rallyace

I hope you changed the solenoid to a 12 volt one.

Regarding trusses, the bottom chord is a tension member and is not really designed to hold anything more than the sheet rock and insulation. That said, the panel points, where the truss members are connected to the bottom chord, is the strongest point on the bottom chord of a truss. Now, regarding HF engine stands... whatever the HF rating is, reduce it by a third. They will support the rated load, but it is almost impossible to rotate the block and the stand is very top heavy and unstable when moving the stand with the block attached. You will thank yourself many times over for spending a couple of bucks more for a bigger engine stand.

Ditto on the air hammer method of setting the new plug. I took an old chisel tip, rounded it off on the grinder and two quick zaps with the air hammer it was set. It is well worth the time to carefully clean the hole in the block and I always apply a coat of shellac based gasket sealer to the block seating surfaces before setting welsh plugs.

I pulled the oil pan and inspected all of the bearings. All are good. It is a recent rebuild so I know the engine well. I have been through all of the normal stuff like checking valve clearances, pulling one plug at a time, etc and nothing seems to stop it. My next suspect is the engine mounts and see if the engine is showing excessive motion under load.

Underdash wiring can be exposed to chafing. It also requires wiring that is easy to bend. I would go with the GXL. It should be easy to bend and be sure to protect it as much as possible to prevent chafing. As far as connectors, I have this thing about soldered connections and heat shrink tubing. I do not trust crimp on connectors.

I have confirmed it is not internal to the engine. Valve clearances are in spec (it was the first thing I checked). The driveshaft has been checked and it is fine. It was professionally built last year with Spicer U-joints. I have tried to record the noise but have not been able to get a clear recording. Once upon a time I read something about motor mounts causing noises. Could it be this?

I have a 51 Plymouth with a 218 engine and R10 OD transmission. At the end of last season I started to hear a knocking/tapping noise when the engine was under load, it was most obvious when under load in 3rd gear and it made no difference if the OD was engaged or disengaged. The frequency of the knocking noise followed engine RPMs. At first I thought it was a bearing but after pulling the oil pan and inspecting all of the bearings, all were in spec and no bearing damage was detected. I then started looking at the exhaust gasket thinking that the noise could be a leaking gasket. I pulled the manifolds and replaced the intake and exhaust gaskets as I saw what appeared to be leaking from the #4 exhaust gasket. I ran the engine through a couple of heat cycles and retorqued all 13 mounting nuts. When I finally took the car out on the road today, the noise was still there. Oil pressure has not changed from before the noise started and the engine temperature is also the same. The water pump and generator are not the cause as I removed the fan belt and the noise was still there. I am at wits end. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your help on this.

The electronic 535 flashers will not work properly with a positive ground car. They are designed for a negative ground car. This is only an issue with the dash indicator (P terminal on the flasher) as it presents a positive voltage due to a diode inside the flasher.

If you go double u-joint, one at each end of the center shaft (which is also known as a single cardan shaft), offset the yokes on the center shaft by 90 degrees. It makes for a smoother operation.

Take the time to adjust it according to the manual. Use your feeler gauges as once it is properly adjusted it is effective and will not need to be readjusted for many years.

I went the overdrive route. It took me two years to find a good OD unit at a fair price and near enough so I could see it and check it out before consummating the sale. In my case it was a very good unit and only needed to have the hypoid oil flushed out and a couple of seals needed replacement. A stock driveshaft will work with an OD transmission swap. I did have a new driveshaft with standard Spicer universal joints built by a local truck driveline shop.

Regarding float level. Today's fuels are less dense than the fuels of 70 years ago. You will need to set the float slightly lower than spec to gain enough float pressure to close the needle valve.

Having been a British car guy before getting into Mopars, this thread is like reading about how horrible the SU carburetors are. It is all in how how you take the time to understand them and make sure they are properly set up. I rebuilt SU carbs according to the book and, when you make sure the shafts are properly bushed and the jets are correct and properly centered they work flawlessly. My BB experience is limited but when I did rebuild mine I made sure the shafts were not worn, the cover and body were flat and true, and I set the float lower than spec to compensate for today's fuels which are less dense than the fuels of 70 years ago. I have not had any issues with the BB carb on my car and it is, in my opinion after 8,500 miles, a set and forget device.

For bolts going through the water jackets I use a Rectorseal #5, one of the best pipe dopes on the market. It is designed for both water and steam service so it can easily handle the temperatures and does a great job of protecting the threads.

Flat head Mopar engines are long stroke engines for lots of low end torque and they have hefty flywheels so getting it to run smooth is not all that difficult. Keith and South have pointed out the things to look at. Parts are readily available from places like Andy Bernbaum, Roberts, and Mopar Pro. You can still find a lot of parts through NAPA, O'Reillys and Rock Auto. You are in the right place to get good, solid advice. This forum has a lot of folks with decades of experience with these old cars. Good luck and keep asking questions. The only dumb question is the one you did not ask.

Phosphoric acid is what makes Coca Cola such a good rust remover.

Water pumps on cars are low pressure high flow pumps. As was mentioned earlier, someone saw 10 PSI when they checked (as an engineer, that seems high to me). The pressure is not really expected to be very high as the system only has to overcome the flow resistance in the cooling system. Cooling an engine needs flow not pressure. I would suspect that the pump would be in the range of 6-10 gpm and a couple of feet of head at normal running speed.

If you decide to paint it black, use a primer that is designed for aluminum. Priming is just replacing an undesirable surface with a surface that is desirable for the paint being used. Many primers do not work well on aluminum that goes through heat cycles like a radiator.

Check with other old car folks and see if someone local to you does the work. If not, check with shops that do a lot of heavy truck repair work. If they don't do it themselves they can direct you to someone who does. Locally (Syracuse, NY area) we have one shop left that does the work and they get enough brake work from the old car hobby folks to keep providing the service.

I set one side 1/8" proud and then make sure the gasket it is fully seated and carefully trim the other side to about 5/16" proud. Apply sealer at the intersections of the pan gaskets and install the pan. I have neever had a leak and it makes installing the pan a lot easier, especially if the engine is in the car. One other trick to installing the pan with the engine in the car is to use four longer bolts in the thru tapped holes near the corners to hold the pan in place and keep the side gaskets aligned. Tighten these bolts until the pan is just about to make contact with the block and then install the remainder of the proper pan bolts. Replace the long bolts with the proper bolts and then go through the tightening and torquing sequence. The things you learn while laying under a car and wrestling with an oil pan.

I built my own 218 last year and discovered the following: regarding the tappets, I had one loosen up a bit and once broken in I needed to adjust all of them. I did them warm and have had no issues since. The valve train will seat in once the engine is run a bit causing them to go out of spec. Regarding the oil leaks, I also found my rear seal was leaking a bit. I run 15-40 conventional diesel oil and found that over time the leak did diminish but not disappear. I am not sure what I was losing in the beginning but I now lose about a half a quart every 1,000 miles. I don't consider that to be excessive. One quick question, did you assure that your dipstick was reading correctly? When I did my engine I found that the dipstick that came with the engine was reading such that I had to put in almost 6 quarts to get to the full mark. I drained the oil and added 5 quarts and found that one of my other dipsticks would read full at 5 quarts so I used that dipstick. Too much oil will find leaks and the rear main is generally the weakest link and will leak the most. As long as your oil level is above the add mark you are good to go.

Welcome to the forum where many of us with far too much time on our hands and will answer your questions to the best of our ability. There is a lot of good info here. Use the search function to look up anything you need to research. One hint, don't ask what oil to use. That one has been beaten to death far too many times here. Just search 'what oil' and you will see what I mean. It also helps to have a bit of thick skin as we have been known to be sarcastic at times. Good luck with your project.

Just my two cents worth, but I have been let down by a new Pertronix ignition at a less than desirable time (middle lane of the interstate in rush hour traffic with my MG-B). I am not a fan. Once upon a time they were great but unless things have changed in the last few months, I would not trust one. It took three weeks for them to finally acknowledge that the module was bad so I could get a refund. Many others have had the same issue with them over the last couple of years. As has been mentioned, a properly set up points ignition will work fine. I do a tune up every spring on my 51 Cambridge which includes carefully filing the points and setting the dwell angle and have not been let down.

Update: Well I spent some time under the car today and found that the shift linkage bracket on the shaft that changes the gears on the transmission was loose and the nut that holds the bracket on the shaft was inaccessible. I had cut an access point in the transmission tunnel when I installed the OD transmission last year so it was not that difficult but it was time consuming. I am not sure this is the problem but it could have been keeping the gear change linkages from fully engaging the shift dogs. Next up, get the interior parts I removed back in, get the car on the ground and road test. First, time for the Syracuse game.

Here is one for the brain trust... I have a 51 Plymouth Cambridge with a recently rebuilt 218, single carb, an overdrive transmission and a custom made driveshaft with Spicer universal joints. When under load I get a popping noise that seems to come from the left side of the engine and its frequency seems to be linear to engine speed. This happens both with the OD engaged and disengaged. Oil pressure is 40 at idle and 45 when at speed. Compression is good (90 to 95 psi in all cylinders). I cannot sense any leakage from the exhaust gaskets or manifold. It happens in all three gears. The noise disappears when not under load. I have used a stethoscope to see if there is any internal knocks in the engine and have not heard anything unusual at idle, when revving to about 3000 rpm and when the engine is coasting back down to idle. Is there anything in the clutch or transmission that may be causing a popping noise? I am at a loss as to what could be the problem. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Mike