Rusty O'Toole

The king pin is held in by a tapered pin about 1/4" dia pushed in at 90 degrees to the king pin. It needs to be driven out with a punch before removing the king pin. I recommend taking the axle right off the vehicle and pressing out the king pins with a hydraulic press. Take the whole axle minus brakes and hubs to an auto machine shop, have them press out the pins and bearings, install the new bearings and hone them on their Sunnen hone for a perfect fit. The whole job takes them about a half hour to an hour, the last one I had done they only charged $35 but that was 10 years ago, probably $75 to $100 now but well worth it to have an axle that works perfect for the next 50 years.

One thing that surprises me is that the last passenger car flatheads (57-59 230 cu in) were rated at 132 HP an advance of 40% in 10 years. Wonder how they did it.

This guy put one on his 51 DeSoto in 1952 and drove it 180,000 miles. Very interesting story of long term ownership, use and maintenance of a DeSoto Suburban 8 pass sedan. Including how to keep one cool while towing a trailer through Death Valley, no kidding. http://www.allpar.com/cars/desoto/suburban-1951.html A clutch fan would be ideal but don't believe there is room for one in your car.

So the good for nothing bum son in law was right. Ironic.

If it keeps doing this once the cooling system is full it means the thermostat is sticking and not opening when it should. There are a lot of defective and short lived thermostats around these days.

Now that you know what your steering mechanism looks like it will only take 10 minutes next time.

Most likely a bad regulator but you should check the wiring while you are at it. Something is causing the generator to overcharge the battery.

Everyone should read this thread. 10 minutes under the car beats 2 weeks on the net when it comes to fixing things.

Don't force anything. Examine it carefully and see how it comes apart. Somebody put it together, it didn't grow on a tree that way.

You may want to take the thermostat and drill a 1/8 hole in it. This is to bypass the thermostat allowing air to bleed off and also to allow a little circulation when it is closed. Many thermostats have this hole, I seem to recall the stock flatheads had such a hole with a jiggle pin to prevent it getting clogged up.

It depends how far you want to go and how much you want to spend. Basic hop up, low in cost and max bang for the buck: Shave head for more compression. Have a new exhaust made 1/2" larger than stock. Holley Weber carb on an adapter. Mild cam from Edgy. By the way, if your engine has more than 50,000 miles on it you will have to take it apart and rebuild or at least freshen it up first. Check crankshaft and bearings, pistons and rings, grind valves, generally overhaul or rebuild as necessary. If you hop up an old engine there is a good chance it will blow sky high in a month or two. The engine has to be in good shape before you start hopping it up or it will never last. On the other hand an "iffy" engine can go for thousands of miles if you leave it stock and baby it a little. There is a good chance if you overhaul the engine, or do a ring and valve job and get it running right, you won't need more power. The old flatheads will continue to run without complaint in an advanced state of wear. Do a compression test first and check your oil pressure. If it shows signs of weakness definitely overhaul or rebuild first.

There has to be a washer in there to seal leaks and there has to be a way to replace it. One of us should have a careful look. You are closer than I am.

It should be possible to remove the bolt and replace the washers that seal it. Have never seen one with a banjo fitting. There should be some fiber washers or copper washers like on an oil pan drain plug. They are supposed to be changed when you change the oil filter cartridge. If they are worn or missing see if a parts store has some drain plug washers that will fit.

It is either brakes out of adjustment or master cylinder needs to be filled, possibly because of a brake fluid leak or worn out master cylinder. Do the brake adjustment first. Then check the master cylinder and top up if necessary. While you are under the car inspect the brakes for fluid leaks and the master cylinder too. If this is beyond you, you need to find an old mechanic who knows how to do it, and/or get yourself a repair manual.

Hydrive feeds oil to the torque converter from the engine crankcase. That is why an oil change takes 10 quarts (11 with filter). So, if the crankcase is full the torque converter should be full. Do you have experience of the Hydrive? It is a combination of manual and automatic trans, you have to shift to high manually like a 3 speed manual trans?

I've seen another MC conversion where they left the old one on and mounted the new one behind it with a long pushrod going through the old MC.

There is an old trick which I am not recommending just passing along for information. Hot rodders used to drain off up to half the oil from the fluid drive for faster takeoff. It had the same effect as a high stall speed torque converter. Recommended fluid was Chryco or MoPar Fluid Drive oil, no longer available. #10 motor oil could be substituted. Today we use tractor oil, TDH type, ISO 32 grade which is a little thicker than #10 oil. It would actually be better to use ISO 22 if you can find it because it is thinner. The thinner oil flows better and transmits more power with less friction.

When I say "idle down in gear" I mean come to a stop at a stop light and sit there with the car in gear, the brake on, the engine idling but not moving. When the light turns green, take your foot off the brake step on the gas and go. At idle speed (450 RPM) the fluid drive will slip or maybe move forward very slowly, say 97% slippage and 3% drivage. The faster you rev it the more it grabs hold until at hiway speeds, say 2000 RPM you have 97% drivage and 3% slippage. There is always a slight slippage because you do not have a solid connection as has been pointed out. If you want to sit idling without the fluid drive engaged, please do not sit there with the clutch out. Shift into neutral and release the clutch. If you ride the clutch you can burn out the throwout bearing. It is not a very big or expensive part but you have to take the tranny out to replace it. It will not hurt anything to idle in gear with the ammeter showing a slight discharge and the oil pressure low. Now you have to use your common sense here. I am talking about 2 or 3 minutes at a stop light, not idling all night with the headlights on.

1954 Chrysler 265, 119HP 218 ft lbs of torque. 1954 Plymouth 218, 100HP 177 ft lbs of torque. 57-59 Plymouth 230, 132HP 205 ft lbs of torque. Wonder what they were feeding the newer Plymouths. They had higher compression and possibly some other improvements.

Canadian made Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrylser and Dodge trucks all used the same basic engine 1938 -1959 for cars, up to 1962 in 2 ton trucks and 1968 in military Power Wagons (like the ambulance on MASH). They were made until 1972 for industrial, stationary power plants and marine engines. There were 2 different piston sizes, 3 3/8 usually found in Plymouth, Dodge and Dodge trucks (although some early 40s DeSotos used them) and 3 7/16 for DeSoto and Chrysler. Note that the difference is only 1/16". A Plymouth or Dodge block can easily be bored out to DeSoto/Chrysler size with no problems. The blocks could be bored up to 1/8" as part of a normal rebuild, and with today's sonic testing can be bored even farther. Then, there were several crankshafts with different strokes. Most common were 4 1/16, 4 1/4, 4 1/2. The largest was 4 3/4 used in the 53 and 54 DeSoto and Chrysler, some trucks and the largest industrial and marine units. There were only 2 different pistons and they differed only in diameter. Each different crankshaft came with matching connecting rods of the correct length. Crankshafts and rods can be interchanged only in sets. Use the wrong length rod and your pistons will stick up above the block, or fail to rise high enough. Engine sizes, 3 3/8 X 4 1/16 = 218 (Plymouth, Dodge, Dodge truck) 3 3/8 X 4 1/4 = 228 (Dodge, Dodge truck, prewar DeSoto) 3 7/16 X 4 1/4 = 237 (DeSoto, Chrysler) 3 7/16 X 4 1/2 = 251 (DeSoto, Chrysler, Dodge truck) 3 7/16 X 4 3/4 = 265 (DeSoto, Chrysler, Dodge truck) All these were also available as industrial engines. I even have a 225 cu in industrial engine, 3 7/16 X 4 1/16. As you live in farming country you might keep an eye open for old Massey combines. They used Chrysler industrial engines. So did a lot of other equipment makers. I have one off a water pump and another off an air compressor and have seen them in air compressors and combines. The air force used a lot of aircraft tugs with Chrysler flatheads as well as generator sets and air compressors. Also road rollers and other road building equipment. They were made until 1972 for industrial use. Dodge trucks used them until 1959 very much in various sizes, after that only the 251 and 265 in 1 1/2 ton and larger trucks. There should be some old Dodge trucks sitting around. One thing you have to watch out for is blocks cracked by frost. The block must be drained separate from the rad by a tap on the left side. I have seen a block split lengthwise down the whole left side, but often there is a horizontal crack behind the starter. A frozen block is not the kiss of death if it is not too bad but if you can find a good block no use fixing a cracked one. 56 or newer is good if you want to go 12 volt, that is when they changed. The flywheel ring gear is different as well as the starter. The 1958 up head is supposed to be the best for power and compression. Some engines had full flow oil filters, these were found on Chrysler and DeSoto starting in the late 40s. They had larger pipes on the oil filter, or a tower type oil filter. There is nothing wrong with the partial flow filter as long as you change oil regularly. They are found on the cheaper Plymouth Dodge and Dodge truck engines. I can't believe there are no old Dodge trucks or Chrysler powered farm implements in fence rows and old machine sheds in Saskatchewan.

You are right, OEM parts are getting scarce, however the transmissions and fluid drive units are very rugged and long lived and there seems to be a fair number of used units and parts available.

That sounds about right. You should be able to come up to a stop light, idle down in gear, step on the gas and drive away like an automatic. Your engine is supposed to idle at 450 RPM and max out at around 3500, much slower than today's engines. So a low stall speed is necessary with your motor.

For the record Tom McCahill tested a 1948 Dodge with Fluid Drive and described it as being on the slow side for a 100HP car. To put this in perspective the Dodge was a medium price car and more powerful than the typical Chev or Plymouth. But even by the slow standards of the day the Dodge was no ball of fire. McCahill was no fan of automatic transmissions. At that time all automatics were slower than their manual trans counterparts.

265 with full flow oiling! Score! It may be a little late but have you considered trading your truck for one with fluid drive? I expect a lot of guys would rather have the manual trans. or maybe it's just me.

You should be able to shift into gear and release the clutch fully with the brakes on, or handbrake applied. Then release the brakes and drive off like an automatic. The sensation of pulling away, should be the same as driving a modern automatic. This is if you are in low or second. If you start off in high should do it without protest but very slow off the line. If your fluid drive unit is not slipping like an automatic, it could be broken or faulty. They almost never break down or freeze up but I suppose after 60+ years anything can happen.