9 foot box

I would try the other keys that you were given. But to get the tumbler out, it needs to be turned to the left for the small brass button to be depressed. Then pull it out. The ignition key works on my doors, the other key locks the trunk, a third key locks my glove box. I have used a KS6482 tumbler in a couple instances, but not in my P15’s. The Pentastar key just look’s wrong in a vintage car. Try what has been suggested before you Dremel down the brass button to get it apart. It worked before, it wouldn’t just fail. Rick D.

A D51 is a 54 Dodge car engine. The original engine was probably a T114. Google t137 other engines. Rick D.

I have wanted a 4 door sedan for awhile. It would be nice to take more passengers. I have never seen a thermostat housing like that, or that radio. I’ve had to do some minor repairs to the sill brackets on my 46. I drilled a 5/8” hole in the low point of both my Bus. Coupes for dirt and water to drain. I’ve seen some P15 brackets that were mostly rusted out from the accumulation of dirt and mud. Something to consider. It works for me. I did buy a 56 Belvedere Sedan a few weeks ago, but not as well kept as your 47. Your wife did fine for both of you, by her perusing Marketplace. Rick D.

I recently removed the rack and pinion steering that was in my 41 WC. The drag link ends are not the same, and need to be assembled differently. If you reassemble it according to the service manual, I think it will go together okay. Rick D.

Must of had higher gearing than the usual 4.1. I cleaned out the interior and rust is minimal. There was a bump on the right side front seat floor panel. I bumped it down without any break in the metal. There was sand accumulated on the front cross member so it was abused or joy ridden once. The bottom of the oil pan is dented but the transmission pan is okay. I’m glad that you guys like the 56 Belvedere. I’m learning more about it everyday. Rick D.

The horn actuator cleaned up nice. The Nevada sun must have deteriorated the original steering wheel. I think this is from a Savoy or Plaza. I just have to figure out what I’m missing to assemble it. It’s to bad that the hood ornament got mangled. The PO doesn’t know how it happened. None of the replacements I have found are as clean as the original. I filled the master cylinder and vacuum bled the brake’s today. The PO said that he put new rear cylinders and master in. I have service brakes now. I don’t see any floor damage from under the car. But I’ll still pull the old rug. I found an online service manual until I buy a hard copy. I got more to learn about the heater temp control and what looks like a cowl vent. Service the speedometer and cable every 10,000 miles, I don’t think that ever happened. Any input on a 56 Belvedere with a PowerFite transmission would be appreciated. Rick D.

Well it’s mine now. From the paper work in the glove box it was sold new in Oakland,CA. The owners moved to Las Vegas in the 70’s and the next owner bought it in the early 80’s. He had the engine rebuilt in Feb. of 87 and the transmission rebuilt and new rear mounts in April 87. A complete brake job was also done in April. This was all in Vegas. It was still registered in Nevada in 97. I think it sat in the Nevada sun for fifteen years and came to Montana and needed a new head gasket in 2012 and was registered here with the 56 Fin plates. It starts and runs well, with no blow by or exhaust smoke. I spent the afternoon vacuuming the interior and trunk. I’ll take the bench seat out pull the carpet and jute padding, then I can see what the floor looks like. Rick D.

I’ve been driving past this car for years. I didn’t stop and look at the sign in the window, when it was for sale. I just wasn’t interested. I happened to see the owner that manages the pawn shop and liquor store downtown. I asked him what he was asking back when he had it for sale. Under 3K, I thought that it should have sold. Anyway here is the car. The tail lights are bleached, the chrome is perfect, and some rust showing under the paint on a real straight body. The car has 78,000 miles registered on the odometer. The flathead 6 has the wrong core plugs. I’m thinking that the engine may have been rebuilt. I would like to have a sedan that my friends can get in and out of easily. We are all in our 7th decade. It doesn’t have the PowerPack manifold. To me it’s about resurrecting old cars to be driven again, not sitting in a field deteriorating under the sun and weather. I think this P28-3 car deserves saving. Rick D.

Took a ride to the caverns today. I enjoy the three mile climb of 1400’ from the base visitor center to the cavern site. High gear to the top and you have to appreciate the torque of a flathead six with the three hairpin turns in the road that slow you down. I have 4.1 gearing, I’ll try it in my 49, it has 3.9 gearing. These are the only pictures I could post, the others were too large to post from my IPad, although the site seems to have made them from mB to kB. ? Whatever assets I have, computer skills isn’t one of them. But you didn’t need to see my car in front of the visitor centers. It still looks the same, only has more bug kills. Rick D.

The last time this subject was mentioned, the consensus was that you buy the fitting available and chase the threads. I did that and tested the fitting attached to the gauge @ 40psi with soapy water, with no leakage. I wouldn’t use the gauge to chase the threads from 24tpi to 27tpi on the fitting. All other connections are inverted flare with double flare line ends.

This is what I have used for temporary starting and running a few vehicles. It fits on the cowl and is gravity feed. Rick D.

My guess would be a valve or valves sticking. You could de-carbon the combustion chamber with an application of Sea-Foam. I’m at 4550’ and have 17 in/Hg. That can be decreased with a timing adjustment either way. Rick D.

My replacement steering box had too much play after doing a minor adjustment to the cross shaft. I pulled the column and the roller on the sector shaft and the worm were in good shape. The problem was the tapered ends on the worm gear were worn from excessive end play. I couldn’t find a worm gear. I bought two new top and bottom bearings, gasket set and a seal from Dennis Carpenter. I built up the ends of the worm gear with a mig welder and turned the ends down in my Atlas lathe. Luckily the shaft fit in the spindle. I had another worm gear and the bearing races to determine the degree of angle for fitting in the box. I turned down both ends equally from the measurement at the base of the taper and ended up with .060” lower bearing race protruding. I used the gaskets that I had to allow for free movement and set the major adjustment to the worm gear bearings. Then I tightened the cross shaft sector screw for free movement of the steering wheel, left to right, for the minor adjustment. The wire in my welder is .024” 7018, CO2 shield gas set at the high heat and I used a slower wire feed than is recommended. I sent a message to Cavallero for a worm gear, but for now, it has taken the free play out of the steering and I have a gaskets to remove if it wears in on the 7018 weld. I chose not to heat and quench it to harden the weld, in case I need to do any additional lathe work. I refilled with corn head grease. This project made me aware of the fact, that the steering gears are overlooked for lubricant, so I checked and filled the steering boxes on all my drivers today with GL1. They all had sufficient lubrication. Rick D.

I would check that the points are installed correctly. The tension has to go under the copper lead. If you have a vacuum gauge, the vacuum will read normal and drop to zero then slowly build vacuum, if you have a choked exhaust. There are left and right points, it depends on your distributor. This is picture of what I had sent someone with a similar problem. It is easier to pull the distributor and work on it in a vise, just note which way the rotor points for reinstall. Rick D.

I don’t know if this helps, but a C49 and C50 Chrysler 8 cylinder used a IAR-4101-1 distributor. Rick D.

I looked at the Tod Fitch ply33.com site. I assume that you have 18mm plugs. A Champion W16Y/561 plug might work better for your new engine. The number doesn’t cross over to an Autolite plug. It appears that the Champion plug has a 5/8” reach, and your 389’s are 1/2” reach. Plug gap would be different with resistor or non resistor plug, so maybe regapping your 389’s would give you a hotter spark. On a P15 it’s .028” non resistor and .035” resistor. Does a 29 Desoto have a spark advance on the steering column? Just some thoughts Hickory. Rick D.

The engine in the car is a 51 or later with the internal bypass thermostat housing and six blade fan. I would need the serial number on the engine to determine if it’s a 218 or 230. There is a 48 Plymouth Business Coupe in the classified ads on this site. The nice thing about the business coupe, is that it is all flat glass. Rick D.

Terrill Machine, Inc. De Leon,TX rebuilds vacuum advance units. (254)893-2610.

In all fairness, kencombs mentioned the points spring in the third post of this thread. Luckily, nonstop asked for a picture. I just posted a picture of how the tension spring should be installed. Now you can concentrate on getting ready to drive to the Desoto convention. Happy Trails to you. Rick D.

Your points return spring isn’t installed correctly. You only need one. It goes under the copper strap and puts tension on the points arm. Hope this picture helps. Rick D.

The nice thing about swinging pedals is that you can put a master cylinder, and even a vacuum booster, on the firewall. The clutch adjustment is simplified by the elimination of a clutch overcenter spring adjustment. Your clutch release arm in the picture looks longer than a 54 Savoy that I have on a pallet. If you’re not concerned with originality, and you can mount the swinging pedals as firmly as they are in the 56 parts car, I think I would update the pedal arrangement. You have all the parts, you might have to fabricate a pivot point for the clutch on the frame to engine mount. Rick D.

Your Pertronix ignition required carbon core plug wires. I run points and prefer copper core wires with 295 non resistor plugs set @ .028”. Go start your car when it’s dark out and see if the plug wires are showing any arcing. If you are able to that tonight, it might point to why you are having this problem. I don’t know what plugs you are using, only that you gapped them at .035”. Tomorrow you can do an ohm resistance test with each wire and the coil wire. You can buy copper core wires for a six cylinder tractor. Rick D.

Nice job. I’ve made a few springs with piano wire. After bending, I put them in the oven when my wife bakes a frozen pie. 425* for an hour and leave them in the oven after the pie is removed, to cool slowly. Rick D.

You might have a 68-73 Mustang or Mercury Cougar rear axle. I would look at drums for those cars. They used the same wheel cylinders as the trucks, but the trucks had 11” brakes and drums, larger bolt pattern axle, and wider axle than those cars. Rick D.

My 46 came with new aftermarket sill mats, without the pins that my 49 has. My plan is to use these panel fasteners with new sill grommets. I was going to prep the head of the fastener and apply contact cement. Set the mat on, and let the cement set. That’s my basic plan anyway. Rick D.