TerryB

I thought I had the catalog for the Weaver wrecking crane, turns out I have a Manley catalog from York PA about 1925 vintage. Here are some pics of their crane. Very similar to the Weaver.

I’ve often wondered if you could get a 1909 engine to be very oil tight. It seems the construction methods of that time was very tolerant of oil leakage.

I’ve seen that car!

A direct reading gauge is the way to go. The dipstick question is unusual but not out of the realm of possibility. You could do an oil change to be sure of the amount of oil in the engine. Don’t overfill, it’s not good for the engine. With a known amount of oil in the engine you can tell if the dipstick is correct. Oil change is relatively cheap and quick to do. Don’t forget to do the filter too just in case something weird is going on with it.

The event started in Buffalo on Saturday and is on its way through New England to Nova Scotia. Anyone hear been at the layovers or have ties to any of the participants? Would love to see some pics if you have them. I’ve been to several over the years when they have been closer to home. Thanks!

Pressure sensor in the block acting up?

Plymouth PowerFlite transmission Manual with print date of 6/54. Paperback format containing 64 8.5 x 11” pages of information on operating principles, testing, servicing and diagnostic procedures. Pages are excellent with no grease or fingerprints. Cover has some clear tape holding it to the rest of the book. Priced at $10 plus postage from PA zip 17543. Send a PM if interested. Terry

My late father in law used one as his Snap-on truck. I think we have a picture somewhere of it.

SOLD! Thank you! Terry

Are all those deer road kill? Nice car!

Cover says years 1931-36 but most every topic covered includes 1937 data. Book was compiled from copies of service manual pages and assembled into one reference. Pages are clean and clear with good copy quality. Also includes wiring diagrams in back of book. Paperback format on 8.5 x 11” size and about 100 pages. Priced at $15 plus postage from PA zip 17543. Send a PM if interested. Terry

A dealer issued parts book for fast and medium moving parts so not every possible part is listed. Includes expanded assembly drawings to show part location. Years 1955 to 1960 Dodge, Plymouth, DeSoto and Chrysler 6 cylinder and V8. Paperback format with 95 pages size 8.5 x 11”. Priced at $10 plus postage from PA 17543. Send PM if interested. Terry

Cover says 1931 to 1936 but many pages show reference to 1937 models too. This repair manual was made from pages from other manuals copied and assembled to make up a repair manual for the years listed. Pages and diagrams are clear and sharp with no fingerprints or damage. Also includes wiring diagrams in the back of the manual. Paperback format with 8.5 x 11” size and about 100 pages. Priced at $15 plus postage from PA zip 17543. Send a PM for more info. Terry

You would be better off to ask this in the post war Buick section of the forum.

What I liked best about owning an antique car was the ability to add some low cost sweat equity to it and really enhance its appearance. There are many things you can do, a lot of which have been already mentioned, to take the car to the next level of authenticity and enhance its show status. Clips, wire colors, paint and chrome detail and especially under the hood appearance all add to making your car stand out from the rest. I really like your choice of car, not one that is very common to see at most auto shows.

A 10 mile loop around home went fine yesterday. Sunny day with air Temps about 80F. Had about 1 hour layover between going to destination and return trip. Certainly not a reason to declare it fixed. A few hundred more trips like that will be required for me to do a victory dance.

Great photo!

The moderators don’t like us mentioning names so I believe your van is a conversion by a company whose first letter is B. They use the chain and electric motor to lower or kneel the van. They still use this method today and strongly recommend having the chain and motor inspected twice a year as improper maintenance can cause failures in the system that are expensive to repair. Check their website for details. This company seems to be the largest van conversion operation. The modification company whose first initial is V uses hydraulics to do the kneel feature and our van whose modification company begins with the letter A uses airbags supposedly sourced from Mercedes Benz. Our ride height sensor system failed once. The van would raise and lower itself driving down the road. Exciting to say the least!

I’m in Lititz PA about 20 miles east of Hershey. Will be taking the beast out tomorrow for a test drive. Tech at independent shop had a snap-on scanner. Not sure how they compare to the rest.

Ed, last year when the dealer said we had bad fuel he put a can or bottle of some kind of fuel elixir in the tank at a cost of $10. He said it was a Mopar brand product. I do my best to avoid that type of stuff.

Mine is bagged. It has air bags in the rear suspension. The passenger side bag is deflated and inflated independently of the driver’s side when the ramp is deployed. Both bags are controlled to maintain ride height. I have heard some use hydraulic and some use brute force to pull down the suspension to do the kneel feature. Our van has a switch to disable the function when unloading on to a curb. All have their strengths and weaknesses from what I hear.

Yes, I was not 100% on the fix either but in the world illogical problems there is not much to loose. We’ll see. There are so many things I would try personally if I could but that’s not an option.

Thank you all for the inputs, they are helpful. Today we got the van back. At no time did it exhibit any bad behavior while in the shop. The fuel gage shows they did indeed drive it a lot while they had it. The tech did make a change. He added insulation around the fuel line with the thinking the van mods to the floor caused the fuel lines to be too close to the exhaust and possibly causing the fuel to boil on hot days. He said the car will experience a lean condition when that happens and then request more fuel which then overwhelms the engine making it run rough. Who knows, it might be true. The charge for this was minimal considering all the time they have in it doing diagnostics and driving. Wife said it ran fine on short trip back from repair shop. So we will see. It’s still early for summer heat. I’ve been keeping score on what seems to make it act up and just when you think you have it understood some new glitch comes into play. If I’m lucky this will be last post on this topic. I will be quite happy if it is! Terry

So the update. Drove the van on a short 5 mile run around town on Saturday. Check engine light went out on start up. Drove about 2 miles and got the misfire feel with car stuttering at hot and traveling at 25 mph. No check engine light even with short amount of rough running. Arrived at our destination and stayed there about 45 minutes. On restart car was ok, no misfire and drive home was uneventful. Outside temp was mid 80s. On Sunday took van to independent garage for diagnostics. No strange operation on 2 mile trip to shop. Late yesterday I spoke to tech at garage. He drove car several times in 90+ degree heat and had no running issues with it. He said it seems from O2 sensor data the car does seem to be running on the rich side of normal. I agreed to let him have the car today for him to continue his investigation. Today’s temps are expected in the low to mid 80s so no idea what might happen. I’m beginning to believe this car is cursed. Terry

If you shine a bright light on the cable end while in an area not getting direct light you should see some illumination of the temp gage if indeed it is a fiber optic cable. The glass like fibers in the cable will “carry” the light to its destination.