TodFitch

Maybe he doesn't own it but thinks he can get it cheap off the current, ignorant, owner if he gets a high enough offer from the Internet. Side question: When did paddy wagons go out of favor with police departments? I don't think I've ever seen a paddy wagon in use other than in historical photos. I'm guessing that paddy wagons were from the days when most policing was done on foot so they needed to call in a special unit to haul arrested people off. Looks like modern police cars are equipped to haul felons in the rear seat so they don't need that. When did that transition occur? 1940s? 50s? 60s?

False advertising to say "Mopars from 1933 to 1953" as it looks like they are only from '35 when Chrysler Corp. switched to Auto-Lite. I don't see any of the earlier Delco-Remy stuff there.

The things I noticed would be for Plymouth "Commercial" vehicles (i.e. trucks) in the 1930s for which I have a parts book. But thanks! I might take you up on that if I my own reference material comes up short. Won't have time to look for a couple of days though...

Thanks for bumping this thread. I was unaware of this vendor and it looks like a number of the early truck parts they list also fit on my '33 Plymouth. Got to verify part number references, but I think I might have an order for them.

If I recall reading it correctly, DOT5 is less dense than DOT3 and DOT4 which means the DOT5 would be on top. And that is one of the problems in converting to DOT5 - you will never get all the DOT3 out of the cylinder without disassembling everything as the bleeder is on the top. Apparently the interaction of the DOT3 and DOT5 in the cylinder over time is what causes the problem with the quick and dirty "just swap the fluid" method of converting. And I've read that flushing with denatured alcohol can cause issues with the rubber components... Basically if you are going to switch fluid types you want to be doing it when you are totally overhauling the brakes and have all the cylinders open... Best time is if/when you are replacing all the components including all of the steel tubing.

Concur with C38Spitfire6: You want to use whatever is in there now. DOT5, when new, has a purple dye. While mine has stayed purple for 20 years, I've heard that the dye can degrade over the years and the color go away. But DOT5 has nearly no smell while DOT3 has a very distinctive smell. Not sure about DOT4. So you can probably tell by that. If not, then DOT3 is a pretty good paint remover while DOT5 will not ruin old paint (just make putting new paint on a pain), so that is another test. The most likely situation is that it has DOT3 in it now.

I don't think so... I use Safari on my home computer and haven't noticed any particular problem.

I'd guess it was a first generation electronic key. But what it is supposed to actuate/open I can't say.

The '33 189.8 (190) cu. in. engine and the '34 201 engine do not have the full length water jacket and the block is not as wide as the '35 and up engines. So the head and head gasket for '33/34 are different than all the later Plymouth L-6 engines. 1933 - 189.8 cu.in. First year for the L-6 on Plymouth a number of running changes, especially in the oil pump and oil pressure relief system, so check your engine number carefully! 1934 - 201 cu. in. Basically a stroked late '33 engine. Shares same main and connecting rod bearings and pistons but uses different crank and rods. 1935-41 - 201 cu. in. Same crank, bearings, rods pistons as '34 but wider block to accomodate water distribution tube and full length water jackets.

He does have a nice setup for a old car or old truck guy (old for the cars and trucks, not necessarily old for the guy). Just noticed you're in Hollister... We'll try to remember to wave at you as our group of old Plymouths passes through on Tuesday, April 9th on our way to Tucson... Should have three vehicles at that point, picking up more in Coalinga and Lebec.

I kept up registration for all the years that my car was apart. At the time it seemed easier than dealing with non-op. And they changed the non-op rules while my car was apart so I'm still that I paid the registration. Back in that day they didn't require proof of insurance for registration and insurance is the expensive item. If I recall correctly, they started requiring proof of insurance in 1998 so after that it would have been a lot more expensive to do what I did. Anyway, I bypassed the penalty fees for failing to either register or pay non-op on the car. However I am a bit puzzled: How can the DMV hold you responsible for the previous owner's failure to register or non-op the vehicle? Seems like you should only be on the hook for the period of time since you purchased it...

Sure wish you'd have sent it to our mountains. Been a lousy ski season here and the with the snow pack at 66% of normal the water situation is starting to look grim again.

Don't know a thing about VPW master cylinders. The one photo I looked at shows a cylinder similar to the one currently available through NAPA for less. And those both match the one I bought from a Mopar specialty supplier 15 or more years ago before I figured out that I could have gotten it cheaper. I don't know where that master cylinder was manufactured but it went out this year and I put in the original master cylinder that I had Sierra Specialties resleeve a few years ago. (The original for my '33 looks a bit different from the VPW one and I wanted to return to a stock look and the MC is visible on my car with the hood open so I had it resleeved and was waiting for a "round tuit" to install it.) I don't recall how much I spent to resleeve. I try not to remember how much I spend on the car. But I guess I could look it up in my records. He posts his prices on his web site though. http://www.brakecylinder.com/prices2011.htm Hmmm. That page now says "We have retired and are no longer accepting work. Information on this website is presented for historical and educational purposes only." So I guess I shouldn't recommend him any more.

Not sure who you are planning to have re-sleeve your cylinder but... my master and wheel cylinders came back from Joe at Sierra Specialties looking wonderful inside and out. I don't know how he cleans them up, but bead blasting was not neccessary.

Glad to hear that you might be getting some progress on both your local registration authorities and those in Texas. Don't worry about your geographic knowledge of local names in the US. For example if someone says they are from California they could be from the town of California in the state of Pennsylvania only 2,100 highway miles from the border of the state of California. About the same as the driving distance from London in the UK to Ankara, Turkey

If I understand it correctly, Australia banned the import of LHD vehicles quite sometime ago. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been such a ban on RHD vehicles in the US. So while they may be rare (other than postal delivery vans) there is no particular legal issue with having one. And back in the day when the US exported to the world the assembly lines were setup to build both RHD and LHD vehicles, so special ordering one was possible even if it was not commonly done.

If I recall correctly, you are located in the LA metro area. Maybe Glendale or a bit further east. Call Bob Amos at Premier Auto Electric in Riverside. He has old Mopar vehicles, he is a member of the Plymouth Owners Club and his shop specializes in automotive electrical work. Not sure what he will charge you but I am confident that he can make your electrical system work the way it is supposed to. I don't know his business phone but it should be in the Yellow pages.

Many modern rear axles have their axle shaft bearings lubricated by the gear lube in the housing, so that is probably what the mechanic was thinking. However, as noted by Plymouthy Adams, that is not the case with our old Mopar rear axles. Just because the mechanic knows about newer cars does not mean he is guru on all older cars too.

The foot operated dimmer switch, at least on my car, is in a location where it can get a lot of spray when driving in the rain. As a result it may have corrosion and higher resistance than one would want. I'd recommend putting the relay after the foot dimmer switch in the circuit to avoid that possibility of high resistance. Which means one side would be used for the high beams and the other for the low. Modern cars, if equipped with fog lights, seem to have the fog lights only activated on the low beam. If the relay is not heavy enough duty to run both fog and low beams then a separate relay for the fog lights could be used.

Not sure why you had to polarize each time... Shop that rebuilt the generator had to test it and to test it they had to polarize it. I've had generators that were on a shelf that started right up with the correct polarity without being polarized. Anyway checking the generator is easy: While the engine is running ground the field terminal on the regulator. If the generator goes to full charging the generator is good. Don't leave it that way for long or you'll burn it up. If it doesn't go to full charge, then there is a problem with the generator. Now that I think about it, it may not be so easy: A short or open on the field wire could give you issues with that test... But you say you've replaced the wires. That "bright as noon day sun" part and the pegged ammeter tell me that, at that time, the generator was doing maximum output and likely you had either a bad regulator or shorted field wire. If the generator is not charging now, do the test. It is possible that you've got another bad regulator.

So I just went out to the garage and read some labels... The Arm & Hammer washing soda contains sodium carbonate. The TSP branded cleaning stuff also contains sodium carbonate. So you are right on that account and I was unaware that they were the same. However the box of TSP that we actually use, inherited from the in-laws, says it is trisodium phosphate. Doing a little digging I came up with this: So I guess the TSP you get today is not really TSP but a substitute and the box that we are using must be from the '60s or early '70s.

Looking at the brake pedal on my '33, there is at least a 5 to 1 leverage (pedal goes down about 5 inches for each inch of master cylinder piston travel). I can press 200 lbs with one leg. I assume in an emergency stop the excitement could lead me to do more. So were are looking at about 1000 lbs on the master cylinder piston. My master is 1 1/8" in diameter or almost exactly 1 sq. inch. So we have 1000 psi on a quick and dirty calculation. For a reasonable safety factor I'd guess that the brake system should be able to hold at least 1500 psi and maybe 2000 psi. That is a bit more the 100 psi.

For electrolytic rust removal you only need a tablespoon or so of washing soda in a large bucket of water. Purpose is to provide some electrolyte. All the work is done by the battery charger and sacrificial metal. It is an amazingly effective, fast and thorough way to remove rust. I don't see that TSP would be any better.

On the '33 and, I think, '34 Plymouth cars an identical looking parking brake handle is on an L shaped bracket that is bolted on to the back side of the same frame cross member that holds the rear motor mounts.

If you are handy with a soldering iron you can fix it yourself: http://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge