drillmastertommy

The positive start on these old flathead starters is basically a floor mounted button /lever that you manually push that makes the starter power connection and throws the starter sprocket at the same time. No fancy solenoids and bendix bits basically. I should have one of each type available shortly, I'll let you know. Is that a starter solenoid mounted on your firewall?

Actually I may have one available fairly soon, I recently sourced 2 for my truck but have rebuilt my original now. Depends on whether you have a positive start push?? Wheels day in Aldershot is on tomorrow, if the weather is good it's always a good show and I think the southcoast internationals are in June sometime. Personally my favourite is the Hotrod Hayride at the end of July, your wagon will fit in perfectly.

Hey Dudfords, great looking car! I have a 53 Plymouth engine in my truck. Where abouts in the UK are you?

My distributor is an Autolite IAT-4101 Part No 1479589 on a 53 Plymouth engine and the Pertronix ignitor part number is 1362. Apparently it's an industrial application but readily available. Coil is a standard 1.5 ohm Pertronix flamethrower. All of the stuff was real easy to install although in the Ignitor instructions it says "if you have to make any modifications,you have the wrong part". A call to Pertronix later I find I have to remove 2 rivets from the dist plate and the contact stand. A good opportunity to clean the internals, half hour later, a cup of tea and it was in. No gapping to do and no more points to replace.

I'm running a 1.5ohm Petronix flamethrower with a ballast resistor on my 218 3 speed and it runs great, starting has just got better after adding a Petronix ignitor electronic ignition.

I have a pair of 22" Smithy's on a dual 2" system that comes off a set of Langdons cast iron headers. It's not quiet but it's certainly not offensive, it has a lovely deep tone that sounds great when you give it a little throttle.

I certainly couldn't claim to be any kind of guru, but after a recent search for a gland nut so I could refit my temperature gauge sender it seems that all the Dodge/Plymouth flat 6's had the temperature outlet on the drivers side rear of the cylinder head. There are a few different thread sizes but my 53 218 has a gland nut which screws directly into the cylinder head which you then pass the capillary bulb through with a screw fitting securing it. When you've disconnected everything and double checked there's nothing in the way and you go to lift off your head, just remember it weighs around 40lbs!

Sounds more like a head gasket gone if 5+6 have no compression.

I'm fairly new to old vehicles (couple of years now) and being in my mid thirties I was brought up into a disposable society. Working on my old Plymouth truck and Triumph T110 has been a revelation for me. I love working on them because I can work on everything on them and generally I can find ways to make things work. Recently my starter motor gave up, it appeared to have died and being in the UK, 53 Plymouth starters are not that readily available. Luckily with the help of some internet forums I found a guy who had a couple of spare flat 6 starters and after a lengthy phone call managed to convince him to sell them to me. I had no idea if they would fit my engine. They promptly arrived and I could see straight away that one would not fit but the other looked good. Some very awkward spannering later and the old one was out and a replacement was in, the positive start arm was in a different position but I got it to work. As the replacement isn't perfect I decided to stare at my old starter for a while and then I got the battery out. It span straight up..... As I won't be able to fit the second starter I bought I thought I'd dismantle it and see how these things work, starters are an interesting assembly of..... stuff. Subsequently I dissassembled the original, cleaned out a whole load of crap and found the brushes to be almost worn to stubs. I didn't even know you could change starter motor brushes! Another internet purchase later some new brushes were on route and today clean up and reassembly started. Tomorrow I hope to finish the assembly and refit at the weekend so fingers crossed. Maybe nothing new to most but I thought I'd share something I found immensley satisfying.

That looks great. I love the old business coupes, I really love lowered old business coupes. Gonna have to get me one... Very cool.

Awesome sounding trip! Would love to try something like this in 15 or so years when the kids have moved out and the truck is finished....

That sounds like pretty sound advice. I'll be taking the head into the workshop next week to drill the internal bypass so I'll make sure I fit the right plugs then.

I think it's probably time to measure the depth of the thread in the head........ If the thread is set to take a 1/2" plug, is running a 3/8" plug going to have a detrimental effect?

Thanks for the replies. I did ask Earl when I bought the head but for all the things he is brilliant at, email replies aren't high up the list. I shall start tracking down some auto lite plugs, they aren't an off the shelf brand over here. I will also have to pluck up some non drink fuelled courage before drilling into my cylinder head but I suppose needs must.....

Just sitting here hoping our weather is going to get better soon so I can get my Plymouth sorted and was wondering if anybody here runs an EDGY cylinder head (I know there's a few) and if so can anybody make a spark plug recommendation??? I'm just about to clean up and replace a few engine parts and I want to put in new plugs........ Thoughts, experiences?....

Message received and reply sent. As for gland nut size all I can say without going out the truck is that it looks like the rusty one in the pic! But worse hence needing a new one. I think I have sourced one from the company in Wales who refurbed my guages, I'll find out over the next couple of days but I will try to put up a pic tomorrow.

Its the nut that screws into the cylinder head near the firewall, then the capillary bulb slots through and gets screwed into it, I'll take a pic tomorrow to clarify (it's getting late here now). I'm pretty sure it's called a gland nut but over here I got looked at oddly when I mentioned a petcock in a bike shop the other day......

Hey guys, I am running a 53' Belvedere flathead with an EDGY head in my 39 Plymouth pick up. I have just had my temp guage rebuilt with new capilary tube and now i need to find a new gland nut for the cylinder head. I believe it to be the larger of the two sizes used. Only problem is I'm in the UK and after some time spent searching the web I still cannot locate one! Can anybody point me in the right direction please, I'm a little reluctant to run the engine without the guage connected. Thanks, Tom.

I was looking for some info on an electronic ignition setup today and in the process took the detail IAT-4101 from my Chrysler corp auto-lite dizzy which is currently running nicely in my 53' Plymouth 218 23" block. Hope that might help some....

LOTUS- Lots of trouble usualy serious.