janan5243

have to figure out how to do that, Don.

I got the rear main seal I ordered. Was good price. Too good, wrong seal. It's the seal with the metal flanges with three bolt holes. It's for sale. JV134-6. New, not NOS. PM me if interested. Only reasonably priced, correct seal is MOPAR NOS. Has anybody used NOS seals? It's rubber, from 60-70's. Think it's worth trying? Any & all input appreciated.

Is that a wind generator on the roof?

I drove car Sunday.50 miles. made sure parked on blacktop to check for oil. first time I had car up to 65 mph for an extended run. when stopped at light, pressure dropped to 10 psi, then to 20 psi. when started moving went back to 40 psi. when leaving, just one tiny drop. drove back home, on interstate, 60 mph. stopped to have a beer at local spot, looked out at car, 2 puddles under car. oil pressure was doing same thing but was steady at 40 psi when running at speed. seemed oil was coming from pan. haven't had a chance to get up on lift. should have remembered that clearances are critical on those type pumps. Ptwothree ,I will PM you. Incidentally, I didn't start this post. I posted after someone else. I had another post about losing a lot of oil & almost blowing engine & somehow they got linked. No Biggy. Appreciate response's. Will post findings. How apropos, on the bottom of page is ad for Perma Tech Oil Stop Leak. Lol.

Found leak today. Oil pump plate/cover. Fan would blow oil down frame rail. when parked, oil would drip in a long line. took cover off cleaned & reinstalled with rtv gasket sealant. Will test drive tomorrow.

found my leak today. was oil pump cover. would leak when running, fan would blow oil back on frame. took cover off, cleaned & sealed with RTV. will test drive tomorrow.

My car also developed a gusher. almost lost engine past Friday night. didn't realize leak had gotten very bad. Haven't had a chance to pinpoint it. Thought it was rear main but PO felt it was pan gasket. Will find out this weekend. Good luck with your leak.

Most canister style filters are marked for inlet & outlet. I changed to a canister style, my canister was not marked but by design I deduced that the inlet was in bottom & return was in side near top. Works fine.

There are very knowledgeable people on this forum but for them to help you, without actually seeing the car. we have to give as many facts as we can about our problem. That said, have you tested to see if you have power to the starter & solenoid. You stated that when you put power to starter, you got a large spark & maybe some smoke from starter. Are you using correct polarity? I would start with power checks first. 46 pickup is right. If you have all the wires right & power, then it is either the starter or solenoid. An off the car check will tell you what is or isn't working. Next would be a trip to an auto parts or preferably a starter/generator rebuilder. Don is also correct, A shop manual is a valuable tool. Good Luck, hope it's simply a wiring issue.

Thanks Don. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to look in my manual. According to Berbaum, My engine takes the rubber seal w/o the metal plates. Book shows a one piece, with one cut to slide it on. Replacements come in 2 pieces, as the book shows. I've ordered one from a place in Florida. Great price but shipping kills it, still best price. Will probably change it when I have pan off. Be foolish not to. As I stated earlier, PO believes it to be pan gasket in curve. Have that gasket coming & a complete engine set. Interesting that all engine sets do not come with rear seal. Rock Auto set doesn't have timing change gaskets either. Hopefully I can get to it this coming weekend. Still some nice days here in capitol region, NY.

On a possible good note, spoke with PO, who was a mechanic on vintage vehicles way before they were vintage. He believes my problem is rear oil pan gasket. Doesn't think rear main seal would leak as bad as mine is leaking. I ordered oil pan gasket set. Am also ordering rear main oil seal, just in case. Actually when I have it apart I may try to change seal also. Can't hurt, I think. problem is which seal to order. all three types say they fit my engine. Any help?

Is it possible to replace rear main seal on a 237 with engine in car? I see two types of seals, one with rope seal & one that has some type of metal frame around it with 3 bolt holes. Does second one fit my engine?. I was lucky & dodged a bullet Friday evening. Car had a leak that looked like it was on manifold side of engine, thought it was valve side covers or fuel pump. Was ordering engine gasket set & get it up on buddies lift to check it out. Left for dinner Friday evening & saw oil pressure drop to 10 lbs, the go back to 40 lbs. Kept doing that, went back home & put 3 1/2 qts in it. when putting it back in garage, went to move something, left it idling in driveway. After parking it, saw good size puddle where I left it idling. Obviously, leak has gotten pretty bad. Appreciate all input. Thanks Jim

Has anyone had any luck with using a 6V starter with 12V. I've read that the starter should hold up, as long as the car starts right up. What about the solenoid? That appears to be a mixed issue. Any pros/cons appreciated. Is there a 12V solenoid from a later model That would fit my 49 237 starter?

I found a canister style for my Desoto on e-bay. $25.00 + shipping. Had brackets on it. Fit the bolt holes from original bracket. Was able to reshape existing lines to use. Just have to plumb properly. Some cans are marked. Mine wasn't. Inlet went to bottom, outlet from side, near top. Old filter was opposite. Think it takes a napa 1080. $8-9.00. Lot less work & cheaper than a remote adapter w/hoses & spin on filter, IMHO. Have to make sure gasket for top is seated properly. If you think a lot of oil doesn't go thru filter, you'll find out if gasket isn't right. Ask me how I know. Some canisters will fit in original bracket.

I believe there are several threads an the forum about testing the generator & regulator. If you do a search for "generator" from the main page of the forum it should bring them up. Plymouthy is correct. You should get a PAPER copy of the shop manual. There are several places on the net & E-Bay. First thing I bought for my car. It will have all the factory procedures & tests. Good luck. It definitely sounds like the generator is not charging system. I had similar experience years ago with a pickup. Cost me lots of money to discover that I had too many lights between truck & trailer for the generator to supply. Could not get truck over 35-40 mph at night. Ran fine during day with no lights on.

If that's your hinge in the picture on the right, it looks like the spring retainer is broken on the left side & the rivet/pivot is gone on the right side. IMHO, the safest way to repair them would be to take the trunk lid off & remove hinges from car (if possible). Maybe you could weld the retainer back together & use grade 8 bolts as pivot pins. The pivot pins appear to go thru the trunk bracket & the spring retainer.

Don; as I stated in the beginning of this post, I'm not interested in 1/4 mile speed or times. I, simply looking to achieve your third choice. As far as wanting to know if there are differences in heads, according to the flathead Guru, George Asche, using a head from a larger displacement engine would not achieve CR increase. I'd like to keep my head as a spare, just in case I screw something up. So, when I purchase another head, I'd like to know that the part I'm buying will do what I want it to do. From what I see of your car, I'm sure you didn't just throw it together. It looks like a lot of time & thought went into it. Before I spend money 0n parts for my car, I'd like to know that it will be money well spent , for parts that will do what I want them to do. And yes, I'd also like some of the cool factor when people look under the hood & see dual or triple carbs & dual exhaust. And, lastly, even the Guru, when asked about the head, if purchased from him, didn't say that the head would definitely be a milled head from a 237 engine I should ask him how He tells the difference. His price for a head, already milled, is very reasonable. As usual the shipping adds to the cost significantly, compared to the cost for the head.

I'm the member in Schoharie. I live on route 7 at the Schenectady/Schoharie line. I really don't have a definite answer. I agree with other members on where to start. 1. Do test with engine running to isolate cylinder/cylinders causing problem. 2. Compression test those cylinders. Shop manual describes test procedure, especially how to tell if it's rings or valves. If it's valves, then remove side covers to check springs. 3. check intake & exhaust gaskets. With engine running, shoot oil where connected to engine, around carb base, etc. I don't know if a vacuum leak would cause your problem. If problem is so bad you can't drive car, it's probably more than one cylinder. Wish I could be more helpful. As far as vacuum port, if electric wipers were an option, there should be someplace on intake to put a port. I have a hand impact tool. If you'd like to borrow it, just PM me & I'll bring it to my store. I own the hardware store in the village of Schoharie & I'm there 6 days a week. good luck. Another thought; possibly it's a bad distributer cap.

Thanks Plymouthy & Dave. That's great info. I'm trying to figure if there is a difference in the head combustion chamber volume between the three engine sizes & if a head from a larger CC engine could be machined enough to effectively increase my CR. It sounds like the easiest & cheapest way would be to try & find a head from a Canadian Plymouth or Dodge 201 or 218, which I've read , were all 25" blocks. And again, how do you tell which head is which. From casting #s & where to find what # went to what size motor????

I started a new thread because I wasn't sure anybody went back to old threads. Be that as it may, it was combined. All questions were not answered because of many factors in determining CR. Thought there may be someplace with tech specs to help. I guess not. I guess, if you plugged sparkplug hole, you could fill chamber in head with water & measure volume, then convert that to cc's. If you had access to all three heads you could compile data. Kind of basic but I can't figure any other way to get dimensions. Maybe if you had a good CAD program & knew how to use it, you could get answers.

I started a post about a spitfire head to use on my Desoto 237. Got a lot of good replies. Wanted to know about milling head to increase CR. Have a possibility of 2 heads. One from a 251 & one from a Spitfire which I believe is a 265. George Asche told me that using those heads would be going backwards. I guess he meant that the combustion chamber in the head was larger than my stock head. Can anyone tell me where to find out those specs & if those heads could be safely milled enough to increase CR without creating valve clearance problems? Can you tell from the casting numbers what size engine a head was for? Actually, I have a possibility of three heads. The third from Asche, quite reasonable, already milled, but he wasn't positive it would be from a 237.

will it help with cornering, particularly tire squeal, if going any faster than 10 or 15 mph. Will they work on my coupe? I saw them on HAMB classifieds, $55-65.00 used. Fair price or is there another place to get them?

I've read some posts about using F1 shock brackets for the front shocks. What is the purpose of that? Does it give the car a better ride?

I saw m/c booster setup on a 53 or 54 chevy at a car show. the combo was mounted on the inner fender. A line ran from the main m/c to the booster combo, from there to the brakes. Was going to research it myself for my car(49 Desoto custom coupe) to use when I do brake upgrade. Haven't had a chance yet. Maybe someone knows about this setup?

I had a 1955 Desoto sedan in the early 80's with a hemi & had a similar problem. The difference was that it wouldn't start after sitting a while. I could push it down the block in gear & it would start. After that, as long as I started & ran it every couple of days it would start on it's own. It would run fine & didn't smoke like it was burning oil. I think it had low compression & couldn't build enough to fire. Once it got some oil up, it would be fine. After the next long trip, I would check compression & then check it again after short runs. It is possible that the fuel has to be pumped up because Ethanol mixed fuel evaporates faster than real gas. After first compression check, you could put a little oil in cylinders to see what happens.