plymouthcranbrook

You do good work. I have done several one bbl’s and a couple of two barrels but the worst was a big Quadrajet. I got it done and the truck ran better but what a job.

All I have to go on is the statements directly to me by an expert in carburetor repair who has been involved in working on them for several decades. So believe what you will. I stand by what I was told.

I have an old table saw that my Dad left me that looks like it was cobbled together by Rube Goldberg on a bad day. I suspect my Dad found it in the trash somewhere on his mail route way back when and messed with it until he got it to work. I have used it several times and it worked well. Someone else’s trash…..

Hope you get a good response. As I mentioned on Allpar a lot of smart folks are here including a few from Australia.

According to John at The Carburetor Shop the Ball and Ball carbs used on many of our cars were never really a good design. What the were was cheap for the manufacturers to buy. And many have just plain worn out. I was on the second remanufactured one a couple of years ago and drivability had deteriorated severely. I decided to go with the Langdon progressive two barrel set up and have been really happy with the result. So there are other options available if an owner wants to do something different.

Farm and Fleet 10-40 non synthetic.

Well I certainly remember seeing cars and trucks back in the 60’s and 70’s doglegging down the road. Remember when the advice was to try to drive a used car you were looking at through a puddle to see if it tracked straight?

Happy New Year from the Central time zone.

Well you never know what NAPA might have as I have gotten a few items for my 52 from them. Try to find a store that has an old guy behind the counter as that improves the chance he might know what you are talking about.

Although perhaps I am not exactly understanding your issue I do know that back in the late 60’s we thought it was cool to install 51/4 inch aircraft landing lights in place of the high beams in our four bulb systems. That necessitated cutting a new notch in the bucket to have the beams be in the correct location for road use.

I sm very sorry to hear of your prognosis. I can only hope that despite odds you manage to defeat the cancer. Try to stay as active as you can here as we care about you.

Keep lookin’. They are still out there. A 1950 or so running Dodge that looked really nice was on the AACA site about a year ago sold for around $1800.

Make sure you have the correct cap for your distributor. Some caps depending on distributor number are taller than others and the center pole from the coil is too far away for the spark to jump the gap to the rotor. And all caps I have seen fit all distributors as far as I know.

Merry Christmas and a better New Year to all.

I never had a problem with the Sission on my 52 Plymouth. The wire shorted out once from the starter but replacing it solved the problem. I no longer use it as the carb I put on has a manual choke which I prefer.

I just put my old cars on non driving status in the winter(comprehensive only) and pay very little.

I replaced the pump on my 52 back when NAPA had a special rerun on new pumps. Although maybe 18 years ago. Idon’t remember it being a difficult job at all. I too have seen water pump impellers that seem to lose much of their surface. Might well be your issue.

I had issues in the past on other cars where a partially blocked radiator would cause those exact symptoms. Have you had yours cleaned out or as suggested tried flushing it out?

Of course you can ask whatever you want for parts or cars. I have almost completely stopped looking at Flea-Bay for the reasons you quote. Still in order to sell you must find a buyer. At those prices you only need one though.

Car Wizard the Plymouth is your car to do with what you want. I personally am happy to see another old car that is being cared for and kept basically as built. Sometimes changes are inevitable. I have installed a brand new heater control valve on my 52 that was made for a 57 Chevy. Very similar to stock but instead of a rare expensive item I paid $80 for it and only had to make small changes to use it. I have also replaced the original Ball and Ball carb with a progressive two barrel set up from Langdons. The original carb was shot and good replacements not cheap or easy to find. Car drivability is much improved. I also hand made my own kick panels out of Masonite and painted them. I could go on but you get the idea. I suspect your resources are better than mine by seeing your shop and vids but you still look for reasonable ways to accomplish what needs to be done. This can be helpful for others who are(like me)on a modest budget for their hobby. Most folks who see an old car going down the road have no idea if they are looking at a stock car or a modified one. And don’t care. I continue to encourage innovation when needed to keep the old cars running while staying as true as possible to their original design.

I saw the vid a couple of hours ago. I enjoyed it and did not see ant reason to refrain from doing the work he has done. If I had a big shop like that and a talented group of mechanics as he does I would probably do likewise. Although to me the fun of the old Plymouths is driving them as they were designed for. And for me that makes it a hobby car. Not that that is a whole lot different from how I use the newer ones.

I have what is now considered an oddity. A Union Pension. And I worked so many hours during my time that I was able to have a fairly high Social Security payment. My job was a very physical one, what I liked to say involved picking heavy things up and then putting them down as fast as possible. It was getting harder each year to work 50+hours a week. There was a decrease in early retirement benefits from the Union as Commercial Printing is a dying trade. That said I ran the numbers and figured out that I could get about 80% of my working salary retired. We would go on my wife’s insurance until we got to 65(I left at 62). That went to bleep as her company decided to close down all their offices nationwide except Texas and California. That was exciting but we made it through. There is some long term money put away but so far we haven’t had to touch it. We live modestly but don’t do without anything we really want. I would suggest saving as much as you can and deciding where you want to live and what you want to do after you get out. That way you have some thoughts and ideas already.

I was gonna say that I am so old I remember when a dollar was worth a nickel but now I won’t.

I left the Land of Evil on December 31, 2012. Kept a variety of part time jobs until this year(Six Flaggs train operator and school bus driver) until this year when I was determined to be in too bad a condition to drive the bus. So now I am at home most of the time especially with winter beginning to show its face. Still better than the Land of Evil. And although I no longer have weekends to look forward to, I also no longer have Mondays to dread.

Congratulations for making the long climb to the top. Now enjoy the view and you might be like many retirees who often wonder how they had found time to work.