D35 Torpedo

Do you have an exploded diagram? My fix was unconventional. I'm sure it's just missing a clip or something.

You may want to pull some panels and what not, to make sure there are no fasteners like the ones you posted. To put it back on, i'd use the ebay clips. There is nohing better than a nut and bolt clip.

Your wording is spot on.

What is up with that sway bar?

I did mine. Had to buy two from A.B. because they come in halfs. My car was completely missing them. The joint just pulled apart with little effort. I think I removed the spring and backed off the adjuster. You will need to readjust the linkage anyways. The cast piece that holds the bushings is attached to the bell housing with a thin strip of metal for some reason. Mine deflected and spat the new bushings out. Luckely, it was as I was parking so I was able to collect them back up. I ended up pulling one of the two bolts that attached the cast piece to the thin strip of metal. The I ran a long bolt in so the threads out the back dead headed against the bell housing. Doing this confined it so it couldn't deflect. Hope this helps.

Coils rarely "go bad" they more often leak or explode. Especially when ran on a higher voltage. Pull the distributor cap, make sure the points are closed, turn the ignition on, and using a flat head screw driver, flick the points open and closed. You should see sparks. Then put the cap back on and crank it, checking for spark at the plug.

That looks like a shell bearing to me. But, I've never been into a babbitt bearing engine. Looks good so far.

Poor thing...I'd clean it up to see what you're working with. It might be ok with a couple new hard parts. Bearings at minimum. Atf and a wire brush will get the rust off fast.

It has a four pound cap.

I bet it does have a seat. It looks like that seat is ground really deep, to the point that it looks like it isn't there. The first pic looks like the valve is quite recessed.

That is very possible. The car warms up much quicker and is holding temp a lot longer. But it is still creeping. Turning the heater on helps a lot. That tells me the rad isn't efficient enough. Looks like it needs an acid dip. When did the fan shroud get introduced on these cars?

Fuses first, then step down. A high watt power resistor will work fine. Just keep in mind, they get hot. Most circuits never had fuses in these old cars. On my 50, the radio was 14amp i believe. So, 14 amps x 6 volts is 84 watts of power dissipation. 6 volts ÷ 14 amps is .429 ohms. So you need a 100 watt half ohm resistor or two 50 watt one ohm resistors connected in parallel. That should knock off 6.5 volts from your 12.6v. Fun stuff. Good luck.

It has the DPCD logo and part number on the top tank. Maybe recored?

Can't you just polarize the chevy gen to produce positive ground current?

The rad is spotless on the outside. You can see right through it. It is not honey combed, just straight tube and fin. All I did was straighten some bent fins and painted it. Everything is factory as far as sheet metal and grill goes. The front is designed like a giant air funnel. I had it out today and the heat stayed fairly consistant.

That's an interesting article. The major question is the time component. With no T-stat, does the flow rate exceed the goldilocks zone? My thought is yes. I get that lowering the flow throught the rad, increases the cooling, but then slower coolant through the engine, increases heating. But if it is to fast, the cooling portion is to short, and the heat transfer portion is equally as short. Slow it down and the engine can transfer sufficient heat to the coolant. The rad can then get rid of it. It was engineered with a T-stat. The engineers flow tested it for optimum cooling.

I to have a 50 fastback. Mine will need rockers soon as well. I plan on doing the inners at the same time. My plan was to remove the body mount bolts on one side, loosen them on the other. Then jack half the body off the frame to do the repairs. Rinse and repeat to do the other side. I suggest welding in some braces to keep it from distorting. Good luck! A little every day goes a long way.

Check out Keith Rucker on youtube. He has vids about pouring babbitt bearings. It looks like fun.

The 52 plymouth I have sat in a back yard for a decade. Before that it was at a school. The kids and shop teacher couldn't get it running. It took me a day to go through the starter and put together a good distributor for it. At the end of the day I fired it up and it ran like a new engine, no smoke or shakes. The engine looks like it was on the bottom of the ocean for a bit. Then it was pulled out and thrown into cage with rats and squirels for a decade.

Welcome to the group. That's a funny one, but I've seen it before. Good thing you have it at the stage where you can set it right.

It's a mechanical gauge. They work forever. They can be adjusted. But since there aren't any numbers anyways, it doesn't really matter

I didn't build the engine. The way it was acting, I figured it didn't have a T-stat at all. Today my suspicions were proven correct. So I put an original stat in, the bellows type. I stove tested it first ofcourse. Well! I should've done that a while ago. The heater works better, It's holding operating temp, and fluctuating much less. I really think that was the problem. We will see on a hot day. An old timer friend of mine said a t-stat will keep the engine cooler. Because it slows down the coolant flow in the rad, allowing it more time to cool off. I've heard that before, but didn't have the experience to verify its validity. I'm glad I pulled it all apart. I got to replace all the rtv with gaskets, fix a belt alignment issue and verify the condition of the distribution tube.

I had the heater core recored a couple months ago because it was leaking. Radiator flows good. Not a lot of crud coming out when I back feed it. I did it once already, about six months ago when I first put the car together. It looks like there is some white crud inside the core. Been throwing everything under the sink at it. First lye, now vinegar. Vinegar seems to be doing something. It's turning white.

Ok guys I'm working on this issue today. From what I can tell, everything is normal. Help, insight, recommendations??? Someone has been in this pump as everything is rtv'd together. I can't get the distribution tube out. It's just tearing the metal. But it all seems really clean. I stuck a rod down it and there is no crud or blockage. I find it odd that the round hole in the head only has a small passage into the pump, and half of it is covered. Has anyone enlarged it? Also, there was no T-stat.