TodFitch

First and reverse don't have synchronizers so they will grind unless everything comes to a full stop before you select them. Second and third should be free of grinding however. If your clutch is fully disengaging then perhaps your transmission’s synchronizers are worn out. Any other possible transmission issues (popping out of second on deceleration or long down grade, odd noises, etc.)?

“We have met the enemy and they is us.” Pogo Possum (Variations on that as far back as 1953 in Walt Kelly’s writings.) I’m going to have to find some of those old Pogo comic collections and re-read them. I bet they have aged pretty well compared to most things of that era.

English is a wonderful language once you get the hung of it. It seems that when a word is imported into English, at least American English, some of its meaning is ignored. I notice this especially with place names in the west and southwest. For example, near Tucson there is El Picacho which is commonly referred to as "Picacho Peak", literally "Peak Peak". http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/32.6398/-111.4221 Sometimes I hear people mentioning the "Sierra Mountains" which would be "mountain range mountains". If you are going to translate it, Sierra Nevada should be "snowy mountain range" or maybe "snow covered mountains".

See http://forums.aaca.org/topic/255502-this-is-on-a-desoto-forum/?p=1372906

Just curious, did the people at Bernbaum tell you that? If not, how did you learn this? I've been wondering where the folks who claim to have a sending unit for the very early 1930s Plymouths get theirs and I've suspected they might be getting them from kmlifestyles.com But it has just been speculation on my part with no facts to back it up.

Worse comes to worse, you could use heli-coil to repair the stripped threads.

Older (pre 1990 or so) fuel system rubber components may be affected by modern gas additives including ethanol. If you are unsure of the age of your fuel flex line (from the frame to the engine), the fuel pump diaphragm or, if so equipped, the rubber tip on the float value in the carburetor then you should keep an eye on them or replace or rebuild them with more recent materials. It seems that modern gas additives have a limited shelf life and the expectation is that you will use all the gasoline within about 6 months of purchase. If your driving style is such that you will have a tank of gas for longer than that then a fuel preservative like Plymouthy Adams suggests may be helpful. Other than that, your car will run fine with no damage on the lowest octane, cheapest petrol/gasoline you can buy with no additional over the counter additives.

A few years ago my wife and I visited the UK. After seeing some of the sights in London we rented a car and drove to north Wales to visit the area her family came from. Nice trip. But the return into London with the rental car was a white knuckle process even though the fellow at the agency commented that since it was a weekend the traffic wasn't too bad. Makes driving in places like San Francisco down right relaxing in comparison.

That depends on how the coil is wired. When you change battery polarity you should also change the coil polarity by swapping the low tension wires on it.

I guess that explains the old joke: What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What to you call someone who speaks one language? American. (Just spent a week in the Netherlands where all I learned was “ja”, “nee”, “alsjeblieft” & “dank u wel” so I am guilty of this as well. Fortunately everyone we met spoke English, all the signage was understandable and all the menus had English translations. Now if we could only get American banks to understand that “chip and pin” is the way to go for credit cards, but that is another topic.)

Just don't add so much zinc that the total (what is in there plus what you add) is greater than 0.14% or you will be increasing your engine wear instead of decreasing it.

Looks like a modified '32 Ford rather than immaculately restored Model A to me. At least its wheels have been swapped out and it looks like the suspension has been lowered. All the photos are of Fords and all are cars not truck. Wonder if the truck side moderator will consider this off topic.

I haven't yet come across the root or authoritative documents I'd like to see, just extracts and endless speculation. But take a look at http://zddplus.com/TechBrief2%20-%20ZDDP%20and%20Cam%20Wear%20-%20Just%20Another%20Engine%20Oil%20Myth.pdf And the first post at http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/1040691/1 1. It appears that 1950 era equivalent of SB oil had about 0.08% ZDP which, if I am correctly interpreting things, is the same as the current SM oil. 2. 0.08% ZDP should provide scuff protection for up to 600 pounds of lifter load. Unclear to me as I would think we would be looking at a PSI rather than simply pounds number. 3. The spring loading on the valves for a 1946 through 1954 Plymouth L-6 engine should be 105 to 115 pounds. Unclear again what the contact area and thus the PSI would be. And there will be some components to the load to based on cam geometry and engine RPM. But it seems that the low valve spring compression numbers relatively low max RPM on our engines will keep us in a regime where scuff protection requires very little additive. On the face of things it appears that SM rated oil should have at least as good anti-scuff protection from zinc as the oil that was available when your engine was new. Also, too much ZDP/ZDDP can actually damage the metal in your engine (increased wear at about 0.14% and spalling around or above 0.2%). I am sticking to the on sale modern multi-viscosity SM rated oil that I find on sale at my local auto supply. If I had a 1960s high performance V8, I might make a different decision.

Trying to find, so far unsuccessfully, what the additive packages were in the SB rated oil (then using ML, MM, MS ratings) that was available when our cars are new. Along the way I've come across references indicating that some non-detergent oil has a SA API classification while others have a SB classification. Apparently SB adds some anti-scuff protection though I haven't yet found the details of what anti-scuff additives were used nor the concentrations. Anyway, if you use non-detergent oil you might want to look for stuff with an API SB label on them.

Zinc levels in current, find it at any discount or auto supply store, oil are as high as they were in the mid 1950s and far higher than what was in oil when the L-6 engine that is in your vehicle was designed or manufactured. You are starting with a newly rebuilt engine. In your position I'd simply use the cheapest multi-weight oil that meets current service levels for new cars you can find.

Used to be San Francisco. Now the western terminus of US50 is Sacramento.

Yes, this is an off topic thread, but those posts were going into the realm of taboo.

Sounds like the accelerator pump leather in the carburetor may have dried out.

I haven't see the same for our area yet, but one of the restrictions in the image you posted would actually increase the amount of outdoor water I use: I've got one zone on a once in eight day schedule and I'd have to move that to a once in seven days to keep the area alive and meet the letter but not the intent of the rule. Thinking of recycling/reuse items: I have a friend in Santa Barbara which is not on the state water system. Twenty or more years ago their local reservoirs went empty and the put in lots of restrictions including car washing. But my friends were keeping their car exterior very clean so I asked how. Turns out they saved the wash and rinse water from the clothes washer into buckets and used that. Last year I looked into waterless car washing products. At that time I learned that Meguires had a product line for waterless car cleaning being sold in Australia but, near as I could tell, not available in the United States. I haven't checked this year, so maybe they are available here now. In the meantime I've found I can do a “good enough for me” exterior cleaning job using a damp microfiber cloth followed up by a dry microfiber cloth. After that I can go over the car with pretty standard car detailing products (and a lot more microfiber clothes) to get the car looking very presentable. So most of the water used to clean the car is actually water used in the front load clothes washer to clean the microfiber clothes after the car is clean. Not sure if you'd want to use that method for a show car as the first step could scratch the paint if you have gritty dirt you need to deal with.

My wife and I visited Maine in 2003 and decided to try Moxie. We could only find a six pack available in the small store in the town we were staying in. Between the two of us we managed to drink about 1/4 of one can. The rest, 5 3/4 cans worth, went in the trash.

For what it is worth, the '28 through '33 master parts book calls them "shakeproof" washers. I'd call them star washers, either internal or external depending on where the teeth are, but yes: If you have screw terminals you need to have shakeproof/serrated/star washers under the nut on each and every one.

Does you car have a dual action (vacuum for wipers and pump for fuel) pump on it? Quick check is to see if there is a vacuum line from the manifold to the pump and from the pump into the car body.

“At some point. . .”? In the arid west its been like that since Anglos started coming into the area, maybe even before with the Spanish and/or Indians. Mark Twain is supposed have been the one that came up with “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over”.

At the time of the Northridge earthquake I was working for a small company in Chatsworth, only a couple miles from the epicenter. We had a project that was under test for delivery to a company on the east coast. One of their engineers was rotated out just after the earthquake and they said they were never coming back to the area as the earthquake was too much for them. A couple weeks later they were back on the next shift rotation. We asked about their previous statement. Turns out they got back to the east coast in time for the beginning of an ice storm followed by a long stretch of sub-zero weather. They said, end the end, that the earthquake came and went and was over. But the unbearable cold just kept happening day after day after day after day. . .

A few years ago one of the forum members came up with a way to make a PCV system with some common plumbing fittings and an off the shelf modern car PCV valve assembly. My guess is that would be a lot less than $100. Might take some time to find the thread using the search function. But searching is free.