James_Douglas

I have disk on the front. Custom made. Thinking of doing the rears... James

Charlie, Have you ever done a rear disk brake kit for the 46-48 Mopars? I hade that kits custom made for my fronts by ECI and I would love to see if I could get the same rotors to work on the rears. I would however like a caliper with an real emergency brake. The only problem is that my car uses the same chassis as the big Chrysler 8 and no one make a kit for those. James

If have a valve, cable operated, and it does not allow anything to get past it. Stainless and should last forever. http://www.dacoglu.com/cooling.htm James

Hi All, I am trying to find out if the early short stroke Desoto 276 or 292 Hemi will bolt up to a 1946 to 1954 L6 bell housing ? If anyone has one of these engines out of a car, I would appreciate a chance to get a paper template of the back of the block. Thanks, James

Don, Don't waste the time and effort. I have a friend who just got a Garmin GPS and he purchased one of those tote battery packs to use in his 6 volt Cars. Just stick it under the seat. The tote has a battery in it and a mini AC charger. You just plug it in a night at home or in a hotel room and it is ready in the AM. He used it for a week and v=never came close to running it down. Cheaper, quicker, and works... James

I had a front and rear uppers re-done by Steele. They feel and look much better than the NOS ones I put in 2 years back when I put the new engine in. I have not put them on the car yet, but will be doing it soon. James

http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/

In the 1960 you had to take a bath after swimming in the Russian River or you would get a bad rash! The 1970's and its “environmental extremists” in Northern California at least got enough done that it allows kids up there today to swim in the river and not worry about getting sick like we did. ………………… I have a LOT of friends that are bitching about fuel prices. All I can say is Sondra and I just sit back and laugh. In 1983 I read a masters thesis of someone I was going to school with. They figured out that the “typical” person living in San Francisco in a house with 90 year old leaking windows, no insulation, old appliances, and the like used less energy than a person living in the most energy efficient place in any of the suburbs within 200 miles. The reason was simple. Gasoline. Since most people here in SF take the Muni or walk 80% of the time they just don’t use very much gas. That stuck with me and is one of the reasons why I live in San Francisco’s Richmond District. Sondra and I drive a COMBINED 3500 miles a year. We walk or ride MUNI to almost everything we need to do. A lot of Muni’s electricity comes from Hetch-Hetchy. So as fuel prices go up the percentage out of pocket gas expenses for us gas is so low as to be of little concern. Everyone makes choices in life. People who have combined household mileages of 30K+ in a year, each and every year, should really just stop bitching. You made a life choice to be dependant on gasoline so man-up and live with it! J James

Robert, Short of a large problem of cracks in the block...which I doubt. Assuming the valve job was done correct... It is the head gasket or the rings gone bad. If the engine got very very low on oil and got very very hot, you could in theory wear down the rings and loose compression. All that said… the others are correct. The big loss between a couple of adjoining cylinders all spells head gasket. Call or go out to Egge, if you are in the LA Area, and ask for a high quality head gasket not their normal one. They use someone close by that makes a better than normal gasket. I can’t remember their name, but they are like 10 minutes away from egge. A lot of shops do not take the time to properly install a head gasket on our flathead engines. The level of cleanliness and the attention to detail on installation required on a flathead is far and above an OHV engine. Make sure that when they put a new gasket on that they turn down the nuts in 10 POUND increments up to 20 pounds short of the final torque. Then do the last 20 pounds in FIVE POUND increments. It takes about 30 minutes to go over the head nut pattern this way. However, it will assure a proper torque. Best, James

Don, I have not. I am waiting to run the test trans for a couple of weeks. If the test indicated that the issue is with the Asche trans then I will tear it down. If the test shows that it is a control system issue then there is no point of taking the Asche trans apart. I have not seen the package yet by the way. James

We did a long 2 hour drive yesterday to continue with the loaner transmission test. I did freeway, expressway, and city roads. The OD worked without a miss in both 2nd and 3rd gear. The loaner transmission is making a lot of noise at slow speed or in neutral. Given that it was a grease and rust ball that had not been in a car in years or decades and I just cleaned it up and did a simple flush of oil ---that is no wonder. Interestingly however the transmission seem more quite at freeway speed that the Asche transmission. It is noticeably quieter. How very odd. I have to say that the numerically lower 2nd gear seems to be a better gear for acceleration from a dead stop than the fast 2nd gear. In the city environment this test is making me wonder if the lower 2nd is not a better way to go. Especially in a larger car or with fluid drive. I have to get to about 2400-2500 RPM with this gear to hit 27-30 MPH for the governor to ground and the OD to shift. The fast 2nd defiantly feels more natural to drive if you want to use the 2nd gear and a 2nd OD shift. However, as I said in my last post, your take off with the fast 2nd gear is a lot slower. I suspect that a bearing or a gear has issues with the test unit and I would not want to keep it in a car for an extended period. However, for a few weeks of testing it will be ok---I hope. At this juncture it appears that there is in fact something amiss in the Asche transmission. I am using the same and un-touched control systems. I moved over the rail electrical switch, governor, and solenoid. The linkage was not touched in any way. Over the next 2 weeks I will continue to test and see if the test OD fails to engage and/or it jump’s out of OD in 3rd gear running down the freeway as the Asche transmission has been doing. If the testing over the next couple of weeks yields the same results as yesterdays two hour drive test, then the evidence supports the conclusion that the Asche transmission, as delivered, does in fact have a problem in the OD unit. Look back in a week or two to see a follow up. Best, James

FYI, Some of you may remember that in 2002 when I got the Desoto the left rear drum would not come off. Pro puller, heat, hammer, impact at 120 PSI,nothing... I created a plastic cup that went around the end of the axle and the end of the drum and created a seal. I then drilled a 1/32" hole in the top of the plastic. I then injected penitrating fluid into the cup. I did this for two days and let it soak well. The cup allows fluid to get all around the taper. On the 3rd day, I hit it with the puller and a hammer and it came right off. James

We got the test 3-speed with OD into the Desoto yesterday. The thing took a little elbow grease to get the surface rust off of the shaft so that the clutch disk would move freely on it. Lucky for me I had a spare clutch disk to use to test it before we tried to put it in. I swapped the governor and the reverse lockout switch from the production (Asche) transmission to the test unit. I flushed the unit out a couple of times and that was about it. The linkage bolted right up and I made no changes to it. It is interesting in that this old transmission “feels” different than the Asche unit. The car ran around the block fine with the OD locked out. All gears working. However, there is quite a bit of noise when decelerating from about 5 MPH to zero. I think a bearing is showing its age or a main shaft has some wear. I pushed in the cable and took it for a drive, both city and highway, and the overdrive worked as it is supposed to. Given the intermittent nature of the Asche OD failure, I cannot at this point conclude anything. I will drive it for a very long freeway drive today or tomorrow and see what it does. As an aside I can tell you all that the test OD “seems” to be much smoother in its engagement than the Asche unit. Also, I do not seem to see as much of a jump on the AMP gauge when the governor grounds and energizes the solenoid circuit. The test transmission clearly does not have the “fast second gear”. I can provide a direct comparison between the two: The “regular” second gear does in fact make it much better to accelerate a larger car here in San Francisco city driving. A noticeable improvement. The car reaches that “spot” RPM wise were one wants to shift, but, the car speed has not yet reached 27 to 30 MPH for the OD to kick in. You can hold second gear a bit longer (more RPM) and get there, but it is not a “natural” driving feeling. You can shift into third and then let the OD kick in, but then you are lugging it a bit. It seems that the two second gears are a trade off. If you want to use the OD in city traffic and not have to shift in and out of third gear then the fast second gear is well spaced ratio wise. The trade off is a slower start off at a stop light or sign. However, if the car is a big sedan and has fluid drive using the OD in second gear as a ‘city automatic”, with the fast second gear, will be at the expense of a more natural acceleration from a dead stop. I need to drive it for a few more days to really decide which gear is better in a busy driving environment. More on the field results later. Best, James

However, There is a 3-speed with OD for fluid drive. James

Pat, There is no OD for the Semi-Auto. James

Don, Dodge used that arrangment. Thre was a WWII swing song that had a line about a 3-speed with fluid drive... James

The shop that I took the transmission to looked it over from the outside, and tested the engagement of the pawl using a tool that they maid up. They did not "feel" anything was wrong and are hesitant to open it up without a problem that is not intermittent in nature. They walked me to the rear of their shop and in a pile of parts the size of two automobiles that pulled out several MOPAR overdrive transmissions. The dug into the pile until they found a 3-speed with OD that was for a fluid drive car. They told me to clean it up and put it into the car. No charges as yet. If the old gunked up transmission works, then the rebuilt transmission does in fact have a problem. If the gunked up transmission shows the same intermittent problems as the rebuilt transmission then my control systems are at fault. Does anyone know what a transmission with the transmission case ID of 63379-8 and is stamped on the flange with 11-16-55 CK OD came out of? My rebuilt unit has a transmission case casting number of 140851-10 and is stamped on the flange with 10-27-5(3 or 8) K ODH. So, off to the garage to clean the messy transmission up and stick it in. Well, I will go get the crud off the replacement unit and stick it in and see what happens. I will keep you posted, James

If we do not find anything wrong in mine when we tear it down (its out) I may throw the GD thing away :-) James

Thanks guys... I have all the overdrive stuff, what I really need is the later type transmission stuff. James

I could get used to this... My friend’s son who is 22 wanted to get some "wrench time" on an old car. So I directed and he stayed on his back and took everything apart to pull the trans & OD. I only got under to help with the physical pull. Very nice not being on the cold floor. It took 1.75 hours to get the things out. Now to open the thing and see what is not working in the OD. James

Don, Since you are home and have your camera at the ready, send me a photo of the distributor plate... OR, just box you’re dizzy up and ship it out and I will put it together and test it out on the distributor machine.... James

Hi All, In an hour I will be pulling my 3-Speed and OD. Someone (thanks) sent me a copy of the Plymouth OD service manual pages some time back. Of course, I cannot now find it. I will in a week no doubt. The transmission that George sold me is the later of the two type (PIN or Strut) I cannot remember which. I thin is is dated 1953 or 1958. Can someone who has a Plymouth or Dodge service manual from the 1950 with the later type transmission scan (or photograph) and email me the entire section on the transmission? Or, make a photo copy of it and mail it to me. I will of course reimburse for the costs of a mailing if necessary. Also, if anyone has a 1950's master parts book, I would appreciate a copy of the 3-speed & OD sections as well. Thanks All, James

After trying everything in the book (many many books) for many months there is nothing left to do but to pull my "new" transmission and OD out. I continued to drive it in the vain hope that it would correct itself. Several people have checked all the control systems and they are better than factory. The problems are getting worse and it is a matter of time until the thing fails in the worst possible place -70 MPH on a crowded highway. The symptoms all point to an intermittent mechanical failure in the unit. Something in the balking ring, the pawl (or raceway), or the lockout rail is and has been wrong scince it was delivered. Sunday and Monday I will pull it all out. We will take apart both the transmission and the OD. I plan on documenting and photographing every single part as it comes out. I will post the findings when I have them. James

Change it back to 6V POS and use that orginal warm tube sound! :-) James

Was the drive plate (mini-flywheel) removed from the fluid coupling ? If so, I have heard of them not being pressed back down all the way and thus moving the while clutch assembly back too far. James