ferdball

Top notch on all the help! Gently towed it today. MY dolly was a bit more narrow than I like and I had to leave the pin in which keeps the wheels from turning AND I had to strap the steering wheel down, Took it real easy and WIDE turns. Beautiful Car (yup thats original paint on a 53k mile car.)

I'm helping a buddy move an D24 about 10 miles with a car dolly, and I know with any modern automatic transmission you SHOULD disconnect the driveline, (although some might say if I keep it under 30 and take it easy i'd be ok) Is there any difference with this fluid drive? Will I be ok to simply put it in neutral and go slow? I'm not 100% on these trannys so I thought I'd ask. They seem like they are a mix between a manual and auto. Looking for a quick simple answer as I'm moving it this afternoon. Thanks a million+1

Another less greasy way to grease up bearings is to steal a ziplock freezer bag from the bosses kitchen and glob a bunch of grease in there, throw in the nice cleaned bearing and zip it shut and smoosh it all around. Works pretty darn good. also feel free to pick your nose and scratch your face...during the process.

I'm waiting to hear about the lead additive comment? Is it true that they have hardened valve seats? do I need keep buying lead? my 48' actually has a 53 car engine in it, would the same apply to that flatty?

Awoken him from at least 9 years of sleep. Not perfect but WAY to nice for me! Feel like im driving a fire truck around. my boys love it! (hope they appreciate it when they turn 16) Just put some BFG 215x75R16 and WOW rolls nice and actually looks real good to. Smooth sailing @50mph Going to be a weekly driver... what's the point in having an old car if you dont use it! If you dont have one GET ONE!

Just for kicks I threw in a VR that I had sitting around here. The handwritten tape on it says '53 willys (Autolite VBE-6105-A126) and fired it up. needle was riding just above 0 and up with some throttle, and high/low beams worked fine. Seems like everything was 100%. Horray! BUT Then I noticed that on the VR it says "negative ground" uh oh... Is this a issue? will it wreak havoc on the system? double thanks again

Thanks Greg, Before I got the message with your suggestions . I just cleaned up the two cables running to the generator and re-taped them, gave the posts a quick wire brushing and then reinstalled the battery and went to pull it in the garage and noticed that the gauge sat on 0. Pulled the lights on gauge goes to -20 and does nothing when I revv it up! Could it be my generator just gave up the ghost and before it did I gave it it's all!? I also noticed that every 20 seconds or so a grunt comes from what seems to be the rear bearing of the generator.?? I'll still try your suggestions tomorrow.

ok, So I've got a problem with my battery boiling over (brand new battery not too much water) Preface: My voltage gauge reads in the middle of 0 and +50 at idle and bounces a little, then at about 2,000 rpm+ it almost hits +50 and stays there... I started with the simple solution of polarizing the generator at the voltage regulator by running one wire from "bat" and touching "arm" then fired it up and the gauge was the same, took a cap off the battery while idling and it was bubbling pretty darn good. I then proceeded to do the field to ground test to see if the generator was working and the gauge just stayed the same, if im correct it should peg to +50.? Is there any other steps I can take to test anything? what's next? Im just a shade tree mechanic but common sense says the generator cant be bad if it's cranking out enough amps to boil my battery...?? Side notes: I've opened up the voltage regulator and its really clean inside as well as the connections. (cleaned all the connections) could it be a bad ground? how would I check for that? too many questions? I'll stop here.. Appreciate any input, im stuck.

Invaluable feedback guys! Keep it coming! I really dig the "why" you'd choose that particular car. Things I'd never think about like, the "big engine in the desoto running all day @55mph" or the "first red ram hemi" or "rare pre-war 42 coupe"..... I have car problems! I like them all, I'd totally get a loan and buy them all if I had a place to put them. But my common sense is telling me to meet in the middle between the one I think looks best and what will be more of a collectors car down the road. I plan on keeping it all original whatever I choose. And plan on keeping it a Looooong time..(grandkid hand me down kinda long) Common sense tells me to get the 4 door so I can take the family for a drive....then my other common sense says get the 3 window big butt coupe because everyone likes/wants those. Start to see the war in my head now?

So I've potentially got the chance to buy my choice of vehicle from an old collector. Before I express which my favorite is I'd like to hear some opinions of what you'd all choose and why, you'd choose a specific model. And for arguments sake let's say they are all in the same original physical condition. ..and the models are....drumroll.... 1947 D24 with all the trimmings 1940 2 door coupe 1940 4 door sedan 1937 4 door touring sedan 1941 2 door 3 window business coupe "Luxury Liner" 1940 desoto 2 door 1953 coronet v8 royal custom 1963 Custom 880 1937 MC pickup 1948 B-1-B Thanks and looking forward to you all's rationale!

Marine grade plywood crossed my mind until I saw the $90 a sheet price tag... ouch! should I have the metal strips powder coated for durability or just let'em rust?

Thanks Jerry, I also heard (oh on...) that if you put the ends of the wood down in a bucket of the oil for a few days it really cures the ends good to keep from splitting. Then just coat the tops and bottoms after. then install. I've also heard of some mixtures that are suppose to be better than just plain old linseed. like one part motor oil, one part turpentine and one part linseed...??? I've go plenty of time to soak it I'm thinking white oak? sound good?

Jeff, I'm sure I could find you a mopar lock and key. just tell me what it's worth to your door and I'll look in the barn. and anyone else.... I've got a dual horn... what's it worth?

When I get 45 minutes I'll gladly fill out the registry. the tag on the door post is painted over so the only thing you can barely make out is the ser.no His name is proudly "Frankenstein" as given to him by his previous owner years ago. He's shiny on the outside and rusty on the inside...(not to bad though). There are some CRAZY welded parts like the front bumper to the frame and that rear bumper/tailight/side step behind the rear wheels. It actually seems rather useful, and if I was using it as a farm truck I'd do just the same. Easy to step up and into the bed. REALLY protects the rear and lights. the rear bumper and where it wraps around to the wheels is HEAVY channel. The bed is rotted out and then just through some plywood on top of the old so MY next step is to replace the wood, but after lying underneath for a while and looking things over it's going to be no small job just taking all the old bolts off and because the bumper is welded to the box I've got to take the bumper bolts off as well... (sidenote) I've looked up everything on Mar-K and other forums about bed wood, but thought I might ask you all your opinion. I wan to go for useable wood bed. Thought about painting it black just to be original but then thought that the first time I throw in some lumber and drag it out it scrapes the paint off... so then I thought I do linseed oil that way I can just throw some more on if'n it starts looking shabby...??? two cents anyone? Just spent $700 on some new 215/85 R16. and got to say MAN it rides smooth at 50mph and everything in between. I really wanted to go with some original looking pie-crust 6.50x16 but MAN they want too much for some of those....and that's for the bias-ply, dont get me started on the coker radials... I just justified it by thinking that this will probably be the only pair of tires I'll have to put on it.....ever..... they'll rot off before I wear them out... anyway... I'm rambling

We'll It took only 20+ years but he finally become mine. Take a look at the pics at the bottom of this post and then have a look at these. I really just awoke him from his sleep of at least 10 years. I couldn't be happier! What a dream com true for me!

busycoupe: I'm a little confused. are you talking about the outter seal that is mounted in the backing plate itself? The inner seal I'm talking about is buried behind the bearings, does that make any sense? I dont know how to pull the bearings out. This truck is so mix-n-match I just hope its the right rear end! and thanks for the info on Andys Leather seals.

Maybe I'm denser than I thought but How do I get to the inner seal, past the bearings. I didnt want to just start pulling on the axle?! I read through the shop manual but didn't find out HOW to simply get to the seal. I'm just doing all the breaks and ordered up the seals from Andy...now I just need to figure out how to get to it! DUHHH OR since I see no oil coming out of the bearings should I not worry about the inner seal? Just looks like grease in there to me. I am probably just silly NOT to pull the bearings out and do it now but didnt want to have to get a tool to get the bearings out and then another tool to get them back in etc....? yikes appreciate the help! 1948 b1b

Picked up an old 48 pilothouse and found out that it's got a 53 dodge car engine in it so that got me to thinking that I might want to check the trans since I know it's a 4sp and dont believe that in 48 they had that as an option. I've attached the images but they are a bit blurry but I'l also list what I THINK the numbers are in best to worst guess. Sorry I dont have better pics. C-38651 or C-88661 it's that first and second to last number that is hard to tell... any help is appreciated!

Status: my just purchased napa 1011 sock did NOT want to go in. But I make it. And I can definately see the problem with paper IF for the system to work proper it needs to filter top to bottom. My 2€

Funny, the frame is all welded where it would be and someone hacked out the whole area where the heater bolts to the firewall... haaahahaa which will be my next post in a few days.

Kevin, thanks for that info, that's really neat! Now I can have a b-day party for frankenstein in march! I know talked about the engine being out of a 53 car, I wonder too if the 4 speed that is currently in it was original or if in the process of the engine swap someone changed the tranny too. I guess what I'm asking is that if in 48 they had an option for a 4 speed? thanks again for all the wonderful info! what a great forum!

Ok so for what it's worth. I got he wix 51011 yesterday. Didn't really like how it had no rubber gasket inside the filter around the skinny metal post that the t-handle screws to. Like the fram c120e I pulled out. At any rate I had to roll it on my workbench with my arms pretty hard just to get it to squeeze in. THEN after much twisting and pushing with my bare hands to slide it in it was an inch too high. I put the lid on and cranked it down with the t-handle.(luckily it the threads were long enough.) hen I had to take it off and pound it down in gently with a hammer just so it wouldn't pinch the cloth in the seal. Hope I didnt clobber the stuffing inside too bad. But it's in! However I can't wait to see what you end up with. There has GoT to be a simpler drop in filter ugghhh.

Thanks B1B Kev, I knew it was going to get funky! I'm sure I'll google this too but is that a good/bad/indiferent thing to have a 53 car motor in there? were they basically the same or were the truck engines more industrial? And no wonder I had a hard time finding a oil filter.

Bought a b-1-b and it's kind of a frankenstein from the looks. I'm trying to figure out if the body and motor and frame are all matching. Are they suppose to match or do I need to look them all up separately? here they are in case someone is super smart. Vin (Serial #)= 82055558 Body - 4712-36659 Engine = D46-668I4 any help to decipher these would be grand.

Barry, on my 48 (218) it has the bypass filter kit on it and I pulled out a Fram C120E it seemed WAY too big and I had to pull hard to get it out, but figured it had been in there for 7+ years and maybe it was swollen.?? I called napa and ordered the 51101 I think from what I've read they fixed the oversize problems but we'll see tomorrow when it arrives. on my 37 MC bypass unit (without the T handle) It had a WIX paper element in it. Wix # 51080 and looked just right. hope that helps?