dwest999

Had the head check and it was 14 mills off... had it resurfaced and hope to get the engine back together soon.

Hickory, you're right about that... several of the head bolts were not very tight. My guess is the PO who rebuilt this engine back in the 90s did check for head bolt torque after assembly. I am going to get the head and then check the block for straightness using a straight edge. We'll see.

Hello Forum Friends, Well, it looks like I figured out the issue with lost compression... I am thinking I might need a new head gasket. Thank you to all who responded. #blow_out. Dave

Thanks again everyone. I love this forum. I'll report back for those interested in (as Paul Harvey used to say) "the rest of the story"... Good day.

Thanks all. I pull the valve covers last night and rotated the engine. Valve all see to be moving so I am figuring that it is indeed a head gasket. Luckily for me I watched Keith's video (again) last night when he replaced is cracked head (thanks Keith). I think it's a job I can handle. Dave

Hello all. I wanted to get some thoughts on what might be going on with my engine. I got my '40 Plymouth (201 CID) out of storage last week. Started it and let it run for a couple of minutes. Drove it from the storage facility to my home which required me to take a state highway. I got the car up to about 50 / 55 MPH during the trip. Car ran fine. So, went out to take the car for a ride yesterday and the car ran really rough. After some investigation I learned that I have no compression on my #3 and #4 cylinder. I've done some searching on the forum and think it might be a stuck valve or maybe a head gasket... Just not sure where to start so I figured I'd ask. Thank you in advance for your wisdom and insights

PA, thank you for the clarification. My mistake. I will absolutely avoid doing this in the future. I have the utmost respect for you and all of our forum members and would never intentionally try to upset anyone or do things not in line with expectations.

PA, got it. For the record, I'm not skirting anything as I offered to cap to slatgrille for free (not trying to make any money here). Kind of like the headlight I gave you. Take care.

Slatgrille, I bought a 1940 Plymouth last year that came with a bunch of extra parts including about 12 original hubcaps. If you want, email me a picture of the style you need and if I have one (or two) I'll be glad to give them to you (you just need to pay for the shipping). Dave

Dang Keith, congratulations on the new charger... that beast looks like it will do the trick. As for me, I've had so so luck with chargers. I got my most recent one from Tractor Supply. It's a Schumacher and works fine. That said, it's the third one I've bought in the past 10 years. I think the next one I buy (assuming my current one takes a crap) will be an old school POS from FB Marketplace. There's something cool about buying an second hand item that someone has no more use for.

Been looking for an affordable kits for my '54 Dodge. Just ordered it from JC Whitney. My floors have been redone so I know I'll have to do some fitting. Thanks all for the lead!

TodFitch, lol... so that's the best way to silence a chatty Kathy sitting next to you... thanks for the tip.

Oh yes, 100% agree. Sniper has been so helpful to many. If you're reading this Sniper, you the man!

Forum Members, I was surfing the forum this evening and was thinking about how grateful I am for all of the contributors. There is some much valuable information on the forums that has proven invaluable to me (and I'm sure many others) over the years. I've taken on several projects on both of my cars that I wouldn't have without the support of this place. A special thanks to the gentlemen below. Happy Holidays all. Dave

Just an FYI, I've just went do the radial tire route for my '40 Plymouth. I couldn't find any 205/75/16s and ended up buying a set of 215/75/16. They look great when mounted but then I quickly learned that the width of the tire coupled with the disc brake set up caused the tires to rub the fender really bad. I then went with plan B which were the Coker 6.00-16s. They were a bit more expensive ($168/tire), but fit nicely. I called Coker originally and were told that it would be a fews weeks to get the tires and that they were going to charge me over $100 for shipping. I then went to JEGs who had the tires in stock w/free shipping. It all worked out.