1941Rick

The overdrive is a must if you drive the highway..... As for engine braking, I do notice braking while in OD. Not nearly as much as when out of OD. The only time I can get free wheeling is when the speed comes below 26 mph and the OD dis-engages. 2ND OD and 3RD direct are pretty much the same ratio. If you want more control over OD, you can get rid of the kick down switch and add another relay hooked up to a switch on the shift lever or dash. This will allow you to cut out power to the OD relay and shift out of OD. When the OD unit shifts out you can then pull the OD selector. Dont pull the selector out before OD dis-engages

I went the slant six route a couple of years ago and in my opinion its the only way to go

I did talk to them...the first rad was way to small and it took some time to get the right one........Went up to a 49 plymouth and it was a better fit....had to cut recesses for the rad support bolts and cut the 90" elbow off.....all is fine and happy with how it cools

I cut the top elbow off. Put on a hose that was 45'...no problems

Don might be able to answer this.....can you take 3/16 off the starter housing?

Did you disable the power valve? remove the spring....

Enjoy it just like it is.......

The wrong base gasket will block the vacuum. I had to disable the step up valve with my twin carb setup. Cured my over fueling issue. Could not park the car in the garage due to the gas smell. Plugs were fouling wirh carbom and soot coming out of the tail pipe. Plug are now clean and the exhaust is not smelly anymore. Car now in garage...

How old are those plugs? Look like they are from a marine engine....

Are you getting water into the oil? If the water jacket rusted into an oil gallery you would get water into the oil when the engine was not running. I have a hard time accepting the rust theory. But never say never. Head gasket would not put oil into coolant as there is no oil to the head. Coolant would get into oil with a bad gasket, around the rings. Are you running a pressure cap on the rad? Is there an engine oil cooler? In all my years I have only seen oil in water when an oil cooler fails. Even then you get water in the oil as well. Talking industrial engines now. Don't give up on it until you can say "this is the problem". I never accepted the "I think this was it" from my mechanics. Would send them back to the job to find the problem. Its frustrating at times, but its part of the game. Taking a step back is sometimes the way to go.......good luck

I was very lucky, all that information had been kept with the car. Every owner after the original owner updated the ownership. I always wonder if anyone of the original owners family eith exist or remember the car.....may be another project to pusue. As for your car it might be a real effort to follow the trail or what is left of it..good luck

As I am not a fan of electric fans, I have to ask why do you want to go that way......what drives your water pump when the belt breaks. A cooling system in good condition will cool your engine in all conditions. When ever there is enough room for a belt driven fan, go for it. I went the electric route on my 41 and it did squat, but impede the free flow of air. Put in a good radiator and all overheating went away. ( along with the electric fan). Recently went on a cruise up to a ski hill....14 cars left the bottom of the hill. 3 miles 12% and 7 that varied around 6%. At the top if the hill there were only 10 cars. All 4 that did not make it , over heated , had electric fans.

Thats just it.....what is the right car....KIA is a great car,dont have to worry about anything.....boring....now the 41 is a challenge to drive and keeps you on you toes. Never a dull or boring moment. I love it.

Boredom.......driving an old car is far from the boredom of modern cars....

http://reds-headers.net/

As for power increase, it is the same power increase you get on a Harley with straight pipes. If noise equates power you get more power. A L6 with a split manifold has a cool sound. Mines was very powerful and cool. Reds headers into 2 1/2" pipes thru Thrush glass packs. As a matter of fact too cool and powerful. Had to put in a crossover pipe to cut the cool factor.. Now have the right combination of cool and power. Its all the WOW factor. I hope some one sees my sarcasim.....

On my dual set up I removed the spring and made the valve non-functioning.....no more fouled plugs and smell is gone from the exhaust...

Don...waiting for the answer....

From my recent experience with NOS bearings, I would not use them again.....Babbit peeled off the backing....info I was able to find out was there were a lot of issues with quality late 40's early 50's. Anyone else experience this?

Yes they are bullet proof.....drove mine for 1500 miles with crank and rod bearings that were loosing thier babit. Crank was good, just rolled in a NEW set of bearings. According to an advisor to the Plymouth Club of America, back in the late 40's and 50's there was lots of faulty bearings around. I rebuilt this engine 5 years ago with NOS bearings......mistake.......3000 miles and bearings started to fail. I wrote off the ticking noise to valve setting and put lots of miles......

My problem with the slant 6 is the engine bay is not long enough. Even after moving the rad forward. The cross member would be the easy part. Firewall and rad mods would be most of the work.

You are correct, and yourfriend who explained the purpose of the thermostat is correct. As for the older fella, who you call a mentor.......look for a new mentor. A lot of people who do not fully understand how a cooling system works will agree with your mentor. Coolant must remain in the radiator long enough to cool only around 10f before entering the engine. In high horse power engines, if you run without a thermostat the coolant just keeps getting hotter and hotter.

15/40 is a good choice as it has the good stuff in it our engines like to see, ZDDP

Question Don....Is there a reason for a 4 lb cap vs a vented one? I am happier with a belt driven fan, your rad 2 or 3 core ?

They use a generic photo on ebay....