Uncle-Pekka

Impressive. With that long manifold... ...it will take 19.99 sec. for the gas to travel from carburetor to engine. ...the carburetor will be sitting outside the fender like a rearview mirror.

Not connected to this, but just noticed a line in the listing: "...going to crusher unless anyboby interested..." Really beautiful body style, but quite a bit of holes is floors & rockers I suppose... However, the car seems to be in original condition. Not messed up with bondo & quick paint...??? Listing has buy-it-now or leave-an-offer options. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1953-Desoto-Powermaster-6-Club-Coupe-all-here_W0QQitemZ280236268024QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item280236268024&

Clay, Well, I must admit I do not know a place called Sommerau, would it be in Finland? I suppose you have been working in Arabia factory in Helsinki? I have unfortunately not visited at that factory. However, Arabia is the most famous finnish pottery & porcelain maker and their products are highly appreciated. People pay good prices on vintage Arabia products. /Pekka

Thanks for sharing the story & great pictures with us Rod! It is one mean beast you got down there. Just viewed the Jay Leno clip, posted by Pat...Of course it would be a HUGE job to get it running again, but still I cannot help dreaming the huge potential this Seagrave has. At least the engine and the gauges should be saved. I agree with Falcon, that you surely will get back what you have to pay for the V12 when introducing it at HAMB for instance... Good luck! Cheers, Pekka

THANKS! I'll send you PM. /Pekka

Please, please Mr. Deadman, Post us some photos of the V12, also of the Seagrave truck! You got to be kidding, asking "would it be worth to save..." I would love one in my garage, one in the living room and one running a rod... EDIT: Does the pumper look anything like this one: By modilisti

James, If there is a shop at your neighborhood, that has A PILE of fourties Mopar OD transmissions... How about mailing me the contact of these guys? Any idea what they would be asking for a working OD which would fit in to a 3-speed D24 fluid drive car? I would instantly arrange freight to Finland... Thanks, Pekka

Well, when (or if) the weather gets a bit warmer up here, I'll wear my colorful Hawaiian shirt and the sunglasses as pictured - That is as far as the theme goes at this moment of time. Othervise the theme is time and patina: As you see, someone has brush painted the dash and window frames over, but left the gentle surface rust where it was... Fortunately interior chrome is quite good as it commonly is in these cars. Also all the gauges are working fine and I even got the original clock going again. It keeps in time. /Pekka

I was kind of waiting, when this type of OT thread will pop up at the Mopar forum as well (as it has been going on the most car hobby forums all over...) Well, nothing bad in chatting little OT, preferrences on music tell more of us and may unite the group even more. As far as I read the replies so far, my tastes go best along with those of Rodney B. and Don C. As a general rule I like blues and soul and modern stuff based on these roots. Lately I've been listening a lot Dr. John of New Orleans, Neville Brothers, old Otis Redding, Blues Brothers band, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse. I've got almost all of Tom Waits', Pink Floyd's, Morrisey & the Smiths, the Band, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, CCR, the Who... A lot remains not listed. Of the "modern" hard rock I like Nirvana, the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. There are some great finnish blues & rock'n'roll as well, but a list would be in vain... A band from my home town has recently made a record and a movie with some of old masters like Louisiana Red, Eric Bibb, Omar Dykes, Mick Taylor, Eddie Kirkfield & Barrence Whitfield. The name of the band is Wentus Blues Band. Look at their web site; http://www.wentusbluesband.com

Hello Folks, It has been year and a half since I joined this merry crowd, good times alltogether... Well, I was not considering my "name-tag" in a hurry to get to enjoy your fellowship. I used a sort of a joke around the Bothnia Bay "en (jävla) finne igen" - another (bloody) finn again - an old swedish proverb... Not a very good choice for an american forum. Thus I wish to be baptised for new. Some of you know me already quite well. For the rest a brief summary: I live in Jyväskylä, central Finland and during the short finnish summer I drive a 1948 D24 Custom 4D sedan, which I imported from LaGrange Illinois in February 2007. So far I've only done some mechanical overhaul and sloow rust protection jobs on the body. Main interest is to keep her on the road and hopefully some day will spray a decent overcoat to do justice on her divine curves... ;-) [/url] My on dash tiki: [/url] I'll keep messin' around the same way as have been. The honor is blown but reputation will go strong, cheers! Pekka

I bought a set of Dean Alpha 365 215/75 R15 w. narrow w.w. for $50/each, total $247 incl. shipping from Vulcan Tire. Have not mounted yet, because I have to sandblast & paint the rims first and now it is season to drive rather than stand on the blocks... Anyway, the tires "look allright" (sounds stupid thing to say, doesn't it...) and the price is right... I'll keep you up-dated as soon as I'll get to test them on the road.

The heater is on the driver's side? My D24 has similar heater on passenger side, does this car has TWO heaters installed?

Good to hear your OD is working fine. Was there any problem fitting it in? I need to get an OD for my '48 D24 as well. I enjoy driving it daily. It is so nice cruising low speed in the town, but on the road the old flattie is screaming already in 50mph way too loud & high.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen! The initial reason was obviosly several bad contacts and bad wiring at the front parking lights. Unfortunately the sparking at the bad spots obviously blew the flasher as well. I cleaned the bulbs, contacts and replaced several wires and the flasher relay. Now I am good & legal again (to go fast, turn left...)

Well, Not a joke, but some infrequent problem. Some time ago the turning signal on my D24 quit working. I noticed the relay under the dash was a bit hot. I replaced the relay, and the signals were working again. Then, after a couple of days the signals were not working when I was driving. Now the relay seems to be Ok, but I cannot find any other visible (or measureable) fault either. Parking lights are working, but not the signals. I suspect there is a bad ground somewhere, but how the heck I do find the spot? Has any of you had similar problems? Is there something basic I failed to check?

I just received a set of Dean Alpha 365 narrow white wall radials 215/75 R15 from Vulcan Tire. They do look the same as Norm's on above. I will install them later on after having sandblasted & painted the old rims. I am VERY satisfied on price/quality rate so far. They only cost $50/each !!! May not be Michelin class when it comes to riding comfort, but surely will beat the 20+ yrs old bias ply tires...

Great Job! The Coop looks reel sharp in orange. Nice hup caps, I recall you told you made the bullets yourself... Tail lights are top of a cherry. Are the fender skirts steel? They do look the same as the pair I bought last summer from Big Jim of Texas. Mine are glass fiber, though.

The red pickup is definetely a 1930 Ford model A, but the first one could also be a 1926-28 Buick? Can you get back there and see what engine it has? I belive there is a big six, but is it OHV or flathead may tell much more of the make.

Also Rockauto is offering new water pump for 46-48 Mopars: Cardone at $50 or Airtex-brand at $60. They have good web pages and swift customer service. www.rockauto.com

Cool! Interesting to browse US wreck yards from my PC in Finland. - only - WE DEMAND BETTER RESOLUTION SATELLITE SHOTS! Actually I tried to do this same job a year back, when my D24 was waiting to be shipped over seas at a shipping yard in SC for a couple of months. Well, 1st thing; of course you cannot see the cars from the commonly available satellite shots, but 2nd dissappointment was worse as I noticed, that the pictures on that particular are were shot in late 90's... The Cardillo Salvage looks to me the most promising candidate to have 50's stuff in there, the rest look like parking lots seen from the sky.

I would NOT put a tube in a radial unless it is absolutely the last thing to hold the air in (I mean if the rim is leaking or has extraordinary hole for the valve). I am saying this because I've had 3 or 4 flats in the speed with a tube fitted in a radial tire. It is quite unconfortable, because it happens in a second. Air escapes very fast through the valve hole and you easily loose control, especially if it is front tire. A radial without a tube never behaves this way (if it is not busted big way by some external object) - even if it is bad, it leaks slow giving you time to react. Just like Niel told, the combination runs hot. I suppose this is partly due to radial tire characteristics, it "lives" in respect to the tube, i.e. they are constantly rubbing each other. After the flats I have always seen a hole of a size of a plum in the tube, also severe wear on all around the tube. Thus, I recommend sand blast and proper paint on the rims and then radials WITHOUT tubes. - Drive safely!

Cheers Shel! Somehow I sense that you were in quite fine a mood doing the little preparations... Tell my regards to Edgar J. - Sunny rides to ya'll. /Pekka

Superb picture! True artwork! The colors, light, layout - it is really top notch. but not least, the machine itself is a beauty as well: Interesting how the contours of intake/exhaust manifold correspont to the shapes of the arm - the graphic style brings it out. From a car buff point of view: Funny how good the bias ply tires do look. They simply add the periodic look +++ Red wheels tell you clearly: Hot Rod.

I love these quiz's... My guess would be a 1908 Packard, the typical curves on the hood/grille are a strong hint.

Hi Pete, I know the pain of skinned knuckles, I had to twist my fan out&in a couple of times last summer... There is really no room to work btw. the water pump and radiator. Then we go a bit OT, but looking at the goregous pictures of your dash: Have you painted the wood graining yourself or had it done by somebody? See - I started yet another wood graining thread last week (and find out later, that there has been some good threads on the subject before) Your dash looks professionally done, is it original or painted during restoration? And Yes, the new clock looks good as well - The shape fits well with the shape of the radio/speaker cluster and the number font is close to the original of speedo, temp, oil etc.