Eneto-55

I saw an Argentinian guy do it once in Brazil. His dad was a black smith, and had taught him how to do it. He got it just about cherry red hot in a home-made forge, then quick stick welded it while it was still red hot. (Obviously had to take it off to do that, and if he had been able to find another, probably wouldn't have done it.)

I'm quite sure I have experienced profiling. From 1975 to 1980 (last three college years plus a couple more) I had a huge afro. First time I was stopped, the officer came up to the window & informed me right off that I was under arrest. Took me back to his car, where he interrogated me for around 45 minutes, asking the same questions over & over, trying to trip me up on my story. Thing was, I was telling the truth, and didn't have to think about how to answer. Never did tell me what I was "under arrest" for, and as far as I know it was bogus - it it not on my record. By the time he let me go I had a splitting headache from the stress of it. Another time, in a different state, I turned up a street going the wrong way at 2:00 AM. Just a bit down the road, I saw a car coming, and pulled off the side of the road, intending to turn around after it passed. It was a cop. He made me walk the line, accused me of assisting in the escape of some juvenile delinquents, told me to shut up when I told him my car was not the Make he said had done this, and called in a second cruiser to "escort" me back the little ways I had come up the wrong way. I don't think a single car passed through there during the whole ordeal. I think I can be sure that the real issue was that I was a white guy who was identifying with African-American causes. Of course other people got the wrong impression, too. Coming out of a rest stop rest room once, a guy asked me if I was 'travelling with speed'. I just said 'No,' but later wished I had said, 'No, I'm traveling with Jesus!' Lost opportunity. (That time, in addition to the huge afro, I was wearing a black cut off choir robe as a shirt - tucked into my jeans. You know, the deal with the huge sleeves. I should find a picture someplace....)

Thanks for that info, DrDoctor. I have seen the different companies listed that make a finished product, have copied down the different names, and looked at their sites, but I have decided to build one myself. Partly because of cost, but also for other reasons, one of which is that I do not want to use wire that is of lower quality than the original, and I haven't seen information regarding which of these manufacturers use tinned wire, if any. (So planning to use marine grade wire.) I've also decided that if I use any woven cloth covered wire at all, I will only do that for the areas that show, like under the hood. (I may decide to do this with an additional protective sheathing - I need to find out what color options there are in these materials, and how the total costs compare.) I may put in a connection point through the fire wall, like many (most?) modern cars do, if I can do so in an inconspicuous manner. If I do this, that would be where I would switch to the other type wire. Thanks again, and the best to you and yours.

It might be on this site someplace, but I don't tend to have much success in doing searches on forums - all of them on which I participate, not just this one. I do alright on the internet search engines, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for on here, even things I know are here, having read them before. So please excuse me for asking this again, if someone has posted about this. Question: Has someone worked out how much wire is needed for each color to do a standard P15 wiring harness? (How much to order of each.)

I agree. I even sometimes misspell words in order to stop it from doing that, or try to find a different word to express the same idea.

The Interstate - as someone once remarked to me, it gets you there, but it is the armpit of America.

I've never had a new car, and the two we own now are 8 & 9 years old (my work vehicle, a 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan, 124,000 miles, and my wife's car, a 2009 Dodge Journey, 81,000 miles). My wife can drive a standard shift, but strongly prefers an automatic. But driving in an automatic, I'm constantly listening, and noticing every little hesitation in shifting, or lurch, afraid that the transmission will give out on me, and leave us stranded. I'm relieved every time I park it back in our garage. As others have said, at least it is possible for the average guy to work on these cars. (I'm just 62, so maybe I'll sing a different tune when I hit a couple of more decades...)

I remember that on family vacations my dad always had an extra starter, water pump, and generator (later, alternator) AND a pretty full set of tools. But after the 62 Chrysler was retired, I don't recall that he did that anymore. (I know I didn't have extra parts along when I took that 62 up to college, around 725 miles. Did have two extra wheels & tires, and I needed them, too. I was too new at driving long distances to know that I should slow down in the August heat, traveling up to Minnesota through Kansas & Nebraska from Oklahoma. Had two blow outs the first day!)

Assuming that it is shaped the same as the Plymouth heat shield, it isn't a complicated piece. So if you can't find one, you could bend one up out of a piece of sheet metal (or even a tin can, unless you've got a show car).

I was mistaken about only having a single wire on the headlight leads - and I have edited in a correction on that post. But if the 49 1st series did not have high & low beam, then when did they start that? (Or was it an option?) I have a hard time imagining a car that recent w/o both high & low beam headlights.

Speaking of the wiring diagram, I've seen comments that there were both early & late P15 diagrams. I'm thinking that the one I have (PDF downloaded from this site) must be the late one, because the colors do not match with what I see on my 46 model. Also, I'm a bit confused on this - the diagram shows two wires going to the headlight, but there is actually only one wire on each headlight harness. That's why I'm wondering how careful they really were to follow the color charts, or are there variations between the different manufacturing plants? Edit (07-28-2018): I don't know what I was thinking about when I said that there is only one wire on the headlight leads. I have two sets, one from my 46, and another set from my 49 1st series parts car, and both have two leads. Since both the headlights and the "fender lights" (as they are called on the wiring diagram) have a rubber coated lead from the light to the terminal block, I suspect I was looking at my notes for the fender lights, not the headlights.

Yeah, I know, two year old thread. Back to life (maybe). As a comment on previous posts, in my business I use a hair dryer to do the shrink tube. Back in 1980 when I started this project, I repaired the wiring harness (mostly under-hood damage from exposure, since the hood had been off for who knows how long) with cloth covered wire my brother & I had stripped out of other old cars. But now I'm looking at this differently, because when I started it, I was only thinking of building a nice daily driver, now I'm thinking collector car. (Of course it is now twice as old, too.) So in evaluating the condition of the wiring now, I think that now is the time to do the whole job. (Interior & headliner is all out, etc.) I don't know how much the condition of the wire has changed since I stopped working on it in 1982 or 83, but it is stiff, and if you bend it, you can feel the rubber cracking up inside the cloth wrap. I had found what looked like a really good deal on some modern (plastic coated) wire that I figured I would use everywhere it won't show, but then as I read the reviews, I saw people saying that it was actually some metric wire, and not really the gauge as advertised (I was looking for 12 gauge), but something less than that. Another reviewer stated that some months later the plastic insulation had began to turn into some sort of sticky goo. So, buyer beware is the word, I guess. Then of course there is also the fact that the original wire was tinned copper, so much less susceptible to corrosion. And I haven't seen any evidence of corrosion on this wiring any place on the car. So that leads to marine grade wire, or, a question about the original looking wire available now from various sites - Is it tinned, or is it common copper wire? I have received some samples of fire proof woven fiberglass wire sheathing that could be slipped over the existing wire, either with or without the original rubber & cloth coating. Wouldn't be water proof anymore, however. I experimented a bit with a permanent marker, and the fiberglass will take the color. (I could also make modern wire look somewhat more like the original wiring in this way as well.) So I guess I need some help making up my mind on this.

Here is a photo of the inside on the Model 36 heater motor. (I pulled the windings out to replace the leads, so it was also easier to get a better picture.) You can see the holes in the top of the brush carriers. That's where I stuck in the opened up paper clips to hold the brushes in place while replacing the armature. Do my brushes look too worn down? I measured them, but now i don't recall for sure, but I think it was just over 3/8".

On mine (probably different motor?) I was able to get the brush started back into the carrier, then there are little holes in the top, into which I was able to stick straightened out paper clips, to hold the brushes. Then after replacing the armature, I could just pull out the paper clip wires. But I took it back apart, because I'm wondering if I should replace the brushes while I have it open. How do you know if they are too far worn down?

(Some how I messed this up, and even editing it, I couldn't get my comment out of the quote box....) Yeah, I hit the THANKS button on his post. So are these the only three styles of heaters that were installed by MoPar dealers? (I imagine there were a number of after-market heater kits available in those days as well.) I didn't look at the link for replacement heater cores, but I seriously doubt that they have anything like the Model 36 has, with the blower motor up through the center of the core. (Fortunately mine is good, at least so far....)

Here are some photos of the MoPar Special Deluxe Model 36 heatr. Question: Do I have the duct up side down? It was already out of the car when I got it (as I recall, now over 35 years ago...).

Thanks Steve. Now I'm really curious to hear from others, as to what heater models they have. I seems I only took disassembly pictures of my heater, as I am in the process of rebuilding the motor because of badly deteriorated wire sheathing (the cloth). But here is one of the top of the unit, and you can see how the motor sits through the center of the heater core.

I'm curious as to the model number of your heater. Mine (out of my 46 Special Deluxe 4 door sedan) looks nothing like yours, and has a fan with blades, not a squirrel cage like you show. Mine is the MoPar Deluxe Model 36. No rivets to remove to open it up - all screws. On mine, the single motor fits through a hole in the center of the U shaped heater core. As I recall now, the inlet & outlet did not use any of the standard heater holes in the firewall. (I say 'as I recall' because I patched the firewall and painted it back in 1980 or 81. Just now getting back to this project after leaving it sit in my Dad's shop for over 35 years.) I'm wondering now if mine was actually for an older model Plymouth. Edited: I see now that it looks like the tag on yours says "Model 54". Is that correct?

I have heard that there is a GPS device available that connects to the speedometer cable, and gives a correct reading on any mechanical speedometer. But I would think that it would very possibly still be necessary to calibrate the speedometer to match distance & speed correctly.

Yes, I reckon that's what should be done. I had done repairs on all of the frayed wires on the main wire harness back in the early 80's, and the car has been inside all of this time, but I should look it all over again. I suspect, though, that this on the heater was caused by heat, because the wire they had wrapped back and forth on the grate is the one that is totally brittle. The other wire is only deteriorated to that point inside the motor, and for a space where it comes out of the top of the heater. I was out at the Amish shop that repairs old hit & miss engines this morning, and the wire they have is a smaller gauge. The heater is not included in the P15 schematic I have (downloaded from this site at some point), but the one for the P17 does show it, and it indicates 12 gauge there. So I'm assuming this is also 12 ga.

Added 07-11-2018 AM I don't know if anyone is reading this, but I'm also wondering if someone knows if there would still be a risk of shorting out if I just put the fiberglass sleeve over the bare wire (after removing the crumbling cloth weave). Another question: My heater motor positive ground wire just went to the metal case of the heater. Should it have run at least to the dash, or would that have been common practice? I realize that the heater case is grounded through the firewall mount, and obviously it worked that way, I'm just wondering what would have been considered the best approach. If it is just going to the heater case, then that wire in much longer than necessary.

Today I received a sample of a fire resistant (fiberglass) sleeving that slips over the wire. I also requested some cloth type sleeving from another company, thinking that perhaps I would dismantle the motor, then slip this over the existing wire, w/o replacing it. But just a few days ago I was out at an Amish machine shop that also rebuilds old engines, and they had the braided wire there. I might just get a bit of wire from them, but still put this fiberglass stuff over the wire where it is inside the motor. I don't know if it was the heat that caused the deterioration (brittleness) of the cloth wrapping, or just plain old age. The fire resistant sleeve I got is from Alpha wire, # PF2409. This stuff sells by the 100' roll (or at least 50'), and I don't need anywhere near that much. If it came in all different colors, and in shorter length rolls, I'd be tempted to re-do my whole wire harness with this stuff. They also have other types of sleeve that is specifically made to be cut resistant. (I hope that it is OK to mention the manufacturer by name.)

I have two P15 Special Deluxe cars. My brother had a 1947 Deluxe model that someone gave him, as I recall. (The deck lid and the surrounding body panel had been cut out to fix another car, no front clip, etc. (I think it had been nose first into a creek to prevent washout.) Anyway, before he scrapped it, I saved what parts I could. I have two of these 'stars' and was wondering what they belonged to. We are MoPar people, and it is hard to imagine how some other manufacturer parts would end up in my parts stash, so I think I'll vote with the guys who say it's standard on the Deluxe model P15.

Back in the 80's, the generic stuff was the only option for us MoPar guys, and that is what I was planning to do on mine, except that the whole project got "put on the back burner" for 35+ years. You just might have to get inventive as to how you can fasten it into place. If the original clips are still in good shape, you can put those onto the generic window channel, or cut out some new ones. That generic stuff (as I recall, now all of these years later) is flexible in order to conform to the curves, so it is more difficult to get it to stay in place properly. (My memory on this is a bit cloudy, so that's why I didn't respond earlier.)