Polsonator2

Got the oil pan off and inspected rod bearings for piston #3 and #4. #3 looked fair but look at #4. The scoring on the crank looks pretty bad. I haven't looked at the other bearings as this looks like the crank is going to have to come out. Is this something a machine shop can fix? Or will I need a new crank? Here is a picture of #4 rod journal

Put a new oil pump in today, oil pressure seems fine at idle. When I said low on oil, I had left my home with a full 5 quarts plus 1 in the filter so I was full. I ran at high rpms for 36 miles and then 21 miles back before the low pressure came on. I always top off a half quart after 60 miles of driving and it has been consistent like this for 4 years and 34,000 miles of 3000 rpm driving. I also never leave the house without checking the dip stick first to make sure she is full after each trip I take and before I go anywhere. She has always dripped a little oil at highway speeds and occasionally leaves an oil puff of smoke when flooring it at a stop light. She does not leak a drop of oil at stand still. Compression is good and so is vacuum. I have a PCV that may suck a little oil and I think I burn oil from worn valve guides and probably worn rings. Does not constantly smoke. This was the first time where I had an issue and I ended up filling it with maybe a quart or 2 of oil. I was pushing her a little hard up the mountain pass as I had finished rebuilding my stock 3 speed tranny a couple days before. She also heated up to 200 degrees and has a 170 degree thermostat. Was only at 200 degrees because I was going 65 - 70 up a mountain pass grade for a couple miles. When going back to more level surface or downgrades she cooled back to her typical temp of 180 - 195 degrees at highway speeds of 60 - 70. I visually saw the oil pressure go from 40 to 20 at 65 mph. I immediately slowed down and my pressure never went to zero. It went from 40 to 20 and then dropped with rpm drop. It never went back up above 20 and this is where I thought I was hearing a knock or maybe even pinging when I tried bringing her up to 20- 30 mph. If I ran it dry I would imagine I would have zero oil pressure at 65 mph and not 20. Took no chance driving it and car was towed home. Car ran like a brand new top the whole way before the issue and seemed to rev faster and decelerate faster with the new input shaft bearings. Input bearing was bad and had noise in 1st and 2nd. Replaced this and worn thrust washers. Tranny noise completely gone. Also jetted up my primary jet on my weber one jet size as plugs were looking lean. These were the only changes I made. I fired her up today after getting the new oil pump figured out and hear a slight knock or rattle at idle with when cold and it gets a little quieter once warmed up at idle but I can still hear it. Using a stethoscope I can hear the rattle low in the oil pan. When revving it seems to hide it. I drained the oil and saw no metal pieces, flakes, or glitter. I will pull the pan tomorrow and take a look at the main bearings and the rod bearings. My exhaust valves were set at .014 and .09 for intake about a year ago. I leave my exhaust valves loose per the manual for high rpm driving so my valves have always been a little ticky at idle but quiet at speed. Had a little trouble getting my new oil pump and distributor aligned the 1st time. Had it all lined up correctly at 7 o clock but most have moved somehow when inserting the pump. Wouldnt start, got carb backfire. Took out spark plug 1, felt for compression, lined up tdc and rotor at 7 o clock. Still wouldnt start and got carb backfire. Flipped it 180 degrees and it works fine now and rotor is at plug 1 firing position at 7 o clock and timing mark on pulley is tdc. Now though, when using my timing gun, it shows I have like 20 degrees advance. I have distributor turned as retarded as it can and just up a hair or it won't start. I also have vacuum advance plugged. Last time I checked my timing when I set it a year ago it was at 4-7 degrees advance. Not sure why it reads so high. Any thoughts anyone? Fun times! Appreciate all the input!

If it was just the oil pump causing low pressure and if it was replaced is it possible the knock goes away? The pressure is down to 20 at 20- 40 mph. Its not zero but low

I was going down the highway today and noticed my oil pressure started dropping off. Pulled over and checked oil level and it looked like it was way down. Filled it up then got it going, oil pressure stayed low. I also started noticing what appeared to be a faint knock or rattle. Would this be from a bad oil pump or bearings all of a sudden going out? Noise comes on when revving up to about 20 - 30 mph. I have always had good oil pressure at idle and at speed so not sure if something just failed.

I get about 12 - 13 mpg but im spinning at 3000 - 3300 rpms on the freeway cruising at 65 mph - 70 mph. She's thirsty at those rpms.

I run a single weber 32/36 from langdons on my coupe and it runs great! Took a lot of trial and error to get it to run perfect but once I did it was a huge improvement over the rebuilt stock carter BB I had. I did end up going with larger jetting than what tom has in the carb out of the box. I run langdons exhaust headers and a pcv valve set up I put together. Without bigger idle jets, it ran too lean for me. Langdons instructions also says a fuel pressure regulator is not needed but my set up seems to run better with one set to about 4 psi. I have already put 32,000 miles on this setup in just 4 years. I drive this 30 miles to work and back 3-4 times a week on the freeway with stock 3.9 rear end.

Been loading up the bikes for my wife, son, and myself and going to the beach each evening. Amazing what you can fit in the trunk of a business coupe. In Tacoma, WA.

One last thing though that is a negative for pertronix, i am not able to get my 6v westach tachometer to be able to work with it. There are other threads here about that discussion. I was never ever able to get it to work but some may have had success and can chime in here.

Thanks 48ply1stcar! By the way you can always keep your points and related pieces in an altoid box in your glove as a just in case backup!

I've been using a 6v positive ground pertronix in my '39 coupe for 4 years and 30,000 miles later still no issues. I drive this thing 30 miles each way to work a day in 60 - 70 mph traffic no problem. Only time my car ever died was with points. With pertronix you never have to adjust timing again either. I use a $20 bwd E5 6v coil from autozone. I run the stock 3.9 rear end and no overdrive with my 218.

Here is the interior I stitched up for mine

For my 32/36 weber, I just used the adapter that Langdons sells. I think its only like $17-20 bucks. It bolted right onto the stock intake manifold that held my 1 barrel carter carb. I had to do a little filing on the sides of the adapter so I could tighten the bolts down. As I mentioned in my prior post the power gain felt was a lot stronger than the stock carb. I think the smaller primary works better at acceleration up to 2500 - 3000 rpms, then the secondary opens up after that. I am of the opinion that 2 carbs is more cfm than a plymouth 6 needs but I have never drove one with 2 carbs so not sure how they perform on the street. Anyone on the forum with a stock 1 barrel able to keep up with modern street traffic from stop light to stop light and cruise at 65 - 70 with the stock rear end and no overdrive? Before I updated to the Weber I was always worried about keeping up with traffic or merging onto the freeway. I no longer have this issue.

I also use a single 2 barrel weber 32/36 carb from langdons with his split headers and my '39 business coupe runs great! Cruise at 65 -70 on the freeway 30 miles each way to work with stock 3.9 rear end and the 3 speed tranny. Accelerates with regular traffic just fine, very responsive. Jets that came with it worked ok but I put in larger idle, primary, and secondary jets, which made a huge difference in response and power compared to the stock 1 barrel. Always starts warm or cold, uses manual choke. I have put on 30k miles with this set up in 4 years.

Thanks Desoto! I bet my MC is probably having the same problem so i will definitely pull the MC first and rebuild it! I have no rebuild kit. There is a place not far from me (Hagens Auto in Puyallup WA) that specializes in rebuilding old brake components for vintage cars, especially cylinders. Was thinking of getting a full rebuilt one from them and giving mine as a core. Are the kits avail and are they easy to rebuild yourself? I am using DOT4 but I think it may be mixed with DOT3. Aren't these mix compatible?

I was driving a couple blocks from my house this morning and my brakes all of a sudden went out on me (yikes!!). Pedal went to the floor and I was not able to build any pressure up. By miracle, I had fixed my e-brake just a couple weeks ago so was able to slow down and stop, then limp it a couple blocks home using the e-brake. I checked the master cylinder and it was full so no leaks of fluid. I could see the brake linkage working so am suspecting an internal master cylinder fail. Does anyone have any input on what may be going on? All brakes components were replaced a few years ago and car hasn't had any issues. Sometimes over the last couple years the pedal could seem spongy but always built pressure back up after pumping the brakes but having never drove a car with a single master cylinder with no power brakes I figured maybe this was normal.

Merle, I can't even get the tach to work at all with the Pertronix. How do you have yours wired? When it was on points it worked fine. I tried wiring it every which way per some suggestions from the Pertronix Tech support but can't get it to work.

I have a Westach 6 volt positive ground tach but am unable to get it to work with my pertronix unit. Not sure if others have figured this out but here was the thread that I mentioned this in and it seemed others had issues. If anyone figured this out please share. If I can't get it to work I would be willing to sell mine.

I cruise my '39 business coupe on the local freeway at 60 -67 mph 30 miles a day each way to work. She has a 218, 3.9 stock rear end, and no OD. Have already put on 20k miles in 4 years. No issues at all and runs strong. Previous owner cruised it that fast when it had the stock 201, drove it from washington state over passes to wyoming in the 70s. I don't understand why people think they can't cruise faster than 50-55 (unless maybe an extremely tired engine).

'39's all had square headlights from the factory. The round headlights were aftermarket conversions for when sealed beams became available the following year. Mine was one such conversion. It is actually more rare to find ones with the square original light setup.

Here is an interesting article about the yellow metals issue: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.widman.biz/uploads/Transaxle_oil.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj6oZib0MnjAhUnGTQIHdUiBsEQFjALegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw1neW6ilOnAwS-CfNyPIeiR

I experimented with all kinds of gear lube, from tractor supply's ford tractor transmission (sae 90) to royal purple 75w 90 and 75w 140. The one that works best for me is an sae 140 gl4 from oreilly. My synchros would grind occassionally with the royal purple if I shifted too fast from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd and the tractor supply ford transmission gear oil was so so. I also tried the oreilly 85w 140 but the sae 140 works way better. I can now shift as fast as I want with no issues and the synchros feel smooth. Shifting to 1st gear at a stop is smoother now too. My manual for my '39 says use sae 160 or sae 140 in my 3 speed. https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/chemicals---fluids-16461/grease---lube-16582/gear-oil---additives-16905/gear-oil---140w-20063/754ba5cbea99

I use my '39 coupe with a mildly hopped up 218 and stock 3.91 rear end to commute 30 miles each way of freeway driving 3 days a week to work. I also run a 170 degree thermostat, with average engine warmed up temp of 194. She never heats up even when going over mountain passes in warm weather. I cruise at 63 -67 mph and will go up to 70 - 72 to pass. Fastest i got her up to was 76, could probably could go more, however, with heavy traffic and my stock brakes it's not safe. In 3 years I have put over 20k miles on this engine. These things run strong and reliably if in good tune with bolt on hop ups.

I also love my optima 6 volt battery. Had it for 3 years and starts up car almost instantly and has more cold cranking amps than a regular 6 volt battery too. Being a closed dry cell you never have any maintenance required either. Coupled with a 6 volt alternator I never have issues. Having a one wire alternator allows me to not need a voltage regulator either. My voltage regulator now is just used as a junction block. Mounted my battery inside a plastic marine battery box that fits in the stock location under my seat in my '39 coupe.

For my '39 business coupe I just went to the hardware store and spent $20 bucks on black outdoor carpet and cut and fit to shape. I also bought some matching floor mats at Walmart, which set me back another $20.

I drive my '39 business coupe everywhere. In 3 years I have already put 22k miles on it, mostly cruisin highways at 63 - 65 with my stock 3.9 rear end, 3 speed (no OD) and slightly hopped up 218. Just drove it 170 miles each way over mountain passes last weekend to go to a parade in Wenatchee WA. Also drive it 60 miles round trip on freeway to work all the time too. Would drive it every day if gas wasn't $3.49 a gallon here.. Here is a video of her crossing the Narrows Bridge in Tacoma, WA close to where I live: