bob_amos

Same here, like Kustum, I don't find my way here as often as I once did. Other things have taken my time and a visit to the forum just gets pushed to the back burner, so to speak. Life tends to get in the way these days. Moreso than in the past.

Norm, That blaster is a good copy of the original Vulcan plug blaster. I have been using the same Vulcan blaster for over 30 years and have had no troubles. I actually purchase that copy of the Vulcan that Don shows for use in my home shop and it works just as well as the original. Don't be affraid to use it on those plugs. Best thing to do is find out what you will need to lean things out a bit. That should stop the fouling. Then the cleaner won't be needed as often. Don, Nice installation. Simple yet perfectly effective. I think I'll copy your installation.

Best thing to do is remove the fuel inlet line right at the carb. Turn her over and see if there is fuel there. If so you might want to check the needle and seat. Mine sticks from time to time if I let the fuel remain in the tank for while. After a few months it starts to degrade and becomes a bit stickey. I have an electric pump and turn the key on and tap on the bowl a few times until the pump becomes quiet. You could have the wife turn her over and tap on the bowl a few times and see if it starts flowing. Best would be to prime the engine so it will fire up while you are tapping. It'll stay running if it opens the needle from the seat. If there is no fuel at the inlet try putting a can with fuel in it near the pump. Place a fuel line from the inlet of the pump to the can with fuel in it. If it starts there is a restriction between the pump and tank, or in the tank. If not recheck that new pump and the cam that operates it as well as the fuel line up to the carb. Before you do any of this be sure to make sure that the screen in the pump is clean. That screen is the one item that does get fouled up and often.

No, but I bet my wife does.

There are a number of things that contribute to the loss of fuel in the bowls. Todays fuels defenately do evaporate at a higher rate of speed than they once did. Leaks as well as low fuel levels in the bowl to begin with all can contribute. But I have a 53 Cranbrook and a 63 Belair. While the Cranbrook would go completely dry the Belair still retained quite a bit of fuel. So, the evep rate was not my problem. Oh sure, over a number of weeks of standing they both might be dry but after a few days the Cranbrook was while the Belair was not. Here is what I found on mine. First to stop the loss of fuel at a rate that was not what it should be I located a leak at the lead plug under the bowl of the carb. These plugs are there for machining purposes when building these things. After years of use they loosen up and let the fuel slowly drip out of the bowl. Look at the intake manifold right under the carb. If it is discoloured then you might be suffering a leaky plug. I removed the old plug and installed a new one. I was sure to crush the plug properly so as to seal but not damage anything. This stopped the accelerated loos of fuel from the bowl. But I still could not let her sit for a few weeks without the fuel going bye bye. I installed an electric fuel pump (6 Volt unit) on the left frame rail. Now I just turn of the key and wait for the pumps sound level to quiet down some. I then have a full bowl. I run mine through the original pump but am thinking of gutting the original pump. Make a plate to seal it from the crankcase chamber and just use the electric pump. It'll look stock but will be much better. It will also help with vapor lock as the pump runs from 4 to 7 Lbs. pressure. That will raise the fuel volatility point and help avoid vapor lock on those hot So. cal days. It's a win/win situation. The pump really is quiet so is almost unnoticable, even to me, and I know it's there.

Lou, Pretty clean and non technical installation. So often people get all wound up in making things harder than they have to. Looks like you have something here. Simple and functional.

Darin Norm, Looks pretty clean. You guys might have something there.

Everything is fine here. At my shop in Riverside the noise was so loud I thought a can had fallen off of the lift in one of the neighbors shops. But all is well with nothing broken that I know of.

Great photos. I love the "Under Construction" sign. Cute touch. Thanks for sharing.

At the last Plymouth Owners Club National Spring Meet held in Santa Maria, Ca. by the Golden State Region we had judging requirements and they were all listed in a manual. I have copies of manuals for all their classes. I don't agree with the multiple 1st places based on a number system. But it is the rules that they play by and can be changed if someone wants to take the time and effort. I guess that some guild lines must be followed in order to have a predetermined goal. I was a judge with the National president as my partner. I learned a lot about the judging and also found it to be fun and easy. When you have a point system and different judges doing different parts of the car you can avoid that favourite car wins syndrome. I agree, there are real winners at local shows and they are over looked because someone was a friend or has the marque the judges prefer. Years ago I had my newly, totally restored Sunbeam Alpine in a National Sunbeam show. I took second place to another Alpine that was painted all sorts of colours. It was something that resembled a clowns make-up. Not close to stock in any way. The owner was real close friends with the judges. They did not use a strict point system. They just had a few guys make the choice and he beat mine. I never went to another of their shows as a result. So, it does happen and often. On the other hand, my '63 Belair won 1st at a local show when there were at least 2 other cars much more deserving. In this case I was a good friend of the judges. I didn't really enjoy that win.

Norm, You are right in saying that the Golden State Region (aka: So Cal) is open to all cars. That is one point that the club has talked about over and over again. We love seeing you and your car. I think you know that we all appreciate what you have done with your wagon at our events. Many of the cars in the region are modified. Hey, Tod and Tony C. were the driving force in starting the region. Tod has a stock vehicle and Tony's is modified. I personally love them all but prefer stock. The club has many members with modified vehicles and they are all welcome. These are people that have become very good friends dispite the differences in vehicle choices. So, why can't the people at the National level say that they prefer a stock vehicle and accept the guy that does not. There is no need to call any person names and try to belittle them. I reality, they are belittling themselves with such attacks.

Well I bet I rattled their cages over at the POC forum. I expect that they will delete my message and perhaps delete me in the process. I am a memeber of the POC as well as an officer in the Golden State Region and I have never felt so ashamed to be a part of the parent orginization as I am right now. There is never a reason to attach anyone like they did that poor guy. Guess we will see what happens to me over there now. Maybe they will attach me too for my defense of the guy.

Well that is good for you but not so for her...Poor Karen now has to contend with you around!! Looks like her vacation is over.... Seriously, give her a hug from Margie and me. We are so happy that she is back home. You both know how we feel about you guys. We look forward to seeing her again real soon.

It's so sad that many, and I do mean many, of the tax payers in the USA are so aware of this rediculous spending that our elected leaders are doing and these leaders don't give a hoot at what we, the very people that pay that money, think. I personally feel so betrayed.

While you are at it, see if the company of origination is somewere on the box or product and share who the maker is with us too.

That is something that I want to get for my '53. Haven't come across one that I can convince the wife is priced reasonable enough to buy. I will some day. One thing to look out for BEFORE you mount it though. The piece that hangs on the door glass. Be doubly sure that there is some stripping covering the rivots found in the track. Tony C. has one and stupid me, I mounted it on my '53 just to see what it looked like and left it over night in the shop. The next morning the glass was broken with a long crack caused by the riviots hitting the glass. After insolating it Tony has mounted it on his car and it looks great. It works well too. I do have a Bon Aire floor mounted unit for my '63 Chevrolet Belair. Found it in Julian, Ca. at an antique store. The lady had no idea what it was and was happy to see it go. Paid $35 for it.

Really? I haven't seen that one yet but the guys and myself have actually joked about that happening. We have a number of vintage cars on our lot as well as modern vehicles. Many have been modified and have thumpers that actually hurt our ears from the sounds. Wouldn't that be exactly what they deserve? The guys will be happy to hear that you had some in your shop.

So do we... For some reason everyone thought that the other guy was going to bring one, and... no one did so all of the photos are in our minds. (Lost forever)

Todays cars do mostly have a roll over device of some type. Vehicles of just a few years ago did not have such devises and used the lack of RPM coupled with the lack of oil pressure to shut things down. Ford, as much as I hate to admit, was the early leaders in a collision/roll over valve use. The problem with theirs was if you hit the valve with something like a foot or vacuum cleaner the valve/switch tripped. Most people did not read the maunal to know it was there. The local car wash tows lots of cars to our shop to reset the valves/switch. They just cannot seem to understand what I tell them about these valves. These are actually good devices to retrofit to any car and are not voltage sensitive.

Exactly why I like to put a switch to the pos. coil terminal and switch on the ground. It grounds the points and is not easiy bypassed with a jumper wire, which is just what most thiefs of older cars use.

Wouldn't it be great for the group here to post thier cars in operation like Don did on one site? We all could post our rides and the rest of us could go to one place for a great ride. Hook the computer to your HDTV as a monitor and really enjoy going along for the ride. How cool would that be?

It makes no differance. On the neg. side you interupt the voltage and nothing works. On the pos. side you have 2 options. First to interupt the ground and, again, nothing happens. I like to use this option, I put the switch on the pos. side and ground that circuit with the switch. This is as if the points closed and the engine will not start. The coil will heat up some and the theft would think that the vehicle has a shorted coil. This only works on point ign. systems. Electronic systems do not like this. Also, I am assuming we are talking about a pos. ground systemsa s most of our vehicles are. It's all just your preferance. ALways be sure to hide the wiring inside the harness so as not to tip off the theif of the presents of the switch. In the one I chose it looks as if a tach signal wire is in the system.

Safety switches do come as standard equipment on newer vehicles. The computor has a few second prime when the key is turned on pressurize the system. Then once the engine oil pressure comes up the pump relay is activated by the computer. But this safety device is not to protect an engine with low oil pressure. It actually is a device that the computer watches. If the car is in an accident and the engine stops the pressure will drop and when the computer sees no RPM and no oil pressure it turns off the shut down relay so as not to feed a possible fire. I can see where wiring one of these into our cars to protect against no oil presure might be of interest. But try to resist that idea as a vehicle that is running in traffic that looses oil pressure could cause the vehicle to stop in an unsafe manner. This might end up in someone's life being at jeperdy. I'd prefer an engine developing a knock than loosing my or someone elses life. Ya gotta always think safety. An engine can be replaced but a life cannot.

Never heard of that on a vehicle mounted pump. But then my safety shut off is the Ign. key.

JCWhitney is generally a go between for many parts. That being they show them on line or in a catalogue but they have them drop shipped from the supplier. My experience has been that those suppliers are major players and have quality products. Also, remember that Whitney has a 100% satisfaction guarantee and if you do not like what you get will return your money. I have used that option in the past on one item and the money was refunded with no questions asked. I'd give them a try. That rep was just someone to take numbers and place the order. They really don't have much knowledge. A local supplier would always be besy as you get instant gratification when you walk into their place of business.