bob westphal

A long time ago there was a fellow on the P-15 forum living in Tempe, AZ who owned a '46 Plymouth sedan woody. Does any one remember him? The reason I ask is that his is featured in the latest Hemmings Classic Car "Lost & Found".

Sadly my P-15 club coupe has been totaled. It is going to another P-15 owner in Oregon as salvage. I will drop off the P-15 Forum after many years. Thanks to all on the Forum for your association and help. I am moving on to a numbers matching one owner 273 powered '65 Barracuda.

When my old dual carbed flattie went south, I installed a SL-6/904 in my P-15 with dual Carter single barrels. I gained an easy 50 hp. and a much better car. Since I'm using a Satellite 273 rear axle, its a slug of the line but has lots of go after I'm moving. The mileage is about the same. I imagine, that if I had a lower rear ratio, It would be a screamer.

I am still using the original drum brakes. I essentially did what Andy 's picture shows by fabricated a plate bolted and a spacer between the spindle and the steering arms. The plate has three holes spaced the same distance as the spacing of the steering arm mounting holes. The steering arm bolts to the forward hole in the plate and the forward boss on the front spindle boss and the aft hole to the rear spindle boss. This moves the steering arms forward the distance between the holes in the arms. The only way to bend the steering arms is heat and bend them and re-tempering them. Since my car is lowered 3 1/2" in front, I already had a small amount of bump steer. Since I installed the rack, the bump steer seams to be gone.

I have finished installing a Cavalier rack & pinion in my P-15. I shortened the steering arms by moving them forward on the spindles. It works well but the turning radius is a little lacking. I'm wondering if changing the Ackermann by bending the steering arms slightly toward the center of the car would help decrease the radius.

Looks interesting and fun.

High Rich, First to answer about an easy brake fluid filler. Summit carries the a Wilwood Master Cylinder Remote Reservoir Kit part # wil-260-11098 ($19.38) that you fasten to the firewall with a hose going to a fitting you install in the master cylinder cap. You can do this when you rebuild your master cylinder. Make sure there is no taper or pitting. On the Cascade Pacific Plymouth Club site, I wrote an article on an easy way to bleed brakes. Check it out on http://www.cascadepacificplymouth.org/ tech section. I have used the vacuum pump but it is a pain compared to my article

For info on speed equipment from the '30's checkout this site. http://www.hotrod.com/articles/1048srp-ford-flathead-intake-manifold-collection/ Vintage equipment for Mopar engines is really hard to find but it is still out there. Edmunds was one of the manufactures of Mopar speed equipment. He started in the mid '30's making stuff for Ford flaties. I believe it was the '40's when he made high comp heads, dual intakes using Stromberg carb patterns and headers. The last Edmunds head I saw for sale went for $800. The manifold with Stromberg 97's was about the same. Good luck in finding this stuff.

It is really quite easy to create a title for a car without one at this time. All you need is an affidavit from the seller, a bill of sale and a serial number. However in the past you had to use companies that specialized in creating titles like International Title Service. They had sub a company called Freedom Automotive Inc. which would purchase the car from you. They then registered it in their name in Maine (had no titles on cars '87 & older) and sell the car back to you. Freedom Automotive sends you a 'Letter of Title' from the state of Maine and the registration. You then had all the paper work needed to take to your DMV. My question is, what other components have the same number stamped on them? Many of the body number tags are in pretty bad shape. Would it be possible to create a new body number tag if you could find out what the body number is from another component?

You may need to adjust the little tabs that hold the clip to the body to keep the tight to the body. If they are loose the trim could come unfastened or rattle.

If do decide to use the Fat Man, use the shock conversion with the shock mounted at the top hole to get full shock travel. I paid about $300 and it was very hard to find. The kit is designed to be used with disc brakes but you can still use drums like I did.

The flathead Mopar crankshafts had a soft surface on the throws. You could actually scratch the surface with a wrench by accident. In my youth I drove a '47 P-15 sedan that I souped up. The engine was over bored to the max, Wiseco pistons, ported & relieved, Isky full grind cam, SCHAEFER light flywheel & clutch, Edmunds 10-1 high comp head, dual Edmunds manifold with Stromberg 97's, hand built six tube exhaust header run into a single collector box. I had the crank sprayed with hardner to hold the extra power. I have no idea of the HP rating but the car ran in the low 15 seconds in the 1/4. However the crank failed when was ran at high rpm for an extended time. That's why I installed a SL6 in my current coupe and automaticaly got an extra fifty hp.

15 years ago MOPAR front double brake cylinders sold through antique cars parts stores for just under $100 if you could find one. Re-sleaving was about the same. For the last 9 years I have been buying American made front wheel cylinders from NAPA for $25 each. I'm using a power booster and these cylinders don't leak under the extra pressure. The rear cylinders were less. The rear axle on my car is from a '72 Satellite. The cylinders cost $10.

Check out this site for repairing your gauge. http://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge Also there is one on eBay for $332. http://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge

The book says the flathead Mopar should have 40 lb of oil pressure at driving speed. It is adjusted by adjusting washers on the side of the oil pump.