Rusty O'Toole

I always cut the hasp then braze it back together after I take the lock off. Easier than cutting the hardened lock, cheaper too. I can braze them up a couple of times before I have to buy a new one.

It does not matter if the condenser is on the coil or in the distributor. Some English motorcycles came with the condenser on the coil, they did not have room inside the engine. Connect to the wire that goes to the points. It should be the same value as the stock one. .25 to .28 UF (microfarads).

Try polarizing again sometimes it doesn't "take" the first time. You have to keep the wire on for 1 or 2 seconds. Check the wiring someone could have mixed up the wires. Did the generator work before?

Is dorsumache Brazilian for a lifter?

You can put in a 440 motor if you want. But you will also have to replace the transmission, drive shaft and the rear axle. Of course the original steering will have to go as it is in the road. And you will need new front suspension with disc brakes to handle the extra power. New wheels and tires of course. While you are at it don't forget the new radiator, and Oh ya you will have to rewire the car and replace everything in the electrical system to convert to 12 volts. A good hot rod shop should be able to do the whole job for you, for around $50,000. Or, you could just go buy a car that came with a V8 and save all that work and expense.

The vibrators often wear out on old car radios. Sometimes they can be repaired although they are supposed to be sealed units. It is also possible to find NOS replacements. You could try the vintage suppliers like Andy Bernbaum or Roberts Motor Parts. Or do a web search for tube radio parts. Do you have the part number? It is also possible to make or buy a solid state vibrator using transistors. I have seen plans in old electronics hobbyist magazines. Perhaps a web search will turn something up. The solid state vibrator eliminates the faint hum that comes from the mechanical vibrator. ........................................... Later ................................. A solid state vibrator schematic: http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/newsletter_articles/vibrator.pdf Another version, this time in German http://www.antik-radio.de/radio/projekte/projekt_zerhacker.htm Both turned up with a quick web search.

Did you inspect the plugs? Are they coated with black oily deposits? Do these deposits defy your efforts to clean them off? After cleaning, are the plugs still dingy and dirty looking? If so you need new plugs or you need to sandblast the old ones. I prefer to clean the old ones, get the motor running, then replace the plugs as part of a complete tuneup (if the motor is worth a tuneup).

Be careful of the ozone generator, the ozone deteriorates some materials like plastic and cloth. It is also bad for your health.

Best and easiest is to repair, overhaul or rebuild your motor. They are simple, parts are available and not very expensive. When they are in good shape they turn in a good performance on the road, although hardly a race car. If you are curious look up Jay Leno's web site and his 1941 Plymouth coupe. He takes it out on the road and discusses its performance merits and demerits. What he says would apply with equal force to your car. There is no other motor that will fit your car. The bigger flathead six from a DeSoto or Chrysler will squeeze in but any V8 has serious interference with steering and requires replacing the transmission and rear axle as well. Much better and easier and cheaper to fix the motor you have. They are a good old motor, if the rod is not sticking through the block and the block is not frozen and cracked it should be possible to put it back in commission.

Yes double check the firing order it is real easy to mess them up especially switching #3 and #4 (my favorite trick). You could also have gummed up spark plugs. This is common when starting an old motor for the first time. If they get coated with oil and old gas they can get a dark glaze on them that seems to conduct electricity and drain off the spark. The only cure I have found is sandblasting. I have a little spot blaster used for bodywork. It plugs onto the air hose, it has a pot like a paint gun for the sand and a cloth bag that catches the used sand. They come with a set of rubber nozzles, the round one is perfect for spark plugs. If you sandblast your plugs blow them clean with air then inspect under a strong light. There is usually a couple of pieces of grit stuck inside, pick them out with a needle ( I use a plug gapping tool). File the center electrode square and gap the plugs a little smaller for easy starting. How is your choke working? Your truck probably has a hand throttle as well as a hand choke, they must be set right to get it to start. Usually half to full choke depending on temps and throttle barely pulled out. Did you clean the points? If you disturbed their setting you will need to retime the motor, even changing the gap will put the timing off.

I did an electronic conversion on another make of car by adapting the Ford thick film ignition module to a points distributor. It works much better than the original and cheaper too. By using the matching Ford coil it gives a very powerful spark. Some have the module in the distributor, some are remote mount on a finned heat sink. Those are better, the ones on the distributor sometimes overheat and fail. The points will last almost indefinitely because they act only as a trigger and do not carry the full amperage of the ignition. Just check them for wear once a year and add a dab of grease.

Wonder how it runs with the distributor off?

Search The Fender Skirt King in Oshawa Canada.

Could do a search for Andy Bernbaum and Roberts Motor Parts.

If you put the battery in backwards the ammeter will read backwards. It is supposed to be positive ground, the opposite of today's cars. If the battery is backwards the car will run anyway. You can switch the battery around but you will need to polarize the generator.

Around here they put a donkey or 2 in with the sheep, they will kick the hell out of a coyote or wolf.

Have you taken it off and inspected it? Could be just a leaky fitting. There are plenty of those filters around, I have a few in the garage. A picture would help identify the exact model.

Hope no one minds me posting this again but I never get tired of it. If you want to know what a flathead six is capable of read this report. It was done by the original owner of a 1951 DeSoto Suburban 8 passenger sedan who drove the car 180,000 miles between 1951 and 1975 I think this is my favorite part: 'Incidentally, any car loses power at high elevations, It is particularly apparent towing a trailer over Loveland Pass, nearly 12,000 feet, although low gear is more than adequate. But the surprising thing is that the car has no difficulty maintaining high speed with the trailer at high elevation on nearly level ground. The decrease in wind resistance is so pronounced at 10,000 feet in the high Colorado Valleys, that it will run at 70 easily, even up a slight grade. And the compression pressures are so reduced that the engine smoothes out like a perfectly balanced turbine." 70 MPH in a 6000 pound 8 passenger sedan, with a flathead 6 and 4.11 gears, towing a trailer. http://www.allpar.com/cars/desoto/suburban-1951.html

It could be "on topic" if it was a Massey-Ferguson tractor made between 1938 and 1947. The MH101, 101 Super and 201 used Chrysler Industrial six cylinder flathead engines. Quite a luxury for a 2 plow rating tractor at that time. They also said it was the first tractor made by a full line farm equipment manufacturer with electric start as standard equipment. SOME feature! You could put in your Massey Super 92 combine as well, they also used the Chrysler engine.

No. Forgetting the old jalopies and buying a new car is the easiest and cheapest way to go. Or, if you want a Camaro why not just buy a Camaro?

On the straight 12 question... some very large six cylinder engines had dual ignition. Pierce Arrow used such an engine up to 1928. Rolls Royce, McFarlan, and other luxury cars had them as well. Nash made dual ignition straight six and straight eight engines up to the early 40s. Someone who saw one of the huge pre 1920 straight sixes, with over 500 cu in and cylinders cast in pairs might mistake it for a straight 12. Eccentric auto maker Gabriel Voisin drew up a straight 12 model in the mid thirties. It had 2 of his straight six engines end to end and a strange drive system using connecting rods in place of a drive shaft. Somehow I doubt it was ever built.

RE: breaking the top ring land or breaking pistons. This is fairly common on old Chrysler flatheads that have a lot of miles on them. They develop a ridge above the top ring from wear. If the rod bearing and wrist pin also wear, eventually this allows the top ring to hit against the ridge especially if you rev the motor higher than it is used to. At least, this is my theory of what breaks pistons. I suspect if you use modern low tension rings the ridge will not develop, and if you use synthetic oil wear will be kept to a minimum and this will not happen.

I don't think they were soft. In fact everything I can find out indicates the Chrysler made engines used better materials, better design and more accurate workmanship than their main rivals. The flathead motors came from a time when hiway speeds were 45 or 50 MPH. Higher speeds led to faster wear on all makes. My answer would be use quality parts, carefully fitted. Use the modern low tension piston rings or moly filled rings. Break in the engine carefully then use synthetic oil and of course, a good oil filter and air filter. With these precautions it should be possible to extend engine life to 100,000 miles or more.

Is it a double decker fuel pump? The upper story is for the wipers. It is a vacuum pump to supplement engine vacuum. Ports should me marked "wiper" and "manifold" or words to that effect. Hook it up and your wipers will not stall out on hills. You should be able to blow through in the direction of fuel flow but not the other way, if the valves are working. This does not tell you if the diaphragm is shot. Depends how old they are, most fuel pumps rebuilt since the 80s are immune to gasohol, older ones soon fail on today's so called gas.

Spark plug 6 cyl 1946 -56 Plymouth, Autolite AR-80 Plymouth 1956 6 cyl distributor, points 1343 581 regular, 2084 075 heavy duty. Dist cap 2084 654, Rotor 1343 587, condenser 1818 757. These are from a Chryco parts catalog of about 1964. See if your local Chrysler dealer can get the exact factory parts you need.