martybose

Going back to the original question about compression ratio, when I built my 230 (overbored, aluminum head, dual 2 barrel Carter-Webers, mild cam, cast iron header) it cc'd out at 9 to 1 compression. I had to run 91 octane gas, and it still pinged slightly under certain situations. I also had to run indexing washers under the sparkplugs to keep the spark gaps from being closed by the valves. Building a modified flathead can be an exercise in challenges! Marty

A decade or two ago, I did all of the right things when I rebuilt my OEM drum brakes. The shoes were arced to the drums and then were adjusted with the Gee-Whiz tool. But the braking at freeway speeds still scared me, as I was used to the 4-wheel disk brakes on my commute car. So I installed front disk brakes, and was pleasantly surprised by the improvement. As always, YMMV. Marty

+1. If the cables get hot I don't care what they look like, they are too small. Marty

Did you ever try a new coil? Marty

Were the distributor parts ordered by the application (your car) or by the distributor number? Many times the distributor gets replaced somewhere along the line by a similar but slightly different one that uses different parts. You should get the number off of the distributor and use that when ordering parts. Marty

You replaced all of the relevant bits in the distributor, but didn't get a new coil. I'd be inclined to get one, with care to get the correct voltage (assuming 6V), and try that. Marty

A decade or so when I installed my front shocks they were bottoming out just going down the road; we cut the mounts and extended them so they were 2 inches taller, which put the shock in the middle of its travel and rode very nicely indeed. So the answer is to either extend the mount or find a shorter shock to install. Marty

If it is a complete R10 transmission the electrical system is irrelevant, as the shaft that the reverse shifter fork is on extends into the OD unit and mechanically locks out the overdrive, guaranteeing that no freewheeling can occur. Marty

It sounds to me that you are trying to shift the mechanical control (not sure if it is a lever or a control cable in your case). If so, that is a definite no-no. On the later ones the manual specifically states that you shouldn't pull the control cable out unless you are at a complete stop. This engages a pawl into a square cut gear, and doesn't go in well if it is moving. You need to find out how to do an electrical downshift, which is very different. Marty

Nothing you can do at the transmission will lock the rear axle to torque the nut, because the differential will allow the wheels to turn (in opposite directions) even if the driveshaft is locked. You will have to install the wheels and set the car on the ground to torque the nut. Marty

My 230 was fairly modified, with cast iron headers, and you could hear every exhaust pulse at idle. It wasn't real loud, but it was crisp, and would turn heads when I drove into the Clements Tailgate BBQ, which was almost exclusively flathead Mopar owners. I guess I would say that it wasn't loud, but it was authoritative. Marty

Neither, unless you are aiming to piss off your neighbors. My first exhaust had dual glasspacks on a split system; I eventually had them removed and a pair of conventional "turbo" mufflers installed in their place. Marty

It's not that they discharge Optimas, it's more like the Chebby one wires are not optimized for charging AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries. A true charging setup for an AGM has a multi-stage charging process with the final stage being a slow charge to a higher voltage than a conventional lead-acid battery. That said, I drove my 47 for years with a one-wire charging my 6V Optima with no problems. Later when I converted to 12V I still used a one-wire with a different brand AGM. The interesting part is that I used a battery tender product with a 3 stage charge for AGM's. Any time I started the car it would run for about 10 minutes with no charge showing until the AGM voltage got down to the "normal" level for a lead-acid battery, then it would start charging. Marty

No, it was 0.072 over, just like I said. We measured everything and figured out what the minimum overbore was to clean the bores. Then we went through a ring catalog and found a modern metric ring set from a Toyota that would be a 0.072" overbore. Then we sent the ring set and a stock piston to Venolia and had custom forged pistons made for the ring set. We installed a honing plate on the block, then bored and honed to spec. The crank was in perfect condition, went back in the block with stock size bearings. Then engine may have been abused, but it was treated like a queen when it was put back together, and is still going strong now. We didn't see any reason to find another block when we could fix this one. Marty PS. the photo of the boxes give you the diameters of the valves we used. Any competent machine shop can cut down the OD of the head and then cut the back side for the seat. A little research of catalogs might find some Chevy valves that are the right size, we just ordered some in the size we wanted.

When I bought the motor it was a worn out 0.060" over motor that had been rebuilt at least once, maybe twice. The stock valve seats were both beat up and slightly burned, so it made sense to replace them. Nothing secret about that. Marty

No, that is not my engine, it looks like Don's. Mine was a 1952 Dodge 230, that was overbored 0.072" and painted brown. I don't know what you expect to see in an "implementation" picture. My engine had the stock valve seats milled out and hardened seats installed, and the stock guides had bronze inserts installed. The valves were dropped in with stock springs, stock retainers, and Chevy valve locks were used. Not much to see there. Martin Bose

Attached is a photo of the box that the valves that were used in my 230 inch flathead. The basic valves were 327 Chevy exhaust valves (better material) that were cut down to the specified head diameters. The stem diameters, valve length, valve lock types, etc. are all standard Chevrolet. Marty

The biggest advantage to Chevy valves is availability; there are millions of them out there! They also have more modern metallurgy. They generally need to be turned down to Plymouth diameters, and you need to use Chevy valve locks. Marty

I too had a chance to meet Don in person on one of his San Francisco work trips. He helped me a lot when I was starting to modify my 47 Business Coupe, and we shared a lot of information over the years. If you ever read his series on dealing with the ECI brake pedal kit, you'll find me there as well. Rest in peace, old friend. Marty

As Doug (DJ above) knows, I totally rewired my 47 Plymouth a long time ago with a customized Rhode Island Wiring loom. My car had an alternator, dual headlight relays, turn signal wiring, and lots of other changes from stock. I gave them a list of all of the changes, discussed the details of where everything was located, and they gave me several harnesses that dropped right in. Highly recommended. Marty

Ken, Neither of the two blocks I have worked on came stock with removable seats; in fact, they had to be machined to accept removable valve seats. I thought the seats were induction-hardened from the factory, and thus would have the hardness removed if they were reground as part of a valve job. Marty

Providing that the block hasn't had a valve grind in the last 50 years or so, the valve seats will be hardened. As far as octane goes, for a stock compression motor I agree with the 87 octane recommendation. But if the engine is modified (cut head, different cam, headers, dual carb or more) go with the 91 or 93 octane. My motor had all of the above, and my machinist told me that flatheads are prone to knocking by design, and you should run a higher octane gas to accomodate it. Marty

...or you can do what I did a couple of decades ago. I ordered custom-made 00 cables, and speced the battery ground cable so that the primary lug went to the starter mounting bolt, and had two extra 2 gauge pigtails on the starter end. One fastened to the frame at a bolted-down lug on the crossmember and the other went to a convenient bolt on the body. That way there was no chance of an intermittant (or non-existant) ground to any electrical component. Those cables are still operating perfectly today. Marty

I'm with Don on this subject. When I purchased my ARP studs they did not specify a torque setting, so I went with the factory spec for heads with studs, which as Don mentioned is 55 lb/ft. The issue is clamping force, and with a finer pitch on the nuts they don't need as much torque to produce the required clamping force. Marty

Absolutely true. About 20 years ago I purchased a weld-in shock relocation kit and ordered the shock that they recommended. Took it for the first drive and it rode like the front suspension was solid. Turned out that even though I followed the directions and ordered the correct shocks I only had about a 1/4" travel before the shock bottomed out. It worked fine after we extended the upper shock mounts upwards about 2 inches. Marty