TodFitch

At present they are not taking new orders, but after November you should be able to send your serial number to the Chrysler Historical Collection and get a copy of the "build card". That will show the paint and trim codes, options and dealer the car was delivered to.

A properly sized and installed anti-sway bar (a.k.a. sway bar) helps in cornering.

Temperature sensor can be repaired. Here is how I have done it: http://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge I have a 160°F thermostat in my '33 (original engine) and the gauge usually reads about 140°. I’ve seen it up to 180°F when pulling a grade at full throttle in 90°F ambient temperatures. My dash gauge is pretty accurate at least as checked in a pan of boiling water near sea level.

Have you pulled the core/welch/freeze plugs on the drive side of the block and removed any crud in the water jacket? Have you done a flow test on the radiator? My '33 has always run cool as long as the radiator was in good condition. My head has been drilled and tapped for a heater hose fitting and I always run with the heater valve open to assure circulation to the back corner of the block.

Please post in classified area.

Check with Antique Auto Parts Cellar, also known as Then & Now Automotive. They have rebuild kits which include the diaphragms, gaskets and valve parts. They might be willing to sell just the diaphragm.

I show that NAPA number as a cross for Chrysler part 1123332 which is used on Plymouth passenger cars from 1938 through at least 1948. See http://www.ply33.com/Parts/group5#5-62-07

They are called "assist straps". At least for my car finding one in reasonable condition is pretty hard, usually you end up using the existing bracket and having the strap made up by an upholstery specialist. If you are missing a detail out of the bracket then you have some searching to do. You might try placing an ad in the classified section.

They do make thicker shoes to be used in drums that have been turned oversized. It would not surprise me if a relining shop would do that. It would surprise me if the bubble wrap auto parts store would have anything but the standard thickness and claim that is all that was available.

I wonder how the old Railway Express Agency livery would look on that route van. . .

You should look into getting a parts book for your 51 Chrysler. Just keying in the original Chrysler part number into the NAPA Online website with the “interchange” check box selected can bring up an amazing number of parts that you can get at your local store rather than mail order at a higher price from a specialty shop on the other side of the country. In addition, lots of parts were used across many years, makes and models. If you have the Chrysler number you have a better shot at having someone come up with an interchange for you. For example, all my Plymouth interchange information at http://www.ply33.com/Parts/numeric can be accessed by Chrysler part number.

A quick returns on old car karma. . . A couple weeks ago, just before my handbrake band failed, I mailed some brake tubing clips to a fellow restoring a '32 Dodge. No charge, I had some extra and he had been unsuccessful at finding a supplier for an exact match to the vintage ones on his car. Now different old Plymouth owner is sending me a hand brake band off of a '34 Plymouth (part numbers match and the photo looks right). Cost is reimbursement for shipping. This is one part of the hobby I enjoy, fellow old car owners helping each other out. Now when the new lining and rivets arrive, I can get everything back together and back on the road. Looks like the most expensive part of this will be the new floor mat (the current one I cobbled together about 40 years ago and it fell apart as I removed it from the car).

You should be able to get your old shoes relined locally. Look up "brake and friction" with your ZIP code as an additional term. Likely there is an old fashioned business near your similar to the Tennessee Clutch & Supply that Don recommends. I know there are still a couple in my area as I search recently because of my parking brake issue.

I can and have checked my tire gauge against the air system gauges. But that is simply checking one gauge against another with the assumption that the gauge(s) on your air compressor system are more accurate. I know that the gauge on my air compressor tank is close to but not exactly the same as the gauge on my air lines. And I know that the gauge on the pressure regulator is close to but not the same as my “reference gauge” (an older US made gauge that I’ve attached quick disconnect hose fittings to). Are any of those gauges accurate in an absolute sense? I have no idea. My inner compulsive would like to know, for example that gauge A readings are within +/-x% or +/-y PSI at 100 PSI. With respect to tire pressure, the thing that got me thinking about this, I generally set the pressure by my gauge to what the owners manual specifies then watch for tire wear for signs of under or over inflation. If I see that then I adjust the pressure slightly as required and watch some more.

I have more heavily moderated this than any I've done before. Lets keep it civil and on topic pleas.

Head index is based on the relative humidity of the air because for human body heat regulation we sweat and the evaporation of moisture off our skin keeps us cool. The higher the humidity when we are trying to keep cool, the hotter if feels for the same actual temperature. Car cooling systems don't, or shouldn't, have moisture loss due to evaporation. So I don't think the heat index makes much difference, just the actual temperature of the air.

Or blow some compressed air backwards down the line. Could be the sintered metal filter on the pickup is clogged. Putting some compressed air down the line can pop that off. Edit: Have you swapped out, or at least checked, the rubber flex hose between the frame and the engine? I've seen some where the older rubber swelled shut because it was incompatible with modern gasoline additives.

Seems like we need a wiki type permanent page for things like questions on gasoline. I concur with Plymouthy: Hardened seats from factory (no lead needed in the gas), modern additives are not kind to old (pre-1990s or so) rubber components in the fuel system. Ethanol is a solvent for the shellac that was used on cork floats (not sure if your '52 has any of those).

Stripping the nuts while putting them on suggest that perhaps too much torque was applied. Only 15 to 20 ft-lbs is called for. The manifold is long enough and changes temperature enough that it must be allowed to move with respect to the engine block as it expands and contracts. Get the manifold fasteners too tight and you may end up with a cracked exhaust manifold.

My car side decoder is at http://www.ply33.com/Misc/vin

In this case it is because health and age related issues. At least the parts are going to a place where they are still for sale, etc. Just not as local for me. I guess I could have Paul Flaming be my buying agent as he is pretty close to Fresno.

30s too and I wouldn't be surprised if they did it that way in the 20s as well. If you watch carefully in movies made way back when you will often see the actors entering the passenger side and sliding across. But I don't think you will see it in films made in the 60s and later that are set in the 20s, 30s or 40s.

Thats been shutting down and many (most? all?) of his warehouses of stuff have been purchased by Steve of Globe Classic Car Parts in Fresno. Which reminds me that I haven't checked there. But last I knew, Steve was not really sure what he had and it was best to go out to Fresno and paw through things yourself. Might have to do that.

I like that idea. Don't know if the forum software can do it but if it can, I'd vote for that. In the meantime I just subscribe to email notification when new ads are places.

On my Plymouth the bottom half of the bell housing is removable. . . I would have expected that to be true on your car.