blueskies

Very saddened to see the news of Don's passing. I don't get on the forum much anymore, but every once in a while Don will pop into my head and I'll log into see what he's been up to. Today was one of those days, and I just had a feeling I'd see this news. Don was my ARCH RACE RIVAL, as we built our Plymouth engines together, and yet so far away. We bench raced for years, one-upping each other with humor and good fun even though we had never met each other. The forum was new then, and we had a great time getting to know all of the Plymouth guys around the country vicariously through text and jpg on P15-D24. https://www.oldwillysforum.com/Plymouth/misc/coatneystools.jpg In 2007, the year that the Tulsarama Buried Belevedere was to be unearthed, I set my sites on getting my car road ready to drive from Idaho to Tulsa to meet Don and have the "Big Race" that we'd been talking up for nearly 7 years. The rest is legend, and I'm sad that Don is no longer here to brag about winning, even though it was in fact the Blueskies '50 Plymouth that took the checkered flag. It was a great ride getting to know you Don, I know that I'm not the only one who will miss your wit, life wisdom, and depth of mechanical knowledge. All my best to Lisa and the rest of Don's family, Your ARCH RACE RIVAL, Pete

Don, Gone but not forgotten... Who can forget all the fun we had putting our cars together at the same time? Especially the culmination of all that hard work and countless hours of bench racing here on the forum (seven years in fact...), THE BIG RACE in Tulsa, Ok. I only wish we could have made the BIGGER RACE, and the BIGGEST RACE happen, but it was fun to imagine getting together again after Tulsa. Something I love most about old cars is the fact that they are vehicles for friendship more than anything else. Your car will live on, creating connections for it's new owner, just as it did for you. More than anything, your P15 allowed all of us here on the forum to get to know you, your talents as a mechanic, your ability to document and describe not only your own project, but endless help with everyone else's cars, your good humor, and your kindness. Selling my Plymouth in 2010 was one of the hardest decisions ever, after putting ten years into building it. My boys both cried, and I did too when I watched the car roll away into the sunset. The car was part of our family, the boys had never known a time without it. Selling the car opened new doors though, and we've had many great projects since that we wouldn't have done if we hadn't sold the Plymouth first. I hope the new owner can keep your P15 rolling like you did, maybe with proper footwear and less tools... I'm happy to have had the privilege of meeting you through this forum, our cars, and all the years of BS. It was great fun. Pete

Andy- Yep, I miss my Plymouth quite a bit too. But, the sale allowed me to survive the economy crash and also allowed room for other ventures like Willys Wagons, including oldwillysforum.com. I've been toying with the idea of another Plymouth, but it will be a number of years before that can happen. My oldest is a senior in High School, and youngest is a sophmore... Once we get them off to college, I'll have more time to take on something new. I took this clip today on a long lunch with my dog Champ- All is well here in Idaho. Pete

For what it's worth, I have decided to stop paying for a domain registration for my '50 Plymouth website ($37.00/year). I sold the car in 2010... However, because the site still sees a considerable amount of traffic, I have moved the website to another server (oldwillysforum.com) so that it can remain on the net indefinitely for future reference. The new URL for the old 50lymouth.com site is: http://www.oldwillysforum.com/Plymouth/02-hom/home.html Unfortunately, many of the images I have been posting here for the better part of 10 years will now be dead links... Most of the images are on the website though, so they are still accessible if anyone really wants to find them. Plymouth built great cars! Pete

I had a pair of Holley/Weber 5200 carbs on my 230, with the same Edmunds intake. Ran awesome, even though the carbs don't have the period look. Even kicked Don Coatney's but in the Big Race of 2007 with this setup... . More about my ol '50 here.

The weep hole is clear, and when the chamber gets enough oil in it, it spatters out the weep hole. I think the seal that is in there, on the diaphragm shaft, must be bad. Pete

Pretty sure it is the fuel pump... I reinstalled the carb and the cleaned out old fuel pump yesterday. It fired up and ran in the driveway for a half hour or so without quitting, so I ventured forth to the grocery store a mile or so away and it made it home. It seems as if the oil on top of the fuel pump diaphram is restricting the pumps ability to function... Once cleaned out, it worked ok. Just a question of time before it gets full of oil again though, so a new pump is on the list. Thanks for all the replies. Pete

Rubber lines look fine. Blew compressed air from the carb to the tank to make sure line was clear before pulling the tank, and could hear it bubbling away in the tank. The inside of the tank looks decent. Flushed it out anyway. Someone suggested on the Studebaker forum that having a fuel filter near the tank could be part of the problem, if the fuel pump can't pull enough vacuum to overcome the air bubble in the filter. Going to pull the filter near the tank now that I know the tank is clean. Pete

The carb is a funky Carter AS... It is a convoluted process of opening it up, first taking it off the engine to get to the bottom linkages that run through the body of the carb. I don't think there is any way to do a quick check to see if the bowl is empty. I think your theory of the pump filling with oil, becoming useless when full of oil, and then draining out while it sits is spot on. I can't see how the pump could move any fuel if the area above the diaphragm is full of oil. The next test, while we wait for a new pump, will be to run it till it quits, and then put the pressure gauge on the line and see if it is pumping anything. Pete

Ben was five when Joseph and I drive out to Tulsa.... Here's a few pics of the road trip we took last fall to pick up the Lark in Yreka, Ca. About 12 hours one way from here to there. Ben bought the car on ebay. The car as we found it upon arriving at the sellers house in Yreka. Pleasantly surprised at the condition of the car, it was as advertised. (except for that bit about it only running for 10 minutes...) Happy new owner. Somewhere in Oregon...

Not Plymouth related, but hoping the genious collective here might be able to shed some insight on a fuel system issue... My son Ben bought his first car last fall, a '61 Studebaker Lark. The car is in great shape, but the previous owner wasn't what I'd call "mechanically inclined"... The car has a fuel system issue, where it will run fine for 10-15 minutes, and then run out of fuel. After it sits for 1/2 hour or so, it will start up and run fine again, until the cycle repeats. Doesn't matter if it is hot or cold. I did some searching on the Studebaker forum, and found that the previous owner had the exact same problem and posted about it in 2007, apparently it was never resolved. The engine is an OHV So, to date, we have removed the fuel tank and cleaned it out (it wasn't overly dirty), the pickup tube in the tank is clear, new fuel lines and filters. We have removed and cleaned the carb twice (the second time just to be sure there wan't a blockage somewhere). Also, replaced the coil and condenser, the points look new. The gas cap is a vented type, be we even tried running the car without the cap to be sure. Here's what is going through my mind... getting nowhere fast. The carb is still clean from the thorough cleaning we gave it this spring. There are no obstructions in any of the ports, jets, or float valve. No screens or other areas that could have been plugged. The float needle looks good, and doesn't seem to be sticking. I decided to check out the fuel pump while I was at it. The pump doesn't look like it has many miles on it, and the diaphram is good. It pumps just fine, no obvious visible issues. No restrictions in the fittings or valves. I did find one oddity though... The upper portion of the pump had 4-5 tablespoons of engine oil inside, and it was leaking out of the weep hole on the side of the pump casting... It looks like there is maybe a bad seal on the diaphram shaft in the top of the pump, I don't think oil should get into the pump body. I'm wondering if this could be an issue pumping the fuel, if it gets a bunch of oil in there it might restrict the pumps ability to move fuel. If the oil leaks out the weep hole, then it would start over again... Thoughts? I have now been through the entire fuel system from tank to carb, and can't find any issues, other than a section of hard line that is 1/4" diameter, which I think should be 5/6" and the oil in the pump body. Planning to replace the fuel pump, as soon as funds allow, and installing a 5/16" fuel line from tank to carb. Any other thoughts on what could be the problem? Pete

I'm not on the forum very often, but was happy to see this thread today... Reminds me of driving my old '50 to Tulsa, which was a 3,300 mile round trip jaunt. The couple of days before leaving on the trip, I was replacing a bad wrist pin in the engine and changing front suspension parts. No time to really test drive, so we just went for it. Bought new tires the day we left hoping it would fix a bad wander. Since it drove straight, we hit the road. Listening to all the little noises and how they change over the hours nearly wore me out the first couple of days. After a while, I figured it it was going to fail, it would have done so and I started to relax and enjoy the trip. Once we got to Tulsa, I started to dread the return trip, thinking about just how far away from home we had gotten... But we made it without much issue. I'd do it all again tomorrow if I could. Happy to see your Plymouth on the road, and burning up the miles. Cheers, Pete

Beautiful car Reg... The overdrive is probably the R-7 unit, which is quite a bit different from the R-10. It doesn't have the electronics that the R-10 has. I bought one for my '50, not knowing the difference at the time. Neil Riddle was a great source of info. I wound up selling it to someone who was looking for the R-7 and bought the R-10. Pete

I think it's great that your '49 has come full circle. I doubt it makes any difference how the coil is mounted, but mine was mounted vertically on the center of the firewall. Pete