DrDoctor

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You might consider checking with Wichita Trimming in Wichita, Kansas. They have a vast array of bulk rubber, and may be able to provide you with some samples so you can determine if a particular profile would work for you. Steele, Danchuck, and Mac, have similar programs. I grew up in Wichita, and found them to be incredibly helpful when I put a new seal on our ’46 Plymouth Club Coupe, using bulk-profile rolls of material.

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I’m going to agree with my friend from “down-under”—while I can appreciate patina, I have to draw the line at rust. I can’t think of any circumstance where rust is attractive.

Dartgame. If you find yourself having to “replicate” some rubber pieces with non-premade items, you might consider checking with Wichita Trimming in Wichita, Kansas. They have a vast array of bulk rubber, and may be able to provide you with some samples so you can determine if a particular profile would work for you. Steele, Danchuck, and Mac, have similar programs. I grew up in Wichita, and found them to be incredibly helpful when I put a new seal on our ’46 Plymouth Club Coupe, using bulk-profile rolls of material.

I’ve used Steele Rubber Products items on several car projects, and have no real serious complaints about them, except that they’re abit pricey, and I’ve also received a few rubber bits that were “gatored” due to sloppy packing. I’ve returned such pieces, and received replacements with no muss nor fuss from them. I’ve also used rubber items from Mac’s Antique Auto Parts (an Eckler’s company), and also Danchuck’s. Both of those companies have reasonable prices (Mac’s caters to pre- and post-war Fords, and Danchuck’s caters to the tri-five Chevrolets), but since neither of them is Plymouth oriented, be certain what you order is workable for your purpose (but, if it isn’t—it’s returnable . . .). And, before the question gets raised—I don’t have any financial interest, or stock, in any of these companies. This is just my experience—no more/no less. Thx.

Is the dog part of the deal???

Cars with damaged/out-of-square frames are notorious “dog-trackers”. Severely worn rubber grommets in the leaf springs (front or rear), or the links of coil-suspended rear ends, can also cause this “dog-tracking”, not to mention poor steering, ie: wandering. If the steering wheel is off-center, the preferred method to center it is to take in one end of the cross-link while letting out the same amount on the other end. A “quick-and-dirty” method of centering the steering wheel is to just pull it off of the steering shaft, and move it to center (unless it has a master-spline, in which condition you can’t move the steering wheel, so you’re left with “option-1”—the cross-link adjustment). That’s been my experience. Thx . . .

I’ve used Steele Rubber Products items on several car projects, and have no complaints about them, except that they’re abit pricey. I’ve also used rubber items from Mac’s Antique Auto Parts (an Eckler’s company), and also Danchuck’s. Both of those companies have reasonable prices (Mac’s caters to pre- and post-war Fords, and Danchuck’s caters to the tri-five Chevrolets), but since neither of them is Plymouth oriented, be certain what you order is workable for your purpose (but, if it isn’t—it’s returnable . . .). The rubber on out ’46 Plymouth is in relatively decent shape. Interior and trunk have carpet—no rubber matting. The door sills are thick aluminum (satin finish), that I now think someone fabricated, so no rubber there, either. As such, I have no first-hand experience with any of the companies often referred to herein. I’ve repaired certain hard-to-find rubber parts with a product called “Liquid Rubber” with good results—strong bond, and long lasting. If you want the repair shiny, just smear a final coat over the repair with your finger, blending it in. if you want a dull finish, once it’s dried/cured, use some 4-0 steel wool—that did the trick for me. Regards . . . .

Ron Francis Wire Works has that type of disconnect switch, as does Mac’s Antique Auto Parts (a division of Ecklers), and Danchuck (tri-five chevy parts). I also checked with my local auto parts store, and he had one, and keeps it in regular inventory.

Rich, If the “360” product you’re referring to is made by a company called Sta-Bil, my experience with their product is quite different. I’ve used it in a ’34 Ford sedan (small block chevy powered), a ’46 Ford panel truck (also small block chevy powered), and a ’65 Pontiac (big block supercharged Pontiac powered), with disastrous results each time. It gummed up the fuel system, and made starting the car(s) in the spring a real ordeal, especially with the supercharged Pontiac. Not trying to be argumentative, but that’s my experience . . . . Thx.

Here’s an excerpt from an article that I saved about this very issue, (since our car was/is wired as 6v-neg ground) that explains the “why’s and wherefore’s”: The ignition coil’s essentially a low-voltage to high-voltage transformer with about 100-to-1 ratio of windings and voltage. The coil case isn’t grounded, and both primary and secondary windings inside are "floating", or isolated from the case. The only thing the windings have in common is one end connected to the same primary terminal, and it really doesn't matter much which one. Being a transformer, it must have pulsating, ie: alternating, current to work. Initial pulsating is done by connecting and disconnecting the primary circuit ground connection. Alternating current then comes into the function in a big way by electrical "ringing" in the condenser at very high frequency. A transformer isn’t affected by polarity, since it’s an alternating current device, so it matters not to the transformer what the input or output polarity may be. Any polarity on the primary side, and any polarity on high tension side, will produce the same quality of spark. Why, then, do we worry about coil polarity? Because the spark plugs do care which way the electrons are flowing in the high tension circuit. The spark plug has a thermally insulated center electrode (surrounded by ceramic). With the engine running, the center electrode runs substantially hotter than the exposed end electrode. Design of the ceramic insulator determines how hot the center electrode will run, leading to the designation of hotter or colder spark plugs. As electrons go, they love to jump away from a hot surface, and fly toward a colder surface, so it’s easier to drive them from hot to cold rather than from cold to hot. The end result is a difference of 15-30% in voltage required to make the spark "initially" jump the gap on the plug, depending on which way it’s going. So the spark plug prefers to see a voltage potential that’s negative on the center electrode, and positive on the end electrode, for the very first hop of the spark. Oddly enough, this has nothing to do with polarity of the vehicle electrical system, but it’s influenced by the common connection inside the ignition coil. The common knowledge about electrons is that they carry a negative charge. For electrical bits (similar to magnetic bits), opposites attract each other, and negatives repel one another. This means that the direction of flow of electrons in a car is from the battery’s negative post through the wiring to the battery’s positive post (not necessarily intuitive). If you reverse cable connections on the battery, the current flows in the opposite direction through the vehicle wiring. For most original functions on an older car, this matters not one whit to anything, as most original equipment on most older cars isn’t polarity sensitive (except maybe the optional radio). As one end of the primary winding in the ignition coil’s connected to one end of the secondary winding, reversing polarity of the coil primary side will reverse the drive direction of the spark current on the output side (even though current in the vehicle low-voltage wiring still flows the same way). So, reversing vehicle electrical system polarity will reverse direction of the spark drive. The engine still runs either way, but spark might be more reliable under marginal conditions if you get it right. The simple fix for this is to reverse the two primary wire connections on the ignition coil. Because the output spark’s very much higher voltage (20,000v) than the car battery (12v), it doesn't care if the battery polarity’s helping or hindering by a meager 12-14 volts in battery potential. SUMMARY: You only need to match the terminal markings to the battery posts. For positive ground, the "+" terminal goes to the distributor (to be grounded on the engine block). For negative ground, the "-" terminal goes to the distributor (to be grounded on the engine block).

Are you going to reupholster the car yourself? If not, I’d just let the shop you select deal with determining the amount of fabric they’ll need. They only charge on a time-and-material basis, the material being what they actually use for the project. Any leftover material goes into their inventory for future, unless you want to buy it, and store it yourself, in case you’d encounter damage of some sort, and you’d have an exact match (not considering fading from the sun, which is something to think about with a convertible . . .). Just a tho’t . . . . .

I agree—that phenolic sheet is semi-fragile at best, and age won’t make it any stronger. I certainly wouldn’t recommend pounding on the terminals too much. When connecting the wires to the terminals, try holding the terminals with a pair of pliers in the “east-west” plane while you tighten the screws to the terminals in the “north-south” plane. There’s most likely minimal movement at that junction, if any. So, I wouldn’t worry about it. Regards to you . . .

Hmmmmm . . . . . Decaf—isn’t that unleaded???

Mac’s Antique Auto Parts (a division of Eckler’s) carries it. Also, you can probably get some as an auto glass shop. I’ve used friction electrical tape along with black silicone sealer with good luck. Just a suggestion. Regards to you . . .

The turn-signal unit I clamped onto the steering column has a couple of small lights on it, one near the top, and the other near the bottom, to indicate right and left, respectively. It has no provision for self-canceling, and the flasher isn’t very loud, but as little as we drive the car anymore, it really doesn’t matter. Thx.

Mark, It should, as long as you don’t use aluminum rivets. And, if you’re talking about pop-rivets, when they’re riveted, I knocked out the little “ball” from the pop-rivet stud, and then used a punch to peen over the rivet end in the channel (I used steel counter-sunk rivets, and went from the outside inwards on the channel), and flatten it. Then just reassemble the window—done!!! Regards . . .

Norm, When I rewired our ’46 Plymouth (I used a Ron Francis Wire Works harness called “Git It Runnin’”), and did what you did—I wired the tail lights to work as tail lights AND brake lights, with the trunk light functioning as a brake light only (much like cars of today . . .). I got an after-market turn-signal kit that clamps onto the steering column. For the front park lights, I just changed sockets and bulbs for 2-filament ones, ran the wire, and presto—that end was done. As for the back, it wasn’t quite so simple. The tail light housing doesn’t accommodate the socket and/or bulb within, but rather on an odd bracket with the socket and bulb actually inside of the trunk shining out thru a hole to the tail light housing and glass lens. With that particular arrangement, there simply wasn’t enough room, so I added a small red tail light below the originals, and wired those to the turn signal, and viola—that end was done. Voltage, and/or polarity (our car was wired as a 6v-neg ground when we got it . . .), doesn’t matter in this situation, except for the flasher utilized in the completed system, and if you’re using LED’s anywhere therein. This should be rather straight forward. Just be sure to read, and follow, the instructions for your selected after-market turn-signal system (I tho’t it was going to be simple, just connect the wires per the schematic, but since I used separate bulbs in the back, that was a wrinkle that I didn’t take the time to fully educate myself on prior to delving into this project. Warmest regards, and best of luck . . . .

Fede, Bob Drake is a good company, but they specialize in Fords, especially the ’39-’40, selling complete bodies, and all of the components to make a “new” 1940 Ford (the ONLY difference between his ’40, and an original ’40, is his has a hole for a lock cylinder in the driver’s door, whereas the original didn’t). Anyway, back on topic—his prices are abit “pricey”. I use Mac’s Antique Parts, which is a division of Eckler’s, for a lot of things for our ’46 Plymouth. Some of what I’ve purchased worked right out of the box, while others needed some modification (but I knew that before I purchased the particular component). Wiper arms are one item that should fit, just make sure that the socket end that goes on the shaft of the wiper transmission is the same diameter. Call Mac’s for details about the part. I’ve found them to be informed, friendly, and helpful. I’d suggest getting a subscription to their catalogue. It’s extremely informative. Best regards . . .

In a ’53 Cadillac—most likely you do.

Knuckleharley, I agree with you 100%. You know, I could see myself shooting the bull with you, and having a great time!!! Warmest personal regards to you, my friend . . .

A friend of mine has a ’54 Pontiac with a late-model Pontiac V8 engine. He’d been using premium fuel in it, but on one occasion, he couldn’t get it, so he used regular. The car actually runs better, and gets better mileage with the lower-octane fuel. It does sound counter to conventional wisdom, but if it works—go with the flow. Regards . . . Hickory, Same hear . . .

Tom’sB2B, That is one VERY impressive car. I assume the wood is real, and it’s beautiful. A question: is the door like a contemporary Ford woodie wagon’s (all wood), or is the wood the outer skin on a metal door, or is the wood on top of a metal skin of some sort? In any case, that’s one spectacular car. Regards to you . . . Knuckleharley, You know, a trophy and a dollar might buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. I’ve found “trophy chasers” are people I really don’t want to spend any of my time with. For me, time’s now short, and I’m not about to waste any of it on shallow people. Warmest personal regards . . . Docgeb4ya, I love the nickname “Termite Taxi”. Now THAT guy has a sense humour, and he obviously isn’t all full of himself. I could see myself shooting the bull with him, and having a great time. Best regards . . .

Thom, A perhaps useful PS to my earlier reply to you just abit ago. I literally stumbled upon a number for the Trico vacuum wiper motor that may be useful to you—23-67-98, which was utilized in the P15-C, and the P15-S. I hope this helps. Now, as for my landfill-residing notes, and how to reassemble mine . . . . . Regards . . .