DLK

I went with the local Plymouth Club chapter to see the foliage in the Duluth MN area yesterday. We had perfect weather! My 50 Wayfarer ran a lot better with a new vacuum advance. Until installing that last week it was running very poorly with no power and a lot of hesitation with a rebuilt engine. However two serious issues cropped up on the drive. First my oil pressure at idle is way too low for a rebuilt engine. After driving any length and warming it up the pressure drops to 5-10 pounds at idle but is over 40 once you get above about 1000 rpm. Someone in the club told me there is some kind of spring that controls oil from the oil filter going back to the crankcase that probably needs replacing. Some of you flathead experts must know what he is talking about - I don't. Second as I neared home from the 350 mile drive I started hearing screeching from the left rear wheel when applying the brakes. I only went a few blocks after that started before the brake pedal almost went to the floor and I lost about 90% of my braking. Since it was evening and shops in the area were closed I limped into a nearby brake shop parking lot. When I looked under the back of the car it appeared there was smoke coming out of the left rear brake drum and it was very hot. The car had a complete brake overhaul with new wheel cylinders and master cylinder just 1500 miles ago. The car is going to sit there until Monday morning (unless some idiot steals it) but I am trying to answer my wife's question whether this is a minor or major issue. Is this likely to be a bad wheel bearing causing the brakes to get too hot? Any guesses before I get the (bad?) news Monday? I sure love taking this car touring like this - people notice it since it is not common to see one like it. But it sure keeps taking a big bite out of my bank account. One of the attached pictures is of a 62 Dodge Polara 500 we saw in a garage in Moose Lake. What a beautiful car and I assume pretty rare too.

215/75/15 is a close match to your tires in diameter and doesn't present the width issue on the rears that wider tires do. I have 225's on my 50 Dodge and they slightly rub around corners. That isn't to say your car will have that issue. Any of the sizes including 225's will fit your rims just fine.

Roberts and Bernbaum also have them. I have one on order from Roberts - they have a core charge - either you send yours in or pay a core fee. As bad as my car is stumbling on acceleration I have my doubts this is the only issue but my diaphragm definitely is shot. I also switched my plugs from Champion to Autolite 303's but am not sure that made any difference.

This makes me more glad I am planning to have Norm's Tires do the ordering, install and customer support for me even if I pay more including our high MN sales tax. I am glad to hear you like the ride and handling. Do let us know how it gets resolved.

I did a search last evening on the numerous old threads regarding radial tire sizes to replace the 6.70/15 bias ply that came new on my Wayfarer. It seems that I could go up to 225/75/15 for lower rpm but that 215/75/15 is the closest match in diameter to the original bias ply tires. I guess my only concern is the width of the rims. Some people on old threads say the 225's are too wide for standard rims yet others have them and seem to have no problem. I guess i will let the tire dealer be the judge of that because I would like the slightly bigger diameter (28.3 vs. 27.7) tire if it works ok with my stock rims.

Don I hear what you say. The oversize 235/70 narrow whites on the car now have a lot of tread on them but they are 14 years old and are too wide for the rear fenders. Spending TWELVE Franklins on tires makes me shudder but I know how much the wide whites will stand out on the car. You would think with at least three companies making the wide whites (Coker, Diamond Back and Lucas) prices might come down but apparently not. Look at the three cars from last year's WPC National Meet (mine in the middle) and you can see how the wide whites add to the period look. Is that worth that much? Probably not...

Sit down before reading this but I believe if you look at their website or old threads here it is about $800 for a full harness. They make them like the original only durable. People rave about the quality.

Here is a YouTube video: It runs great and starts so much easier than before.

Mark - I found a retailer here who will put 4 AS4's with hazard warranty on my Wayfarer for around $1200 with tax, install, balance, stems etc.. I may pay a few bucks more going through them but I like the fact they deal with a lot of these tires and I can deal with them rather than Diamond Back if there are any warranty issues. I realize you don't have that many miles on your tires but it seems you like the look and ride of the AS4's. My only question is do I pay $40 extra to get the 3" wide whites? Did you?

Mark I will try to put together a video clip. I think I may speed up the idle a little.

One other comment. Young Ed will vouch for Adlemann's work. He warned me he is SLOW but does quality work.

Did not get carb rebuilt but should have and will do it at some point. Adelmann ordered all parts and for parts and labor it was $2625. On top of that I had a shop pull and replace the engine, paint it, detail the compartment and do other work as well. So lets just say the total bill would pay for a nice vacation. But we aren't in this to make money but to get enjoyment out of our vehicles - right? I have owned four 40's and 50's MOPAR cars in the past 14 years and lost money on every one but enjoyed them all too.

Well I turned over my 50 Wayfarer in August of last year to have the engine pulled and rebuilt by Adelmann Engines. It did save me the cost of winter storage but I never anticipated it would take this long. It sure was worth the wait - the engine run great and it looks good. It will be nice to drive the car with a level of confidence it will get me from A to B without a tow. Now I can focus on electrical wiring and possibly new tires in 2014.

With my Wayfarer with the same 3 speed - fluid drive setup I have always put in the clutch at stops and started out in second gear. It gives me acceptable acceleration and keeps my rpm's from dropping while stopped in gear.

Thanks for the link Mark!

The more I read these posts and all the other threads on tires the more sure I am there is no "right:" answer. In the end it boils down to personal preference. One thing I recall reading on other threads is that because of the way the white sidewalls are bonded onto Diamondback tires they are less likely to discolor or have bleed-through than Coker tires but there seem to be plenty of people on here who like Cokers too.. I do have at least a couple of months before I make a decision.

Well we plan to move before summer so once we get settled in a new place I'd be happy to swing by your way and at least have you look over the situation. The harder issue to fix will be the turn signals. Since the rears were not working I just disconnected all the wires.So part of the rear of the car rewire will be reconnecting the signals and getting them working. I may be looking at 2015 for some of this but that's ok. If i can drive it this summer with the rebuilt engine and have working stoplights I can use the arm signals for one more season.

Ed just read this old thread I wish I'd have known about this place three years ago when I put in new foreign built wheel cylinders and master cylinder. I should have re-sleeved the wheel cylinders and master cylinder that were in the car they would have lasted a lot longer. I wonder if this inferior junk can be re-sleeved or do I need to find NOS parts to do it when the time comes?

My horns didn't work at all so I took the lazy way out and bypassed the steering column and put a button under the dash to sound the horns. Works great except when I need to quickly lay on the horn. At least I kept all the parts in the steering wheel intact so if I ever get sufficiently motivated I can fix the problem rather than Band-Aid it.

I can just see myself in 6 years with new looking radials on my car with about 8,000 miles and little noticeable wear telling my wife I need to invest another $1100 (maybe $1400 by then) to replace them. I'll just have to take my chances on tread separation...

I think you are making a wise choice on the brakes. For less money than I spent on rebuilding the front drum brakes with their dual wheel cylinders I probably could have made the conversion and had better stopping power and less grabby brakes. You will soon know, if you don't already, to plan on work to take longer and cost more than you expect but if you are like me these cars are worth it.

I am 64 and have to believe my new rebuilt will long outlast me with the stock bypass filter since the engine lasted 63 years and 64K before it's first rebuild and for many of those years with inferior oil.

Bob I had a 53 DeSoto that I put the Coker bias ply tires on and while they were better than what I took off I have gotten spoiled with years of radials and like the way they track and handle corners better than bias ply. I hear the other people on here who think the price of these wide whites is ridiculous unless you have money to burn or a show car. I have neither but managed to stash away enough money from a part time job to pay for re-chroming my back bumper(badly needed) and new tires. I guess the silliest part of it is these cars didn't have whites at all when they were new. My Wayfarer sedan was the cheapest Dodge you could buy in 1950 and I'm not even sure you could order whites. I just like the look. The person i bought my car from put 235-70-15 narrow whitewall tires on it and they are so wide the rear fenders rub around corners. They have a lot of tread but I don't like the 70 profile or extra wide tires on my stock car.

There are numerous threads on wide whitewalls and classic tires on here. My question is more specific directed at others who bought Diamondbacks. I am likely going with 215-75-15 tires for my 50 Wayfarer but am not sure which makes more sense the Diamondback II or the AS4. I see one is made by Hancock the other by Toyo but those of you that have bought what brand did you choose and why? I suppose Randy can give me the merits of both but maybe someone who is running one or the other can tell me how satisfied they are with their choice. $1100 for tires is a lot of money to some of us. In other news my rebuilt 230 is being dropped into the car this week. It will be nice this year to be able to go touring without feeling I was working for the mosquito control district.

Ed - your experience makes me glad I spent the $$ two years ago to have Universal Driveline convert my Wayfarer to modern u-joints.