rallyace

Leaking past a stud/bolt is very likely what is happening although all of what you listed are possibilities. If you are going to check the manifold bolts, there are 13 bolts/studs that hold the manifolds to the block. One is partially hidden and tough to see.

I learned how to drive on two stroke SAABs. Free wheeling was part of how a SAAB transmission worked so the slow throttle application from freewheeling comes naturally to me.

I agree. The control circuit is a simple series circuit. Adding a toggle switch does the same thing to the circuit as the governor. You just have to drive smart when you anticipate the need to keep it out of OD. Proper use of the toggle switch is less stressful to the OD unit than the kickdown switch.

I am still using the stock drum brakes. I just had my spare front drums turned and have relined shoes ready to install. I have no history on the bearings and seals so I decided to replace them while I had it apart. The lazy side of me says to get a bearing packer and pump grease into the bearings instead of doing it by hand, which I have done countless times and I hate the mess that it involves. My new camping trailer requires lithium complex grease for the wheel bearings, and I have both grease guns loaded with it. That is what made me think about whether it would be good for the ancient technology on our cars. Thanks for the input.

Crank it without the plugs and watch your oil pressure gauge. If is shows pressure, you are good to go.

I agree with Kencombs. Open it up, and, because it has been sitting for decades as a NOS, thoroughly clean it, and pack it with vaseline. The vaseline will dissolve in motor oil once it is primed. I was taught this trick back in the 70s and have been doing it for years with no problems.

Any thoughts or opinions about using a lithium complex grease for wheel bearings? This will be a clean installation with new bearings, races, and seals.

Get on the next plane for Hershey. I am sure someone there will have them.

Whenever I get a temperature gauge I test it for accuracy. Put the sensor in a pot of boiling water and see how close it is to 212F. If it is off a couple of degrees, it is OK. If it is off by more than 10 degrees then you know where the problem is.

The balls are NOT the same size. The smaller one goes in the accelerator pump.

He tried to pick the lock and the pins are all firmly in place. He could not pick it so he could not even try to make a new key.

The plater obviously did not know enough to have the lock disassembled before plating the handle and went ahead and ground, filled and polished all of the pitting in the pot metal and then did a good job of chrome plating. The release hole was filled and then chromed over and the pins inside the lock are all solidly in place with chrome plating on the inside of the lock. The square pin that does the locking was barely visible through the filler material and is firmly set in the chrome plating. I would be looking at a lot of grinding and filing to free up the square pin and to find and open the lock retaining pin. Once that was done the locksmith still had to get the pins freed up so he could pick the lock to remove it. Then it would be off to a plater to have the handle repaired and replated. Lots of work and even more $$$. I am looking for a fairly priced handle now. One Ebay vendor thinks they are right up there in value with the Crown Jewels.

Took it to a locksmith today. The handle was chrome plated at some time in the past and whoever did the plating filled the lock release plug and plated the locking mechanism in place. It cannot be repaired. For what it is worth, he said this was not the first time he has seen this on classic car parts. Thanks for the help. Now to find a new handle with a key........

I have a 51 Cambridge and no key for the trunk handle lock. I have the handle assembly on my bench, does anyone know how to remove the lockset from the handle so I can get it re-keyed?

Today's job is to give the Plymouth a once over to make sure we are good to go after a fantastic weekend at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival and Vintage Race weekend. Our Daisy had no issues on the Glenora run, a 60 mile tour of the Finger Lakes wine country, or its two laps around the old Watkins Glen street circuit. Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.

To keep the critters out of his car over the winter, a friend of mine will throw about a half a pound of unsalted peanuts in the shell into the car parked a couple of cars down from his. I don't want to call that car a junker, but let's just say the storage fees every year are far more than the car will ever be worth. He never has figured out how the rodents like his car so much and where the nuts come from.

My NYS inspection was done on Monday. All is good. As has been the case for the last couple of years, we will use the Grand Prix Festival and Vintage Race weekend at Watkins Glen as a warm up to the picnic. Miss Daisy, our 51 Plymouth is becoming a fan favorite when we do our two laps of the old street course as part of the festival. Folks get tired of seeing all of those old Jaguars, Alfa Romeos, MGs, Triumphs, Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris and other assorted sports cars and the old Plymouth seems to be what they like to see.

I rebuilt both trunnions on my driveshaft and ended up ruining three boots in the process. I also had the problem of the pins not budging so I had to pull on the boots with the pins still in place. I still had a vibration when I was done. I then decided to bite the bullet and have a new driveshaft made with Spicer U-joints by a local truck driveline shop. It cost me $300 and I feel it was well worth it.

Theisen's should have them.

I got my battery at Tractor Supply 4 years ago and it still works great. Things I do include removing the battery when I store the car and placing it on a battery tender for the winter and I take the time every spring to clean all of the high current draw connections (battery, starter solenoid, starter and engine block to battery ground) as part of my annual 'bring it out of hibernation' routine. I also added an 8 gauge ground from the body to the battery positive connection to assure I had a good secondary body ground for lights and accessories.

Hey, folks, a few of us are considering meeting up in the Albany, NY area on Wednesday, Sept. 14th and then continuing on to to the Picnic in Manchester, NH on Thursday. Let me know if you are interested so I will know how many rooms we will need. Mike Mazoway

Crash and I will have to make an agreement about barking and growling similar to the agreement I had with Smidge.

As British car folks know, the first thing Mr. Lucas has taught us is that most mechanical problems are electrical and most electrical problems are mechanical.

I agree with Keithb7, before you even try to start the engine, make sure you have oil pressure. I pull all of the spark plugs and just crank the engine until it shows pressure. On my last rebuild I could not get pressure and found that the spring that came with my new relief valve was too weak. I put in the original one and I got good pressure. Once you have confirmed you have oil pressure, use the technique mentioned by OUTFXD to get the rough timing. When the engine starts you can fine tune the timing. Good luck.

I kept my fingers off the keyboard with that post on the Flat Heat FB page. Folks prove far too often what they don't know when they post anonymous things on the internet. These are 70 year old flat head engines, not state of the art Formula 1 engines.