I ordered a 6 volt electric pump to get me rolling while I find (hope to someday) a replacement vacuum canister. Its the lowest pressure (I can find) available, 2.5 - 4 PSI. Does anyone know roughly what PSI these gravity fed carburetors can handle? It is suppose to be internally regulated, so I should not need a return line. Just wondering what other guys have done. I may try and choke it down with a needle valve if I have to.

So I get this thing all back together and go to try it out, wiring power to the batt terminal and timer to the distributor.

Get nothing no spark. I'm already scheming how I can attach a rotary switch to the back of the keyed and pot metal part of the ignition to make it function and appear stock. So I hadn't quite given up yet and head out to the garage with my fluke meter and start prodding. On my good coil I get about 1.5 ohms across - to +. Try it on the original batt to timer its open regardless of key position. Then I tried it from the gas gauge terminal to timer and get 1.5 ohms with the key on and open with it off. Wired it up temporary in the car, using the GAS GAGE terminal instead of BATT, coil wire to ground and open the points and zap! have strong spark! Now I'm off to see if she'll run on it, and see if I have a working generator. 

I was able to get it apart without much damage. I sanded and greased the pot metal where the disk turns, and also greased (dielectric or sli glide light weight stuff) where the tumbler assembly sits inside the pot metal. Its a little distorted and cracked so it was binding some.


Also polished up all the electrical contact points.


Got everything working nice and free on the bench, but putting it back together nice and tight is difficult, always fearing that metal base will shatter in my hands as I try and bend those tabs back down.

When I got the car this was pulled out of the dash and in a box with other various parts. Original key would go in, but would not turn the tumbler. Got the car running with a different coil, but i want the original, so I tore it apart not knowing what the out come would be.

Thanks Rich I'll check the bolt spacing on that one (made 2) and see how close they are. The inside hole fits well, the outside binds as you tighten it up. Gear spacing seems to mesh well, but Ill check rubbing and wear after some run time. Same friend is in the process of making me a replacement pinion gear retainer. That should be easier to replicate.

Found this entertaining. Starts a little weird but man they try and kill these cars. I like them hitting the rail road ties at speed,(@ 3:28) and then showing it in slow motion. Might total most small cars today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1gcC6RiB-I

There are a lot of discussions on getting the timing set on these old things. I thought of a little trick and maybe someone has said it or done it already on here and I missed it, but I'll repeat it anyway because it worked well. With the timing screw out we were measuring the piston position with a white brazing rod and a sharpie mark. Then to figure which stroke it is on, I grabbed the air hose and started filling the cylinder with air. Had air blowing out the starting cup and knew right where I was. Spun it to the correct position, dropped the shaft in, lined up number 1 and we were off to the races.

 Thanks for the comments guys

Rich is this what your asking for? Not a real scientific way of measuring but I don't have the right tools to do. So I tired to get center to center and its seems to be 3/4" inches. After I run this thing for more than a couple of minutes, I'll take it out and and apart and check for wear. I still have some fit issues to deal with as far as the bolt holes go.

Got it setup with temporary gas, and it came right to life with no timing or carb adjustment. This video is 3 clips put together, first part is a generic description, second is the second start and 3 part is it just running. No video of the first start as I had no idea what was going to happen, it started smooth right to a low idle. What you will see here is the second attempt after we put some water in, and it started a little harder. Not bad, considering the only time it has ran since the 50's possibly 40's was long enough to break the distributor base.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRvxgtM7Eac&list=UUsD_GDMw-C7P-CJzCNDkgdw

Bypassed all factory wiring except the starter, robbed plug wires off of a spare V-8 i had laying around and got setup to do a trial start. Frank came over with some spare parts and procedural literature. Got everything setup and just couldn't get spark to the plugs, coil tested good ran out of day. Frank returned the following morning, with his spare cap and rotor, and bam instant spark. Go figure, those parts don't last 50 plus years. Sure is handy having an experienced Plymouth owner near by, with a garage full of extras.

Had major progress this weekend, but am running out of time to post details. Video tomorrow might just make my goal this summer yet!

So if anyone is pulling a trans on one of these, (if stuck) I would try loosing the collar on the clutch petal and letting the forks twist back as you pull it may let the whole piece pull out without breaking the pinion bearing retainer

I had to do this to get the bearing and collar out. Even with the piece out, in a vise, on bench I could not get it out. When I tried to twist it, it shattered without much pressure. Not much hope for removal, with out cutting the steel off it. After dealing with these, I have little hope for using original parts, so I am having one made and would expect not to have to deal with this again.

Steve,

I suspect the part you found may not be any easier to find then the original. After trying to remove whats left of the shaft from the collar? What ever the proper term is for what the fork pushes against and the throw bearing rides on, I have no interest in dealing with that aged cast piece and am having one made.

Old Man,

Not much has been tampered with on this old thing.

and the verdict is..................


Copper. No signs of deterioration anywhere, I don't plan on running the car on public roads anytime soon, so I'll let it roll. 

Throw out bearing. This by far was the worst thing I have had to dig into on this car. It was a struggle to get the trans split from the bell housing. Then the rest hung up. Real bad.




Figure 13 Transmission main drive pinion bearing retainer. Broken.......... and the throw out bearing is stuck, well more like fused into one solid piece. Won't spin, won't move, its roached.

Anyone have a "Transmission main drive pinion bearing retainer" they care to sell?

Starting to figure out more and more why a lot of these get modern drive trains...............