martybose

It's purely anecdotal, but back in the 70's I worked on an 8500 RPM 440 wedge Mopar race engine that had a very carefully set zero deck height flat top pistons with steel rods and a small CC combustion chamber. Any time we took it apart for updates or maintenance there would be an outline of the combustion chamber very lightly stamped into the top of the piston, indicating that the piston was coming higher out of the block than the head gasket thickness, which was 0.022". We would just lightly sand the piston tops to eliminate the sharp edge and put it back together. Marty Marty

Oh come on Don, that head is too cool to let it sit in the garage much longer! Marty

Well, the combination of penetrating oil and some 8pt sockets allowed me to get both of the drain plugs out of my tranny. I let it drain until it stopped, then put in about 2/3 of a gallon of GL-1 into the gearcase and the OD case. Then spent the rest of the weekend putting the car back together. Next weekend I'll air up the tires, give it a good wash and take a drive to see if the whine from the OD is gone. If not, I'll be looking for another overdrive. Fingers crossed! Marty

I can't speak the the technicalities of the contents, but when I first had my 47 running it would overheat if I drove through town on a really hot day and boil water and steam out the overflow. When I switched to Evans it stopped boiling over due to the higher boiling point. Was it a simple changeover? Not really, this stuff finds places to leak from that didn't exist for straight water or a water/antifreeze mix. But I'm still running it after all of these years ...... Marty

When you are done with the idler arms make sure that they clear the tires! I didn't, and cut right through the side of the tire when I tried to back the car out of the shop. It may not be a problem with standard size tires, but I had 205/60x15's installed at the time. Marty

Most likely. The idle has it's own jet system, and acceleration is a combination of jet size and power valve. At steady speed only the main jets are in play. I'd put the 52 jets back in as an experiment to prove the hypothesis. Marty

I don't think there is a standard number to register the car in California; mine is registered with the body number, so I had no problem when I swapped in the Dodge flathead! Marty

I refuse to keep track of the money I spend on my cars. If I had to guess, I've probably spent $20K on the 47 over the last 2 decades, but who cares. I've also spent a few grand extra on my 2002 BMW M Coupe. I've also probably spent $15K on my commute car, a 1990 Honda Civic with over 290K miles on it, but there isn't a drivetrain or braking piece in it that hasn't been rebuilt and upgraded, and it is a hoot to drive. I don't care if the rest of the world thinks it's a $2K car, it's worth every cent I've put in it to me! Marty PS What I spend on cars is nothing compared to what the wife and daughter spend on the 2 horses, so they don't hassle me about it either!

Well, this past weekend I was all set to drain the mix of GL-1 and GL-4/5 oil out of my transmission so that I could replace it with the new GL-1 oil I have. Both of the drain plugs were right out in plain sight, and things looked good until I tried to get the drain plugs out. I'd guess they haven't been removed in 60 years, because I couldn't budge either one with an open end wrench. So I sprayed them with penetrating oil and went online to find a 7/16" 4pt socket. Guess what; no one stocks them! After a couple hours of searching and phone calls, I ordered some 8pt sockets, which I hope will get them open, but I would rather have used a 4pt, so that I would be assured of breaking them off if they are truly frozen in place. If I can't move then again I'll get the wife with a fire extinguisher and try heating up the nicely oil-soaked case with a MAP gas torch to see if I can loosen it up. Wish me luck! Marty

The SKF part number worked at Napa; I've got 2 on order to be picked up tomorrow. Interestingly, they had it listed as a Mack truck rear transmission seal! Marty

Thank you, sir! Marty

Okay, next question. My car is a 1947 P15, but the tranny is out of a 53 Dodge. My parts book only goes up to 1948; can someone with a parts manual that goes to 1953 get me a part number for the output shaft seal in a 3 spd with Overdrive transmission? Marty

Thank you! The full part number is NHF 65201. The stores local to me didn't have it in stock, but they had 2 gallons in their Fresno warehouse, so I bought both of them. They will ship it up, and I'll pick it up tomorrow! Marty

I just discovered that the oil that I bought isn't GL-1, which is an obsolete designation, it is GL-4/5, which are both a Hypoid lubricant, which I was under the impression shouldn't be used in our overdrives. Does anyone know what oil I should be looking for? Marty, puzzled ........

Wow! I brought up a quart of 90 wt gear oil, and it didn't even fill the tranny up! I'll get another quart to keep going, and start looking through my parts manuals to find out what seal I need to buy to stop the leaking! Marty

Well, this Sunday I finally had a chance to get back to this issue. Since I don't have a lift or a jack at the Galt location, I simply pulled out the seat and the floor pan to take a look. While I haven't pulled the fill plugs yet, there was a definite coating of oil around the tailshaft housing, which almost certainly came from the OD unit. I'm going to get some 90 weight gear oil and a small funnel and top it off, while diving into my manuals to figure out where the seal is that is apparently bad. Hopefully I'll try filling it next weekend. Marty

Don't forget that a lot of us have cars that are real mongrels; my 47 plymouth has a 1950 Dodge 230 engine and a 54 (I think!) Dodge 3 spd w/OD transmission. Not to mention a 1990's Chevy alternator and a 2010 AGM battery. Car separated from trucks, probably. But separated by years, NO. I'd miss all of the useful info for the various vintage stuff I'm running! Marty

The size of the hole in the water that you are throwing money into! Marty, twice a boat owner ......

In a factory drum brake car it was usually done with smaller wheel cylinders on the rear brakes; any chance they were changed? Marty

My first Mopar was a car that never turned a wheel while I owned it. I bought a rolling chassis 1963 Sports Fury that had been a drag car. It ran high 11's with a 383/four barrel/automatic. I had planned to put a 440 automatic in it and put it back on the street. It sat for a couple of years at my buddy's shop while I was trying to find the money to build it. Finally a guy made me an offer that I couldn't refuse, and I sold it. Amusingly, I ran into the car several years later; the guy was claiming that it was an original, race-only 426 wedge car. I offered to show him the original street registration for it, but he didn't bite. Ironically, if I could have just parked it, I had the perfect engine for it 6 years after I bought it; a 505ci fuel injected 400 stroker. I had planned to put it in my 47, but decided to build a flathead instead. Oh well .......... Marty

If it is plumbed via the factory bypass circuit, it won't work real well. Bypass oil filters are set up for low flow, high filtration, whereas modern filters are set up for full flow with decent filtration. The modern filters should never restrict flow, because it would starve the engine. With a bypass filter, most of the oil is going straight to the engine and only a little amount is going through the filter, so the filter could be completely clogged without hurting the motor. There are numerous threads about switching to a full-flow filtration system, which is a very good idea. Marty

What he said, with emphasis on having the right tappet wrenches. You will struggle a bit with "standard" wrenches. Marty

Thought I should update my original reply. I've been at the shipyard for 10 years now, and it is bigger than ever. We've bought a ranch in Galt that we will eventually retire to, and the 47 lives there now. Our daughter is going for her Master's degree in Education; when she gets it we might retire, sell the condo and move to Galt. Marty

I tried to run 0.060" for mine, but with the Edmunds head relocating the plug a little I found that the valves were closing the gaps, so I had to space the plugs out a little and close the gap a little. Marty

Thanks for the additional info on the oil, as I don't have my manuals up here yet either. I'd love to check the oil from under the car, but with my car being lowered and my jack and jackstands being where my tools are, it's probably easier for me to pull the floorboard and go that way. I didn't realize the oil was shared between the two, so I can add that to the things I have learned this week. Thanks! Marty