Los_Control

There you go, take care of them and they have the potential to run a real long time. One problem with the JD, is the electrical. Mine needs a new ignition switch. On the JD it is actually on a circuit board that doubles as a fuse box ... all the electric runs through it. So a $12 ignition switch just turned into a $150 OEM part replacement. I dunno, maybe the sears is the same way ... I have not looked. I just installed a push button on the jd to start it. .... My plans have changed since I picked up this pile of junk. My next stage on the JD is to pull the motor & lift off the body. Hit all the lubrication points, new brake pads, change oil in the transmission, new fuel lines .... has a noisy bearing on the pto. .... New wiring. .... It works fine just the way it is now. So I'm thinking to just pull the body off of the Sears mower and go through it. They have plastic fuel tanks, no rust issues but may need cleaned. They have a single disk brake on the rear axle .... simple to deal with. Hit all the lubrication point, get all the doo dads moving freely. Belts & bearings. Do something with the paint ... I like the color combo but new paint ... new seat, new shift knobs. I figure to have between $200-$400 depending on paint & cosmetics. If I get another 20 years out of it will work for me. May be the oldest mower on the block .... I'm fine with that. My neighbor is connected with some race cars, use to do his test & tuning in front of my house till the police got on him. I assume he is mechanically inclined .... He is on his 3rd mower in 4 years .... buys them used & wont work on them .... run em til they drop & replace. I feel no shame driving a old mower that works well. The parts are cheap enough, just labor & time that cost.

Thats a good find for information .... That girl is pretty solid on her advice, I have watched many of her videos. Seems to be after the fact, after the machine is already bought. Seems to be poorly built .... the steering really does look funky .... but with maintenance can be ok? I try to joke about my 30 year old mower. I feel like it was built pretty well ... with maintenance it will work a long time. Parts are available cheap. It is a 38" John Deere .... Again I have less then $400 into this mower & it works like new. $100 to get it working, then $300 over the next 3 years to improve it. Not pretty but it does the job. I use it all year long if not mowing I pull a trailer behind it. I have a Sears Craftsman 42" mower given to me for free. The problem with the machine was it cut terrible. So it sat for 5 years and they gave it to me. When I loaded it up, I noticed the blades were installed upside down. Then it needs a wheel bracket welded back on. Just basic issues. Thats my goal, restore/repair the Sears Craftsman 42" ..... It really is built better then the John Deere. I like manual transmissions because I can mow while backing up. .... Only experience I had with a Auto trans you had to shut off the mower deck or flip a switch to back up. Problem is time. I thought it would be a quick pull the body off, go through the bearings, fuel system, lubrication points .... clean & paint .... will be a great mower to last years ... I simply can not find the time .... while trying to work on a old Dodge truck, keep the daily driver going. ..... I need to sharpen the blades on the JD mower now ... after I just installed new wheel bearings & fresh oil .... just never find time to work on the next project. I do not think I would spend much $$ on the rear engine mower showed .... I would toss $$ into a old mower instead .... But I am retired & have time for nonsense.

I love it!

Yes I also like seeing this old type of auto repairs. I like to watch some of JonathanW work on youtube with his old steam engines. He posted a couple videos on how he makes his babbit bearings. Here is one of them .... not sure what is included in it. I have watched one video where he shows how he picks the junk metal to melt down to come up with his own recipe for bronze. Not really high tech, but works for the RPM his old engines work at.

Thinking the rear bumper was a option. So some would not have them. I do not like the bumper previous owner put on mine ... it is what it is. Big chunk of 6" angle iron welded to the frame. Right now would be a good time to change it. ..... Something is better then nothing. .... I'm going to leave it for now. That is a future Fred problem. Your truck is too nice to have a bumper like mine .... I have some 2.5" pipe sitting around, Clean it up & paint it, put some end caps on it. you could use that I was talking to a engineer one time while he was replacing a brass screw block on a $100k piece of equipment. I asked why do they make the block out of brass, when you know it will wear out? He replied, it is a sacrificial piece. The 8' threaded shaft is way more expensive to replace then the block .... I learned from that statement. IMHO, your rear bumper is the sacrificial piece. It is way cheaper & easier too touch up the paint on it, then repair a ding in the tailgate or match up body paint ... replace a broken tail light. Just depends how you will use the truck .... A simple mistake backing up at the grocery store could cause hundreds of $$ damage, or a scratched bumper.

driveshaft looks good now ... you ready to do mu u-joints? I'm thinking not engaged. When mine was out of adjustment, I had to push it all the way to the floor. I could feel the difference from just stretching out the spring & the very last 1" it got harder to press as it was engaging the clutch. I'm just thinking you should be able to feel the difference in spring tension & when the pressure plate is actually engaging. After adjusting mine, I can now feel a few inches of spring travel then the pressure plate is activated .... no longer need to push it all the way to the floor. I feel like I adjusted it too much, now need to back it off a bit. You should feel the 2 stages of tension when putting in the clutch.

I wonder if it is true? I hear cork gaskets need to be soaked in oil before installation. On modern engines I have been able to get rubber gaskets far superior to cork. Old wife tale says to soak them in oil for 24 hours then install them .... they swell up & seal better. I dunno. I always liked the rubber gaskets when I could find them.

I wish you luck. When I rebuilt my MC, I spent a whole day chasing down leaks with the new lines & getting pressure too them. Then I replaced the old MC because it failed with my rebuild with a newer 2 stage MC. I then chased leaks for a day on the new improved brake lines. Been a couple weeks now .... I turned the truck around in the driveway ..... I noticed two separate leaks that are a easy fix. Just a few drips then stopped .... but 2 weeks after installing the lines. ...... Never over until it is over.

NO NO NO! This will never work for a owner of a 1938 Chrysler. You need the 30 year old 1994 mower for all the experience it will give you. You just cant imagine the hours of fun you will have driving a old mower. My 1994 John Deere I paid $35 for it. The starter was ok, but a kid took it apart & it never worked since. It actually has a Kawasaki engine .... with a new battery & starter it runs well. The Deck was rusted out .... good practice patching it back up. I never seen blades so worn out ..... is only a 38" mower but gets through my gate from the barn to the front yard. The deck bearings all needed replaced .... I probably have $200-$300 in this mower .... I really like the fact it has a manual transmission .... I have bad feelings about about the automatics. I did make a hood for it ..... 1994 they were plastic and all of them disintegrated. New blades, battery, starter, bearings , body & paint ... a couple tires .... It runs & performs like a new machine. Yeah it goes slow .... I mow in 1rst gear. If I drive faster in 2nd gear It cuts terrible. I realize if I increase the rpm the blades turn faster .... will cut better at high speeds ..... I just have a comfortable rpm I like to run the engine at. So I putt around in 1rst gear slow speed & cut the grass. .... works for me. Is fun to watch the new zero turn mowers with large motors on them ..... looks like a carnival ride watching them go back & forth. My 30 year old mower never misses a lick .... I just putt around on it & get the job done.

Lots of different gasket sealers .... I'm not suggesting it is the correct fix. When I suggest it might be adequate I'm thinking of this product here. Just what I have used for gaskets for years ... A brown gooie shellac that dries. I'm not thinking of silicone products. Along the line of using pipe dope or Teflon tape tape to seal head bolts going into water passages. The bolts & threads are good, they get a lot of torque .... they still leak if no sealer on them. So I think it is a legitimate cure .... not mickey mouse. Yet I do not know what would be the best product. This is just my usual go to that I have a few bottles around.

There is a trick I learned years ago. Use a $1 bill over the tail pipe exit. The idea is that a engine is a air pump, it should push the $1 bill straight out. The only reason the bill would flap back & forth is if the valves are not seating. .... sucking air back up the tail pipe ..... should not happen. Just a quick & dirty test to check your valves. My engine has sat for many years .... it runs ok in the driveway .... Because I'm married ... I do not have a $1 bill in my wallet .... I used a piece of notebook paper to try the test. It flapped back & forth so fast it tore the paper in 1/2. My valves are not seating ... will cause a rough idle and poor reading on plugs for those cylinders. For me that is a future Fred problem I will fix. .... for now I get by running in the driveway. A quick & dirty test to check your valves.

I honestly have never worked with this type or your u-joints. ..... Or my Cleveland U-joints .... will be a learning experience for me. My 1991 chebby, you press in the cap & then there is a snap ring that holds the cap in place. They have to be totally inserted all the way in order to get the snap ring in place. There is no way to install them wrong ..... unless you are me and 1 of the needle bearings is not set proper & you beat it into submission. There should be some clip or ring that holds the cap in place ..... I have never worked on this style of u-joint before .... so I do not know. The u-joint is obviously off center ... only a 1/16" or 1/8" .... that would cause the off balance you see in your video. You will have to correct this. It could be all your problem, or just get you closer to fixing your problem.

Good eye @Sam Buchanan Is this what you are seeing?

I have a pair of vise grips clamped on the frame, then some bailing wire creating a loop for a spring to hook too ..... until I get the floor back in. The only way the u-joint could cause your issue is if it was frozen & not rotating freely. @kencombs is correct suggesting to look at the flange .... Your u-joints look terrible .... as they are they would self destruct in a few years or a few thousand miles. The brown rust with fresh grease creates mud. I think NOS parts is great for many things .... I personally have not heard anyone complain about quality of modern u-joints. Yours look absolutely terrible for being nos. You need to clean them up, make sure there is no pitting on the shaft or needle bearings then assemble them & re-install .... meaning you need to press them out from the drive line to accomplish this. Not a big deal to clean them & inspect ..... A typical u-joint is maybe $10-$15 ? Only suggesting I might just buy new ones if they are a reasonable price. In my truck I have Cleveland u-joints. Cheapest replacements I know about is on ebay for $101 each + shipping. I only hope mine look as good as yours when I remove them to clean & inspect. .... I will be cleaning mine & hoping they are usable. Or I may go deeper with a rear end & drive line swap .... To avoid $100 u-joints in the future.

Interesting oil leak ..... I can imagine how it could leak ..... 70 year old engine & bolts. I assume the threaded hole is exposed to oil on the other end. I think the torque on these bolts is really low. Over torque a cork gasket and cause a different leak or distort the flat edge of the pan. Possibly a new bolt would fix it, or maybe some gasket sealer on the threads of the bolt. Maybe it will go away with a few heat cycles .... just double check the bolt is snug. Glad to see progress

I still say IF! a u-joint was frozen, it would not rotate as it should. Pinion angle is important .... I think your jack stands are under the axle ... basically as good as it gets with the weight you have. Imagine if the jack stands were under the frame & the axle hanging down .... That would change the pinion angle a lot. The pinion angle will affect it at driving speeds. .... not so much while sitting on jack stands with weight on the axle. Your problem appears to be at the front u-joint. That yoke needs to move freely The u-joint needs to move freely. The plate the u-joint bolts to, needs to sit flat & flush. The output shaft from the transmission needs to be straight & true. If you remove the drive line from the transmission, then run it again .... you can see if it still happens at the end of the transmission where u-joint connects. Then remove the The connection there & check the run out on the tail shaft ..... Systematically 1 piece at a time you can find the issue here.

There you go! Installing fresh U-joints & grease a few months ago you know the condition of the drive line ..... IMHO, you have to know that is correct before looking elsewhere. Seems something is not sitting flat as it should .... You have a wonderful opportunity for improvement here .... You get to take it apart & do it again Just to be fair, 2 or 3 years ago I put new u-joints, carrier bearing in my daily driver 2 piece drive shaft. I screwed up the front u-joint installing it. It worked but did give some vibration & howled .... 6 months later I replaced it ... again. I do not think that is a good idea. ..... If the rear end is a limited slip like I think ours is, the wheel that spins is chosen by traction .... If you add traction to the left wheel it will spin.

I'm only suggesting, if you drive through Roswell you will see items like this. There is one display 20-30 feet tall downtown advertising the "Aliens" ..... But a smaller item like @Ulu is showing ..... could be on any counter in Roswell. So naturally we think of Roswell ..... Still a cool item ..... Value of item I could not guess. I would expect several of them in Roswell .... same time are survivors valuable?

I can toss out a couple opinions on the drive shaft ..... A: ... it kinda wants a load on it, sitting on jackstands ... no body, no weight ..... the pinion angle is not where it would normally be. B: When is the last time you greased the u-joints & the yoke? I get it, all looks nice and new .... Are those u-joints brand new 20 years ago with 20 year old grease in them? My truck does something similar but not as bad as yours ... when I let out the clutch, I can see it divert off of a straight path .... Breaks my heart I know I need to take the drive line out, including the yoke .... clean everything and add fresh grease . As Sam says, the front U-joint looks stiff & not moving/rotating as it should. My truck uses Cleveland U-joints $110 each on epay .... I will try to take mine apart and clean & grease them .... same with the yoke, make sure it slides smooth. KK funny story time. I had a old Toyota car that just ran great and we drove it often. Paid $300 for it at a auction .... pooched quarter panel & a blue door on a red car.. After driving it for years with giving it no maintenance. A u-joint actually froze up on it. The symptoms were, you drive it and give it the gas .... would seem fine .... let off on the gas and the rear end would bounce all around rolling up to a stop light. I actually swapped in a new rear end because I thought that was the issue. Then I got smart, pulled the driveline back out ... rotated the u-joints by hand & found the frozen one. Replaced it & drove the car another 5 years. A stiff u-joint will cause the issue you are seeing. Could be other things but first thing to check. A dried up or non working accelerator pump will cause your other issue with acceleration.

This is the only time I use starting fluid. Spray a short shot .... if it starts or tries to start .... fuel issue. If no change, then electrical. You can pour gas in the carb .... maybe get it flooded & no change so you end up getting a false diagnoses. I'm only suggesting, if you give it a whiff of either .... If spark & timing is correct, it will start. .... there is no maybe about it. If it makes no difference you look for a spark or timing issue. It is a very simple, quick & dirty diagnostic tool. You do not want to try & keep the engine running on the starting fluid .... by starting it and spraying more while running. It will tell you very quickly which direction to start searching.

Time is getting short .... get your bids in now!

I love the honesty. When I was 17, I had a 1969 mustang fastback .... base model 351 2brl/fmx transmission. I got 22mpg with the car. I installed L60-15 tires on the rear. Had to use air shocks to get the body to clear the tires. .... I do not remember the brand .... were raised white letters. I had the yellow traction bars mounted underneath & a 7" pro stock hood scoop on front. .... just the style of the times. .... makes me cringe today thinking of it. As a 17 year old kid I thought it was cool ... today I think I would be embarrassed to share photos of it.

Sometimes my reading comprehension is not so good. I was assuming they were out test driving the vehicle, while driving the temp was still creeping up. That is the real question, are we sitting in the driveway or out driving to test? Over 30 mph the stock fan is not really doing anything. Our old mopars have a non pressurized cooling system. ..... We like em big! ? Wonder when we started running a pressurized system .... 1960 with the slant 6? I would have to look it up, just a WAG. Along with the modern pressurized systems came smaller radiators. The big ol brass monsters were no longer needed. @kencombs what about slapping a 6 pound cap on it? Cheaper & easier then modifying a fan. I would not suggest on a oem system .... The heater core has already been recored .... I assume it will accept pressure. The radiator is not oem .... should be fine ..... what else would need to be changed? @D35 Torpedo Nobody asked if you are using a pressurized cap .... our cars do not use them. What cap are you using?

Just thinking out loud, seems we know your current radiator is not original ..... curious if it is brass or aluminum? Wonder how thick it is? Is it a 2 row or a 3 row? ..... I just checked Champion Radiators, They have a pretty decent reputation. 1952 Plymouth radiator ..... they are out of stock on 2 row. .... they have a 3 row for $244 USD ..... + shipping to Canada If nothing else, you can use these dimensions from a replacement radiator for your car, see how they compare to your existing radiator. You say it flows pretty good, fairly clean no crud coming out .... it just may not have enough capacity. Champion All Aluminum Radiator 3-Row Core | Cools up to 500hp Radiator Dimensions: Total: 24.5" tall x 23.5” wide (including brackets) Core: 18.5" tall x 20.13" wide x 2" thick Inlet: 1.75" Center Outlet: 1.5" passenger side Tanks: 3.13" thick (top) 2.5" (bottom) Tubes: 0.63" thick https://www.championradiators.com/Plymouth-P15-P18-P19-P20-P23-3-row-radiator-1949-1952# I have a very similar aluminum radiator am installing in my truck. Champion charges $70 if you want yours polished .... they look nice in someone else's car. I'm going to paint mine satin black, will look original enough for me.

Does sound like more then you might expect. But hey, thats why your in there checking it over. I would say a rule of thumb, keep checking until they stop moving. Would be a good chance the next time you check, you will get no more movement .... then 3 times is enough. If you get some movement on a couple bolts the 3rd time .... then I would check it a 4th time. As a rule, 3 times is enough. If you are getting movement on the 4th or 5th time .... I would start questioning the accuracy of the tool, the quality of the bolts .... something is up. To get movement on the 2nd round is perfectly normal.