Los_Control

Not just any sedan, this was the late president's daily driver and road-trip car—and apparently the same one he took on a famous 19-day road trip after leaving office. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a40423290/1955-chrysler-new-yorker-for-sale-harry-truman/

I remember several years ago my great Gandpappy selling me a 52 pilothouse truck with a plymouth engine in it .... He told me it was original, just at the end of the year they would use up whatever was on the shelf to get ready for next years vehicles. No idea if there was a lick of truth to it, but it sounded good coming from the old shyster he was Seems with the 230 it will replace a 218, depending on the transmission the 218 may not replace a 230?

Just a warning to be careful on pricing here when you purchase the truck. There is no bed? Not a deal breaker. No grill bars .... ouch, What else is missing? ...... Almost sounds like it was used for a parts truck in the past. I'm only bringing up these 2 items because of replacement cost & total value of the finished project. For a project truck I paid $1800 which technically is too much for it ... But it was exactly what I was looking for so I paid it. It was very complete with all grill bars, had a low side bed which was not very common & a bonus, with some work I can yard drive it. I'm still very happy I bought it. On Ebay the occasional grill bars that come for sale are from $600 in poor shape to $900 in good shape. I have often seen used tailgates in the $300-$450 price range .... The body parts are available from DCM https://dcmclassics.com/16-Bed-Parts Look at the price of a new tailgate, or 1 bedside at $850 .... Just not realistic to think about restoring a rough parts truck to a trailer queen. On the other hand, If you can pick up a decent cab/chassis with drivetrain that needs everything. For maybe around $500 depending on what all is missing. I would not be thinking to install original parts like grill or bed, I would be trying to think of creative ways to replace them. With all that said, How much do they want whats your plans How much is missing We need more info .... & pics

That really sounds like a poor ground issue or would be the first place I would look. The 6 volt pertonix is that still positive ground? Does not matter just curious. I do not know where your ground wire connects to the vehicle ... on my truck it is from the battery to the transmission. I'm trying to think what is factory for me should also apply to your car ... I think we should have a ground from the battery to the engine/transmission, A ground strap from the engine to the frame, and another strap from the engine to the body. .... I really do not know if this is correct but when I rewire mine I will wire it this way. Just possible the ground connection from the battery to the engine/transmission you installed years ago was borderline of corrosion & going to cause you this issue anyways ... soon. Just saying the very first thing I would do is clean all the ground connections. The wire to the block, to the frame, to the cab. That may or may not fix your problem. Your issue is a symptom of a bad ground. If it does not fix your issue, now when we pull out the test equipment we know we have good connections to get good test results. Who knows, maybe your battery is starting to take a crap on you and no longer has the CCA it needs .... Does putting the battery on a charger help before starting? First thing I would do is clean all grounds ... probably put the battery on the charger while doing this .... just by watching the needle on the charger I will know if it is low or not.

While I have no experience with dot5 thought I would do a little reading on it out of curiosity. I do not think there is a right or wrong here. For @belvedereexample seems to work well for them. Also seems to be moisture condensation that causes a big issue. I think the climate you live in & how dry it is will play a big part .... such as a motorcycle. Sure we all have got caught in the rain from time to time .... typically a motorcycle is parked in a garage and driven on dry days .... Will probably never collect moisture. The big issue with seals is from properly flushing the system of dot 3/4 to switch to 5. Mixing the 2 the fluid will turn into a gel. Seems it is the seals & rubber pieces that are the most difficult to flush. The master cylinder & hard lines are quick & easy to flush. You need to keep flushing it to get all the droplets from the rubber pieces. Flushed properly it is not a problem for seals .... just seals make it harder to flush. Because dot5 does not absorb moisture, the water will collect in a lower portion of the system and will cause rust/corrosion in those spots. Because dot3/4 does absorb moisture .... the moisture mixed with fluid will not cause rust/corrosion. The soft pedal from dot 5 is from the brake fluid heating up after driving, getting everything up to operating temp the brake fluid gets hot. The pockets of water turn to steam causing the soft pedal. Brake fluid can not stop water from getting into the lines ... Dot5 simply will not mix with the water so your water puddles up on the low side. According to the author of this article on why they do not recommend dot5 with their brake systems. https://techtalk.mpbrakes.com/brake-fluid/can-i-use-dot-5 A good test of the writers theory. .... We need to flush our brake fluid every few years just as good maintenance. Check out your brakes pay close attention to the firmness of the pedal ... best if they are properly adjusted first but still, Drive it and heat them up and pay attention to the firmness of the pedal with the brakes good and warmed up. Now flush some fresh fluid through them and refill with dot5, take it out and warm them up and check out the firmness .... Is it the same? Is it more firm? According to the author the water turns to steam as the fluid heats up .... So you need to drive it and heat the brakes up, around the block will not work for a accurate test. I have no idea how your results would be. If the Author is correct, you just flushed your water out and now your brakes should be firmer, til more condensation collects. Or if the brakes do not change .... Maybe his story carries no water? ??? The only good point for dot5 out of the article was .... dot5 does not eat paint. So if you have a nice paint job, that alone could be the clincher to use dot5. Yeahhh ... that leaves me out.

Will have nothing to do with a dual carb setup .... either you have a clean fuel source or you create one .... the gas tank does not care how many carbs it is feeding.

My thoughts ... Looking at the gunk in the master cylinder, I would be concerned about the bore on the cylinder. Clean it up & just pay special attention to the cylinder for rust & pitting, How far will you have to Hone it to make it work properly? Not trying to scare you, just maybe a 50/50 chance it is good or bad ... throw the dice and take a look. I put my master cylinder into a bucket of Berrymans carburetor cleaner & let it soak for a day or 2. Then gave it a light hone and new rubber parts. I think you could probably use some Brake cleaner spray to look at the bore before you spend much time on it. New master cylinders are available, there is also a possibility of having your old one bored & sleeved with a new stainless steel sleeve to repair it ... so do not throw it away. The brake lines, I would say if you can buy a kit of pre-formed lines and they actually fit ... go for it. For my truck I bought the rubber lines from Rockauto was common and cheap. I bought straight steel lines from local parts store, I used my old lines for patterns & bent the new lines to match, cut to length & re did the ends. My front brakes are completely new Hydraulically from wheel cylinders, rubber lines, hard lines all the way to my rebuilt master cylinder. Is a bit of a pita bending the steel lines .... But very doable if you have the old ones complete for patterns. Now I need to do the rear brake lines and I can not buy anymore steel lines in town I have to order so I ordered nickel/copper ... nicop. It is so much easier to work with, will or should last longer then steel. It comes in a roll. Here is a quick & simple trick to straighten it out. Drill a hole the same size of the line width wise through a 2x4 then pull the line through. You will end up with a really straight line, you need 3' pull out 3' & cut it. Then lay it next to your pattern line and bend it by hand to match. Will be really easy to bend up a professional looking line by hand in just a few minutes. Now take note in my photo what not to do. This is 5/16" line & I drilled a 1/2" hole just because that was what was handy. You can see it is not terrible but is not straight on the right side, The tighter the hole the straighter the line coming out the other side. Starting out with a line that looks like a snake kinda looks a bit amateurish. Starting with a straight line then gently adding the curves needed makes it look much better imho. Brake lines tucked into the frame under the car, looks may not matter to some ... some it would. Imagine creating fuel lines for a duel carb setup, Highly noticeable. Start out with a nice straight piece, then use pipe to bend the line around for shape & form .... you could come up with a masterpiece that looks like a professional built it. If you make a boo boo, you can always run the line back through the 2x4 to straighten it back out and start over. You can not do that with steel. I understand today we are just talking about getting working brakes. As you get further into the project, there are different sizes of lines. The brake & fuel lines are probably the same size 5/16" Except for the line going across the rear axle I'm guessing is 3/16"? Do you have electric or vacuum wipers? There is another line. There is the vacuum advance line from the Distributor to the carb. You have the oil filter lines & oil pressure gauge line .... I'm only trying to say, I started with steel lines from the beginning, now midstream I'm switching to nicop. If I had do overs I would have started with nicop in the first place.

I would entertain the idea of rebuilding them. At least pull them apart and look at the cylinder walls. I bought my wheel cylinders from here. .... I wanted to rebuild mine but they were simply too far gone after sitting for many years. https://dcmclassics.com/25-Brake-Parts?p=2 I was able to rebuild my master cylinder though which was a bonus. When I was 16 I had a job at a Texico gas station and I was often told to rebuild the wheel cylinders ... while the mechanics did all the shoes, drums, springs etc... I would disassemble them, clean them up with a rag with the cylinders still bolted to the backing plate. If they got removed they were replaced. If they looked good I would then use fluids and a hone to clean the bores up. The piston & springs all got cleaned up. I replaced the rubber cup with a new rubber cup. We had a small metal cabinet hanging on the wall, open it up and it was simply filled with all the different sizes of rubber cups. The decision was made by how pitted the cylinders were. If not too bad just hone them enough to clean them. Install the same size cup in them. If minor pitting, hone the crap out of them then go to the next size larger rubber cup. We never went more then 1 size larger. If we put it back together and they leaked, we replaced the complete wheel cylinder. We did not replace the spring, or the pistons, we cleaned, honed, replaced the rubber cups & that was it .... if they needed more they were replaced with new wheel cylinders. That was how we did it in the 1970's I see DCM at todays prices selling the cups for $2.50 each. So $10 to go through all 4 wheel cylinders + the brake hone tool and fluids like spray oil & brake clean ... If the existing cylinders are not leaking, chances are a good clean and new rubber cups & be like new again. The one that is leaking will need special attention.

Do you know what was done to the brakes the last time they were worked on? Keep the shoes thats fine. If someone replaced all 4 wheel cylinders 3 years ago with the current aftermarket parts .... one is now leaking .... then maybe just replace the one. If they were last worked on 15 years ago and now 1 is leaking, I would want to work on all 4.

1, I agree with PA on this. Depending on your vehicle, sometimes you will have 2 wheel cylinders per wheel, 4 wheel cylinders for both left & right. It is kinda the norm to repair brakes per axle, not per wheel. ... So if the right wheel cylinder is leaking, possible next week the left will start leaking ... do both sides and all wheel cylinders. 2, It is worth it if yours are worth rebuilding. If yours are older original type wheel cylinders. .... If your current wheel cylinders are recent china replacements and leaking ... probably not worth rebuilding. 3, no idea. 4, no idea without looking, 5, PA got it right again 6, Bonus answer .... If you do go with replacing the wheel cylinders. Save the old ones for now. There has been some discussion about possibly the rods in the new cylinders are not the same length as the old .... some may have adjustment problems with the new cylinder push rods, I would compare them with your old before installing.

First thing to do is check over the other guys work, make sure it is safe. You have not looked at it yet ... I'm not doubting their work .... just suggesting to take a good look at it. I really like the flannel cloth idea. I have been Watching DD speed shop And the 55 chubby they took to the power tour this year. They used a red & white checkered vinyl .... looks like a table cloth at a picnic .... I love it because it was cheap and they did it themselves. I really like your idea with flannel better, is cloth & easier to work with. I remember back in 1987, it was kinda Kool to jack up my 1969 mustang fastback with air shocks & L60-15 tires. Just suggesting your Chrysler on the Chubby frame seems to have her rear end up in the air .... Not suggesting it is a bad thing, just something I might look at with options to lower it. I really have to add the 48-50 truck front end was the best ever made. You do you and have fun doing it.

I still have to purchase rubber for all of my windows myself. I will simply share my thought process on buying rubber for my truck with a 2 piece windshield with a center bar. I do not know what Andy is selling, I have in the past looked at many suppliers & they sell a windshield rubber kit in multiple pieces. Steeles windshield rubber is all molded into 1 piece. I can go to Amazon and order a 50' roll of generic auto/marine window rubber gasket for a reasonable price. I can replace every window in my truck with it. I would have no issues I believe sealing the back window or corner windows would not be bad. I could also do the front windshield .... I just feel it would leak, I would fix that leak then 6 months later would be another leak .... I would be chasing leaks for years. I think I would be better off spending the extra money for a 1 piece molded gasket. Does Andy sell a 1 piece? I do not know. I could be wrong here. I skimp on price every chance I can .... The windshield gasket is one area I would not want to skimp on.

When I first hooked up my spring I was a bit confused (as usual) I was expecting the carburetor to be at idle with no spring. Actually carb goes to WOT with no spring, the spring holds it at idle. Could be bad news if driving and the spring breaks. While you are surprised, can you get the engine shut down and out of traffic safely before the engine is damaged? While the 2nd spring going from the linkage to the inner fender, may not look sexy or clutters up the engine bay .... It is a nice insurance policy to have a backup spring in case 1 breaks. Makes me wonder why some trucks had them but not all of them?

I will only add that these swaps have been done for decades with custom cars. Not necessarily Desoto to Chrysler .... Real common custom car swap is a car front end mounted to a truck. Been done at least since the 50's. I'm with you all the way, if you can do it reasonably priced to make it work ... GO FOR IT! As you say it already has been swapped onto a Chubby truck frame .... Not a bad thing in my opinion. My only opinion is to 1, Enjoy the process .... if you are not having fun maybe try gardening. 2, Make it safe to drive. With the frame swap we are talking sbc motor, transmission auto / manual of your choice ... Disk brakes improved suspension. .... Just make sure everything is done correctly, safely. This actually could be a beater with a heater, you can jump in it and drive it anywhere ... May be the most fun & cheapest car you own to drive. I'm with you 100% just have fun & make it safe ..... Naturally pics & updates are mandatory .... we love pics

Hello Don never talked with you before. I certainly appreciate what you are doing. I was really sad when my Uncle passed away and as you said, his kids came in and just gave everything away for scrap. I wish I were closer, I would save them just to give to others that can use them as the time comes up .... I'm in Texas and can not help. I sure hope someone saves them to keep them out of the scrap yard. Either way Don, I hope you stay comfortable ... we can only do so much, no sense in getting upset over things we can not control.

iirc, years ago there were only 2 sizes of rubber valve stems. The standard size which you are seeing on your other 2 rims, then there was a fatter one that should work for you. Although they are made for a round hole, I have read where they have worked for the oblong holes for others. Technically your wheels were made to be used with tubes and oblong was the norm. If for some reason the large stems do not seal for you, I would not put any sealer in them to help seal. When I was working with passenger tires 40 years ago, the products sold would work, they just created a mess inside the tires. Would almost be impossible to clean them enough to add a tire patch if needed. Would also cause rust & corrosion on the wheels ... just created a mess. Who knows maybe the products sold today are better? I do not know. I use slime in my bicycles & riding lawnmower tires .... would not use it in my car or truck. Just my personal opinion. Possibly if the large stems do not seal for you .... I think they will. I might entertain the idea of welding the holes closed or just smaller, then drill them out to the size for smaller stems you could purchase or get at any tire shop. For the simple reason the large stems available are short & fat, they are made for trucks or tractors with no hub caps, you can use a extension cap on them to get through a hubcap ..... I'm just thinking if you need to spend time working on it, fix it right so you do not need to mess with it again next time.

Lots of good advice posted above. Something to remember is if the oil pump for any reason has been removed .... To install the oil pump it needs to be exactly like the book says or your rotor will be pointing to a different wire on the cap as planned. Same time if you used paper to find tdc compression on #1 cyl, rotor is pointing at 7:00 o'clock position .... that sounds like correct factory timing.

You will be fine

@Rodney_Hamon Follow me for more great tips .... I found draining the oil out of the wife car before a shopping trip, she very happy you buy new tools to fix it with. Just saying with a 1987 Ford E350 I could get close to Santa Fe, & by the time I did I was hoping I could just limp back to Albuquerque. For years I worked in town . Just going up to the foot hills of the Sandias my van would run like crap. A lot of people talk about Denver Colorado & their mile high city, they do not count all the other cities that are higher then 1 mile. Albuquerque is one ... Santa Fe is another. By the time you climb from ABQ to SANTA FE, you will be lucky if your carburated car will run.

@Rodney_Hamon A quick cure would be to use a carburated tow vehicle to go to Santa Fe to pick it up. By the time you left Albuquerque for Santa Fe .... By the time you get there, you would have 6 out of 8 spark plugs fouled from the altitude change. You simply would just avoid picking up cars in Santa Fe

I think the @FarmerJon nailed it with staking the pin .... nice twist with using the original pin if it is possible. While I have never been adventurous enough to finish & drive my project. Over the years I have read about others with the pin backing out on new fuel pumps. Staking it is the key. I would like to try a analogy I think fits. Many if not all auto parts stores sell champion spark plugs. There is only one manufacturer of Champion spark plugs. Autozone or Napa has no quality control over Champion spark plugs. They just sell the product they are provided with. I bought my fuel pump from Napa, in reality I wonder who made it and put Napa name on the box? We have very few vendors that sell flathead 6 parts, even fewer that manufacture flathead 6 parts for the vendors to sell ... We need to support them if we can.

Yeah Vinegar wont fix that Yet again, get er did and Vinegar will be a nice icing on the cake.

I agree 100% @FarmerJon. I bet I could pour some muriatic acid in that block and clean it up, clean as a whistle. Same time it would destroy all the machined bearing surfaces & cylinder bores. .... Destroy the engine. Same time we have newer products available ..... They will be easier on the engine ..... not necessarily on our brass radiators or heater cores. So we have vinegar .... It takes longer, we need patience .... but it will not harm our old cars. Next week we will be talking about 15% ethanol in our gasoline .... Sigh!

I'm not a expert in anything .... I feel and have created my own opinion ... More then I know from proven facts. IMHO, anyone that knows how to remove a distribution tube would want to slide a flat bar through it with a hook on the end to catch the tube and pull it out. When you find the minerals are so thick through the tube you can not slide a bar through it. I'm kinda guessing it is dissimilar metals that may aggravate the the issue. Same time here in West Texas we have the hardest water I have ever seen ... Moved here from New Mexico which also has hard water ... not like this though. The real issue I had to use a hammer to drive the bar through the minerals .... Then hook a chain to it and some weight to pull the bar back out. Then manually chiseled away at the minerals to clean it out the best I could. I do not think any chemical would remove those minerals. The tube needs replaced .... I feel more then I know, I would need to hollow out the tube in order to pull it out anyways. .... I would like to drive it a bit and access the engine before I pull it out .... In my mind manually clearing the tube was not a waste of time ... the engine now runs cool. Has been known for decades about the casting sand left over in engines from when they were poured in the foundry. A quick simple test is to open the petcock on the side of the block to drain the coolant. Typically the sand gathers here as it is the lowest point of the block. If you open the petcock and have good flow, probably no sand in the engine. .... If you remove the petcock & still have no flow, is full of sand and vinegar would not fix this. You need to manually remove the soft plugs and remove the sand. If you have a stuck T-stat, vinegar will not fix this. On the other hand, the vinegar I use is 4% acidity ... sold at the grocery store more for a cleaner then something you want to cook with at 2% acidity. I think it was $2 a gallon. I "feel" if a person goes through the process of making sure all the mechanical's of the cooling system are working as they should be .... The vinegar will be a great asset to help remove any loose rust & scale in the block just to complete and finish off your hard efforts on cleaning the cooling system. Vinegar will not fix your T-stat, I feel it is worthwhile using because it will not damage our Brass or aluminum radiators.

Yeah back in the day 5 years ago, a coffee pot would last 5 years and we would clean them with 50/50 vinegar. Today they wear out before we can clean them. Vinegar certainly will not manually remove minerals from a vehicle .... It certainly would not hurt it either .... Is a long & slow process.