41 Plymouth coupe

[ntxcustoms]

Update, I reinstalled the gauge cluster and hooked everything back up to pos ground. I had to go get another 6v coil as the previous owner switched it to neg ground. I also replaced the regulator. She fired right up and all seems to work well electrically speaking. 

 

Now I'm on to the engine. It's starting to get a tapping noise up front which to me sounds like valve/lifter issue. Doesn't sound deep enough for crank/bearing problems. Also the front two spark plugs have oil seeping around them. So i plan a leak down and compression test next. Hoping I don't need a full rebuild...but you know...

Edited September 12, 2019 by ntxcustoms

[ntxcustoms]

engine code is.  +PII+II3I54+

[ntxcustoms]

Well i really wanted to keep her stock but, after crusing for a bit it's apparent that for the amount of driving i will do with this car she needs some help. Really boils down to an overdrive. So I installed an 8.8 rear, which is really simple to do. Now i have posi, 3.73 gears, and disks on all shoes. After reading through threads on overdrives here on the forum i decided to go with the 85-87 5 speed ranger toyo kogyo gear box. I found one local in a salvage yard for 175 pulled. I also grabbed the driveshaft for 40 bucks, as it has the yoke and ford flange to fit the 8.8. I went straight to the car wash and degreased all the engine oil and grime off the trans. To my delight i found that its a rebuilt box. The rebuilders heat stamp and a number were on it. So i called them and found it was rebuilt just 10k miles before the truck went into the yard. 

Edited September 29, 2019 by ntxcustoms

[ntxcustoms]

This afternoon i took the floor board out and began to remove the 3 speed. When i pulled it i found that it has a 9" input shaft and not the 7.5" shaft that i thought the 3 speeds have. So what trans is this. Doesn't seem like a manual semi-auto but...

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by ntxcustoms

[ntxcustoms]

Here's my input shaft on the three speed

 

 

[ntxcustoms]

What bellhousing do i need? I have another parts car so I'm going to checkthat one out in the morning

[ntxcustoms]

Started machining my parts you adapt the 85-87 ford ranger transmission. If you're interested on how this turns out, I'll be posting more of the process on the 5 speed-not t5 thread.

[Ernie Baily]

Hello, On your dash light issue, I had the same problem with the dim lighting. I switched to #81 bulbs for the two main bulbs on my 48 Plymouth. They were better, but still dim for my taste. I found  in the POC a add for LED bulbs and called. I spoke to Eric at Bill Hirchs. He madeup some LED bulbs that work great! However I still had to slightly modify them to fit in the holes on the back of the dash cluster. It might be worth a try!    Good Luck!