Joe Flanagan Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) Greg, that's very interesting about the trips you've taken and the speeds you've gone with stock equipment (I've forgotten if 4:1 is the original rear end ratio). What is "highway speed" for you? Yes, judging from what I've read, the car should immolate itself in a ball of fire, with bolts and gears and parts flying all over the place. I've heard that the engine will "redline" and strain, but I've always wanted to know what the real deal was. I will have a 218 bored out to .060 over and an OD transmission. Some believe I won't be able to drive highway speeds even then. I seldom go as fast as 75 in my daily driver and I frankly am not likely to go that fast in my 49 Plymouth. I would like to go 65-70 on long trips as you have done. Yes, Michael, I think it's probably a record. It could only have happened on one of your threads. Edited January 11, 2010 by Joe Flanagan typo Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 Do I dare bring up the subject of disc brake conversion and risk having this thread run to six pages? Quote
Young Ed Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 Joe with OD you can go 70 easily with a 3.9 or 4.1 rear end. I did the math for my 48 if I go OD with 15s and a 3.90 and 65 was I think 2250 RPM. Thats a piece of cake. I have a 3.73 currently and drive 65 now at about 3Krpm Quote
michael.warshaw Posted January 11, 2010 Author Report Posted January 11, 2010 i know i cant belive the thread is still going, Quote
james curl Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 I have a 90 Dakota rear end in my P-15 and in 2007 a friend and I took a trip from central Texas to Cal. and then to Bonneville. The rear end ratio is 3.55:1 and I am running P205 75 R 15 tires. We cruised 65 to 75 mph for hours on end, we did 4600 miles on the trip. Quote
Reg Evans Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 [quote=michael.warshaw; on a side note 150 posts is this a record? NOPE.......Rockwood's Winter Is Here In Manitoba with 557 posts is I think. Quote
Young Ed Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 They are about equal in usefullness though Quote
martybose Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 (snip)i think my brakes wil lbe able to handle it, i got all new hardware for the brakes. I respectfully disagree. I've got all new pieces in my brakes, they were adjusted correctly using the proper tooling, and are kept adjusted. Yet this car takes about twice as far to stop as my commute car (Honda Civic) does, and I had several white knuckle experiences when someone suddenly stops in front of me and I've had to jump on the brakes. These old cars don't stop anywhere near as well as modern cars. I find myself leaving a lot of extra room in front of me, and I'm waiting for my Christmas expenses to be paid off so that I can upgrade to front disk brakes. Marty Quote
Andydodge Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 Michael, if it was my car and I wanted it to look stock but with a bit extra get up & go, I'd convert it or stick a 230 in it, 230 carby or a twin setup, larger bore exhaust or a twin setup, mill the head to increase compression, update the dissy to twin points or electronic, good balance job on the crank/rods/pistons/flywheel and an o/d gearbox of some sort................rebuild steering & brakes and go cruzin'...............but all these things, at least the ones that would/could be noticed on the outside of the engine will affect its scoring in a restored car show.........but will get you to and from the show in a much more timely manner......lol........ andyd Quote
michael.warshaw Posted January 11, 2010 Author Report Posted January 11, 2010 is their a direct bolt up brake kit? Quote
hkestes41 Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 I will have a 218 bored out to .060 over and an OD transmission. Some believe I won't be able to drive highway speeds even then. I seldom go as fast as 75 in my daily driver and I frankly am not likely to go that fast in my 49 Plymouth. I would like to go 65-70 on long trips as you have done. Joe, I have a .060 over 218 in my 48 with OD and just as Ed says 70 is a piece of cake. I am now in the process of the disc brake swap so that getting her whoaed up will be a piece of cake too. Quote
michael.warshaw Posted January 11, 2010 Author Report Posted January 11, 2010 mr dezeldoc said he will try and get me od tranny, im having a hard time to find one. if anyone has one let me know. Quote
hkestes41 Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 is their a direct bolt up brake kit? Michael, check out oldaddy's site. You can find him in the members list. He offers a disc brake kit that is pretty close to bolt on. You will have to drill out 3 holes in each spindle to a larger size and then tap the holes to bolt the bracket on. You will also have to drill out 2 holes in each steering arm for the bolts to pass through. Not much to it doing it your self, or olddaddy will do it for you very reasonably if you ship your spindles/steering arms to him. Quote
michael.warshaw Posted January 11, 2010 Author Report Posted January 11, 2010 how much does he get for a kit? Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 Joe, I have a .060 over 218 in my 48 with OD and just as Ed says 70 is a piece of cake. I am now in the process of the disc brake swap so that getting her whoaed up will be a piece of cake too. That is great to know. That's exactly what I was hoping. I have discs in the front, so I should be good as far as stopping the old heap is concerned. Are you doing the disc conversion yourself? Quote
hkestes41 Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 That is great to know. That's exactly what I was hoping. I have discs in the front, so I should be good as far as stopping the old heap is concerned. Are you doing the disc conversion yourself? Yes, I'm using olddaddy's kit. Have everything done except installing the residual valves and bleeding the system. Unfortunately it has been colder than a well diggers arse and I just don't want to be laying on that concrete garage floor. Supposed to warm up some this week so hopefully I will have it done soon. Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted January 11, 2010 Report Posted January 11, 2010 This must be the Michael "Duracell" thread of all threads! It just keeps going and going. Bob Quote
blueskies Posted January 12, 2010 Report Posted January 12, 2010 I respectfully disagree. I've got all new pieces in my brakes, they were adjusted correctly using the proper tooling, and are kept adjusted. Yet this car takes about twice as far to stop as my commute car (Honda Civic) does, and I had several white knuckle experiences when someone suddenly stops in front of me and I've had to jump on the brakes. These old cars don't stop anywhere near as well as modern cars. I find myself leaving a lot of extra room in front of me, and I'm waiting for my Christmas expenses to be paid off so that I can upgrade to front disk brakes.Marty I still have stock brakes on my '50... and although it won't stop as well as my modern cars, it stops as good as it did from the factory. I don't have expressway traffic to contend with, but I have driven the car all over the country in every conceivable traffic and weather conditions with no issue. That said, I wouldn't mind the disc brake upgrade someday too. My car with a 3.9:1 stock rear will run 70+ mph all day long. When I drove it from Idaho to Tulsa OK, I drove it on the freeway 70-75 or more for 10-12 hours at a time. At 70, it tachs at 2500 rpm. Lots of room to go faster... the fastest I've had it was 90mph for stretch. Pete Quote
blueskies Posted January 12, 2010 Report Posted January 12, 2010 mr dezeldoc said he will try and get me od tranny, im having a hard time to find one. if anyone has one let me know. To find my OD, I scoured the internet for months, ebay, classifieds, craigslist, etc. I finally did a google search for junkyards, and emailed about 15 of them to find out if they had an R10. One of them had one, so I had them ship it to me. It needed a total rebuild, but since I did the work, I'm still into it far cheaper than if I'd bought one rebuild. To find the elusive overdrive, you will have to turn every stone, it's not something you can pick up the phone and order like a pizza.... Pete Quote
jd52cranbrook Posted January 12, 2010 Report Posted January 12, 2010 I got my first OD from a guy who advertises in Hemmings. Try that way, http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/partsforsale/ got my second from Neil Riddle, try him. http://members.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=seaplym Their out there. Not cheap, but they are there. Quote
greg g Posted January 12, 2010 Report Posted January 12, 2010 Joe F, I answered your questions via a PM. Quote
mackster Posted January 12, 2010 Report Posted January 12, 2010 Ha I got mine for free :eek::eek: thats what im talking about! whas it running used condition or a basket case? either way nice!!! Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted January 12, 2010 Report Posted January 12, 2010 George Asche told me he used to cut open the floor of junk cars and take the OD out from the inside. "Open it like a can," is what he said. That was when they could be found. Quote
Young Ed Posted January 12, 2010 Report Posted January 12, 2010 Joe I've seen a couple junkyard cars that were rolled onto their side to get the trans out. Mackster my free OD came in a running 51 ply coupe. The car is a basket case with MAJOR rust but it does run and drive. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.