squirebill

Did you find the cause of this problem?

Green tint sounds like it could be antifreeze. Suspect a small crack in the head. A product called "Bar's Leaks" worked for me in the past. Had a antifreeze leak at one of the cylinder jugs of a Subaru boxer type engine. Was leaking at the rate of one drop every 30 seconds at idle. Added Bar's Leaks and within 20 minutes the leak was sealed. Worked for me but was over twenty years ago. Not even sure the product is still available.

Any more oil in the spark plug well?

So is the thinking the leaking plug was not firing and somehow allowed crankcase oil to come past all the piston rings through the leaky plug and end up in the spark plug well? For all of this to happen I would think you have more problems than just a bad plug. Will look forward to the result of the plug replacement. Please keep us advised. This is the kind of thing that happens and makes you go "Huh, never saw that before". Regards.

Did you ever get this figured out?

What 9 foot box said. Do compression test. Need air/fuel , spark, and compression all to happen at the correct time.

If I had read this question 20 minutes ago, which I did, my memory would have led me to agree with DCurrent's answer above. However you mentioned you had 6 shoes with long linings and only 2 shoes with shorter linings. I looked it up in my Plymouth Service Manual which runs from 1946 to 1954. In a picture of the front and rear brake assemblies it shows two long linings on the front brake and a long lining on forward shoe of the rear brake and the short lining on the rearward shoe of the rear brake. I don't know how long I have been assembling brakes incorrectly but now I stand corrected. Regards.

The "oblongness" (is that a word) or eccentricity of these bolts is used as part of the brake adjustment. The manual refers to it as a "major adjustment". Do you have a manual? All of these bolts that I have seen have an arrow on the top of the head. Initially the bolt is installed with the arrow pointing toward the wheel cylinder. When ready to reinstall the drum these bolts are adjusted to get a .006 inch clearance between the drum and brake shoe.

Further to my last; Only has to be spread a few thousanths , not very much. If it won't thread on with only slight resistance it is spread too far. Tap on the nut to close up the gap. Regards.

If you were to hacksaw a slot about half way through the nut, as if you were going to make two thin lock nuts...then spread the slot a bit with a tapered tool like a common screw driver or chisel, it will remove the slop from the nut when you thread it on the spindle.

You could use a 12 volt battery to jump start the truck. Make sure all lights and accessories are off. The starter can handle it. As a younger person driving a 1950 Plymouth in the late 1960s I often had to get jump started from my friends more modern 12 volt battery. Starter spins up fast on the 12 volts.

Pretty sure Desoto 1939 meant brake "linings" not brake lines. Also, my shop manual for Plymouth 1946-1954 does not show the brake shoe hold down springs as shown in the picture of Post 14 at the 2 and 8 o'clock positions. Is this something on newer Plymouths. May be a clue of where these 10 inch brakes came from.

"Used brass nuts in the factory for a reason". Does anybody have a guess as to "why" they used brass nuts at the factory. Not only that but why there are two configurations of brass nuts...standard shaped nuts with standard shaped washers and "conical" shaped nuts with "conical" shaped washers and then in specific locations? I asked this question awhile back and a gentleman from Germany offered his thoughts on the subject and they all sound reasonable. If you do a search on "brass manifold nuts" you can see them. Just wondering if anybody might have anything more definitive. Regards to all.

Would like to hear more about how you did your seat cover. Mine needs to be redone. Have a piece of material but that is as far as I have gone.

See my post #42 of this thread. Exact same condition....would start smoking after 15 minutes of idling. Drilled 1/8 hole in bottom of muffler, drained gunk out, no more smoking. Filled hole with sheet metal screw. Regards.

Based on the doors on the truck with the crease running from the top of the fender line then back to the rear edge of the door, it's a B1 or B2 series. I needed doors like these for my B1B but could only find B3/B4 doors at the time. The B3/B4 doors have more of a scoop (than a crease ) that goes about half way across the width of the door. Not sure about the visors. According to my parts book the B1/B2 visor was a different part number than the visor for the B3 and even another different part number for the B4. Hard to tell what a previous owner may have found and installed on "their" truck over the years. My truck has an "I" title. In PA the first owner has an "A" title, then the second has a "B" and so on. So I am the 9th owner of the truck and there is no telling what the previous owners had done to it to keep it running but fun finding out. Regards.

What a great find! I'm on the downhill slope of my "49 Suburban project. Don't know if I could face the uphill slope you're looking at but sure would give it a great effort. Be careful with vacuuming that mouse poop. Read somewhere sometime ago that mouse poop dust can cause respiratory problems. Mask on all who might come in contact with vacuum exhaust. Regards.

I got a can of Permatex Copper Spray-A-Gasket to use for my head gasket. So since I had that I used it on all my gaskets and mounting screws. Since I was building up a newly machined short block, it had plenty of time to cure before it saw any oil or antifreeze . Regards

What JBNeal said. I just purchased the DoDge truck Parts Book and the floor shift 3 speed and column shift 3 speed both use the same transmission casting. The parking brake uses a different "support" which is the piece on the back of the transmission that holds the components of the parking brake. Since the transmission casting is the same the park brake components from the parts truck should transfer over. Note my book covers Dodge trucks, not sure of any differences for a Fargo truck. Regards

!949 Plymouth Suburban. Refurbishing the service brake system. Pulled all the wheel cylinders and master cylinder from car to refurb at the bench. Happy that all castings and internal parts are "Made in USA". All bores were good requiring only slight honing to bring back brightness to the bore. All bores were 1-1/8 diameter. My 1946 to 1954 Service manual says all bores are 1-3/8 diameter. So the question is: what can I expect from a drivability and performance stand point with this smaller diameter braking system? Also, my parts catalog calls out a"Brake Pedal Pull-Back Spring" and a 'Clip". No picture of these items in the Parts Manual or Service Manual. Can anyone give me a description of these parts, attaching points, etc. or maybe a picture. I also have a 1949 B1B with brake pedal return spring. Are the return springs similar on both vehicles? Regards

So I finally found my 1946-1954 Plymouth Service Manual. In the "Body" section, under Door Ventilator Assembly, for 1953-1954 it mentions the center bar adjusting screw and for 1949-1952 it mentions two adjusting screws. So it seems there are adjusting screws on the window regulators. It doesn't say how to adjust them, but they are there.

Status? Is your car running yet? Did it run before you changed plugs and pulled the distributor out to rebuild it?

As stated: larger diameter means larger area and greater force for a given pressure. Also, Larger diameter means more volume for a given travel and will affect the travel of the brake pedal.

Bleed the brakes some more. A spongy soft pedal is an indication of compressible air some where in the hydraulic system. A hard pedal is an indication of only incompressible fluid in the system. Another indication of air in the system is if the brake pedal travel can be reduced by pumping the brakes. A well bled brake system will have the same pedal travel regardless of pumping the brake pedal. In a well bled system the pedal travel will get closer to the floor as the brake lining wears indicating the brakes need adjusting or replacement. Bleed until you have a hard pedal. Set the brake pedal free play to spec and you will be good to go.

Agreed. Currently working the brakes on a '49 Suburban. The front brake lines go from inside the engine compartment up and over the frame then down to the top of the flex hose connection. This "up and over" the frame loop is a perfect place for air to accumulate in the brake line.