TodFitch

But why do you have the picture taken under the hood when the battery is located under the driver's seat?

No chemist either... And I don't remember the exact source for my broad statement. But the first area that comes to mind are from the Gasoline FAQ at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part1/index.html So I think I "remembered" that the problem with bearings and such was due to lead when perhaps it was due to the lead scavangers. If aircraft engines are not allowed to have more than "one theory" of scavenger whilst auto gasoline had between 1.0 and 1.5 "theories" then it could be excess bromines that are the issue. My personal experience is that spark plugs and exhaust systems last longer with unleaded fuel. Since I have always changed oil at short mileages I have not no been affected by lead deposits in the pan and engine (other than when I first got an old car in the era of leaded gas and typically found a bunch of grey/black colored muck in the engine). In any case, I know a chemist who has an interest in lead, I guess I should consult with them before I make any more broad statements on this topic...

I think the correct term for all that stuff is "under Coatney". And perhaps Don can share some of his techniques for dealing with it.

I rebuilt mine about 15 years ago with a kit from antique auto cellars and it is still fine. And I have a spare that has been rebuilt with another kit from antique auto cellars that is ready to go if I ever need it. Cheap, reliable, authentic.

On my car when the manifold is well and truly heated up (summer after a long enough drive) the counterweight is at the 3:00 o'clock position when the engine is idling.

Your car sure accelerates faster than my 1933. Your video looks very smooth. How did you mount the camera so that the video would not bounce around as you drove over the typical bumps and imperfections in the pavement?

I have heard of them being called "hogs rings" or "shoat rings". Believe it or not they had those rings in my local hardware store last time I looked (maybe a year or two ago). And they also had the special pliers that make installing them fairly easy. I believe that those in the trade have a number of different pliers with different shapes that allow getting into various corners. Fortunately I did not need that for my car and the single style of pliers at my local store was adequate for my needs.

Looks like you are doing a great job on that web site. I know how much work it can be. By the way, I just updated the database on the Golden State Region's web site to have a entry on our links page to point to your new site: http://goldenstate.ply33.com/links -Tod (webmaster, GSR)

See answer below from me or one above your post from Don. All Plymouth L-6 engines came from the factory with hardened exhaust valve seats. All the way back to 1933. Lead additive is not needed. Unless, of course, you like the lead fouling your spark plugs and the lead acids/salts gunking up your crankcase and eating out your bearings and exhaust system. Basically, lead has always been bad. But it was a cheap octane booster. If the lead scavangers (also bad) left a little lead behind that had a side effect of reducing valve seat recession on some engines under some driving conditions, it was bad for your car in so many other ways.

Don's post got me searching the net about minimum wage. This page was interesting: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html

1. Lead was added as a cheap way of increasing octane. 2. Lead fouled up engines badly. So lead scavengers were added too to keep the lead deposits down. 3. Apparently some residual lead helped in fighting exhaust valve seat recession in 1960s engines when they were driven long distances at high speeds/high loads. Those engines typically used the cast iron block/head for their valve seating. 4. You are unlikely to be pulling a heavy trailer for hours on end at 70 MPH in your P-20. 5. Your P-20 L-6 came with hardened exhaust valve seats from the factory. So even if you decide to haul your boat to the other end of the continent using your P-20 you are covered. Ergo, lead additive is not needed for your P-20. Near as I can tell, the usual cause of broken rings is age/wear in the engine and the rings hitting the wear ridge at the top of the cylinder. That is unrelated to lead in the gas.

Maybe true if everything goes right. But I strongly believe that the cotter pin is required. That is from personal experience from when one was missing on my car. Fortunately it was at slow speed and close to home. Cotter pins are cheap. Any reason not to put one on?

I believe that the working surface of the tappet where it runs against the cam is hardened. If that is true then grinding it flat might grind through the surface hardness into softer material that will wear quickly. From that point of view I would rather look for new tappets and/or unworn old tappets.

Sounds like it. But why not simply replace those two lines as well. Then you will be sure of the condition of all the components. If you don't replace them, I'd at least remove them and flush them well with something like alcohol, dry them then reinstall. If/when you use DOT5, take it slow and easy. It is easy to get small air bubbles in it if you agitate it and those can take a lot of time and effort to remove. I put DOT5 in my 1933 (totally rebuilt/replaced components) in 1997/8 and have had no problems since.

Yes, highway 25 down from Hollister. Nice drive and the wild flowers ought to be pretty good this spring. A very nice valley (the San Andreas fault line) that is totally undeveloped for mile after mile. We will see if Bob gets the tour organized.

Bob Semichy has been talking about setting up a Golden State Region POC tour from the Bay Area to Coalinga to see some museum there and I think he mentioned that gas station as associated with it in some way. Maybe that is the one he has been talking about. Bit of a long tour from here. But, on the other hand, not too much difference in distance than the one to Clements, just in a different direction. I hope Bob gets it organized in the not too distant future.

Acton? I lived in Newhall for a while so I know where that is. Clements is east of Lodi. And if you don't know where that is, look a bit north of Stockton on your map. That is quite a long ways from Acton. Google says about 360 miles each way. I suspect that the folks in the "Inland Empire" will have some closer events for you to participate in.

Red behind red lens makes sense to me: The red lens filters out all colors except red so your "white" LED lamp will not get a lot of photons through the lens. As to being insensitive to polarity: I guess they must have another couple of diodes in there to act as a bridge rectifier and that the LEDs are electrically isolated from the base and contact(s).

I have gotten a request or two on the POC tour from the Bay Area to the BBQ and I guess I need to finalize meeting time and place for those of us who are going to motor on out to Clements. But since there has been no posts on this topic for a while I wanted to confirm that everything is still on.

"Sing the song that's in your heart, sing of the great Southwest. Thank God for Arizona, is splendid sunshine dressed..." This topic dredged up a little Arizona history from my grade school past. In addition to a snippet of the state song I remember this: Arizona became a state on St. Valentine's Day in 1912. So any license plate topper with "A.T." on it to indicate "Arizona Territory" would only be appropriate for a 1912 or earlier automobile. And I just did a Google search and learned that prior to 1912 plates were issued by some cities (Tucson, Phoenix and Prescott are known) but there was apparently not a territory license plate. So if you were in Quartzite or Tombstone the chances were you had no license plate. So without a plate can you really have a plate topper? My guess is that all of those inspector tags are a modern invention (it can't be a repop if there was no re to pop). Which makes it a fun thing but nothing to pay the eBay price of the first one posted on this thread.

Look in your local yellow pages under automobile instrument or electric repair. You might be surprised. Turns out that in my area (Silicon Valley) there are still a couple of shops that can fix speedometers. And I like to give the local shops my business if I can.

It has only been published on my web site. I guess I should proof edit it again and suggest to the new editor of the region that it could be used. . .

http://www.ply33.com/Misc/speed

Read about it in a couple of places and have considered going there as it is only about 150 miles from my parents house in Arizona. But so far haven't gotten past the "considering it" stage.

I've heard that craft stores sell translucent paint for glass and that some of the Model A guys use it to make amber bulbs for use in their add on turn signals. I am still using hand signals (and having people wave back at me) so I haven't got direct experience with this.