austinsailor

First, let me say I'm not offended by corrections. If I get something wrong, by all means jump in and tell me. My 36 Desoto Airflow is crossways. I pulled the box for several reasons, but I think the motor block would be in the way of just pulling the sector, so I understand the problem. My 53 plymouth is still vertical, I assumed they all were, I had a 53 Dodge 45 or so years ago but I've forgotten how it was arranged. Regardless, the general concept should be sound, it might just be a bigger pain in the rear than I thought. I know where there are some later Desotos, I should look next time I'm near them.

Full of oil is very good! Pull the pitman arm, clean the shaft well or you'll ruin that good seal when you pull it out. Take that top cover off that has the adjuster screw in it, push the sector shaft up and out. I'd wash everything out at this point to get any old oil, metal wear dust and anything else out. On most cars this can be done right in the car without removing anything else. The only problem would be if there are things like a manifold or something in the way. You'll find a number of round shims in the bottom. You should also inspect the worm and sector for any visible wear, gauling or other visible problems. Now, assuming everything looks good, this is how I'd proceed. May not be the way anyone else would, they can chime in. I'd remove all the shims, smear a little grease on the worm and sector and drop it in with no shims. I'd put the cover on, snug everything up, including the adjustment screw, and see if there is play or it feels weird. If it has play now, you're screwed. You have bad bearings, too worn gears or a bigger problem and the box will have to come out and apart. If it generally feels good, put shims back into there is a tiny bit of play. Remove the smallest shim or juggle what you have until there is no play. Put it back together, fill it with a lub that flows and drive it.

You say you've adjusted it. Did you take the sector gear and shaft out and remove shims? Many think that the screw and lock nut on the top adjust it, but that only holds it down against the shims. If it's worn, you must remove shims until the play is gone, then the screw holds the sector down against the remaining shims. Does it have flowing type oil in it, grease, or nothing? I'll probably start another cornhead/grease/oil war, but if it doesn't have a good seal and hold your favorite flowing liquid, you're also wasting your effort.

Can't speak for all of them, but my 24 Dodge Brothers starts with a crank. (I'll get the electric starter fixed yet.). Each yank in the crank takes one piston over the top one time. It usually starts on one, sometimes two cranks. So, does one time of one piston going through compression stroke one time count as a bump?

My 40 Dodge has done that several times. The normal gentle methods didn't work. What I finally did is to start it and let it warm up. Once it was warm and would start easily I would roll it to a spot where I could just take off and drive. I put it in first gear, hit the starter, and took off. With the clutch in, go up and down on the throttle hard until it broke loose. Took a quarter mile last time. I checked it the other day and it was stuck again, I think I'll just pull everything and rebuild it. My 48 b1b was do stuck when I bought it I removed the clutch and pressure plate with a torch before I could get the transmission out. I doubt your is that stuck!

Here in the Midwest many of us with modern duallys (Dodges in my case) go to much wider tires, probably reducing the gap to less than half that recommended. In approximately 300,000 miles on my trucks I've never had a problem. As long as they don't touch when loaded you should be fine. I carry pretty heavy loads at times taking long highway trips and it works fine. I wouldn't get too worried about the tire guy's charts, etc, I would make sure they won't touch when loaded and go for it. No more than you'd drive that truck, probably nearly empty most of the time, it's a non issue.

I have a set of bias ply Cokers on my 40 dodge, very light weight tires. As someone mentioned the white developed cracks quickly. They will clean up with the standard white wall cleaner, but still have the weathered, cracked look. I have a set of Diamondback wide whites on my Airflow. They are now about 5 years old and look new. Like don't recall the brand tire they started as, but they are much beefier and I'm quite happy with them. Seems like the price was about the same. But, since you're comparing Diamondback to Diamondback, I'm not sure if I'm helping. I can say if my size is available, I prefer diamondback over Coker. Unfortunately, the next one I'll need is a 24" tire.

I'm thinking about going - I have no idea what to expect. I could get into great trouble there!

I did this when I was 16, under the car, using my chest as the transmission jack. 1955 Plymouth 6. Replaced the front seal, put it back and it lasted many years.

I could write a short book on this transmission move, but here's the short story. Mark was willing to move it., but he's quite a ways away and out of town for a little longer. After a long search, and some silly offers, I found a local taxi company who would haul my transmission as a passenger. I never knew moving a transmission 16 miles could be such a chore. As I type this, it's in the Fed Ex office in Springfield, MA being packed. It'll be on it's way to George Asche today.

Mark, I wasn't trying to push you to hurry - you have a trip to prepare for and it's not really urgent. I had hopes there would be someone who would be close, I know it's a bit of a drive for you. Your offer to do it when you get back and have more time was more than generous.

Mark has offered to move it. He has to go quite a ways, and won't be available do it until October. George Asche has my original apart and I have great hopes I can get this one to him sooner, so if anyone is closer, and can do it sooner it would be great. But, Mark has me covered if nobody else can. Mark, I sure appreciate it.

Last year I bought a transmission for my Airflow. It's in Southhampton, MA. The seller is old and cannot move it, a friend agreed to pick it up and take it to the Fed Ex office in Springfield. His dad got sick, he moved across the country and it never got picked up. I'm hoping there is someone in the area who would be willing to pick it up in Southampton and take it to the Fed Ex office in Springfield 16 miles away. I'll be glad to pay you for your time. All you'd have to do is show up, they'll pack it and ship on my account, you don't have to pack or pay for anything. If anyone thinks they might be able to help please let me know. Thanks much, Gene

What a cool car! Gene

CCing the head is simple. Go to a nearby pharmacy and they'll give you a plastic syringe used to feed pets medicine. With the head laying flat, combustion chamber up, use it to fill the cavity in one or more cylinders. Keep track of what you put in. Water, oil, ATF, whatever you chose. Keep track of what you out in. When it's full, add it up. Very low tech.

I think I have the starter figured out. Got a wiring diagram, found several poor connections and it turned over some. Not fast enough to start. Digging in I found new carbon brushes. Supposed to be copper brushes. I have 3 more generator/starters, so tomorrow I'll dig in and hopefully find a set of usable copper brushes. At least it going the right way.

Got home tonight, it still wouldn't start. I pulled the plugs to see just how wet they were, they were dry. Turns out, messing with the float didn't flood it, it stirred up some sediment that had collected in the float chamber, stopping up the jet. Cleard that, started on one crank. I was fighting flooding when the problem was just the opposite. I guess it'll be a bit before all the trash in the system is cleaned out. I might see if I can fit a filter somewhere, I hate to cut up the gas lines, but maybe it makes sense to make a new one with a filter and save the original. Aren't these things fun? We plan to go to Branson, Mo. to the tourist trap for a couple days weekend after next. I plan to take the '24 as my driver, so I guess I better find these little gremlins in the meantime. Gene

I finished mine, covered it in model airplane dope, made a brass ring for the top where the arms to the needle lay on it, and put a brass tube through it where the needle goes through the middle. It's been in there a week and a half, works great and today I checked and it shows no sign of the dope softening. I also received the aftermarket replacement out of brass. It looks good, so this afternoon I took my home made one out, out in the brass one and it hasn't started since! I don't think it has anything to do with the float, I think all the messing around pushed a lot of gas out and flooded it. It takes a lot of cranking to clear flooding when one crank equals one piston going over top dead center. Frustrating when every time before it started with a quick flick of the crank, sometimes 2 flicks at most. I'll try it again tonight when I get home. Sad part is, I'd planned to drive it to a gathering this evening. I think this is another case of, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Ok, what is recreation gas??

Ok, now did it happen? (I hope at least some are right side up!) (Stupid I phone - it has a mind of it's own.)

I suspect this is an airport tug he's talking about. But you guys knew that! :<) I had a Chris Craft with a 6 cylinder Gray Marine years ago. Fun boat. Hope to never have another.

Well, phooey - searching for info on wheels I learned something else. Don't have the starter working yet, but it starts with just a flick of the crank. How cool is that? Well, not as cool as it sounds. The crank goes through a hole in the radiator. There is a big plug that scews in to fill that hole. I figured it was for looks. Not so - with the plug out there is a direct path for dirt and rocks to the oil pan. It's not simple to srew in and out. Guess I'll have to attack the starter problem.

Don, I really don't know. this is new territory for me. It's a 33" split ring wheel with a 4 1/2" wide tire. Guess I need to start researching.

Well, if 35 mph is racing, maybe! 40 is really pushing it. Went for another drive yesterday afternoon with my home made float. Works great. Going to a cruise in tonight, we'll see how that goes.

Ok, I did all that. Didn't know this was getting as complicated as facebook.