thebeebe5

. Will do on Monday. Got no answer today.In addition to having incorrect shoes, someone installed a substitute cylinder on the right rear. Its considerably larger than the passenger side cylinder, and it uses a banjo connection for the brake line: definitely not original. Not sure how bad it was to have such a different size cylinder... Maybe no big deal. This is the one that was leaking. The cylinder on the driver's side was completely frozen. I had to drive the pistons and cups out with a drift and good sized hammer. I'll be ordering new replacements Monday as well. Serioslu can't wait to get this job done. Seems (the way the brakes pull left) that the only working brake was my driver's front. :-/

Thank you very much for the information Rich. I'd hoped to avoid pulling these apart and waiting while the existing shoes were relined.... Looks like I can't avoid it now and will have to leave the car at the shop until that task is done. I'm hoping AZ Brake and Clutch can do that job for me before next weekend. Assuming I cannot return these shoes to Bernbaum as I ordered them 6 months ago. Any idea what Mopar they might fit so I can try to sell them to someone else that needs them...?

Here's what I found this am in the way of a leak, and also a shot of the shoes set into the drums. I'd figured on having to fit the shoes to the drums, but these just look WAY too big...

Took the opportunity to start the brakes on my p-4 today. Knew when I bought the car I'd need to to the brakes and a leaking rear cylinder pushed me into the job today. I'd ordered needed parts from Bernbaum; shoes are their part number G-106. I have cylinder rebuild kits from the local Napa. Drums are a bit under 10" diameter but I haven't put a caliper on them. If I recall correctly I'd read here that 10" is the drum size so I believe they are original, and I believe everything else to be as well, meaning I don't believe anyone swapped these brakes from a different year car. Everything is cleaned up and ready to go back together and I realize there is no way these shoes will fit these drums.... They look to be for at least an 11" drum if not larger. Anyone run into this problem before? I'll post pictures from my phone in a couple minutes as I'm on the boss' computer at the shop and I've no way to get pictures to his desktop. Assuming my only option is to have the shoes relined locally and reassemble because Bernbaum doesn't list another shoe for an older Plymouth that I can see.....

They seem to be pretty standard for Fords and Chebys, but wondering how different that mirror is for a Plymouth. OR can I simply install them if the hing is same size....

Anyone use hinge mount mirrors? You know, where you remove the hinge pin for mounting the mirror bracket? Wondering how to pull the pin.... Will it drift out with a punch? Need to find a way to see behind me while backing up the P4. I have an old clip on peep mirror on the driver side, but can't find another quite like it, and besides, it's getting to where it won't stay in place. Have tried new peeps, but cannot get them in the position I need to see while I back into the garage on the passenger side. Before I scratch the fender up any further I need to find a solution....

good to know... I just took pictures before disassembly and reinstalled the way they came off. I'll fix them some time. It's all done now and took it for a drive. Sounds wonderfully quiet......

Thanks AndyD. Have buckets of neverseize here. Didn't know if the brass was to prevent overtightening of the pieces to prevent breakage or not. And I'll definitely try that trick with this gasket if I can't get my hands on the proper one on my way into work.

The original (I think) manifold was rotted and cracked horribly. Got everything apart, and while I was at it I repainted the valve cover plates and adjusted the valves. Found the greatest lash at .032" and the smallest lash at .024"!!! Hoping I can tell a difference when it's back together and running.... I just set them to the spec outlined in the service manual for cold lash. Had a couple of the brass nuts that were in poor condition to start with, and ended up having to sub a regular steel nut for one that had stripped upon reinstall, and the two low exhaust nuts that anchor the bottom of the double port were missing altogether, so steel nuts were installed. Is it essential that these be replaced with brass? The end exhaust flanges were bolted on with steel nuts and thick brass washers.... One fly in the ointment for completion tomorrow.... The carb base gasket Napa sold me fits a larger carb base.... Can anyone provide a part number so I can hunt through Phoenix tomorrow and see if I can locate one here in the valley? Would be nice to drive the car home from the shop and not leave it in the boss' way. I've attached a picture of the incorrect carb base gasket. I see the packages says fits 218, but I think my motor is a 201. A few pics from the day:

Interesting Lloyd. This is a hold down? Link mentions "tray".

that might be helpful. Thank you!

Tod, everyone except Napa has said they can get them. The problem is when I say "okay, get them". Then they find there's nothing to get. And I agree, I ought to be able to get just about anything here. I will be checking the sources everyone has been kind enough to share in this thread.

One of the biggest frustrations was placing orders only to find they actually had none in stock, and am afraid that will continue to happen. I'm happy to make a set from a template too. Really hoping to have a viable set here Thursday so I can do the adjustments with the induction/exhaust off the car. Shel_ny, thanks for the PM! I'll PM back in a moment.

Took my tank out today to find a "full tank" leak. Had a bit of a problem getting one screw out of the sender (aftermarket sender, Tanks Inc polymer tank) as it seems the installer put some kind of adhesive on the threads.... Think the full tank leak may have been caused by the aftermarket sender being too long for the depth of the tank by 3/8". The top of the tank had to be pulled up that distance by the screws to make a fair seal. I hacked off 1" of the bottom of the sender "shaft" so it would not be installed again under stress. Had a good deal of trouble with this one screw, and I think the insert in the plastic is broken loose due to whatever adhesive was used.... Eventually got it out, and noted the float appears to be cracked, but there seems to be no fuel inside it and the gauge worked as it should. Is there some kind of fuel compatible sealer I can put on this and put it back in service? I really want to get the car on the road tomorrow. Wont have time to work on it this week, and got the boss' permission to bring it in Friday for an exhaust manifold swap and probably full exhaust redo. Took the day off from another job to arrange it. figures...

Alright, so, these gaskets seem to no longer exist, at least as supplied by FelPro. RockAuto showed 7 in inventory. I ordered three. Got a follow up email next day that basically said "sorry about your luck" but we have none. Ordered from Amazon. Found a seller with 4 in stock. Ordered them all.... Got a follow up email "our inventory numbers were wrong. So sorry". None available.... Napa, as I've said, lists none in the USA. Anywhere. O'Rielly's says they're in the system, but there are none available. That "Mikey" fellow may have a single on ebay for $75, but I refuse to pay that. So, what is everyone using if this is no longer an available part? I figure on making some from a sheet of cork gasket material, but was just wondering what you all were doing....

Not sure who Mikey is, but $75 seems a bit steep... :-/O'Reilly said none in stock. Anywhere... Rock Auto it is. Thanks for the info. Just what I needed! Should be here in time too.

Can anyone provide a part number for a valve cover gasket that would fit my 201cid '37 motor? Or tell me what the most recent vehicle is that would use the same gasket? I know there are two different length motors (23" and 25", right?) but would ALL flathead motors use the same VC gasket? Local Napa hub says they have none in stock anywhere in the country and none backordered from FelPro and cannot provide an alternative. Will be pulling exhaust and intake next Friday to r/r cracked exhaust and would love to get it all done at once while I have easy access. Thanks!

Thanks Bob. Not sure what came originally on the car. Right now there is a threaded rod on either side of the battery sticking up a bit taller than the battery. Looks like a traditional type of hold down would have been installed, but of course I really haven't seen one so am just guessing.

Yes. Under the seat in an "enclosed" metal box. Definitely do not want it bouncing around in there. I'll check to see what Autozone has available. Ought to measure the battery too I bet.

Didn't find one in the battery box and I do't want to have new battery bouncing around under there. Don't see one listed at Bernbaum (cant even access shoping from my mobile device this am) and am wondering.... What year range would be common to my car? Should I just make one assuming modern battery dimensions will be different anyways.... I have the resources to make anything I need if needed.

I ordered some AS568A-365 sized o-rings. Will see if they work.... If not I'll definitely look into these. Thanks!

Okay, thanks. The top I got. The peg came free easily, but the rubber at the base of the pedal seemed to want to tear.... I'll try to slip something under it and try again.

Definitely goes to the Pos (+) side when key is turned on. So that makes sense. Can I simply swap the battery cables? Any ill-effects I need to be concerned about? Like Voltage regulator being ruined or anything...? Glad I opened it up today. I need to fab a battery hold down anyways.... There isn't one in place now. :-/

The easiest way I can see to reach the hi/lo headlight switch on my '37 is to remove the floor panel. The floor mat is cut out to fit over all the pedals and levers except the base of the gas pedal. How is that removed? Don't see this covered in the manual, and I don't want to tear anything up while doing it!!! AND I'm open to suggestions for removal of that switch if there's another way. I just can't see that there's enough room to reach up in there and get to it. Need the switch out to check it and see exactly which it is so I can get a proper replacement.

just went to unhook battery prior to removing (or attempting to remove) the hi/lo headlight switch, and I see a shiny new battery dated 1/15 (I got the car 6 weeks ago) with the "+" cable attached to the generator and the "-" cable attached to the transmission.... Now, I'm wondering if a PO replaced the battery and hooked it up incorrectly by accident OR if the car had to be set up to run this way. Do I need to do anything about this...? Should I be worried? This is my 1st "positive ground" vehicle....