rhelm1953

A 30A maxi Fuse between the solenoid and the Amp gauge will be fine. The current in a circuit is determined by the load on the circuit not by the maximum current available. If you have the headlights on a relay and your biggest current draw is the blower motors then you should not exceed 30A through the Ammeter.

With the carburetor off the car have you tried filling the bowl with the carb sitting on the bench just to see what happens?

Interesting comment on replacing the capillary tube. I had never thought of them as being repairable by the home mechanic. I guess anything that can be built can be repaired if you have the right technique. Now I will have to go research.

I'm back on the road and did not have to pull the transmission!. The problem was the overdrive solenoid was engaging when I turn on the ignition, with the overdrive engaged reverse was locked up. The reason why the solenoid was engaged is a bit of a puzzle. I wanted to add an indictor light to come on when the governor switch closes to the car easier for my wifr to drive so she would know when to let off the gas to switch to overdrive. I got a 6V LED and wired it in parallel with the overdrive relay. One wire connected to the horn relay that's hot when the ignition is on and one wire connected to the ground circuit through the governor switch. For some reason when wired like this the overdrive would be disengaged when the car first started but one the solenoid was energized it would not release when the governor switch opened. Even more strange when I disconnected the LED lead from the horn relay so there was no power to the LED the problem continued, I had to disconnect both leads of the LED for the overdrive to work correctly. For now I have given up on the indicator light and the car is working perfectly. I will think about this some more.

The only way the fuel can leak out of the bowl overnight would be if the bowl had a crack or a pinhole. When running the fuel is sucked up and out by low pressure (vacuum) in the venturi or by the accelerator pump pushing it out. The old carburetors do not have a sealed bowl so fuel can evaporate but that is not likely to happen overnight unless the engine is really hot and boils the fuel. If you refilled the bowl and the car did not start then either your problem is not fuel related or the carb is dirty and fuel passages are plugged. It is possible when removing the carb top you bent the float adjustment so the float is not letting the bowl fill or as Plymouthy said you should check the fuel pump delivery, one other possibility is the float needle is stuck or clogged with dirt. I would verify there is good spark and check the engine vacuum when cranking, if that checks rebuild the carburetor. The beauty of these old cars is the simplicity that makes troubleshooting fairly easy.

The link from T120 sums it up pretty well and while there is some potential for galvanic corrosion of the cast iron it should be low due the minimal moisture present in the exhaust manifold. You could further decrease/eliminate the risk by getting your exhaust manifolds ceramic coated. That would give you an insulator between the two metals. Personally I like the idea of the donut gasket and you could take the exhaust manifolds to a machine shop to bevel the outlet. Then you could slip your donut over the extended pipe (or better yet a flared end on the exhaust pipe) and it would increase you alignment tolerance.

Yes I am now thinking the problem is in the overdrive and not the transmission itself. I just don't understand how anything I did could have caused the problems I am having. I am mentally preparing myself to pull the transmission this weekend.

When I purchased my 1950 Plymouth three years ago it had already been converted to a 3-speed overdrive and after adding the correct relay and cleaning up some wiring the transmission and overdrive have been working just as designed by mother Mopar. A couple months ago the master cylinder failed so I took the opportunity to upgrade to front disc brakes and dual master with remote fill. While I had the car in the shop I also replaced the oil pan gasket and planned to replace the parking brake drum. The brake upgrade went without a hitch, as did the gasket replacement. After I removed the old hub from the back of the transmission I discovered the replacement parking brake drum I had was not compatible with the overdrive so I put the original hub back in place, reconnected the drive shaft and lowered the car to the ground. When I put the car in reverse to back out of the garage and let out the clutch the engine stalled, I tried a second time and the engine stalled again, I put it in first and eased ahead, no problem, put in reverse, let out the clutch the engine stalls. Bottom line the transmission works in the 3 forward gears when I have the rear axle up on jackstands, but is locked when I place it in reverse and will stall the engine. Procedure to remove/replace rear hub on transmission: Car up on jackstands Remove driveshaft disengage overdrive and loosen retaining nut (nut was tight but not frozen) remove hub replace hub tighten retaining nut and torque to specification reinstall driveshaft and lower car to the ground re-engage overdrive Attempt to back up and transmission locked in reverse Troubleshooting to date Shift lever moves smoothly through all positions I can "feel" 1st and reverse engage when I shift gears examine shift linkage and review adjustments from service manual (everything checks) disconnect shift linkage and manually move shift levers to place transmission in reverse (still locked) Test reverse with overdrive engaged and disengaged (no change reverse still locked in both cases) With the transmission in reverse and the clutch depressed I can smoothly turn the driveshaft in both directions, but when the engine drives the transmission it is locked One possible cause? When I engaged and disengaged the overdrive while trouble shooting the overdrive cable slipped in the clamp, this raised the possibility in my mind that when I re-engaged the overdrive after replacing the rear hub it might not have been fully engaged. If that were the case could that damage the overdrive and cause the problem I am having. In troubleshooting I have disconnected the cable and manually moved the overdrive lever to full stop in both directions and tested reverse (it remains locked) I really don't want to pull the transmission but I have convinced myself this is not a simple shift linkage adjustment problem but that something has broken in the transmission. I am at a loss as to what that could be and how it could happen with the work that was done. I appreciate you feedback and thoughts.

If reliability is your main concern you can keep the flat head and update your ignition, fuel and cooling systems Ignition: change over to 12V for more reserve starting power and swap out the distributor for a more modern mopar transistorized ignition Fuel: replace the carter B&B with a new weber carburetor for better fuel management, personally I would switch to dual carbs at the same time for better fuel distribution Cooling: replace the radiator with a modern pressure radiator with a two or three pound cap These upgrades can be done individually without taking the car off the road for an extended period of time. There is information on all these upgrades on the site and with a few modern updates your flathead will be ready to go for another 70 years. (How many modern engines do you think will still be running in 70 years)

On an overhead valve engine the concern is whether the valves will hit the pistons if the timing chain fails or jumps time. On a flathead that is not a possibility. If the timing chain breaks or the engine jumps time in a flathead, it will stop running and you will need to replace the timing chain and sprockets.

Thank you for the explanation! My degree is Material Science and I work in Semiconductors, I knew the real answer had to do with work and power but wasn't sure how it applied to electric motors. Your explanation made it quite clear and I now also understand why a 12V starter will crank an engine over faster than a 6V starter. Looking back at the 1953 Chrysler current tables I see a huge difference is locked current draw, that's the current the starter initially draws to get the engine turning over.

Looks like a very nice 50's style mild custom. I like car builds that pick a theme and stick with it, what do you have for power?

Whether you paint the tops of the doors to match the roof or the body color I would cut off the white at the bottom of the A pillar and not bring it down to the cowl. I would stop it flush with the bottom of the windshield and bring it around to the center of the door molding. To dress it up more and not add a third color you could then bring in a 3/16 body color pinstripe up 3/16 from the bottom of the white. In effect you would have a white pinstripe against the blue followed by a blue pinstripe against the white and then the white top. Very neat and tidyand your color break is only a couple inches long. This is classic technique to break the color where there is no molding.

I am impressed both by the quality of the work and speed with which you were able to complete the work. I am in the process of upgrading the brakes on my 1950 Plymouth to front discs and dual master cylinder and it's already been six weeks and will be a couple more before I get the new wheels, get them painted and the car back on the road.

I like to see people who think through a problem and make their own tools to get the job done. Not sure I would have ever considered PVC but it's cheap and easy to work with and in compression pretty strong, it also has the benefit of being non-marring to steel.. You have now got me thinking about PVC for driving in seals and bearing races where only a light force is required and you don't want to damage what you are driving in. I learned something today, thanks!

Can't tell you about disc option for the stock axel but I cannot recommend an aftermarket Mustang II setup. Most of the aftermarket Mustang II kits, Fatman, Heidts, etc, have a serious design flaw where a single long bolt is used to fasten the Lower control arm to the frame. The bolt is loaded in single shear and over time it will suffer fatigue failure and shear off where it exits the frame. I have read of several cases of this happening and it happened to me. In my case it was after about 7 years and 50k miles, luckily when the bolt sheared it was at low speed and a few blocks from home and the only damage was a bent lower control arm. Had it happened a month earlier when we were driving the car to Lake Tahoe, through the mountains at highway speeds the ending could have been much worse. Depending on your fabrication skills you could get a dropped axle from a company like speedway and convert to a four link and coil overs, that would give you a lot of options for brakes and ride height.

What all the previous respondents have said is true, a properly maintained 6V system will work just fine and provide a reliable vehicle. On the other side of the fence it depends on how you want to use your truck, if you have to rewire the truck because the old wires are broken, frayed and unsafe then you can consider converting to 12V negative ground the advantages there are you can use a modern alternator, after market electronics are much more easily integrated and headlights and bulbs can be found at any parts store. Either path is a good solution, it depends on how you plan to use your truck.

Well deserved award, the car is beautiful and I like that you are not afraid to drive it.

Clean and simple, I like it! What did you use for tubing? The Dodge emblem is a nice touch.

I used the Newport engineering wiper motor in my 1950 Plymouth with 6V +ground and used the Newport 6 to 12V power inverter. I followed the wiring instructions and it works like magic. I did not have to isolate the wiper motor from chassis ground and I have +12V available to power a usb charger and a little Bluetooth amp so I can play tunes from my phone.

Rather than try to build up the existing piece I think I would get some brass bar stock, drill and tap a hole for the threaded stud and then I would cut and shape the bar stock to the correct profile. If the stud is supposed to be locked to the brass part I would solder it in place. I would think a couple hours of work would get you a new part. A nice little Saturday afternoon job.

You don't need lead additive for your 1951 Dodge, the flathead six came from the factory with hardened valve seats. This is something I didn't learn until after I purchased a case of lead additive. ?

Back in the day I refreshed the engine or more than one old beater with just rings and bearings using a hone and plastigage. You won't know until you pull the head, if the ring ridge at the top of the cylinder is minor then you can probably reuse the old pistons, hone the cylinders and drop in new rings. It won't be the same as a rebuild but can get you another 20,000 to 30,000 miles. On a lightly used hobby car that might be enough. If you have broken pistons and the cylinders are rough shape then you are in for more work. Pull the head, take a look and decide what you want from the car/engine and proceed accordingly.

love that six cylinder rap!

I'm surprised no one mentioned the visor... I would save the bumpers, stainless trim and any chrome parts that are not too pitted, also small engine parts that could be used for cores. I personally would be interested in the bumpers, door handles and carburetor if we can work out shipping to OR that's not too expensive. Send me a PM so we can chat.