Introduction - 1947 P-15 Business Coupe

[DJ194950]

Joe,

Have you ordered carpet from the above company? Results?

Thanks,

DJ

[soth122003]

Sorry DJ,

I haven't. It's a low priority for me as I only get to spend about 20 bucks a month on my car and that includes gas. I've got a steak budget and a hotdog wallet. How ever when I do get to it, they will be the ones I will probably get the carpet from as they offer a variety of types and colors.

 

Joe Lee

[chrysleritis]

On 8/23/2019 at 12:55 AM, MarcDeSoto said:

My 48 DeSoto is still under restoration, but I had my radio tech friend rebuild my Philco auto radio.  I'm very interested in having it converted to be able to accept my iPod to play my iTunes or maybe even get Internet radio.  How is it done?  Thanks, Marc.

 

Referring to the schematic, which is often inside the radio case, and is pretty easily available on-line, what you want to do is provide an extra audio input to the circuit right before the final amplification and output section of the unit. The schematics are usually helpfully arranged to show which section and tube do what. But all you need to do is add in a capacitor in parallel with the signal as it enters final amp or final volume control potentiometer. As input to the capacitor, you use the audio signal from your mp3 player/device through a 3.5 mm audio input jack. You'll need to have a little stereo-to-mono audio jack converter, which you (used to) get at Radio Shack for a couple bucks. I took a headphone audio extension cable and used the ground sheath wire to connect to the chassis ground of the radio **, use the center connector to connect to the capacitor (tens of nanofarad, I think), and then the hard bit is just making it look nice and strain relieving the cable and getting it out of the radio case. You turn on the radio, tune it to some quiet place between stations (or remove or disconnect the antenna), and run the signal from your phone/device. You get the AM radio warm tube speaker sound in mono. 

** You need to be a little careful about how the grounding and polarity works. You can also do this without grounding the input audio source. But you need to keep track of everything if you have a 6 volt positive ground car. You can get in trouble if your external device has a metal case which you touch to the car's ground. Your device has polarity-sensitive chips and capacitors inside which may be unhappy. Use some caution. 

[hi_volt]

I spent most of this morning partially removing parts so that I could paint the engine head.  While I'm at it I've removed, cleaned, sanded and painted a few pieces like the air filter, bracket and oil filter cover.  I painted the head silver using VHT brake caliper paint.  It comes in a spray can, so I sprayed some into a plastic bucket so that I could brush it on.  It came out pretty decent.  After letting it dry for a couple of hours I installed some new spark plugs.  I've got new plug wires and a new ignition coil that will go in next weekend.  Also while I was working in the garage, Fed-Ex showed up with my new aluminum radiator.  It looks pretty sweet.  I'll post some pix this evening.

Edited August 25, 2019 by hi_volt

[DJ194950]

Make sure to keep the fin area of the new radiator covered with what came with it or cut some cardboard to fit and tape cover in place. Only remove when 100% done. Recover if additional work shows up near the fins!

The fins are very thin and easily bent, impossible to get back completely perfect again.

Don't ask about where I learned this!  ?

 

DJ

[hi_volt]

Here are some pix.

 

I wont be installing the new radiator until after I get the car running and am able to flush out the cooling system with the old radiator still installed.  Until then, It will be boxed back up and stored in a secure place.

 

 

Edited August 25, 2019 by hi_volt

[Bbdakota]

6 hours ago, hi_volt said:

Here are some pix.

 

I wont be installing the new radiator until after I get the car running and am able to flush out the cooling system with the old radiator still installed.  Until then, It will be boxed back up and stored in a secure place.

 

 

What radiator did you buy? I see the neck looks to have the correct angle 

[hi_volt]

Bought it on Ebay.  The manufacturer is Superior Radiator.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163825281187?ViewItem=&vxp=mtr&item=163825281187

[pflaming]

Marc, $200 is crazy. I’ll recheck here, I need one for my suburban. Last door window glass cost me $50, safety and tinted.

[hi_volt]

After 3 weeks of intense yard work that's taken up most of my time, I finally got to work on my '47 today.  I've been purchasing numerous goodies for it over the past few weeks, including new plug wires, ignition coil, distributor cap, a pair of windows for the doors, a window channel to replace the broken on on the passenger side, plus a few more other items. 

 

I'm still in the process of cleaning and maintenance, mostly in the engine bay, but I did get a chance to rig up a temporary set of seat covers with some cheap material I got at the thrift store for $2  (....and no, I'm not going to do a Highlander interior long term ? ).

 

Today I painted the left side of the engine silver, installed the cleaned and painted plug wire tubes and coil clamp, a new coil, and started to install the plug wires, which I'll finish up tomorrow.  A couple of weeks ago I, fixed the rust in the battery tray and painted it.

 

I thought a lot about what to do about the wiring, which is super crispy and brittle, and came up with a plan for re-wiring.  I'm pretty good with Microsoft Visio, so I drew up a new wiring diagram for my car (based on the original wiring diagram that I downloaded from here) which will remain mostly stock, but will add fuse blocks under the dash for safety and protection of the wiring.  I've posted a screen shot below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by hi_volt

[hi_volt]

Still here, but progress has been a little slow on the '47 due to other chores around the house and yard that needed to get done.  I have had time to buy some more goodies, and during the holiday break from work am planning on starting some maintenance and wiring in preparation for attempting to get the engine started.  Here are some pictures of some recently acquired goodies, as well as a picture of the refinished battery tray holder and also a picture of my old '48 4-door that I wish I still had.  The third picture is an empty battery case to hold an Optima 6V battery and the fifth picture are new battery and starter cables I purchased.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2019 by hi_volt

[hi_volt]

Yes, it's been a long time since I posted to this thread, but I'm still around and so is my '47 coupe.  I'm trying to determine if my engine is a 218 or a 230.  It's out of a '54 and the engine number is P25 star 322544 star.  Can anyone help?  Thanks!

[tom'sB2B]

It's a 218.

https://www.t137.com/registry/help/otherengines/pengines.html