steveplym

Got in my P-15 to go for a drive today. Decided would fill up the tank to make sure the fuel gauge was working as I haven't driven it since replacing the wires from the sending unit. I noticed it was reading 1/4 tank. Filled up the tank and the gauge read 1/2 tank. Figured something must be wrong. Took a look at the troubleshooting chart in the manual and this would indicate terminal #1 wire is grounded. I looked under the dash and no problems. Went back to the sending unit and noticed that the #1 terminal has the gasket missing. I guess messing with it made the gasket between the nut that holds the terminal on the unit and the unit itself come off. I decided to make new gaskets for both terminals to be safe. Used a piece of rubber and made gaskets to go between the unit and the terminal nut. Replaced this and the gauge showed full like it was supposed too. I went for a long drive of about 30-40 miles and it started to move down closer to 3/4 tank. Appears I have it fixed. I guess with grounding the unit by a wire between the tank gasket and the bottom of the sending unit to the frame it also grounded the terminal. Makes perfect sense. On another note it was a beautiful day and I drove the car a good 50 miles today. It runs great and forgot how much I love to drive the old car.

From the main site. I think this is what you are looking for.

I thought Roberts offered replacement hubcaps and covers. I will send them an e-mail and find out if they are still available.

Anyone know if replacement hubcaps are available anywhere or the replacement covers? Thought I saw them available a few years back in a catalog.

Looks great! I as well am enjoying the in progress pictures. Gives the rest of us motivation when we need it.

Actually the crank is in pretty bad shape. Would have to have the crank repaired or replace it. Thanks for your help.

Looking for some ideas here from flathead owners. The original flathead six in my car was rebuilt in '99 and put back in the car that summer. In 2000 on a long road trip it spun a rod bearing and damaged the crankshaft. The engine was pulled in 2001 and another flathead out of a '35 plymouth was put in the vehicle. Good engine, had not been rebuilt and is running fine right now. '35 plymouth owner decided to replace motor for a V8. This engine does smoke a bit and I would like to put the original engine back in this vehicle someday. All parts were replaced in the original and rebuilt. This engine has been sitting on the engine stand for the last 5 years or so. It only had about 5k mi. on it when it broke down. Other than repair the crank and replace the bearing what else would I need to do? Engine was running fine when it was taken out, just had that knocking noise. Should I replace the oil pump and take it back apart to have the engine dipped and then reassemble? I've been told by some I would need to do this as the metal shavings could have gotten into the oil passages. Would the oil pump have picked up these shavings? Would I need to replace the oil pump as well? Thanks for any help in advance.

On my car the brakes have already been replaced. All but the steel lines and hoses. I'm in the process of doing that now. They work very well and last summer a guy pulled in front of me and it stopped really well. I thought about the disc conversion, but with the wheel cyls and shoes ok at this point will go ahead and replace all the line and hoses and check to make sure nothing is leaking at this point. Down the road may switch over to disc as seems like a much better option with better braking power. Would make repairs in the future much cheaper. I noticed the Ammco tool for brake adjustment above, is this tool available somewhere or would it have to be an item to find at a swap meet? Wondering as would be nice to make sure the front shoes are adjusted correctly.

Little follow up on this. I have an aftermarket turn signal switch on my '47. It appears that it was installed in the 60's due to the appearing age of the switch. I traced the wiring coming from the switch on the column. Figured it had to be a 7 wire switch like the Foxton switch. I had pretty much figured I would have to buy another switch to achieve my desired result. Then I got under the dash and found a wire wrapped around all the other wires coming from the turn signal switch. I was thinking this has to be the wire that is supposed to connect to the stop lamp switch. I checked this wire for voltage when ign and signal lights were on. None evident. So I hooked up power this wire. Both taillamps lit up on the bright side of the double filament. Proved that this is the wire that should be hooked up to the stop lamp. I located the stop lamp switch and determined it was hooked up directly to the stop lamp in the trunk. I disconnected it from the switch and spliced a wire running from the stop lamp wire in the turn signal switch and the trunk stop lamp wire together into a male connector. Connected it to the stop lamp and all 3 lamps light in the rear with the brakes applied. All the signal lights work as well with brakes applied thanks to hooking them up thru the turn signal switch. Took me 2 hours this evening to figure this out and about $2 worth of connectors/wires. This will really help letting other drivers who may follow too close that I am stopping. Gives me some peace of mind as well.

'47 Ply Special deluxe. Original flathead 6 with 6v system. Only upgrades are radial tires, 8v battery, and aftermarket heat gauge. Vehicle is mostly stock, but still looking to make a few modifications. Want to add seat belts and a few other items. Paint is '64-'66 chevy truck blue. Grandpa restored this vehicle and owned it for 32 years before handing her over to me. Paint job is 27 years old. I drive this vehicle a lot and really enjoy it. Can't see ever modifying it much as I like it the way it is.

This has probably been discussed before, but on my P-15 the taillights on the rt and left side of the trunk lid do not light with the brake lights. Only light that lights up is center light on trunk lid. After looking at the wiring diagram that is the way it was originally right? I was wanting to change this. How would I do that? Could I just run wires from the brake light switch to each taillight socket? Wondering if anyone has done this. Thanks.

I had tried everything to get my fuel gauge to work on my '47 p15 sedan. I replaced the sending unit, and had made sure I ran a good ground on the tank. A few months back after reading several posts about the subject I took a wire and ran it from between the sending unit and gasket on top of the fuel tank. Ran it down to the frame and connected it there. I hooked everything back up and the gauge was skewed. It was on 3/4 when full and then would go up with a less full tank. Couldn't figure it out. So I bought a NOS gauge off of ebay. Today I decided to replace the gauge. Laid under the dash and noticed that on terminal 2 the wire running from it appeared to be sliced. Looked like there was an open there. So I figured why not run new wires before replacing this gauge? I noticed in the manual what the gauge would do if there was an open on one of the terminals and it seemed to fit what my gauge was doing. I did change my wires last summer to see if that might help, but keep in mind I did this before I ran the ground wire. So the problem still existed with new wires as there was not a good ground before. I hooked up the new wires temporary and turned on the key. The gauge read 1/4 tank. I went ahead and put 5 gals. in the tank and it shows almost 1/2 a tank! I'm so glad I decided to change those wires again before changing the gauge. Everything appears to be working fine now. Ran the new wires under the carpet and back to the sending unit. No more guessing or keeping track of the odometer. All of your ideas on here are much appreciated. Going to make driving the old car even more fun now.

I don't have one on my car and it is a pain to open. Anybody know how I could make one or is there one available somewhere. I would assume there are only used one's available?

Looks like it's coming along nicely. Keep the updates coming.

Dennis, did you have any problems with the trim rings being loose? They seem a bit loose, but tight enough that the rings won't fall off the wheels.

I received my trim rings yesterday and had my tires switched over to the original wheels. I think they look really good. The pic with the wheels I used to have is on my profile page. They fit much better and the tires do not rub the upper control arms like they used too. I think the aftermarket wheels I bought were the wrong size as the back spacing was not enough. Thanks to all for your ideas! [/img]

Thanks for the tips. Looks great and I really like to colors. Always liked dark wood and looks really good on your dash.

Were the wheels on the P-15 originally body color or just black? Did they come out either or? Wondering what I want to do with my stock wheels as they were painted body color by the previous owner, but faded and need repainted.

The dash looks great! Wondering about your technique as well.

Yeah, I just noted that. Checking out the threads now. Thanks.

On my '47 P-15 sedan, I'm looking to make it easier on myself and my interior by using an external reservoir on the firewall for the brake fluid. I know some of you have done this. Where could I get a kit to do this, and how does it work? Thanks for your help.

Cool, thanks. By the way where did you get the trim rings for your car, and what size are they?