Big_John

I refer to these as my Elvis micrometers. Actually, they have some automotive history. They were used in a local gear factory that made gears for a lot of cars back in the day. Some of the guys told me that they found a box of differential gears for the Tucker car when they were cleaning the place up. They threw them out! The place closed, owing my business money... so I didn't feel too obligated to return the mics.

I should always qualify my suggestions about Harbor Freight. Things that support weight have a real capacity of half the weight that Harbor Freight rates them for. If buy something rated for 4 tons you want to put 2 tons of weight on it max. A 1 ton rated engine stand should support a flathead nicely. The tripod stand is not as stable, but honestly I used a tripod stand for 30+ years building all sorts of engines, mostly 440's but even did the occasional Hemi with no problems. BTW, a full dressed 426 Hemi is a very heavy engine. That said, I recently needed a second stand and my choice was a folding 1 ton HF piece. The only issue was I had to redrill two of the arms to get them closer together to mount the flathead. While Don has done his engine on a bench, I still have to say that a stand is better and safer. Flipping an engine on a bench might be OK for him to do and I have to say I've done many things like that myself. But.. if you aren't used to moving big heavy stuff like engines, you can hurt yourself or break something pretty easy. You need a good strong bench too. Nothing against Jim but by asking the question, I assume that the he is not used to doing this or else it would have just been done.

I suggest you bite the bullet and buy an engine stand. I know you're not going to be able to roll the stand around, but its really the only to safely flip that engine over to work on it. Harbor Freight has some cheap stands.

About 15 years ago, my buddy had a customer's Honda broken into and the stereo stolen. They broke the passenger window to get in. After calling the cops and breaking the news to the customer, he taped plastic over the window. The car had some "issues" and the customer had money problems, so the car had to sit there. Everyone figured the stereo was already gone, so it wasn't a big deal for the car to sit there for a few more nights. I guess someone else had an eye on the stereo because the next night, they broke into the car again, this time they pried the driver's door open! It destroyed the car! Best part was not only was the stereo already gone, the passenger door window was still broken, covered with plastic and wasn't locked. The dumb crooks never looked!

About 1981 or so, I had a 66 Dodge Dart that I wanted to sell. It was pretty rough, but still ran great. I got a call from a guy I had sold some other parts to and he said he wanted to buy the car. He wanted to test drive the car and as I was headed off for the weekend I told him I'd leave the car in front of my parent's house and would hide the key. I also told him to just leave the car there and I would call him when I got back. He gave me a phone number. I got back and the car wasn't there. I figured... well... maybe he just took the car home. He asked if he could do that and I did tell him no, but whatever, I'll just give him a call. Well... no answer at the phone number and after trying several times, I did get an answer.... turned out to be a pay phone at an apartment house! OK... still trying to give the benefit of the doubt and it was only a $100 car, but I was a bit annoyed. I made a couple calls to friends that had dealt with him and found out where he lived. That night when I was out on a date, I drove by there on the way home and spotted the car on the street. I pulled the distributor rotor and sure enough... the phone rang the next morning. "Hey... the Dart won't start". I asked him what was going on and he said he wanted to buy the car, but... ready for this... wanted to just use it for a little while first. "Ah... no, I'll be up to get the car" and he went into this whole speech about how he was developing an electric car and he wanted to pitch the idea to this big deal developer and needed a car to go see the guy. Yea... OK. I grabbed the car the next morning and there was a note on the car... John! I can't believe you won't help me with the most important project on Earth! I bought another Dart the next week that needed an engine so I pulled the engine out of the 66 and scrapped the car.

Some of the Mopar muscle car owners have reported thefts of the underhood data plate at car shows!

I have used California covers (and their predecessor, Beverly Hills Covers) for a number of years now. I have one cover that's 25 years old (used mostly indoors) and still in good shape. The last one I bought was a flannel lined cover for my Corvette and after 8 years of use indoors and out, its still in perfect shape.

Here's the link. A little rough, but the price is right. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_rdc=1&item=170569537307&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D170569537307%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&viewitem=

Looks great! Was there problems with the M-6? I thought they were pretty bullet proof. Also.... spotted the Heath-Kit meter in the background! My Dad had a couple of those he built back in the 50's!

Of course, that cigar lighter plug for your GPS drops the 12 volts down to 5 volts so it can charge the GPS. A little ingenuity, a spare USB charging cord for your GPS and a soldering iron and you'd be in business.

After thinking about it, I believe you are correct about the enamel usage on 40's Mopars.

I've used it a couple times on some old Jeeps that needed some "love" to make them a bit more presentable. It worked well for me, but I also tend to follow directions on how to apply stuff like that. No... its not the "right" way to do it, but it worked for my application.

In answer to the question, POR-15 isn't really used as a paint primer. It is a rust encapsulating paint that is used to stop rust by preventing moisture and oxygen from contacting the steel. It adheres best to already heavily rusted steel and not as well to clean steel. Its also not good to expose to UV light (as in the sunlight) as that will cause the POR-15 coating to breakdown. So... in a nutshell, no, POR-15 would not be the best primer. The paint/primer on your Plymouth is most likely lacquer. Good, fast drying, and easy to apply. It also will last a long time (like under your seat) if its not exposed to the weather. It also chips and scratches easier then enamel. Lacquer primer is also porous. Ever see a lacquer primed car that's been left outside for a while? The surface rusts from the oxygen and moisture. Fast forward to the present... new primers are epoxy or urethane based. They adhere better and more importantly seal the surface better. They also allow for the newer and superior paints in use today. So... is the new paint better? Yes, most definately. Back when the cars were new, it wasn't unusual to have them painted after 5 or 6 years. I remember my Dad's '57 Windsor being repainted in 1961. Now its unheard of to have to have a car repainted for any reason except accident damage. Cars go to the crusher with 200k miles and the original paint.

http://www.t137.com/registry/help/otherengines/pengines.html This reference says its a 218.

If that engine was full of water, that cam is worthless. I can't imagine anything else inside that engine is salvagable either.

That car has been around to other auctions, the last one I heard that it didn't sell at was Pebble Beach this past summer. Sometimes it doesn't matter how rare or what its history is. Ugly doesn't sell.

Moparts is the biggest and has a pretty good parts section. Like other huge forums, it has it good and bad points, but its not bad. http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

That's a 8 or 9" Ford rear.

Back to the subject, I've noticed a few cars that I would consider as restorable being parted out. Most recently I saw a 53 Desoto on the HAMB that was a really nice driver being parted out. Its to the point of where the sum of the parts is worth more then the whole car.

That .44 Mag S&W has made the internet and email rounds in past years. First time that I have read "Chinese ammo" as the cause though. I don't know of any .44 Mag ammo made in China.

I have a block heater in my Diesel Ford truck. It heats the water just enough that when the temperature is -10 F, the trucks turns over a little easier, keeps the fuel from gelling and warms up a little easier. Of course, I just hit the remote start and wait inside until its warm....

No... I was wrong, I just spotted the front suicide doors. That's a MG on the hook.

I think the car on the hook is a Ford Prefect.

None are uglier then the Aztek.

Looks like a decent car. Not great, but decent. I'm not sure if its worth the reserve or not, but then again, you can buy a car for half the price and spend just as much (or more) getting it to that level. It will be interesting what it bids up to.