Ernie Baily

Hello, I just drove my 48 Plymouth to the Glendale Elks Car show last Sunday. It was a 45 Min drive, She worked Great! And after 35yrs of ownership she still gets a award.

Well, As a followup. I found my original solonoid amoung my stuff on my work bench, so I sent it to George Asche to look over to see if it could be repaired. He did repair it and it came in the mail yesterday. So I put it in and low and behold the car worked great everytime! I guess the china repro was not strong enough to totally engage. Now I don't have to rebuild the trans. So Thank You all for your comments and advice! I'm back on the road cruising again!

I did the test you suggested and I do hear the click. I'm thinking something is not aligned with the solenoid pawl or its not fully engaging, I just don't know what to do! Ernie

What is email address/phone number? I'm a Iowa boy too, from Cedar Rapids.

Mine used to work great, but then it started to pop fuses, so I made a new wiring loom for it. Then one of the little contact points came off in the solenoid, so I ordered a replacement solenoid . Well, the replacement relay was defective according to George Asche. He checked my original and said it was fine. I also replaced the kickdown switch too! I put everything back together along with cleaning up the under dash wiring. Now when I test drive all works great in normal drive, but when I push in the overdrive cable it seems like its working because it freewheels with no noise at all. It also goes into reverse fine so that makes me think the rail lockout switch is fine. but it just won't shift into overdrive( I had the govenor rebuilt too!) when I back off the throttle. The other thing that was mentioned was the voltage thru the system. I'm not sure how to check that. I'm just running out of ideas/things to do!

I have talked with George Asche about it, but I would like to think there is someone closer then Penn. I just don't trust myself to attemp to do the rebuild myself. I'm looking into the shipping costs today. Its just that the car works so good, I hate to tear it down. I've done everything I'm capable of doing myself(At wits end!). Ernie Baily

Can anyone recommend a shop in the Simi Valley/ San Fernando area?

Well, I moved the wires around ! The long post had "RAD" next to it, so I assumed that was were the accessories went. Another Post had "Coil" next it, so the wire to the coil went there and the other post was labeled "AMP", so one wire went to amp meter and another wire to the starter button. I had it before where wires were on the coil post was causing the the coil to breakdown and made the car "spudder" when I turned on the radio & heater under acceleration. So I think I have it resolved. Now I get back to figuring out why my overdrive won't engage. The joys of playing with Old Cars! Thanks for the input everybody! Ernie

Hello, I'm cleaning up the wiring on my dash. However I can't find a clear diagram of the wiring from amp gauge to fuel gauge to ignition switch(3 posts). I have followed the orig wiring diagram, but the 3 posts are not clear, I'm still getting power to the fuel gauge even with the key off? I plan on looking at it again today with a fresh pair of eyes! Ernie

Hello, I've been working with George Asche on issues with my R10. He is a really a nice gentleman(86yrs young). His phone is 814-354-2621 Good Luck! Ernie Baily

Hello everyone, Well, I did the test and still does not engage the overdrive. I checked the wiring and made sure all the wires are done like the diagrams in my Plymouth Service Manual. I'm starting to think it might a problem inside the trans. I bought the trans over 30 yrs ago(nothing lasts for ever). The other concern its the wiring I have for my petronix electronic ignition, it is different than the stock wiring diagram. Has anyone done a petronix on a 46-48 Ply other than Me?

Well, I did some further testing of both the new and old relays and found out the new one had a closed circuit and was causing the clicking every time I connected the Batt cable. I put the old one back one and it seems to work OK! I then took it for a test drive and would hear a clicking once in a while, so I pushed in the kickdown switch and that was the same click, so I believe the new kickdown switch is bad. I put in my old kickdown switch in and now no clicking. I have contacted George Asche several times and he now suggests to bypass the Governor circuit all together and use a ground switch to activate the solenoid at speed like the governor would normally do and see it shifts into overdrive. I hope to get this done later today. We'll See!

OK, I sodered the wire connections and all looked good. Then I decided to disconnect the wires on the horn relay and clean it up and clean wire connections. I then started to reconnect the wires and forgot which wire went where(DAH!), after working with it all day, all is fine, starts and runs fine, horn works fine too! But now when I attemp to hook up the overdrive(Black #10 wire from relay to Bat post on horn relay as shown in Service Manual) the relay/solenoid keeps clicking). I must have done something when I was fooling with the horn relay wiring! The only thing I can think of is that the points in ether the relay or solenoid or both have fused together. Any other advice?

Hello, In my case I used the #81 which was a higher candlepower than the #55. The #81s did brighten up the gauges, the speedo still is dim. I wonder if the lense within is due to its changing color as the speed goes up is out of align or dirty. There is a great book by Randy Rundle, "The Official 12-Volt Conversion Guide" that has a 6volt to 12volt bulb conversion chart in it, which help me with my 55 Dodge. Also my dash dimmer switch is only off/on, not a three way. I believe the 46-48 Ford had a dimmer switch that was a off/on type. Good luck! Ernie

OK! , I'm back from my mini vacation trip. I took out my by-pass wire on the lockout switch, I then did a test drive and it engaged three times during the test drive. I currently have the wire #10 black wire going from the overdrive relay to the starter solenoid instead of going to the Ignition terminal on the horn relay(as in Plymouth service manual). I'm still planning on sodering the wire connections too! Frustrations go on! Thanks everyone for the tips and advice! Ernie

Some where I read that the later models did not have a lockout switch, just bypass it if suspected a bad switch. I'll take out the bypass wire I made and see if that does any thing. I think I'm going to soder the wire ends on the wires going to the solonoid and govenor. I'll make up a "gov overdrive" switch and see if I get the relay and solenoid clicks. Thanks Again! Ernie

OK, I reset the idle to 450 rpms at Idle. I took it for test drive and it did shift into overdrive only once. Should I get a stronger throttle return spring? Still frustrating!

Hi everyone, I've done the tests many times, checked my wiring too! The next thing is to go back thru the wiring and sodder all the wire connections(I used crimped ends) and check grounds. I currently have the Idle set a 750 rpm( to keep generator charging at Idle speed). The book calls for the idle to be between 450-475 rpms. I'll give a call to George Asche to get some advice, I think I have a phone number in my Overdrive info I have collected. I took it out for a drive the other day, the car works so good, a consistant working overdrive would be the iceing on the cake! Thanks for all the comments!

Hi, If you are referring to the "Lockout Rail Switch" the answer is no. I currently have a bypass wire between the two connections. I also replaced the kickdown switch too!

Hello everyone, I am still having problems with the engaging of my overdrive(53 ply overdrive trans in 48 Ply). I have replaced the wiring, solenoid, rebuilt the governor, put new relay on, flushed the trans and overdrive and put new gear oil in. However it engages intermittinly. Is their a shop or person that I can take it too? I'm at wits end! I live in Simi Valley, Ca(Ventura County/Los Angeles area). Thanks, Ernie Baily ernestbaily@att.net

Hello, everyone I just put the repaired damper on, I had mine rebuilt by the "Damper Dudes"! They did it within a week, only costing $170.00 I had put a mark where the keyway was when the 6 bolts lined up. I replaced all 6 bolts and it seems to run fine and the timing marks line up too! Well that damper should be good for another 70 yrs. Thanks to everyone for all the tips! Ernie Baily

I think the last time the crank pulley & damper was touched I believe is about 25+ years ago when I had the engine rebuilt. I must have missed it when my brother & I installed the engine in car. Oh Well, we'll see what happens when I reinstall the repaired Damper & pulley(timing marks). Thanks Again Everybody! Ernie Baily

I'll try tapping on the damper/pulley to see if it will come off without removing the big bolt. Hopefully after I get it off I'll see some kind of regestration marks too!

Hello again, It looks like the 6 bolts hold the damper and pulley together and the big bolt holds the unit to the hub that attaches to the crankshaft. I'll find out when I get the big bolt off! Ernie

Hello Everybody, Thanks for all the info. I removed the small bolts on the pulley(6 total) however one was missing. I'm hoping by just removing the large bolt the damper will come off. Great pictures, they help a lot! Thanks Again everybody! Ernie Baily