MarcDeSoto

Thanks for informing me. I always thought that only the Wayfarer had the three speed manual after 1948, but the Meadowbrook is the low cost model to the Coronet, so that makes sense. I think if you are going down hill in first gear with fluid drive, the impeller of the FD would become the propeller turning the crankshaft over. If you had a regular flywheel, or welded FD, how would that slow you down more? I'm no engineer, but would like to know. Good luck, and I hope it works out.

Since the body is off of my chassis, and the car is not wired, I'm wondering what is the minimum I need to do to get it started? I guess I don't have to wire the generator and regulator. And I think I don't have to wire in the ammeter. I know I need to wire the primary wiring such as the coil and the distributor wiring. I need to hook up the oil filter and the oil pressure gauge. I probablly need to take the oil pump out and prime it. And my carburetor was rebuilt in the 80s, so it might be dicey. Any comments?

I understand not wanting to spend $500 on a new seal, but on the second reason, why did you say you would have to be on your brakes all the way down the hill? If you read the manual on how the Gyromatic works, to get engine braking going down a hill, you start the car in 1st, then step on the clutch and then you are in 2nd. 2nd gear provides engine braking going downhill because it is not free-wheeling. Also, if you weld the FD, could you still shift up to 4th gear? I don't know the answer. Has anyone ever done before with good results?

I have a Chrysler after market hubcap that is like new, but it is odd. I guess Chrysler could sue an aftermarket producer of their hubcaps, so this says something like "CHRRYSRR" , but in its fancy script, you won't notice that it's wrong. I once asked two guys to examine this hubcap and tell me if it was factory or aftermarket. They both said that had no idea how to tell! Another thing you can do to keep your hubcaps is to bend the clips in a little bit so they are held tighter.

So you're saying 2.5 inches of pedal travel before the brake pedal becomes hard is too excessive. I'll try to make the adjustment then. Marc.

Hope it comes with a good MoPar heater! Good luck! Is it a Special Deluxe Club Coupe? What's glare ice?

I just came back from the garage where I checked my brake pedal travel. It goes down somewhere between 2.5 and 2.8 inches before the pedal gets real hard. Is that OK?

I got my brakes bled today and no more leaks. I noticed that when we bled the bottom cylinders on the front axle, there was almost no air bubbles and the pedal was very hard. But on the top cylinders, the pedal went down very easily. Is that normal? Maybe it's because the cylinder is on the bottom and the air goes up to the top? Anyway, I have a good hard pedal now.

Harmony, I just went to the garage and unscrewed the bleed valve. I blew air through it and there was no blockage. I saw the jet off to the side that bleeds the air out. The big threads that you see must be for some other car as they do nothing on my car. I think my helper just cracked the valve a bit too far so that fluid started escaping out of the base. I've got a good hard pedal even though I haven't got to the front wheels yet. Thanks for all your help! Marc.

I'm only at bleed valve no. 2. We didn't have a problem with bleed valve no. 1, so I'll go and try to check it out more closely and blow air through it. Looking at the pic, I'm wondering what all those threads are doing out like that. Maybe it has to be screwed in further?

Tried to bleed my brakes today. Was getting a good hard pedal. But on the right rear bleeder valve, the fluid was coming from the base of the bleed valve. Aren't bleed valves supposed to be in two parts, one part to screw into the wheel cylinder and the other to crack the valve open? The problem is when you crack the valve, you have to turn it until fluid is pouring out of the base of valve, at the cylinder. Could that be right? ss

Oh. I think he said the drums were .020 undersized, so Dodge must be right. If the drums were exactly 11" and were turned by .020, they would be a greater diameter INSIDE DIAMETER and would need theoretically a thicker shoe lining. So my drums might have been turned once in the past.

Wait, I think I said they were .020 undersize, not .20" undersize. I told the man my drums are supposed to be 11". then he miked them and said they were .020 undersize. .20" would be 1/5 of an inch, right? No they are not 10.80"

Yes, I think I have enough for a book now. Maybe it will become a best seller like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Took my drums and shoes back to the shop today. I asked him to mike the drums. Turns out my drums were undersize by .020" and my shoes were oversize at 1/4" originally. So I was facing a double whammy when I tried to put the front axle brakes together! I haven't assembled them yet, but hoping this time will do the trick. I don't want to have to drive back to Long Beach again where I'm surrounded by speeding 3 axle semis bumper to bumper!

I've always wondered if the paint chips are true examples of the car's paint color or just approximations from a printer's ink. Since you can't use the original paint formulas, how do you go about getting an accurate color today? They have computer scans, but if the paint chip is not accurate it's junk in, junk out.

Ok, here's the skinny. After adjusting each of my front brake shoes in as far as they would go, the right front brake drum will just barely go on, but will not revolve. The left front brake drum will go on and turn, but with heavy shoe contact. I have marked my drums and shoes as being LF or RF. Should I tell the brake guy to take about .030 more off of each shoe? I will ask him to measure the drums and give the specs. I'm going tomorrow. Marc.

First of all my brake shoes are the old ones. I had a brake shop reline them back in the 80s, but never put them on until now. I am going back to the brake shop in Long Beach on Monday to have them shave them again. They confused me saying my brake shoes looked OK when I brought them in and only shaved off around 030". As far as the push rods, the old and the new look to be about the same length.

I have the old ones on the left side and the new ones on the right side. Using the original push rods didn't make a difference. I think Andy is right in that my shoe lining is just too thick. I can get the drums on now, but can't turn the wheel. So maybe take another 1/32 off?

I've read the shop manual and watched the MTSC filmstrip many times. They never discuss or answer any of those questions. They do tell you how to adjust the shoes, but they assume your drums go over your shoes. They never discuss whether or not to loosen the anchor nuts before you make an adjustment. Topping never told me the measurements of the drum. He said he took of about .030" off the shoes, which I think is too little. So it looks like I have to back to Topping and tell them to take more off.

I think I am just going to have to go back to Topping and have them take more lining off. It's almost there and just needs a little more off. I wonder if they sell new or used push rods. Now that I've filed the rods, I'm not sure if they are all equal! Also, am I right in assuming that you have to loosen the anchor bolt nuts in order to do the major adjustment? If I tighten the anchor bolts, I can't turn the bolts.

I took my brake drums and shoes to C.H. Toppping Brakes today. All the cars there were pre-1959! There was a gorgeous black 40 Ford Tudor. It was so pretty, I wondered if they looked that good when they were new on the dealer showroom floor. There also a couple of 50s Pontiacs. One was a bright orange 56 Starfire. And up on the rack was an old Bentley. Someone had the top chopped! I can't see trying to hot rod a Bentley. They looked at my shoes and said these don't look too thick. I said well I can't get my drums to go over them. So they shaved a tiny amount off. I told them to take off about 1/32" and they need to be about 3/16". Now I can get my drums on, but can't turn the drum as the brakes are too tight! What am I doing wrong? One thing they didn't tell me was I was supposed to bring in the anchor bolts too. I asked why and they said they could set it up and measure it more accurately. Could I be turning the major and minor adjustments bolts wrong. I just turn them until I see the shoe go in as far as it can, but maybe that's wrong? Maybe I should try to file the push rods again?

You have more guts than I do. They say Henry Ford started out that way by taking a watch apart to find out what made it tick, and then putting it back together again. Sounds like it's time to hand the clock over to a clock doc.

I got a tip from James D. today about an old brake shop in Long Beach that could arc my shoes to the drums. He didn't know if it was still in business so called them and they are! I'm taking my drums and shoes in tomorrow to be arced while i wait. Wow, didn't think a shop like this still existed. here's their website for CH Topping & Co. http://www.chtopping.com/Home/index.html

I'm going to send my shoes to be arced. I need to send them the accurate size of the ID of the drums. How do I do that? Most micrometers are only 6 inches long.