TodFitch

If the wiring is new then it should address some of the issues. You should check with RIwire and find out if they used the stock gauge (highly likely). If so then it is still limited to the original design. But in addition to your wires you should look at the switches (off/park/light switch and the high/low beam switch). I know the one in my 1930s Plymouth was only rated for 10 amps or so, about 60 watts total. Your newer vehicle is probably a bit beefier but maybe not much. By the way, my degree is also ME. But for simple stuff like this there is really only two equations E=IR and P=IE (where E is voltage, I is current and R is resistance). Actually I guess there is another couple: Resistance in series is simple addition Rtotal = R1 + R1. But resistance added in parallel is an inversion 1/Rtotal = 1/R1 + 1/R2. That, and looking at the power or current ratings on each component, are just about all you have to know for all the electrical on our old vehicles.

Hmmm. Gates 23936 crosses to NAPA NBH 1135 which is different than the NAPA NBH 1055 listed earlier. Looking on the NAPA Online web site it looks like they are both fuel rated and both 2.25" diameter. But the 1135 is rated for 20 psi while the 1055 has no pressure rating at all. My guess is the 1055 is a better match to the original. And a little OT, I noticed that the gas tank drain plug changed early in the P15 production. The very early ones used part 112304 which the standard parts group shows as being a 3⁄8-18 plain brass hollow square head pipe plug. The later 1946 and up P15 production uses part 1122359 which is not in the 1944 standard parts book that I have. The illustration for part type code 14-86-13 shows a recessed head plug for maybe a allen or hex key. Any idea what the specifications are for that plug and/or its associated gasket (part 1122361)?. Thanks!

Not sure about the nuts, they might be an odd thread as the pipes take a regular plumbing nipple. At least on my Hadees heater. For the washers: On the engine side of the firewall they do use a large washer. Might be able to make one using a metal hole saw and some 1/16" or so stock. Inside the passenger compartment mine uses some U channel, maybe 4" to 6" long, rather than washers. Looks like it spreads the load out over more of the firewall sound deadening material than washers would. As near as I can tell, my heater was installed when my car was only a year or two old. So I think I have the original mounting hardware on mine.

Viewed from the front of the car, the crankshaft rotates clockwise. So the flywheel rotates clockwise and any gear in contact with it (i.e. the starter gear) will turn the opposite direction (counter-clockwise).

Watts is watts. Matters not if the resistive load is incandescent or quartz-halogen. My worry was that according to that web page the H4 is rated at 60 watts on high beam and 55 watts on low. Your original headlights were 40 watts on high and 30 watts on low. So you'll be pushing alot more power than the wiring, switches and maybe generator were designed for. Even the currently available 6006 headlights are only 40 watts. For the same wattage a quartz-halogen bulb typically puts out 40% more light than an incandescent. To between the higher wattage and higher efficiency (more light per watt) you'd be getting about twice the light out as stock. So it could well be a great modification if you do any driving at night. You just don't want to overload any other part of your 60 year old electrical system.

I hadn't seen that article. Sounds like an interesting upgrade/repair. Based on the wattage of the H4 bulb, I'd recommend installing a headlight relay and maybe upgrading the generator.

neh 1055 shows up as a water pump on NAPA Online. nbh 1055 shows up as 2.25" "Gas filler neck hose".

Chet Brzostowski has scanned the entire 1936-48 Plymouth parts book. I don't recall the exact link and password needed but I bet that Don Coatney has it and can follow up. That book will tell you which cars used the same parts.

Cool. Someone else with a Hadees heater. I've got one in my 1933 Plymouth that I believe was installed when the car was a year or so old. I did not realize that they were still being made into the late 1940s.

I do that, but with only one tail lamp on the car I do like to check it as I drive. After all, it could burn out at any time. If there were two tail/brake lights on the car then it would not be as big a deal as it would be unlikely that both would burn out at the same time.

Just looking over the two sites, High Speed has a version with white LEDs around the edge and red facing out. For an older car like mine where the license plate illumination is from the same bulb as the tail/brake this would work much better than any I see on the Super Bright LED site. One drawback to both: I check the functioning of my brake light while I'm driving by looking at the ammeter. I'd guess that an LED version would not draw enough current to show on the meter.

The miniature lamp guides that I have list the bases as "bayonet" if the pins are on the same line or "index" if the pins are staggered. The "signal lamp" (tail light) bulb for my 1933 is a 1158 which is listed as a 6v double contact bayonet (i.e. pins are not staggered). The staggered pin version is a 1154.

At the POC events I've attended, the local hosting region was disqualified for the attendance award. Seems like the neighboring POC region gets the attendance award.

Thanks for the update. I've added the NAPA FIL 1002 as a possible choice to my database entry for the "sock type" filter element.

The water pump has 5/16 thread? I though they were all the same and the parts book for my 1933 Plymouth (first year for the ancestor of the 218) uses 3/8" studs. I guess the "big block" uses a different water pump altogether then. On the off chance that they are actually the same, my 33 uses: One each: Short stud part 103196 (3⁄8-16-24x1 Plain steel stud) Two each: Long stud part 112572 (3⁄8-16-24x1 5⁄8 Plain steel stud)

The YouTube title said GM but the cars had UCLA on them. Here is something else from UCLA: http://www.archive.org/details/safety_through_seat_belts

There is also a factory parts book. But you have your answer in this thread already:

I haven't tried this on my car but I do know that Bon Ami and Barkeeper's Friend are great for non-scratching clean up of delicate kitchen stuff. Sounds to me like it will work. And I have a spot or two on my old car that could use a little work... Maybe I'll have time to try this over the next week or two.

That would be the source if you have a lot of gas getting in the oil pan. But you'll always be getting a little gas into the oil on each cold start as gas condenses on the cylinder walls and gets by the rings. You will also get a little water into the oil pan that way too. Which is the reason you should run the engine until the oil is hot so that the gas and water are evaporated out before they cause sludge and acids.

I'm not much into modifying cars so I didn't look too long, but when I measured the 4.0L engine on my old Cherokee I found it much longer than the one in my Plymouth. Don't recall the length, but I'd guess you'll need to significantly modify the firewall to fit that engine in.

Incandescent light bulb filaments change their resistance based on temperature. So the resistance you measure cold with your volt-ohm meter is not the same resistance the electrical system on your car sees when the bulb is illuminated. See http://www.ply33.com/Backmatter/lightbulbs for some bulb ratings The brake/turn signal filament of a 1154 bulb is rated at 2.63 amps at 6.4 volts. So when on, it presents a load of 2.4 ohms. The front turn signal filament will have a similar output and similar resistance. They are in parallel, so the electrical load presented to the flasher unit by both lamps will be about 1.2 ohms. I believe that 1.2 ohms is one of the standard values available in electronic supplies. If you put a 1.2 ohm resistor across a car electrical system that might get up to 8 volts, you'll need it to be able to dissipate about 50 watts. Thats a big resistor that might have heat sink fins on it. In the old days, at least for 12v systems, you could get "heavy duty" flasher units. Basically those decoupled the external resistance relationship to the flashing speed by having a separate contact for power to the lights that was mechanically connected to a bi-metallic arm with its own contact and internal resistance that controlled the on/off rate. If there was a 6v version of this available, then it should work with LED lamps without needing external load resistors or an electronic flasher.

Ditto. That is my understanding. I think it was pretty common across the country in the 1920s and into the early 30s. I haven't a clue where it came from though.

You could probably also just put an appropriately sized resistor in the circuit. Then you wouldn't have to be annoyed by a light flashing under the dash or in the trunk.

I guess I'm a "belt and braces" type on electrical connections: Crimp then solder. You are right that one consideration on soldering is fatigue failures where the solder makes the wire stiffer. But in most areas the wiring should be properly secured with strain reliefs so movement once installed should not be an issue.