New Member Introduction

[Blaine]

Greetings Everyone,

I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Blaine Grandfield and I've recently acquired a 1949 P18 Club Coupe from here in San Antonio. I picked this car up at the first of May and got her back on the road again. Below is what she needed to get running again. and the following list is what I have planned. Please ask away on any questions and I'll get back to them when I can. Please be flexible as I'm in the military ( U.S. Navy) and can get busy at times. Thanks every one for having me and I'm excited to join such avid group of enthusiasts.

Fixed list:

Brakes: adjustment/ honed rear drums and replaced front lower wheel cylinder, bled system and adjusted the brakes.

Engine: replaced  the ignition coil for the 12V conversion, installed new points, plugs, rebuilt the carb (it's a YFA 1BB most likely off another donor car of a different branded vehicle but those things came in the plenty), replaced rear crank rope seal-only the lower, replaced rear bearings in the main cap (stock size) as I couldn't use my brain when hammering in the rope seal and unfortunately nicking the bearing while doing so (should've taken it out) but that's afterthought of the mistake and it's fix. Bought complete gasket kit from Summit Racing ($69!) and comes with a Fel-Pro Copper Head Gasket- not yet installed. Replaced the oil pan and fuel pump gaskets as they were leaking. Re-welded the down draft tube back onto it's bracket (it was broken off), installed electric choke on carb. Welded the carb heater valve to it's closed position as it was more of a exhaust leak then of help. I'm in San Antonio, Texas so it doesn't need it anyways. Water hose flushed the old coolant out, Grease ALL the fittings witch are surprisingly many of them haha. 

Electrical: Converted the rest of the exterior lights and interior lights to 12 volt bulbs including the head lights and also wired the brakes lights to an aftermarket blinker kit to have all the rear lights to work when braking and front for turn signals. Found the original 6V radio is shot so I'll probably buy a refurbished AM unit eventually but they're expensive so I have to save. Installed an aftermarket RPM Gauge to keep tabs on the RPMs at highway cruise speed.

Vacuum System: Got the vacuum wipers working again and rebuilt the fuel/vacuum pump with new diaphragms.

Cooling: Car has an 160 degree thermostat but still over heats so I installed an electric fan to help the temperature. It still gets hot but I assume its the original water pump as its leaking out the snout behind the belt pulley even after greasing it through it's zerk fitting.

To do list:

Stop the oil drip from between the cam driven oil pump and the oil pan. I'll try a light coat of Silicone across the entire cork gasket first and see how that does. Possibly replace the rear seal again as it drips occasionally but not much to cry over. I may just leave it be and add a dab of oil every month or so. The Cam driven oil pump gasket area and the rear seal don't leak under hot driving conditions or at idle just when the engine completely cools off and sits for about an hour they pee a bit on my driveway. The rear seal leaks a couple drops and the cam pump (underneath it not the pumps gasket) leaks about as much of a shot glass worth every time I run the engine for over 5 minute or when it gets hot. I believe it may be a pressure related leak about the size of a pinhole that shows up after the block starts to cool down.

Convert the front brakes to disc front for safety purposes as I'll have my Wife, 6 & 3 Y/O daughters riding along as much as I can drag them out the house. They're a bunch of vampire light skinned types so they'll need as much sun exposure as possible. I know many here want to keep drum all the way around on their cars/trucks but I'm 27 and don't have the kind of money to throw $160-$245 per drum-hub fronts. I'd rather bite the bullet early and upgrade to something more my era as I'm 27 years old and use to slapping pads on the front and going onward about my day, the rear I can deal with being drum as the drums are fairly priced and easy to tweak to perfection.

Seat belts: because Wifey doesn't like it with out them and the girls need them for their car seats.

A/C......HA! one day (another Wifey request expensive when looking at Vintage Air A/C and Heater units)

Custom glove box (it doesn't have the original panel) with a modern AM/FM Radio because Wifey can't ride anywhere without listening to her I-pod. I am content with listening to the wind and that straight 6!

Install the Water Pump from Summit Racing as it's on its way this week. While I'm in there I'm going to dig around inside the water transfer tube with a coat hanger and see if I can dig any crud out. If I do I'll order freeze plugs, pop the old ones out, hopefully yank out the transfer tube and power wash the inside of the block. Re-install everything including a new transfer tube to help the old thing cool better than before.

The car has been a blast to work on these past three weeks and even more fun to drive! I've never gotten so much un-wanted attention from complete strangers because of a car. Even after owning a pretty cool 1981 Stepside Silverado that was loud and hot-rodded up.  It makes me and my wife want to lock it up and only drive it at night as for some reason it attracts every creepo and tire kicker around town every where we go. I couldn't even get it out of my garage to trouble shoot the blinkers that were grounding out without some guy coming up and puting his D*#! feet on my front bumper and asking for a picture! I wanted spray him off my property with a my water hose!

 

Thanks guys for sticking around and reading through my write up! I can be chatty so beware!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blaine]

[Blaine]

[Blaine]

[Blaine]

[Mark D]

Nice ride! Welcome.

[Blaine]

Thanks Mark! Love that convertible in your avatar!

[Andydodge]

Blaine.....welcome from Oz........nice car mate and looks like you have been busy.......regards, Andy Douglas

[Blaine]

Thanks Andy, I've been reading a quite a bit of your posts. Good stuff!

[Young Ed]

I suggest you pull those plugs regardless of what you find in the water tube. Pull that too if you can. Flush all the crud out of there and watch your cooling improve. If you can flush the radiator while you are doing the rest and you should solve a lot of those heating problems. 

[Ranger]

Very good looking ride. Follow the Zen Master's advice and check (replace) that distribution tube. A good radiator flush with the new water pump.  I ended up having to recore my radiator to solve the overheat problem but mice had been storing bird seed in it. Enjoy and thanks for your Navy service.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Put on a factory or good air cleaner... those 4" filters plug up fast in the dust.... not much filter capacity...really  nice car!!!

[Flatie46]

Congrats on such a nice car and welcome to the forum. Good luck with it.

[Blaine]

Once a run across a better Air filter (oil based) I convert it. The bracket is there and I'll keep it on it until I find something. A good friend has a pressure washer so I'll make sure and get really well between the cylinder walls and the nooks and crannies. That distribution tube will be interesting but I'm sure I can conquer it over the weekend. The radiator seems to flow well as I ran a high rate of water through it when flushing the system. I'm thinking the water pump is my main culprit at the moment though as the car cools to 160 if on the high way but once in inner city it jumps to 212 in about 10 mins.

[Andydodge]

Blain..........just had another look at your pics and that really is a nice car, someone obviously spent a deal of time and effort on it, I am intrigued with the front & back bumper guards, that front one could do double duty on the front of a truck.......lol...... is that the original style interior?..........looks very smart and tidy..........mate, here in Oz we only got 4door sedans from 1946 to the early 50's when Oz Chrysler started adding Utes to the 4 dr range so I enjoy seeing 2drs and coupes just to note the body differences etc.........btw a workshop manual and parts manual are a worthwhile addition, the parts manual for no other reason than to see how some things actually fit together and whether other years use the same or similar bits................regards, andyd.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Andydodge

[MackTheFinger]

Hi, Blaine! That's an exceptionally good looking car! '49 Plymouths have about the best looking bumpers ever made. I'm with Andydodge, cool bumper over-riders, too.. 

[Blaine]

Andy,

I do believe the upper portion of the bumper was pulled off a later Plymouth or another era vehicle. I would like to say an early 50's Plymouth but I'm not an expert as this era of vehicle is new to me.  You can see in the front skirt/panel between the body and bumper that it was hacked through to mount those supports for the upper addition of that bumper. The job could've been done better but it was done before I picked the car up so I'll leave it as is. For the interior and paint they are definitely not OEM. The interior was redone by a gentleman here in San Antonio (original seats but re-springed and upholstered) and the paint was completed by another shop here somewhere in South San Antonio. With the last owner living here in SA with a title dated in 86' I do believe the car has never left Texas or even San Antonio! I have the original plates for the car back from 49' registering the car as a TX vehicle which have been re-conditioned and repainted for that era. They will find a home in an nice wooden and glass box for the trunk here soon. The paint is I believe Cadillac White I think with a paint code of P10?, from the Cadillac dealership here in SA. The previous owner stated he pulled that color specifically off the shelf and added the pearl and medium clear to the mix once he was ready for it to be sprayed. All chrome and modifications have been done here in the inner city so I can't believe it's possibly never traveled or registered out of state before. That legacy will most likely end as I'll change duty stations here in about 2 years and the car will follow.  I found the original paint color underneath one of the headlight backings (if its original to the car) that appeared to be light green. MY guess, the car was Kitchener Green prior to paint. I'd have to say though that that pearl and white really sets off the chrome and accents well!

[Andydodge]

Blain, thanks for the info, I must admit that prior to seeing your car I was more of a 1940-48 style guy but yours will convert anybody........it has to be one of the nicest I've seen.........thanks, andyd

[Worden18]

Welcome to the site; you're gonna like it here ; and nice ride!

[Blaine]

Thanks Andy & Worden!

[classiccarjack]

You have a great looking car Blaine, welcome to the forum.

[jhm1mc13]

Blaine,

Welcome aboard.  The fact you are Navy caught my attention as I was in 1961 to 1964 and had a 1950 Plymouth, of course mine was only fourteen years old at the time.

Jim M

[DrDoctor]

Blaine,

   Being stationed in San Antonio, I can but assume you’re an airdale. I’m also a Navy vet (an old one, 3^rd generation Navy, and a disabled vet), and I served in the Medical Corp aboard various ships, including flat-tops. (I even got to “drive the Admiral’s boat” (the USS Theodore Roosevelt, aka: “The Stick”, “The Big Stick”, “Swanky Franky”, the official call-sign: “Rough Rider”, or the most-used: “Rosie” (my personal favorite) , as long as I promised not to hit anything—we were in the middle of the Atlantic, so not much risk of that occurring . . .). Regards . . .

[Don Coatney]

On 5/29/2017 at 7:37 PM, Dodgeb4ya said:

Put on a factory or good air cleaner... those 4" filters plug up fast in the dust.... not much filter capacity...really  nice car!!!

I doubled up my air filters and used the flexible cleanable filters as pictured.