James_Douglas

On my 1949 it is on the TOP of the frame rail and can only be seen with the body off. That is why I went to the trouble when it was off of changing the Pink Slip from the engine number to the door number. James. PS. Although my new engine block has the "correct" engine number on it....although a sharp eye would tell you it is not a 1949 block...hand me that last stamp please...:-)

That is not strictly true. A number of California old cars have the engine number on the Pink Slip if the car came from out of state and that state used the engine number. My 1949 Desoto is a case in point. It was first sold in Virginia then came to California in 1955. I had to document the hell out of everything and get a CHP VIN officer over to my place to sign the paperwork AND send it directly to the Special Processing Unit of CA-DMV to get it changed on the Pink from the engine number to the body (door) serial number. James.

San Francisco never sees anything but 65F year around :-)

I have had nothing but trouble with the Best seal shown in the photo. My engine when rebuilt had an NOS 251 crankshaft that was sent to the crankshaft shop to be checked and had the thing polished. I have tried three times to get the rear seal to do its thing and it leaks. More than my c.1962 Automotive Engineering quick rebuilt motor. I have asked Best on a couple of occasions what is the crankshaft minimum ID and Maximum OD, as well as the surface finish in Ra, for this seal. That way one can check to make sure that a crankshaft is not too big, to small or too rough/smooth for the seal. They never have responded. James.

Probably cost less than my solution which required some fabrication and welding for the cable to do its thing. That said, stainless steel and 70K miles later and all is good.

I purchased a 6 volt positive ground 10SI self exciting alternator from these folks and a small pulley: https://alternatorparts.com/6-volt-alternators-negative-positive-ground.html That was 15 years ago. It has worked without issue. You MUST rev the engine after you start it up to get the thing to start charging. It uses one wire and that is it. I purchased a spare voltage regulator, which goes inside these units and have never had to touch it. It has worked as my daily driver in the cold and dank San Francisco fog and at my place in the Central Valley in days of 105F heat. James.

Post the actual part number and source so the next guy can find one...

Sniper, do let me know when you get this running... The Covid-19 thing has pushed back my plans as I have been spending a good part of my day driving my wife to work and doing laundry every day she works. Taking care of an ICU RN who is taking care of Covid-19 Patients is a 1/2 time job in itself. My extra time to work on my EFI project is going into that. I hope that you can be bought to get a copy of the fuel map :-) James

All new and checked and double checked.

We got up to the house over the last few days. I was able to get the car off the rack and take it out for a drive. To recap, the changes I did were: 1. Changed from bushings to Torrington needle bearings in the upper of the spindles. 2. Screwed the eccentric all the way to the rear to provide as much Castor as I could. (I then set the camber) The final readings were as follows: KPI is 5.75 on the right and 6.25 on the left. In Theory the 6.25 is a 1/4 degree over. Castor -1/4 on the right and -1 on the left. Camber +1/4 and +1/4 Toe is zero or 1/16 in as per specifications. Results. A. On a right turn the wheels come back to center without any assistance from the driver. B. On a left turn it requires a very little bit of assistance from the driver for the last 15 to 20 degrees before coming straight ahead. And, not much assistance at that. C. At 55 MPH on a somewhat crowned, no too bad, but fairly fresh asphalt country road the car did not wander or seek. So, it appears that either the Torrington Needle bearings and/or the bearings plus the change from -2 degrees castor to -1/4 and -1 made a substantial difference. My only issue is the eccentrics may be too close to the upper control arm (all the way back for maximum Castor) and could be rubbing and not "screwing" freely on the threaded pin. They warn about this in the service manual. The next time I am up and have some time I want to take the car out onto the freeway and see if it is wandering at 65 MPH still or if I will get the same improvement I sensed going down that back road at 55 MPH. My thinking is that I may unbolt the control arms at some point and and roll the pivot shafts some amount of turns to shift the eccentric so it is closer to the center of the space at the upper control arm. The question is how much would I do on the bottom and the top? A lot of trial and error work to hit it correct spot as after each change the KPI and the castor and the camber would all need to be checked again to see what the change did. If I go down that path, anyone want to venture a guess as to how many turns on the shafts would equal how much change in the Castor? James.

I used a stainless steel ball valve. I used the arm off of the original heater control vale and made a steel plate which bolts to the valve and hold the cable. The stock aluminum ones are junk when they get old. NOS ones cost a lot. I have used the below on my '47 Desoto for 15 years without any problem. The only thing I changed was to add a stop so I could not over pull the cable and keep the ball at full open but not to go past that "center". James

The big issue is can one run two of them on an dual manifold. Remember that the Dodge Engineers found that a dual exhaust when combined with a manifold that had two evenly spaced holes really made a difference in the output. If they did this then my work on FI for my new 265 would be a LOT easier. James

If this has the short little pitman arm that connects directly to the tie rods... Often it is the four isolation rubber bushings that go bad and make for sloppy steering. I put in a new set in the 1947 Desoto Suburban and within a couple of years of San Francisco city driving, and parallel parking, they gave out. I tired to use delrin, which I machined up. They "cold flowed" in 36 months and the steering got sloppy. I tried bronze, they cold flowed as well. In the end I worked with the production manager at Steele Rubber. He mad a set of the rubber bushings with the high durometer value stuff they use for NASCAR suspension parts they make. It has worked better then anything else now lasting about 4 years and going. The steering boxes tend to leak as they get older and the oil drips right onto those bushings... James

I do not have a second set of wheels or tires to test out your question... James

As a rule you are correct. I think, but would have to go look at and check, the bushings are in fact a bimetallic part and not a true oillite. The king pin side play, measured is well within specification. Now it is a moot point as the top has the factory correct needle bearing and the bottom bushing I reamed. Given the large amounts of grease and the grease cut in the bushings...the lubrication effect of even a true oillite bushing would be of little consequence in a king pin installation with all that grease in there one would think. James

Pioneer had a few boxes left some years back with the larger head. I got them, but did not use them. I use ARP studs. I would always use new bolts or studs on an engine after decades of use. Cheap insurance on head gasket failure. The poster who said to get a "cleaning tap" is spot on. Always chase the threads and do it with a lot of tapping oil. Go in a quarter and a turn and back it up a quarter of a turn. Go in a half a turn and back up a quarter of a turn and so and and so forth. Do not just turn, turn and turn. If you want to do it the absolute "best way" go in a quarter of a turn, pull the tap out, clean it and go the next quarter in a so so on and so forth. Just keep adding oil as you go. It makes a big difference in chipping of the metal as you go through. One thing, I found that paste sealers have not worked for me that well in the flatheads. I use yellow Teflon tape on the threads of my ARP studs to get a good seal. I noted on several of the engines I have taken apart that water can work its way up to the head of the bolt and seal there...the shafts then want to rust and cause issues years later then it is time to pull them apart. Hence, why I like to get them sealed at the lower threads if I can. James.

Right now I have: King Pin: Pax=5.75 Driver=6.25 (4-3/4 to 6 is the spread) So in theory I am over on the right by 1/4 degree Camber: Pax = +0.25 Driver +0.25 Castor: Pax = -1.0 Driver -1.0 Toe is set to Positive 1/16 inch I did not do toe out on turns this last time I was up there working on it. Last year as I remember it was within spec. I do not have the tools to do a thrust angle. What I do not get is that with eh King Pin Inclination at the upper end of the range...I should be getting more castor effect and a little bit of a hard to turn wheel. I can tell you that when I pulled the kin pins the first time which had been line honed on a Sunnen machine that the bushings galled on the pin. I opened them up some with my correct reamer and again when I pulled them 2 weeks ago to put in the needle bearings there was galling of the bronze bushing onto the upper outer of the king pins. So, even with grease and new bushings and new pins that is a lot of load at that point. Middle of next week I will pull it off the rack at the house and drive it and pray that the needle bearings are the issue.

When I say a concourse restoration, I use the term to mean every single part was taken down and repaired or replaced. I did change the car over to disc brakes. The frame was not "bent" at some point in its life the rear cross member was bent when someone put cinches on it. If you look at all the Chrysler-Desoto rear frame cross members they are a thin item that does noting bu keep the side rails apart. I took out that member and put in one that is stronger and is set up in the event I want to tow a tear drop with it at some point. I am going to do the same thing to the 1947 Desoto next year when I take it apart. Other then that it is stock. I looked at 4 different 1949 Convertibles and they all had the front end up in the air. I wanted to get the rake level. The stock factory photos show the front end way up in the air as well. It is possible that lowering a car can effect camber, but I have not see any information to show that it would affect Castor. It is castor effect that I am dealing with or something preventing the Castor Effect from doing its job like binding. The ECI hub spacers as I remember moved each hub out about a 1/4 inch or less. I had Stockton Wheel, when they made the new wheels, make that 1/4 inch back up so the tire center line is the same as it was with the drums. So, unless I am missing something, and if I am someone explain it to me, how would that affect the Castor Effect? With the King Pin Inclination within specification and the center line of the tire in the same place the scrub radius is the same regardless of what hubs are used. James.

To answer some more of the questions... * As far as I can tell when I rebuilt the front end, none of the parts appeared bent. When I did the King Pin Inclination check there were within 1/2 of a degree so it is not likely that the spindles are bent. * I checked all the tie rods to make sure none were binding. * The steering box has all new parts in it, including the worm and sector gears. I set it up according to the MOPAR service manual using the spring gauge at the wheel rim. Just like in the little service books on the Chrysler Imperial Site. * 50Mech has his thinking cap on. I did use and ECI disc brake on the front which included their hubs. Their hubs moved the bolt face of the wheels out about a 1/4 inch on each side. When I had the rims built with the back space for the calipers, we were able to move the outer rim of the wheel back enough so that the center-line of the tire is back to where it should be with the stock rims. I have tried to visualize in my head if there could still be an issue anyway. So far, I cannot "see it". The only other thing we did was to cut a 1/2 turn off the springs. The car sat up terribly high in from and my photos from 1963 show that is how it was at age 14. It is possible that by lowering the car a bit that upper control arm line would "grow" and pull back on the support upright and thus pull the top of the spindle a little more inboard. But this would effect Camber and not Castor, so I do not think that is the issue. I guess we will have to wait until I get up there next week to test drive it. I would be pleasantly surprised if the change from an upper bushing to a torrington needle bearing and 1.5 degrees more Castor made a large difference. One can hope! Other than that I am at something of a loss on this one. I may have to tear out the entire suspension and go through each item one by one to make sure they are ok. So much fun on a car one thought of "done". James.

Guys, I am well aware of the issues with radial tires. The car is a concourse restoration. All the tires are new. They are Diamond Back Radials 700R15's (AKA Yokohama) the same ones I use on my 1947 Desoto. I have tried them from 40 to 60 PSI. No difference. The problems is on perfectly flat roads on asphalt. The lack of centering after a turn is not generally related to type of tires. What I find interesting is that I am getting only three degrees of total change on the eccentrics. I am wondering if the rubber seals are for some reason too thick and not allowing the thing to screw all the way forward or aft. James

Be careful with the little flywheel on the fluid couplings. Make SURE you make 3 or 4 little wooden wedges with a slit across the end. Tap them LIGHTLY between the flywheel and the coupling housing so that the flywheel cannot rock. Use bailing wire around the wedges to keep them in place. Once installed into the unit with the transmission input shaft in place, then and only then cut the wire and remove the blocks. ALL fluid couplings should have this done BEFORE a trans is removed. If the plate is allowed to flex about 50% of the time the carbon seal will get cracked. Often the problem does not show up for a few months after the whole thing is running and then you start to get a leak. James.

I am running out of ideas on my restored 1949 Desoto Convertible. The steering sucks. I have never had such trouble with the steering in a car. To sum up. Everything is new or rebuilt. The car darts or wanders and does not self center after a turn. As you know if you have been following my posts, I have checked to make sure I have vertical end play on the king pin thrust bearings. I have made sure that the pin bores are correct. I have checked that the center bearing is correct and not binding. The steering box has all new gears and is properly adjusted. On advise of a suspension engineer, he suggested that I crank in all the Castor I could get taking it from the book (-3 to -1 with -2 preferred) up to positive 4 and see if I could still turn the steering on the street. Basically he said to add in all Castor I could until the steering was too hard then back down until the steering was acceptable. That would give me the most "Castor Effect" that this car is capable of. I tried yesterday to get the Castor to plus four. I could not. With the adjuster all the way back the best I could do was -0.5 on the drivers side and -1 on the passenger side. The cam was up against the control arm. I did back it off a little so it would not rub. I am at a loss. Did they design the 1949 with so little adjustment range? If I go the other way, the best I can get is perhaps -3 and that is it. I checked the King Pin Inclination and it is within specification and within a half a degree side to side. So, I do not think anything is bent. The car was never in a wreck. At this point in time, I am thinking that I may have to tear out the front end and diverge from the factory service manual. The book warns you in italicized lettering to make sure you do not turn the control arm pivot bars or you will screw up the Castor settings. I was very care full to make sure the center-line of the bar bolt holes were equal distance from the inner machined edge of the control arm bushings. What I now think I may have to consider is to get "more Castor" I will have to move the upper bar forward so the upper control arm is further to the rear and do the opposite to the lower so it moves forward. That will tilt the steering knuckle support top to the rear and bottom to the front. The question is when I do it, how many turns of the bar will equal how much of a Castor range change. Of course you cannot go too much or the control arms will bind. Interesting in that the second series 1949 Desoto uses the same spindles as the 1946 to 1948. They changed to a new spindle part number in 1950 although the steering knuckle support stayed the same from second series 1949 to 1953. I am starting to wonder if they had a production delivery problem with the new spindles and so they just used the older one and then made the switch six months later when the 1950 models came out. The only other suggestion was to take out the upper control arms and give the lips on either side a slight reduction with a grinder to give the steering knuckle support a little more room to move. Also, it was suggested to take a little bit (a few thousands) off of the face of the steering knuckle support and machine a little off of the end of the bushing. All to make the eccentric bushing have more room to be adjusted. Of course how much one would get would be a very laborious effort. I would ask that anyone with a second Series 1949 or 1950 Desoto or Chrysler six that has had a front end alignment and knows what the final numbers are please share them with me and your qualitative assessment of how the drives at freeway speed and on self centering. No doubt I am missing something or it may be that this car was crap steering from the factory. My older brother, 15 years older, said that "the car never really did steer good". But, his memory is often not that good... Any suggestions would be helpful. James.

How is the steering at freeway speed? Did you get the a front end alignment? If you did, I would like to know the final settings used. Thanks, James

We were thinking of hitting Air Venture and the Desoto Convention...but...perhaps next year... James.

Ed, How about some photos of the Rack & Pinion you used. I would like to see how it is mounted and show the tie rod angles came out. Any evidence of bump steer if you "cheated" at all on the angles and lengths? James.