MarcDeSoto

Wow Sniper, you found it. 30-34 Chrysler and 29-30 Dodge truck!

That rubber grommet seen in Sam's pic near the oil gauge line is very important. It's literally what holds the linkage together! I bought mine from AB and when I tried to squeeze it on, it cracked in half. The rubber had petrified because of age. So I called AB, and he said "oh you got a dried out one, I will look for a soft rubber one." So he sent me another one that was soft enough to slip on and work.

40 years ago at the Big Three San Diego auto swap meet, I think I got rooked. The part no. on the cardboard package said 78072 for a pair of valve cover gaskets, which is close the the part number for my car. I thought they would fit my 48 Desoto, but they are too tall. I just found that recently that they don't fit. The part no. on the gaskets is 40814, so the package and the gaskets don't match. Does anyone with a good set of Parts Lists know what year and make of car these gaskets would fit?

Now that I'm waiting for the starter to come back fromt he electric shop, I'm torqueing the head bolts and manifold nuts and making sure everything is shipshape on my block before I get the starter back. I torqued the manifold nuts to 25 ft. lbs where I could get a socket, but several of the nuts were not accessible with a socket wrench. So I used an open end or box end 9/16 wrench. I noticed that I couldn't get my 9/16 wrench on a couple of the nuts as they were a bit rounded over. The nuts are soft brass I guess for a reason. maybe because they are less likely to cross thread the studs? So I replaced two nuts with regular nuts from my can of nuts. For the nuts that I couldn't torque with a torque wrench, I estimated a hand force of 25 ft. lbs.

I've never had a brake failure on any car. I've have a wheel cylinder leak, but it gave me plenty of time to fix it before I had no brakes.

I need to correct myself here. I just did a brake bleed on my lines. Since I bought new wheel cylinders from Rock Auto, the rear brake cylinders had 10mm nuts. And the front brakes I believe had 5/16 nuts, or maybe they were the metric equivalent.

The rubber hose has nothing to do with the final connection to the gauge. The original gauge requires a 3/16 metal tube with a 3/8" nut with a bubble flare and 27 tpi pipe thread.

I've had the problem of my starter not releasing when the engine starts. That's a serious problem, so I'm having an electric shop check out the solenoid. It could be stuck points or a short in the solenoid. I also noticed that even when my engine doesn't start, it tends to keep on cranking unless I click the remote starter switch a few more times. And one time when the plugs were out of the engine, the starter started to run real fast and wouldn't stop even when I pulled the remote start switch off the battery! That's what led me to believe it could be a bad solenoid.

I have one of those dirt cheap timing guns that flashes with every spark to the no. 1 cylinder. It gives a very weak flash. I also have a 12 volt timing gun from the 80s. I saw in one of Keith's videos that he uses a small 12 volt battery to power his timing gun. I'm wondering if I can just use a 12 volt battery charger to power my 12 volt timing gun?

I can't believe these new prices. Prices for common things on new model cars have also gone through the roof. Like $800 for a new clutch! I'm glad I rebuilt my 48 DeSoto engine in 1982 in an ROP auto shop class. The prices were very low and the reboring of the block was free as it was done by my teacher and me. I did have a machine shop do the crankshaft, camshaft, tappets, etc. The new pistons and rings were cheap. I don't think I bought new valves as I ground them myself to factory specs. I should have just bought new ones. Of course I bought new bearing inserts for everything and new valve guides. The gasket kit was cheap, probably in the $40 to $50 range. I disassembled and assembled the engine myself. Then, waited some 40 years to get it started!

Now I'm really confused. The factory shop manual says in the Lubrication section that the first oil change is at 1000 miles. At that time, drain the 10W oil and fill with SAE 30. I guess with today's oil that could be 10-30 oil. Now I'm hearing 100 miles and even 15 to 20 minutes for the first change! But I guess it's not a bad idea to be extra cautious. I can't wait to get my solenoid back so I can start the engine again. If I can get the starter to release as soon as the engine starts, that will be an incredible relief!

Checked my 42 DeSoto Parts List and you're right. Pre-war MoPars had just a single outlet for brake lines at the MC.

Does that mean that regular issue 41-42 cars had this single outlet which I'm guessing went to a junction connection with lines to the rear and front axles?

I saw this MC on Ebay and was wondering what vehicle would a MC fit with only one outlet for the brake lines? The seller says it fits 41 - 48 Mopars.

I'm the "machinist" who bored and honed my cylinders. Well, the auto shop teacher and I bored my cylinders 030 over, and I honed them.

I just ordered this oil from O'Reillys. They may not be able to get though as there are many products that can't be sold in Calif. now.

True, but I've read that the non detergent part is necessary to promote the seating of the rings. Also 10w non dertergent is used to fill the transmission, unless there's a newer, equivalent product.

The manual says to use 10W non detergent motor oil to break in an engine for the first 1000 miles. Is there a substitute for this oil as I'm having some trouble finding 10W nd oil?

Wow! Thank you. I will.

I did the same thing with my starter. Troubleshooting the starter is above my pay grade. I phoned a few auto electric shops who didn't seem to know much about old cars. Then I found a shop in Oceanside, CA with a pic of a 39 Buick in their ad. I looked at the customer reviews and a guy said "They did a great job rebuilding my 33 Plymouth starter and generator". So I took it there. It is a father and son shop and the father said he was 75 years old and knew all about my starter. He said there was probably a short in the solenoid or some bad points, and that they don't make those parts anymore. They said they would check it out and let me know next week. So if anyone knows if anyone has solenoid parts for sale, let me know.

It's a lot easier to remove the starter with the body off. The top bolt is easy to access. The bottom bolt is tougher because I had to remove some oil filter lines to get access. What did you do to the starter after you removed it?

My shop manual does give this problem a few lines. 4. Solenoid operates starter but will not release when the starter switch is released. a. Resistance ground at relay points (item 3) solenoid side. b. Resistance ground between starter switch and or (item 1) relay terminal. c. Shift lever return spring broken or out of position. Remedies : Check for any of the above conditions and correct as necessary. If difficulty is encountered in subject C, replace the spring. I think what they mean by "resistance ground" is a short.

Yesterday, my starter keep going very fast with all the spark plugs out. I kept clicking the remote starter switch to cut it off, but it still ran. I pulled off the remote starter switch connection from the neg. battery terminal. It still kept running. Had to resort to pulling the ground cable to stop the starter. So I pulled the starter today to troubleshoot it. I noticed that this rubber boot over the pinion gear shaft. Age has badly cracked it. Does anyone sell this boot? Or maybe I should take it to an auto electric shop to look at it?

I was wrong when I said I fixed the leak in this thread. Sorry.

Yes, stop and think plus read is a good practice. I guess I have been using this site as a crutch whenever I have a problem. The shop manual doesn't go into basics like the oil gallerys, but the theorical auto mechnics books do. And I have plenty of these books, so I will start reading them as well as the shop manual. The Motor textbook, not the common shop manual, is excellent and read it cover to cover some four decades ago, but have forgotten a lot.