austinsailor

I'm heading out this morning to Rockport and have the 40 Dodge behind me. I think there are several members in that area and it seems like we ought to get together somewhere. Anyone interested in meeting some afternoon or evening? It would be nice to see a half dozen old mopars at a joint in Port A, Aransas Pass, Rockport, Corpus or some other little burg in the area. I won't be free until Sunday, but any time after that works for me. Gene G.

"By the way Easy Rider was released in 1969 which means they were probably filming it in 1968. You'll noticed the center striping is the old style before they switched to yellow dashed lines on two lane roads. " Interesting you noticed that. Back some years ago there were no standards for much of anything from state to state. It must have been quite a challenge to drive from coast to coast back when our vehicles were new. I can remember when Missouri changed the no passing yellow from the center of the lane to next to the center stripe. I recall when they changed hand signals. They used to not be standard from state to state. I can't recall who was preparing for their driving test when I was about 12 or so, but I do remember they had a sticky sheet covering the old signals with the new ones Missouri had adapted. There are still quite a few differences in traffic laws from state to state, just not so obvious. Such as, in Texas, you can make a left to any lane, not just the left. Often catches out of state people in trouble making a right on red. If more than one person comes to a stop sign at the same time, the one on the right goes first. Most places. In Texas it's true at a 4 way, but with a 3 way, (like a "T") both straight through guys get to go before the guy on the other leg. On a road you think that you can only pass on the left. In Texas, you can pass a car on either side, in his lane if the lane is of sufficient width. On little east coast roads that may never come up, but there are some spacious roads in Texas, so it makes more sense. I wonder how many other things there are different from state to state?

I hauled it home, tinkered with it some, and I think I should just start a new thread to just cover the restoration. I took the head off and pulled all the valves, to day I got new ones and some gaskets. We're leaving town for a couple weeks so I can't stay focused, but I'll be all over it when I get back. But, this evening I'm so darn excited about it you wouldn't believe. All the body panels fit just right, hinges are tight, everything seems better than you'd expect for a 60 year old car that has mostly sat for 40 years. I took the brake drums in and had them turned as they were rusty, hoping they'd be usable. He told me they were perfect and had never been turned before. Steering has no play in the box or elsewhere. Tonight I cleaned up the block deck and pistons and was looking for an oversize stamp on top. Couldn't find any, but it obviously had been bored since there was not enough ring grove to catch your thumbnail. Got my calipers and it measures exactly 3 1/4". I believe the odometer, which I had not put any stock in, is actually right at 11972. I don' think the thing has been driven hardly at all.

Started working on the stuck valve problem. Got one free, still had 4 stuck. Put in those 2 plugs, got it to run barely on 2 cylinders. That led nowhere, though. I put a feeler gauge in, about .020, to see if they'd move up while I cranked it.. They would, but squeeked and were real stuck. I soon realized I didn't have the patience to wait weeks to see if anything would happen, so I popped the head. Lots of pb blaster and working on them got a couple loose, but the problem is, they'd move at the bottom of the travel, but stick at the top. As they'd get to the point they moved, they'd bang to the seat. Long story shortened, 2 broke as they hit the seats. Got one stem out, will get the other tomorrow, along with another valve that just doesn't seem right. No ring grove, it looks like it has a good chance of being a good motor. Just the darn valves sat too long.

2 Plymouth 2 door wagons, a 51 and a 52: http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/cto/2845105097.html

Well, several years ago it was unhooked and set in the corner. I'm going to try to hook up the starter and see how it sounds.`

There have been several inquiries about fuel pump shields - here's one on the bay: 220965216426

Picked up the 57 panel truck motor yesterday. I told the guy I'd check the serial number and find out what it really was. He says, no it's a 57 panel truck motor, they guy's uncle bought it new, it's original. As I got ready to leave I noticed a passenger car throttle pivot in the middle of the head, so I knew it didn't start life in a truck. D42, a 51 or 52 Dodge passenger car motor. Still a great deal. It'll probably go into the 53 Plymouth as I sort out it's original motor.

Well, everything can't go right. Tried to start it the other night, got backfires and an uneven turning over. Good oil pressure, but I figured I had a stuck valve or two. Pulled the plugs to check compression, seemed like 5 cylinders had no compression. Pulled the valve covers, 5 stuck valves. I could push some down through the spark plug holes, but they'd go right back up and stay. Figured I'd just pull the head and deal with it. Went to take out the drain plug in the block, it fell apart. But no water came out. probing around with a small screwdriver, I can get a bunch of crap, but still no water. Air pressure doesn't break through either. May be time to check out that '57 dodge panel motor I got, it might just go in for now.

That makes sense, I see how that ones works. But the machines I remember just had 2 pins and a sanding drum between and they would sort of slide it back and forth against the pins. Didn't make sense.

I have a 40 Dodge sedan and a 48 b1b on the road. All new brakes all around. Adjusting with the factory brake adjusting tool, I have solid brakes about 1/4 down on the pedel. Stops straight. Not as quick as modern disks, but quite adaquate. Having driven these things occasionally over the years and having done some piece meal repairs, but never a complete job correctly, I was quite surprised how well they can work when done properly. What I haven't done, and don't understand how it works, is the arching of the shoes. I get the reason, I understand what the results are supposed to do, I just don't see how running the shoe against that tool can arch it properly. If I did, I'd probably find one and buy it.

Adjust, then bleed. Reason #1, you have to have the drums on the bleed, drums off to adjust. reason #2, worst case, they are so far out of adjustment that a cylinder comes apart while bleeding. Reason #3, if they are too far out of adjustment, you may never get pedal even if you get all the air out. I've never bench bled an old master cylinder of the type we use and never had a problem. I think it's more an issue with the new complex ones. I can't imagine why it would be needed with ours. Oh, and do it in this order: right rear, left rear, right front, left front. After I've gone all around, I go back and get another little bit again in the same order and usually get a bit more air.

The subject of steering boxes come up here often. Frequently it is about what lub to use. I am just digging into this 53 Plymouth I bought about 2 weeks ago and the steering box is like perfect. And it reinforces what I thought. Of about 15 steering boxes that I've worked on, 3 were in perfect shape. All 3 had intact seals and were still filled with flowing oil, like 140 wt or so. The other 12 had either grease or nothing. Not one that had been filled with grease was any good, all had gear damage. So, as I've mentioned before, I believe your best bet is to put in a new $5 seal and pour grease in it. I say pour, because if you have to pump it, push it or use a grease gun to get it in there, it's not going to get where it needs to be.

In Missouri it's registered as the year it most resembles, and the safety items are what would have applied then. Like seat belts, blinkers, etc. A 32 ford kit car would register as a 32 ford. I have a 66 white extended cab road tractor and when I put that sheet metal on my 99 Dodge diesel pickup chassis, it'll be a 66 White. Not so in all states, as I know in Texas it goes by drive train. And, Capt Neon, what hillbilly MO. town did you live in?

I tried to get a replacement for my Wizard (Western Auto) R5818 filter at the auto parts store. No go, they would try to order something. Saw this post, went by Tractor Supply with the old filter and a caliper, C134Pl is the same. Problem solved. Thanks.

Tim I'm even more confused. Aren't both made as separate lens and bezels? Just different mounting methods? I find plenty of lenses of both types. I guess I should just get early lenses, which mine clearly takes, and quit worrying about it.

OK, now I'm confused. I need new lenses for the car, no surprise. Mine is the late model, both the serial number (25571520) and the backup lights in the bottom of the tail lights tell me so. I got a set of late tail lights and they are exactly what I have. The parking lights also change with early/late. I ordered some from taillightking.com. http://www.taillightking.com/50-60Plymouth.htm What I got is what I now see his picture shows for late, which has screws through the front, and mine has the lenses held in by the bezel with no scres showing, which his site shows as early. Can anyone shed some light on this? Have my front ones been changed, does taillightking have his backwards? I got the stuck front brake drums off, linings stayed on the drums. They are salvageable if they haven't been turned too much, I'll find out tomorrow. Tried to cross the Wizard (Western Auto) oil filter yesterday, it'll take a day or two to get the replacement. Pan is going back on today, filter housing will be closed with out an element and I'll fire it up this afternoon. Do I sound confident? haven't found one yet that won't run. But, the parking light deal has me baffled. (added) OK, I did another ebay search and found item 260905713718, a late lens from another seller. So at least 2 sellers think my parking light lenses are early, but my car should be late. What the heck?

From stuff I've done, $150 to $200. Each. Then you have to worry about if they are going to do a decent job.

That's way too much, you sure don't want to pay that. Just give me the guy's name and number and forget about it! :<)

Will any of these fit? PM me if any will. http://p6.hostingprod.com/@austinsailor.net/parts/PISTONLIST.html Gene

problem is, I've talked to several and each has different ideas.

Mine is tinted. All the way around. Were all 53's P24? Where on the car would I find it, or would I?

I'm trying to locate a new windshield. A place in Minnesota tells me they have a new one coming, no more questions. A place 20 miles away is trying to find me one, no sense in driving 400+ miles for it if I don't need to. Their supplier says they need to know if it's P21 or P24, and if it's an F or G series. says there are at least 2 choices of what will fit. How do I figure out what I have?

I'm guessing it varies from state to state, but when I took my 40 Dodge sedan to Texas, I asked my local patrolman that question. He didn't know, called another. They got out the code book, and after half an hour of trying to decipher it, we finally found that if it was originally made with seat belt mounts, it had to have them and they had to be used. If no mounts were factory installed, they weren't required. It didn't matter if the factory installed the belts, the mounts were the deciding factor. I will say, it's not easy to get answers to what should be simple questions like this.

After finding the '40 truck motor this morning, I got offered a '57 Dodge panel motor and transmission, from fan to the e brake drum. All accessories included, in running condition. $100. Of course, I tried not to break my arm whipping out my wallet! Now I have a spare for all my cars and trucks!