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Normspeed

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Posts posted by Normspeed

  1. Went through that stuff a couple times in the old days in California, on smog checks. After cursory inspections, I was told the car would flunk, for reasons that did not even make sense. I would go to a different station where the car usually passed. Then, they decided to license some smog stations as "inspection only" and they were not allowed to sell parts, do smog repairs, or even refer you to another shop for the repairs. After that I only took my vehicles to the inspection only shops. May be a coincidence but I never failed another smog check.

  2. A side hobby of mine is picking up used books, like old fiction hardcovers from the 30's 40's and 50's, to read. They are always time capsules of life back then, before cellphones, computers and lots of other modern stuff. Last one I got was a book by Erle Stanley Gardner. It has two mystery stories, and these are a couple of the original Perry Mason series. The case of the Daring Decoy and the case of the Lazy Lover. In the lazy Lover, copyright 1947, there is this passage, and it made me think of all the P15-D24 members with vac wipers:

    (Perry and his detective sidekick Paul Drake are headed up a twisty mountain road in southern California at night, maybe something running northeast out of Ventura or Santa Barbara. It's raining, and they're looking for a place where a client is holed up, called the Snug-Rest Auto Court.)

    "A sign flashed up in the headlights, gleaming whitely at them out of a cold drizzle, etching its dazzling image on their tired eyes, "Snug Rest Auto Court one Mile".

    As Mason eased the speed of the car, the windshield wipers gathered speed, pulsed hysterically"...

    Had to share that. Maybe they were in an old Mopar.

  3. At that price the new head was a good choice. Imagine how bad that thing would have been leaking in a car with a pressurized cooling system!

    When I had my engine apart I noticed that some helpful soul in the past had neatly welded up that pesky hole with the pipe plug over it. The one you can put a wire in and check the length of the stroke. :eek:

    The shop checked the head and shaved it, it checked out good so I re-used it.

  4. Greg, it's eerie...I went out to my present garage with a flashlight just now, looked in that dark space, exactly as you described, and sure enough, there was that socket I swept away for safe keeping a few months ago.

    Amazing how much I've learned from all your suggestions. It really makes me less apprehensive about the project. Knowledge is a great thing.

  5. That would be great. I think a 53 or 54 would do for me, and although the wagon rear bumper is different I'd even go for a sedan bumper.

    48P15Annie, sorry to pirate your thread. As you probably saw from older posts, we wander sometimes.

  6. I think Kyle is looking for the bumper guard bar above the bumper blade.

    Kyle, great that you became the new owner of your Grandpa's car.

    Gosh Robert, if someone offered me a 53 bumper in that kind of shape, I would jump on it like a dog on a bone. :D

  7. Darned if I remember.

    I had a 57 Fairlane 4 door hardtop for a year or so back in the mid 60's. Beige with black rims and baby moons, with a 292 and a Fordomatic. I loved it. One weak spot in the 57s as I recall was the tendency for the original radiators to pop the seam across the top front. I loved the exhaust note of that Y-block, even at an idle. I like the converts, the hardtops, the post models, the wagons, just a great looking car.

    Also Robert Mitchum's last ride in Thunder Road.

  8. Great info. I'll definitely need to check with the code folks first. The area is almost all agricultural around my house so metal outbuildings are everywhere. Anyone familiar with the dealers who offer to take it through the whole process from permits to final assembly? Probably pricey I guess.

    I haven't begun asking for package prices yet, as each company wants a lot of contact info, which I don't like to give out easily. Thought I might narrow them down first.

    About 2 years back I called one metal building place that advertised on TV, I won't give the name but the first word was "American". They mentioned proudly that their products were "American made". I called their 800 number and was connected to a nice chap somewhere in India who wanted to get me in touch with a project specialist. I politely declined, but I thought the irony of it was pretty funny.

    Keep those suggestions coming. This will need to be en enclosed structure because of the high winds and blowing debris in the desert. Reg, that big shelter would be a great sun cover out here. The UV can eat up a car's interior or a cover pretty fast.

    I'm in Luna County, outside city limits.

  9. I hope to get a metal building installed at my place. I'm not real savvy on building requirements and techniques like pouring slabs, so I'll probably sub out the work to one or more local contractors. Looking for any thoughts or comments from people who have gone through the process. I haven't chosen a brand yet (seems like there are tons of them out there).

    I plan on something in the 30 X 40 sq ft size, on a slab, with electric. Also I'd like to build one area high enough for a 2 post lift to operate. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated too.

    How many amps should I be going for on a single phase shop electric panel?

    Also, from folks who know financing, how would you finance something like this in the current economic market, if you were going to build one? 2nd mortgage, spend some 401k money, (avoid the interest but pay the taxes on it), or??

    All suggestions welcomed.

  10. That's sharp Ken. Beats the heck outta the old 6 person dome tent I've been using. I like the bright overhead lights too, good to really see what you're spraying. A question, maybe a dumb one. On the exhaust fan, is there any hazard of the fan motor igniting paint fumes, or is it spark proof?

  11. I watched walk the line last night (very good) and there is a scene where you see the big butt of a 1950 plymouth business coupe sticking out of a garage. Alot of 50's cars during the movie.

    OK movie, but Joaquin Phoenix is a real wierdo in my book. Ever see him on the Letterman show when he gave nothing but one syllable answers? At the end of ther interview Letterman thanked him for coming to the show and chewing gum through the whole appearance. I think he has some hostility issues:p

  12. Well, at least in this movie, the drive into the pond was at low speed, and the driver of the Woodie was able to wade up front to open the hood on his un-submerged motor. I suppose this was a big-budget movie for its time, with Bing as well as Fred Astaire in starring roles, so a couple of Plymouths were probably considered expendable. I'm guessing they were dried out and went on to live long and useful lives. (the cars, not the actors).

  13. Today I watched an old Christmas favorite of mine, Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby. At the movie's start there is horse drawn transportation from the train station to the Inn. Later, the taxi guy upgrades to a modern method. A brand new 1942 Plymouth Woodie wagon. Must be a pretty rare car. The grille is so distinctive it's hard to miss. Unfortunately, as a part of the plot, he later drives it into a small pond. :( Even later, there is a beautiful 39 Plymouth convertible, that gets driven into the same pond. :(:(. Too bad about the New England car wash, but the cars look terrific in their like-new condition in the movie.

  14. I if you put your hand over one carb there was a slight decrease in idle but if you put your hand over the other carb it would stall the car out.

    It idles fine but the two carbs aren't in sync.

    Why would one carb be doing all the work. I screwed the air fuel screw in all the way and it made no difference. I just rebuilt the carbs what could I have done wrong? Carters B&B.

    Don, to get to your original question, with twin carbs you need to do two things. One is to make sure both the throttle plates are operating in synch. Then, you need to adjust the idle mixture screws for both carbs. I think from your description the throttle plates are way off, and those require loosening the twin carb linkage, then adjusting the throttle plates (with the idle speed screws) then tightening the connecting linkage so both of them close and open in synch. I'm attaching a really useful little set of instructions posted some time back by another member. I've used this method and it works great. It's at the lower right of the page under "Recommended procedure for setting idle"post-64-13585352794563_thumb.jpg You follow that procedure with the connecting linkage between the two carbs loosened, then after the adjustment procedure tighten the linkage that connects them. Once you have them close by this method your synch tool might prove more useful for fine tuning the carb balance.

    Don, if you need a larger copy of this let me know and I'll either post it up on Photobucket or email to you.

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