TodFitch

Just because someone put $16,000 into a project doesn't mean that it is worth anywhere near that amount. My rough rule of thumb when I was fixing up my old Plymouth was that for every dollar I put into it I was raising the value by 25 cents. And in many cases I think I was optimistic about that. I strongly believe that the cheapest way to have a nice vehicle is to buy it completed.

Yikes. I've not heard of that failure mechanism before. Fortunately the parts should be pretty easy to come by. At least ones that will bolt in. Not sure if the '34 cam had a different grind than later 201s or the 218s though.

When I relined my parking brake I found a tool kit that consisted of a jig, counter boring drill bit and a set specifically designed for drilling brake lining and attaching the linings to shoes (or bands). I don't recall exactly where I ordered it, but I think it was a Model A Ford supplier and I don't recall it being very expensive. Anyway that allowed me to reuse the holes that were in my brake band as opposed to getting pre-drilled linings. Holes in the lining have to match up exactly with the holes in the shoe or band and in my mind that pretty much means you need to clamp the together when drilling. I'd rather not have extra holes in the part of the assembly that might need to be reused in the future so I'd rather drill the lining than the shoes.

Ouch. If the pump gears locked up then I wonder what was the weak link. . . Maybe the shaft gear that is driven off the camshaft. I hope the camshaft itself wasn't damaged. I wonder how the pump locked up. . . Maybe the screen on the pickup was loose or installed incorrectly and some foreign matter got sucked in. But that then leads one to wonder how something big enough to lock up the pump was hanging around in sump. I guess you won't know until the pan is dropped and you do an inspection.

I've seen a couple of '33 and '34s where the starter case was ground enough to fit. I've seen another where the bellhousing was modified and an adapter made to move the starter. I have no idea if a later bell housing would fit, especially with the funky way the gear shift tower/lever mount to the frame cross member. What is the issue with your '34 engine?

You might find my parts cross reference useful: https://www.ply33.com/Parts/group9#980583 There are other parts of interest in there and starting with the search tool can be useful https://www.ply33.com/Parts/numeric I am focused on the pre-WW2 cars but an amazing number of parts were used on cars from 1933 through 1959. On the other hand, that is just about the simplest gasket to fabricate and you could use this as an opportunity to practice the craft. Some sheet cork gasket stock (should be available at any decent auto supply store), the cover to trace around for the outside, a straight edge to keep a good line on the inner cuts, a shop knife and if you want to be neat around the corners a pair of scissors.

Here is a shorter URL to that article that is stripped of the Google tracking code: https://www.widman.biz/uploads/Transaxle_oil.pdf

Fun story, but apparently false: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/good-luck-mr-gorsky/

I was on the beach about 1/2 a mile from where I now type this. In that era you'd hear the Dodger's game all over the beach being played on transistor radios. On that day everyone was tuned to the moon landing and there was a cheer up and down the entire beach when "The Eagle has landed" came over the radio.

I hope that if you are ever in an accident you are conscious and alert enough to pull that easily reached fuse before you and your passengers burn.

We never had a house with AC when I was growing up in Tucson, just had a “swamp box” for cooling. That week or two between when the moisture started to go up but the summer rains were yet to start was the worst. While in college I had a job with the Arizona Highway Department as a “summer engineering aide”. Worked on a survey crew all summer in the desert sun and heat. The hottest and most miserable time I had that summer was in late August or early September when I stepped off the plane in Rochester, NY to 90°F with 90% humidity and just melted.

Based on where they were on my '33, I think they are for mechanical protection (places where road debris might strike them or where other parts, if out of adjustment might rub against them). I recall seeing a place you can buy those spring like things but can't find the link at the moment.

You are perilously close violating the ban on trading parts on the open forum. Remember, any such activity needs to be done through the classified ads section or via PM.

Nice write up! Thanks for posting. I still have a number of the old disposable bypass filters to use up before I need to look for alternatives, your setup looks pretty good to me.

I suppose a photo of an auto club service truck bringing gasoline to a motorist back in the early 1900s would have made the meme "the future is stupid" for someone used to simply having their horse graze on the side of the road where ever they stopped. My plug-in hybrid gets about 4.6 miles/kWh in EV mode. Charging it at home during "super off peak" hours costs me $0.09/kWh so my EV mile driving costs about $0.02/mi. Local regular gas currently costs about $3.70/gal so I'd have to have a car that gets about 185 MPG to be as economical. Your numbers may be different (different miles/kWh, electrical cost and gasoline cost) but generally the out of pocket costs for an EV are quite a bit less than for a gas powered car. Only two issues are: 1) Higher cost of acquisition which is coming down pretty rapidly. And 2) limited range and/or slow charging which is also improving rapidly. If you are a "two car" family where one car is used for local trips then the second point is not very worrying for your "city car". Since I have a plug-in hybrid the limited range and/or slow charging is irrelevant too. A "car person" who is fixated on feel, sounds, and smells of a gas engine may not find an EV to their liking. But if you simply want something to economically get you to work, to the store, get kids to school, etc. an EV can be attractive even today. And it will be more so as more manufacturers get into the market and the technology matures. And yeah, if you accidentally run out of juice it would be nice to be able to call the auto club to get a quick minimal charge to get you either home or to a charging station.

Breaker bar. The nut is supposed to be tightened to “at least” 142 ft-lbs so it is, or should be, pretty tight. I'm trying to remember if my 1/2" impact wrench was sufficient to get the nut off the last time I had to get into the rear brakes. . . I do remember having to get the breaker bar out but that might have been for something else.

In the early 1930s oil filters were standard on Plymouths. By the mid to late 1930s the lower end (business, Road King, etc.) models had dropped them, my guess being for production cost reasons. Implying they were always an accessory prior to 1954 is wrong. Periodic maintenance in the 1930s included dropping and cleaning the pan. For example the DeLuxe Plymouth Six Instruction Book for 1933 says The point being that sludge in the engine is bad regardless of the type of oil. It can come loose at any time and clog the bearings, etc. The solution is to remove the sludge from the engine, not to avoid oil with detergent additives. Those additives, by the way, are not sufficient to loosen old sludge. They are designed simply to keep new sludge from forming. The old sludge may loosen any time the engine is being run simply by the flow of oil though the ares where the sludge exists.

Concur with keithb7 that if you have the stock axle you'll need a good drum puller. Any other method to attempt to remove the drums will likely end in damage to either you or the drums. I've seen some say they use a 1/2" impact wrench on the axle nut to remove it but I guess my 1/2" impact wrench is not as robust as theirs. I usually end up using a breaker bar. The nut is supposed to be torqued to at least 142 ft-lbs so it can take a bit of force to loosen it. I think it is good practice to replace the axle nut on the axle after removing the washer, just flush with the end of the axle. The nut will retain the drum from flying across the room doing untold damage if it suddenly release from the axle. And it will prevent the puller from damaging the threads on the end of the axle. Last time I had to get into the rear drums I took some photos of the process to remove the drum, you can see them at https://www.ply33.com/Repair/axle_seal/

See: https://www.ply33.com/Parts/group8#8-58-60 Specifically for a 1948, see: https://www.ply33.com/Parts/group8#920355

You can't. And any way you adjust them you'll have poor braking performance. You need to have the shoes arced to match the drums. In the old days all brake shops and many general auto mechanics had brake shoe arcing machines but that day has long since passed. You might find a brake shop that can still to it or you might find a hobbyist that has an old machine they picked up with the said shops were getting rid of the equipment. But likely not. I got some sticky back sand paper that came in a long roll at my local hardware store. I put a strip inside my brake drums and then rubbed the shoes against it by hand until there was a good match between the radius/diameter of the shoes and the drum. It actually went pretty quickly as the sand paper cut pretty fast. Each drum on my car has been turned a different amount so this means that the shoes are no longer interchangeable, they must be used with the drum they were fitted to. Once I did that I was able to properly adjust the shoes and the braking was far better than before they were "arced".

In the late '30s (and I think maybe even into the P15 era), the lower trim level Plymouths came from the factory with those ports plugged. If you wanted a filter on those cars you removed the plugs and plumbed in the filter. So basically you'd be running a factory configuration if you plugged both.

No, the pressure relief valve has too functions: First and for most it relieves any over pressure by dumping oil directly into the pan if needed. As a secondary function, it shuts off flow of oil from the bypass filter back into the pan if the oil pressure drops too low. In the case of your picture, if you aren't going to have a filter there then it would be far better to plug the opening into the oil gallery and into the pressure relief valve rather than piping a shunt between the two.

I've always just looked up the nearest "brake and friction" company in/near the city I lived in at the time and had my old shoes relined.

I just measure the thickness of the old gasket(s) in an area, usually around a bolt hole or edge, and then buy paper gasket material near that thickness at my local auto supply. Might be a good idea to keep all your rear axle related posts in one thread. . .

To the best of my knowledge, the '33 Dodge shares these parts with the '33 Plymouth though you should check the original part numbers to verify that. There are two seals on each side: A thick felt washer type inner seal that is supposed to keep the oil from the diff and the grease on the bearings separate. To the best of my knowledge this is no longer available. There is an outer grease seal assembly that is only available in old stock (if you can find it). However you can have a modern seal installed in the old carrier, see https://www.ply33.com/Repair/axle_seal/ The pinion seal is still available from places like NAPA: https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NOS17675 You might need to install a speedi-sleeve on the pinion flange shaft but you won't know that until you pull things apart and see what the condition is. You can replace the outer axle seals and the drive pinion seal without fully disassembling the rear end. To replace the inner axle seals you will need to pull the axles. The only way I figured out how to measure and check the differential involved pulling it out of the axle housing but maybe others have figured out how to do that. For what it is worth, the wear pattern on my differential looked good and the backlash was still within factory tolerances so I left it alone. I did replace the axle bearings at that time as long as the axle shafts were out.