Jim Yergin

Greg, The fall show next year in Maryland sounds good to me. Hopefully by then I won't have to plan on getting there in 100 yard increments. Do you know the date to mark on the calendar? Jim Yergin

Tim, Very clever and very impressive. Jim Yergin

Nice pictures. I question the caption on the 1936 Dodge owned by the two Army privates. It says they were hard on the brakes and had to stop every 50 miles to crawl under the car to "tighten the cables." What cables were they tightening? Didn't the '36 Dodge have hydraulic brakes? Jim Yergin

Last night I removed the broken gear selector rod. It looks to me like this part was broken before and repaired. It appears to have been previously brazed. My replacement rod is all one piece so I am pretty sure the brazing was not done at the factory. Has any one else ever had any trouble with this part? Jim Yergin

Thanks to all for the compliments and encouragement. NatesSedan, here is what the car looked like when we purchased it in 1988. Jim Yergin

Yesterday I attempted my second test drive of my '41 Plymouth wagon. My first test drive in June resulted in brake seizure 100 yards down the road. I determined that the problem was an incorrectly adjusted master cylinder push rod but I removed the m/c to check it and then had some trouble bleeding the rear brakes until I found that the rear rotors need to be fastened in place with the wheels off in order to get the calipers to grip. Yesterday I had the foresight to conduct the test by driving up (emphasis on the word "up") my common driveway to my neighbor's house. When I got there and was backing around to return home the car would not go into gear. After some examination and adjusting the shift linkage I discovered that the fork on the gear shift selector rod was broken off and the shift lever would not engage the rod. Because I was up the hill I at least was able to roll the car back to my house and with the help of my neighbors push the car back into the garage. Fortunately I have an extra selector rod. I just need to clean it up, paint it and install it in the car. After all this time and effort it is a little discouraging but I have got to believe it will be worth it if and when I am finally able to drive this car. Jim Yergin

Chet, Very, very impressive. I think you said your garage in Delaware is air conditioned. I sure hope so given the weather this past weekend. Jim Yergin

Fred, On the short block 218 versus the short block 230, the difference in the crankshaft length is compensated for in the flywheel used with the longer crank. If the same is true for the Canadian long block engines then I don't think you would be limited to using your existing three speed transmission with only your 218 so long as you have the correct flywheel for the 251. Jim Yergin

I am a member of the POC but do not subscribe to the "all original doctrine" (four wheel disc brakes, later model O/D, later 230 in my '41) and I most certainly do not condone insults and rude behavior but should anyone be surprised at the subject responses posted there? The POC and its hard core members have a certain philosophy that is stated on the site. To ask on that site how to install a Volare front end in a 1934 Plymouth is like going to the Vatican web site and asking for directions to the nearest Planned Parenthood office. Thank goodness there is this site and the great variety that exists on the World Wide Web. I think Gregg's approach to suggest that the poster visit here was most appropriate. Jim Yergin

James, Sorry but I did not keep track of the placement of the three bearings. I just arbitrarily assigned numbers for the pictures. You are correct that bearing number 3 is open without any shields. However it does not have a retaining groove. Only bearing number 2 has a groove and it has a shield on one side. Jim Yergin

My understanding is that the "fast second" gear was used up to 1940 with a change in 1941. Jim Yergin

James, Here are pictures of the three beaings I replaced in my overdrive transmission. Bearings nos 1 and 2 have shields on one side, bearing no.3 does not. Only bearing no.2 has a retaining slot. As far as I know they are originals. None of the replacement bearings I got from Northwest Transmission had shields. The information on each bearing is as follows: N0.1: MRC 206 N0.2: MRC 207 SFG N0. 3: Federal 1207 Hope this helps. Jim Yergin

James, I think I still have the bearings I replaced when I overhauled my O/D this past winter. Let me check tonight and I will let you know. Jim Yergin

woodie49, you might want to go to the main site P15-D24.com as Don suggested and check out the "Tech Tips" section on static timing. I would turn the engine until the distributor rotor is at 7 o'clock and see where your timing mark is in relation to the pointer. Also, though it probably is not your problem, there should be two different bolts to loosen to adjust the distributor. One is the one that holds the distributor bracket to the block and the other is the one that holds the bracket to the distributor. You can "play" with both of them to alter the range of adjustment. Jim Yergin

That's right Bob. Jim Yergin

Hi Greg. Don't want to hi-jack Chet's thread but since you asked, I have not yet gotten the woodie on the road. I have been busy with a job change and have not spent a lot of time on the car. I have had some trouble bleeding the brakes after disconnecting the lines to release the locked brakes and to check the master cylinder. I have a dual reservoir M/C and have the front disks bled. But the rears are giving me trouble. Am using my home made pressure bleeder and it appears that I have all of the air out of the lines but the rear brakes don't lock up with the pedal fully engaged. I have rear disks and am now wondering if my problem is that, with the wheels off, the rotors can move in and out on the hubs. Does that prevent the single piston calipers from being anchored on the rotors which keeps the calipers from fully gripping the rotors and allowing the rotors to turn? In other words, do I need to fasten the rotors to the hubs with lug nuts to keep the rotors firmly affixed on the hubs and give the calipers something to push against to see if the rear brakes hold after bleeding? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Jim Yergin

Very impressive Chet! Jim Yergin

Bob, the woodie wagons used the convertible cowel. They even have the top latch fittings above the windshield behind the wood trim boards. They used the same windshield wiper stands and they are pretty rare. Jim Yergin

Hey Greg, I hear tell that those belts are available in Pennsylvania near Gettysburg. No part numbers required just samples to compare. I take it you don't want to push your luck for your next trip. Jim Yergin

I had good luck using the contraption described by dodgepu1946 in the thread he posted above. Good luck. Jim Yergin

George Asche's theory is that in '41 Chrysler changed the second gear ratio to make it easier to start in second gear and then have only one shift left to get into high gear because people preferred not having to shift. Jim Yergin

Radcliffe, I don't know if this is what your mechanic is referring to but the crankshaft used in the 230 engines is longer than the ones used in the 218. The difference is adjusted for in the depth of the flywheel. Are you using the flywheel from your '49 and is it from a 218? If so, then the starter will not engage because the ring gear is too far back. The 230 crankshaft needs a 230 flywheel. Otherwise the engines should be interchangeable. Jim Yergin

Do these pictures help? Jim Yergin

Ed, Is this the grommet you are looking for? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching&viewitem=&item=300038935052&_trksid=p3907.m32 Jim Yergin

Greg and Chet, After the disappointment on Sunday, I decided to take a break from the car for a couple of days and think about the problem. I also watched my video of my short drive a couple of times to get myself re-enthused about driving the car. I believe that the answer to the problem will be to readjust the length of the master cylinder rod to make sure the piston can clear the relief port. I had the rod adjusted out very far. However, I want to check all possibilities. I decided to pull the master cylinder to verify that the updated dual reservoir unit I installed did not have a residual valve in it for a rear drum set-up. I did pull it and it does not have any residual valves. Next I verified that the residual valves I installed in the lines for both the front discs and the rear discs were only 2lbs and were installed in the correct direction. I also checked to make sure the proportioning valve I installed was open. My next step is to disassemble the rear calipers from the car and clean and lubricate the guide pins. After the brake work I will move on to cleaning, repacking and readjusting the front wheel bearings. Hopefully I will not have to do anything more to them. Thanks for asking. I will keep you posted. Jim Yergin