dpollo

I too will be heading for Portland but in my wife's Dodge Journey. I have done this trip several times in my 51 Plymouth and in my 50 Plymouth and also in a friend's D 25 Dodge. On another trip in my 51 Ply. (1990) I encountered some pretty rough road between Kalispel (spelling ?) and Libby . I wish I had taken a picture of the Flathead Co. sign.

to the best of my knowledge the tooth count is the same. It changed in '57.

I explored the Truman era a little more in an article featuring the 51 Plymouth in the November/December 01 issue of the Plymouth Bulletin. HST was a fan of Chrysler's products and owned a number of them both before and after his presidency. His 53 New Yorker was recently found but at last report was not for sale. Two 41s, a coupe and a sedan, both grey, are in the Presidential Library museum in Independence MO. It surprises me how this thread has generated so many responses. Thanks Ken for starting it. Perhaps you will venture up the peninsula and cross to Victoria where I would be pleased to give you a garage tour.

Thank you for the kind words. My convertible was a basket case when I bought it back in the 70's. I have , since restoration, driven it over 50 000 miles through BC Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon and have never tired of it. The recent re restoration corrected some amateurish work and now the car is really superb There is something about this era that goes to the heart of what I hold dear. A President Truman kind of car. " Here I am, here's what I will do, the buck stops here."

The BEST regulators were the original Autolites that came with the cars when they were new. Your original may just be reacting to a very low battery. In any event, it is best not to mess with the internals too much but there would be no harm in taking the cover off and checking to see that the current and voltage controls are not sticking. The cut out is the element nearest the terminal marked BATT. It seems to be working . Draw some VERY fine sandpaper through the other contacts just to clean them ( don't jump on me, guys, I know what the manual says) filing these points is for an expert. The new unit sounds like a Dud so take it back for a replacement or a refund . Attempting to adjust it will void any warrantee. It was a great day here on Vancouver Island. (did not get the old car(s) out though Shame on me.

re rear axle Panhard bar..... I put this post in the wrong place. Not sure how but that is me with computers. Just followed your thread from post # 1. Great job.

As for alternate firing orders on in line sixes, the 1929 Buick was the only one I ever ran into which was not 153624. When I was about five years old, I removed the wires at the distributor on our '29 Buick . ( sedan converted to farm truck) My father replaced them 153624. Of course it would not run. He removed the valve cover and sorted it out and I have never forgotten. Just to keep the puzzle alive for awhile I will not divulge what the sequence was. ......now the day I contrived to make the engine backfire by turning the ignition off then on again while he was milking the cow is another story entirely. I survived. The Buick did not.

I have always used either a 3/8 or a 7/16 deep socket on them preferably 1/4 drive. The original fasteners look like a hat with a circular brim and the nut part is tapered somewhat which may be why you are having trouble.

Just another comment or two. I agree with Earl, above but a kit will give good service IF the bores are good. most often nowadays they are out of spec. due to pitting or too much honing. Your suspension pivots upper and lower inners are assembled in a jig with a certain amount of preload. If they are not worn out, do not disassemble them. The outer pins can be removed without trouble but leave the eccentric camber bushing in place. If you remove it or alter its position, you will need to find an alignment shop that still has the adjustment tool (special wrench) and an old time employee who knows how to use it.

Any good auto supply should be able to help with the brake cylinders You don't say what year your car is but if it is 46 to 55 front cylinders are Raybestos WC 10580 10581 10582 and 10583 rears 10588 front hoses BH 10595 Master cylinder kit MK 143 or maybe it is 134 you will have to check on that 46 t0 54, Of course your cylinders may be in good shape, check first and also make note of the position of the shoe anchors on the front before removing cylinders. These are eccentric and are a major adjustment if disturbed.

You are welcome . I would have sent you 4 for the cost of postage. not new though.

The more secure it is at this point the better as it is necessary to take the headlining down to replace the windlace.

I answered this very question about a week ago but I couldn't find that either. Remove radio panel . Behind the instrument cluster there are 3 3/16 head nuts on studs. 2 are on either side of the speedo, the third is half way up on the left hand side. Above and on either side of the speedo are 2 studs which press through rubber grommets on the dashboard itself. Removal of the radio panel gives reasonably good access. Of course, the speedo cable , oil pressure gauge line and temp gauge will need to be either removed from the back of the dash, or in the case of the temp gauge removed from the engine and fed back through the firewall. found the other post page 5 near the top P18 gauge cluster 1949 same as 50 in this regard

I have never thought about this because they are a special thread. I can dig up some used ones for you. Send a PM.

The removal of the three screws you have highlighted will allow the cluster to tip toward the steering wheel so you can, with some difficulty, change bulbs and so on but it will only tip forward if the speedo cable is either unfastened from the back of the speedometer or removed from the transmission and pushed back through the firewall enough to allow the gauge cluster to be moved. The inner speedo cable is removed from the top end and is to be lubricated VERY sparingly. It sounds to me like the speedometer drive pinion in the transmission has lost some teeth. It is easily removed, may be nylon toothed which is why I think it may have lost some and will have (had) 16, 17, or 18 teeth depending on the rear axle ratio. They interchange with all Dodge Plymouth Chrysler and Desoto of that era. The fuel sender in the tank is likely the culprit on your non working gauge Remove the cover and wire and ground the wire at the tank through a test light or small 6 v bulb. The dash gauge should then register about 1/3. Maybe your new tank is poorly grounded because of too much paint. In any case, the sender is easily removed by twisting the collar which holds it down. There is a special tool for doing this but it can be done with a small brass drift. Do not use a steel screwdriver to loosen the collar because you do not want to cause any sparks here as the tank is opened. As you have correctly assumed, the gauge circuit is grounded through a single wire to the tank unit.

My parts book shows these part #s for C60 and C62 Universal joint packages USA built 1450445 axle end 947550 transmission end perhaps you can have these numbers crossed over to the part you have.

The ball and trunnion ( Detroit) universal joints can make some pretty alarming noises if the lubricant has hardened up. Most have to be partially disassembled in order to relube. Sometimes a persistent noise can be reduced by putting a washer under the centering spring behind the tin cover. This causes the universal joint to run in a slightly different position. Another odd noise I experienced with a 54 Plymouth turned out to be the rear wheel bearings outer cup turning in the axle housing. When they got warm, they stayed still, so no noise. Same thing can happen with the tailshaft bearings in the transmission. Loctite made a repair which so far as I know has been permanent .

make sure it is the correct cap. They do fit securely.

Check your distributor cap. The IAT cap is noticeably smaller than the IGS and uses a rotor with no counterweight. It fits tightly. I ran into this problem on a 50, which was the change year for the distributors . The symptoms were similar to yours.

Many thanks for the advice. So far I managed only to get a thumbnail onto the site, but deleted it.

I think you will find that the Suburban springs have either heavier leaves or more of them as the chart above implies. Until I saw that chart I was unaware of the difference in the arch. If you want the low ride then the three passenger 1950 spring seems the way to go. Given that you have Suburban springs I think you will find the ride a little stiffer. This is not exactly a "fun" job. Good luck with it.

Desoto 39 may be onto something. The longer engines -say 251- with the choke behind the carb does use a longer rod simply because the carb is in the middle and the engine is longer. maybe make up a shorter rod, coat hanger wire would work temporarily and see if the adjustments fall into place. I suppose the length could be worked out with Pythagorus' theorem but you don't have a 251 to measure . Cut and try maybe an inch shorter and see what happens. I think one sure result will be your wife will come looking for her coat hanger. Good luck.

Just did this one a few days ago. I put a 48 Desoto differential gears and carrier into the 1950 housing that is in my 35 Plymouth. The reason for the swap was to get a final drive ratio of 3.7 -1. Same reason that I changed out the entire housing years before to get a 3.9-1 ratio instead of the original 4.11 -1 After I had the new gear-set in place I realized that there was no filler plug . In '48 the plug is at the rear of the housing not in the side of the carrier as in 49 and up. What makes this a stupid mistake is that I was fully aware of the difference before I started but I substituted the earlier carrier after the job was underway. Removal and some drilling and tapping solved the problem. The new ratio works very nicely. A "sadder Budweiser man arose the morrow morn."

All right, you have certainly done the best anyone could do so far. Now maybe it is time to get creative. What if you adjust the choke so that it only shuts completely when power is applied to the solenoid ? I think your conclusion about the bi metal strip may be correct. If you know who Gus Wilson is, this is a puzzle for him. Gus, originally from Popular Science can now be visited on line in a site hosted by Mike Hammerberg. Great reading !