New Member - Old Mopar Fan

[steveplym]

Welcome to the forum, you have a nice car.  Here is a link on converting the oil bath filter to a paper filter.  I did it on my car

and it works great. 

 

http://www.indfloorcoating-repair.com/1948plymouthenginerestoration.html

 

 

I run Valvoline 10w 30 in my car.  To each their own on oil preference. 

 

Not hard to install the fuel pump, just make sure you take the advice of others on staking the pump pin.  Will save you time and money in the

future.

Edited June 14, 2014 by steveplym

[Tones52]

That's a beautiful looking '41 and how great that it's staying in the family.

 

Loved the story about your Gramps and Frank Elder's response on how to fix those holes in the trunk which is in keeping it within the family theme, too.

 

Looking forward to seeing the progress with your '41 and hoping to see it whenever we're in the San Diego area.

 

Tony

[mattimuss]

Yea, I chuckled at Frank's response too.

 

If I dabbed some clear it might blend purty good too!

[mattimuss]

I hope to get her running and dependable so I can start attending shows and meeting some of you guys and gals.

 

I don't know how many members are in the Southern California/Arizona/Nevada area, but it would be cool to put together a "West Coast Get Together".  We don't have to keep it a secret either!

[greg g]

check the member map attached to this forum.

Edited June 14, 2014 by greg g

[mattimuss]

Did that last night and "marked my spot"...no 'liquid' involved...

[_shel_ny]

To turn the engine over by hand you may be able to use the fan. One hand to pull the fan, other hand to put some tension on the belt so it does not slip.  (Transmission in neutral)

 

Caution:    Keep an eye on your hand so that you do not pinch it between a belt, and a pulley.

 

                 I'm sure no one here has ever done that 

 

         You could tighten the belt real tight on the pulleys so that you can use 2 hands on the fan if needed, but you must loosen it back up before running the engine as a belt with too much tension will/may/can put undue stress on your water pump and/or generator bearings.

 

Also without reading back through to find out someone may have mentioned putting the car in gear and rocking it forward, and back a bit.  May have been in another thread. Read it somewhere recently.

 

Once you are sure it is not stuck, bumping a bit wit the starter would likely not cause any problems, but that is just my opinion, and as such is worth nothing.

[mattimuss]

Howdy All!

 

It's been a while since I have been here...work, family, life; you guys know the routine.

 

I would like to thank all of you for all the help and comments so far.  As I said earlier this is my first pre-WWII vehicle, owning and working on, and I frequently find myself feeling lost and a little overwhelmed.  Knowing I can come here and get answers keeps me going.  So to all those who have helped so far, Thank You!

 

I got the gas tank all cleaned and painted and back in the car Tuesday.  Before putting the tank back in I cleaned the fuel line.  I placed a gallon can of carb cleaner on the gas tank end of the fuel line, then hooked my trusty Mighty Vac on the engine side and started drawing the cleaner through the line.  I pulled 8-10 times until the cleaner came through the same color as in the can.  Then I put the gas tank back in and hooked everything back up.  I hope to have the new fuel pump and rebuilt carb back in this weekend.

 

First question:  Where is the best place to put an inline fuel filter?  I was thinking two, one right after the gas tank and one between the fuel pump and carb.  Thoughts?

 

As I clean and replace parts I am sand blasting and painting any parts that I will put back on the car.

 

Second question:  What are the correct colors for the air cleaner and the oil filter top?

 

Speaking of the air cleaner, I took the plunge and converted it to a paper element.  Let me tell you, it was not an easy decision!  When you are standing there holding your original air cleaner in one hand, and a die grinder in the other hand, and do not have a spare, you do a lot of thinking!  However, I took a deep breath and started grinding...and cutting...and grinding some more...and more cutting; you get the picture.  It's done and I am very happy with the results.  Now it's a lot cleaner and easier to work with and you really can't tell it's been converted.  Bonus!

 

Here are a picture of my completed gas tank and all the shtuff that came out of my air cleaner...

[greg g]

satin black will do for all the engine accessories if you want to maintain the stock appearance.  Good job on the air filter.  Take a close look at your new fuel pump.  Lots of folks have been experiencing a problem with the cam lever fulcrum pin, especially with the airtex ones from Mexico.  The pin is poorly staked, and may walk out with use.  This causes pump failure at a minimum and can cause bigger problems to an engine if it comes completely free and the lever gets dropped into the oil pan.  This can be remedied in several ways, re staking, making a small sheet metal clip/clamp to retain the pin, or replacing the pin with a longer one, slotted to have a "c" clip or hair pin retainer on both ends.  But do double check this before installing your pump.

[Don Coatney]

Howdy All!

 

 

First question:  Where is the best place to put an inline fuel filter?  I was thinking two, one right after the gas tank and one between the fuel pump and carb.  Thoughts?

 

 

Second question:  What are the correct colors for the air cleaner and the oil filter top?

 

First question, I placed a fuel filter between the tank and fuel pump. Others may have done it differently.

 

Second question, I don't know what car you have but all under hood paint information for a P-15 or D-24 can be found in the resources section of this web page. The resources section of this webpage should be required reading for all forum members.

[TodFitch]

Seems like the original sediment bowl on the fuel pump does an adequate job on my car. . . In the last 15 years of driving the car I haven't had a dirty fuel related issue. I did, however, make sure I did a pretty good job of cleaning the gas tank and I replaced all the tubing and hoses in the fuel system.

[knuckleharley]

And here are some pictures of what it looked like now at it's new home...

Man,alive,but that is a GREAT looking car.

 

It's your car so you need to do what you want to do with it,but keep in mind they are only original once,and you could spend a ton of money and time and end up with a car that only looked slightly better.

 

Plus,it wouldn't be your grandfather or unle's car anymore. It would be a new old car.

 

If it was mine I would do what I need to do to make it safe and reliable,and then I'd just try to drive and enjoy it. You just don't see many original cars that nice anymore.

[steveplym]

Good job with the air cleaner.  I just painted mine gloss black for looks.  Satin black works best on underhood items.

I placed an in line fuel filter between the tank and the fuel pump.  Filter is actually put in back by the tank. 

 

Once you get it driveable it will be much more fun to work on.  You will want to improve and tweak certain things on the car

as you drive and work the bugs out.  Have fun.

[soth122003]

I noticed at the start of this thread, you wanted to flush and pressure test your radiator. I did my radiator a couple of weeks ago. When I first got my p-15 in Mar this year I flushed it with the usual rad flush kit. They suck!!  Now this is just me, so if you don't want to do it this way, I won't be offended. I find this works well on cars that have been sitting for a long period of time.

 

Take a trip to the dollar general and get about four bottles of CLR cleaner. Pull your rad, plug the hose ports with a rag and use three of the CLR bottles. Lay it flat on its front for about 10 min. then lay it on its back for another 10. Same with top, bottom, left and right sides. I let mine soak for about an hour total. Stand it upright and remove the rag from the bottom port and watch the crud that comes out. You can use the 4th bottle on the engine when the rad is out. Remove the thermostat housing and thermostat, drain the engine block, Affix a garden house to the water pump inlet, I used duct tape for this, Pour the last bottle of CLR down the thermostat hole, let it set for 5-10 minutes then turn the hose on low to med pressure and flush out the block, Make sure you have the spark plugs installed or at least plug the holes good to keep the water out. All the crap in the block will come out the thermostat hole. The reason I do it this way is to get the big chunks of crap out of the radiator and the block.

 

The only draw back to this is if your rad is rusted bad on the inside, it will leak. When I finished mine, it opened up a small pinhole. Went to the local auto shop and got the good rad sealer (the one with the copper in it) started the car, used the sealer and presto, leak was stopped and the engine ran about 20 degrees cooler, and got rid of my overheat issue.

[Don Coatney]

 

 

Take a trip to the dollar general and get about four bottles of CLR cleaner.

 

Sounds like this stuff works but it is pretty powerful. Linked below is the CLR cleaner MSDS. Hopefully one of our chemical savvy forum members can interpret this in laymen terms. I wonder how this stuff effects aluminum as I am in the process of installing an aluminum radiator?

 

http://www.jelmar.com/msds/2014/CLR_SDS_520514.pdf

[greg g]

CLR (Calcium and Lime Remover) used to be a proprietary product made by a Commercial Food Service Chemical (Eco Labs if I am not mistaken) company for treating hard water build up in commercial dish washers, coffee urns, steam tables, steam cookers and similar pieces that had buildup due to hard water.  It was basically phosphoric acid with some buffers.  I would imagine the on commercial version available in the grocery stores of today is a less concentrated version of the one for industry.  That said it always informed against contact with aluminum as it was a caustic when dissolved in water.  I have seen brand new aluminum baking trays reduced to pieces that looked like they were sand blasted after contact with the solution.  So not good for aluminum radiators.

[soth122003]

Actually Don, this is pretty tame stuff. Unlike muratic acid which is very caustic, this is a light calcium, lime scale and loose rust remover. thie trick is the amount of time you leave it setting on a surface or in this case a radiator. Even orange juice will cause a chemical reaction if you leave it on for a long period of time. A prime example is if any of you guys smoke and use a zippo, fill the lighter with fluid and put it in your pocket, about an hour later your leg has a chemical burn that while not life threating, is damn uncomfortable.

 

As far as you aluminum radiator, you wont have any rust, but you could have a calcium and or a lime scale build up. I used this on an aluminum rad out of a Toyota and it work just fine.

 

 As far as the MSDS, it's pretty self explanatory.

 

Section 1, who makes it and what it's used for.

 

Section 2, what it does to you and where it affects you.

 

Section 3, ingredients by percent to weight.

 

Section 4, first aid.

 

Section 5, firefighting.

 

Section 6, Spill procedures.

 

Section 7, handling and storage

 

Section 8, Protective gear. The more gear you have to wear to use the product the more dangerous it is.

 

Section 9, What is does in heat, water, and other chemical reactions.

 

Section 10, stability, or what makes it go boom or flash into fire.

 

Section 11, what is did to lab animals in testing.

 

Section 12, what it does to the environment.

 

Section 13, how to get rid of it.

 

Section 14, how to move it. chances are if it is not regulated by DOT, it's fairly safe.

 

Section 15, regulatory info. is it an immediate threat, long term threat, does it cause cancer.

 

Section 16, any additional info not covered by sections 1-15.

 

Hope this helps. If you have any questions about an MSDS you can call the number in section 1 and they can help you understand each section. Most companies that produce products that require an MSDS also have a HAZ-MAT person or section that oversees the making, storage, handling and shipping of the product.

[Lumpy]

Yep everyone has an opinion, usually very strong, on oil, and there's been many a forum oil war. So, and anyhow, I think these old engines work/run much better on heavier oil. Straight Castrol 30wt and a little STP. The lightest multi-grade I would run would be 20-50, with a little STP.

 

With your engine having sat for so long, it might be a good idea to fire it up for the first time with a 10W30 oil, and just use it to flush out the engine. Maybe run the engine for a couple of hours, (not a couple of hours straight) let the engine go through a few heat cycles, then change it out before driving the car.

 

Light oils turn in great MPG figures for the car companies, but when that car was new, a 10wt oil would be considered a break-in oil for a new engine, and would soon be changed out for a 30wt once the rings seated. Heavier oil has more shear strength. When the oil shears, that's when metal meets metal. Synthetic oil has more shear strength than dino-juice, so you can use lighter oil when using synthetic, than you would normally use with dino-juice. Still, 15-50 would be the lightest I'd go with synthetic.

 

Just a thought. !!!

 

ken.

[mattimuss]

I'm planning to run Castro 30w in the car.  I never thought of running a 10w30 for cleaning the engine, that sounds like a good idea.

 

When you say "STP" are you referencing an oil additive?  I have had great luck with Amsoil products in my cars.

 

I ran Synthetic oil in one of my cars years ago, my Shelby CSX [man, was that car a kick in the butt to drive!].  The problem with that is I still think old school and have a hard time running the same oil more than 5K miles.  I found that I was wasting a lot of money changing the oil too frequently.  After reading up on how well current oils have improved, and the fact that I run a 3500 mile oil change schedule, I moved back to regular oil.

 

Hey Knuckleharley, that's pretty much my plan.  Get it running and enjoy the heck out of it while I finish the Barracuda and A108.  I will do all the mechanical as needed, and cosmetic stuff as I can.  But driving it is my #1 plan.

[Lumpy]

Yep STP oil treatment, some love to hate it, I like it. Amsoil is good, running that (actually Amsoil motorcycle oil) in my hi-po Super Beetle engine right now. Indeed, if you change your oil often, then it's debatable as to whether synthetic is cost-effective. I like to use synthetic in an engine that's going to be worked hard, like the bug engine, or the engine in my pickemup, which I use mostly for towing stuff. In Lumpy, my D24, sometimes run synthetic, sometimes just good old Castrol, which is what's in it at the moment.

 

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but don't forget to change the trans and rear end oil. There's a whole other ball of oily wax!! I usually put a little STP in an old transmission too. !!

 

k.

[mattimuss]

To quote Dr. Frankenstein, "It is alive!  Wwwhhhaaa ha ha ha ha!"

 

Everything came together yesterday evening and she fired right up!

 

Oil pressure is 50lbs at idle, and 60+ at higher rpms.  She idles pretty well.  There is a slight lope, but I think that will probably smooth out after I finish the tune up.

 

To say I'm excited would be an understatement!

 

I would post a video but it is slightly too big for the file size limitations.  I'll be building a web page about the car and will link it here.

 

Thanks to everyone for your help so far...brakes are next...

[greg g]

oil pressure is a bit high, it should be 40 to 50 at cruise.  If it stays that high I would check the pressure relief assy. for proper operation. 

[mattimuss]

Howdy All!

 

Been busy all week with visiting family so not much time to work on the ol' girl.

 

Got out there early this morning and started tearing into the brakes.  The "Old Car Gods" must have been watching over my sorry butt because I was able to get all four hubs off in less than ten minutes each!  But that's where their monitoring stopped!

 

The passenger side rear is leaking diff oil, looks like the shoes are soaked.  What's that old saying, "The more you dif, the more you find!"

 

Questions:

 

1.  How hard is it to rebuild wheel cylinders?  Is there a place to get cylinder kits?

 

2.  How hard is it to replace axle seals?  Or should I have the rear-end gone through?

 

My plans are to rebuild / replace the wheel cylinders, put in new / relined shoes, flush the lines and bleed the brakes.  This is the only way I know to test the master cylinder.

 

Thoughts?

[Lumpy]

I got rebuild kits for my wheel cylinders (1948 D24) not too long ago at NAPA. Seems like I got a starter from NAPA once too. Kind of surprised me.

 

k.

[_shel_ny]

Check the rear axle vent bolt to b sure it is not plugged up. If the vent bolt is plugged it can cause an axle seal to leak.

 

 

Edit: That is if the '41 has one.

Edited June 30, 2014 by shel_ny