38plymouth

I'll try to get a better picture today the ones I posted don't really do it justice. Honestly I kind of like the look of the car especially on the trunk because it's such an original car and it hasn't been restored, just a repaint back in the 60s. However the one side of the hood it's worn right through and I think it's to bare metal and it looks like there is some surface rust starting. I've tried to clean it off but it just takes away more of the paint. I don't necessarily care if the hoods look absolutely perfect I just wish they look like the rest of the car. I'll try to post a better picture later with it outside or something. I might actually just go buy some rattle cans of black and do some test spots. I painted my fog lights with Rust-Oleum black once a long time ago and it matches really well.

I actually think I have an HVLP gun that I've never used. Probably the smarter option would be for me to just go get the factory color and spray with a gun. I was just hoping to make this as easy as possible talk to a body shop about doing it once about a year ago they wanted $2,000 and it was going to take months to do it. I have all the time in the world and used to work in a body shop so I know I can make it look good.

The main part of the car was painted a very long time ago I was told in the 60s. The four fenders had been redone at some point in our great shape. The two small hoods and the trunk lid are where I'm having the problem. The morning sun used to hit the trunk and the afternoon sun would hit the hoods. Even though it was in a garage I didn't keep it covered I do now. If I just repaint those three items the car would look so much better. I almost don't mind the trunk lid I like the patina on it honestly but one of the hoods gets surface rust now because the pain is so thin.

Unfortunately my paint is getting pretty thin and the more I wax or buff to make it shine again I'm starting to hit primer. One half of my hood is basically gray now. Most of the car is still good but I would like to try to paint the hoods. Does anyone know of a place I can get spray cans of the original black color? Or any thoughts on a black spray can that's available anywhere that is very close? I do have spray guns but I don't have a great compressor anymore. I feel like the hoods aren't that big and I could pull this off with spray cans. I don't want it to be absolutely perfect because then it isn't going to mess the rest of the car.

I've seen those other videos but the first time I've seen this one. This makes more sense to me. Unfortunately on my 38t the adjusting screw is on the side and it's hard to get to. I did just check the fluid level and of course it was very low on gear oil so I filled it up and I don't know if it's just in my head but I swear it feels tighter right now. I'm going to go out and take it for a drive. I may try to use this method though and adjust it when I have a little more time to get dirty.

I understand that the nut is practically Frozen on the screw and there's really no room to get a screwdriver in there. Even a shorty screwdriver and it's just so hard to adjust I kind of want to back it completely out and clean it up so the nut and screw adjust easier but I'm not sure if I can pull that screw out without goofing anything up.

Can you tell me how do I know if it's the bearings though? Everything feels tight in the steering box from what I can tell except there is the play in the wheel I'm having trouble adjusting that screw with the nut on it because the nut and screw are really tight and there is much room to get a screwdriver in there. I'm tempted to back that screw out completely so I can get the nut freed up from it so I can do a better job of adjusting it. I'm just not sure if I can pull that screw completely out without messing anything up. My manual doesn't really show a ton of information on that.

Now that I'm retired I've been driving my car a lot. Pretty much almost every day now that the cooler weather is here. One thing that has always bothered me about the car is the steering is loose and on certain roads the thing is a handful. I got under it the other day and checked everything I could and I really don't find anything loose except with the front jacked up if I move the wheels back and forth there is maybe a quarter inch of play that I traced back to the steering box. Everything else looks good. Also with the car on the ground you can turn the steering wheel back and forth probably 4 or 5 inches before the tires move. I really want to fix this but I'm not exactly sure what the fix is. I have tried adjusting the screw on the side in the past and don't think that did a whole lot but I'm willing to try that again if that might be the issue. Or could it be I need to remove shims on the front of the box? Or would you think it's just a worn out steering box? This is a very original car with 47,000 miles. It's driving me crazy and now that I got it running really good I would love to get it steering really good.

I just wanted to post a little update on the performance of this new carburetor. Now that it is finally starting to cool off in Florida I've been starting to drive the car more. I wish I had bought this carburetor years ago, in almost 25 years of owning the car it's never run this great. It runs so smooth and idles so good now. It has more power and it just runs cleaner. I used to always have some exhaust odor and that's virtually gone now. I probably rebuilt that old carburetor 10 times over the years and it never ran this good. Oh yeah and no more leaks.

I have never seen one of the automatic chokes on these cars. If you want to post a couple of pictures of your carburetor I can compare them to the new carburetor and see if it looks like it would work. There was an extra bracket on the carburetor that I removed that didn't do anything on my car.

I went out and hooked the vacuum gauge up again and made a small timing adjustment and a tiny adjustment to the idle mixture and got it up to 21". I may take it out for a drive later and make sure it doesn't detonate. I can tell it sure does idle beautiful and it's very smooth and I'm not getting all that stinky exhaust that I used to get from the old carburetor.👍

Well I indeed was looking at the gauge wrong. It was 50 cm or something what I should have reported was that it was 18 in/hg.

I don't really know. I adjusted the idle mixture screw to get highest vacuum which was right at 50.

I'm pretty sure the guy at Daytona Parts told me that the pump would put out three to four PSI when run on 6 volts and he said it is perfect for our carburetors.

Just took the car for a drive and got it up to operating temperature and it ran beautiful. It accelerates better and it runs smoother. Full throttle is definitely more powerful now. I wish I bought this carburetor years ago. I would definitely recommend it if you have a worn out carburetor.

I told him that I was thinking of adding an electric fuel pump to help with starting the vehicle. I generally don't drive the car all summer cuz it's too hot and when I go to start it,it turns over Forever Until it fills with fuel. He recommended not running an electric through the stock pump. He said people do it but it's generally not reliable and will almost always end up failing. He told me to put in a block off plate and just run the Electric. He also told me that he recommends ordering Carter part number p90091 from Summit racing. It's a 12 volt pump that will run on 6 volt positive ground and he said the fuel pressure is perfect for my car. He says it's a very reliable pump and it's the only one he would recommend. I believe he said it was made in the USA too.

Some of you may have seen my thread on my sticking throttle on the original ball and ball carburetor on my 38 plymouth. I had rebuilt that carburetor so many times over the last 25 years I don't even know and I was tired of the strip screws and gas and vacuum leaks. So I did a little research online and found that Daytona parts company in New Smyrna Beach Florida sells a UN2 Universal single barrel carburetor that is supposed to be a direct Bolt on. I figured since I lived an hour away I drive up there and see the carburetor in person. I'm glad I did, I spent 45 minutes with the owner Ron and he gave me a lot of good advice on an electric fuel pump if I choose to add one and basic setup of the carburetor to make it quick and easy. I handed the man $300 cash and headed home. I didn't have much time but I wanted to see if the carburetor fit. I already had the old one off because I brought it with me and I dropped the new one on and following Ron's advice I literally had the carburetor installed and the engine running and idling beautiful in 10 or 15 minutes. I hooked up my vacuum gauge and adjusted the idle mixture until I had 50 psi and the car was idling smoother than I can ever remember. I had to make a quick adjustment to the adjustable throttle on the carburetor and then the linkage bolted right up. My choke cable fit perfect and my stock air cleaner also fit perfect. I have not driven the car yet but letting it idle and revving it up in neutral it already seems to run excellent. I'll update once I get a chance to drive the car but so far I am extremely happy with this carburetor and I'm really looking forward to not dealing with that old one again. I'm going to try to attach a few pictures of side by sides with the old carb and with the new one installed.

I drove up there yesterday and bought a carb. Spent 45 minutes with the owner and he gave me all kinds of advice. I got home and in 10 minutes I had the new carburetor installed and the idle mixture adjusted close enough that the car had run better than it had in a very long time. I still have to do a few adjustments to the linkage. Once I get it set correctly and have a chance to drive it I'm going to start a new thread on these carburetors. So far I am extremely impressed. The owner asked me exactly what car I was putting it on and he said he adjusted it for my car. He said I should not have to touch the main jet adjustment at all.

Thank you. How does the choke cable fit? I'm concerned it won't reach and I'll have to find a longer cable.

It will be put in a box with every other original part that I have taken off or replaced. There aren't many parts I the box but I believe in keeping everything so I can pass it on with the car someday. Who knows maybe someday I'll try to restore the carb to like new condition. But for now I want something that is going to work good that I don't have to mess with anymore for a while.

I have family coming into town for a week starting tomorrow so this is going to be put on the back burner for a bit. But I am almost positive I will be driving to New Smyrna Beach in a few weeks and buying that carburetor. I am not going to try to fix that leaking, stripped out, worn out ball and ball ever again. I have had that thing apart dozens of times over the years and I am done with it.