37silverstreak

Anybody know where I can find a clutch disc aligning arbor that will work on the '48 Plymouth?

I learned how to drive a stick shift in my '48 Plymouth sedan. I bought it in 1986 for $500 bucks just before my 21st birthday, and my mom had to drive it home for me! I remember driving the family car behind her as we drove the 7 miles home. She hit a bump and a huge piece of rust fell off from under that car!! Anyway, we made it home and later that day my dad took me out to teach me. I didn't have too much trouble picking it up, but took me a while. I remember about 10 years later I ran into the local police chief at a restaurant and he asked me about that car and if I still had it. He laughed and said all the officers in town knew when I was out "refining" my shifting technique! Here it is 32 years later and I still have that car. It sat in my parents yard for years ignored until I my dad died and my mom got Alzheimers. I had to think about getting it moved when I knew I was going to have to sell the house and move mom into a nursing home. I fell in love with that car all over again. I was a rust bucket then and it's still a rust bucket now and I've put way more money into her than shes worth, but I just can't seem to get rid of the old girl. Too many memories of my youth and my parents, I guess. It now resides in my friends storage barn and I work on her whenever I get time and money. Maybe one day we'll be back on the road together. Kevin

I can get a friend of mine to help if necessary. I just helped him mount the rear bumper on his '59 Edsel Ranger so he owes me-LOL!! It's just tricky sometimes working out a time when we are both free, so I figured if the consensus was it could be done by one person I would at least give it a shot.

That's a possibility too, the car is already on jackstands. The thing is the car hasn't been driven in almost 30 years and I'm not sure what condition the clutch disc and throwout bearing are in. Right now the seats and dashboard are out of the car and I have removed the access panel in the floor, so I have the best possible access to everything. I also have the driveshaft and all linkages and parking brake cable off, so all thats basically left is the tranny itself. I will do what you suggest first though. How many bolts are on the inspection pan by the way? I was under there on Sunday scraping decades of crud off the housing, and so far have only found 2 bolts. I'm guessing there have to be more than that! Thanks to all of you for your input! Kevin

Can anybody give me a rough idea on how much the tranny weighs on a 48 Plymouth? Is it doable by one person and a jack or am I gonna need help?! Long story short, one of the little vent screens on the top of the flywheel housing was missing on my car and at some time, mister mouse decided to build his home in there. So now I want to pull the clutch disc and pressure plate to make sure I have all the stuff pulled out and inspect the parts. Thanks in advance! Kevin

Thank you, thats what I needed to know!

Can someone please tell me what size bolts are used to mount the master cylinder to the frame, and if they are coarse or fine thread? thanks!

Hi, I was wondering where you got or what you used for the rubber seals on you fresh air duct. I just pulled my unit out for rebuilding and need to replace the rubber parts. Thanks! Kevin

I was just wondering where the original ground point for the positive battery cable was on the P15 engine? My car has a 1950 engine installed and its ground point was a special tapped head bolt. I have all new head bolts and I don't really want to reuse the old one so I'm looking for a new place to attach the ground cable. Thanks!

Hey everyone, Thank you for the input! Here is an update and hopefully a last question. I have a new set of correct head bolts and was able to remove one of the broken bolts with a stud removal tool. The other one was not so easy as it broke off near the base of the block and It just wouldn't come out. So, I filed it flush and with a lot of care I now have a 1/4 inch pilot hole drilled down the center of the bolt, so I'm making progress. My question is, should I try drilling it out and tap the hole for the 7/16 bolt or do I just go ahead and install a Heli-coil?

Thanks for the tip! I Googled the part number and Summit Racing carries them. I just ordered a set, comes to just over $1.00 a bolt with shipping. Thanks again for your input.

Hey everyone, I decided to pull the head on my '48 Plymouth, just because I just don't seem to have enough frustration in my life, and also to check for carbon buildup, cylinder condition etc. This car hasn't been started since 1995 so I've been going through it before trying to bring her back to life. Anyway, two of the head bolts broke off. One near the top of the head and another at the base of the block, so now I have the fun of removing them!!! My questions are. 1. Can I reuse the old head bolts? I planned on cleaning them up and running a tap and die on them and the holes in the block. No matter what I'm going to need at least two replacements. 2. If not, where can I buy replacements? There is a seller on Ebay offering a set of new headbolts but wants $87 bucks plus shipping which works out to about $4.50 a bolt which seems high to me. 3. Would the head bolts from a truck engine be the same as the car engines. Again, there's a seller on Ebay selling a set of used headbolts from a same era truck engine. Any input is always greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hey guys, I got the broken bolt out of the block today! Once I got the water pump off, there was enough of the bolt sticking out that I was able to get a stud remover onto it. I soaked the heck out of the bolt with PB Blaster for a week and it came right out. I think the bolt was seized more in the water pump as I had quite a time getting the pump off of that bolt than anything. Thanks to all of you for your input, I really appreciate it! Kevin

Most old stock vibrators will still need to have their contacts cleaned if you can find one. You can try the alternating current trick but I have been opening up the vibrator can, removing the unit and carefully cleaning the contacts with De-oxit. and replacing any bad lead wires, then reinstalling in the can. You can also buy a new solid state vibrator, but unlike the original ones, they are polarity sensitive so make sure you get one that is positive grounded! One note on the solid state units. I have had limited success with them. It worked in the 1949 Packard radio I rebuilt, but when I tried one in the Mopar 802 I just restored I had trouble with it providing enough voltage for the set. I ended up repairing the original vibrator that was in the radio and it has been working fine so far. I would also highly recommend replacing all the capacitors in the radio, especially the high voltage buffer cap in the power supply. they are almost always leaky.

Just wondering if anyone here had any tips/ tricks for removing a broken bolt from a block? I was removing the water pump from my '48 Plymouth today and the head snapped off the second bolt I was trying to remove- GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks in advance! Kevin

'46 and '47 Plymouth used 6.00/15 tires and then went to 6.70/15 in 1948.

I bought a new tank for my '48 Plymouth from this same seller and it was an excellent copy. Fitted right in, no problems at all.

Does anyone have any tips on how they installed new window sweepers on their window frames? I'm starting to regrain my dash and window frames and will be installing new sweepers on them. I see the old ones appear to be stapled on with these huge staples!. Thanks! Kevin

I'm restoring the radio in my '48 Plymouth which is a Philco C4608. It was missing the speaker but I was able to find an original one on Ebay . I'm not sure about a 1939 model but my radio uses a 4ohm voice coil and I think the field coil was about 3 ohms. You can use a P.M. style speaker, The field coil is only used to provide the magnetism for the voice coil. Most old home radios would utilize the field coil as part of the B+ power supply so you couldn't easily adapt those but it will work fine for an auto radio. Good luck! Kevin

The tool I remember seeing was more like a hollow tube with two prongs on the end that fit into the slots on the retainer, but your idea will work. I'll see what I can come up with, thanks! Kevin

Hey guys, I'm trying to remove the heater switch from the panel cluster on my 48 Plymouth. I thought I saw a picture of the tool on here somewhere but can't find it. Does anyone know if this tool is available anywhere or what can I use to remove the escutcheon with out damaging the finish? Thanks! Kevin

I've bought 2 wiring harnesses from YnZ's The first for my 1937 Pontiac and one for my 48 Plymouth. Both are excellent quality and I had no problems installing on my Pontiac. I am in the process of rewiring my 48 Plymouth right now. I pulled the dash from my Plymouth to make it easier and also to woodgrain it. I left the dash in my Pontiac when I rewired it and it was a lot more tedious craning your head under the dash to see where things go. Other than that I didn't find it to be overly difficult to do. Just take lots of reference photos or make drawings. Good luck with your project! Kevin

Hey, thanks guys! I bit the bullet this morning and gave it a shot, and the dash actually came out easier than I expected! This will make wood graining and rewiring a lot easier, thanks for your input! Kevin

Hi everyone, I was just wondering if anyone could tell me how much of a nightmare it would be to remove the dash on my 48 Plymouth? I have a new reproduction wire harness I'm going to be installing and I would also like to wood grain the dash. Both would be easier to do with it out of the car but if it's a huge headache to remove, I'll just work around it. Any tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks! Kevin

Yeah right! Just like 25 years ago we were going to become a "paperless" society!!!!