James_Douglas

Overdrive Failure Barring something I have missed, it is apparent that my George Asche 3-Speed with BW overdrive has had an overdrive failure. I ran every test in both the Chrysler and Borg-Warner manuals. I ran tests that George told me to try when the unit did not work right after installation. All the tests show that the control systems are in working order. The unit worked for about 4 months. About a month ago while pulling onto an interstate the unit would not shift from 3rd to 3rd OD. I clutched it once and it then went in. I shrugged and forgot about it. Last week I drove the car up and interstate and then up a 2-lane highway up a mountain for 2.5 hours and it worked fine. On the way home after about 4 hours parked I drove about 2 miles on a side road and then entered the 2-lane state highway. A slight downhill acceleration to 50 MPH and the unit would not shift into 3rd OD. I clutched it and “giggled” the linkage and went into OD. This last week the unit did not go into 2nd OD a couple of times. I did the clutch and “giggle” thing and it went in. Today when I took off this morning it was dead. No OD in any gear. Nothing I could do would make it work. Drives fine as a 3-spped stick. Not what I have spent nearly $2500 for however. I will call George on Monday, however, based on past experience I will be told that there is nothing he can do. I warned him that this IS our primary car and I was willing to pay extra to make sure this unit way correct in every way. I do not think, based on some other things I have seen in and around this unit, that he paid any serious attention to the detail stuff as I requested. Now here I am in California and it will no doubt cost me even more money to make this correct. I would have been better off keeping the M-5 and paying the money for a Gear Vendors OD. By the time I fix this mess, I will have spent as much. James

This will not be popular, but the facts are the facts: I have to say that I am not happy with the stability of my overdrive. After 8 months of problems after the installation the thing worked fine for a few months. A week ago, I took it on a long road trip. During that trip, on the return leg, the OD did not want to go into gear. I clutched it a couple of times and it finally went in and seemed to work the rest of the way home. A few days back it did it again and I "giggled" the shifter and it went into OD. Today I took off to get breakfast and the OD is dead. I paid good money for my OD unit and made it clear up front that I was willing to pay a premium to make sure that the thing was not just adequate but in top notch shape. I have had nothing but problems since the installation. George when confronted with the problems has either accused me of not knowing what I am doing and or falls back on the old adage that "I have sold 20 of these without anyone complaining…” I am at my whit’s end with this thing. I have had to spend a considerable amount beyond what I paid George for the unit in replacement parts for his that failed. He has not reimbursed me nor sent me good parts to make up for the NOS parts I had to get to replace his failed parts. You only find out what folks are made of when there is a problem. Not when things are going well. By this test, George has failed me. I am at the point where I may have to remove the transmission and overdrive and either put back in the M-5, switch to something else, or tear down his unit and invest even more money and time in his transmission. James

Norm (The other Norn), I just did a drive in the Desoto that was about 2.5 hours each way. From the Golden Gate up to Clear Lake. Interstate and 2 lane highways. Because of the idiots, not to mention the oncoming headlights on the way back, I am beat. I like leaving the urban core at 5AM... Enforcement is a joke. I have said for years that I wish they would scrap all the current moving violation fines. Do away with traffic school. Then institute the following: Within a 5 year period: 1st moving violation - $500 2nd moving violation - $1000 3rd moving violation - $1500, 90 day suspended license, 90 day vehicle impoundment. 4th moving violation No more license for 5 years. Diving without a license a felony and 5 years in state prison. People break the driving laws not as a crime of passion but a as a benefit/cost analysis. We need to raise the cost factor. James

This is becoming a real problem here in Northern California. There has been such a building boom over the last 20 years, while at the same time nothing has been done on the secondary 2 lane highways that link many of these fast growing towns. I constantly have 5 to 10 cars stacked up behind me wanting to do 50 t 70 MPH in 45 to 55 MPH zones. If I pulled over to let them pass, I would just have to park it. In CA the CVC says: “21656. On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because oftraffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow-movingvehicle, including a passenger vehicle, behind which five or morevehicles are formed in line, shall turn off the roadway at thenearest place designated as a turnout by signs erected by theauthority having jurisdiction over the highway, or whereversufficient area for a safe turnout exists, in order to permit thevehicles following it to proceed. As used in this section aslow-moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speedless than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time andplace.” I am starting a one person campaign to amend this section to in the last sentence something like, ...less than the normal flow, up to the posted speed limit, of traffic at the… Best, James

Alexander, This person has a bunch of parts from a 1945 C-45 Windsor Sedan, including a M6 trans. George G Teebay at dovrwest@ix.netcom.com He is into Pierce Arrows now... Best, James

I drove the '47 DeSoto 1060 Miles from Sandpoint, ID to San Francisco, CA James

Look Here http://www.allpar.com/cars/desoto/suburban-1951.html

Hey Don, I am looking for an OLD open cage bench top electric motor with a shaft that runs out both sides. I had one when I was a kid that I used as a wire wheel and buffing wheel. I could oil the bearing as it has nice oil bearing feeders on each end. I friend dropped it when I loaned it to him way back high school and it ended up in parts. Any chance you have any morots like that ? Thanks, James

I had a friend in high school with an MGA. He wanted music so he installed an 8-track in the car and isolated it due to the grounding issue. Well, one night he went road racing down the back roads of northern California. The thing shifted and shorted out and started a dash fire. By the time he noticed it, racing and top down, the dash wiring was going good. He pulled it over and jumped out. The thing ended up burring to the ground, oil soaked wooden floor boards and all. My personal lesson is that I will not play with opposite potential voltages in any of my classic cars. If you want to listen to your books, there are alternatives. James

The hole was for the engines around 1953 that used a common oil system with the torque converter (not fluid coupling) and transmission. They did that for about 2 years. Go look on the Inperial site in their reference section and look for "fluid torque drive". James

Tony, All I have every seen are front mounts that looked like they were smashed real bad. Even new ones. I really wonder how long they are doing their job. I put in a very good looking new one a year ago and the amount of deflection in a year of use is something. Thank is why I am wondering about other options. The rear mounts, I did get from the usual suspects. I suspect that they are using very high durometer rubber in the rears, higher than orginal. That is also why I was thinking of trying the aftermarket mounts as they give you a choice of 2 different durometers on their products. James

Hi all, We have been busy the last few weeks. A friend had a brain bleed. He went through 12 hours of brain surgery and weeks of re-hab. We have been helping out. I can now get back to normal things. I want to get a “better” set of motor mounts on the Desoto. I hate the front mount that sits under cross frame and is a pain to see its condition, much less replace. I also put on a set of NO®S ones, which I think are too hard after 40 to 60 years. So, take a look at the following link and chime in of the possibilities. http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/univ1.html I was thinking of replace the front mount with a hard mount and then cutting the mount bracket a couple of inches and putting two mounts on the frame under the bracket. I was also looking at their tube universal mounts to replace the ones under the bell housing. Thanks for your thoughts, James

My 1953 Desoto Block has a thin pulley and a vibration damper. James

Eric, send me an email with your number and a time to call.... James

Eric, I use a METERING valve and a PROPORTIONING valve. A combination valve is a single unit that has both of those items in one unit. Generally a combination valve has a fixed value and is not adjustable. I would recommend using a separate metering and proportioning valve. The disk and drum brakes use different residual valves. The disk needs one if the MC is mounted low like in most of our cars. Best, James

I will make a list off this thread sat. night. However, if I find everything folks want so far, it will be one very odd Desoto.... :-) Best, James

On Sunday I am heading about 60 miles north of the Golden Gate to look at a bunch of parts. These parts are from a 1948 Desoto Limo. There are engines and the like. I do not know if I will want anything, but, if someone is looking for something... Let me know. The price is free for the taking. Best, James

Greg, Old movies ! Remember Mr. Hanks "Saving Private Ryan" ? Well there is a scene when a squad moves out and the head of the squad says "OK, Lets Rock-n-Roll". Only problem is Rock-n-Roll was not invented yet. So much for big budget quality control. Apparently a number of WW-II Vets complained and I understand that they dubbed in something about Jitter-Bug.... ...James PS. On that vain, I was at an air show and the announcer made several historical (WW-II) mistakes during the show.

I must have not articulated well in my question. Can the steering box AND the worm shaft be removed with the outer steering column left in place ? What I mean is that can you remove the clamp on the bottom of the column and slide the unit out the bottom of the car. James

Does anyone know if I can pull the steering box out WITHOUT having to pull the steering column and the turn signal wires ? All my books say the same thing and the column has to come with it. I need to replace all the seals and gaskets as the thing is leaking. I have the wind pans off the bottom, so I can drop it down if I don't need the column out. Thanks, James

Bob, Alas, that is not quite correct. You see the problem is that the old engine blocks can and do have the metal eaten away on the holes in the block. When you add another couple of thousandths of diameter to the core plug hole and then try to use brass, they can fail. Of course this is all dependent on a particular block and its amount of wear. In my case, to assure a clean and rust free block, it was acid dipped prior to going to the machine shop. I assure you that my brass plugs were installed correctly as I did them myself on the block on the engine stand and with the correct tools. I did them a second time when they blow out. The problem is that if the brass plugs are too small and the hole is a little bit larger you will not get enough of an interferance fit to stay put. The steel ones, using the same tools and techniques has been fine. If I ever do one of these block again, I am going to cut and ream out the freeze plug holes and tap them. Then I will make up some 1/4 inch think bronze screw-in-plugs for them. Best, James

David, I have used those little can inverters in the best as has other folks I know. Some have had good luck with them and like myself some have not. Even when they work they get very hot. I don't think they have enough heat sink area. I am planing on purchasing one of the following to be able to run cell phones and a laptop when on the road. http://www.powerstream.com/dc6-12.htm We will see how it holds up. James

Norm, I think I would suggest is to get a better than average head gasket. The two choices in this category are to have a solid copper gasket made or buy a high quality copper sandwich gasket from "Best" gaskets. I would only do the first option if I need to dial in a certain compression ratio due to a deck and/or head that needed a lot taken off to get it correct. I would also do it if I went with a CR over about 9:1. Sans those issues, Best Gasket makes a much better than standard gasket. The price difference is not even much of an issue given everything else involved in an engine tear down. If you purchase parts from Egge, which I did for my rebuild, you must TELL EGGE you want the "Best Gaskets" or you will get some NORS stuff that may or may not be of very high quality. Best is just down the road from Egge and they deliver to them every day so it is not a big deal. One other thing. The real seals on the early crankshaft are knurled for the rope seal I think and if you use a latter seal you need to have that turned smooth. I am not up on this as my NOS crankshaft was smooth. Someone here with specifics on this may want to chime in. Best, James

Warning, Warning, Will Robenson ! I used nice new Droman brass freeze plugs in my block. The block was acid dipped so it was very very clean. I had nothing but trouble with them blowing out. I switched to steel and the problem went away. When I meassured the brass vs. the steel I found that the brass was just a very very hair smaller in diameter than the steel. When I purchased my brass plugs, I purchased boxes in each size direct from the distributor. So, my lesson is that I will not use brass on these engines again. Although I as a general rule like brass plugs. Best, James

Bob, you are correct on that. The proper way to bench test these things is with a spring scale and an AMP meter. You need to rig up a turnbuckle as the later SOL push out. As long as the center line distance is equal on both side of the turnbuckle you can mount a spring scale on one side and the SOl on the other. I will be posting in about a month a bunch of stuff on the OD's. For now though, if anyone is having any problems, just don't think because the SOL will pop out on the bench with power applied that it is necessarily good to go. ************ Pete, I cam up with a 2 Bosch relay solution (in addition with the big original relay) that provides the same functionality as the original throttle mounted mechanical switch. I use a single wire original style shifter momentary push button. It has worked well. I will be posting all the final wiring stuff with all the other OD stuff in a few weeks. Glad you had a good trip. Sondra and I took the Desoto today on about a 300 mile round trip. About 5 hours on the road. Car ran well. Did about 72MPH indicated witch is about 65 MPH real. Car ran fairly cool in the valley. Was about 85F air temp and she ran at about 155F on the freeway. It would warm up to about 185 on long up hill runs. I need to see what it will do on a 100F day. Best, James