A differebt experience

[blueskies]

Pete' date=' even though the salt may not stick or clump on the car when the salt is dry, the dust from the salt gets in it. Then when the car gets wet or damp it reactivates that salt dust. That's why I said I wondered why you took your Plymouth to the flats. Not only about you doing it, but everyone else that is out there with their nice old cars. Even if you don't create the dust yourself, everyone else driving on it and the wind blowing across the salt will create the dust and get on and in everyones vehicle.[/quote']

Don is right Norm, there is no salt dust on the salt flats, because the salt is slightly damp. When it does dry out, it is hard as a rock. It is very different from the salt that is put down on roads because it is still in a crystaline state. It has not been disolved into solution for spraying, or ground into dust by heavy traffic.

If the wind really picks up, there may be a bit of salt blowing around, but more like a sand storm than dust. It doesn't filter into nooks and crannies like you might think.

This pic was taken after two days of driving around on the salt, probably 100 miles of salt only driving. There is no salt on the car other than in the fenderwells ,wheels, and rear splash pan. The salt coming off of the rear tires bounced around the inside curve of the rear bumper and landed on the splash pan, just like everything else does... The insides of my fenders are undercoated, and the salt had no effect on the coating whatsoever.

Pete

[Young Ed]

I guess then it would be time to go green and start carpooling.

Thankfully we don't live in some third world country where something like that may be necessary. Look at cuba. Norms scenario happens all the time there. I guess if we truely were that stuck we would put whatever in whatever to get around. That will not be happening anytime soon.

[knighthawk]

''Dat soon''....I like it... speaking of car modifications to save a car from the crusher or just to keep it alive, ........does this mean that you guys are not really upset that I chopped my '48 ?

[oldmopar]

So.............what's it going to be guys. Yugo engine or walk? Keep in mind I'm not talking about doing a restoration. I'm talking about a driver and keep it running.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/UTVA-66-SUPER-STOL-YUGO-WARBIRD-UTILITY-PLANE_W0QQitemZ130158771448QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130158771448

[james curl]

I believe that a Plymouth drives like a Plymouth and a Cheverolet drives differently as does a ford. The Plymouth rides smoother and steers differently. When was the last time you drove a stock supension 48 Ford or Cheverolet? I also have a 55 Cheverolet Pick up with the original suspension and 235 I/6 in it and it to drives differently than the Plymouth. A SBC engine should not make the stock supensded Plymouth drive like a Cheverolet.

Why am I getting all the flack about maybe going to a V8 engine when several members of this fourm have already gone that route and no one said anything about it?

[littleman]

Did someone mention VEGA

[greg g]

Hey Jim do what ya gotta do to it on the road. I wouldn't care if you put a bunch of bungee cords conected to a giant flywheel. Your car do what fits best with your needs.

[Norm's Coupe]

Why am I getting all the flack about maybe going to a V8 engine when several members of this fourm have already gone that route and no one said anything about it?

James, that's because even though most of the guys on the forum do make alterations to their Mopar's, they are still in someways a purist. They just don't want to admit it. Like many Ford purist, they think you have to put a Mopar in a Mopar, Chevy in a Chevy or Ford in a Ford. So.......whenever some of them hear about putting in an SBC in a Mopar they speak out on it. If you were putting in a Hemi, Red Ram, 318 Mopar or 440 V8 they would be saying the complete opposite.

I'm with you on this though. In my book the 350 is a much better choice.

[Don Coatney]

Why am I getting all the flack about maybe going to a V8 engine when several members of this fourm have already gone that route and no one said anything about it?

James;

I think only one guy actually gave you flack and he is a newby. It is your car and I know you will do what is best for you. I really appriciate the fact that you drive your car on long trips. I know you will do so weather you have a flathead 6, a cheby V-8, or a Yugo whatever.

I did have to hijack your thread for a bit to poke fun at Norm and his Yugo powered non driver.

[Norm's Coupe]

''Dat soon''....I like it... speaking of car modifications to save a car from the crusher or just to keep it alive, ........does this mean that you guys are not really upset that I chopped my '48 ?

Regardless of what anyone said previously about you chopping your 48, I don't think it really upset them. Like myself. I probably said I don't like a chopped car of any kind and would not own one, and that's true. However, if the owner likes it, it's his car. I won't get upset regardless of how you chop and dice a car as long as it isn't mine. If chopped tops is what you like, then I say go for it and have fun.

[Young Ed]

I'm certainly not upset about it. Its your car and you are right at least its not tuna cans now. I do get a little bothered by people who start chopping and then don't finish. I also would not get upset if James put a SBC in his car. It really is a shame he had such bad luck with the flatheads. Heck after all that maybe I'd be considering a v8 too! The only part of all of this I don't agree with is that after doubling the horse power and more then likely switching to an automatic tranny that it would still drive the same.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I picked up the 53 chebbie coupe for my bud up north...it is still at the house and will be till late November..it is a 350/350 set up..drives totally unrefined as it did in 53...only a little faster off the line...I don't think it is as smooth as a Plymouth though...of course I drove it but a short distance also...you can see the back end of this car in the punk mobile thread...

[38plymouth]

It's your car to do with as you please. I wouldn't concern yourself with what somebody else thinks you should or shouldn't do to it.

That picture of the car driving through the salt water makes me ill, I know what a NY winter can do to a car with all the roadsalt they dump. I can't imagine driving a car through that salt water on purpose. That thing is going to rust from the inside out. I would have left my car parked on the salt unattended for a month before I would have driven through that water. There are going to be alot of upset people in the future when the rust starts showing.

[james curl]

I do not own but one car with an automatic and that is my wife's car. All of mine are stick shift and I have a T-5 for the Plymouth, almost went with an overdrive but all that I could find in Hemmings and elsewhere run 1200 to 1600 dollars delivered complete. I was on my way to the credit union to take out money to buy a kit from Paul Curtis in Mi. to install the T-5 when all of this happened. I am going to do some improvements to my pick up for the next month or so then pull the crank out of my old engine and have it polished or turned .010" to install in the other engine. I had bought 6 new rods, 6 new .040 pistons and 6 .060 used pistons with rods from a fellow in Rocklin Calif on the HAMB site. He shipped UPS and at the Mesquite Texas depot they found that the package was damaged so sent it back to Calif to see what was missing, just the 6 .060 pistons and rods. Nothing happens until UPS settles the claim so I still do not have my parts. Will bore my original block .040 for the pistons then rebuilt it to reinstall in the car more than likely. In the mean time the car will prpbably just have to sit. If it was not for bad luck some of us might not have any luck.

[blueskies]

If it was not for bad luck some of us might not have any luck.

James-

I think you should really piss off the purists, and install a flathead Fword V8, LOL Only kidding...

I know from my experience, that when I discovered the dreaded internal noise, that I wanted to yank the boat anchor and sell it for scrap. Everything my SBC-loving-brother told me was right, and I was a fool for spending nearly $4k to build a failed dream. It was time to eat some crow, the old flatty really was a POS.

So I slept on it for a few months, dejected. I had no engine to drive my car to Tulsa, the primary goal of the project for years. Once I was over the grief and realization that I was going to have to tear into all that work or not go to Tulsa, I got to work and dug in.

Once the fix was done though, I felt like I had triumphed again, and fell in love with the sound of my flathead all over again. And I layed to rest all the BS I've heard from everyone that these engines aren't up to the task by driving it 3300 miles to Tulsa and back. With a huge grin on my face all the way.

I know you will do what is right for you and your car, and I wouldn't let anyone here or elsewhere bother you with flack about your decision. It just doesn't matter what they think, now does it?

I truely admire your enthusiasm and spirit to keep your car on the road, that you do the work yourself, and most of all that you are not affriad to DRIVE it. And not just to the corner store mind you, but across the country. Even with a bad noise inside the engine. Even knowing that it might quit in the middle of knowwhere. That takes commitment, and some serious balls my friend. I suspect that many of the folks offering commentary here rarely if ever venture beyond their comfort zone with their old cars.

I want to be just like you when I'm your age, livin' large.

Pete

[james curl]

Thank you Pete for the words of encouragement. I keep getting the same advise from all of my friends that you got from brother and one of them is building a flat head ford pick up, had his engine built by a Ford flathead pro who installed the oil pump idler gear backwards which did not engage either the oil pump or the cam, thus no oil pressure on start up. Pro is rebuilding his engine at no cost. I have my old engine which is on my engine stand right now with the pistons and rods out, just need to pull the hormonic balancer to remove crank. The crank mics standard but will have it turned .010 to be safe. Just have to work up the motivation to pull the engine out of the car again along with the carpet and pad to remove the floor pan. Good excuse to try to make a new bracket to hold a dual mastercylinder with remote fill and adapt the T-5 transmission. But first I'm way behind on my "Honey Do's"

[PatS....]

"I want to be just like you when I'm your age, livin' large."

EXACTLY!!!

Well put, Pete!

At 71, James is choosing between repairing the flattie ONE MORE TIME, or dropping in a SBC. Both are alot of work.

Nowhere do I see sitting on the porch in a rocking chair as one of the choices.

Not that I see 71 as old, but I'm only 53 and laying on the hard concrete ain't as much fun as it once was. I admire anyone rebuilding and swapping engines at 71+

James, I don't care if you steal Norm's Yugo engine and drop it in, I support whatever you decide.

James, I wish I was close by so I could sit in your garage drinking your beer watching...oopps...helping

[james curl]

What makes this more interesting is I have a 60' long dirt driveway and a one car (Model "T") garage full of stuff so I work off of three sheets of 4'x8'x3/4" treated and painted plywood placed across the driveway. City Zoning precludes expanding garage or adding a portable car port. Cannot work when it rains but can in the heat or cold.

[Plymouthy Adams]

James..I feel your pain..I am approaching 55 and I tell you..I don't care for getting down on the concrete dirt or any of that anymore..though there are times when I must...I appreciate daily the fact I was able to get a lift and build an addition to the garage just to support its use...where I lived before moving to Georgia...I would be very much in the same shoes as yours...only option there is that I did build a 48 by 30 shop and could easily alter the roof to allow higher walls to be added...but driving directly into the bay..not on your life..would require a heavy trolley jack...

[blueskies]

Just have to work up the motivation ...

If I were anywhere near where you live, I'd be over to lend a hand...

Pete

[greg g]

Jim do what my father did. He needed a car port and didn't want to screw with the building permit of the codes guy. So next to his garage he started to stack face cords of fire wood. when he got done they were in an "L" shape about the size of the garage. He then decided that they needed to be kept dry. So he put a ledger board under the eaves of the garage, hung up some 2 x 6's running from the ledger boards to the outside of the wood stacks, and then covered them with metal roofing. Codes guy came by and said my Dad needed to take it down. Dad asked him to produce the code or ordinance that said you couldn't have covered wood piles........there not being any, the codes guy left. Those face cords are just now getting dry enough to burn after 20 years........To bad Dad pulled the wood stove out of the house 15 years ago.

[james curl]

Well today I finally pulled the front main bearing cap to see if what I thought had happened did happen. My "dumb" mechanic messed up, he installed the botton front main shell in the top saddle in the block. For those of you who do not know all four of the main bearings have an oil hole in both the upper and lower bearing shell except for the number one main which only has the oil hole in the upper shell that goes in the block and not the cap. Now when you install the shell without a hole in it no oil goes to the main or the number one rod bearing. The damage is not as great as I first thought. The number one bearing surface on the crank looks good and the number one rod journal polished out but is .0015 out of round as best as I can read the mic. I have to set the mic and then remove it so that I can read the scale. The mic will open up while removing from the journal. The bad part of all of this is that the "dumb" mechanic is me.

[Normspeed]

That's something to make note of in my Mopar notebook! Glad the news isn't as bad as you thought.

[blueskies]

The bad part of all of this is that the "dumb" mechanic is me.

Sounds like you have the same mechanic that I do... It's been long enough since I did my assembly that I don't remember being aware of the difference in the the bearing halves for this main... Maybe I knew it at the time, or maybe I got lucky. My gramps always said, if you have luck, anything will do for brains.

Pete

[james curl]

I have three sets of used mains and a new set on the way. The three that I have all have a hole in each bearing shell except #1 which only has the hole in the top. The way that you can tell the #1 main bearing from #2&3 is the grove in the bearing is off center and the bearing is wider. The #1 & 4 bearings are both different and #2 & 3 are the same.