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Messages - Old Man

#121
I have a wrench or two still around from those days somewhere. I'm pretty sure they have "BS" stamped on them. But I think I have heard of Whitworth before also. I seem to remember that the Brits measured a nut across the corners and we measured it across the flats or something like that. Or they actually measured the bolt across the threads. Whatever they did we did the opposite. They always have seemed to be obtuse when naming things or using items already perfected in other countries.
One of the best stories I ever heard was the development of the Rolls Royce MERLIN engine used almost exclusively in Allied aircraft during WWII. The engine was only good for about 20 hours before it needed a major overhaul. But Packard Motors of Detroit was asked to build the engine on this side of the pond for use in North American designed aircraft. So off they went to England to look at the engine and it's testing. R/R engineers were doing their normal touchy feely thing with the engine and not looking to really TEST it as the Americans would. (Little did they know.) So the Packard engineers put the throttle wide open and asked where the nearest watering hole was. The R/R engineers nearly fainted. "It will blow up if you leave it like that!" "Yes" said the Packard guys," and then we'll find out why it broke and put in a better part for that one and start again until we can't break the damn thing." So that was how a good British motor became an unbreakable Packard motor and was used in the U.S. built Mustang,Canadian built Lancaster and Canadian built Mosquito and by the end of the war it was reffered to as the "Packard Merlin". If left on their own the R/R engineers would never have "got it". And then of course there's Lucas electrics. But don't get me started on that!
#122
General Discussion / Re: OIL
September 03, 2013, 11:29:30 AM
These old cars always had very dark oil. It does not seem to make any difference as to longevity of the motor. I have just lived with it for 30 or more years. They had a lot of blow by into the crankcase and out the breather and the oil didn't stay pretty very long. I use 10-40,I don't think I can buy a non detergant oil, and I add a 'friction modifier' called PROLONG. It looks like plain oil but you only add a small amount at a time. I have proven to myself ,at least,after several years of using it, that it does make things slide better. I use it in my antiques and daily drivers.
  I had a flat head six finally get to the point where I couldn't live with the smoke and carboning of the plugs anymore. It also had a knock that I thought was the water pump. I had been using PROLONG for several years by then. I pulled the pistons and 4 of the 6 had shattered rings. No piece was bigger than 2". Cylinder walls scratched or gouged? None. Not a bit. The knock was front #1 connecting rod bearing insert worn. The cylinders were still in 'standard bore' size as was the crank shaft. I just changed all the rings with standard and the con rod bearings with standard. Engine is like new and has been for about 8 years now. Oil still gets black after a while after a change so I have long since given up on changing it because of color.
 These engine were built of virgin steel. This was the first time this steel was used. (Bodies as well.) Unlike our daily drivers which are old stoves and refrigerators and rusted cars. And Plymouth used chrome nickel steel for eveything including the engine block and the tranny and rear end gears. These engines are overbuilt by today's standards. I believe the reason todays junk stays together as long as it does is because of the vastly superior lubricants. Even an ordinary can of automotive mineral oil for an engine says on the can that a 'friction modifier' has been added. I've been told that General Motors Canada buys PROLONG by the tank car load. So it's my contention that these old engines are built of sturdier stuff than today's but as we use today's lubricants, they should last virtually forever. Do not use the original manual as a guide for lubrication. All that 'SAE 160',fiber grease,kerosene for certain temperatures and single number engine oil is gone. Use modern hypoid fluid in the rear end and SAE 90 gear oil in the tranny. I also use a friction modifier in those areas called MOYSLIP G but Americans know it as MR. MOLY,I believe. With my car sitting on a flat surface like concrete, I can put my knee,while standing, against a bumper and very easily push the car across a parking lot. It never fails to amaze people. I'm sure this was not possible with lubricants of the 1920s and 30s or even as late as the 80s. Hope that helps from the life's experience of an old man.              
#123
General Discussion / Re: Wheel size and model year.
September 02, 2013, 08:31:37 AM
5:25/5:50 X 19" are Ford Model A tires and tubes etc. so you will share everything with the Model A guys. Something to think about. 
#124
General Discussion / Re: Barn Find 29U in Minnesota
August 30, 2013, 08:10:47 PM
The photos ARE better than a thousand words. Yes the fan is 6 v. electric and post WWII. It's the rubber bladed one that didn't require a shield. In fact most it's likely out of the 50s. Gives you some idea of when the car was still on the road in possible daily use. It's in much better shape than many barn finds today.  Wives always think we're insane when they see our treasures in their original condition. But when the car is restored and it's on it's way to a show or parade, they're up front riding shotgun with a smile on their faces. Seen it,been there.     
#125
General Discussion / Re: Barn Find 29U in Minnesota
August 28, 2013, 08:26:47 PM
Nice to see another original come out in the light. Those distributor bases were pot metal and are now disintergrating with age. I believe they are reproduced by an outfit in Australia? The radio antenna in 1929 was under the passenger running board. I have a vacuum operated Trico defroster fan on my steering column. They were made in Buffalo Ny. and are quite common up here.(The plant is right beside the I90 southbound from the Canada/U.S. border. Still said TRICO on it up until a few years ago. Think it's closed now.) If you can't get one of the coils to work you can use any 6 volt coil for now. I've been known to use a Volkswagen Bosch coil. I believe VW was positive ground like our Plymouths. It works quite well. The price seems to be  very good. But give us some more photos if you want us to critique it for you. It sounds like something I would buy if I were starting over.   
#126
General Discussion / Re: Engine Clean Up
August 28, 2013, 08:10:43 PM
BTW I'm not convinced that Canadian and American Plymouths both had black firewalls. The jury is still out but I think the Windsor body maker did not bother taking the time and money to paint the firewall black. I think Canadian bodies were all body color,firewall included. Not sure yet tho. Need to see some more barn fresh cars.   
#127
General Discussion / Re: Engine Clean Up
August 22, 2013, 11:30:04 AM
That's an artist misconception. You were right the 1st time Chet. All over black with silver head and water outlet,cylinder bolt heads included. The saddle on the generator cutout is plain steel,I believe galvanized. The aircleaner is black and carb float bowl is polished brass. The parking brake is black with the latching button nickel plated. The gear shift lever is black and the knob is black material but not painted. I've been told the exhaust manifold is 'gray' and the intake manifold is 'black'. But I dont' know how they got that way.   
#128
General Discussion / Re: New Guy
July 18, 2013, 04:13:25 PM
In case you don't know what the washers look like this is one. It's called a 'wave washer' and if my scan doesn't show it, those are waves in it. The other guys will chime in,but I seem to remember that castilated nuts are used ,with cotter pins, or a continuous safe wire threaded through the castle nuts and bolts. The washer is 1 3/8" across and the hole is 7/16"  
#129
General Discussion / Re: Quiet time
July 18, 2013, 08:54:47 AM
Just my 2 cents on the spark plugs: I have a 1960 Champion wall chart and it says for 1929 thru 1931 use Champion UD-16 or 17,gap .025,dist. gap .020 (Don't know why it doesn't mention 1928.)  
After posting I decided I would phone around about those UD-16s and they are still an 'active part' in Canada. One of my car parts stores has 3 in stock and could get more 'by tomorrow or the next day' and the cost is $ 4.99 + 13% sales tax Cdn. ea. What's that, about 2.5 L plus VAT? 
#130
General Discussion / Re: Radiator fluid
July 17, 2013, 08:33:15 AM
Always having wondered whether I was actually mixing 50/50 as Prestone recommends, I now just buy Prestone Premix at about $14 for a 4 litre jug. Several other makes sell premix now including the house brands. But they're only a couple of bucks cheaper so I just buy Prestone. (I buy distilled water at my local grocery store for 88 cents for a 4 litre jug and use that in my batteries. Wife uses it in her steam iron.) I once wrote Prestone Canada Ltd. about antifreeze in an antique and they said to just use 50/50 and recommended changing the whole system about every 4-5 years. They DO NOT recommend draining the system over winter as there are rust inhibitors in the Prestone. And the air can get to the metal surfaces with no antifreeze in there. I add a small container of Prestone rust inhibitor as an extra against rust and corrosion. We Canadians try to keep our systems good to -40 Celsius which just happens to be -40 Frankenstein as well. I notice all the antifreeze containers now state good to -40 C.      
#131
General Discussion / Re: Radiator fluid
July 09, 2013, 09:30:21 AM
Believe it or not you most likely have a blown head gasket. You can drive and use a car with a blown head gasket and the only problem is a constant overheating problem. I've had it and couldn't believe it when I finally found it. Some place in the gasket is allowing hot combustion gases from one cylinder into the water jacket. And it can be intermittent. It can depend on speed and heat of the day. I even had it on a 1988 Chylser Le Baron,a fancy K car, and I was shown that the telltale was a VERY clean number one cylinder spark plug. The cylinder was burning the ethylene glycol,which is really a liquid plastic, and this kept the spark plug looking like it just came out of the box. The head gasket had ruptured in a very narrow area between number one cylinder and a water tube taking water up to the head from the block. If you're not satisfied it has been fixed,I would consider a new head gasket. (Copper is the best and I put them in dry. No gasket glue.)  
#132
You should stuff as large a diameter rope seal in there you can get in. Smearing on some modern silicone grease,both on the seal surface and on the cavity surface, helps get it placed right and keeps the 'burning' down until it seats. The rope seal will take up the shape of the cavity it's stuffed into so it should be somewhat tight to get in for a good seal. Also a little long as the ends have to jambed together for a good seal as well. (I couldn't believe my eyes at a fleamarket about a month ago. This guy had 2 huge original rolls of rope seal. Two different sizes. He charged a $1 a foot so I bought a bunch for stock.)       
#133
General Discussion / Re: windshield side channel
May 22, 2013, 09:26:46 AM
Just as a help comment: 1929 Chevs used the exact same windshield and overhead crankup mechanism as our Plymouths. They are interchangable.  Do not know if '28 and '30 Chevs also used it. Do you have a '29 Chev in your area/club? '29 Chevs also had the same front and rear WEED bumpers,with the double black painted indented strip, as our '28 and '29 Plymouths. And while I'm at it, '29 Durants had the same tail light bucket,lense and mounting arm as our '28 and '29 Plymouths.  
#134
It was split. The internals like bearings and seals were metric but bolts and nuts were inch. Unless I'm being fooled. I've always though that those strange sizes like 13/16" and 11/32" etc. were an aberration of the ,as yet then, unsettled convention on bolt and nut sizes. Ive collected all those strange wrenches and sockets from before WWII to work on my old iron. Because of the need to standardize, WWII brought us the set of inch sizes we have today,1/4",7/16",3/8",1/2",9/16",5/8" etc. I wonder if some of those odd sizes from before the war were metric? But I've never found an old wrench or socket with a metric size on it. I do know that the British had their own sizing for many years and my old Hillmans and Morris were sized with it. It was called 'BS' for British Standard. Of course we learned to call it something else that started with bs.     
#135
I highly reccomend this be done to all the seals in your Plymouth as the original Chicago Rawhide were never good from new. Unless you want to do this to an original CR seal and put it on the shelf for a spare, I don't reccomend you buy any old ones at a fleamarket. You're just wasting your money. The leather died years ago. And yes all Chrysler products had metric seals and bearings in them. All the bearings as far as I know came from SKF in Sweden. All the original manuals I've seen have the metric equivalent beside the inch. Strange that we talk about the metrification of our modern iron when Chrysler vehicles were metric from the start.  ;D