Old guy with a new car and introductions all around

[KyMoonshine]

2 hours ago, Dan Hiebert said:

Welcome!  I've always admired the fastbacks, you've made a nice score there.  Yes, that ugly black canister at the back of the engine is the oil filter, with a drop in element.  I use a Fram C134PL filter.  

 

I, too, am a bit of an ACVW nut.  I currently have a stock '70 Beetle that is my summer bombing around car, although I discovered yesterday that some local rodents are ACVW nuts as well, so now I have to find out what they plugged or chewed up that the car won't run.  Usually runs like a scalded ape...well...maybe a scalded spider monkey.    

It only needs one wire to run ?

The wiring in old Volkswagens is always a mess when I get them, and I spend an entire day or so sorting them out, if its not starting then the power to the coil has been broken somewhere in the car

I dont know Jack about Plymouths but I can help with VWs all day ?

[KyMoonshine]

2 hours ago, greg g said:

Many of us with recently rebuilt engines use multi viscosity diesel oil. Most will recommend sticking with single weight non detergent to keep the sludge and lead pudding where it is. 

Anyone have an example of brand/weight oil in single weight non detergent? preferably something I can pick up at a Napa etc

[Booger]

Moonshine.

theres a post in here as a survey with what oils are being run in flatties

check that out

youll find 3 out of 4 reponses run conventional 10w-30

 

[TodFitch]

1 hour ago, KyMoonshine said:

Anyone have an example of brand/weight oil in single weight non detergent? preferably something I can pick up at a Napa etc

 

Any reason for single weight non-detergent? Multi-viscosity oil was becoming available around the time your car was built and unless it went through the hands of a bunch of cheapskates it likely had it for most of its life.

[greg g]

Tractor supply had some here a couple weeks ago.  Make sure you get motor oil not lubricating oil. True value and Ace have  non det in there lawnmower supplies.

[KyMoonshine]

Drove the Plymouth down to sheriffs office today for inspection and got it all legal with plate/registration and came back home and spent the day in the garage trying to get lights sorted, I got excited when I found these new tail light lenses in trunk but they were two different types and neither would fit  so I need to find a set as the one on the left is off the car.

 

I just sourced new lens $260.00 ?

Man I miss Volkswagen prices

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by KyMoonshine

[KyMoonshine]

5 hours ago, TodFitch said:

 

Any reason for single weight non-detergent? Multi-viscosity oil was becoming available around the time your car was built and unless it went through the hands of a bunch of cheapskates it likely had it for most of its life.

I was going from recommendations made here to use single weight non-detergent

[knuckleharley]

7 hours ago, KyMoonshine said:

Anyone have an example of brand/weight oil in single weight non detergent? preferably something I can pick up at a Napa etc

I can't remember the name right now,but O'Reilly has a "house oil" in 30 wt non-detergent at a pretty good price. I bought a case of it a while back. I  just recently dropped the oil pan in my 51 Vicky and decided I wanted to try 15w-40 in it to see how it does. It now has zero oil pressure at idle,and 40 psi going down the road,so I am switching back to 30 wt non-detergent for the time being.

[KyMoonshine]

3 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

I can't remember the name right now,but O'Reilly has a "house oil" in 30 wt non-detergent at a pretty good price. I bought a case of it a while back. I  just recently dropped the oil pan in my 51 Vicky and decided I wanted to try 15w-40 in it to see how it does. It now has zero oil pressure at idle,and 40 psi going down the road,so I am switching back to 30 wt non-detergent for the time being.

If the old gauge is right this one idles 30-40 pounds and 40 going down the road

[JerseyHarold]

Welcome to the forum.  A couple of things that may interest you...

 

The Plymouth engine was known as the 'Powerflow Six' in the early '50's.

 

I've got '51 and '52 Plymouths and the short-wheelbase cars had a smaller non-oil-bath air cleaner.  I believe it was the same in 1950.

 

The '50 fastback has its own unique taillights.   They were a one-piece assembly that included the housing.  Nothing else interchanges.

[KyMoonshine]

3 hours ago, JerseyHarold said:

The '50 fastback has its own unique taillights.   They were a one-piece assembly that included the housing.  Nothing else interchanges.

I pulled one of my tail lights today to see if I could find the problem with my brake lights and it was a three piece design, the chrome bezel, the lens and the inside housing that holds the bulb were all separate, so these are not the original tail lights? they sure look like they have been on the car 70 years lol

 

Also I have been reading here and another forum and have not really found the answer, are the tail light bulbs different due to positive ground?, I'll admit the positive ground thing is probably fairly simple but I am still having trouble wrapping my noodle around how it works, I guess instead of completing the positive circuit you are completing the negative but its still alien to me, I need new bulbs for the tail/brake lights and not sure what I should buy.

 

Someone at sometime in this cars past has ran a bunch of wires from under the dash to the truck and tied in to the original wiring and its all a mess, my service manual shipped today so hopefully I will get it sorted after it arrives 

Edited October 9, 2020 by KyMoonshine

[greg g]

Bulbs are bulbs they don't care which way the electrons flow.  The wires are probably related to turn signals.  Does the switch look stock or aftermarket??  I think you will find the bulbs are non indexed bayonet mounts.  So the bulbs can go in with the contacts lined up with the wrong wire.  Meaning that you can put the bright element on the running light terminal and the dim one on the brake signal terminal.  When in in correctly there won't be enough resistance to make the flasher work. More modern bulbs have offset mounting bubba that align the bulbs the older ones are straight across from each other. You have one of these??? Should be of good assistance in tracking what goes where.

Edited October 9, 2020 by greg g

[KyMoonshine]

48 minutes ago, greg g said:

Bulbs are bulbs they don't care which way the electrons flow.  The wires are probably related to turn signals.  Does the switch look stock or aftermarket??  I think you will find the bulbs are non indexed bayonet mounts.  So the bulbs can go in with the contacts lined up with the wrong wire.  Meaning that you can put the bright element on the running light terminal and the dim one on the brake signal terminal.  When in in correctly there won't be enough resistance to make the flasher work. More modern bulbs have offset mounting bubba that align the bulbs the older ones are straight across from each other. You have one of these??? Should be of good assistance in tracking what goes where.

I keep a test light in every tool tray within reach lol, The turn signals are some after market set-up installed at some time in its life, I'll deal with those last if at all, so what you are saying is places selling "Positive Ground" 6 volt bulbs are just selling bulbs, there is nothing special about them? I have not pulled the bulbs from the sockets yet so I'm not sure if they are indexed or not, I did pull the brake light switch and going to clean it up and see if it still works.Are bulbs made for 6 volts brighter than sticking a 12 volt 1157 in the socket?

Edited October 9, 2020 by KyMoonshine

[Sam Buchanan]

7 hours ago, KyMoonshine said:

I keep a test light in every tool tray within reach lol, The turn signals are some after market set-up installed at some time in its life, I'll deal with those last if at all, so what you are saying is places selling "Positive Ground" 6 volt bulbs are just selling bulbs, there is nothing special about them? I have not pulled the bulbs from the sockets yet so I'm not sure if they are indexed or not, I did pull the brake light switch and going to clean it up and see if it still works.Are bulbs made for 6 volts brighter than sticking a 12 volt 1157 in the socket?

 

I've never heard of "positive ground bulbs", as greg stated incandescent bulbs don't care which way the electrons are flowing.

 

Yes, a 6v bulb is definitely brighter than an 1157. My P15 had a couple of 12v bulbs that I had to change out to get the taillights up to full brightness.

 

If the positive ground thing is messing with your mind just change the car over to negative ground. It's a simple process as long as it doesn't have a radio. My P15 had been partially converted when I got it (I had to reverse the ammeter wires) but I probably would have done it anyway just to avoid mental gymnastics.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Sam Buchanan

[greg g]

7 hours ago, KyMoonshine said:

I keep a test light in every tool tray within reach lol, The turn signals are some after market set-up installed at some time in its life, I'll deal with those last if at all, so what you are saying is places selling "Positive Ground" 6 volt bulbs are just selling bulbs, there is nothing special about them? I have not pulled the bulbs from the sockets yet so I'm not sure if they are indexed or not, I did pull the brake light switch and going to clean it up and see if it still works.Are bulbs made for 6 volts brighter than sticking a 12 volt 1157 in the socket?

LED bulbs are ground sensitive, incandescent aren't.  I have never even considered polarity when thinking about lights Gennys starters etc.  Power is power, ground is ground no gymnastics needed.  

Edited October 9, 2020 by greg g

[knuckleharley]

2 minutes ago, greg g said:

LED bulbs are ground sensitive, incandescent aren't.

Thanks! If I had ever known that,I had forgotten it.

[greg g]

As far as brightness goes watts is watts and ohms law prevails.  Watts will half when 12v bulbs are fed 6volts.  A 40 watt 6v bulb fed with 6v  should be just as bright as a 40 watt 12 volt bulb fed by 12v.

 

Where these car fall a bit short is in lense design,small reflective area behind the bulb, and over the years corrupted grounds.

Edited October 9, 2020 by greg g

[knuckleharley]

12 minutes ago, greg g said:

As far as brightness goes watts is watts and ohms law prevails.  Watts will half when 12v bulbs are fed 6volts.  A 40 watt 6v bulb fed with 6v  should be just as bright as a 40 watt 12 volt bulb fed by 12v.

 

Where these car fall a bit short is in lense design,small reflective area behind the bulb, and over the years corrupted grounds.

Not to mention "sun fogged" glass.

[KyMoonshine]

34 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

Not to mention "sun fogged" glass.

I would have assumed in 1950 the rear lenses would have been glass, these are plastic that are almost white at this point, were they originally glass? I found a couple of places selling them as NOS and they are plastic as well and very expensive and I'm not even sure if they will work in my fastback as someone above stated they had a different tail light, here is one link to a pair.

 

https://www.hiltopautoparts.com/product/nos-mopar-tail-lenses-1950-2-plymouth-models/

[Sam Buchanan]

1 hour ago, Sam Buchanan said:

 

 

Yes, a 6v bulb is definitely brighter than an 1157. My P15 had a couple of 12v bulbs that I had to change out to get the taillights up to full brightness.

 

Guess I should have said...in order to avoid my quote being taken out of context....that a 12v bulb will be dimmer on 6v than a 6v bulb with the same lumen rating.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Sam Buchanan

[greg g]

Get some modern head light polishing stuff and see if you can put some life back in those lenses.  Be gentle they are probably not very stout these days.  Maybe some 2000 were sand paper first then the polish from the kit.

[greg g]

Or maybe a subtle custom touch,

 

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/7227107451175009242?q=1950+pontiac+tail+lights&client=tablet-android-efun&biw=1280&bih=800&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&prmd=simvn&prds=num:1,of:1,epd:10405995214965573113,prmr:1,cs:1

[Young Ed]

3 hours ago, KyMoonshine said:

I would have assumed in 1950 the rear lenses would have been glass, these are plastic that are almost white at this point, were they originally glass? I found a couple of places selling them as NOS and they are plastic as well and very expensive and I'm not even sure if they will work in my fastback as someone above stated they had a different tail light, here is one link to a pair.

 

https://www.hiltopautoparts.com/product/nos-mopar-tail-lenses-1950-2-plymouth-models/

Plymouth started plastic in 49

[KyMoonshine]

I ordered an oil filter and it will be here tomorrow, the old man at my Carquest sold me this oil and I hope it is a good choice, I've always ran German Spec oil or Rotella so it's weird, this seems more like air compressor oil

[knuckleharley]

1 hour ago, KyMoonshine said:

I ordered an oil filter and it will be here tomorrow, the old man at my Carquest sold me this oil and I hope it is a good choice, I've always ran German Spec oil or Rotella so it's weird, this seems more like air compressor oil

Take it back.  Engine oil and lubricating oil are not the same thing.

 

Go to your local NAPA,O'Reillys,Advance Auto,etc,etc,etc,and buy a case of 30 weight non-detergent automobile oil.

Next time you go back to that Car Quest,get a different counter person.

Edited October 9, 2020 by knuckleharley