BIGBAND39

I hear you, Don. I had made another post asking if there were any well known mechanics in RI, CT, or MA that could tackle some repairs. It's just difficult to find someone that still knows about these oldies but goodies. In hindsight, I think that he had traced it and knew what it was but was using modern terminology for it.

I'll try that. Hopefully the rubber hasn't shrunk overtime and tightening it will help. Finally found it in my parts list.

This is the hose I'm looking for. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about the road draft tube to them. They might have just had the terminology wrong. As for working on the car myself, I have turned some wrenches on cars I've owned in the past. Work has just been so crazy lately that I haven't had time. It's either I have my garage do it for me or the poor old girl sits in the garage all summer. We can't have that now, can we? Beside that, I have a garage for storage but not to work it. Dragging out tools and crawling under a jacked up car and then put everything away afterwards isn't a great time. I do try to go to the garage when she is being worked on and pick up as much knowledge as possible so I can keep her going on my own soon enough. More to the point, why would I have oil leaking from the road draft tube where it meets the block?

I like the idea of keeping her original and Andy Bernbaum's is allowing me to buy the full u-joint setup and return the unused u-joint casing if I don't need it. When I take it apart, will wear be noticeable inside the casing? I feel like instead of jury rigging it, I would rather spend the $155 it would cost me for everything new. Besides that, considering I'm having a shop do it, I'd rather pay to have it done once and right. Thank you for the suggestions though.

Does anyone know what this hose is? My mechanic is not familiar with older vehicles and thought it was some sort of a PCV system. I explained to him that road draft tubes were the solution for crankcase ventilation back in the 30's. As you can see, there is a small leak coming from it. I thought it may go up to the oil pressure gauge, but I've been told that that hose is only about 6" and isn't an elbow. I've looked through my master parts list and the shop manuals. Any ideas?

Sorry for the delay. I finally got the car into the shop today and found that it is the front u-joint. I have looked into the rebuild kits and I am wondering how I would know if I need to replace the outer metal housing. How would I grease the existing joint to tell if the old grease has simply dried up? It would be great not to spend $200 on rebuilding if it's not necessary. Thanks everyone!

Even though Belfast is a four and a half hour drive for me, I might consider it. My girlfriend works many weekends, as we have a videography business in RI. It would be a long drive on my own. I'm surprised that there aren't as many Mopar clubs and mechanics considering Andy Bernbaum Auto Parts is only about an hour and change away. I might take RB1949's suggestion, give them a call, and see what they have to say.

Thanks for all the responses! My girlfriend had plans today that didn't include crawling underneath the Luxury Liner. I might wait until Tuesday, post holiday, when I can get her on a lift.

Absolutely. Even worse, it can deter people from buying these older cars and restoring them to their former glory. Who wants to buy a roller in decent condition and pay more in taxes than they paid for the car? That's not even getting into paying excise taxes on it every year. There should be incentives to those who own antiques! We all are, literally, preserving important pieces of American history.

Makes sense. Considered he through his out open forum, I figured I'd do the same. Good looking out. Thanks!

The Rhode Island DMV, despite any value written on a bill of sale, charges taxes on high retail value. For my D-11, it's $13,500. Not nearly as bad as the 1962 Ford Ranchero that I bought which was falling apart. After being told that I needed to pay 7% taxes on $40,200 for a car that cost me $3500, that was the end of that. It always helps to know a dealer that can take care of unfortunate circumstances like that.

I'm from Cranston, RI. Western Mass isn't all that bad, as I don't have the typical RI mentality on travel. It's just tough when something is beyond the scope of my mechanical knowledge and there aren't any local garages that know how to work on these cars. Everyone gives the same response that the mechanics have either passed away or are long since retired. I sold my '49 Wayfarer because I couldn't find anyone with working knowledge of Fluid Drive repairs. The current car is something that I'd love to keep for the long run, so I need to make some connections.

The pipe wrench is a good idea. I can likely get that done this weekend. The last thing I want to do is be driving around for the holiday and have the driveshaft drop. Thank you Rich for the offer! As of now, I have the manual for 1938 models with the D-11 supplement. I've also been able to reference the 1936-1948 Plymouth manual that's available online too. I'm from Cranston, RI.

The title says it all! Does anyone know of any mechanics or clubs in the RI, MA, CT area that have a working knowledge of 30's, 40's, and 50's Dodge and Plymouth cars? Thanks!

Thanks for the quick response! That's what I figured. A transmission rhythmically clunking when in neutral didn't seem to make sense. Sitting on a flat level road with the car in neutral, I don't feel it pulling at all. What would I be checking for with regards to the rear brakes?

Hello Everyone, It's been a long time since I've been on here, but I'm back with a new ride! This time around I picked up a 1939 D-11 Luxury Liner. I had a rear main seal leak which was taken car of by my usual mechanic. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention to him that when I come to a stop I can clearly hear and almost feel a rhythmic clunking sound. He told me that the clutch needed some adjustment and everything looked great when he reassembled it. When we took the car for a test drive after the work was complete, he heard the sound and told me that the transmissions in this old vehicle are somewhat unrefined and that the noise was normal. It seems to be getting somewhat worse and happens whether the car is in gear or in neutral. Am I wrong that this could be u-joints? I don't know how he would have missed that but I'm figuring the reason I don't hear it at higher speeds is that the joint has a load on it. When I decelerate, it still has a load of the motor winding down and then clacks when the load is released at lower speeds. Any ideas out there? Thanks! Jonathan

I have owned my 1949 Wayfarer now for almost a year and have always had a transmission issue ever since I bought it. Periodically, with the clutch in, I'll hear a whirring sound. At a dead stop, if the whirring sound occurs, I am not able to shift into gear. If I attempt it, it will grind. It seems that if the car moves slightly back or forward, the whirring sound discontinues and I can go on my merry way. I would like to have the car out and about this summer and I'm ready to throw some money at it if need be to do so. Can anyone recommend someone in Southern New England that knows these transmissions or perhaps a group member that would be willing to help me out? I have a shop manual and usually I'm decently mechanically inclined, but this all seems greek to me. I'm having difficult even try to figure out how to check fluid levels. Any help would be appreciated.

Until I have the change to drop the pan, I think I will stick with non-detergent 30w. After I can make sure there isn't any nastiness lurking in the sump, I'll transition to a detergent oil to help clean everything up in there. Thanks again for everyone's insight and opinions. :-D

I would assume the car would see no more than 6,000 miles a year. This would be city driving on paved roads. I went with the filter I did because it was one of two similar ones that were listed by Advance Auto Parts to fit my vehicle. Thank you for the advice on the weight of the oil. Although the vehicle runs way to smooth and quiet to not have a rebuilt some time in its life, I don't know the history. I will stick with a straight weight non-detergent oil to be on the safe side.

So, I would just drain the oil and fill it through the crank case breather? I'm wondering if I should drive to source a filter out and retrofit it to my car. Although, if it hasn't had one for over 60 years, why now? LOL Especially because oil has so many detergents in it now.

I went to the local parts store and grabbed a filter for my '49. When I got home and popped the hood, I found no oil filter canister. From my memory on the '53 I had and from what it says in the factory service manual, the filter canister should be on the driver's side just beyond the distributor and coil. Still, nothing there. Was an oil filtration system an option in '49?

I have both the original operator and service manual for the car now. I just figured that, before troubleshooting, that someone may have been familiar with the issues and had a fix off hand. The vehicle does shift into gear when running and operates perfectly normal 90% of the time. If I let her warm up for a while, the problem seems far less prevalent. That could just be a coincidence. The Fluid Drive is working, as I can stop at a light completely and she idles without touching the clutch. The idle though when the Fluid Drive is engaged is definitely rougher. Almost feels like the motor has a hard skip. That skips subsides when the clutch is depressed.

If the clutch was bad or locked up, would it reset itself when I turn it off? Again, this is an intermittent problem. I am sometimes able to drive seemlessly with no issues. How do I check lube level?

There does not appear to be a solenoid or anything mounted to the side of the tranny. Would a lift be required to tinker with bushings, connections, and adjustments of the shifter linkage to the selector levers on the transmission? I am little worried though about getting into something that I may not understand and be able to get myself back out of.

Quite honestly, I'm not quite sure. The transmission is a three speed and, without using the clutch, I am able to start from 3rd gear and proceed like it has an automatic transmission. This, the fact that the badging says "Fluid Drive" lead me to believe that that's what I have. Is there any way to tell?