sorensen_dk

I don't trust your friend

Well, got carried away on youtube and watched some Ford flathead V8s for a couple of hours. Now, what struck me was how.....clumsy they look compared to the Mopar flathead 6. The generator on top of the engine, two waterpumps, the whole manifold deal. The 6 looks really sleek and compact and, viewing some specs, even seem to have better torque. I haven't driven an old Ford V8, but someone on the forum must have checked them out and it would be interesting to know if they were actually superior to the 6s. Tom

Al, I just read the thread going back to the first posting. You sure are determined and very skilled - impressive! I love how this era Mopars just OOZE quality. Tom

From my experience two things are essential to make it work: Correct thickness of the brake lining and the correct (identical) pair of springs. The lining is a sort of soft woven type. Procedure and lining thickness are in your shop manual. Usually the lining has been soaked in oil from the gearbox and the springs are messed up or replaced with whatever the previous owner had laying around. If the drum is badly scored I would simply replace it with a nice one. Good luck Tom

Why then would anyone introduce a more complicated cylinder head introducing additional moving parts without gain in power or torque?

I bought a couple of Go Jaks many years ago - the flat spring on top of the lever broke after a few years. I would say bad engineering or inferior parts. They may have improved the design later. Tom

I recently reboxed all my spare parts and came across an interesting head gasket for the 23" block. It has the hump for the internal bypass but no hole! My truck engine (T236 - 25" block) has the hump on the cylinder head but also has external bypass. At least since it was rebuilt for the army and crated. I know because everything was spray painted. Maybe it was common practice to go external for some reason and then replace the head gasket, retain the hump but seal the internal bypass. Can the Zen Masters offer any explanations? Thanks, Tom

I don't want to add to any confusion, but I also know of the upper engine mounts being vulcanized to the big washer. Back in the 70s my 38 Dodge had an engine transplant - truck engine. At that time the correct engine mounts could not be found and the best replacement parts available had the upper rubber cone vulcanized to a thick "washer". Actually the washer didn't fit the cross member but had to be machined. They had the Mopar logo and they were quite hard - my guess is it was a truck item. Tom

James, I just reread the thread about your DeSoto overheating... I have a '38 with a 251 transplant (not something I would recommend, by the way). Engine was professionally rebuild - now has 20k miles on it. Radiator is original to the '38 and was cleaned many yeas ago. The 251 will idle for any length of time at around 170. Never shows any sign of overheating. If parked after brisk driving the temp wil climb just above 180. When the engine is started the temp immediately falls back to 170 - you can litterary see needle move. So, if a radiator sized to a 218 engine is sufficient why should you have a cooling problem? Tim Adams did question the radiator rebuild - to me it seems you are curing the symptoms installing a scroud. I should also mention the six blade fan was reduced to four blades as well as reducing the diameter to fit. Outside temp is never above 100 in this part of the world. Hope you will finally solve the problem - I would suspect the radiator if block is clean and you have the right flow. Best of luck, Tom

Thanks for your valuable input. I will try the Eastwood paint first since I have a couple of cans sitting on the shelf. Checked out some older threads on Rustolium - very interesting! I'm painting on fresh clean metal.

Gentlemen, I'm sure some of you have tried Eastwood Chassis Black or Underhood Black. What type of primer did you use and how well did it hold up? Thanks, Tom

...but not all build sheets can be decoded. That was the case for my 1938 Dodge. Tom

Strange coincidence: I recently had new Coker tires (and new tubes) put on my 38 Dodge. The other day when I was driving it felt like the brake on the right front wheel had started to drag – wrong, I had a flat tire! Luckily I had just inflated the spare tire – that saved my day. It turned out that my mechanics had overlooked a small sticker inside the tire, so this does happen if you’re not careful. BTW: The Coker tires are great. Tom

As I recall it was more like 1/4 inch. Also, I would strongly recommend that you also replace the rear engine mounts. On my car both were collapsed and one was even an incorrect replacement. Do you have the floating type with an upper and lower rubber cone? If so, it's really important that you have the correct spacer tube. When you torque down the bolts, the tube limits the compression of the rubber. I was lucky the original tubes were still there. Tom

Rebecca, when changing the front mount on my 38 Dodge (same setup as yours) I had clearance problems and had to shorten the top bolts on to get the support bracket back in place. Later I noticed that the top bolts on the original mount also had been shortened. One more thing to consider: I had to add shims under the support bracket where it mounts to the frame to get the damper pulley aligned to the crank hole. Otherwise I couldn’t insert the crank. Good luck, Tom

James, First, I have no experience with the Asche OD or the aux. circuit to control it but I'm following this thread because I'm considering putting an OD in my '38. Second, I do know a bit of electrical engineering and what really puzzles me is - to quote your earlier posting: "2. The Pawl that the solenoid pushes in is not moving and thus causing the solenoid to draw too much current and blowing the fuse." That is a pretty precise description of a problem! If the solenoid NOT pushing in is the cause of blowing the fuse (as you state), blowing the fuse is just the consequence of a problem somehwere else (mechanical?) The purpose of the fuse IS to protect you curcuit in case of failure (abnomal current draw). So if you know the Pawl is failing you must address that problem. Good luck with your trouble shooting, Tom