Rusty O'Toole

I was thinking what if someone left the hand brake on 40 years ago. On the average car it would be seized tighter than the hubs of hell. Chrysler product hand brakes never seize. But then their cars were not average. By the way if you are already thinking of an engine swap you might as well save yourself a trip. Leave it where it is and buy a car that has a V8 or at least offered one as an option, that means 1955 up for Plymouth, 1953 up for Dodge, 1951 up for DeSoto and Chrysler. It is possible to fit a 440 in a pre 1955 Dodge or Plymouth. I have seen it done. But you have to gut the car like a trout and replace everything but the ash trays.

You could try the Fender Skirt King, he has them for most everything. For rocker panel moldings why not try to find the right ones. Advertise on this board, the AACA, check Ebay , Roberts Motor Parts, Andy Bernbaum.

One good thing, the car does not have emergency brakes on the rear wheels (it is on the transmission). Makes it more likely the rear wheels are not frozen.

That's the Canadian version.

The big expense is the hand work of polishing and repairing. You can cut the cost by doing it yourself. Some chrome shops will strip the chrome and give the parts back to you to work on. Or, you can buy an outfit from Caswell Plating and do your own plating at home. I know someone who has one and it gives an excellent result.

Ford wheels will fit, BUT the Chrysler products had a locating pin. You will need to drill a hole for the pin. You can do this in minutes with a cordless drill. From memory, you need a 5/16 hole or possibly 3/8. This is because they use bolts not studs (left hand thread on the left side, as others have said) The rear hubs WILL come off if you have a BIG puller. If you have a torch big enough to cut them off all the better. Use it to heat up the hub while the puller is pulling and they will definitely come off. Leave the nut on part way so the hub does not take off like a guided missile. If the wheels are frozen it will still go on the trailer even if you have to drag it. Some planks and grease or old motor oil helps.

It appears the best solution would be to find the right engine block. If you were desperate it would be possible to cut away the water jacket with a cutoff wheel and braze up the hole. This would give the clearance for the starter as in the original engine with water jacket on the upper half of the cylinders.

Times change, cars change, even chemistry changes. They seem to have changed the formula for antifreeze in the 80s. After that the coolant is not corrosive. I have taken apart motors from the 80s and newer and the coolant passages were perfectly clean and free of corrosion, even the aluminum parts looked like new. I know these cars never had their antifreeze changed. I just use antifreeze 50/50 with water and never change it.

My book says 65 to 70 foot pounds.

Tighten head bolts in this order 23----- 17----- 11----- 5----- 2----- 8----- 14----- 20----- 26 22----- 16----- 10----- 4----- 1----- 7----- 13----- 19----- 25 24----- 18----- 12----- 6----- 3----- 9----- 15----- 21----- 27

Head gaskets should last longer than that. Should last the life of the engine. As others have stated, did you check that the head and block surfaces are flat, head not warped, surfaces not burned or damaged? Has the head been milled previously? In that case you would need to put washers under the bolt heads to prevent the bolts bottoming. Did you clean the bolt holes with compressed air and chase the threads with a bottoming tap? Are the head bolts in good condition, not stretched? If they are suspicious it is best to replace them. If all these points are seen to, you still are not finished. The head needs to be torqued down in stages, with bolts being tightened in the correct order. After running the engine , check the bolts again with a torque wrench while the engine is hot. Recheck after 100 miles. Check again after 500 miles. If any are loose after 500 miles replace them, they are stretching. Follow these steps and your head gasket should last indefinitely.

You sparked my interest so I went out to the garage and checked 2 1949 Chrysler engines. Neither said spitfire on the head. But I have a spare head, provenance unknown, that does say spitfire. Have also seen a 53 with Spitfire. So maybe Canada used the Spitfire head but got it later than the US???

In the days of alcohol antifreeze, before 1960, it was common practice to drain out the antifreeze and fill the rad with water for the summer. You were supposed to add a small can of rust inhibitor to protect the cooling system from rust and to lubricate the water pump. This was some type of soluble oil. Filling the rad with motor oil might work but it would be murder on the rubber parts of the system like rad hoses and heater hoses. Oil is less efficient than water in transferring heat but might be OK in winter cold. I too have heard of using oil in remote very cold areas. My father used transformer oil in his Dodge in 1947, this was when he worked for Kimberly Clark paper company in Kapuskasing Ontario a very cold place in winter. He swiped the oil from the factory, they had a huge vat of it for their transformers.

Original factory manuals from Chrysler are excellent and very complete.

Recently I bought a 1949, Canadian made Chrysler Windsor. It came without keys. I took out a door lock and had an old time locksmith make a key (same key fits ignition and doors). It was an obsolete type of key but he happened to have some. The key and lock did not look like the ones in the picture. They were a 5 pin Yale lock.

Try to find the correct oil filter housing. They are rare but there should be one out there someplace. No moving parts and they never wear out, it's just a matter of finding one. If all else fails and you are desperate you could tap the oil holes for hose fittings and run a new remote filter. This is a common racing part available from auto parts stores, Summit Racing, etc. They use a standard spin on filter.

In 1955 and 56 you could buy a new pickup with V8 and stick shift for under $1500. Some hot rodders who wanted a new OHV V8, bought the pickup trucks because they could not afford the Chevy Bel Air hardtop they really wanted. Bel Air, Plymouth Fury or Ford Fairlane hardtop, with options, $2500. Cheapest 2 door post with V8, stick shift and nothing else, $1800. Stripped pickup with V8 and stick, $1400 to $1500.

I would like a fluid level gauge a lot better than a fluid pressure gauge. With the MC under the floor it would save a lot of work (when you check it) and worry (when you don't). Late model cars all have them. Wonder if you could adapt one.

An old trick was to coat the studs with Milk of Magnesia to stop the head growing around them. I still have a special tool for cutting Ford head studs loose. Like a steel tube with saw teeth on the bottom and a tommy bar at the top.

Have you tried getting the original engine going? I have considerable experience of putting old cars back in condition and 9 times out of 10, it is easier to fix the engine than replace it. Try filling the cylinders with oil for a week then turn the engine over by hand. I like to use automatic transmission fluid cut with kerosene or varsol but others have their own ideas. Some kind of thin oil is best. If the engine will turn over it will run. In extreme cases you have to take the head off to free up frozen valves. The only time I was totally stymied was a 1950 Land Rover. It had been left outdoors with the air filter off and the hood open for several years, the engine was so frozen with rust a safe cracker couldn't do anything with it. But short of that, you can usually get them going. If the engine is stuck it is actually a good sign. It means the engine was tight. If it is all worn out and loose there is lots of room for rust and they don't freeze up as easy.

"If you are not doing anything else to the engine headers are a waste of money." "Is that scientifically or dyno proven or just an opinion?" The engineers who designed your car were not stupid. The various parts were designed to work together for the best combination of performance, economy, reliable service in all conditions, and first cost. Tests have proven there is little to gain by changing just one thing. In other words, there is no magic carburetor or ignition that is going to double your power and mileage, no magic pill you can put in the gas tank. Possibly the closest thing to a magic potion would be milling the head for more compression. And, the engineers were perfectly aware that raising compression improves mileage and power. But they were restricted by the octane of the gas available at the time. When better gas became available they made higher compression engines. To get back to the header question. Yes, a free exhaust is necessary for best performance. But what if the stock exhaust already flows enough for the engine? What if the valves, camshaft, carburetor and air filter are also restricting the engine? What good would it do to put on headers if the engine can't use them? This is why I say headers should be part of a total package including attention to carburetor and intake, camshaft, compression, and possibly valves and ports. I also pointed out that a free exhaust can be had at low cost, in fact no cost if you need a new exhaust pipe anyway, just by having the exhaust made 1/2" larger than stock. This did not come out of my foggy little noodle either. It came from Chrysler's engineers. They made a package for the slant six called the Super Six that included an exhaust system 1/2" larger than stock, along with a special intake manifold and 2 barrel carburetor and recurved distributor. These 3 simple mods were good for an extra 10HP or a 10% gain on a 100HP engine.

If the flywheel is smooth there is nothing to be gained by taking it out. If it is grooved and chewed up it needs to be refaced. Or else your clutch plate will wear out prematurely. A little wear or unevenness is nothing to worry about. You need to use your own judgement. Another thing to watch out for is an overheated flywheel. If it is blued or gray looking and the surface is checked or cracked, replace the flywheel. It could break apart under stress some day. This is rare and only occurs when the clutch has been abused. It will be rather obvious when you see it like old paint that is cracked all over the place.

Master cylinder pressure is not the problem. It is not going to vary as long as the cylinder is working and has fluid in it. Mastery cylinders wear out, get rusty, and leak. In rare cases they can hold too much pressure and cause the brakes to drag. In either case you will find out about it without any pressure test. It won't hurt to check fluid level at oil change time, and inspect the cylinder for leaks while you are under the car. Other than that they are maintenance free.

Chrysler products and Ford products used the same resistance gauge in the 6 volt era. Antique Ford speciallists sell 1935 - 55 gauge senders that are compatible with 6 volt Chrysler gauges and are cheaper than Chrysler senders. If you do this you will need a voltage drop device, such as Runtz, or a resistor, or a Zener diode, or even a center tap off your 12 volt battery, as a source of 6 volt power.

Andy what was the temperature that day? Unless you rode the brake pedal all the way from Sydney I would expect that to be the reason for overheating. Point well taken though. Road speeds and brake temps are higher these days than when our cars were built. I expect anyone doing a complete brake job will grease the bearings, and any wheel bearing grease you get these days will be compatible with disc brakes.