TodFitch

Moved from the LA metro area to the SF Bay area 15 years ago. I found everything cost more in the Silicon Valley except auto insurance. Same drivers, same cars, insurance was half what I paid in the San Fernando Valley. Says something about what the insurance company thought about drivers in both areas. There are some really nice roads for old car touring just minutes from where I live now and no need to get on a freeway to get to them. I think Central and Northern California are more old car friendly, at least for stock running gear, than Southern California. And, except for the summer heat, the Central Valley has a bunch of ways you can get around on farm and secondary roads so it is pretty nice too.

Seems like a really bad idea to me. The beam pattern can't possibly be helped by having to sets of lenses spreading the light around.

Aways negative to negative and positive to positive. It is not very kind to the electrical system of either car to jump from 12v to 6v but I've done it. Or rather have done it in the distant past. Nowadays I'm wealthy enough to fix the underlying problem I might have with starting and can afford new batteries from time to time. Anyway, make your last connection as far from both batteries as possible as you don't want sparks near the hydrogen outgassing. Only have it connected for the shortest possible time (need two people: One to be in the driver seat ready to hit the starter and the other on the cables). Don't have the cars (bumpers) touching as that would connect positive to negative. Have all non-esential electrical devices off (all lights, radios, etc.) as you might damage them. My experience with this was back in the 1970s when the new 12v cars I jumped from had pretty bullet proof points type ignition and no fancy computerized engine controllers. Current new cars might not take so kindly to this type of electrical abuse as the older 12v cars.

Very cool Richfield station there. I recall that they advertised that they used a boron additive instead of lead. There is a very nice restored old gas station associated with the oil industry museum in Coalinga, only about 80 miles from you. Have you been there?

I don't know for sure on Plymouth, but I knew a fellow once with a '39 Chevy that had a factory installed (maybe optional, maybe standard equipment) vacuum assist unit on the shift linkage. I am guessing that it was a fad in the late 1930s, early 1940s for this type of equipment to be featured. So I don't think it was just a post war accessory for disabled veterans. As to how rare it is, I can't say. But I can say that if you are working on a car getting a copy of the factory service manual would be a very good thing and it would help on things like this.

The one on the steering is Chrysler part 103894 which is a 1" plug that crosses to Dorman 550-012. I don't see a listing in the 36-48 parts book for the one on the head. But the '28-33 parts book seems to list that as Chrysler part 117920, a 1 1/16" diameter plug which would be a Dorman part 550-014. They changed the head in '35 so it is very possible that the '33/34 head used a different part than later cars.

Perhaps a GPS unit would be useful. The Garmin eTrex I use when hiking and camping as well as the mapping apps for my Android phone I use when driving both have the capability to display metric as well as English distance units. If you have access to such a unit, setting it to display miles for your odometer check might be easier than finding sign posted distances that work out for easy checking.

Shel is correct, the odometer is gear driven so if it is off then you need to check the gearing or tire size. They make devices to compensate that goe between the transmission and the cable if you change out the rear axle, etc. You should check this first and correct it before worrying about the speedometer reading. If the odometer is correct then we are looking at the device busycoupe mentions: Basically the cable turns a bar magnet located inside an aluminum cup connected to the needle. As the magnet turns it creates eddy (electrical) currents in the aluminum which create an opposing force so the cup tries to spin with the bar magnet. The faster the magnet spins the more force is generated. A fine coil spring provides the return force and the balance between the spring and the magnetic force determines where the needle points. Three things can go wrong with this: 1. The pivot point gets dirty or worn. In this case the needle can get stuck a some points or will read a bit off on the side you appoached the speed from. This does not sound like your problem. 2. The magnet can lose it strength. In this case the speedometer will read low. I understand that a good repair place can replace the magnet and/or re-magnetize the one that is there. This is not a "at home" repair unless you happen to have a good set of tools for working on things like watches. 3. The spring gets weaker with age. In this case the speedometer will read high. For items 2 and 3, some speedometers are constructed so the fixed end of the spring is actually on a arm that is kept in place by friction. By moving the arm you can adjust how much return force there is and can compensate for some changes in the spring and/or magnet. However if the magnet is too weak then you'll find that if you adjust the instrument to read correctly at speed that it won't return to zero properly.

That would be Bill Atwood at Uvira, Inc. 310 Pleasant Valley Rd. Merlin, OR 97532 Telephone: +1.541.956.6880 Fax: +1.541.476.9096 email: uvira@terragon.com It is actually a glass coating over an aluminum deposit. I had my reflectors redone at least 20, maybe 30 years, ago and they are still in great shape. Between the quartz-halogen bulbs, the reflectors, and new wiring I am not afraid to take my car out at night. They are not up to modern standards, especially compared to the HID lamps in my newest (10 year old) car. But they are enough to get by. For my full blow by blow, see: http://www.ply33.com/Repair/lights

The type you describe is called "pre-focused" or "pre-focused base". The pre-focused type bulbs were used on Plymouth from, I think, 1935 through 1939. Prior to that a double contact bayonet bulb was used. The old miniature lamp guides will list the base on the pre-focused bulbs as "D.C. Pf. (A)" (Double contact pre-focused A) or "D.C. Pf. (S)" (Double Contact pre-focused S). The 2330 is a D.C. Pf. (A). The 2331 is not listed in my 1970 GE lamp guide but the 2338 has the same bulb shape, is also for 6v and the same candle power but is a D.C. Pf. (S). Classic and Vintage Bulbs in Australia make quartz halogen versions of these. You will get about 40% more light for the same power with quartz-halogen. But not long after I purchased directly from the manufacturer they got a US distributor which did two things: 1) Meant you could't order from the manufacturer anymore. And 2) had to pay about 3 or 4 times more for the same bulb.

Yes. At least that would be a method of getting the one out of my L-6 engine even though the head on mine is a bit different that on your later one. Just be careful popping out the freeze/welch/core plug as you don't want to damage the ether filled bulb.

Coil springs don't need lubrication. I suspect there is enough of an oil film on the valve stems and the loads on them are low enough at idle that there is no issue.

Remember that the L-6 engine was designed in the early 1930s when use of lead in gas was quite low. Thus the hardened valve seats from the factory. Lead content really climbed after WW2 which lead to a number of things like new engine designs with higher compression ratios, wide spread adoption of overhead valve designs which could achieve better flow at high compression ratios and and lack exhaust valve seat inserts. It also lead to other things outside the automotive realm in areas of public health but I think that not in the scope of this forum.

Mindful that the serial number lists came from engineering who considered P15 models as '46 through '48 versus marketing who called the ones built or sold in '49 as "first series": Serial Number: 12108613 Found in range: 11854386 to 12116123 Serial: 254228 of 261738 Year: 1948 Make: Plymouth Model Name: Special DeLuxe Model Code: P15C Plant: Detroit Engine: 6 cylinder 217.8 cu.in. L-head Wheelbase: 117 inches

Thanks!

Hi James, Do you have contact information for that guy? Finding good (concentric, unturned) drums for my car is nigh on impossible. I know there are some here that would use that as an immediate reason to swap the rear and put disks on the front, but I'd like options for keeping as stock as possible. Thanks!

I guess I should go search for it, but I recall on one of those instructional slide sets on the Imperial web site mention was made of brake linings that were thicker than stock to be used on drums that had been turned up to, if I recall correctly, 0.060". Makes sense to have thicker linings on the shoes so that the outside radius of the lining better matches the inside radius of the drum. But I had never heard about that before (or after) watching that instructional slide set.

What he said. I get all my tune up parts and most of my mechanical repair parts from my local better auto supply store. That's the one with the old guys barely visible behind the racks of paper catalogs. I like buy as much as I can through them to help keep them in business. So I even buy things like oil there even though I could get it cheaper elsewhere. In my case the better local auto supply is Bob's Auto Supply in downtown Sunnyvale which is a CarQuest affiliate. But even their books and computers don't go back far enough so you either have to bring in the part to match or build up your own list of modern cross references. Thus my parts cross reference project at http://www.ply33.com/Parts/numeric I only go up to 1948 but I suspect that many mechanical parts will be the same for 1949 as for 1948.

It appears that the address ought to be www.forwardlook.net not .com The domain name is registered to Dave Stragand and is paid through December 17, 2013. But the server seems to be redirecting. I am guessing that it is a server setup issue but can't say for sure.

Still running the fuel pump I rebuilt back in the early 90s. If I need to get it fixed the photos Don C. posted of the fuel pump rebuilt with a kit from Antique Auto Parts Cellar (a.k.a. Then and Now Automotive) has a pin that is longer and uses circlips to hold it in place. So I'd go that way.

Looks like the link to the Photobucket album is http://s51.photobucket.com/user/Randroid/library/Muddy%20Graham And one of the pictures in it is

As of the time this thread originally started, Paul Taylor is out of the heat shields and due to low demand was not planning on making more up.

Brandon resurrected a thread from last spring. . . So yes, I started the thread. But after that found the drawing in the older forum posts and uploaded it. Without, unfortunately, properly crediting the creator.

Images are for a front drum. I was under the impression that the topic was for a rear drum. I've never had an issue with removing a front drum.

Seems like everybody has laid off their proof readers, even the Vatican: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/world/europe/coins-celebrating-pope-misspell-name-above-all-names.html?_r=0