble area and the front passenger seat back. The toe board acted just like the floor boards in the general passenger area, providing firm footing for the passenger to brace themselves against. Since all of the '37-39 DPCD open vehicles were basically the same vehicle. I would assume that they all had the toe-board feature. Wm.
  4. Bogart used the '38 Plym coupe in several films, one of his films of that era was a 39 Plym conv coupe that was shown being driven by a young woman in a driving rain storm. Ya know if you are going to restore your '38 into an image of Bogarts you have to include the tricky fold down gun keep in the bottom of the dash under the glove box. Wm
  5. The '39-41 DPCD radios were all the same, only difference was the face plate.. Speakers were part of the radio,
  6. I really wonder if there is any advantage (s) to converting a vintage vehicle brake system to disk brakes in lieu of a properly maintained drum brake system? I have two vehicles, a '37 GMC 1/2 ton and my '39 Plym conv coupe. In both cases the brake conversions were done as part of a total upgrade to the vehicle suspension, power-train and engine. I converted my 37 GMC to a large late model 150 hp 6 cylinder with a automatic trans, rack/pinion steering was a must. My '39 Plym conv was a Montana car that had been pounded across rural gravel roads, the frame and front cross member that broken and been repaired twice. I wanted a safe reliable highway car that could cruise at modern speeds, so I did a Rest-O-Mod on the car adding power rack-pinion steering, disk brakes, AC, Cruise, PW's etc. I recently purchased a '53 Olds Super 88, an unmolested car that needs a lot of TLC. The '53 Olds super 88's were very fast reliable vehicles. I had one from 1954-58, that is why I bought the '53 i have now. We just finished doing a complete brake job, new stock cooling system. The only deviation from stock was the addition of an HEI ignition. The Oldsmobiles of the '50's were well engineered, reliable cars, they would run all day long at 90 plus with no problems. If it ain't broke don't fix it. The people that I have known that attempted to convert their brakes to disk, started off a whole chain of events that resulted in a vehicle that was unreliable and unsafe. Wm
  7. As I stated in my earlier contribution, the Pertonix Ignitor II is the way to go.. I talked to Pertornix and the Tech at Summit Racing, I bought the Pertronix from Summit. I changed everything on my Olds ignition, Flame Thrower coil and 7mm Pertronix Flame Thrower wires. According to Pertonix the conversion makes the stock distributor into a HEI system. Pertonix makes the Ignitor II in 4, 6 and 8 cylinder versions.
  8. My comment about 'points' might be a little off topic, however, I throw them out anyway. I gave up on points, etc.,type ignitions over twenty-five years ago. I have tried many electronic conversions to a stock ignition many times, never had a bad, adverse experience, I learned a long time ago to follow the directions in lieu of trying to reinvent the wheel. I recently purchased a 1953 Oldsmobile Super 88. The car is a dead stock 77.k mile 303 V8 that needs a lot of help to correct what I call 'deferred maintenance', cooling system, brakes, and complete tune up. There was noting about the ignition that was right, wrong plugs, bad wiring and a screwed up carb. The carb, a four barrel had many parts within that were not correct. The points in the distributor were burnt and the rotor was missing the contact end. I did some checking around for availability of Pertronics components finding out that Pertronics now makes a conversion, 'Ignitor II' for stock ignitions which turns the stock ignition into an HEI unit. I ordered the Pertronix from Summit. The engine really runs nice and smooth now with instant acceration . Wm.
  9. For the most part it is quite simple to install a long block 251 CID engine in a vehicle that came with a 218 CID. Many of the early Dodge'/Plym frames were drilled for the 25" engine by the factory because it was quite common for the smaller Plym/Dodge chassis to be sold as Chrysler/DeSoto in foreign country's. I put a Chrysler Spitefire into a 48 Dodge I have, just required moving the radiator to the front of the core support. I did not have a trans issue because the Dodge came with the Fluid Drive which the Spitfire had so i used the Chrysler trans. OK, having said the above, you might want to consider having the 218 rebuilt. Rebuilding the 218 lets you start all over again with everything new and stock in lieu of installing a used engine with doubtful history. wm.
  10. I am not an authority on the DPCD 25" long block engines, almost enough knowledge to be dangerous. I do know that Chrysler installed the 25" engines in Plymouth/Dodges in Canada, Europe and Australia, badging then as Chrysler's or DeSoto's. During the '40's Chrysler drilled the frames to accommodate the 25" engine, the radiator had to be moved to the front of the core support. That is how I put the '48 DeSoto Spitfire engine in my 48 Dodge. During the 1940's/50's it was very common to see the 25" engine in a Plymouth/Dodge, put there by the owners that wanted more power and speed to keep up with the Chevy's and Fords. A friend of mine had a '39 Dodge 2dr that his parents gave him to drive to school. Terrible looking car!. Wayne put a Chrysler 25" Spitfire with three carbs and home made headers in the car. That Dodge surprised a lot of people, it was very fast. Wm.
  11. It has always been my understanding that the Chrysler/DeSoto engines are 'long blocks', 25" in lieu of the short block Plym/Dodge engines. I have a '48 Dodge that I put a Chrysler SpitFire engine in from a '48 DeSoto. Wm.
  12. I have a good friend/neighbor that works on old radio's on a regular basis, he has serviced/repaired several for me. I became aware several years ago that vintage radio's need a lot of help if they are to be used on a regular basis. When I was in the process of rebuilding my '39 Plym conv coupe I came upon a complete '39 radio that appeared to be NOS. I gave the radio to my friend, he opened it up and got very excited, it appeared to be new inside. my friend checked the radio out before he hooked it up to power. When the radio was hooked up, to our surprise it played beautifully. Within a few minutes it quit. It took my friend days to find out what the problem was, turned out that when the radio was assembled in 1939 a tube pin connector had been damaged which prevented it from making a good contact. A simple repair to the socket. I found out a long time ago that NOS does not mean the part is good, many have a problem that may not have appeared until the part was put into service, most likely my radio fit into that category. Wm
  13. I try to live by a rule that my father taught me over fifty years ago. "Don't Let The Directions On The Can Outsmart You".. Detergent oil is one of the best inventions the engineers ever came up with for the internal combustion engines, along with thermostats and glycol bases coolants. However, if the engine is not designed for detergent oil, ie; old engines with soft metal and babbit bearings. Many years ago I had an employee that drove one of our company cars, a '79 GMC El Camino V8. Jim drove the car very day like it was his own, taking it home. When the vehicle was due for service he would have the warehouse man sign him out five quarts of 20/50 GTX Castorl and a filter. Jim would take the oil, filter home with him and have a local service station service the vehicle. He would turn in the service ticket to the office for proof that the vehicle had been serviced. When the vehicle had about 70k on it the engine seized up, the vehicle was towed to our normal repair shop. I received a call from the shop owner, he wanted me to stop by the shop. When I got to the shop I was taken into the shop area, where I was shown the engine out of the vehicle, the engine was a filthy black mess inside of the block, everything was plugged up with sludge. We called the oil dealer that we bought our oil from.. To make a long story short, the oil in the engine was not GTX 20/50 it was a cheap non-detergent oil. The employee confessed that he thought that the 20/50 GTX oil was to good for a company car so he bought non-detergent oil from a parts store to use in the GMC, using the GTX in his personal car. We had a new engine put in the GMC and I fired the employee. The moral of the story is, use the oil that the manufacture recommends for the engine, if the engine is a vintage engine that has been rebuilt to modern standards, use modern fluids in it, oil, coolant, etc. wm.
  14. There is a lot of hype on all of the vintage car forums about using "JD cornhead grease" in steering gears. I for one don't think much of the idea. I have used STP/Motor honey in many vintage steering gear boxes with great results. I place the STP container out in the sun for awhile, insert a small funnel into the fill opening of the gear box and slowly pore the STP into the box, leaving a little room for expansion. A lot of people have been talking up the Penrite lube in vintage steering gears. The Penrite reputedly is not effected by cold weather and stays fluid. Many old car parts dealers stock Penrite, Bob's Buick in Atascadero, CA is one source. Wm.
  15. I have had very little experience with a '40 Plymouth, however, I can clearly recall a '40 Plym that my girl friends dad had in 1950. The '40 had 16" wheels. I know this to be a fact because the owner of the '40 Plym bought a new '50 Chevy, he traded the '40 Plym in on the Chevy, the Plym had new tires so Mr Verran gave me the new tires off of the Plym to use on my '41 Chevy. Wm.
  16. Loren, I can relate to your comment about original type engines compared to OHV V8's. My 39 Plym conv cpe was a big challenge from the start. After having sat in an open field in Montana for 38 years it was in need of a lot of help to get it back on the road. When I joined the POC shortly after getting the car home in '95 I found out that there were only thirty-five known surviving '39 convertibles. The original engine/trans was sitting in the waist high grass surrounding the car when I found it, I left it sitting there. After years of beating across the un-emproved Montana roads, the frame was broken in several places as was the front cross-member and A-arms. Fortunately all of the convertible components were still in the car, as were the chrome trimmed window frames, banjo steering wheel. After a complete survey of the car it was apearent that the car needed a complete rebuild, therefore I decided to do the car as a Rest-o-mod... Talking to the few Chrysler guys I knew, the prevailing thoughts i got from them was that the car needed a Hemi engine to make it right. Moving forward, I have a '48 Dodge 4 dr that has a '48 DeSoto Spitfire engine in it. The car was a barn find that was a very nice car, except no engine/trans. Through a trade I had bought a '48 DeSoto that was a rust bucket, however it had a very nice running 25" Spitfire engine and Fluid drive trans. I knew that the Dodges were sold in Canada and other parts of the world with the 25" Spitfire engines, looking at my '48 Dodge I noted that the frame was drilled at the factory for the 25" engine. Wm.
  17. ratfinkxx, To reply to your question regarding a rear end to use under your '36 with a 'mild small block and a O.D. trans'? A lot of people have replied with a multitude of suggestions, the majority of which are based on what I call old school junk yard donor technology. For the most part the days of going out to the local wrecking yard, to harvest a Mustang, Gremlin, Duster, Volare, etc., suspension, drive-train are long gone. Putting a mild small block. GM or Mopar with an OD in front of a 85 year old rear end should be the least of your worries. How do you intend to stop/control the car the car? The suspension under your car is/was designed for 45/50 MPH. I was faced with the same problem you have when when I acquired my 39 Plym conv coupe. The car had been sitting for 38 years in an open field in Montana, the suspension, etc., was junk and several of the frame cross members were broken broken. I wanted a car that I could safely drive at highway speeds. To that end the body was removed from the chassis, the frame was stripped down to a basic frame, a new Fatman front end assembly was ordered with power disk brakes, rack pinion power steering and Posie rear suspension. I purchased a new 2003 SBC 330hp crate engine a new 7004R trans and a new 10 bolt GM, 54-1/4" backing plate to plate rear end with 325.1 gears. My car is a pleasure to drive, cruising very nicely at 70+, windows up, AC blowing and nice tunes on the radio. Wm.
  18. I am not to sure about rear shackles for a '36, I do know that the '37 and later used a 'C' shaped shackle. When I converted the rear springs on my 39 P8 conv cpe from stock to Posie the straight type of shackles would not work. We made a set of 'C' shackles that would work with modern bushings in the frame and spring while allowing enough spring travel to clear the rear cross member. Wm
  19. I can't recall if I have ever accessed this topic in the past, it has been around for quite some time. I have been messing with cars since I was 14, actually bought my first car, a '40 Chevy three weeks before my 14th birthday which was in 1948. I have had several cars through the years, none of which were DPCD's. Lots of Chevy's and a few Fords. My father preferred Chevy's, however, he had a '37 DeSoto 4dr sdn in 1939, we went to the Worlds Fair in San Francisco. My father did buy a '36 Plymouth in 1943, it was a terrible car, would not start most of the time during cold weather. My father parked the Plymouth in front of a beer bar he hung out in one evening, when he came out the Plymouth was gone, stolen. The car was found out in the desert west of town a few days later, someone had torched it.. I always suspected that the disappierance of the Plymouth was a put up deal. Moving forward to the 1950's, I bought a '36 Ford DeLux 5win cpe in September 1952, the car had belonged to one of my high school teachers, the odometer had 51 K. I still own the car, never intended to keep the car for so many years it just worked out that way. I have driven the Ford over 94,k during the years I have owned it. Through out the years I always had a latent desire to have a 1930 model convertible. I had several chances to buy a convertible, however, I like cars that have warm air and sweet music.. (Heater and radio) which most '30 model open cars don't have. Everything changed for me in 1995, I was in Montana visiting my daughter. Cruising around the farm area around my daughters place I stumbled onto a '39 Plymouth P8 RS convertible coupe. The car had been sitting in an open field for 38 years, a complete car with the engine sitting in the grass in front of the car. After some discussion with the farmer that owned the car, he called it his high school jalopy, he gave the car to me. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would own a Plymouth, leave long a Plymouth convertible. It took me sixteen years to rebuild the Plym, the most difficult project I ever undertook. A significant amount of the body, trim parts for a '39 Plym conv are one year only. Wm
  20. I would have to guess that the majority of the contributors to this forum were not born yet when anti-freeze was alcohol based. I'm referring to the late '40's. Alcohol boils at 180.. Of course you could always rely on spring water in the radiator because spring water reputedly did not freeze, and/or you drained the radiator/block every night. I have a '36 Ford coupe that I bought when I was a Junior in high school in 1952. The car has its original radiator that has never had anything but coolant or soluble oil/water in it, during the 69 years I have owned the car... I know, don't confuse me with facts. I have my mind made up. Interestingly, almost the same thread is currently getting a lot of traffic over on the Ford Barn Forum.
  21. I have to admit that the engine in my Plym is a SBC, 2001 330 hp Vortec.. In the late '90's when we were planning the rebuild for the '39 there were not many good Chrysler small blocks available, I know that in the Mopar world that is a debatable subject, most Mopar people I talked to could only speak Hemi, which to me is antique technology from the '50's, not a good option for a nice smooth streetable car. It was quite interesting that when I switched from the original GM valve covers to the after-market billet covers with the 318 decals, nine out of ten people at car shows thought the engine was a 318/340/360 Mopar. The distributor being in the wrong place, never occurred to most people. Wm
  22. I have used an aluminum racing radiator from Summit Racing on three car builds. The radiator I use is a 19" x 25-3/4" which is rated for 500 hp, the intended use is as a cross flow. We stand the radiator up, then we use a Summit aluminum shroud, w/electric fan made to fit the radiator. My '39 Plym is a 330 hp V8 w/AOD, PS and AC, the car runs at a constant 195.. Wm
  23. There are a lot of opinions regarding the pros, cons of electric fuel pumps and/or mechanical, I'll fast forward to my experiences with electric pumps. I always run a stock mechanical pump, can't beat them for trouble free operation. In this day and age you have to make sure the pump is unleaded friendly, not something that is old stock and been sitting on a shelf for many years. I have a '36 Ford that I have owned for 71 years, I put an electric pump in the car shortly after I bought it.. The old Ford flathead pumps were famous for failings, usually out in the boonies. The pump is mounted close to the fuel tank, electric pumps push better than they pull. I have a toggle switch mounted under the dash, if the car has been sitting for quite awhile I turn the pump on to pump fuel up to the carb, when the pump stops running I know I have fuel to the carb so I start the car. I have a 39 Plym conv coupe that has an electric pump mounted close to the tank wired in the same fashion as the '36 Ford with one added feature. I have a yellow light wired into the circuit to alert me when the pump is on. I have an Airex 6v pump #E8902 on my '36 Ford, have the same type on my '39 Plym, except it is 12v. It is generally recommended that an oil pressure switch be wired into the circuit for an electric pump, the purpose being to kill the pump if the motar stops. The problem with the pressure switch is that the pump can not be used to prime the carb when the vehicle has been sitting for awhile. A good mechanical pump will pull fuel through a good electric pump and the electric pump will push through a mechanical pump with no damage to the pump. I also run an electric pump in tandum with the mechanical pump on my boat.
  24. When it comes to the question as to how far a persons goes to repair an old vehicle, one must access just what the intended use of the vehicle is going to be. If the main use of the vehicle is going to be an occasional drive to church on a nice summer Sunday morning, a trip to the local park for a picnic or the local 4th of July Parade, repair the vehicle to stock standards. If the vehicle is going to be used for cruises to car shows with the family/loved ones in the vehicle, then modern improvements are the better way to go. In today's world everything moves/happens very fast, in a flash what started out to be a quite ride turns into a ten car pile up. Wm.
  25. You are assuming that a good serviceable front cross member can be harvested from a chassis, then once the cross member is installed you still have the problem (s) of dealing with the rest of the 80 + year old suspension, brakes, etc. I looked into the whole picture of what was involved, going with the FatMan front clip gave me all new components, I specified the engine I was going to be using, everything bolted right onto the FatMan clip like it was factory. If you try to go cheap, you get what you paid for. A friend of mine that feel in love with my 39 Conv bought one, he thought the FM was to expensive, bought a brand X, which turned out to be one size fits all for a Ford. The net result was a first class mess. We are in the process of finishing up a chassis modernization for a '37 GMC. We used a unit from TCI to convert to independent, coil overs, disk brakes and a power rack. The TCI did not require cutting the frame rails, however, the frame had to be boxed, the metal to do this came with the kit. The engine in the truck is going to be a newer version of the Chevy OHV 6 cyln in lieu of the original 230 CID 6 cyln FH Olds. GMC did not come out with their OHV 6 until '39. Wm,
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