James_Douglas

If any of you have seen the movie "Second Hand Lions"... Sondra and I want to go out the same way, except trying to thread the tower on the GG Bridge :-) Sorry to hear about Frank. I will have to make a point to go out to Walnut Creek and take him for lunch and/or a ride if he is up to it. James

Looks like a Desoto Suburban.... James

Phil, There are several reasons to change the fluid. The viscosity index additives only have a life of about 5 to 7 years. When the oil heats up during use with the VI additives degraded, the oil will thin out and you will not transmit as much power from the driver to the runner. Also, the anti-foaming agents also degrade and this has a big impact on take off performance. I would recommend that everyone should change their fluid once every seven years. After a year of research, talking with the original Gyrol people, and a chemical analysis of some original (never used) MOPAR fluid, the best match I have come up with is: MOBILE DTE Light Circulating Oil ISO 32 Available at Granger. Best, James

Karl, Take a break from the car for a couple of days. Set aside a couple of hours and read over a few times the repair section of the 1940 Service Technical Manual. Also look at the plates in the Master Part Book for this year car. Once you have a photo in your head of how the whole thing works then take another crack at it. If you don't have these books, stop. Get the books, then try it again. Good luck, James

Don, All I can say is that I talked with a friend of mine that works in the oil products side at Chevron. He found the independent ASTM/ISO guys that do the oil certification for all the US oil companies. We had a phone conference with them and they explained their testing procedures and their conclusions. The one thing that they warned of was that many of the replacement lifters they had purchased did NOT meet the minimum Rockwell hardness when they tested them. They had to go through several sets so their tests were apples to apples and equal to the factory rockers. This goes along with a person I know who does MGB/MGA restorations. Some years back he said he started having cam problems. At first he thought it was oil. it turned out to be lifters that had a Rockwell of mush. Most of the evidence I have read tends to support the theory that the problems encountered which have given raise to the mythology of ZDDP can be traced to poor metallurgy on the part of lifters and or cams. Since we have seen a large increase in these parts being made out of the US in the last 10 years and at the same time the ZDDP myth has been building...I have to ask if it is a coincidence? James

Rods are different! James

David, I had the chance to talk with one of the men that run the oil standards tests for the oil companies. They run many of the tests on in-line chevy 6 cylinders with solid lifters in a controlled environment. Every part of the engine is measured and checked before and after each test. They have found ZERO evidence of any issues using oil that does not have high levels of ZDDP. I have asked and asked but to date I have not seen any science backing up the claims that old cars need a ZDDP additive. If someone has any science on it I would love to see it. I do mean science not opinion or anecdotal evidence. Best, James

All the guys I know running radial engines use MMO in their gas.... James

Don, Try using the thick teflon tape that is used for gas pipes. I used ARP paste teflon on the ingine head studs and most of them leaked up. I used the thick teflon gas tape and they all are now dry. James

I have been working on a detail paper on fluid drive oils. Just have not had time to finish it yet. Use Mobile DTE ligth circulating oil ISO 32. I would not use anything else based on my reasearch and results. You can get it via Granger or any industrial supply house. Comes in 5 gal pale. Best, James

I wanted to write a quick note to everyone who has been following my transmission saga over the last 24 months. I am working on a larger document --- look for it in a month or so. I have now put two weeks on the fluid drive 3-speed transmission with BW-OD driving around San Francisco in heavy traffic and I have taken two 100 miles plus round trips out of the city with a lot of freeway running. So far everything is working as it should. The overdrive has not missed a lick and it shifts very nice. In the overdrive the only parts other than what was delivered originally is the balking ring and the gear it rides on. This part is NOS and it makes a big difference in how the OD feels when it shifts. I would urge anyone rebuilding one of these OD units to consider having a shop spray weld the groove that gets cut into the gear by the balking ring or have it hard chromed back to proper size. This is the only part changed in the OD and it is working fine now. Because it works on friction it has to be correct. See the BW manual on how to test one. The transmission is so quiet it is amazing. New gears, new shafts, basically new everything except the input shaft and gear. Paying attention to the end-play specifications, using new shafts and small bearings (previously all the small bearings/shafts used were pitted) seems to make a large difference in smoothness. For the low price of shafts and bearings it is a no-brainier. The fluid in the fluid drive is working better than at any time since I purchased the car. The original fluid I had in the car was, I think, the original factory fluid. No doubt the additives had degraded over time as the oil engineers have confirmed that they will. The ATF and 10W motor oil which I have also run has about the same feeling as the old fluid. I now know that ATF has things in it that are not good over the long term for the carbon-graphite seal ring. I would never run that fluid again. The oil I am now using, MOBILE DTE Light Circulating Oil ISO 32, has improved the feel of the acceleration from a standing stop to 10 MPH. Since I do not have access to a chassis dynamometer I cannot provide a hard analysis. I can say that on the hills here in San Francisco the difference is very noticeable driving the car. Car friends who ride around town with me regularly notice the take off improvement as well. (I found the cooperate successor to Gyrol Fluid Drives and had a nice talk with their senior engineer) I also changed the motor mounts while I was at it. I took out the NOS mounts I put in three years back when I did the new engine. I put in a set that were re-done by Steele. The rear-uppers were about 1/8” shorter than what came out. The front was a little thicker than what came out. The odd vibration with clutch out and in gear standing still (On the fluid coupling) went away with these mounts. Well, that is about it. Thanks to everyone who provided thoughts, ideas, and support. I can now see every part of these units in my sleep. Best, James

Jim, One thing... Put on the 2nd gear and the syncro hub with a snap ring. The hub should have ZERO movement. The 2nd gear should have between 0.003 and 0.008 with a heavy emphasis on closer to 0.003". Even with a NOS 2nd gear and a NOS syncro hub the fluted ends of the main shaft splines had warn. I hard chromed my NOS 2nd gear to make up the slop. If you have a shop that can do a good spry weld then... Check your end play on 2nd and if it is not 0.003 to 0.004 have them spry the ends of the flutes, mill them square, and turn them down as needed. Do it now before you do anything else. Best, James

If it is in fact in the OD unit then it may be a bearing that makes noise when it is unloaded. As Norm said, you need to do more testing: Does it make the noise in 2nd and 3rd OVERDRIVE with the OD locked to the engine? Does it make the noise when the unit is freewheeling in 2nd and 3rd but below the cut-in speed and still with the OD in circuit but not actuated? Does it do it with the cable pulled out -no OD ? Does it only do it when no torque is being applied? With a little more information we can help run it down. James

David, Do you have a high resolution version of this! I have to print it out and put it on the wall! James

Charlie, Make sure you let folks know that it will NOT work on a big Chrysler 8, Desoto Suburban, or Dodge/Plymouth LWB car. All the chassis parts are larger/different. The easy way to tell is if the car has 9/16 lug bolts on a 5-1/5 inch bolt pattern, it is the LWB car. Best, James.

I have an overdrive... I have disk brakes... I have raised compression... I have an 6V alternator... I have radial tires... I have 200 radio stations on a stock AM tube radio... I would say that radial tires and the disk brakes as a set. I drive in city traffic ...at 4K pounds plus...with people using anti-lock brakes you need to be able to stop or all the other changes are not going to be of much use... James

I have an overdrive... I

I sent Tom the email below to see what he says about my needs...Thanks Guys, James...I will post what his reply is says... *************** Hello, I am thinking of replacing my Carter 1-BBL carburetor with something else. I am running a MOPAR 251 Cubic Inch Flathead Six. Do you have the necessary linkage and adaptors to use one of your carburetors on this engine? Are your carbs of proper CFM and jetting for this size engine and can one of these carburetors be set to idle down to 400 RPM ? This is a high load car in that it is a 9 passenger sedan on a 140 inch wheel base. It is using a Fluid Coupling with a standard three speed with Borg Warner Overdrive. It is six volt positive ground. If you have a carburetor that meets the above needs, do you have one with a manual choke? Lastly, due to the Fluid Drive, I need a dashpot to prevent stalling as the throttle is hit hard and then stopped under a load with the Fluid Coupling. Without a dashpot on the carburetor when in a stop and go traffic the engine can be killed by quick throttle reversal. Please advise. Thanks, JD

Don, Pete, and others... Can the 2-BBL carbs from Langdon bet set up with basically stock linkage and a manual choke? My Carter is acting up and I am thinking of just getting gone of Tom's set ups. Anyone have any photos of a single carb setup using one of Langdons holley/carter/weber 2-BBL's. Thanks, James

Any bearing house. I know for my '47 the bushings fall into a standard size and I did not have to even ream them. James

Ok, I just read as opposed to glanced at your last message. Send me a photo with measurements of the shaft and let me see what I have. You can take to the shaft to a machine shop and they can turn the shaft and then get some larger bushings and ream them to fit. OR You can send the shaft into a hard chrome shop and they can build up the shaft back to the original size. A side benefit is that the shaft will never wear again. Best, James

David, If your not in a big hurry... Box it up and send it to me. I have some parts that Don gave me and I may be able to find a good shaft. As a rule the shafts don't go bad. The bronze-oilite busing in the housing wear down and need replacing. Have you taken apart the unit and see wear on the shaft itself? Best, James

David, Replacing the bushings is very easy and does not take long. Other than that the dizzy is simple to rebuild. You would be better off getting a core and doing it yourself. probably a better job as well. James

Jim, Before you spend a lot of money on the main shaft, slip the 2nd gear and the syncro clutch back on and check the 2nd gear end play. The flutes that the 2nd gear rides against on my shaft had worn and I could not get the proper end-play. I had my NOS 2nd gear hard-chromed to make up the difference because I could not find a NOS main shaft. If it is ok with the 2nd gear end-play specification, the end of the shaft can be turned down and a hardened sleeve made. They freeze the end of the shaft in water-ice-alcohol mixture and heat the sleeve in a small furnace and then slip it on. Once done, it will not move. It is interesting how the inner bearings in essence created a "locking key-way" in the main shaft. By the look, I think the shaft pitted then the bearings got destroyed by the pitted shaft and then the parts wedged into the pitted shaft. Best, James

Mine is longer due to the fluid coupling. Take a lead or copper hammer (or a rubber mallet) and whack it a couple of times. The end of the input shaft is wedge shaped. The brass has grooves in it that can dig into the shaft over time. A few good whacks should get it apart. James