jeffsunzeri

Driven to them (Dodge) by previously owning and operating 4 Chevy pickups and 2 Fords!!

" I do not see any fuel being sprayed into the carb. Might be a problem" I agree. That would indicate the accelerator pump is not working. Besides the things other pointed out, such as the balls and leather, make sure to check the actual jet orifice at the top of the carb. You need to remove the aluminum plug at the top portion of the carb to get at the jet and passageway, and some folks neglect to do this. Pull the little plug and remove the jet completely and clean thoroughly before re-installing. The rebuild kit should have a new plug to install. I like to seal the plug with a little fuel lube or Permatex tack and seal.

"I'm hoping it is a simple adjustment." Likely not. If you drove it in and it was running ok, then removed, rebuilt and re-installed the carburetor it is likely the carb rebuild or installation is at fault. By 'sputters out' do you mean that the engine dies, no matter what you do? The sequence of things I'd check would be: 1. Visual inspection of installation. 2. Inspect fuel delivery to carburetor while cranking. 3. If 1-2 check ok, remove the carburetor and inspect the rebuild, making sure everything operates as required such as throttle plate, float, ball valves, accelerator pump, linkage, choke, etc.

"What RPM's are safe but will still not get me rear ended by some idiot on the road that doesn't realize I am not doing their "modern" speeds." At least in the Northern California areas where I drive, there is no idiot-proof speed. I will admit that from time to time, when in a bad mood, especially while driving the WD-21 with the 5.11 rear end at its top speed of 48.783 MPH, some bonehead will come rushing up to my tail and stay within 16 inches or so, sometimes with flashing headlights thinking that this will encourage me to hit the afterburners so that they can be the first in line at the next stop sign. At which time I will let off the gas entirely.

I believe you will find that no shop will do the work on your car for a fixed price. If they do accept a fixed price job, I would recommend walking away. Reputable shops will charge by the hour because each job exposes items which need repair as the primary job progresses. For example, on a paint job, you really can't tell how damaged the metal is until the old paint is removed. Reputable shops will give an estimated cost in hours/money and update that estimate as work progresses. Get a written estimate which includes estimated dates of completion. Even though you are not in the U.S. you have leverage with written contracts. The work you describe sounds as though it might easily be in the neighborhood of 1,000 to 2,000 hours of labor. Parts costs would be added to that. In California, a labor rate of $80 - $100 per hour is common and reasonable. I don't know what current rates on the east coast of the U.S. are, but I would expect about the same. Also, remember well: you get what you pay for. Make sure to ask for references of past work for any shop in the U.S. you choose. Check those references carefully.

Generic speedo cable inners are readily available at most all automotive parts stores. You will have to cut this cable to length, and the kit provides a new drive-end and a tool to swage it on with one whack from a hammer. The kits are about $10. A good tip is to use your bench grinder to cut the cable to length to prevent fraying from using side cutters.

Like others, I've made tools to remove the tube and tube remnants from a few blocks, short and long. The last one I did came out in about 5,237 itty bitty pieces after 20 hours of poking and hooking. - You can tell when they need to be replaced when the back exhaust valves begin burning while the front ones are fine. - On two occasions I've had to drill a hole at the back of the block to gain access to push the tube remnants forward. When complete, tap the hole with NPT threads and plug it up. Works fine after thousands of miles.

The 603 and 803 radios were used in a number of cars and trucks (dealer installed) so the speaker size could vary, especially since you could get them as a dealer installed option in which case the dealer would choose the speaker location and size. However, I do recall that the specification for the speaker was that it would need to be an 8 ohm speaker. Modern speakers are usually 4 ohm. Most of the original speakers I've seen are oval, 3 x 7, 4 x 9, and some 4 x 10 custom jobs. I'd be very interested in seeing a schematic for the 803 using an iPod input...

To bench-bleed your single outlet master cylinder: 1. Remove the master cylinder from the vehicle, and place it in a vise to hold it securely. Make sure to protect the MC from damage from the vise. 2. At the outlet, install a short brake line and fitting as fitted on the vehicle, about 1-2 inches in length. 3. Attach a flexible hose to the short line from the cylinder outlet, using an optional hose clamp. 4. Fit the open end of the flexible hose into the reservoir of the master cylinder, filled with brake fluid, and keep it submerged. You may use a clothes pin or other soft clamp to keep the tube submerged. 5. Slowly but firmly operate the master cylinder using a suitable tool such as a ground-down screwdriver, or drift. 6. Observe the fluid returning to the reservoir from the tube looking for air bubbles. 7. The master cylinder is bled when no air bubbles can be seen returning to the reservoir while operating the cylinder. The master cylinder is defective if it cannot be bled to a no-air-bubble condition on the bench.

Your bed is from an earlier Dodge (maybe Plymouth or Fargo) pickup. The lower rear portion of the fenders have been cut, and the tailgate modified as well. It is likely from a 1946/47 as the earlier ones were narrower and would not have fit well. Thank goodness it's not Chivvy.

Unlike capacitors/condensers, coils do not degrade with age unless physically damaged. Physical damage to the case and leakage (allowing corrosion and short circuiting) in the case may cause internal failure. Other causes of internal failure would be excessive primary voltage/amperage physically burning the coil windings. There are testers that will measure the secondary output (and thus overall health) and I've found them to be extremely helpful on several occasions. The old oscilloscopes measure the coil output, and I use a modern solid state unit which is pretty accurate and has memory capabilities. I predict some in this group will disagree wildly with me.

Don't confuse the military WC series with the civilian series. The civilian wc 1/2 ton pickups ran through 1947 and were all 2-wheel drive with a rear end identical to the automobiles. The military WC-1 (predecessor to the Power Wagon) began in 1941 and ran through 1945 and although it was rated as 1/2 ton, it was 4WD with the full floating rear axle.

All the military WC's were 4x4 and used the full floating rear end. Not sure about the thickness disparity...

Are the ring and pinion tooth counts the same? There are 2 types of gear sets available, and they cannot be mixed. The numbers on your original set seem to indicate a "formate" set, as opposed to the "new process" set.

Sounds like you have the standard 1/2 ton rear end. As long as you keep the ring/pinion as a pair and don't try to mix and match rings and pinions, you should be fine to replace them with just about any assembly from another 1/2 ton or Dodge-Plymouth automobile of the same vintage. Check your factory manual for details about the formate vs new process gears.

When the oil level is too high, there will be excessive splash inside the engine. Two things will happen. First, there will be oil escaping through the engine vents, making a mess. Second, the oil is more likely to foam causing a breakdown in the oil's film properties.

Any aircraft supply house can supply the ducting. Try Aircraftspruce.com or Wicks Aircraft Supply. You are looking for SCAT or CAT or CEET tubing/ducting. They differ in heat ratings and plies.

No, that shouldn't happen. When you pull the hose off, you should see a drop in RPM and rough idle (due to a big vacuum leak you just created), and it should pick up again when you plug the line or hook up the gauge.

You should be seeing 17-22 on the vacuum gauge with a steady needle.

Yes, there is a chance the valves are bad. Obviously, look for cracks and chips at the edge of all the valves. Also look for uneven burn and color patterns on all the valves, especially the exhaust valves. Most damage will be apparent to the naked eye with good lighting, but it's not a bad idea to use a magnifying glass. On this engine, look especially at the valves at the rear of the block where coolant circulation may be an issue. On the flathead, once you've got the head off, a large part of a valve job is done, so you might just want to go ahead and complete the valve job anyhow at this time.

Mr. Webb, don't do it. It's not safe. For that trailer, your Tahoe is about the lightest-duty vehicle you should use to tow it. I base this on the specifics of a modern 15 foot camp trailer. I found the following specs for a 15 foot camper, current production, listed as an Ultra-light, which is likely to be lighter than the vintage trailer: - Tongue weight: 331 pounds. - Gross weight 3,551 pounds. The issue is not so much the brake or engine capacity, but the overall package of the Plymouth. The suspension is inadequate in an as-new vehicle of this type, much less one with a few years on it. The chassis altogether on this as well as the drivetrain is not up to the task. Do yourself a favor and forget making this a tow vehicle for anything other than a tiny Teardrop which has a weight of around 1200 pounds and a tongue weight of no more than 175 pounds.

When there's no traffic on the road, with a friend along, make the car die (with the filler cap off) and immediately pull safely over. 1. Remove the top of the carburetor to check the fuel level in the float bowl. 2. After checking the carb, check for spark. Pull a spark plug and lay it on the head while your friend engages the starter with ignition on. Does the car start right up after it dies, or does it take some time to come back to life?

Nice truck! Are you sure that's a 3 speed trans and not a 4 speed? Looks like you've got the short running boards (unless they were just cut off by an owner) which would indicate that it was originally a flatbed. Most duallys were flatbeds. It's tough to tell from the photo, so are the wheels one-piece, or 2-piece with locking rings? I think you'll be learning to double clutch too!

Both Autolite and Mallory made dual point, 4 lobe distributors for 8 cylinder cars, and Ferarri and some other engine manufacturers used 3 lobe distributors for both inline 6's and 12 cylinder cars. Here http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/vintage-thru-365-gtc4-sponsored-vintage-driving-machines/180912-advantage-3-vs-6-lobe-distributors.html is a pretty good online discussion of dual point, single point, dwell vs. bounce in distributors.

Sure. The problem causing bounce with mechanical contacts is the number of times the points must open per distributor revolution. In a six cylinder car with single points, the contacts open six times per revolution. In the same car with a dual point distributor, each contact set opens 3 times per revolution, thus reducing the bounce effect when the contact points close. It was Doug Hele's group at Daytona in late 1969 I believe that determined the triples had the points problem. Eventually they got it fixed and won a few races, and Jim Rice's triple flat tracker had the conversion as well. Personally, I love the triples - great bike.