DLK

I have a 50 Dodge myself but it's not Canadian so not a rebadged Plymouth like yours. As you probably know these were well engineered cars (for their day). Like you I plan to keep my car mostly stock. I echo the comments here about how helpful people on this forum are. Since I started posting this past summer I have received lots of answers and useful advice. Keep us updated when your nasty winter (like ours in Minnesota) is over and you have it back on the road.

My wife and I went to the Truman Library and I was particularly interested in seeing the two 1940 Chryslers Harry bought new that Chrysler Corp restored for the museum several years ago. I was surprised to see the engines were painted orange. I thought all MOPARS of that vintage had silver engine paint. I am sure I could get the answer by searching old messages on this and other forums but did find this surprising.

How about posting some pics?

Let's face it for a lot of this oddball repair stuff you are at the mercy of the vendor. At least I did enough homework to have read a number of on-line recommendations for this place - he has been in business since 1953. We'll see if he returns the old one I suppose if he does I could send it to another shop just to see if they give it last rites as well.

I agree Ed that my car does not look like a car with 156,000 let alone 256,000 miles. I was kind of surprised that the owner at Steve's was so sure it had gone over. I guess as others have pointed out, my car may not have the original speedo anyhow. He sold me a NOS new one for $275 which doesn't seem too bad since that is what rebuild would have likely cost anyhow from the places I asked for a ballpark estimate. My wife and I have been in Kansas City the past week where it's been a lot warmer than back home in Minnesota.

Well Scott's Speedometer called and said my 56K speedometer has seen 99,999 at least once and maybe twice and is shot. I have bought enough collector cars to take any owner representations with a grain of salt, clearly my 50 Dodge has a lot more than 56K actual miles it was claimed to have. Oh well, I like the car and just have to live with the fact it needs more work than I expected.

Ed - I don't think the dash in my car unbolts in one piece like it does on your P15.

Well I took one last drive and put my car down for the winter. I pulled the speedometer to send out for repair. I don't remember how tight the dash is to work under on a D24 but it is a piece of cake on my 1950 Dodge - it only took 10 minutes to get the speedo out. The bad news is the condition of my gauge wiring. I can't believe I haven't had a short or worse with all the bare wire and crumbling insulation. Having read all the threads on rewiring I am going to opt for the one wire at a time method starting with the worst looking ones.

I like your solution, cheaper than mine and probably will work just as well.

I had a lengthy fight with the Minnesota on YOM plates for my former 53 DeSoto in 2004 which I lost. They will not allow any plate without an Alpha character (I still have the email). All the auto plates for 1950 and 1953 appear to have been numbers only. I even took a plate with a number like 778 009 and tried to change the first zero to a "Q" but got a nasty response from a bureaucrat at Department of Motor Vehicles. To be honest I think it just depends on who gets your application and how much they want to jack you around. Then I tried using a 1953 plate that starts with Y (a truck plate) and they said no to that saying it was not a passenger car series plate. mad:

I got the product name wrong it is Penrite not Penlite and comes from down under. Here is a link to the website of the distributor. I got it in the mail in a week after ordering. http://www.restorationstuff.com/Products/ You can also just Google "Penrite". Dave

I have yet to have anyone identify the year and make of my car. Someone said "Is it a 49 Dodge?" (close). I just got my Minnesota collector plates that provide the answer. For those who wondered about the Penlite Steering Gear Lube - it has worked wonders so far. No spot on my garage floor since I switched out the regular gear lube. I suppose STP might have accomplished the same thing but am just happy to be rid of the puddle - it was well worth $16.00.

Yes I have probably put 200 miles on the car since getting it back to Minnesota. Since it has no heater (hopefully I can change that in the next year or two) I am getting close to the end of the driving season. I love the maroon color on your "new" Dodge.

How complicated is it rigging up a mounting bracket for a GM alternator? Can anyone tell me what the appropriate pulley size would be? I agree that $90 for a 6v positive alternator seems like a no-brainer if you are not concerned about points in judging.

With my three speed and fluid drive on my 50 Dodge I have found second gear starts with upshift at 15-20 work well. I do have one minor issue. When upshifting to high I must wait about 2 seconds if I do not want it to grind. I can live with this but am not sure how serious the transmission synchronizer issue must be. Downshifts from 3rd to 2nd are smooth and quiet. Any thoughts? I am not sure what kind of lubricant is in the transmission but it is not low.

I put 5752's on the front of my 50 Dodge today. I have held off waiting to decide whether to go with air shocks on the rear. The prior owner put tires that are slightly too wide in the back (P22570R15) - I can see slight sidewall scuffing after about 3000 miles which may be from rubbing the fenders going around corners. Since the tires have a lot of miles left on them I am tempted to put air shocks with a little extra pressure in hopes it will minimize the scuffing. I will be interested to hear what the air shocks do to your ride.

Like Ed I went to Fleet Farm but I bought the biggest 6 volt they had. It was too big for the battery cover but I didn't care I wanted more cranking power. With that and zero guage cables I had plenty of spin.

Don't forget Ed I am many years removed from major car work. This week I am putting in new front shocks and draining and refilling the steering gear. Just the thought of pulling the steering column with the wiring issues (including added turn signals), the shift linkage to unhook, then reattach and adjust sounds too compilcated for me. I hope this Penlube at least reduces the leakage. Since I have other minor leaks from the engine and differential a little steering gear leak would not be that big an issue for me. I'll just put a couple large pans of kitty litter on the garage floor.

This Penlite product is $15 a bottle but if it slows the leak it will be worth it. I will let you know.

I got my Penlite Steering Gear lube via UPS today which I hope will slow my leak. I took the oil filler plug off to see how low my gear was and there still is a surprising amount of gear lube in it (you'd never know it by the pool on my garage floor). My question is what serves as the drain plug? Is it the screw on the lower left that goes into the housing cover? I want to get as much of the thinner lube out as I can before refilling it.

After reading what you have gone through if mine needs to be replaced I will pay through the nose and let a repair shop do it. There are enough other things my car needs that I can work on. I hope this solves most of your leak.

Cloth similar to this is original or you can order vinyl if you prefer. If you read some of the old posts on here putting in your own headliner is not a task for the faint of heart. It is a difficult job unless you have done it and know what you are doing. I got an estimate of $1,500 from one shop for material and labor, I am sure there are cheaper places.

I don't think there are any better looking finned cars than the 60 Chrysler and DeSoto. I bought a 60 Chrysler 4 door on e-bay in 2000, unfortunately it was not in anywhere near the condition I paid for. You have one sharp looking car or two if that Plymouth in the background is yours too.

As I was ready to leave the local car show last night this guy was just leaving. Is this a 49 or a 50? What a beautiful car.

I hope you are right. Resealing that back window is a relatively easy fix. The harder part will be finding a cleaner to lighten the rust spots without damaging the headliner.