Theturtle

Agree with your thoughts on the ball bearing approach. The later plate design looks much simpler and better. My breaker plate assembly is corroded beyond repair but the distributor has a shaft with no play, is plumbed in with a rebuilt vacuum boost. I expect with the new breaker plate assembly, a condenser check and clean-up/lube of the weights it will be OK. Thanks for the comments.

Rich and Greg, thanks. Your info absolutely vital to those of us not in the know. I now see that my distributor is model IAP 4103A1 which uses an IAP3004RE Breaker Plate Assembly. That part seems to be available and I have ordered one. I have another distributor here that is almost the same. Interesting to see that on it, instead rotating the breaker plate on a complex set of ball bearings, the breaker plate just pivots on a pin. As a retired accountant it looks to me like that was a great cost reduction back in the day.

Thanks for reply, Rich. My distributor does not show up in a search under 1950 Plymouth P19. I think that my distributor is from some other machine - maybe some piece of farm equipment. It would be great if you can do a search for Autolite distributor part number 1300 795 in the Autolite catalog. Can you start the search by distributor number and find the breaker plate assembly that way? Or is it just by the application on which the distributor is being used? Curious that my Parts Catalog for the Plymouth shows distributors with numbers like my distributor (1233 584,1479 589) so there are a couple of numbering schemes for these. I have a lot to learn.

I am in final stages of getting the engine to run again after a rebuild. I think the engine is from a rebuilder back in the day. The engine number does not start with a P or D. It did run with this distributor when I brought it home. Distributor part number is Autolite 1300 795. In a braindead moment I sent the vacuum advance off for renewal but did not confirm the breaker plate operation. Now I find that the ball bearing race on the lower part of breaker plate is seized so it will not turn to enable vacuum advance. The distributor seems usable (no play in the shaft and the points look good). I plan to use it for now with the plate locked up blocking the vacuum advance feature. I would like to replace the breaker plate assembly to enable vacuum advance to work but I can't find a listing for this distributor or a part number source for a replacement breaker plate. This distributor is not in the parts list I have for the car. Can someone point me to a source for info on this distributor and a replacement breaker plate?

Plymouthy Adams, I get where you are coming from. My first impression was that the hitch was a cobbled together mess. And, DJ194950, my gas tank is right there as well. I am looking forward to seeing how it comes together when I get it cleaned up and back on the car later this summer. I enjoy thinking about the car's life. On one hand, I found brake linings that had non-matching holes which had been drilled and countersunk to fit the shoes on this car. On the other, from the huge mounds of accumulated grease and mud around each suspension fitting, and the still tight front suspension, and the layers of seat covers, it seems to me that the car received its share of attention over those first thirty years. From the amount of dirt that had accumulated under it and inside the frame members it is clear that it spent its life shuffling around on gravel roads. I have done the body off the frame clean-up and engine overhaul, etc. and am putting it back together to look like what it is - an old farm car. I agree that probably the best solution is to adapt one of the modern hitch set-ups to get the benefit of the receiver feature, etc. I'm not recommending something like this. Just thought it would be fun to share what I found on my old beater project. But boy, those old bumpers were tough. It seems a shame to not use all that structure.

I have a 1950 Plymouth fastback project that has a trailer hitch. The car's original owner was a NW Iowa farmer who was 60 years old when he bought it new. He drove it daily until 1980 when they parked it in the barn. One of his hobbies was restoring bicycles. He used the Plymouth with a trailer to haul them around. I had planned to do the hitch part of the project later in the summer. This topic prompted me to drag the parts out of the corn crib and take a look now. I'm thinking some would seeing one approach that was used "back in the day". ln the attached picture I put the parts in the general area where they might go. I will have to mount the bumper and parts to the car to get it all correct. I started this project back in 2015 and did no photos before disassembly. I remember thinking at the time that it was a neat installation for a light duty trailer. It uses just two or three new holes in the rear crossmember as the main mounting points and two in the gravel shield for the u-bolt. I'm looking forward to sandblasting and painting the parts and getting it back together on the car. Those bumpers were really heavy and well built. I can imagine a clamp-on hitch would work fine.

In the last day or so I had a note from Russell Nardi of 5speedadapters.com that they are working on a solution. So I am hoping that works out. I do not understand the comment above that dual master cylinders would not help. My impression was that would amount to two independent hydraulic systems. Loss of fluid from one would leave me with half my normal braking, far better emergency braking that even the OEM set-up. Still the possibility of a mechanical break in the pedal linkage, but a big improvement it seems to me.

I understand that the hydraulic valve method does nothing in the way of an "emergency" brake. I think a dual master cylinder would go a long way toward this and have been following the recent thread on this.

Thanks for the comments. It had not occurred to me to mechanically pull the brake pedal on using the hand brake mechanism. I am going to see if I can figure out how to do that. I see the Line-Loc is still for sale. I have looked a lot at valves on Amazon along the lines of the JEGS item mentioned by DJ. If the brake pedal does not work out will probably do something using a valve like the JEGS one, but with a lever. On the airplanes I learned that copying someone else's idea works out better than my design attempts. Hoping I can find something to copy. If I do it myself, will be sure to post if it is not too ugly. I have learned so much from this forum over the years. Thanks again to all of you.

My P19 fastback came from prior owner with a T5. I would have preferred an overdrive equipped car but this was the best P19 fastback I could find locally. On balance, I like the transmission. First gear is too "low" but fifth is real great when keeping up with traffic. Someday I will check into changing to a first gear closer the the stock Plymouth ratio. What I don't like is loss of a parking brake. I am hoping someone has come up with a solution simpler than swapping in a rear axle that has provision for a parking brake. Years ago I built two home built airplanes. A common approach with those was an on/off hydraulic valve. You would press the brake pedals and then use the valve to hold pressure. (Handy to temporarily to hold the plane on a slope until you could get wheel chocks.) I am thinking of something similar that would be operated with the regular parking brake control which is still present on my car. Has anyone here worked out a good parking brake solution along those lines? (I am not seeking an emergency brake. Just something to hold the car temporarily such as when it would stall on a slope.)

I have a P19 (1950 fastback) that I have been bringing back from "junker" status to look like a well used old car. The dash was really rusty with just a trace of wood grain. I removed it and used the Grain It process. The pictures show how it came out. The comparison picture is with a better P19 I have which has the original dash. The color is different than original - less brown. I think the angle of light makes my repro look lighter than if it were at the same angle as the original. I found the process easy and enjoyable to do. Back when I did this I had no experience in finishing the clear coat. If I had wet sanded and polished it I think the results would have been great. As it is, they are certainly not that good, but good enough for this project. IMG_0623 2.HEIC Compare.HEIC

When I disassembled my P19 the tail light sockets were too far gone to reuse. The housings are usable (barely) but I need sockets. Is there an easy workaround with modern parts or must I start looking for the real thing? The socket is 1 inch. Also wondering about the internal parts (disc with two contact points and a spring, as I remember). Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks,

Greg, thanks for the comment and the picture. Your's is the look I am going for - black car, black wheels, hub caps and beauty rings, no right side mirror - but 4 years newer fastback instead of coupe. Sad to say mine will not be so nice. For now, I am going to make do with the original paint with lots of touch-ups. I'm hoping the 205s will be about right. I think the 1950 P19 Deluxe used 640/15 tires and had a lower (numeric) rear-end ratio than the Special Deluxe, which used 670/15s to get the same final gearing. I'm seeing a 27" wheel diameter specs on both the 640 and 205. Time will tell.

Thanks, Bob and Soth for the replies. Good to hear that the size will work. I have decided to go with the 205 size. Both of your cars look great! Still a long way to go with mine. Rewiring starting next week.

I have done a frame-off, clean up, engine rebuild and am into reassembly. Have decided to keep original paint and touch up the bad spots. So no glamour here. It will be my around town driver. Original wheels are off to be cleaned, blasted, painted. Looking for low cost Blackwall tires. Thinking of 205/75/R15 from Discount Tire. Has anyone had success with this size on a car like mine, or do you have other suggestions?