Jim Yergin

Woodies were also used by the Red Cross during the war. The first car in this picture is a 1941 Plymouth. Jim Yergin

My '41 Plymouth wagon has 4.3 stamped on its differential and I believe the 4.3 ratio was confirmed on the build sheet I got from Chrysler. I always thought the wagons had that low ratio because they were intended to haul heavy loads. Overdrive was not offered in '41 but I have installed one and I am happy with the ratio. I get both quicker acceleration in regular drive and lower rpm cruising in O/D. Jim Yergin

Joe, I don't know if it has anything to do with the issue you posed but the pump I gave you was one I replaced on my car because it had failed. Is it possible the shaft you transferred was worn out? Just so no one gets the idea I purposely gave you a bad pump, the reason you needed it was just for the fan hub attachment. Jim Yergin

That's a '41 Plymouth leading the line on the right. I think I remember reading somewhere that during WWII, the government requested the donation of station wagons to be used in the war effort. I will have to go back and check my sources. Jim Yergin

"Record player"? Now that is really showing your age Rodney. Merry Christmas Jim Yergin

The one I got from Steele for my '41 Plymouth with the stainless window trim was all one piece. Jim Yergin

Spoke to a mechanic about the destruction of my piston. He suggested that it could be the result of detonation. My quick research on that topic indicates that detonation can be caused by too much advance or too lean a mixture. Does anyone have an opinion about this? I was running the engine at about 4' BTDC. I have never been able to get it to idle at a low speed but could not find a vacuum leak. Maybe I had one that caused the mixture to be too lean. The mechanic had never heard of detonation causing a complete destruction of a piston. Maybe it was a combination of a defect in the piston reacting to the detonation. Jim Yergin

Joe, After I removed my manifolds to repair the heat control, I couldn't get my exhaust pipe to pull up tight to the manifold. I ended up using one of those exhaust doughnut gasket rings to seal the connection. The original gasket I had was a flat thin one. Jim Yergin

I believe it is 0.7 Jim Yergin

Joe, Hopefully you will be able to work any starter problems out yourself. But if not, I had my starter and generator overhauled by Arlington Armature (http://www.starrad.com/). Fair price, good work, and quick turn around. Jim Yergin

Will you guys let me know the next time you go? I would like to see that place. Jim Yergin

Congratulations Rodney. Glad you got it working. I love that Hawk. Keep your snow shovel handy. Jim Yergin

Rodney, Thanks for the information. Luckily I have a machinist locally who is very good and is also very trustworthy. It would be something else if I had never done a rebuild before but having done it once allows me to know it can be fixed. At least I am not laying up the car in the middle of the prime driving season. Jim Yergin

Gary, Thanks for the tip. I am not wedded to this particular block but it is good to know there are options if I can't use my spare block. Jim Yergin

Actually, the broken valve was all in one place. The stem broke just below the face of the valve and at first nothing looked wrong with the valve. Only after closer examination did I notice it was slightly askew. I discovered I could lift the disconnected end out of the seat. Therefore I don't think any part of the valve fell into the cylinder and took out the piston. I think it may have been more likely that a piece of the piston some how interfered with the valve and caused the valve to break. It will be interesting to see what I find in the oil pan when I disassemble the engine. Jim Yergin

Bob sure nailed it. Tonight I removed the head and discovered the problem is not a blown head gasket - I only wish. Once the head was off I found that piston number three had disappeared. When it left it took a chunk out of the cylinder wall, that's where all the coolant came from. One of the valves for that cylinder was also broken at the stem. Well the last 3000 miles on my rebuilt engine were fun while it lasted. I guess I will remove the engine and tear it down to see what can be saved. I have my original 201 engine as well as another 230 block. Can anyone explain what happened? Was it something I did or failed to do in reassembling the engine? Was it a defect in the piston? Here is a picture of the damage Jim Yergin

Greg, That's good news. Thank goodness for having access to skilled doctors and good medical care. Jim Yergin

Marty, I thought about that and do remember re-torquing the head. Thanks for the suggestion. I will certainly be extra careful this time around. Jim Yergin

No extreme cold and I had a 50/50 antifreeze mix in the car. Jim Yergin

I was concentrating on two rules, you need spark and fuel to make it run. I forgot about the third, compression. I replaced the coil, the condenser and the spark plugs tonight. Got the engine to run but it was very rough. Within a minute I had a thick brown goo come surging out of the oil filler tube. A mixture of oil and coolant. I figure it is a blown head gasket. Hopefully I shut down the engine before the diluted oil could cause any damage. Fortunately I know from experience that the head gasket is pretty easy to change but of course the cold weather is coming back tomorrow. The head was machined and made flat 3000 miles ago and, since I re-cored the radiator last summer, it has not overheated. Could the problem I had with overheating last summer before I re-cored the radiator have caused this problem now? Jim Yergin

Greg, Good idea. I plan on replacing them as well as the condenser. The plugs didn't look too good when I pulled them. Jim Yergin

Thank you all for the suggestions. It looks like it was the coil. I switched it out and now I have spark. Trouble is that I also ran the battery down trying to start it as well as probably flooded it. After changing the coil it did fire a couple of times but not enough to keep going. I have it on the charger and will see how it is tomorrow. Jim Yergin

My 1941 Plymouth just quit on me on the way to work this morning. Had been running fine up until now. Would not restart and had to call AAA. Tonight I verified that I have gas, the pump is working and the carb float chamber is full. I have current from the ignition switch to the coil. When the points are open I have current at the coil to distributor terminal. When they are closed there is no current. With the ignition switch on, when I pull the points a apart I see a spark. I checked the continuity on the coil primary line to the distributor cap and it is good. However, when I tested using a spare spark plug grounded to the engine, with the ignition switch on there is no spark when I turn the engine over. The rotor and distributor cap are fairly new and look OK. I replaced the points and condenser about 1500 miles ago. Any suggestions as to what to check next? I have a spare coil I am thinking of trying but the no start is there whether the coil is hot or cold. I appreciate any insight. Thanks. Jim Yergin

Joe, If you don't need it, you can return the generator without the pulley. Jim Yergin

Dang it Joe, if we had known you were going to do that you could have taken one of my extra old water pumps when you were out here yesterday. You are welcome to it whenever you want it. Jim Yergin