Tusler 49 New Yorker

Another factor, do you have the flat 6 or the flat 8 engine in that car. My 49 New Yorker with the L8 only makes 132hp so pulling that trailer up a hill would pose some reduced speeds for sure. What about cooling-overheating, these were issues back then and still are today with these old cruisers.

I open the hood and give it a shot of Starting Fluid into the aircleaner. Otherwise I have to hold the gas to the floor and crank for a long time. more than once I was like one crank from being stranded when it finally started. i did not realize a simple shield would make that much difference. I will make one and give it a try. The L8 in my car gets really hot when I shut it off and boils the gas thru the vent tube into the intake and floods every time.

Just to update, I had a shop open it up and the #8 rod bearing showed the wear, it was the one knocking when I first started it, and the engine stillhad good oil pressure. I also found broken top rings on #1,2,&3 pistions. He honed the cylinders, I replaced all the rod bearings and rings, checked the valves and the head for flatness, all was ok so we put new gaskets in it and called it good.Even though I had broken rings it still ran ok and did not smoke...amazing engine. I watched a old Chrysler tech video about oil pressure and they said don't even worry about idle pressure as long as there is some. Above 30 I get 40lbs constantly so it'll last a while I guess.

if you have a L8 it will go 45 in third. I have done this with my 49 new Yorker (45 in third) when it would not shift to fourth. Check the govenor with a test light... it is easy and it fixed my not shifting problem. http://imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/012B/index.htm

I would like to throw my 2 cents in here if I may. I had a 47 plymouth Super Deluxe 2 door back in 1979 in Ogden, UT. The fastest I could ever get it to go even after I put new Bearings and Rings in that flat 6 was 70mph and it had a manual 3 speed trans. I now have a 49 New Yorker with a straight 8 and what a hugh difference. I cruise it at 60 very comfortably all day. It has enough torque to pull away from a stop in 4 th gear. If you are going to swap stuff, I wonder if a flathead 8 will fit in your car. Or pick up a 48 or 49 chrysler with a L8 in it and you may be happier.

Unfortunately I have a hyd electrically shifted M6 semi automatic in my chrysler product. It has a solenoid and a and another part that runs on 6 volts. The downshifting involves momentary cutout of the coil and ignition system. This just does not work if 12 volts is used. The only way I can convert to 12 v is to change the trans to a newer 727 with a 12 v starter and custom made bellhousing to bolt it all togather. Way more money than I have. I will just put the 12 v battery in and isolate the system from the car and hook up my Radio and maybe a gps.

In my experience it really does not matter what you run for oil. What matters is what kind of driving you do and where you drive. I drive alot on desert roads in hot summer so I change my oil frequently. The object is to keep clean oil in the engine. When the oil gets dirty...change it. No matter what oil you use it will get dirty... Dirt is what kills the bearing surfaces!!

I use an Optima 6v in my 49, it is a fantastic battery and will turn the straight 8 a long time if iit gets flooded. Optima allso makes a 12 v battery that is half size so the 12 v andn the 6v will fit in your battery tray and you do not have to put it in the trunk or anything. I am doing the same thing with the 12v and just keeping my radio and whatever isolated from the car and keeping the 6 volt system. I think most stereos at most take about .5 amp as long as you are not powering a Amplifier. So you really don't need a big 12v for just the radio.

I would get the gas tank and all fuel lines flushed clean first. Then check the fuel pump, then at least open the carb and clean the float bowl (it probably has junk in it you don;t want sucked into the motor or clogging up the jets if they are open). Oil and filter next. Then pull the plugs and if it has not turned in 35 years, I would put some wd40 or marvel mystery oil in every cyclinder and let it sit over night then manually turn the eng Only a little bit, the next day just to make sure no pistons are stuck. Chock the wheels, put the plugs in with fresh gas and fire it up. I say do it this way because my car sat since 1970 and I did not oil the cylinders and turn it before I stared it and wound up braking the pistion rings on #1,#2, cyl. I am putting new bearings,rings, and a full gasket set in mine. Nice car have fun. Yes do the brakes before you try to drive it!!!

It is an electro magnet when it is energized. probably have to take it and have it rewound by a generator or starter repair shop. or start calling around to salvage yards in Hemmings.

My advise is to hook up a modern relocated filter kit. You will save money on buying filters and they will be available wiithout having to order them. My 49 has oriiginal equipment and I can get filters for it but they are expensive and I always have to order them.

Sounds like he needs a Kanter catalogue

My 49 was doing this and it turned out to be the timimng was way retarded. I started turning the distributor and kept going until the problem went away. I had to advance almost to the point it started pinging but not quite.

It iis a sad thing to have to let something you liked at one time go, for sure. But I have a 49 new Yorker, I just spent almost $1000 dollars for simple engine parts, rings, bearings, gaskets, freeze plugs and the like. parts for these old mopars are hard to find and when i do find them they are expensive. I like you do not have a space I can work on the car in so I have to pay a garage mech to put the parts in and the labor is expensive. ( my wife is already not happy wiith this hobby). If you are going to do an old car I would highly suggest a Chevy or a Ford simply because parts are more available. \Your car running out here in California would probably bring from $5000 to $8000. Best of luck. Build an old school Triumph chopper with king and queen seat and 8in over front end with the neck raked correctly.

Thanks, you are right, it works great. i sure like simple fixes that work. I am using an old set with a eng analyzer, vac guage, timing light, ... I just never got rid of it, I am glad I did not now I have a use for the stuff. My wife thinks I am crazy but it sure is fun working on the old car, it brings back a lot of memorys of when I was young and had no choice but to fix it myself or walk. (times have not changed much lol)

Thank you all for the suggestions. I took the Distributor out and cleaned it, reset the points. When i retimed it, I found I had it way too retarded. I advanced it till it pings just a little going up hill since I am running 87 octane. I will put a little octane boost in the next tank maybe after I research it. The accelerator pump is working great, if I step on it I get a bunch of torque to handle all at once. The timing completely fixed the stalling and the hesitation. I put a vacum guage on it and the guage is rock solid, I also tried spraying WD40 around and got no changes in rpm. I found an old timing light and plugged it in just to see what it would do, it does work, the light is not real bright but it does work. I am going to pick up a 12 volt batt and do what was suggested. (soo simple) Before I was getting 10 mpg, I took it out for a drive today and only used 1/4 tank to go 100 miles so this made a hugh difference in the mileage. I will get to work on the trans componets that tell the gears to drop down when I come up to a stop sign for my next project. I got all the youtube videos and manuals on the trans so it sould not be too difficult. Probably replace the wiring and clean the govenor points very carefully. It shifts down now...I just have to put the clutch in for a few seconds to cause it. Thanks again for all your help you guys are GREAT!

Sorry about that it was suppose to say straight 8. the fires right up was in the text and somehow got up there.

I did not soak the accelerator pump in oil, I did coat it with oil before I put it in. Its not too late, should it be soaked in oil and for how long ? Timing I had to set statically using a meter because I have not found a timing light for a 6volt system yet.

Hi, This thing is driving me crazy. The eng hesitates badly every time you give it gas from a stop. The eng has low compression across all the cylinders most of them are between 70 and 75 with #6 at 100. I replaced the plugs, wires, cap, rotor. Cleaned the points, and that made the car start really great. Before it was turning over a few times before it would catch. i can stand outside reach in and turn the key and it fires right up. But the hesitation and a slight miss was there so I pulled the carb took it apart, cleaned it in a ultrasonic cleaner. I put it back together with a new accelerator pump. I took care to use some rtv on the gasket when I reinstalled the carb so I would not have any vacumn leaks where the carb bolts to the manifold. It is stumbling and even stalling now. I am open to advice...thanks

What happens if you have the belt on and the seat rips loose during a collision because it is not reinforced where it bolts in?

What paper filter do you use and where do you get it. I have a 49 New yorker with the L8 motor I want to mod the oil bath and get a plain air filter working instead.

Mine does the same type of thing. When I firt start it cold if the eng races even a little I can hear a knock (like a Main Bearing) I found running the straight 30 w oil and starting the engine only once a week, sometimes longer the oil runs out of the bearing and it is dry. So I put some Lucas oil treatment in it, the stuff is a little sticky and stays on the bearing longer and seems to have fixed the knock for now. What is sad, is I know how to rebuild this L8 but where my wife decided to live teh people scream if i change my oil in my garage. Anyway I don't hear anyknock anymore but I am not counting my chickens yet...

Hi, I recently changed the oil for the first time in my newly aquired 49 New Yorker, The eng is all original and had been rebuilt in the 70's. Any how when I opened the can top to change the WIX 51062 filter I found an "o" ring on the top part that removes. The filters come with gaskets and not "o" rings. Does anyone know what the part number is for this "o" ring. Thanks

I have a 49 New Yorker with that sloppy 4 speed semi auto Transmission. the thing is a trip, you start off in first, take your foot off the gas and WAIT for the rpm to drop and the trans to shift into 2nd then you manual shift into 3rd ad do the let off the gas pedal to go into 4th. I have found that if I start off downhill I have to manually take it to 3rd because when I let off the gas in 1st to shift to 2nd the trans stays engaged because the car gong down hill will not let the rpm drop on the motor. Also if you take off fast and get some revs going I have to manually shift it from 1st to 3rd. not a big deal as the big 8 does not seem to mind. I currently have a problem with the vacuum assist to the brakes not working. It makes these heavy cars very difficult to stop aand impossible to lock up the tires.