Ivan_B Posted November 8, 2023 Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 3 hours ago, FarmerJon said: Well, I guess i need to take the time to fix my gas gauge... Sorry to hear that ? I did fix mine, recently, so I am now happy as a clown... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingster Posted November 8, 2023 Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 Were you able to get the starter out (if you did) without removing the oil filter and oil lines? On my DeSoto, the maintenance manual says that my starter can be lifted out without doing any of that. My oil filter is attached to a head bolt, so there's no taking that off, and I tried but then thought better of it. I went underneath the car (by digging out a pit in the dirt. It felt like The Great Escape) I can get to the lower bolt of the starter and it looks like there is room to take the starter out from underneath. But any way you cut it, you cannot take the top bolt of the starter off first, and then try to remove the lower. You'd need some new bridgework. My starter happens to have that four-poster solenoid which takes up more room when lifting out. My best guess is to first remove the lower bolt from underneath the car, and then go topside and remove the top bolt. Now, I have made a sort of cradle with a 2 X 4 to hold the starter in place from underneath, preventing it from falling through to the dirt. It occurs to me that the end of the starter where it connects to the flywheel may stop the starter from falling downward anyway. Any ideas from anybody would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldSmith Posted November 8, 2023 Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 I had to move my starter recently to get at the oil filter pipiing. I put a pipe actoss the fenders and made a sling to support the starter while I moved it out. ith the top anf bottom bolts out.. I was able to pull he starter out and lower it. It was a bitch allenging. (Deliberate typo) g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerJon Posted November 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 7 hours ago, Bingster said: Were you able to get the starter out (if you did) without removing the oil filter and oil lines? On my DeSoto, the maintenance manual says that my starter can be lifted out without doing any of that. My oil filter is attached to a head bolt, so there's no taking that off, and I tried but then thought better of it. I went underneath the car (by digging out a pit in the dirt. It felt like The Great Escape) I can get to the lower bolt of the starter and it looks like there is room to take the starter out from underneath. But any way you cut it, you cannot take the top bolt of the starter off first, and then try to remove the lower. You'd need some new bridgework. My starter happens to have that four-poster solenoid which takes up more room when lifting out. My best guess is to first remove the lower bolt from underneath the car, and then go topside and remove the top bolt. Now, I have made a sort of cradle with a 2 X 4 to hold the starter in place from underneath, preventing it from falling through to the dirt. It occurs to me that the end of the starter where it connects to the flywheel may stop the starter from falling downward anyway. Any ideas from anybody would be much appreciated. I did pull my starter to test it. It has been a few months, but I don't think I had to pull any oil lines loose. I also had very limited access to under the car, as I was parked in my front yard.... if I am remembering right I was able to remove the cable and two mounting bolts, and pull it out the top. The Plymouth starter isn't excessively heavy, maybe 25#? My solenoid is mounted on the inner fender, so there may be some differences in how your Desoto is put together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldSmith Posted November 8, 2023 Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 Trying to remember- I ihad to get under the car to remove the bottom bolt. I removed the wheel and had the jack and jackstands firmly in place. Bolts a bitch to get to. Open end wrench to start, or maybe crowfoot. Socket and extension couldn't quite line up. I think I hoisted the starter up. And of course I had the fender covers on. Finally bought a set, No more old towels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerJon Posted February 16 Author Report Share Posted February 16 (edited) Been a while since a real update, spent most of last year working an average of 60 hours a week, so getting work done on the car has been slow going. I did manage to drive the Plymouth 1-2 days a week most of the year. That really got me thinking about all the work I need to get done on it! First priority is getting this BW OD rebuilt and installed. Mid December I started my "One piece at a time" plan, and rebuilt the selector mechanism. With some machine work and welding, I managed to take .015" of slop out of a couple places, and polished all of the rubbing surfaces. I also found earlier selector levers that are much shorter, hopefully they will work to reduce lever travel. I have now started on the rest of the trans. It is a little slow, between only working on it during my lunch breaks, and tracking down the parts to switch to the stronger "strut" synchros. Last week I got sick of the gas smell that has plagued the car for a couple months, so I swapped the leaky Carter Ball and Ball for the Carter WA-1 I rebuilt over a year ago. Went surprisingly well, and with a little tuning runs quite well. Seems much smoother than the previous carb, with less of a "wet sucking sound". While tuning, I noticed that it was producing fuel mist like a smoke machine, vs the slightly broken up drip of the B&B. https://imgdump5.novarata.net/7l0i97.jpg Only down side is that it doesnt seem to like cold starts, so yesterday I finally installed a choke cable. The B&B went 2 years of chokeless cold starts. I think it could use a little more tuning, Idle is a little too rich, but leaned out it acts like it needs more accelerator pump. I took a couple vacation days for my anniversary and birthday, so I finally took it to a tire shop and had the wheels balanced. All were a little bent, so we put the best on the front. 3 out of 4 were out of balance. Now no more vibration above 60. https://imgdump5.novarata.net/xbx1v4.jpg This allowed me to hit a new top speed on the expressway: 86 mph. Power was -just- starting to break up, maybe a little valve float? Keep in mind this is with 3.9 rear gears and the standard 3 speed still. I do not understand why so many people think these cars can't run 65...I run 70 with traffic routinely, with power to spare. Next up I am going to make a second try to get my dual point distributor installed, hopefully I can get a condenser to survive this time.... Edited February 16 by FarmerJon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyHarold Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 If you get a bolt with the same thread and a little longer than the original lower bolt, you can make an alignment pin for removing/installing the starter. Remove the original lower bolt, cut the head off the longer bolt, and screw it in where the lower bolt goes. You can then remove the other starter bolts without having to support the starter at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 I used Allen head bolts to reinstall the trans. The bolt is a lot easier to start on the end of a long socket extension. Makes getting the upper one on the drivers side much easier to deal with. So if you us the alignment bolts mentioned above, make two. Put them in the top passenger side and bottom on drivers side. Then put the hex bolts into the open ones and snug them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48jumpdoors Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 On 2/16/2024 at 11:04 AM, FarmerJon said: Been a while since a real update, spent most of last year working an average of 60 hours a week, so getting work done on the car has been slow going. I did manage to drive the Plymouth 1-2 days a week most of the year. That really got me thinking about all the work I need to get done on it! First priority is getting this BW OD rebuilt and installed. Mid December I started my "One piece at a time" plan, and rebuilt the selector mechanism. With some machine work and welding, I managed to take .015" of slop out of a couple places, and polished all of the rubbing surfaces. I also found earlier selector levers that are much shorter, hopefully they will work to reduce lever travel. I have now started on the rest of the trans. It is a little slow, between only working on it during my lunch breaks, and tracking down the parts to switch to the stronger "strut" synchros. Last week I got sick of the gas smell that has plagued the car for a couple months, so I swapped the leaky Carter Ball and Ball for the Carter WA-1 I rebuilt over a year ago. Went surprisingly well, and with a little tuning runs quite well. Seems much smoother than the previous carb, with less of a "wet sucking sound". While tuning, I noticed that it was producing fuel mist like a smoke machine, vs the slightly broken up drip of the B&B. https://imgdump5.novarata.net/7l0i97.jpg Only down side is that it doesnt seem to like cold starts, so yesterday I finally installed a choke cable. The B&B went 2 years of chokeless cold starts. I think it could use a little more tuning, Idle is a little too rich, but leaned out it acts like it needs more accelerator pump. I took a couple vacation days for my anniversary and birthday, so I finally took it to a tire shop and had the wheels balanced. All were a little bent, so we put the best on the front. 3 out of 4 were out of balance. Now no more vibration above 60. https://imgdump5.novarata.net/xbx1v4.jpg This allowed me to hit a new top speed on the expressway: 86 mph. Power was -just- starting to break up, maybe a little valve float? Keep in mind this is with 3.9 rear gears and the standard 3 speed still. I do not understand why so many people think these cars can't run 65...I run 70 with traffic routinely, with power to spare. Next up I am going to make a second try to get my dual point distributor installed, hopefully I can get a condenser to survive this time.... I am waiting for you to install the trans as I have a 1948 4 door with all original equipment except for the R10 that Dad put in it years ago. Dad had a toggle switch to run the solenoid to activate the O/D I want to make it a little safer for the trans and do it more like its suppose to be. I hear that you can ruin one of these O/D units by trying to put it in 1 st gear while the overdrive is engaged I'm sure someone here knows the skinny on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerJon Posted October 23 Author Report Share Posted October 23 Well, it is nearly time for me to wrap this thing up. My wife and I have decided to make some big life changes: I have quit my job and we are selling everything and moving our two young boys and us to southeast Asia, for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately the Plymouth cannot come along, so I am going to tidy up all the loose ends I can, and get it sold. Luckily, the area we are going has a big vintage car scene, and mechanics, paint and upholstery are affordable. Unfortunately, it is a slim chance that the Plymouth replacement will be even a distant relative of anything this forum is about. Over the next couple weeks, I will try to keep this updated because I habe a lot of work to do! SO! All that out of the way: What have I gotten done the last six months? A few things. I got the dual point distributor and Mallory "best" coil installed and working. After some trouble with the battery, and a reckless 12v to 6v jumpstart or two, I installed a new, larger 6V battery, a NOS autolite solinoid, and a set of custom 00 gauge battery and starter cables. A new battery hold down, some stickers and some red paint has it looking right at home. It spins over faster than ever, so I am very pleased. I swapped back on a fresh B&B carter, because I could not tune out the off idle stumble. It had been built by a self proclaimed expert, but is a total mess. So after a few months of poor running, leaking and being a jet too rich, I finally found the time to sit down the the 413s WA-1 again. Poking around I found that I had mistakenly put the accelerator check ball in the wrong spot (under the vacuum piston is NOT where it goes) Unsurprisingly, the off idle stumble is gone, and am happy to be rid of the Ball & Ball once again. I have been chasing a misfire since installing the B&B, I assumed that it was loading up the plugs, but after going back to the WA-1, the miss is still there, although better. I pulled and examined all the spark plugs, and found that 5 looked good (although a little rich) but one had a small crack in the insulator, right by the electrorode. A fresh set of plugs, and she is back to running like a top. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerJon Posted November 10 Author Report Share Posted November 10 It seems that the housing market is dead for the year, we are going to survive here till spring and try again. So in the meantime, it is back to working on the Plymouth. Besides, its my only car now! It has been running sweet ever since I replaced the spark plugs. So naturally, I had to go and make it inoperable right away! Yesterday I started on installing the BW Overdrive I rebuilt last spring, and a fresh clutch. I got the old transmission out with little fuss, other than I had to sacrifice a section of my exhaust that ran across the tail of the trans. I will also be installing a fresh clutch linkage and less worn out shifter linkage. Found why the transmission leaked from the front: whoever installed the trans last did not put the gasket between it and the bellhousing. Today I am going to get the clutch out and maybe the flywheel. I am also going to replace the rear motor mounts and start cleaning and repairing all the wornout linkage bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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