PhilJohnson

I have a Gyromatic trans in my Dodge. I've managed to get the bugs sorted out of it. The car seems to be geared pretty low. I almost never use low range. The last time I used low was to pull my mom's 2001 GMC Safari Van back home. I couldn't even tell the van was back there I want to get better fuel economy out of the Dodge, that low gearing seems to be a bit of a waste. So I have an idea to use the rear end out of my AMC Eagle. It has I think a 2.32 or a 2.54 rear ratio. I would no longer be able to start in high range but theoretically it should give me the equivalent of running an OD. It would screw up my speedo calibration, any ideas about some potential fixes for that? I would like to get about 20 mpg if I can instead of the 15 or less I get now. Any thoughts?

Well I've decided to get rid of the whole works. The heat riser gasket is blown out and I've decided not to spend any money on something I never missed in the first place.

Quite the adventure, gotta say I'm a little jealous

I have a non-functioning heat riser. Does turning the valve clockwise shut off the flow of exhaust to the intake ? I have a vice grips on the counterweight so I can turn it on or off depending on if the engine is cold or warm. I don't want to burn my valves. Thanks

I'm afraid my bike isn't nearly as cool as some of you guy's bikes. For one it's a lot slower. But the gas mileage is excellent

I went into town on my bike to pick up a chainsaw chain (it's like 11 miles one way). Darn place wasn't open despite what their sign in the window said. It was kinda cold with a biting wind blowing in from the north west. I rode around town for a little bit to get some pastries and some other random stuff. I then decided to go to my parents place instead of going home. They live about 7 miles out of town. The main factor in my decision was that nasty wind. Going home I'd be riding into the darned wind the whole way home. Once I arrived at my parents I faced with how I'd get home. Now I was even farther and no one was home. I looked at the Dodge. It's been sitting in my parent's driveway since my ill fated Christmas trip (I wound up biking home on that one). I had a boat gas tank under the hood with a primer bulb. The primer bulb had a tear in it and the plugs got fouled out pretty bad. So I cleaned up the plugs and started thinking about how I could get fuel to the engine. The darn fuel pump broke over a year ago and I've been too cheap to replace it. I found an old windshield washer tank in a pile of junk and rigged it on. It didn't hold a lot of gas but it did allow for the fuel to be gravity fed into the carb. I then shoved my beach cruiser in the back seat. It fit, but barely. Started up the beast and let it warm up. I then went to take off when I was met by yet another problem, no brakes! There is a leak somewhere in the braking system, usually I have to top it off once a month if I don't drive it. I searched high and low for brake fluid but apparently the old man didn't have any. There was plenty of transmission fluid though. Since I was going to drive on nothing but back roads anyway I decided to give it a shot. I poured the ATF in there and pumped up the brake pedal. It worked! Drove it home without a hitch although I did have to fill up a couple of times. After sitting a couple of hours though my makeshift fuel delivery system was already starting to have problems. Apparently the rubber seal is not rated for gasoline and it started to leak. Oh well I guess I'll have to come up with something different.

Didn't do too much to the Valiant today. I worked overnight so energy was an issue. Still I managed to put on a different cap and rotor. Motor seems to run smoother but nowhere near as smooth as the old 50 Coronet. Also hooked up a vacuum line to the hot air thingee on the air cleaner. It seems to work. I noticed the car makes a strange rattle noise under load. I'm going to check the ignition timing tomorrow. Before I turned down the idle it used to diesel pretty bad. Probably going to try and adjust the valves tomorrow too if I can find my feeler gauges.

Interesting, will look Well the transmission seems to be good, no slipping. Unsure of the rest of it. Worn out it may be but I still think it should be able to obtain 20 mpg. My wore out no compression F100 with a 300 six got 20-22. It does seem to require a lot of throttle to maintain speed. I'm gonna tinker with it some more tomorrow.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Hopefully I can tinker with it this Sunday No' date=' supposedly the car has 25,000 miles on it. I bought it from an agency disposing of a very elderly lady who was the original owner's estate. I have my doubts as to the 25,000 mile claim, it seems a bit too rusty for that low of mileage. Also either Granny was portly, Valiants have really weak seat springs, or they are weak from 125,000 miles worth of driving. I do agree the valves need to be adjusted which makes me wonder why Chrysler just didn't go with hydraulic lifters right from the start. I've never adjusted valves before so it'll be a new experience for me. It seems to run well, no leaks, and the accelerator pump seems to be working great. I hate tearing something apart that doesn't have any obvious signs of issues. I'll leave that for last if all else fails. Plus I have property taxes due so a 200 dollar carb is out of the question.

No black smoke however I noticed above the exhaust pipe there is quite a bit of black sooty buildup on the bumper (can see it in the one picture). It does seem to ping some under load. The diesel noise is from a clattery valve train. It sounds like the valves need some serious adjusting. I have no idea what it's running for a temp, it does have great heat so I'd assume it's good.

I bought me a 74 Valiant to replace the 98 Crown Vic that I had been using as a DD. The Vic's oil pan has a huge leak among other things. I figured that I'd be getting at least low 20s for fuel mileage. Last time I checked the car was getting slightly less than 16 mpg. It's a 225 with the automatic. I consider this to be horrible in a light car doing 90 percent country/highway driving. I had a Ramcharger 4x4 that I got an honest 20 mpg with a 318 and a 3 speed automatic. I did your basic tuneup. Car is still running bias ply tires, no fuel leaks, carb doesn't leak either and seems to be in good working order. The engine does sound like a small diesel. Am I missing something or is there some sort of trick to wringing out a few extra miles out of a slant six?

My 1950 Dodge seems to have a little trouble with it's tail lights. A quick test with some wire revealed that the headlamps do work, at least on high beam when wired directly to the battery. The driver's side head lamp seems to have a ground problem which I've temporarily solved by running an extra ground wire. The head light switch will turn on the lights on the dash but not the head lamps. I have an extra wire which I can wire to the battery directly so I can have head lights. Is there a fuse somewhere that might have gotten burnt out? I've found a couple of in line fuses but they were both good. Thanks

I don't think there is anything wrong in the transmission however it is possible that you might have messed up the linkage. I've had 3 speeds that have fallen out of adjustment and become hard to shift. A couple of wrenches and a little patience and it's all better. Good luck

I can see why Germans settled in Wisconsin, the landscape is very similar.

No, it's a town road. There is actually a bit of traffic on it certain times of the day. It's traveled mostly by tribe members trying to get down to the tribal hub. I take it sometimes when I want a more scenic route to town. There is a nice modern bridge farther down which is basically the only way to cross the river without going on the highway. Roads have gotten a bit better, when I first got my license there were quite a few roads that one could get stuck in during spring thaw. The state threatened the townships that if they didn't maintain the roads they wouldn't get anymore funding. So there are no longer basketball sized rocks and multiple washouts except for this one road. For some reason it is really hard to keep it open. It was closed for 3 months this year, people still used it anyway. It floods and washes out a lot. I remember about 8 years ago when all the wooden bridges washed out in the county. As far as I know there is only one left, and that one is on a road that is hardly traveled. Might have to take the Dodge down there sometime and get some pictures

Adams County is about 45 minutes drive from here (on the highway of course). Landscape is similar, lots and lots of low land. This is the same road in the middle of winter. As you can see there isn't much out here. About a mile south of me. No traffic, no cops, just trees and a dirt road. Perfect for slowly putting down the road in an old car. I'll probably take the Dodge down that way this week after I take care of a few things, and of course there will be more pictures.

That's good to hear Ha! No deer were harmed on this trip, plus the spot light doesn't work (yet....) Luckily I live in a very rural area, there are almost zero cops out here. If I see a cop they have their lights and sirens going so you could say they are preoccupied Farther to the south there is a 20 mile stretch of road with no houses, no buildings. I live next door to about the largest tract of public land in the state, it has it's benefits

I changed plugs in the Coronet and got it running using a boat gas tank. The fuel pump went out so I have one of those black rubber bulbs that I pump by hand. Put about 20 miles on it putting around. It felt great to be behind the wheel of an old car again. I really wanted to drive the ole beast a few times before the snow comes Unfortunately I noticed that the oil pressure was quite low at idle (10 psi) and it was around 40 psi at 45 mph I checked the oil, it was about a half quart low. I plan on changing it, I think there is a bit of gas in there from the poor car flooding out. So I plan on changing oil next time I start the car up. The transmission seems to still have that slight click that varies with road speed but the clunking at low speeds is gone. It needs a lot of bugs worked out but at least it's back on the road after nearly a year sitting in the yard.

I can't believe I didn't catch this before. Guess I'll have to check my threads more often Thanks. The transmission shifts fine, no problems there. It is at low speeds that it clunks (like under 10 mph). Doesn't seem to affect take off. I looked at the e-brake it's fine. Hmmm, I think when it's running again I'll film a little video and post it on Youtube. Maybe you and the other knowledgable folks on this forum will better see what I'm talking about. I'm not 100 percent sold on swapping transmissions. I want to be on the road reliably quickly and cheaply as possible. If I can fix it easily I'll try that first before the trans winds up collecting dust.

I took another baby step last week. Took the fuel tank out and ground off all the surface rust. It needs a good cleaning too, tons of junk inside the tank. It'll probably get the molasses treatment. I'm still waiting on the starter. Probably take the oil pan off next to fish out the missing arm for the fuel pump when it quits raining this week The most recent picture of the ole Dodge. I'm thinking of repainting the top with the same color as the body. I'm not a big fan of two tone paint jobs. But first all the mechanical stuff is getting done. I want to be able to drive this thing this year before white fluffy stuff starts hitting the ground.

A lot of guys have GFs and wives that don't get it. Looks like your's does Sweet car.