dpollo

I think the Desoto is beyond salvage but the brakes will fit your Plymouth. The spindles must be used too. So will the 251 with some modifications discussed elsewhere on this forum. Desotos often used a 3.7 rear axle ratio. I am not sure what the power steering is like but if it is the ram type used by Plymouth in 54 then it would be beneficial.

The small block Chev fits the 50's Plymouth well because of the rear sump pan and the starter on the right. I equipped mine with a 350 hydraulic cam and an AFB. Column shifted the 57 chev trans and ran a 3.73 rear screw. The car looked bone stock. Fun . 1970s style. That car was never as quiet which could have been improved with a three point mounting system like the 58s had. The slant six swap , while lacking the zip of the 283 ran very smoothly and quiet. I raise the compression in my flatheads to as much as 8 1/2 to 1 and also match the ports. big improvement.

I might have added, although the Slant six swap was a good one and a 283 Chev was a lot of fun, my old cars have flathead-six power with overdrive and I find them to be adequate in all respects. However, PA's remarks about the Pentastar V 6 make me itchy to try one in an older car.

I put a 225 with a torqueflite in a 50 Plymouth. I used a truck (rear sump) oil pan, modified the firewall slightly and moved the radiator to the front of the support. An accessory trans cooler was mounted in front of the .radiator The column gear change was arranged by using the bell crank which was part of the 50's linkage but fastened to the 225 bell housing and the lever on the column extended up and over to the other side of the column so it would pull in the right direction. The throttle position transmission controls remained just as they were with the 225 and the gas pedal was changed to the cable unit from a Valiant. A new crossmember was fabricated for the rear and the rear end was changed to an 8 3/4 from a mid 60's Plymouth . 3.23 ratio was ideal. A 72 Dart driveshaftwas used. Ideally it could have been shortened about an inch but posed no threats of bottoming out. I ran this car for 20 years with no problems . Modest power, good mileage. Lots of highway miles.

Those front shoes are the same as those used in pre war passenger cars. That is, no separate "link" extending into the cylinder..

Stamped in the boss....... however rebuilders would supply a tag with the original engine number when this number was used for the title. In any case, a D29 block should be a 230 which would be a good engine to use in your truck.

Now that is a bit of an enigma. To the best of my knowledge yokes will slide in until they contact the outer bearing. However, I have seen a transmission sliding yoke twisted so the splines were helical. Very unlikely that the splines of your differential input shaft could have been twisted this way. If you have a spare differential perhaps you could test the new yoke on another shaft. I will be interested in what you finally conclude.

D29 would be the prefix for the engine in a 1949 Wayfarer.

Some years ago... back in the 70s, John Jerome wrote a little book called "TRUCK". ...... his adventures with a 50 Dodge .It is an amusing read. I had a look for it this morning to get the ISBN number but to no avail. I am sure it can be foung through Amazon or the like. I would recommend it to anyone with a Pilothouse era truck and a sense of humour. * I found a 1996 edition on Amazon. Has a GM truck on the cover but I am sure it is the same story. The full title is " Truck on rebuilding an old pickup truck and other post-technological adventures"

I am inclined to agree with you and while the 35 to 52 era is my preference, I have bought new Chrysler products in 87, 92, 02, 05, 07 ,10 and 12 and found all of them to be reliable and very satisfactory. Also the best used cars I have bought included several Valiants and even a Volare wagon.

ATF in an all original 56 Dodge Mayfair I owned was colorless. A 57 was red.

I use the port in the manifold which originally had a plug on my 51 Plymouth. (electric wipers) I used a Ford PCV valve which screws right into this port. Very neat. I do not have the part number handy but it is an auto supply item easily obtainable. I seem to recall the first one I used was not able to fully exhaust the crank case vapors so I got a slightly larger one. Probably for a 300 six.

The lower picture shows a curved slot which allows for adjustment to make the lever level when the transmission is in neutral. The other picture shows slight wear where the lever fastens to the shaft from the handle. When the nut is tightened against this, I do not think it would move enough to ever be a problem. It appears that the nut may have been loose for a long time.

Good advice. permanent repair because of the hardness of the Speedi sleeve.

It is easy to change the rear casting so the parking brake will work. The synchronizers in the 39 may be different but in any case, the internals can be swapped .

just about all 35 to 39 transmissions will fit. A 39 will need to have the cover changed and the position of the park brake mechanism may be different from the 37. The internal parts will fit. The 36 trans should be a bolt-in.

Congratulations but just to set the record straight, it was not the Fluid Drive you made right. Fluid Drive is the coupling between the engine and whichever transmission the car has. In your case it is the Semi automatic ( M 6 ). Other cars might have a standard three speed but still have a Fluid Drive.

After studying your pictures, I think that car is in better shape than you might think. These are very nice cars to drive and ride in but you will not be winning many drag races. I had a Saratoga which was the V8 in the same Windsor-size body and it was very quick. It eventually went to Europe. Good luck !

The grill shell is mounted to a radiator support which has two large bolts which go through the frame right below the radiator. They are accessed from underneath the car. Then remove the bolts from the fenders and remove the hood and radiator to firewall braces. It should then come loose. The grille is fastened to the shell and , if it is similar to my 35 , comes out of the shell from behind, and as a single unit. Of course, the radiator must also be removed.

It is true, Centari was a good product. I just recently sprayed some which I had kept and was very pleased at how well it went on.The Nason products seem to be very translucent, what used to be called " low hiders" and require a uniform substrate colour. My true preference for paints was the old air dry Dulux but that is what I first learned to apply and got good results with. The Centari numbers should still be useful in obtaining the correct colour.

I found a 1973 Valiant colour called Sahara Beige (also called Parchment on the Chrysler) to be an exact match for 49 to 50 and some 51s notably the convertible. Seems to me there was not much variety in Steering wheel colours . Acrylic enamel does a good job. The Dupont Centari code for Sahara Beige is 5415 A1 the Chrysler manufacturer's code was L4 These numbers can be crossed over by an auto paint supplier. Vinyl Bumper repair (2part) is great for cracks.

There were several options for 49 t0 52 and they were as oldmopar says. I saved a Pontiac under-seat heater for years thinking I might use it but never have. The lowest cost option had the entire unit under the dash whereas the others had under hood radiators and the top of the line had a separate fan for the defrost. So far as I know, all heaters were installed by the dealer ( after the cars were shipped from the factory)

I will get Les's permission and do just that.

I just finished an email to Les Bennett in NZ, he has a 28 Plymouth and his wife Marie has a 37 convertible. I have worked on a 38 Dodge with RHD originally from NZ but never have worked on a column shifted RHD model Maybe you can find Les in your club roster and he can set you straight on who to contact. If you cannot find him I will fwd his contact info privately.