Jim Yergin

Rodney, Check in the plumbing section of Lowe's or Home Depot. Jim Yergin

Greg, I would love to go but I can't spend the time and still have the hope of having my car ready for the Sully show here in Virginia in June. Maybe next year. Jim Yergin

Years ago I drove four hours to look at a car that the seller had told me on the phone had no rust. When I saw the car I could see that he was correct only because there was no metal in the floor left to rust. When I asked him to start the car he said he couldn't because he would have to go find a battery and didn't want to go to the trouble unless I first agreed to buy the car. He told me it ran fine and, if I had any doubts, I could ask any one in town and they would vouch for his honesty. I certainly did have my doubts and I took them and myself back home as quickly as possible. Jim Yergin

Partsvoice.com shows that www.collectorsautosupply.com and www.dpmotorsparts.com both have the standard spring (Mopar part #1119994). The Vintage Power Wagon catalogue at www.vintagepowerwagons.com shows the plunger (Mopar part #1119997). Hope this helps. Jim Yergin

Looks good Greg. I have followed your Studebaker project with much interest. Thanks for the update. Jim Yergin

Joe, If there is one thing I know how to do well it is how to prolong my project. Jim

Thanks to Bob's picture and dimensions I was able to fabricate a plunger using 3/8" steel round rod and my bench grinder. The lockout switch now operates correctly. I am very glad I decided to remove the transmission and overhaul it otherwise I would not have discovered that the plunger was missing. Without that plunger the transmission would have been in permanent lockout and I would not have known why. In my search for a replacement plunger I contacted Neil Riddle. He did not have one right now but he did tell me that it is very common to have them missing if the transmission has ever been opened up. The Borg-Warner manual does not even mention the plunger. The Chrysler Corporation Overdrive maintenance pamphlet does mention it in the reassembly portion but not the disassembly section. If anyone has acquired an O/D without knowing its history, I recommend that at a minimum you remove the lockout switch and verify that the plunger is in there. Thanks again Bob. Jim

Bob, Thank you very much. I guess I will see what I can fabricate. Jim Yergin

I was checking the operation of the electrical switches on my R10 O/D transmission. The lockout switch was not working when I locked out the O/D. The switch itself tested OK but I discovered that I am missing the lockout switch plunger that operates the switch when the lockout arm is moved. As far as I know I never had that plunger. Does anyone have a picture and/or dimensions of the plunger? I found a reference to it in the manual but no illustration. Thanks. Jim Yergin

Norm, I meant that the second gear spins freely on the main shaft and does not spin with the main shaft. Jim Yergin

Success! For some reason second gear was binding up on the main shaft. I dissassembled the clutch gear slide assembly and freed it up. I don't know what was causing the problem but after reassembling it, second gear freewheels when not engaged. I have neutral now and all of the gears work and shift fine. Now I can proceed with reinstalling the transmission and the engine in the car. Thank you Bob and Norm for your help. Jim Yergin

Norm and Bob, Thank you both. I will go back into the transmission and see what I can find now that you have confirmed what I thought was the case. I will post my results. If nothing else, I am getting pretty good at taking this thing apart. Thanks again. Jim Yergin

Norm, It appears that I can select all of the gears and it does not lock up in any of the positions if you mean that it will shift out of the position. Jim Yergin

Norm, I have tried it both with the shift cover plate and levers installed and without. Same result. I did have the clutch gear sleeve in backwards at one time but I have corrected that. If the output shaft doesn't freewheel when placed in neutral it seems to me the problem has to be in that clutch gear set up . Do you know if there is something in particular I should look at? Jim Yergin

I think I have a problem with my recently reassembled O/D transmission. When I have the transmission in what I believe to be neutral I cannot turn the output shaft independently of the input shaft. In neutral, shouldn't I be able to do so? They will only turn in unison. When I look inside the case I can see that the low/reverse gear is not engaged and I have tried the second/high shifter in various positions. The output shaft will turn independently when I have the O/D lockout lever pulled and the transmission is freewheeling. Do I have a problem and, if so, does anyone have any suggestions as to what I have done wrong and how to fix it? Thanks. Jim Yergin

Check the POC Plymouth Bulletin classified section. I believe there is usually an ad by a vendor who sells the long antenna. I will check my most recent bulletin tonight and see if I can find it. Jim Yergin

I was having trouble installing the shift rails and shift forks in my transmission. I consulted with Normspeed who referred me to Dodgeb4ya. Dodgeb4ya gave me directions that solved my problem so I thought I would post them here in case any one else needs them. Normspeed and Dodgeb4ya were terrific to go out of their way to help me and are prime examples of what makes this form so great. Jim Yergin There are the 2 shift rails. The one W/the wide 3 spaced grooves goes to the topside of the case. It shifts 1st and reverse slider gear. The lower shift raile W/ the 3 more closely spaced gooves slides in the lower shift rail hole in the case. It shifts 2nd and 3rd sleeve. Put the shifter forks onto the correct gear/sleeve(2nd-3rd) and 1st/reverse gear. then slide in either shift rail-3 grooves always to the front of case.Line up the deep screw lock hole in the shift rail W/ the hole in the matching shifter fork-screw in the lock screw bolt. Insert the other shift rail correctly into case and at the same time move the shifter fork you just assembled back and forth till you feel the other shift rail slide in all the way. The 1st assembled fork/shift rail assembly must be in neutral postion.There is a groove at the rear of both shifter rails that lets that little interlock pin move to the side to let both rails pass by each other. You didn`t need to remove that small 1/4" soft plug. I never have taken that out for OD rebuilds. Don`t forget to install the 3/4" shift rail plug at the front of the case. Good luck! Bob

I have disc brakes on all four wheels on my '41 P12. Used AAJ Brakes. I also have installed a dual reservoir master cylinder. Can't tell you about performance yet because the car is not on the road yet. Hopefully that will change this spring. Jim Yergin

Norm, Just a bit of trivia about Arlington. It was actually owned by Lee's wife who inherited it from her father, George Washington's step grand-child. The government seized it during the Civil War for non-payment of taxes even though Lee tried to send payment through the lines. After the war Lee's children were compensated for the property. When it was occupied by the Union troops the commanding general directed that the gardens be used to bury Union dead so that Mrs. Lee would never want to return to the place. Jim Yergin

Normspeed, I replied to your PM. I have that gasket, Tom did include a gasket kit for the regular 3 speed. Thanks. Jim Yergin

James, I tested it dry. It came in at 2lbs. Jim Yergin

This weekend I finished reassembling my overdrive transmission. The thought of disassembling it, replacing the seals, gaskets and bearings would have been unthinkable to me before I found this forum. Thanks to blueskies’(Pete Anderson) and Normspeeds’ examples, I found the nerve to give it a try. My 1953 R10 overdrive transmission, which I bought years ago for my P12 wagon, turned out to be in pretty good condition and probably would have been all right if I had left it alone. However I would not have known that without taking it apart and the overhaul let me install the "fast" second gear. The only suspect part I found was the low/reverse gear. Two of the teeth were corroded and pitted even though no corresponding teeth that meshed with them were in the same condition. The low/reverse gear in my original regular transmission was even worse. I ended up replacing the gear with an NOS one from Valley Vintage Auto Parts. I also installed the “fast” second gear and gear cluster that I purchased from Len Dawson, also NOS. Again, it was only because of what I learned on this forum that I knew to make that change. I purchased the overhaul kit from Portland Transmission Exchange as recommended by Normspeed. Tom at Portland Transmission Exchange was very helpful. Unfortunately Chrysler no longer supplies gasket sets for the overdrive transmission and neither does Tom’s aftermarket supplier. That meant I had to cut my own gaskets for both sides of the adaptor plate, which was no big deal. Also, I knew from Normspeed that the kit did not include the speedometer drive seal. I bought one of those from Len Dawson. What Normspeed did not mention was that the kit came with half a dozen baseball cards. Why, I do not know? The instructions in the Chrysler overdrive transmission maintenance pamphlet (purchased years ago from Neil Riddle) as well as Pete’s and Normspeeds’ descriptions of their work were invaluable. I also followed James Douglas’ suggestion and tested the balking ring resistance and found it to be within specs. I will just add a couple of my own suggestions. When reassembling the overdrive, don’t forget to install the speedometer/governor drive gear or you will have to disassemble it to do so (guess how I know?). Also, the clutch gear sleeve can be installed two different ways. One way will not allow the overdrive unit to properly fit up with the main transmission case. Again, guess how I know this? Finally, I found that a ¾ inch hardwood dowel worked great when cut to the respective proper lengths to hold the roller bearings in place when installing the gear cluster and the reverse idler gear in the transmission. Now I just have to paint the transmission, bolt it up to the engine and then reinstall them in the car. Oh yea, and then hope that it works. Jim Yergin

AAJ Brakes offers the L/H studs in its kits. Jim Yergin

Rodney, I have not seen the article yet but I do know the father and son who restored the car. In fact I gave a bunch of my left over parts to the dad who is planning on doing another one. His daughter lives in Manassas and he stopped by here on a visit to her to pick up the parts. Jim Yergin

Ed, The later P15s came with 15 inch wheels rather than 16 inch wheels. They are interchangeable. It appears that there is a greater selection of 15 inch radial tires but there are 16 inch radials. I am using later 15 inch wheels on my P12 because of the availability of the 15 inch radials. Jim Yergin