soth122003

Hey Lauren, My dad went to school in the Air Force for the B-36. Got to Loring AFB Maine just as they phased them out. So they put him on the replacement, the B-52. Any way he told me that they had 2 Flight Engineers assigned to the B-36, 10 engines and all the associated gages that go with them, 5-6 gauges for the jets and about 5 for the prop engines. Then add in fuel gauges and transfer for fuel etc.. Joe Lee

IMHO, it is best to leave the hinges in the car This way it is easier to adjust the hood to fit when you reinstall it. Use a white or easy to see marker and trace where the hood meets the hinges and it should reinstall just fine. Joe Lee

You might want to use a little water and your finger first. I tried a scotch pad on the vin on the frame and almost wore the number off. Basic point is to use a light touch and minimum abrasion. Joe Lee

Did a little digging around and found this page. Now it doesn't explain the small 0, but the picture if you look at the number 6 and 9 in it, you can see how faint the tag line off the number 6 or 9 is faint. Maybe these are the numbers 6 and 9 with the tag line worn or missing. Just my 2 cents worth. Joe Lee https://www.t137.com/registry/help/otherengines/pengines.html

Mine and Snipers cost $0 (LOL). That reference was for the group that like owning these old cars but don't have the know how or the time to make the tool. Now with that being said, a lot of us in this group qualify for Geezer status and like these old girls; but time, health and heat conditions making working on these cars a miserable time for us. My work cycle use to be 2 hours work and 15-20 minutes break. Now 15-20 work with a 2 hour break. Getting old and in poor health sucks, but the dirt nap alternative is worse. Joe Lee

That's what I did as well. Also for future reference, Andy B's has the replica brake tool for sale for $95. Joe Lee

Hey Sam, That looks like same set I just installed on my car. Mine has a 230 installed instead of the 218, but the tranny was a 3 speed manual. worked like a champ. Now the car will darn near climb a tree. As far as the pilot bushing goes, you might try an inside puller with a slide hammer style. Others say a wood dowel rod with the pilot hole filled with grease and tap the rod into it and it will press the bushing out. As for mine I inspected the bushing and found no wear at all even mic'ed the inside diameter and it was the same as the new one, so I left it in. Joe Lee

Hey Burt Go to Wal-mart and get the larger sized vale stems. They are rubber and will mold to fit the oval hole. Did that on mine and they worked very well. That was about ten years ago and all are still working fine except one and that was the beauty ring slipping and cutting the stem causing a slow leak. Joe Lee

I'm gonna guess right pump just bought a later date as a replacement for one that went bad. Looks exactly like the pump I pulled of mine when it went bad. Got a replacement from rock auto for about $65 and it had the glass bowl. By the late 60s early 70s the all inclusive gas station garage was becoming just the gas station due to EPA and state/federal regs to make the gas station and tanks cleaner, not leaking, and had sediment filters to make sure the gas was good that was being put into the cars. With crappy gas becoming a thing of the past the glass bowls were no longer necessary. I still remember buying gas at one indy station that had added water to it to sell cheap gas. They didn't last long. Joe Lee

Got mine from Andy B's a number years ago, exact match. Joe Lee

Here are couple of things to try. 1. Use a 12v jump pack with a switch to turn it on, and hook it to the ground and the starter directly. Bypass the the solenoid completely. engage the jump pack and see if the starter spins good or is sluggish. If it is sluggish, pull the starter and clean/rebuild it. Check the wire to the starter for corrosion and broken wires. Your starter may be dragging and the solenoid cant over come the resistance. 2. If the starter seems good it is probably the solenoid. You said you swapped it with one bought recently but you know how these chinese repos are. 3 As far as the fuel pump goes, my fuel filter shows the same thing but it is not the fuel pump. Our carbs are not sealed units. If the float in the carb drops just a bit, the needle will not seat and the fuel will flow to the lowest point, The PUMP. (ain't gravity and weight a bitch) Mine does this all the time so I put an electric prime pump to hit so the fuel is at the carb prior to starting, especially after setting for a few day/weeks. Joe Lee

Z engine huh. Didn't see that coming. I will admit those z engines are a good engine, but what is the weight difference between the Z and the 218 that came with it? Will it affect the front end handling if the Z engine is lighter as I suspect it might be? Quick ref says the Z engine weighs about 250-350 lbs. The six looks about 450-550. But just a guess since I can't find actual specs on either. Might just have a gasser with the weight difference LOL. Joe Lee

I'm with the realists on this. These cars are great when in the original condition and are fun to drive and be looked at. That being said, if you have the skills and the money, it's your car. Also in regards to the Interstate, not a chance in hell I'd take my P-15 on them even if it had a 455 with an OD tranny disk brakes nitrious and what ever else to make it handle, go fast and stop. Part of it is my age (62 is not that old) but the other lunatics out there. No matter what speed you drive at there are the ones who go 1 MPH slower than you and the ones who tailgate and don't get me started on the Big Rigs. All in all these cars were built when the drive from point A to point B was to enjoy the trip and see the country. My Dad lives in northern Al. and if I drive the I-65 to see him it takes about 6 hours. When I get there I am tired and stressed from the drive. Now I take the U.S. highway system. It takes about 7 1/2 hours and I'm just a little tired from the drive. But the trip is kinda relaxing. Seeing the sights and smelling the country side (fresh cut hay, pines from the log trucks and of course the occasional skunk). Also the traffic is lighter and not as congested, unlike the pot luck with the interstate where a wreck can add anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to your trip and no way to get out of it. On time it took 5 hours to get from Montgomery to Birmingham (78 miles and on my motorcycle) due to traffic. Sorry for the rant. Anyway time + skill + money= the car you want. It's your car enjoy the way you want to. From the looks of your dads cars he and you have the skill and money to make them look good. (and they look great). Can't stand the people who turn these cars into crap and think they are all that and a bag of chips. Case in point when people put those wagon wheels on cars UUUGGGGLLLYY, Lowriders on the other hand pretty damn cool, but maybe I'm old fashioned. Joe Lee

Not sure where you would put the flex line, but any where after running the metal tube to the right side of the frame just before the fuel pump should work. The flex line is there take up the engine vibrations and not wear the line with chafing and stress. On my P-15 it changes at the right forward frame just about 10 inches from the fuel pump. Joe Lee

Edited my post to add pics of the pin clevis. The new one the machine shop made for me is the cats meow. Joe Lee

Day 2. Well cleaned up the area with a wire wheel and then tried to take some pics. The 1st pic nearly gave me a stroke. Looking at the pic, it looks like the Grand Canyon, but the closeness and no perspective for location or size cranked up the stress. I tried taking at least 50 more pics, but I could not get another pic of the crack. (no geezer jokes about being naked in the bathroom either) I then tried my borescope, but sunlight on an LCD screen and trying to hold it in place by the crack and then looking at the screen, needed a third arm and a second tongue to hold steady. It took me over an hour to realize I had inspection mirrors and try that. When I saw what the mirrors reveled my heartrate went back to normal and my anxiety passed. In the 2nd pic the area cleaned is about the length of the crack(circled in red and where the leaking occurred is in yellow. The 3rd pic shows the leaking part of the crack. the rest of the crack looks like a hair line fracture. All of the crack got JB Weld and the leaking area got packed in and smoothed over. Tomorrow will be fill and check for leaks then re-assemble everything, get the exhaust leak fixed and drive to my dads house next weekend.

Thanks for the suggestion Rich. Usually didn't worry about the anti-freeze going bad as it would leak out over a few month period and be back to water by spring. I usually flushed the cooling system about once a year with vinegar to keep the block clean from scale, rust and calcium build up. Now that it will be fixed, have to follow up with that. Joe Lee

I think it was like this when I bought it. But during the winter I usually add some anti-freeze to the block. Didn't feel awesome when I found out. Took a few hours to figure out what to do, and a few days to get over it. The block seal I used has the glass silicate in it. And it did slow/maybe stop the leak. It takes about 12 hours to completely cure which was about 5am this morning. I'll clean the area and JB Weld it today. Thanks for the sympathy LOL, but I really do enjoy your videos a lot.

Well here we go. I have a leak on one of my freeze plugs (the hard one to get to, bottom aft under the oil filter). Now I've had this leak for years and it was a minor inconvenience. Leaked about 1 gallon of water every 2-3 weeks and only while parked and not driving. So being as I'm old and retired (read lazy and no initiative) and since I only use water in the radiator for coolant and the car runs at about 170 degrees all the time, never really had the gumption to fix it. Now I am sure a lot of you fine mopar fans out there like to watch our you tube star and movie mogul Keithb (yes Keith I blame you for the motivation), Well his last video was... you guessed it, changing a freeze plug. Now some of the worst things you will ever hear is 1. Son, Have I got a great job for you! 2. When the boss comes out and says "You know I've been thinking..." 3. When you watch a video and think, that doesn't look to hard. So yesterday I pull the oil filter. Move the plug wire holder out of the way. Drill out the freeze plug and pop it out and there was a wall of crap keeping it from leaking. The crud was damp but not letting water flow through. Gotta scribe and poked it through and whoosh out comes about 3 gallons of water. Got the hose, flushed it out and used a wire wheel to clean it up. Put the new freeze plug in with a little permatex to help seal it and used my air hammer to tap it into place. Now being that I used the hose and pick tool to flush and get rid of the crap that built up under the number six piston, I'm feeling pretty damn good about my self (YAY ME). Yeah Right, things can never be that simple. I fill the rad and engine with water and I go to check for leaks. And what to my wondering eyes did appear A LEAK!!! Under the freeze plug about 1/4" and 1" aft water was leaking. Not a lot but enough. Looking at the way the water ran down before the plug change it looked like the plug was leaking and running down about 1/4" and following the engine casting line along the block. NOOO. Wasn't that way at all, the block was cracked. So today, Monday, was spent running the engine up to temp (40 minutes) and using the block sealer to seal it from the inside (another 40 minutes) and the leak was reduced to a weep. Drained the water per instructions and jacked up the back end of the car to get the water clear of the cracked area. Tomorrow will be cleaning the cracked area and using JB weld (Since you can't weld cast iron) to seal it from the outside. The saving grace of all this is it is a minor problem and at least it is not a cracked block in the upper piston area. It also is not cracked into the oil galleys, both which would require an engine change. So Keith, from the bottom of my aching legs to the width of my sore back and top of my stiff and bruised shoulders, Thank you for motivating me to do a simple job that turned into a head ache. The bright side of all this is the weather here in Florida is warm and sunny and with a little introspection the job needed to be done anyway. So for all you mopar fans out there feel free to comment, make fun of, offer alternative suggestions I may or may not take, sympathize, or whatever to my tale of woe in the latest adventures of "MOPAR MADNESS". (Said with words echoing and thunder and lightning crashing). Joe Lee

Hey Booger, It ain't the getting on the creeper that makes you old, its the getting off of it. Joe Lee

My friend and I were discussing that very thing yesterday. Since we live in Florida, when a hurricane strikes, set up at the 150 mile edged of the evacuation route and recharge the electric cars evacuating at $50 a pop. That is a deal since a refuel in gas is usually $50-$75 a tank at current prices and will only get worse this year. Joe Lee

You can also try stabilizing the carb base and use a screwdriver and a small plastic hammer keeping pressure on the screw to loosen and tapping the end of the screwdriver with the hammer. The vibrations of the strike may loosen the screw for removal. Joe Lee

Took those in high school myself. Went into the Navy as an electrician then the Air Force as an aircraft/helicopter mech. Retired at 20 and went contracting overseas, paid all my bills off and then retired retired. Now at over 60 with a bad hip, emphazema, PTSD, aeiou stuff and a wore out husk I call a body...., I used to be 10 feet tall and bulletproof now I am 6'7" and water resistant. All that to say I just can't do what I want to anymore, or if I do it will hurt for days. After changing that clutch my shoulders felt like they would fall off and my lower back was black and blue for 3 days from the creeper and the concrete. So while I could buy the wielder and use it one time, I only buy things that I will use on a regular basis. Easier to find some one to do a 5 minute wield than to spend the money i don't have on a one time use item. Getting old sucks and it is not for sissies but as my idle Clint says, "A mans got to know his limitations". Joe Lee

Probably true Merle, but my friend who knows the machinist to ask for a favor for the pin, does not know any of the wielders and their in a different shop. Joe Lee

That's what I was thinking as well. Wield up the hole and re-drill, but I gotta find a wielder. The pin is being made at the machine shop on base. I used a bolt, washers and nuts for temp fix. Joe Lee