TodFitch

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

California yearly registration stickers are color coded for the year. I think that is so enforcement officers can just glance and see what year the sticker is for without having to actually read it. Anyway, they recycle the sticker colors. Not sure of the cycle, I guess I could look in the folder in the file cabinet some day to refresh my memory. I kept my car registered for all the years it was disassembled and simply put the unused stickers in a folder. Seeing them all in one place was what made me aware of the cycle. I'm guessing that you could go without being caught if the sticker color for your old registration happened to be the color for the current year. But a number of police departments around here, Palo Alto and San Jose for sure, are now mounting automatic license plate readers on some patrol cars. It is my understanding that the readers communicate directly with the a computer with a DMV database. Apparently they sound an alert for the officer if a car with an issue (reported stolen, too many tickets, registered to "a person of interest", etc.) is spotted. As the technology gets cheaper and all police departments clammer to get into the act, probably promoting it as a way to find terrorists, I can imagine that the yearly stickers might become obsolete as the automated stuff is looking at the actual plate numbers and running them through the database, not picking out the color of a sticker.

IIRC, yes. And you adjust the bolt to get the correct band to drum clearance (along with adjusting the nuts on the rod the actuating lever pulls).

Don't know much about your transmission as it is newer than the stuff on my car. But the symbol below the number is the old DPCD (Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler, DeSoto) logo used back in the '30s before the Chrysler owned Motor Parts Corporation became their brand for service parts and before Motor Parts Corporation was shortened to MoPar.

If its squealing then something is vibrating. I could be the spring but I'm guessing its the spring and shoes together. You've had the drums resurfaced so there is unlikely to be an issue there. I assume the linings are not contaminated since they are new. Is there a champfer on the leading edge of each lining? If not, that might make a difference.

Somehow I just focused on "Car 54 where are you?" Maybe I'm too old too. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqkcWCXTtFk

I've never understood this. Why not just put the tags on the car when you get them? Putting them in the glove box need not be part of the process. Near as I can tell the enforcement people don't care if you have next year's stickers on the car. Routine in my house is: 1. California mails the registration renewal form about 3 months before its due. 2. My wife mails the check almost immediately. 3. We get the sticker and new registration about 2 months before the old one expires. 4. I put it on the car, usually the same day as it arrives. So for a while my tag shows renewal expiring over a year later, no big deal. In fact two of our three vehicles show a November 2014 expiration at the moment.

I found through years of experience (i.e. multiple water pumps) that if I have the belt tight enough to move the engine, I'd be replacing the water pump in a few thousand miles. I keep mine just tight enough that the belt does not slip on the generator pulley. That works out to basically having the weight of the generator tighten the belt before I secure the bolts. Concur with Don on this. It may not easy to get out and fix. But finding a decent oil pressure gauge after you ruin the one you have because of over pressurizing it is not easy either. Not to mention which cork you might pop in the engine's oiling system leading to total failure on the road.

And why does that have to be an OR?

Greg, Are you referring to this found on page http://www.ply33.com/Parts/group3#3-F I just checked the '36-48 master parts book I got that from and think I've typed it in without clerical errors. So I guess it is an error in the original parts book. Or maybe I'm looking at the wrong set of foot notes.

The ones on the rear of my '33 measure 1 1/8 (see link I posted above to http://www.ply33.com/Parts/group3#53553 ) I guess mine could have been swapped out at some time but I suspect not. According to my parts book the nut should be the same one through '48 and by shel_bizzy_48's part book lists the same nut from '28 through '54.

HOV lanes are a different animal. Even when in a modern car I find people acting as you describe. When I'm in the old car on a freeway I am nearly always in the right hand lane. Coming back from Arizona in "horse returning to stable mode" I did my previously unthinkable: Drove I-5 up the central valley. Or maybe that should be "Central Valley", not sure if it should be capitalized. Speed limit there is 70 with nearly every non-semi doing at least 75. Still it seemed that my 60 MPH (or so) speed did not faze people. I will admit to keeping a close eye on the rear view mirror though. It does seem there are times an places you should not be driving an old and slow vehicle. At least you need to be careful with a Model T (probably 35 MPH maximum cruising speed) on some Texas highways. http://www.ktre.com/story/23605098/two-vehicle-wreck-shuts-down-southbound-traffic-on-us-69-near-wells?app&hpt=us_bn8

Amps is amps. For low frequency stuff this basically comes down to cross sectional area for wire and surface area for contacts. Think hose inside diameter if you are used to working with water or compressed air. Volts is volts. You are basically interested in how much insulation is required to contain it. Think pressure if you are used to working with water or compressed air. Electrical power is volts times amps. 15 amps at 125 volts is 1875 watts. And to get 1875 watts out of 12 volts you'd need 156 amps. By the way, that 1875 watts is the equivalent of about 2.5 horsepower. It seems unlikely that your window lift motors are anywhere near that. So that switch could handle a 2.5 hp motor if it were passing 125 volts. But it can only handle 15*12=180 watts (about 0.24 HP) at 12v.

Looks like they have grade 2 and stainless nuts in the correct size. My guess is grade 2 would be correct. That is based on two items. First, the original does not seem to be made of all that hard a material and is definitely not stainless. And second, stainless can gaul. Anybody else have a guess as to the better one to use? ===================== Edit: Looks like Dorman also has them so they should be available at a good auto supply: http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-32738-615-016.aspx?year=1953&make=Plymouth&model=Belvedere&parttype=Spindle%20Nut Interesting that Dorman suggests that they are one time use only and should be replaced each time. Next question: I think the washer needed under the nut is called a spindle washer. McMaster does have listing for spindle washers. Dorman does not specify which spindle washer is correct for your '54 but I am wondering if this one is close enough: http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-24410-618-061.aspx?year=1963&make=Plymouth&model=Belvedere&parttype=Spindle%20Nut%20Washer

Don't know about 1954 models, but Plymouth used the same rear axle castle nut from 1928 through at least 1948: http://www.ply33.com/Parts/group3#53553

From the web pictures I see, this looks plausible. Most of the images have a different front bumper and a radiator cap/hood ornament that differ but the car in this picture looks well used so those differences can probably be overlooked.

But based on this I'd have to say that drivers in California are more forgiving of old vehicles moving slowly than yours. Didn't notice any issues while I had the car in Arizona last spring either. Nor in Oregon the other year.

Might want to contact Dave Stromberg at Fat Fendered Relics. Fat Fendered Relics 114 Stout Rd. Silverlake, WA 98645 Telephone: +1.360.967.2061 email: dastromberg@comcast.net http://www.fatfenderedrelics.com

Between the local hardware store and the local auto supply store I've usually been able to come up with suitable sheet stock for making my own gaskets. Seems like it would not be too hard to create what I assume to be a washer shaped gasket of the appropriate inside and outside diameters.

If that actually goes to 60 amps as the switches and dial indicate, then that is a fairly substantial piece of gear that can do things your Harbor Freight can't. Like do a load test on your generator.

15 amps, same as for the 125v application. Might want to de-rate them a bit as a good DC switch has an anti-arc insulator to break any spark on high current applications while an AC switch doesn't need one as the arc will stop when the phase change occurs. On the other hand, I'd be a little surprised if it made much difference for something like you are using it for.

I suspect that those running boards are made by Buckeye Rubber. Seems like all the vendors of running boards all charge about the same price and seem to be the same product. If Buckeye Rubber isn't making them then they are probably getting them from the same place as everyone else.

I'd change the oil, put some oil in the cylinders as I tuned up the ignition. If you have a pre-oiler great, otherwise leave the plugs out and crank it over until some pressure shows on the gauge. Then try to fire it up. I wouldn't be too worried about low compression at first as the rings might be a bit stuck after sitting. But with 3K miles you have a new and just barely broken in engine there. I'd not even drop the pan unless something really surprising came out while changing the oil.

Given he has nearly 4,000 posts that list is pretty long. I don't see how to do a search that is a logical AND of the poster and keywords. But I haven't looked very hard yet. Near as I can tell, all the posts from the second generation of the forum were ported into this third generation format. The first forum was at one time archived into PDF files but I don't know what happened to those.

If you remember LBJ and Nixon as presidents in '79 then you have quite a different memory than I. Maybe you are remembering 1969. Except I think the first gas shortage was in '73.