Rusty O'Toole

A 6V generator will put out 12V but at higher RPM than normal. Plus it will not have enough output to drive your power steering and other power accessories. If you really want to have electric steering and other power accessories you should change to an alternator with at least twice the output of your generator. It should be possible to solve your steering problem without making any drastic changes to the generator or the steering. What kind of car do you have? If it was a Plymouth or Dodge, it was easy to steer when new. Old ladies and grannies used to drive them. You should have your front suspension and steering inspected, repaired as necessary and an alignment done. Install new shock absorbers all around. Use bias ply tires or if you have radials, they should not be too wide and they should be inflated to 32PSI. I have suggested this to others and it took away all desire to have power steering. When the steering is working the way it was intended, the car is very easy to steer except when stopped or very low speed parking. It is possible to make the steering even easier by reducing the caster to 0 or close to it. But in that case you need to add a steering damper to prevent shimmy. German cars were set up this way for years, every make from VW to Mercedes. It sharpened up the steering and made steering easier as well. Having the steering in top condition is something you need to do before a conversion anyway so there is nothing lost even if you still want power steering.

They used the DeSoto block up to 59 in Canadian made Dodge and Plymouth cars so they must have made a Powerflite to fit it. The same setup should fit the smaller US block, I think transmissions usually do interchange but cannot say for sure. Whether the six used a different transmission housing, flywheel, torque converter etc from the V8 I don't know. For sure, a Canadian made six cylinder 54-59 trans will fit if you have the appropriate flywheel, starter, transmission etc. I realize this is small comfort if you are in Louisiana or Texas lol. Hopefully one of the smart guys will chime in with more complete information.

I just removed the lock on my 49 Chrysler. There is a slot on the rear edge of the door near the lock. You can only see it with the door open. Reach in and pull or pry the clip toward you. I used an old screwdriver with the tip bent over. Once the clip is released the lock will pull straight out. You may need to use a putty knife to carefully free the lock from the door, there is a gasket and they get stuck over the years. You don't even need to disturb the door panel.

The original carpet was made in 2 pieces. One piece went from the back of the car to a few inches in front of the front seat. The other piece ran from the firewall to the front seat. It overlaps the rear piece. For access to the brake master cylinder flip the corner of the carpet over, right in front of the driver seat. For access to the Fluid Drive filler and transmission controls go around to the passenger side and roll back the carpet. The carpet and underlay just lay on the floor, they are not held down by the step plates. There may be a few snaps to hold it in position.

Glove box locks use the same key as the trunk at least in 49-52. Door and ignition use a different key. If you can find a locksmith he can fix your glove box lock to use your old trunk key. Or just carry 3 keys. Or, leave it unlocked and don't worry about a key.

Now where are we going to find someone who has both engines to measure and compare? Hmm wait a minute.

Usually in a case like this an auto machinist will knurl the guide and ream it to size. This is standard rebuild stuff.

A modern brake controller will work fine on 6 volts. They are adjustable, you normally have to dial them down so they are not too "fierce" on a 12 volt car. On 6 volts you just need to turn them up a little. There has been some discussion of this on a trailer board I look at. One member also towed an old trailer with 6 volt brakes, they worked fine but he had to dial the adjuster way down. Maybe you can find a vintage trailer that still has its 6 volt brakes? A trailer up to 2500 lbs and 15 ft in length should be no problem for your pickup truck. Have a look at this, a guy who towed a 15 footer with a 6000 lb DeSoto Suburban 8 passenger sedan with the 251 flathead 6 and Fluid Drive. http://www.allpar.com/cars/desoto/suburban-1951.html

It doesn't look like photoshop to me. It looks like a half finished experiment. Perhaps they got this far, tried it out, and abandoned the project before they got it on the road. One other question. Why does every car have whitewall tires?

When you wrap the material around the panel it makes a raised edge especially if you use landau padding. The Velcro goes inside that and when the 2 halves are pressed together it is quite thin.

How does the driver get to the cab? I see the steering box but what is it connected to? The Dodge flathead six is not very tall and sits well down in the frame. A car bumper could easily fit over it especially if the stock air filter was replaced with a low mounted remote. This may be an experiment made by a manufacturer of truck trailers. Note that only one of the cars is a Chrysler make, the Dodge in the middle. The others are all GM. If it came from the Chrysler shops it would have Chrysler cars on it. It would be better finished too. If not an experiment then some kind of "gag" photo made by the cut and paste method. I'm leaning toward an experimental model, perhaps an attempt to carry the largest number of cars and keep within some state's length limit.

They only added the zinc in 1951 after a rash of cam and lifter troubles in the first OHV V8s especially Studebaker and Chrysler. The old flatheads had light weight valve trains and light valve springs and were more or less immune to cam and lifter wear, except after very high mileages. I'm just saying, if you don't have a pushrod OHV engine you probably don't have anything to worry about. Either overhead cam, or underhead cam, engines should be OK.

The page you show is for Fluid Torque Drive, a torque converter which is different from a Fluid Drive unit. All torque converter type transmissions need periodic oil changes no matter what make they are. Fluid Drive is different. It is a sealed unit, and no oil changes are necessary. Every owner's manual and repair manual I have, states that you should check the oil level and top up if necessary every 10,000 miles but never mentions changing the oil. The only reference I have, which states specifically that you DO NOT need to change the oil is this one, an advertising pamphlet put out by Chrysler in 1941. It describes the Fluid Drive in detail, and in the FAQ section answers your question. Refer to the second and third question on this page. They say that after hundreds of thousands of miles of testing, they have never found it necessary to change the oil. http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1941/41FluidDrive/Page19.htm If you page back a couple of pages it says the same thing in slightly different words in paragraph 3. http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1941/41FluidDrive/Page16.htm

Notice that on all cars since the fifties the door is sealed by a vapor barrier of clear plastic, with caulking around the edges. This is important to stop the door panel from warping. Doors are always getting wet inside because the window rubbers are never water tight. Keep the drain holes open too. Forget the OEM clips, use Velcro to hold it on. Works perfect and makes it easy to remove the panel if you need to do repairs to the window mechanism or door latch. If your old panel is warped, torn and wrecked why not make a pattern of cardboard, if it is no good throw it away and start again. When you have the right shape trace it on your new panel. For a smoother more luxurious look use "landau padding". This is thin foam rubber 1/4" thick. Glue it on the panel then glue on the cloth. There is a method used by upholsterers to fit the cloth or padding. Lay it on the panel dry and move it around and smooth it out perfect. Then carefully fold one half back over the other half. Glue the first half. Then fold the other half over the first half and do the same.

Your truck will tow any kind of trailer you like, it just won't tow it very fast. If you want to tow a canned ham style trailer of up to 15 feet or a little bigger, to a local show, you should not have any trouble. When you get into the heavier models, or the newer trailers which are much heavier than the vintage models you may have problems. Even with a load equalizing hitch and trailer brakes, you are asking a lot of the old suspension and brakes. Speaking of towing trailers. I used to know an old mechanic who drove trucks during WW2. It was his job to deliver "wartime houses". These were small, 2 bedroom saltbox style 1 1/2 story houses built to house war workers around the many factories that were built or expanded at that time. He told me when he started they delivered a whole prefab house with 2 trucks. Later they put a trailer behind the trucks and delivered a house with 1 truck. He always drove a Dodge 5 ton truck. It handled the load even on steep hills (in low gear). One day they took away his Dodge and gave him a V8 Ford. He protested that a Ford would never handle a load like a Dodge but they would not listen. He set off to deliver a house to Hamilton and got half way up the Hamilton Heights when the Ford stalled out and would go no farther. He had to stop, block the wheels, set out flares and wait in the middle of the road till a cop came and sent for a wrecker. So, an old Dodge will tow a load. Whether the brakes and suspension are up to the job on modern roads is another question.

Happens I have a 49 Chrysler and a 51 DeSoto and have owned 52 Chrysler and worked on 53 and 54 Chrysler. All had the Fluid Drive and semi auto trans, and all had 2 switches on the carburetor. I have thought of installing a different carb, or dual carbs, or possibly fuel injection. But could never figure out a really good way to replace those switches. The best I could come up with was a couple of micro switches on the throttle linkage. So, I thought if someone had a good answer it might be a handy thing to know.

IF everything is right your car should start like a modern fuel injection car, red hot or stone cold. The only possible exception is some report vapor lock in very hot weather after driving for a while. Something is definitely wrong. Exactly what, I couldn't say. But if the trouble started after the carb rebuild that is a good place to look. I have found that you need to get the original factory manual, either from Plymouth or from Carter, and follow it exactly. Do not get ideas of your own, just cook book it together and it will work fine for you. The typical instruction sheet that comes with the carb kit, is incomplete and filled with errors. In most carbs there are 4 or 5 adjustments that must be exactly right and of course, the carb has to be clean all passages blown out and all parts present and correct. If the carb is right it pays to go over the ignition and recheck the advance, point gap or dwell, timing, and firing order. It is very easy to get plug wires out of place especially 3 and 4. Clean and gap the plugs. If they are very grimy get new ones. And of course, you have to have good compression (no burnt valves). There is no reason your car should not run like new if everything is right. One more thing. When you install a free exhaust or duals, it is sometimes necessary to richen the mixture at full throttle, in other words a larger main jet. But you will be able to tell this by the spark plugs after you run it for a little while.

There's one in every crowd. OK, What do you do about the 2 electric switches on the Fluid Drive car's carburetor with M6 transmission?

Dual carbs are pretty much a waste of money unless you do other things to improve breathing like dual exhaust with a split manifold or headers and hotter cam.

What do you do about the 2 electric switches on the Fluid Drive car's carburetor?

From the factory shop manual 49-52. This is for the larger Chrysler/DeSoto engine but should apply to your car. "To remove the valve tappets it is necessary to remove the camshaft and oil pan taking the tappets out through the bottom of the engine.When reaming valve tappet guides, using tool C-265, it is necessary to remove the cylinder head valves and valve springs in order to install the reamer pilot. If the valve tappet guides are excessively worn the tappets may be removed, the guides reamed and oversize tappets installed. Tappets are available in the following oversizes: .001 .008, .030, and .060." Looked in 2 books and can't find out how much clearance is recommended between tappet bore and tappet.

Austinsailor seems to have the best answer. Later IFS spindles will fit but you will have to bend the axle to get the correct king pin inclination. This is possible on an I beam axle but not sure about the tubular axle. In the 30s Dodge used both but I think the 36 was I beam.

Not sure what you are driving at. If you want to know which ones will bolt on I suggest you look up the king pin kits. I did this years ago for a Dodge pickup and found they used the same king pins from 1940 or 41 to 1970. Not sure if they are the same as car king pins. You might also look into the spindles or stub axles off a later independent suspension car. They used a king pin type suspension until 1956 in the US and I believe Australian built cars used the same suspension to 1962. Such an adaptation would likely require either reaming the axle oversize or sleeving it. It might also be necessary to bend the axle slightly if they do not share the same king pin inclination.

You can tap on the head as 49 Dodge said. Do not try to knock it loose with one John Henry smash, tap tap tap to vibrate or rattle it loose. You can also try driving a chisel between the head and block but go easy, you do not want to damage the mating surface just wedge them apart. Once the head comes loose you will have to work it straight up until it is past the broken off bolts. This can be done by prying and wedging back and forth from one end to the other.

The serial number is stamped on a pad on the left side of the block, just below the head, at the front, between the first and second cylinder. If it is not clear you can gently clean off dirt and rust with sandpaper or steel wool then highlight the numbers by rubbing with chalk. A strong light helps read it off too. Your original engine had a number starting with S7 as DeSoto 39 already pointed out. If it has been swapped out, it could have a P (Plymouth) D (Dodge) C (Chrysler) or T (Dodge truck) or even an IND (industrial) engine.