John Norlien

If my 54 Plymouth has been sitting for more than a week, I will loosen the wing nut on top the air cleaner and put about a tablespoon of gas in the depression in the ari cleaner and then go turn the key. Starts right up. I worry about what the oil is doing during that time.

I might also suggest sources like McMaster -Carr

Where i am, there is a Friday night cruise night in North St Paul. Love to go and see who brought what. So I am there most Fridays with the 54 Plymouth.

I had a similar symptoms with my '54 that ended up being fuel pump.

I am thinking of going front disk- make the car much more drive-able. What have others done for the master cylinder when you put in front disks?

I bought a new pump for a Chrysler industrial engine probably 30 years ago for my 54 Plymouth and have had no more fuel pump problems since. Prior to that, I had low fuel pressure problems that i thought were vapor lock, etc. I had tried rebuilding my original pump and tried buying a rebuilt pump.

I was told years ago to pull the plugs, put in a small squirt of oil and roll it over a few times with the plugs out first, then put them back in and put a SMALL amount of gas down the carb and start it up. This is how I have always done it. Easy to get at the plugs on a flathead anyway and doesn't hurt to have a good look at them.

I ended up needing to replace the center pin. To get it correctly centered, I measured the center ball and the pin length, divided the difference by two and machined up a couple of blocks out of 1" square steel with a slip fit for the pin and the thickness as I calculated. Pressed it all together and when the end of the pin was flush with the blocks, it is centered.

Who is coming to Back to the 50's in June? Should we stake out a spot?

I had problems with what I thought was vapor lock on my '54 Savoy. Problems went away when I replaced my fuel pump with one intended for a Chrysler industrial engine.

I bought a seal kit from Northwest Transmission referenced above and the kit had all the parts needed. The reaction shaft seal for the torque converter is usually the problem on the Hy-Drive. If you get a 53-54 service manual, they have a reasonable Hy-Drive section. Other pieces to be aware of- the clutch and throwout bearing in the Hy-Drive set up are unique to that setup as far as I can tell. I see the service manual for sale at the Motorbook store online- I have no experience with them, but the cover looks the same as my original.

Where is a good source to buy a spring such as in Don's picture above?

I am also in the St Paul area. A big tip on brakes- ABC Rental in South St Paul has a drum puller as a rental item. I told them that if they ever want to sell it, I would buy it, but the said it gets enough use that they keep it in service. Using the correct tool is the only way to get the rear drums off without damaging them or getting really frustrated.