JerseyHarold

Why not just do the rear main seal and the pan gaskets and call it a day?

Flathead sixes can be difficult to free up. If you go slowly you lessen the chance of breaking anything. Some things to try: Disconnect the timing chain so you're only working on one shaft at a time (cam/crank). For pistons: I've used thin plastic (transparent milky kind, like a bathroom cup) cut to a point to dig crud out from between the top of the piston and the cylinder. Then shoot PB Blaster around the edges of each piston. Cut a block of wood to a cylindrical shape just a little smaller in diameter than the cylinder. Put it on top of each piston and vibrate with a small air impact chisel (without a blade in it). The repetitive shaking should help free things up. Work in short blasts and vary which cylinder you're in. Valves: Take off side covers. Spray PB Blaster around valves, stems, and lifters. Remove as many valves as you can, soak and vibrate the rest, and when they're all out see if the cam turns. Hope this helps.

One of the other 'selling' websites that is supposed to be pretty good is ecrater.com. I opened an account there a while ago but haven't posted anything yet.

When I lived in Staten Island, NY parking was so difficult that the police would not ticket anyone across a residential driveway unless a complaint was made. Most times it was just the owner parking in front of their own house.

I checked Greyhound and their nearest terminal is 45 miles from here. I work right near a Fedex terminal with a customer window so that would be a lot easier....although more expensive...the trick is finding a good-sized box.

Shipping the car is the right way to go. Years ago, I bought a '52 Plymouth Cranbrook that had been sitting for 10 years, and drove it from Queens to Staten Island in NYC. All went well until I lost my brakes on the Verazzano Bridge between Brooklyn and SI. Luckily, I didn't hit anything and managed to get the car home with a lot of downshifting and hand-braking, but it's something I never want to experience again.

Try taking off the side covers and shoot some penetrating oil on the valves and lifters. It can't hurt.

Maybe you can fight the ticket..it doesn't seem right that you should have to pay this fine. Up until the early sixties, New York used a metal 'corner tag' in alternate years for the rear license plate. One day my father found that the corner tag was swiped from the back of our '52 Plymouth, so he reported it stolen and got another one. About six months later, he got a call from the police that they had recovered the tag! Turns out that each tag had a serial number stamped into it, and they stopped a car with our tag on it. All this in pre-computer days. It would make a lot of sense to do the same thing today and print a serial number on the sticker. Thieves would think twice about stealing one.

Someone responded to an online ad I'm running for a fender. The only problem is, he's several states away from here. I'm deciding whether I want to get involved. I know others on the board have had good luck with Greyhound, but I don't think there is a terminal anywhere near where I live. Is one shipper (like UPS or Fedex) easier to deal with than another as far as packing is concerned? Do you have to wrap it in order to ship it, or will a label be good enough? Any thoughts appreciated. I want to let him know my decision in a few days. Harold

Fred, If you get any movement out of the motor at all, it's probably a stuck valve, as others have said. You may want to pull the head again and shoot some PB Blaster into the valve seats, let soak, then tap lightly with a brass hammer to loosen them up. You definitely did not go wrong...just sounds like a little buyer's remorse, which is not unusual after buying something you don't ordinarily purchase. I've got two beat-up, stuck flatheads in my garage, and I wouldn't sell them for twice what you paid.

I've been reading about body adjustment (door fit, etc.) and the factory literature keeps mentioning a 'fiber block' (or wedge). What is it made out of and where would you get one?

The South Carolina car is acknowledged to be a replica. I read that in an article several years ago. You've got a difficult search ahead of you. Some ideas: Have you tried contacting the driver or his family? What about the DMV? Are there any sponsor names on the car? What about the local Mopar dealer in the town or county where the driver lived at the time? Keep us posted on your progress.

Don, Newer vehicles can be a real pain to work on. I very rarely work on my modern cars anymore. Luckily, I have a friend who works at a new car dealership and does side-jobs at home. Have you tried checking your local Craigslist under 'Services Offered' to see if any mechanics advertise there? Another possibility is to check with the auto supply store you patronize and see if they know any mechanics doing sidework. Can never tell who you might find. Best of luck with this project. Harold

There has always been a Mopar in our fleet. I came home from the hospital in my father's 1952 Cambridge, then he bought a new '65 Coronet. When I started driving we had a succession of Plymouths and Dodges that came and went (some got used, some got flipped). We had some '73 Satellite wagons, a few Fury police cars from the early seventies, and a really nice Plymouth Gran Fury undercover car (big-body style like a Dodge St. Regis). Probably should have held onto that one. I also have a '66 Sport Fury convertible languishing in the garage. There has been at least one (usually more) 1951-52 Plymouth here consistently from 1952 to the present, except for a few years in the late sixties-early seventies. We now have an '05 Dodge Grand Caravan that we bought in April......an 'auction special' from the government that was not one of my better deals.....I rant about it on a minvan board.

One other thing to keep in mind is that many 'program' or 'off-lease' cars are really former daily rental cars, many of which originate in Florida. The manufacturers lease them to the big rental companies, so they are not 'technically' lying about the origin of the car, but you have to wonder how carefully the car was driven by its many renters. Ford used to advertise 'former Ford Motor Company vehicles' and they were really ex-rentals. I sold one guy a year-old Lincoln Town Car with a little over 20 thousand miles on it. The car had zero maintenance. When we put it on a lift for the pre-delivery inspection, both front rotors had deep grooves from the rivets cutting into them.

There are check guarantee services that, for a fee, will insure that the dealer will get the amount on the check (sometimes called hammering the check). We would hammer personal checks regularly and without a flinch. As far as dealers accepting cash, a quick story: I sold an older man a new Ford Escort for his granddaughter. He was scheduled (by the business manager, of course) to pick the car up the following day. Before he left the dealership, I jokingly told him to bring the balance in a brown paper bag. Next day, he walked in with a white paper bag full of cash. He apologized for not having a brown one!

I sold new cars years ago, and the basics of the buying transaction are still the same. After buyers signed and gave their deposit, we had to walk them into the 'Business Manager'. These folks made the real money for the dealership......in fact, most business managers I've known would make the sleaziest auto salesperson look like Goldilocks. Anyway, when it comes to auto loans, there is a 'buy rate' that the dealership pays for your money, based on credit worthiness. It's the business manager's job to sell you the money for your loan for the greatest amount possible. Which explains the shenanagins about 'minimum conditions' for an auto loan people have written about here. It's just a ploy to fleece you as much as possible.

The whole program is designed to lure people (some of whom shouldn't be getting into a new car for financial reasons to begin with) into the showrooms to get the economy moving again. The economy is in the toilet because of excessive debt. What happens when you buy a new car? In most cases, you get an auto loan and, VOILA! you're in debt! How does this fix anything?

Congrats!!

I've seen a number of Cranbrooks with original black-painted wheels from the factory, regardless of body color. Might be another case of individual assembly plants doing things differently.

You also have to look at the backspacing of the rim. If the backspace is wrong, the lug bolts will fit but the tire will be too far 'in' and can rub suspension components.

In my experience, 1951-52 Plymouths got pinstriped wheels on Cambridge and Concord because they came with small hubcaps as standard equipment. The Cranbrooks didn't get pinstripes because they came with full wheel covers.

In my experience, flathead sixes are more difficult to un-seize than other engines. As Greg suggested, use a bigger hammer and block of wood.

Ya got me. What is that stuff?? I sent the tank from my '52 to Gas Tank Renu in the mid-nineties and it has been fine ever since. When I took it out of the car, there were huge rotted holes in it. All fixed by them.

Wednesday, huh.....I'll have to see if I can make it.