chrysler49

Yeah, this whole process would have been done by now if I could have just pulled the tie rod. I have all bolts undone but the last stud to disconnect the trans won't let go and with the limited room I'm working in it's a lot more work than it should be. Are both the studs bolts, or is only one an actual bolt and the other attached inside the cover? I pulled the bolt on one side, but the other just had a nut and the stud remains. It probably is better I went this way as the rear motor mount bushing are completely shot and have been making the car shake when stopped. I get these gaskets replaced and pans cleaned and I'll go ahead and replace those before I take the thing off the stands.

There is a pan underneath the clutch assembly which is preventing me from bringing the oil pan back far enough. I've unbolted 8 bolts on the under side of this "clutch pan" and two on the front which are adjacent to the oil pan. This "clutch pan" is loosened now, and I can get it where is seems it wants to fall free, but it wants to spring back up when I pull it down. I get this pan off and all my troubles are solved....

The oil pan couldn't be any more loose, but I cannot get it far enough reward to clear the tie rods. The manual says to remove the clutch housing, and makes it seem like a simple drop, but to me it seems like the housing is the entire transmission case....

Thanks for the tip on the oil strainer! I did end up turning the wheels a bit which gave the pan quite a bit more room, so I think i'm in business for the most part. Getting late now and it was a long day, so I'll pick it back up in the morning.

Alright, so my Windsor is leaking oil out of the oil pan, so after consulting my manual I decided to order a gasket and go ahead with the process. I've got the car up and the pan unbolted, but it simply will not come off the car after resting on the tie rod. The manual says to "lift the oil strainer, pull the pan reward and drop." Well, I must be going about this wrong because I still cannot get the pan to come far enough reward to clear the tie rod and drop. Anyone know where I'm at in the process? This Chrysler shop manual isn't nearly as valuable as others I've seen for other vehicles....

Replaced a decent number of original wires and wholla! The car now runs much closer to what it should. I'm thinking the wiring to the automatic choke mechanism was my biggest issue. On a side note, I am still having a bit of an issue with the generator. The battery wants to drain when driving and the electronics quit working . I installed new brushes in the generator and clean the vital connections, but it still appears as though the generator is not working. Anyone have luck with a place like Oriellys rebuilding one, or know of a good place to buy a new/remanufActured one?

The little cylinder with the single wire coming out the end is what I'm assuming to be the condensor. It was attached to the IGN (ignition) post which I guess I'm not entirely sure was right to begin with. My manual doesn't give any; images was this correct? Could it perhaps be a small part of my issue if its bad or placed wrong? The car runs with or without it attached just the same....

Float level is good, and the needle and assembly are brand new. The adjustment screw is also new and I started it off 1 1/2 turns out. Also noticed while the car is idling the exhaust seems to be a little on the darker side, which I hadn't noticed before the carb clean. I took the top off the carb again and there is definitely fuel in the bowl, and when I move the accelerator fuel is shooting into the carb assembly.

I went through the carb and cleaned quite thoroughly, installing new gaskets along the way. I'm not too adept at carbs and was probably biting off more than I could chew, but the car now idles pretty rough, but does idle. I sprayed a bit of cleaner around the carb to check for leaks and the RPMs didn't rise, but the two times I've tried to take the car down the road it will die and not want to restart after a couple minutes of driving, but it'll sit and idle, albeit roughly, as long as I want it too. I didn't touch the distributor, so I struggle to see how the timing may have been affected, but this is really baffling me. The car had a slight miss prior to the cleaning, but nothing significant. Now it seems to have a major miss at idle, but smooths out if I hold the revs, but as soon as I take it down the road it seems to flood...maybe? Anyone have a similar situation or know what I may have done wrong?

Have a 49 Chrysler Windsor with the original AM radio and am wondering of any sort of modern bluetooth kits that could possibly be spliced in would work with such a vintage radio? I don't want to take the original unit out as I do like it, but I would like the option of being able to stream music via my phone through the car's speaker...albeit while trying to keep the addition hidden. Thanks to anyone who has any input.

It seems to struggle more when warm as opposed to cool. Is a starter rebuild something I could do with mild mechanic abilities? I guess I'm not sure if rebuild kits for starters are available as they are for carbs....

Turns out my fuel pump shield is there. Got new brushes for my generator and a kit for my carb, so we'll see the difference those make.

My 1949 Windsor with the 251 Spitfire runs well, but after driving a decent distance and shutting off the engine it has trouble starting until i've let it cool for a good 20 or more minutes. From what I have seen it sounds as though my starter heat shield is missing and perhaps causing me issues, and I really am not seeing any sort of shield around the starter. My manual hasn't really helped me to specify what it should look like and where exactly it attaches. Anyone have information on the shield and perhaps where I can order the exact part I need.

Not close to my 49 Windsor for a couple more weeks and don't have the book with me, but how difficult is it to install a new carb kit for one of these with the fluid drive transmission? I can easily dismantle, clean and rebuild carbs for my old motorcycle, but since I know these cars rely on the carb for shifting, does that add a lot of complexity to the process? Thanks

Thanks, but I had a body guy straighten it out and it works fine now.

My 6 cylinder windsor had a nice puddle of rear axle fluid underneath it when I got it out for the year. I discovered that the drain plug was almost a whole turn loose, had to have been the mechanic, but luckily the leak has stopped. I do want to top off the fluid before I store it for the winter, but my shop manual isn't giving a very clear explanation of where to add the gear oil. Does anyone have any experience with this. THanks

Got someone to make an attempt at straightening out my hood hinge. I did take off the passenger side hood hinge as well to give to the guy in order for him to have a little something to go off of when making the proper bends, but did realize something. With the bent hinge off the car, the whole assembly moved freely, as opposed to the good hinge which I just took off, that is locked in the open position. Could this have been the cause of why my hinge bolt busted in the first place? I guess it seems fairly likely from my point of view that if only one of the springs on one of the hinges was supporting the hood, it would put a lot more pressure and the opposite hinge. I'm guessing i'll have to replace the hinge altogether as just straightening it probably isn't going to do much in the long run.

I'm sorry to hear about your hinges, but it's great to hear from someone with the same issue that fixed it themself. I'm not too concerned about the factory bolt, so I may just try my own fix. Was the hood removal as big of a pain as it appears? Thanks!

I was putting down the hood on my Windsor a couple days ago and the driver's side corner decided to drop mid-way though closing. After cussing over the nice gash left in the paint, I found a bolt in the hinge had busted. I found a replacement but the hood still doesn't close quite right, but will close otherwise. I discovered one of the arms on the hinge is bent so the hood isn't closing like it should. I'm getting ready to put the car away for the winter and don't really want to leave the hood in this condition, only to have to deal with it next spring. I'm having difficulty finding one of these hinges. Does anyone have any ideas where to look? Do hinges from other models fit? I'm not entirely sure I could pull off the replacement myself without causing some other unforeseen cosmestic damage; what would a local mechanic typically charge for either straightening out or replacing the hinge?

I did do the spark plug coil checks. I got the engine to roughen up when I pulled the coils on 4 cylinders, and maybe slightly on 5, but on one coil for sure the idle really didn't change much.

No, it doesn't have power brakes.

I'll do the plug wire check here in a bit. I do have some Marvel Mystery Oil; how much would you recommend down the carb and in the fuel tank? Never really used the stuff much.

New plugs are in and gapped at .035. It may or may not have a very slightly better idle while in neutral, but the shaking and rougher idle while braking and in gear persists.

I did go ahead and buy all new plugs. If it still has an issue now i'll work down the line on what could be the problem. As I pulled each plug I had planned on gapping the new ones according to what the old ones were set to, but I did come across something. Four of six plugs are gapped at around .27, but then one is gapped at .30 and another at almost .35. I'm guessing this could have something to do with my issue, and still the fact the all the plugs are quite old. Does anyone know the correct plug gapping for a 49 windsor spitfire? I have my manual on order but it hasn't arrived yet.

Here is one of my plugs. The rest of the plugs look identical. To me they appear to be worn, and as far as I know they could easily be 15 years old but i'm not 100% on that; I do know they are older. They don't appear to be too white from too much heat, at least to me anyway, but looking at the condition of these would you guys think it could be my rough idle problem? And does anyone think they appear more than just worn? I had someone confirm it had a slight misfire issue. I'll more than likely just change out all of the plugs to be safe anyway. Sorry for the picture quality. The ipod I used to take the pics doesn't have the most impressive camera quality and the file sizes were too big with the digital camera.