Shifticus

Congratulations! These first drives are extremely gratifying, aren't they? At the time of my cars first run after years of sitting, I lived on a hill too. Had a brake return spring go on my first drive... Made it down fine but sure wasn't going to make it back up! You and your buddy will always have the story of its first drive and how you had to keep it running. Oh, after ten years of sitting, I'd recommend getting the tank boiled out and recoated along with that carb rebuild.

If you aren't already aware, Leno has a youtube channel where he takes all sorts of interesting cars out on a drive and gives an entertaining talk about their history and driving dynamics. The focus is one car per episode, and range from his early 1900's steam cars to new exotics. Recently, I stumbled upon this episode from 2012; I think you guys will enjoy it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd5qq9e3apk

Anyone else get a kick out of the 140mph speedo?

Capt. GTX: Beautiful unrestored example, and I commend your efforts in preserving and documenting your rare '54! You're in good company with plenty of other 53/4's on this website, myself included. Robert: Thanks for posting up that Leno video, it's great!

Hey everyone, You may remember this car, which belongs to my dad. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=5144&highlight=shifticus I recently gave it a bit of a tune up and got it rolling after a bit of a hiatus. Unfortunately it began leaking oil quite rapidly, from what appeared to be the block/bellhousing interface. I suspect an O ring for one of the Hydrive oil passages. My question: does anyone have a suggestion for a transmission shop that may be familiar with mopar semi automatics of the era - say, Chrysler Fluid drive cars? I have replaced clutches and changed out automatics before, but the idea of tearing apart both a clutch setup AND dealing with a torque converter really does not excite me. Thanks so much for your help. Brian

I second checking the brakes. Jack the car up and try to spin the tires by hand; if one takes significantly more force to spin than the others, you've probably found your problem in that wheel's drum. If both rears take a lot of force, check your ebrake. I had a return spring break in one of my fronts; the brakes would drag and cause similar symptoms to what you describe. One more thing: change both sides, or else one side will pull when you're stopping. Don't ask how I know.

Mine is a business coupe, where as yours was a 2 door sedan. The difference is between the trunk lid and the B pillar; the sedan was geared for more rear passenger comfort and has a longer roof.

Very rewarding and worth the effort, especially if we're talking about saving original paint... just do a panel at a time. Did the original paint on mine, by hand. The paint would rub off on your finger in the as-found condition!

I was having similar symptoms with my 53, except the car would not stay running without giving it gas. I bought it a new ignition coil and crimped new connectors on the coil ground wire, which only improved the problem slightly. I then pulled off the cap, hit all the terminals (including the rotor) with steel wool, and sprayed the inside of the cap with carb cleaner, and the car seems to be better.. just got back from a good 40 mile drive. Give your ignition a look see... I started with the fuel side of things but have discovered that it's ignition in my case.

While not my favorite body style, that 59 looked like it was in decent shape. I find it unfortunate that they felt a need to do this... I think any competent human being could've told you what the outcome would be! Despite my upchuck reflex, I still had to watch the whole thing through...

That was my engine you were speaking about. To answer your question about how it ran, well, it ran fine. Decent power, acceleration without any misses or hiccups, and didn't lose or consume much oil. At idle, however, it had the occasional "piff piff" sound that you mention. I wanted to shave the head for more power. plenty of carbon..

Thanks for the input. My local speed shop referred me to these guys for my head which is currently in their posession, so I might sit down and have a chat about the motor. http://www.lnrengine.com/ Have a shop to reccommend in SoCal? Anyone had a bad experience with the guys I listed above? I'd love to hear it..

I pulled the head to get it milled .060", however I came upon a nasty little surprise in cylinder #3 Now, the loose pieces are carbon buildup, and I poked at what I presume to be the top ring revealing that it was present and intact (atleast through the big hole). I wanted to show you guys some more pictures illustrating the condition of the valves and such, and wanted your advice concerning my next course of action. The motor leaks very little oil, runs pretty good-and reliably at that. I figure option one is to drop the pan and replace the pistons, or I could really dive in, pull it and contract a rebuild. My preference would be to mess with as little as possible. Let's hear your two cents.

high and mighty, anyone?

Neat looking. How's it perform, and what did you have on it before?

exceedingly expensive, but sure is interesting to look at! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Plymouth-P-08-1939-7-PASSENG-ORIG-only-118-made_W0QQitemZ290314087693QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item4398116d0d&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A317%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Guys, If anyone else is interested in this product, we can group buy and they'll knock off some of the price... I'm pretty set on buying one unless someone can convince me out of it. From the website: RediRad™ Model RR106-P is for vehicles with 6 volt POSITIVE ground electrical systems. Order 2 get 3% off. / Order 3 get 5% off. Order 4 get 7% off. / Order 5+ get 9% off and free shipping.

Yeesh! good luck to the next bodyman...

VERY sweet looking. Any plans to dyno it?

Thank you all for the kind words. Considered painting the roof tan as the paint has significantly deteriorated there. It would be as they came in '53: above the drip rails. I've decided against it though, and I'll just keep the car as is, waxed, and out of the sun as much as possible. Yep, she screwed up! We were practicing her stick driving, and that was her first "solo." It's something we both enjoy-me teaching her that is-but it's firm that she won't be driving it unless we're in an emergency type situation. She loves the car, but we've got our sights on a 60-63 falcon for her to have as her own... they're cheap, plentiful, and it's no tragedy if she bumps it up a little bit!

Hi all, It's been a while since I last cruised by these boards, so I thought I'd come back with some visual stimulation for everyone. I did a much needed lubing of the chassis, replaced the old cracked muffler with the longest cherry bomb the local Pep boys had on the shelf, and gave the paint and chrome a good rub down. Here are the pics... And onto the videos. You can really only hear the exhaust in the first clip...

Alaska, you're absolutely in the right place! Sounds like you're waiting on a good battery and some good gas.. If you're still unsure about the presence of fuel in your tank, you can always pop off the lock ring holding your fuel level sender and use a flashlight to see if there is any in the tank. My '53 has a rubber plug under the trunk mat that gives access to the sender; I can't imagine yours being any different. Mine sat for years as well, and after following the same procedure these folks have mentioned, it fired and ran. Just a heads up, (I apologize if any of this has already been mentioned, I skimmed over a bit of this thread) be prepared to have the tank fired/resealed and the carb rebuilt if sediment prevents your car from running down the line. This happened to mine, but if you're able to evade this then more power to you! I can't wait to hear how it goes, and I hope for the best. Here's mine before and after...

Thanks to all your suggestions. I ended up with black magic carnuba, as it was the only one at the local parts store that wasn't a cleaner as well.

I just noticed two new spots where the paint is thinning today, and was wondering what everyone here might have to say relating to products/ methods that will help delay this process as much as possible. I understand that there's probably no magic answer to this, but I'd love to preserve the paint as much as possible while not preventing myself from taking it out on a nice day. To fill you all in, the car is garaged and isn't out in the sun too often. The paint on the roof has already experienced major sun damage, but that is localized and I suppose could be painted in the future. However, the new spots are on the body which I'd really like to stop from propogating. Here's a pic that shows some of the deterioration on the roof..

right around 60 in my '53 is the medium between really winding up the motor and not being dangerously slow on southern california freeways.