Taylormade

I ran into a problem with my radiator - a pin hole leak in the lower hose fitting. You can see the drop of water that forms in the photo below. This is a 32 Dodge Brothers, so it’s not a pressurized system. I would really like to avoid taking the radiator out of the car and removing my newly chromed shell to get this repaired. If I remove the hose there is room to work in there. What is the best repair technique for this problem? Could I solder the hole? Would JB Weld work in this situation? I know the surface will have to be clean and dry before any work is done. Any suggestions welcome.

I agree, but I have moved since then and would really like to avoid taking the entire front of the car off to get the radiator out so I could take it to them. They are now 100 miles away.

How about this? PM me and I may be able to help with this.

I'm starting to think my car may be better suited to a museum rather than driving it on the road. I filled up the radiator the other day and came out to the garage this morning to discover water on the garage floor. At first I thought the lower radiator hose clamps weren't tight enough, so I tightened them up and wiped all the excess water away. That's when I discovered it wasn't a leaky hose connection, but a problem with the radiator itself. My old radiator was toast and I found a good one (I thought) at Hershey. When I got it home, I took it to a radiator shop and had it cleaned and checked. They said everything was A-Okay. It turns out everything isn't A-Okay and the water is coming from a pinhole in the lower radiator fitting connection. You can see it in the photo below. If you wide it away, the tiny bubble forms within a few seconds Naturally, I have the radiator on the car, with the shell attached, hoses attached - the works. I am assuming that some sort of solder repair is the fix for this situation, but I'm no expert. If soldering would fix it, I'm trying to figure out if it could be done with the radiator in place. I'd obviously have to remove the hoses and put some sort of heat shield around the fitting so I don't un-solder it from the radiator, but there is enough room to work on it. Another option might be JB Weld, but I'm not sure if it would work in this situation. If I cleaned the area thoroughly, made sure it was completely dry, and covered it with the JB do you think it would hold? We are talking about hot water here. The good news is that this isn't a pressurized system, so there won't be that much stress on the repair. Any thoughts appreciated.

I’m curious why there is a third terminal on the original coil/switch. This takes a wire that runs to the fuel gauge. Then the other wire on the fuel gauge goes to the sending unit on the tank. Why wouldn’t the fuel gauge just be powered from the ammeter like the lights and accessories? I am thinking I should take the wire that went from the non-fused terminal on the double ammeter terminal that went to the negative terminal on the original coil/switch, and now connect it to the ING terminal on the replacement switch. Then run a wire from the BAT terminal to the negative terminal of the coil. This would power the coil and allow the car to run. Do you think I should hook the fuel gauge to the STA terminal to power it, since turning the key powers both the STA and BAT terminals?

There is no spring load on the key switch. It is either on or off. I know what your talking about - turn the key past the on position to power the solenoid and engage the starter, then it springs back to the on position when you let off the key.. This switch does not have the momentary feature, believe me, it is either on or off. It appears when it’s on, all terminals are connected. Why it has three terminals is a mystery to me, unless the switch might overheat if all the wires went to one terminal. I know the switch works, because it operated fine in the car before it was rewired and I’d like to use it as it uses the original DB key. If the key switch had the momentary STA isolation only when turned past the on position, the the continuity to the STA terminal would only happen in this mode. But when I test the switch, it will not turn past the on position, it just stops, no spring, no spring back. And in that position, without me touching the key all terminals are live. In the wiring diagram, one large wire runs from the starter to the ammeter to the simple terminal, and the other large wire runs fron the generator to the ammeter to the double terminal with the brass fuse extension, which is exactly how my new harness is designed. Everything else on the new harness fits as it should. The fly in the ointment, the original coil/switch, has three terminals. One wire goes from the double terminal (before the fuse) to the negative terminal on the coil/switch. One wire goes from the positive coil/switch to the distributor. A third wire goes from the fuel gauge to the third, unnamed terminal on the coil/switch. Now I just have to make the correct connection with a separate switch and coil - those three wires which originally went directly to the coil/switch.

Filled the radiator today, seeing if any leaks develop before the first startup. I looked around for the classic green AIT formula and discovered that the local NAPA had about 15 cases of the stuff sitting on the floor against the back wall. They said they stock it for local farmers. The container proudly displays “SAFE FOR ALL CARS MANUFACTURED BEFORE 1988.” Mixed it with distilled water. Now, I just have to get the coil hooked up and she’ll be ready to fire.

With the key in the off position, there is no continuity between any of the three terminals. With the key in the on position, there is continuity from the BAT terminal to the STA terminal. With the key in the on position, there is continuity from thr BAT terminal to the IGN terminal. With the key in the on position, there is continuity from the IGN terminal to the SAT terminal.

I did a fairly detailed explanation of my DIY transmission rebuild on my 32 Dodge DL. It’s in the Dodge and Dodge Brothers section under the title, The Ressurection Of Daphne starting on page 30. This should give you a good idea of what is involved. If the gears are in good shape, new bearings and seals should get you there.

This was the first car I ever owned. I bought it when I was in college in 1965. I sold it to a fraternity brother in 1967, regretted it for 45 years and the bought it back from him in 2013. It was set up with a separate coil when I first bought it and it always ran fine. After sitting in a garage since 1970, the wiring was pretty bad, although the car still started and ran when we took it out of the garage. The car has a foot operated starter which turns over fine with the main wiring harness in place and no wiring under the dash. So no starter solenoid. As far as I can determine, the key switch has only two positions, on and off. When I turn the key on, there is continuity between any two of the three terminals. With it off, there is no continuity between any terminal. The car ran with the wires currently attached to the switch. As I said, the green wire went from the STA terminal to the negative post of the coil. I still can’t find my notes on where the other four wires went. There may be an extra wire involved, as the car had an electric fuel pump.

I actually found this material, listed as soft board as Spinneyhill mentioned. The only problem is It only comes in 48 by 96 inch sheets. The shipping is almost as much as the product. I guess I’ll have to decide if it’s worth fifty-six bucks to make these two small pads.

Over here, Pinex is a patent medicine.

Thanks, David, I appreciate the help. I’ll let you know how it works out.

Since it sits right above the exhaust pipe, I would assume it has some sort of coating on it. Of course, the muffler burned a hole in the wood floorboard on my car at some point, so anything is possible.

My car has a mechanical foot pedal to start the car. My switch has only on and off positions, at least it seems that way - when I turn the key, there is no detention or middle stop, it just turn all the way to a solid stop.. With it off, I get no continuity between any of the three terminals. With it on, I get continuity between any two terminals, doesn’t matter which two. With just the main wiring harness hooked up and nothing wired under the dash, the starter works fine.

I posted this in the Technical section, but I'm hoping some DB fans might have the answer. There was little left of the wiring in my 1932 dodge Brothers DL sedan when I got her. Now I'm ready to rewire the car and have a question for all you wiring gurus out there - electrical systems are not my forte. The car originally came with one of those infamous coil/ignition units that had the ignition key built into the coil. These are still available, but at $250 I'd rather save a few bucks and use a regular coil, since it's hidden under the dash anyway. In fact, the car ran on this setup when I first owned it and never gave me any problems. This is the replacement ignition switch that has always been in the car since I owned it. It has three terminals, IGN, BAT and STA. Although I took pretty good notes at the time of disassembly five years ago, I can't locate the one sheet I need - how the switch was wired up. I have a new Rhode Island Wiring harness, but it is designed for the coil/ignition setup. So, how do I bypass that and wire it correctly for the current ignition switch? The green wire went from the STA post on the key switch to the negative post of the coil. The wires on other two terminals - your guess is as good as mine. The switch is a simple on and off - just two positions. Here is the wiring diagram for the original wiring setup. It's a positive ground car. What gauge wire is usually run from the positive terminal of the coil to the distributor on a six volt system? Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Here is my upper metal floorboard (1932 Dodge Brothers DL sedan) after refinishing and powder-coating. This is the side that faces toward the engine. Here is is with the pad we are talking about set in place. The pad is held in place by these clips that are part of the floorboard - they are very brittle and tend to break off. The pad is some sort of fibrous material, somewhat flexible. As one would suspect, mine were in bad shape from all those Syracuse winters, They are definitely not wood. It will be interesting to see what I can come up with as a replacement for these things.

My 32 Dodge Brothers DL sedan has a seat like yours, but it's on runners and not attached to the center posts. As you can see, the seat can be moved back quite a bit, but there still isn't a lot of room between the front of the seat and the door opening to get your feet in. I took my seat apart and remade the wooden bottom as the original had some dry rot and splits. You can see the seat slider lever in this shot.

There was little left of the wiring in my 1932 dodge Brothers DL sedan when I got her. Now I'm ready to rewire the car and have a question for all you wiring gurus out there - electrical systems are not my forte. The car originally came with one of those infamous coil/ignition units that had the ignition key built into the coil. These are still available, but at $250 I'd rather save a few bucks and use a regular coil, since it's hidden under the dash anyway. In fact, the car ran on this setup when I first owned it and never gave me any problems. This is the replacement ignition switch that has always been in the car since I owned it. It has three terminals, IGN, BAT and STA. Although I took pretty good notes at the time of disassembly five years ago, I can't locate the one sheet I need - how the switch was wired up. I have a new Rhode Island Wiring harness, but it is designed for the coil/ignition setup. So, how do I bypass that and wire it correctly for the current ignition switch? The green wire went from the STA post on the key switch to the negative post of the coil. The wires on other two terminals - your guess is as good as mine. The switch is a simple on and off - just two positions. Here is the wiring diagram for the original wiring setup. It's a positive ground car. What gauge wire is usually run from the positive terminal of the coil to the distributor on a six volt system? Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.

As do mine. Sound deadened/heat shield held on by metal extensions from the metal floorboards that are bent over the material. Definitely not wood on my car.

Checking for you. I bought a second set of bumpers, as I was missing one of these on my rear bumper. Let me dig through the garage and see. I probably only have one.

What year and make?

At the time I saw the car, it was a medium green, solid color. It was driven to the meet, and the owner parked it outside in the motel lot overnight. As I remember it was a driver, not a show car, but in excellent shape - and it was fast!

If you have the metal pieces, Then and Now should be able to revulcanize them for you. They do excellent work.

In 1968 my wife of just a few months and I drove from Rochester to Bath, New York to a car show being held there. The cost of the motel nearly broke us, but the next morning I walked out the door of our room and discovered a green Duesenberg convertible coupe (top down) sitting in front of the room next door. As I was admiring the car, the owner came out and we spent the next ten or fifteen minutes discussing the car. He told me the car was first owned by the Wrigley family in Chicago. I believe he said he paid $5000 for the car. Then he gave me a ride. It was an experience I will never forget. I don’t remember the name of the gentleman, but he provided me with a memory that stays with me to this day, fifty years later. I’m sure the experts on this site could tell me about the car and it’s owner, and I’d love to know about it.