Darbone85737

I had the same issue when I put the newly rebuilt engine back into my car. The adjustment for 1st and R is very finicky . There is a thread from the past with more detailed information and illustration. I looked for the thread but couldn't find it. If I recall correctly the vertical lever needs to move forward just far enough to allow the horizontal lever to "click" into place. I removed the shift rods and moved the selector by hand underneath the car to find the approximate positions and then adjusted the rods accordingly. It was a slow process. It doesn't take much to have them out of adjustment. Sorry I couldn't be of more help

I'm not certain. I'll have to ask. Any suggestions ?

One of the first things I noticed when my car was parked outside was that if it rained the seam in the hood would allow water onto the top of the engine, settling into the spark plug hole recesses.. If a plug was slightly loose or the car sat for extended periods I thought it might be possible for water to enter the cylinder. Living in the desert this is not a real problem for me but worth noting. I just had my engine rebuilt and after less than 100 miles it started making noise in the # 1 cylinder. Turned out the rod bearings and journals were seriously scored. The mains are fine. I had to pull the engine and it's back with the machinist. I'm pretty angry but it will be repaired at their expense. Really don't know what they did wrong but I will do the reassembly myself.

The "chisel" trick is what worked for me as well

when I was having issues I did use a 12V jump starter when the car was hot and the battery refused to turn the starter over. I had the same result that Don described. The bendix gear locked in the ring gear of the flywheel and didn't release when the engine started. Made a whining noise until it finally did release. Can't imagine it was doing any good for the starter motor. I have all new wiring in my car and now that I have a 6 V battery with some cranking power I've no more problems. Plus no risk of damage to my newly rebuilt original radio.

I have the proper gauge cables for a 6 v car and the starter is newly rebuilt. I think the 6v batteries available at the local auto parts places just can't cut it. Aside from the short life they really struggled to turn the car over, especially when hot. The Optima has 800 CCA as opposed to the 650 the old battery was rated at. The difference has been amazing. The engine in my car is newly rebuilt with 50 thousands milled from the head but there is no sluggishness in spinning it over with the Optima The hold downs I made for the old battery work, but now need to be modified for the thinner Optima. I don't care about the appearance. I have a nice shiny new aluminum radiator under the hood and the Optima gives the compartment a nice updated look

Since owning my P18 I've had issues with slow starting- I've gone through 2 batteries in the 3 years I've owned the car. The last one just gave up after 24 months, fortunately in the garage. It had a one year warranty and I decided I wasn't going down that road again. Yesterday morning I ordered an Optima red top battery from Summit Racing. I was shocked to find it at my door this afternoon. I put it in the car and the thing cranks and starts like it never has before. What a difference. The only (non) issue is the size and appearance of the battery. I need to modify the battery hold down and the appearance is not original if that is a concern. I'm happy

Thanks- Yes, Don was a huge help and gave me a new push rod for the clutch linkage. It is different than the one that was in my car. Seems they changed the linkage from the P15 to the P18. The new and old styles are shown in the diagram. The rod part 6-24-1 kept the same part number but changed as indicated in the diagram. The earlier rod was shorter than the P18 part. I solved my problem by cutting threads on the rod end so it would screw into the adjuster of the old style rod. That added a little length to it and made it fit better. I have good clutch action now and plenty of room for adjustment as the clutch wears. I'm still not full sure why the problem occurred. Everything else looks normal according to the diagram At any rate my thanks to Don once again. I hope to be in a position to pay his generosity forward whenever I am able After fixing this issue I went to drive the car and had an awful grinding noise coming from the front end. Turned out a brake shoe return spring had snapped. I was lucky in that someone had obviously taken the wheel drums apart and the drums came off without needing a puller. New springs are on the way. Seems it's always something

Don is a man among men !!! I'll post a picture of what was in there when I get the replacement installed.. I guess this stuff is bound to happen when a car is 65 years old and has been through god-knows-how-many previous owners, some of them in Texas . For some reason the parts book for the P17 and P18 cars doesn't have a diagram like the book Don has for the P15.

Turns out I believe the clutch linkage for the car has been "modified" by previous owners over the years. Specifically the rod that pushes the release lever in the bell housing. Does anyone have a picture or illustration of what it is supposed to look like, or better yet an extra part they might be willing to sell ?

I removed and replaced the rear window using new gasketing. It was a pretty easy job once I started. The windshield is likely the same process. I bought the gasket from Andy Bernbaum. It was significantly less expensive than Steele

Thanks. Yes it's a1949 P18. I don't have the manual here right now so I thought I'd ask for assistance/advice. I believe the overcenter spring is the heavy spring with the adjustment on a threaded rod. I'm not certain if tightening the adjuster will add return pressure to the pedal or decrease it. The adjustment is almost at the end of the rod. The only other spring I see is attached to the lever that goes through the bell housing that actuates the throw out bearing. The clutch and bearing were both replaced when the engine was out for a rebuild. All the pivot points in the linkage are intact and greased. The linkage moves freely- it just will not return the pedal. This happened suddenly and thankfully in the garage.. edit: Found and checked the manual. The adjustment to resolve slow pedal return is to back off the sleeve nut on the spring eye bolt. Mine is already at the end of the bolt so there really isn't any backing left. All the external linkage parts seem intact and moving properly, but the pedal just goes to the floor and stays there

I backed my car out of the garage to reposition it. Everything was fine but when I put it in first to move forward the clutch pedal suddenly lost spring tension and the pedal went straight to the floor and would not return I pulled the pedal back up by hand but if I press it down it goes right back to the floor and will not return I know there is an adjustment on the return spring but I'm not quite sure how it works. The adjuster seems to be at the end of the threaded rod. Does it get tightened or loosened to increase spring tension on the pedal return ?

I used ceramic coating on my manifolds. I think they're awesome

I'm thankful this came up. I had to remove the cowl vent from my car this week to replace the gasket. Not really replace- A prior owner didn't want to go through the effort so they just scraped out the old gasket and filled the channel with silicone .. On the P18 the vent is secured by 2 screws on each side, accessed through the front screen, plus the rod that goes down to the handle under the dash. The gasket came from Bernbaum and was a perfect fit