timkingsbury

This was my Dad's original 1938 Desoto - Plymouth Approved Service Dealer Sign. My Grandfather had a later Desoto- Plymouth sign and a Chrysler - Fargo Trucks sign hanging on the outside of his shop, which he built after he retired from Chrysler Corporation. It was a 42" sign and of course Dad always admired it. When Grandfather passed away the signs were sold at auction and the pair sold for $18,500 and after their sale Dad almost immediately started looking for one. Years later on his first trip to our friend George Asche's he smiled when he saw George had one hanging on his garage. I took a picture of the pair of them in front of the garage and it became one of Dad and George's favourite pictures. The meeting of the Northern and Southern Flathead Mopar minds. In any case, it would be about a decade later when Dad would finally see one come up for auction and of course it wound up costing more than did the one that sold at Grandfathers Auction. During the lead up to the auction it came to light that dealer sign was an original 1938 sign and as we checked out the sign measured it, and then compared it to the one that sold at Grandfathers sale, there was indeed a slight difference in size. Grandfathers was 42" and this one was 45". Grandfathers, well it had made its way back to Chrysler and was on display at the Walter Chrysler Museum. Given its age, it was in remarkable conditions when found (see picture of the pre-restoration sign) but after speaking to George who wished he had restored the enamel instead of painting its spots missing enamel, and speaking to the Curator at the Walter Chrysler museum it was decided to have it restored by the best we could find. It underwent a world class restoration on the few areas that needed attention, by the leading enamel sign restoration company, Don Van Kannel - Van Kannel Sign Restoration and it is in absolutely spectacular condition. Sadly its restoration would take a number of years, and Dad would pass away without ever seeing it finished. The family has wrestled with keeping it, or selling it. It had been appraised at $15,000 prior to it being restored and with the restoration cost, the imminent sale of Mom and Dad's place it really didn't make sense to keep it. So we put it up for sale and also consigned it to a large automotive memorabilia auction. We got a few people express interest, and a couple of trade offers, but nothing serious, so off it went to the automotive memorabilia auction with no reserve but a guarantee for the auction company on the minimum sale price. As our luck has seem to have gone lately, the sign appeared to sell at the auction for well above the guarantee the auction company had provided us. But a couple of days after the auction we were told that the buyer had failed complete the sale. Grrrrrrr, what else can you say. So the Sign went up for sale on this week Ebay and locally. Here is the listing - and the current bid is $17,250 (a verified buyer with a 5780 rating) http://www.ebay.com/itm/252734854732?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 We have put it up for sale at less that we (Dad) had in the sign, but it needs a new home and we would really like to see it go to a new home. We might consider a trade for something, but it will need to be something one of the family wants, and then they will put the cash into the estate. If you have any questions feel free to drop me a note at fargopickupking@yahoo.com Thanks for your time Tim Kingsbury

Update: To all the kind words we have received over the years and since this post thank you. The AoK intake setup is on its way to Gary Street for those of you wondering if its still for sale or who got it. Oh and yes, it was spoken for pretty much within an hour of it being listed with a few backup homes looking to Adopt the Piece of History! So you missed out on our last (and most likely final) run of AoK intakes and are kicking yourself. Unlike other times over the last 30 years, we stopped taking names for a waiting list as George Asche Jr is now 90 years old, and while he is still unbelievable active, he is moving more to small projects, 1 and a time. While I (Tim Kingsbury) could continue on, I think after 30 years of giving back to the hobby and not making a dime on intakes, its time for me to concentrate on my own projects, as life is too often shorter than we expect. In that vein one of the guys who purchased an AoK dual carb intake for the 23 1/2" Mopars (201, 217 (that a lot call a 218) and 230 engines), got it a couple of years ago, then found his dream car, a 1948 Plymouth business coupe. He send his intake back to use as he was not sure if he would be putting it on a preww2 car or truck or a post ww2 car when he bought it. Of course the AoK intake was designed and created so it can be used for inboard or outboard linkage as well as a mounting spot for the pivot points on trucks or preww2 cars.. It is the only multi carb intake ever made for a 23 1/2' motor ever made to easily accommodate both. George rebuilt him to Siamese twin Carter Ball and Ball Carbs, created the linkage for a post WW2 car, then setup and aligned everything so its ready to mount on a car. The customer wanted a "back woods" look and asked if George could put something special like a copper space or something for his project. If you look close at the 1st two pictures, George did make a subtle piece of copper to try and give him that look. The project was finished and sent back to the customer. Sadly, shortly after getting back the intake he fell ill and has since passed away. His widow called me, .let me know the Plymouth has been sold to someone in Europe but they didn't want any of the spare parts and she wondered if we would consider buying back the intake, carbs and linkage. I am not going to go to deep into the families challenges, except to say she needed to try and gather up as much cash as she could not that her husband had passed and the realization that his life insurance was not going to keep them in the house they have and the life style they once had. Without hesitation I asked her what he had in the project. He has supplied the carbs for George to rebuild, which were super nice to start with, just had been on a shelf for a long time. She had receipts and what he had in the intake, carbs, linkage as seen in pictures 1 and 2 is $1600. That is what I paid for it, plus shipping to me and that is what I will sell it for. The last picture shows what the intake is like with headers made from a stock exhaust by George Asche Jr. They don't come with the intake, nor did he has a pair. But if you wanted a set made we can get you a set made for $195 plus shipping, using your supplied exhaust. You can also use Fenton reproduction headers, or whatever you like. So the 1st one to reach out, with $1650.00 usd will own the intake, carbs and linkage all set up ready to mount on a 23 1/2' flathead mopar that has linkage coming across the head. Shipping inside Canada or the USA will be $50 usd for Postal Ground service. If you prefer to use your carrier or express shipping, that is no problem and will be done at cost. Reach out to me at Fargopickupking@yahoo.com if you want it.. Remember, there is only 1 of these, so when its gone its gone! Tim ps: If you want to know more about the intake and its development, you can find lots of articles on this blog. Here is a good one to start with

Sunday February 6 2022 - Guess who turns 90 today ? The answer to that question is - George Asche Jr, born February 6th 1932! Here is an great article that was published in the local paper earlier this week, celebration "The Nifty at 90 - George" If you want to call George and wish him a Happy Birthday, his number is 814-354-2621 although around 4pm on his birthday he likely wont be answering the phone until 7pm. I cant confirm or deny there maybe a Birthday Party, but I can confirm there will be cake! If he asks you who told you it was his Birthday and you want to get a chuckle, tell him - "It was your 3rd son", which will get a smile from him as that is often how he introduces me. For those wondering if George is still active these days, the answer is - "Heck yes" - he is still doing what he loves every single day. Here is a little video when I was down before Christmas. I was down for a few days and he rebuild an overdrive, finished off an engine rebuild doing the assembly of the engine, and rebuild 3 carbs. In the video he was mounting 3 rebuilt carbs on one of our AoK triple intakes, and making some modification to some linkages that came from a customers previous intake and what I wanted to document was how to setup and adjust up 3 carbs all operating on a common rail. What it will show is not only how to do that, but also shows George still at it and going strong. Oh and yes for those with a close eye, that is a copy of the poster that was on the back of the door at my Grandfathers office at the Chrysler Engine plant. The poster which was made in late 1951 was announcing the new Hemi for the Dodge Truck line and introduction of the factory dual carb and dual exhaust on the 265 ci motor. I will attach a copy of that poster at he bottom of this post.

The number under the water pump means nothing concerning size of the engine, that is for sure. The head, as I said, same part number over several years. Without seeing the underside your not going to get any further information, sorry. The bombardier well your could remove the pan and check the part number on the crank and rods. Beyond that its just speculation on what it is. What was originally in a late 50s bombardier was a 265, but there were 251s in smaller ones and I have seen many times when we have pulled the engine it turned out to have come from a car or truck, so based on what your telling me only a part number is going to help us. On the sum and pan, you can change the pickups and pans to have back, front or center pickups. the pans are interchangeable depending on the application. You just need to remember to also change the pickup if you change the pan. Tim

There are over 60 cam patterns for industrial engines. It all depends on what horsepower was required and for a 265 that ranged from 80hp to 120hp, what rpm the engine is going, and what the gallons per 8 hour shift target is. An industrial engine typically can be a low as an operating rpm of 1450 rpm. a lot little higher in the 1800 rpm and rarely is anything over 2400 rpm. It is not just the cam, they will also use a lower compression head often times. In your case a 1959 industrial 265 tell me it more likely is in a combine, swather, harvester, tow motor or airplane tug. By 1959 the 251 industrial out sold the 265. Your 1948 238 ci motor would be likely from a truck and the lift would be the same as most of the 1959 265 engines, although the duration will be less. You will also find the head of the industrial is less compression than the 1948 238 motor.

1) A D49 is a 1954 dodge car engine serial number 2) Under the water pump stamped number - do you have a picture ? 3) March 18th 1957 the block was cast. So most likely a replacement block that a dealer or rebuilder both the internals over and stamped the block with the d49 serial number 4) crank cap number is over several years so not really relevant 5) Head number also over several years. I could look it up to see if it what it was for. If it was off the engine a picture of the chamber would be easier for me to tell which year. 6) distributor number irrelevant. 7) no , but if you have the pan off the part number is on the crank and rods. That would tell you. 8-) a late 50s bombardier could be a 250/251 or 265 but see next point The thing I would do for the bombarder is pull the brass plug over cylinder #6. put down a small rod, turn the motor over with a bar measuring the distance between top dead center and bottom dead center. 4 1/2" is a 250/251 and 4 3/4" is a 265 and for your d49 if its 4 1/4" stroke is a 238 ci motor. Chrysler referred to vehicle version of the 4 1/2" stroke ( 3 7/16" bore ) as a 250 an the industial as a 251. Same bore and stroke. The reason why is the cams are always different on the industial. The head can be different (usually lower compression) and the valves can be thicker stemmed sodium cooled which are low rpm valves for engines that are run constantly. another note: a 250/251 has to be 1946 or newer in anything civilian. 265 has to be september 1951 or newer. Tim Kingsbury fargopickupking@yahoo.com

The good news is the A833 options is still very much available. My dad Eddy put one in my Mom's 1956 Fargo in 1975, and George Asche and my Dad were great friends and George has been making the adapter plates for over 30 years now in two formats. 1 for a pickup and 1 for the car bell housing. You can find that option elsewhere on my blog. He has sold hundreds of them and still does, so if that is a direction someone wants to take, that is still available today.

I completely understand and while its easy for me to lay my hand on an r10g1 or a straight 3 speed, its not something i personally need and so its tough to devote the time to it as i just have too much to deal with these days. I do hope you have a treatment plan for the Lyme disease as it can be a huge issue and sometimes people are tested several times, it shows negative and then all of a sudden they test positive. I have had a few close friends get it and the longer it takes to diagnose it the tougher it is to tackle and though there are several antibiotics approved in the states for it. Im sure you have done the search many times although like so much there is as much misinformation as information. But trusted sources are out there Treatment for erythema migrans | Lyme Disease | CDC

Im sorry to hear that Paul, but believe me I completely understand. On the air cleaner, that is a reasonable target. The challenge is most air filters are made off shore where you need to over thousands to make the project viable. This project just is not going to be of a scale that your going out to place the minimum order quantities in the thousands, which means a much smaller run and cost for tooling and dies for the run that has to be spread over the run. I know what the star tops costed, which was a buddy that owns a manufacturing company who when asked if he could make them, he said let me get back to you. Next thing he showed up with tops and had invested a stupid amount in tooling to produce them. Of course he wanted a set and one of our AoK triples so that was his motivation, more than trying to make it a profitable or even a break even project. For the offset bases that direction wont work so the search is on for a few different options to make something of a decent quality which we can add a commercially available air filter element and a star top. The idea of having them so that they are ready to paint or powder coat is likely a good suggestion as you are right a lot of people might like them the same color as their car.

With that feel free folks, if you have a floor shift concept that works for a straight 3 speed or a r10g1 overdrive (That came in the 1952-56 Plymouth that are so popular from the 1939 - 1956 cars) post away!

Hello folks - Back in 2017 I started a thread on floor shift concepts. It kicked off with Paul Flaming @pflaming who had made a shifter for a straight 3 speed. He was planning to work on a version for an overdrive and got a prototype which was a 2 shifter concept. The other one was Ron Allworth's who had made one for a buddy. He had gave consideration to try and make production versions but the demand wasnt there, a lot of people were really hoping for something for the r10g1 Overdrive version and to be honest Ron is always swamped with CoolViewThermostat.com Your can always check out that original blog and comments through this link. Recently the thread drew some revised interest and I decided to circle back with Paul and Ron to see if they had done anything further. While neither really have Ron Allworth was so kind to forward his original hand drawing he made when he was making the shifter for his buddy. He said - "I think this is pretty much all someone would need to reproduce what I did. Feel free to post the drawings, but unfortunately I just don't have time to help anyone if they decide to build one"... "i know as previous comments, it's somewhat over engineered but you can be as hard on it as you want when you shift and it wont break." With that - here is Ron's sketches The shift pattern is standard, reverse is left and forward, 1st is left and back. 2nd is straight forward and 3rd is straight back. Oh and if you want to check our Ron's other cool stuff here is a link for that Cool-View: Transparent Thermostat Housing (coolviewthermostat.com) Picture 1 of 7 Page 2 of 7 Page 3 of 7 Page 4 of 7 Page 5 of 7 Page 6 of 7 Page 7 of 7 His final product Finally, if you make one based on Ron's design, please post up some pictures on the thread below!

I think you will find there are members who have logged in with a username and password, that have not logged in with an email address for years and now cant log in. Potentially because they no longer have the original email address they used to sign in. Best bet to email you at info@p15-d24.com ? i know at least two members - 50plymouth being one emailed me saying they couldnt log on and wanted to comment on a post on my blog. Tim

*** note: Hang in there and at the bottom of this article, you will be asked if you have any interest in a potential new product. For now over 30 years we have been making AoK Triple carb intakes for the 25 1/2" Canadian flathead engine, found in Chryslers from 1937, Desoto's from late 37/38, and Canadian built Dodge /Fargo trucks, Plymouth, Dodge cars since 1936. Prior to that George Asche has been making triples from factory intakes from both the American 23 1/2" platform, the American 24 - 24 3/4" platform and the Canadian 25 1/2" platform from the early 1950s. As well renowned performance intake manufacturer made a Triple carb intake for the 25 1/2" motor starting in 1952 and of course when Chrysler came out with the optional factory dual carb, dual exhaust options on trucks for the 25 1/2" platform, almost immediately car enthusiasts were trying to put them on cars. Of course the governors and balance tube made it tough to get under the hood but they made it happen on stock cars and I will attach a picture of the factory intake and then the "modified version" that was used on a vintage stock car. For all of those Air cleaners are always a big topic. Air cleaners for both cosmetic purposes and of course for functionally removing dirt from the air become the reason, but in many cases the challenge is to get them to fit in the engine bay. Lets start with my 1949 Plymouth, which is a Canadian built car that came from the factory with the 25 1/2" motor, and when we put the Aok triple on it. The 1st two pictures was the very day that was done and joined the "what air cleaner can I use club" So I measured from the firewall to the middle of the carb. You can see that picture here and the paper was because to cover the hole where the cardboard air duct had been. Like lots I looked at various 3 1/4 - 3 1/2" air cleaners and the one that was marked 4" actually wouldnt fit as it was actually 4 9/16" So he hunt was on, and I found 3 vintage Edmunds air cleaners which after some searching found that the 4" air cleaner cartridges for a VW fit perfectly. On they went Side view of the AoK triple on my 1949 Plymouth Almost immediately I was asked where I had gotten them and could they get a set. Of course finding the original Edmunds was next to impossible. Over the next year I lent my intakes to someone who then copied them and they are in fact available today. Here is the Eddy Edmunds 1952 - "Edmunds Racing" triple carb intake for the 25 1/2" motor. Where we put the triple of our dragster, we didn't have the firewall restrictions so we were able to move up to 6" air cleaners. when your do the calculations there is a huge difference between a 4" and 6" air cleaner and we could see on the dyno, but of course I had access to air filter engineering test equipment and it was unbelievable the difference between the 2, never mind when we tested some of the so called 4" air cleaners which were really 3 1/4" and 3 1/2" air cleaners. Here is a closer look at that air cleaner which is actually 6 1/2" air cleaner. Here is the factory dual carb intake I referenced and then the modified version to get it under the hood of a car. This being the factory air cleaner for the dual carb setup but they maybe the rarest of the rare for mopar air cleaners This being a reproduction of a 1930s Mopar aair cleaner which was later used by the 1951 GMC pickups and in the late 1940s and early 1950 Fords, We had the star tops made and chromed or powder coated. This allowed to use a modern air cleaner element. Here is one of the original 1930s air cleaner. Of course the air cleaner as much as I would love to have it on my 1949 Plymouth, or my buddy George Asche Jr would love to have it on his prized 1929 Desoto, they just wont work without a major firewall modification. George as you will see here has run the Edmunds Racing intake since 1954 and it was instrumental to his going undefeated in 1954 on Daytona Beech on the famed flying mile drag race course. Hitting 142 mph over the course George stunned those running everything from the hot v8s of the day, Hemi's, a hot rod Lincoln dragster to a v12 Jaguar. Of course George knew if you remove the air cleaners, as much as that put the engine at great risk, the increase in performance was obvious. Over the years I have often toyed with the idea of offsetting the larger 6" or 6 1/2" air cleaners to get the major increase in air surface and in some cases even with dual carb intakes the offset is needed to avoid conflicts under the hood. A few years ago a customer we were doing an engine for, took a sketch I made, our stop air cleaner creations and created 6 offset air cleaners. Here are those prototypes Which if you look closely you will notice they will sit nicely on the flare top carter ball and ball carbs. Which allow you to use the factory air cleaner clamps for a super snug fit Here is the prototype sitting on my 1949 Plymouth This is just a mock up but you will notice the 6 1/2" air cleaner fit perfectly and is no closer to the firewall that the original Edmunds Air Cleaners. Now the creator of the original prototype found out just how big of an undertaking the offset base was to make and really had no interest in making any more and believe me I tried. In fact I chose not to mention him here, not in an effort to avoid giving him credit, but because naming him could wind up unleashing the masses trying to pester him to make "just one more set" for them. At this point I could just leave it be, have the 3 air cleaners finished and given to George Asche Jr for his 90th birthday and the other 3 finished up and place on our 1936 Fargo which although rock stock internally, sports an AoK triple and a set of George's headers made from factory exhaust manifolds like my 1949 Plymouth. BUT... and it is a Big but, that really isnt the AoK style to make something that no one can ever have. To that (and congratulations if you have read through this book to this point.... lol) another AoK customer and Flathead Mopar super fan has decided to join forces and see if he can get the offset air cleaner bottoms made. In this case, he is well versed with the manufacturing world both in the United States, Canada, off shore in the orient and down under in Australia. i know there is massive amount of interest, but and again its a big but, at what price is that interest ? I know if they were $10 we could sell, oh about a million of them, and if they were $1500 for one we would sell pretty close to 0. I say pretty close because I know a couple of guys who have already offered me a ridiculous amount of money to scoop 3 of the ones I just had powder coated. I also know how pricy it is to create the star tops and those air cleaners without the offset are in the $150 range. It is possible that the offset bottoms could be sold just as a bottom where a customer could do their own air cleaner element and top or as a complete air cleaner. I can tell you if we can make these cheap, as in low cost and high quality we will, but at the end of the day demand will determine if the project gets off the ground. If your interested, drop me a PM here or a note to me at fargopickupking@yahoo.com. Of course is your interested at the $$ below what the current off shore bottoms with hose clamp connection, replaceable elements & star top air cleaners, sorry but at this point I don't think there is a need to get in touch with us, because unless something unforeseen happens I don't see that happening. Thanks - AoK boys

Thanks to Shirley aka Plymouth#43 who called me to wish me a Happy New Years, and reminded me that I was supposed to put up a couple of pictures of earlier overdrives, I have updated the original rough spotters guide blog entry with a bunch more pictures and a little more information. Primarily on the mounting of the emergency brake cable with up and including 1937 was on the right side and then for the 1938 model year the emergency brake was mounted on the left side. Which of course was the answer to the question - "for my new 1937 overdrive should it not have a floor mounted emergency brake" and the answer was that yes for 1937 for the emergency/parking brake was floor mounted and the mount was on the right side of the brake drum. Of course right side is determined when a driver in North America is sitting in the car. In north american that would see the driver sitting in the left side of the car and the passenger on the right hand side. Of course if your in England, Australia etc, the driver is sitting in the right side of the car, but their right arm is of course, still on the right side. In other words labelling things as drivers side and passenger side can be problematic, but if you are thinking of sitting in the car and facing the front windshield, no matter what the configuration of the driver and passenger is, the right side is always the right side. Thanks Shirley and looking forward to seeing the 1937 soon !