harveyspoint

Eneto-55....Good stories..A couple of years ago, I bought each of my kids and their kids two fire extinguishers each...one for their house and one for their garage....My grandson, who has a shop with a couple of lifts built onto the back of his garage, the next spring, went out to start up his John Deere mower and it caught on fire....He said you never saw him run so fast in your life...He used up one of my extinguishers, but he saved the tractor and his shop and garage...Thanks, Chuck...

DeSoto & p15....Good ideas....You've changed my opinion on putting it in the trunk...Thanks much..Chuck...

Plymothy....Thank you...Good point...I'll probably re-think my positioning...Chuck...

Question about storing fire extinguishers in classic cars...Just bought a new 10BC extinguisher to carry in the trunk of my '47 Plymouth Coupe... I was going to lay it flat in front of my spare tire and cover it with a piece of blanket that matches the trunk color....I wonder if there is a problem with storing an extinguisher flat...All of mine in the house and garage and shop are stored upright....Just cleaned out the carrier behind the front seat of my '89 F-150 XLT and lo and behold there is a 6Bc which probably has been flat for 30 years and the guage still says 'OK'...Any ideas ?...Chuck...

Marc....I had the same problem....Cork floats are sealed at the factory with shellac...Alcohol is the solvent for shellac...Most gasoline used now has alcohol in it....Don't put a new cork float in...Snyders Antique Auto Parts in New Springfield, Ohio, ( Model A & T's), sells, for a few dollars , a float for a Model A Ford, that is some kind of plastic and is guaranteed to never absorb gasoline...I bought 2 for my '47 Plymouth Coupe....They are slightly shorter than the Plymouth float, so I thought if one is good, two have got to be better....I'm 87, so it saved me a lot of hair pulling, as I don't have much to spare...Works like a charm...

Gentlemen...I had a '48 P15 Coupe for 42 years....Stock engine, 15" wheels and I put a '52 Plymouth overdrive into it..I put 25000 miles on it and was very pleased with it...I could run down the road just like the newer cars... It seemed like it was just above idle at the speed limit...2300 RPM was 65 MPH...1900 RPM was 54 MPH... You multiply your rear end ratio by .7 and this is your O.D. ratio...3.9, which was the standard '48 Plymouth rear end =2.73 with O.D....You can manipulate the governor with a toggle switch and you have a 5 speed tranny....Those old engines have plenty of torque, unlike the new short stroke engines...That's what you call cruising... in 2014, I was going to repaint the '48 and the kids said 'Grandpa , you shouldn't be painting that car at your age, this new paint s deadly, why don't you find one that's already painted and ready for the road?' So we looked on the Internet for a while and found a beautiful maroon '47 coupe, with a '53 engine and a split manifold.... So, I took the O.D. out of the '48 and installed it into the '47, and gave the '48 to my Grandson, who had grown up riding around in it...I'm 87 now, but one of the best things I ever did was to put that O.D. in that car....Makes a world of difference, so, go for it ....

EJT....Perhaps this will help...Maybe not...Bought a '47 P15 Coupe about 5 years ago....The previous owner said the fuel gage sometimes worked, sometimes didn't... I checked til I was blue in the face...Finally, I took the cork float off and compared it with my '48 float...The '47 float weighed twice as much as the '48...The cork float is dipped in shellac at manufacture to seal it...Alcohol is a solvent for shellac....Methanol is alcohol...After the alcohol removes the shellac, the cork absorbs gas, making it heavy until it won't float...I bought 2 floats from Snyders Antique Auto Parts....Ford Model A...for about $2.50 each, I don't remember, and put them on in place of the old cork float... They were guaranteed to not absorb gas....this took care of all my gas gage problems....it wouldn't hurt to try.. I have a '52 Plymouth Overdrive on my '47 Coupe...Makes it run down the road like a modern car....I ran my '48 for 25000 miles with this setup and couldn't have been happier...Chuck....

I have a 1947 Plymouth Coupe with '51 Overdrive and '53 engine...When started cold, oil pressure is always 40#.. As it warms up, it gradually goes down to 20# pressure. No extra noise....Always starts with no more than 2 - 3 turns....It also has a split exhaust manifold.....Runs down the road like a modern car...Any ideas?....Thanks....

If your float sank, you can get a new one that is not affected by the alcohol in the new gas.....I got mine from Snyders Antique Auto Sales in New Springfield, Ohio....Page A-144, in the 2017 catalog, top left, for $4.25....I bought two, but I only needed one for my '48 Plymouth Coupe....now, I have an extra for my '47 Coupe....This is a cork float and they used shellac to seal the float...Alcohol is the thinner for shellac and after 70 years, the shellac disappears and the float gets heavy and just barely floats or, in my case, it sinks...Snyders is a Ford Model T & A shop, but no one will know you have a Ford part in your Plymouth...They say this is the last float you will ever have to replace...

Harveyspoint When I got out of the Army in 1955, I bought a '46 Plymouth from a bank. it had been repossessed, and put a Studebaker OD in it and drove it several thousand miles....in '73 I bought a '48 Ply and put a '52 Ply OD in it and drove it 25000 miles....5 years ago, I bought a '47 Ply Coupe and put the OD from the '48 in it and gave the '48 to my grandson because I was running out of room.....the '47 runs down the road like a modern car, just above an idle at 55.....the best thing you could ever do.....

Check the float on the fuel guage......They are made of cork and dipped in shellac to seal.......This new gas has a high preponderance of alcohol.....Alcohol is the thinner for shellac.....After a time, the shellac sealant is removed and the cork will absorb the 'gas'...pretty soon, your float is not floating....Snyders Antique Auto Parts in Springfield, Ohio, has a float for Model A's for around $3-$4 which they guarantee not to ever absorb gas.....they are a bit shorter than a P15 float.....I used two end to end and a piece of brass brazing rod threaded for a 4-40 nut and it works like a charm.....I doubt that you would need two, but I always say, 'if a little is good, a lot is better'.....If you happen to have an extra float, weigh them on a postage scale.....My '48 float weighed about 1/3 as much as my '47 float....

Earl....Sorry, forgot to send copy...

Mopar Earl......My 1953 Motor's Auto Repair Manual, on page 754, shows this about 1953 rear oil seals.....It says,'A new neoprene rear main bearing oil seal is incorporated on all engines. The new seal is a lip type with a steel channel insert.'

I saw a topic where someone was asking if a Plymouth would take a Desoto speedometer....Now I can't find it....Anyhow.....Many moons ago, back in '73, I bought a '48 Plymouth Coupe....he was running a tach hanging on the steering column as the speedometer shaft was broken....I went to the local junkyard and asked about a '48 speedometer.....He didn't have a Plymouth, but he did have a '48 Chrysler that he said might fit.....it was dirt cheap, so I took it out and took it home.....physically, they were the exact same outside dimensions......but....the Chrysler went up to 120 MPH and it had a trip odometer....all good.....I didn't have to change a thing, just switch....I put 25000 miles on that car and last Summer, I willed it to my 32 year old Grandson when I ran out of room......When he and his one year older sister were little and we had to go somewhere, the question always was, 'which car should we take?'....the answer was always, 'take the old car, because it runs faster'.....120 MPH speedometer V.S. 85 MPH speedometer in the Crown Vic....anyhow, check it out.....I'll bet year for year, it'll swap.....good luck......

I found, in my shop, a jug of the oil that is recommended for old overdrives....It is...NAPA SAE90-API GL1 mineral gear oil 65-201......I wonder if it is a coincidence, but....Many moons ago, in around 1957, I worked in the Ford Garage, and Ford came out with a Posi-traction....In a short time, we began getting complaints about a chattering when turning.....evidently, the clutches in the positraction weren't slipping at the right rate....So Ford came out with a 'special' oil to use in posi's....that fixed the problem...shortly, we were told to use the new oil in all rear ends, as they were discontinuing the old oil....I wonder if that old oil is what we are supposed to be using in OD's.....I understand that if the oil is too slippery, the rollers in the OD can't climb the slopes to make the OD engage...Sounds logical to me....'Skinned Knuckles' Jan '85, has a good article about OD's.....

This may help some....I bought a '47 Plymouth a little over a year ago....the previous owner told me that the gas guage had slowly, over some years, failed...I checked the guage float...weighed it on a postage scale and compared with a similar float off my '48....it weighed over twice as much...the old floats were cork, sealed with shellac...alcohol is the solvent for shellac and alcohol is in most modern gasolines....the float gets heavy and won't float...Snyders Antique Auto Parts In New Springfield, Ohio, www.snydersantiqueauto.com........has gas guage floats for a 1928-1931 A Ford for $4 each....they're almost the same size as a Plymouth float and guaranteed to never absorb gas...since I thought if one was good, two must be better, and since the replacements were a little short, I put two on my sender unit...To make the float arm a little longer, I bent a piece of 1/8 brazing rod to an 'L' shape , threaded the short end with a #4 die, added two nuts and soldered this to my old float arm...works like a charm....I'll bet there are a lot of people with sinking floats now days.....

Someone mentioned this, but it would be wise to check and remember.....I have a '47 Plymouth with a '52 Plymouth overdrive.....I had this OD in my '48 coupe since 1973 and put 25000 miles on it....No problems ever....I just pulled this OD and put it in my new '47....and gave the '48 to my grandson.... I have read, and it wouldn't hurt to search this out, that you shouldn't use modern oil in OD's....it is too slippery, and the rollers can't climb the slope in the OD when you release the gas to shift into OD...If you have used the slippery oil, then you must disassemble the whole OD and thoroughly clean it...Also....I went many years with an 8 volt system and it didn't seem to hurt the OD solenoid.....On my new '47, I have two 6 volt batteries to run 12 volts....I tap off the center for 6v for my solenoid using an ice-cube relay.....this also runs my 6v heater motor....until I can replace it with a 12v motor, which will run faster.....

As I understand it......you have a fluid drive and a clutch.....You have a normal 3-speed tranny with first gear blocked out....So you have second and third and reverse......now, on the end of the tranny, in place of the tranny extension, you have a two-speed Borg- Warner overdrive transmission....This means that you have second and high, with hi and low OD in each gear.....To go in reverse gear, you must use the clutch, just like a real car.....the overdrive shifter rail locks out reverse unless you use the clutch.....so, if you move the shifter to low, or second, you start out in low second, after the governor kicks in, let off the gas and you're in high second.... if you shift into high range at any point, you have either third or forth, depending on the overdrive governor.....The fluid drive takes care of slippage......