dpollo

There is more to the "flathead" than meets the eye ! Chrysler's engines employed the Riccardo design with a squish chamber above the piston to create a swirl or turbulence. The chamber was revised for the 1952 model year. These heads can be identified by the DPCD logo in a circle near #2 cylinder. Other brands which used the valve in block design had many configurations, some of which worked better than others. As you may have guessed, I am a long time supporter of the NAAFH. (National Association for the Advancement of Flatheads) The best way to raise compression is by substituting a head from a smaller displacement engine . Like a (USA) 218 head on a 230 or even better, a Canadian 218 head on a 251. This way you do not lose volume around the valves. If you are checking the volume of a chamber, use light oil rather than water, it is more accurate. Also you can do the math pi x r squared x height for cylinder volume for say a 218 and a 230 which may have both started out with a 7-1 ratio. To maintain the 7-1 ratio the chamber in the head must be smaller for the 218. A ratio of the bore sizes will tell you how much.( Include any overbore) All heads can be identified by the part number and it pays to check especially if your engine has been through the rebuilders. I had a 228 which came from Pacific Reman. with a 265 head. compression reduced to about 6.5 -1-- disappointing.

I think PA has your best interest in mind since a misconnection might ruin a rather expensive electronic unit. Another solution would be to use the grounding circuit from the Fluid Drive to open a relay which will temporarily interrupt the ignition. The resistor's place in the Fluid Drive circuit is explained in the shop manual. Memory is vague at this point but its purpose was not as straightforward as the usual ballast resistor. The ignition interrupter circuit must do two things. Dump the fluid pressure in the trans and very briefly interrupt the ignition by grounding out the distributor points so torque is broken and the gears can change position. As soon as the trans shifts, ignition is restored.

It looks to me like a PCV conversion which was often found on cars from California and also on Military engines. The other end of the hose will go through a PCV valve (of some sort) and into the intake manifold. If this setup is not working well, oil could puddle in this area and then leak out. If it is a serious amount of oil.... like a quart every few miles.... then the drain for the rear cam bearing is sludged up and the excess oil is making its escape at this point.

All of the above. you can also take the cover off the rear joint and insert a washer under the center pin which holds the spring. Put the cover back on and reassemble. This has the effect of causing the rollers to operate in a less worn area. The real fix is , of course to rebuild the joints which is a bit of a challenge and can be expensive.

Another trick is to fill the water jackets with very hot water and keep it hot . This will expand the bores a little, perhaps enough to break it loose. I would be reluctant to run an engine that has been stuck since any corrosion on the piston skirts will result in a lot of damage when it warms up

Later models and trucks with a similar switch used a self closing circuit breaker instead of a fuse. It mounted to the back of the switch on trucks and to the back of the gauge panel on cars. This eliminated the somewhat inadequate connections of the typical fuse holder. A relay on the headlights will bypass a large amount of current and will brighten up the lights. You will have to check to see if the relay suggested by PA will operate on 6 volts or slightly less. I had trouble with my 37 Plymouth's relay dropping open at idle, brakes on at a stop light. In practical terms a good cleanup will likely solve the problem.

There is more to a 12 volt conversion than swapping out the battery and light bulbs. There are many considerations and none can be done piecemeal. Polarity will likely be reversed so then the ammeter connections must be reversed also. The fuel gauge circuit needs a voltage limiter , The horns, horn relay and the starter relay need to be changed. Is an alternator to be used? Does it have a regulator built in or an external one. Will the pulley match the wide belt? How about the windshield wiper and heater motors? Will the new ignition coil use a ballast resistor? The radio will also need a voltage limiter and some radios do not work as well when the polarity is reversed. I am with PA when he says "rethink". The car was designed with a 6 volt positive ground system as were many cars of its era. Properly maintained it will do very well. A lot of people convert to 12 volts because the higher voltage covers up problems for a while. I have done it myself but now, all my cars employ their original systems and they all start and run just fine.

If the car is slightly lower, that is a good thing. It may not be because it is the partially compressed spring height which is holding the car up.

The symptoms suggest that the throw out bearing is in contact with the forks on the pressure plate when idling. Check that the external spring that goes from the outer end of the throw out lever is in place and provides enough tension to pull the bearing clear. The second problem is one I have endured for over 50 years of driving these cars and while I would like to suggest a solution, I have just learned to live with the problem.

I like to tell my American friends that ,"Even though my ancestors did not come to America in the Mayflower, I usually arrive in the USA in an old Plymouth." Congratulations and enjoy the fireworks.

Ball and trunnion joints can make a terrible noise when you are braking because the torque on the rear axle is causing the snout of the housing to move toward the road, stretching the driveshaft. This movement is normally taken up by the U Joints but if the grease has hardened or if there is rust in there, the joint balls are running in an area which may no longer be smooth. If you clean and re lube the joints, the noise may persist for a while until the surface inside the bell smooths out. It is a truly alarming noise but does little harm.

Looks to me like there is interference between the strap-like condenser lead and the flexible lead. I prefer condensers with wire leads. Note to Don, I just passed a line of cars when my car quit. After trying to look cool I raised the hood and found the little screw which holds the points spring had backed out. I promptly dropped it in the gravel under the car. Good thing I was a whiz at "Hidden in plain sight" at school.( my only A+ subject) I lay under the car until I spotted it. Put it back with the aid of an antifreeze tag tie wire and we were on our way. Thank heavens this was back in the day when 50 Plymouths were plentiful enough that I remained anonymous.

If there is a mix up of heads and blocks, you must ensure that the hole is covered. It can be blocked entirely by threading 9/16 NF and making a plug from a bolt with the same thread. A wheel bolt is 9/16 NF. The extra water passage appeared in 1951 except on Spitfire engines. It eliminated the extra plumbing atop the water pump. In practical terms you can live without it.

The distributor shaft play and worn cam lobes will cause a lot of grief and you will never get the timing correct since even it you get it right for #1, all the rest will be off. Try another distributor.

The Canadian engine was a 228 3 3/8 by 4 1/4 they have been erroneously called a 230 but that is confusing. An overbore would certainly put it past 230 .o60 would make it 236. Despite his claims to have 200 hp, it is still a sweet unit.

A really simple voltage limiter which works on the gas gauge is a small marker light bulb get one with the 2 pigtail socket and wire it between the ignition switch and the gauge. I have not tried it with a temp gauge.

Separating is one thing. reassembling is quite another , If you can avoid both processes so much the better.

absolutely not !

A regular cotter pin is too slender and the float will slip off ! If you do not have the original pin, make one up using a 2 1/4 inch common nail. Sounds crude but trimmed and bent over neatly makes a good job. ( count on a farmer to use nails for many purposes)

I mailed you an elbow without the heater outlet this morning as per our earlier PM

If this is the elbow that bolts to the water pump with 2 bolts and has a threaded outlet for the heater, and connects to the thermostat housing with a 1 " hose, send me a PM, I can help.

You may wish to send me a PM as I can help you. Shipping from western Canada could be costly however. dp

the bearing retainer guide tube will be easy to find as they are all the same from 35 to 56. the release lever should be the same for Plymouth 35 to 39. Dodge USA is different. The release bearing itself is used in other applications including a later model Ford truck but was the same part, to the best of my knowledge from 35 to 56 the bearing itself presses off the part that slides.

If the Wayfarer has the transmission without a tailshaft extension then the bracket is part of the transmission end plate. No bolts and the root of your dilemma. I apologize for my earlier bad advice. A possible solution now is to remove the bolts holding the transmission to the bell housing and rotate the transmission enough to get the adjustment bolt out. Not a charming prospect but simple enough except for the upper left bolt which can be reached with a long extension. Alternately, removal of the driveshaft and the brake drum will likely give enough room to extract the bolt. No puller is required. I checked in the shop manual and it gives no comforting words of advice, it states simply that removal of the adjusting bolt is the first step in removal of the brake band.

Remove the transmission's bracket (two 1/2 inch head bolts ) Move the entire assembly toward the rear of the car then turn the band so the bolt can be removed