DrDoctor

Brad, Obviously, that locksmith just doesn’t want to deal with an old lock, and in the case, I’d say “to he!! with him”, he doesn’t need your hard-earned money. Besides, it’s not like he’s the only locksmith in the world. Best regards . . . .

I put an AC canister-type filter in the fuel line before the fuel pump, and the AC glass-bowl fuel filter just before the carburetor. Like you, I don’t think you can get today’s fuel clean enough. Regards . . .

Wow!!! One can find the strangest things in the strangest places. I have, but they pale in comparison to this!!! Thx.

The fuel filter on our car that I got from Danchuck’s looks exactly like the one depicted in FlashBuddy’s photo. However, from my perspective, it’s upside-down. I’ve been told, and we all know how those old sages come to be, and how they come to continue—that the glass bowl should be below the flow of the fuel, to allow the settling of any large particulate matter. I would’ve tho’t that such “large particulate matter” wouldn’t flow thru the filter element, therefore—given that fact: the positioning the glass bowl would then be irrelevant. Or, am I missing something here??? Thx . . . . .

Fhubler, Don’t count yourself so short—I am interested in your opinion, and what you like/dislike in cars. In fact, you’re probably one of only a handful of people that I’d trust to provide objective information about a car that I might be contemplating purchasing. And, at the very worst, friends should be able to “agree to disagree”. Warmest personal regards . . . . . .

Bryan, At $30 per hour, and he’s experimenting!?!?!?! Friend, I don’t blame you for passing on that deal, I would, too. You’ve obviously taken the proper approach. Warmest regards.

If the original radio works, don’t, under any circumstances, connect with a negative ground. If you do, it’ll instantly be junk, as it grounds thru its case. The only way to make it work is to completely isolate it from the rest of the vehicle (no simple project—that). Apparently, it was too much for the former owner of our car, since our is 6v neg ground, and the radio was/is a burnt hulk. I just stripped off the face-plate, put it in the dash, and the guts of the thing is sitting in a corner on the floor, patiently waiting for me to decide if I want to continue stripping it out, or just cut to the chase, and throw it in the trash . . . . As for the turn signal system, you’ll have to switch the flasher, and the bulbs, for 12v. In fact, you’ll have to switch all of the bulbs on the car, including the sealed beam headlites. They won’t last long at all having 12v coursing thru them.

As a matter of caution, we had the two door locks, the trunk lock, and the ignition switch, re-keyed by a local locksmith. It only cost us $15 per lock/switch--$60 for all of them. It took him about 1-1½ hr total.

Fhubler, and Knuckleharley, I agree wholeheartedly with both of you. I’ve gone with my neighbor to look as “treasures” he’s found that he wants me to work on, only to discover that they’re rusted hulks, not worth hauling them back home, much less paying for. Out ’46 Plymouth Special DeLuxe club coupe belonged to a friend of mine back in the midwest, so I trusted him, but wasn’t going to rely on only his word—given the money involved. My two brothers-in-law each went to look at it, and the each drove it. I got glowing reports from both of them—it was solid, interior was great, body straight (altho’ the paint needed attention), everything was in the trunk (spare tire, jack, some misc tools). The only negative expressed was that being a low-powered six cylinder, it wasn’t the quickest car in the world. But it started right up, ran like a clock, shifted smooth, stopped straight, didn’t make any noises, didn’t rattle. The other negative remark made was that the insulation on the wiring was extremely brittle, and falling off right and left. I negotiated a good deal, and we don't regret buying it. Now, if hadn’t been for my brothers-in-law, I probably would’ve passed on it. Warmest regards to you both!!!

My dad used to say that an old car was just a conglomeration of new parts underneath the old radiator cap. I’ve always felt that that was closer to the truth than I wanted to admit, especially to him . . .

Should you decide to convert the car to 12v, I’d recommend contacting Ron Francis Wire Works. I rewired our ‘46 Plymouth (which was wired 6v negative ground when we got it) as the insulation was literally falling off of the wiring, using their “Git It Runnin’” harness, and now instead of just one fuse, we’ve got several. They were very helpful when I had questions, too. I can’t recommend them enough. They’ve got many harness systems available, so it’s just a matter of selecting what you want/need, and then visiting with them to confirm what would be optimum for your application.

I’m only assuming (and that can be dangerous) that the Ball & Ball carburetor is basically the same for ‘46 Plymouth (which is what we have), and other Chrysler marques, such as DeSoto. The engine in our car actually had a dashpot arrangement, altho’ the car has the “3 on the tree”, and it wasn’t connected to anything. So, I took if off. The car runs just fine without it. I did rebuild the carburetor, and I purchased the rebuild kit from my local auto parts jobber. It wasn’t that expensive, but it wasn’t an item that he keeps in stock (until now), so he ordered it from the warehouse for me—he had it the next afternoon.

The fuel filter on our ’46 Plymouth was purchased from Danchuck for a ’56 Chevy. It included everything needed for installation. I’ve purchased replacement filters at my local auto parts jobber, and the filter included the gasket that fits between the glass bowl and the filter housing. Sorry. But I’m not familiar with what you’re using.

If I remember my physics, the cross-over pipe is used to balance the exhaust pulses from the separate banks of a V-8 engine. Since the inline-6 cylinder has only one bank, the use of a cross-over pipe becomes redundant, and unnecessary (I think . . .).

Try Wichita Trimming, in Wichita, Kansas.

East Dundee, Illinois—I ran around with a couple of plastic surgeons for awhile that lived in East Dundee, Illinois. One lived next to Michael Jordan, and the other one lived near a football player, but I don’t remember the name. Small world . . . .

And, back at you, too. Hmmm, so your first name’s Paul . . . so was my maternal grandfather’s. Karma???

Fhubler, Hey, you’ve done it again—hit one out of the park!!! I love the photo of the Dodge next to the old stone church. I remember when returned from Europe, my grandparents taking me to church at a little church like that, altho’ it was a white wooden structure rather than stone. But, it was quaint, and I have the greatest memories of walking with them up the hill to little church. Thank you so much for the memories!!!

Fhubler, 49D-24BusCpe, Pflaming, Don, Jerry, Jipjobxx, Hey, Guys, this is obviously off the original topic, but given the impending holiday, hopefully you’ll give me “a pass” on this one. Have you ever had a gobbler sandwich? Or, it’s also called a “bobbie” (like the London policemen). Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s the greatest, and a tradition in my family ever since we came back to the U.S. from post-WWII Germany. After the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, in the early evening, when everyone’s raiding the kitchen, take a slice of bread, put on some sliced turkey (light or dark—your preference), some dressing, some cranberry sauce, and the other slice of bread, and indulge!!! Further, if you really want to jazz it up, put on some sweet potato, making sure to get some of the marshmallow, and then you’ve got an unbeatable sandwich. It’s one of the things that makes Thanksgiving special. It’s my favorite holiday. If you’re travelling—travel safe!!! Warmest personal regards to each of you, and to yours, on this holiday.

Fhubler, Again—I LOVE the photos taken from the inside of your car. The countryside is beautiful, and the two-lane highways bring back another flood of fond memories. Thank you so much for sharing them. You’re really a lucky guy—having a pre-war car, and a post-war car. I don’t see how that could get much better. Warmest personal regards to you, and yours. Enjoy your holiday!!!!

Jerry, Many Thanks for the photo, and information. Of course, you realize that you’ve just fueled the fire for me—now I’m going on the hunt in earnest!!! Pflaming, I asked my wife if she’d be willing to work the manual arm on the rear window wiper. Well, you can just imagine her “enthusiasm” for that. You and Fhubler will appreciate this—she actually asked me how often I’d be driving backwards in the rain. She also didn’t think the rear window would get that messed up driving forward. The girl’s still got a sense of humor, even after almost fifty years with me. Fhubler, I can’t express how much I appreciate your sharing that photo of your daughter looking out at all of the flags of our fallen comrades in arms. My dad probably has a shipmate or two there. Your grandfather probably had a buddy or two there, as well. I may even have a shipmate there. And, I’m certain that she’s aware of what a stirring site it is, and what it means to her father. Pass along to her how much it means to me, too. Gentlemen, my warmest personal regards to you all. Even tho’ we haven’t met in person, hopefully someday we can. Until that time, I still feel privileged to address you as “Friend”. Thx.

Pflaming, and Fhubler, Guys, you may not realize it, but you’ve probably created a monster in me—I love the idea of a rear window wiper, and the photo of the Hudson may have sealed the matter for me—now I’ve got to have one . . . The creative juices were already stirring, because I’ve been researching how to use a 6v wiper motor from Mac’s (Ford) in our Plymouth, and now I’m expanding this research to the rear window. Best regards to you both!!!

I you’re correct about the differences in antifreeze. That was a very expensive lesson that I learned the hard way. I’ve been more careful since then, and I have the coolant changed semi-regularly on our current Cadillac (it doesn’t have a petcock on the radiator, there’s no fitting in any of the lines, and no room under the hood . . .). I do remember the Ford V-6 issue. My parents had a Ford with that engine, and the dealer replaced one (yep, one) head gasket, and when they brought the car out front for them to take it home, the other one began leaking. Hard to believe, but since I took them to get their car, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Only in cartoons, or so I tho’t. Best regards to all herein . . .

Fhubler, I really love the photos from inside of the car. This most recent one of the dashboard, and the gravel road in front of the car speaks volumes to me!!! Pflaming, I’m sorry about the premature passing of your mother. Those years were truly the best, and the worst, of times. I, too, miss “the good old days”, and they were good old days. Now, a question about that sedan. While it’s not a Chrysler product, it’s still a car of those vintage years, so I don’t think I’m too far out there. I confess to not being a white-wall guy, but on that car—I wouldn’t change a thing!!! My question: was a rear window wiper an option on Chevy’s? I’ve never heard of it, much less seen one. Gentlemen, Warmest personal regards to both of you.

Hey, I’m obviously not the most observant guy on the planet. I just noticed that you’re from Bethel, Penn. Now, I’m not that familiar with Penn, so where in the state is that? Is it near Philly? I worked in Wilmington, and went to Philly many times. In fact, my wife had surgery at HUP a few years ago. Dependent upon where Bethel is, we may not be all that far from one another. Regards.