keithb7

Today I get into the oil pan, crankcase, crankshaft, and bearings. Hopefully beginners can learn a little from this:

I've certainly done similar lately. I had my own car show in the driveway last Saturday. Wednesday evening I took a rye out to my dark garage. I sat in my '38 with the dash lights on and dreamed about it being an earlier time. Decades earlier when the old car was someones shiny new car. Seen here, a photo from Saturday. I had them both running in the driveway. I smiled and was rewarded for my efforts while listening to them purr.

This one is 1949, I thought it might help.

How oil flows in this tranny, this is example is when in 1st or 3rd gear.

Went in through the fender window to night to access the valves. Crankcase was cleaner than I expected. Not too much sludge. I dropped the oil pan too. Some sludge in the bottom, but not as bad as some others I have seen. I will clean everything up and switch over to a modern detergent oil. With pan off, I was turning the flywheel by hand. I could hear some hissing in the crankcase. Is this in an indication of compression leaking past the rings?. Either worn or stuck piston rings or scraped cylinder walls I assume. I tested the compression and intake vacuum last summer. The numbers weren't too bad. Average 90-95- 100 psi in all cylinders. Wet, a couple cylinders went from 95 psi to 100.

@auburnseeker that's an interesting theory. We upgraded our home a couple of years ago. The house is really too big for the two of us. However we have awesome privacy in a rural setting. No street lights. No sidewalks. Not traffic lights. No sirens. It's very peaceful. My neighbours and I have larger lots and room between us. You are right, it sure is nice in times like these. To have your own space and privacy. I realize this pandemic comes once every 100 years or so, but no matter what is happening in the world, a little peace and tranquility in our lives goes a long way. I am very grateful for what I have. It is rewarding as my wife and I worked hard to acquire it. Getting back to classic cars, this is my little piece of this country and my peace of mind. I feel very fortunate.

Hi Dei, thanks for checking in. I do indeed enjoy my old cars very much. I find the work stimulating, addictive and very rewarding. Those to units int he corner against the fence are personal watercraft. One is a Bombardier Seadoo, the other A Yamaha GP800. We used them a fair bit over the years. As our sons grew up and their own lives started to develop, we have been using them less. I am thinking about selling them. We'll see what this summer brings. These PWCs also require maintenance and repairs as you can imagine. I rebuilt the engine in the Yamaha a couple years ago. I have been snowmobiling in the mountains here. It is extreme and fun. However I never did buy snowmobiles. I chose to stay out of that hobby. I never thought it was too family friendly when my sons were young. Additionally, like you said, load up skidoos, drive, ride, drive home. It adds up to a lot of time and money. The Seadoos get dropped in the river 5 minutes away. They have a ton less moving parts so maintenance is less in my experience. Anyway today, it's all about the old cars. That is where I spend my time and discretionary cash!

I did not know that they were still using the flathead in 1957 passenger cars. Cool. Thanks for sharing,

This rings home for me. For a few days there I was engulfed by the news coming in from so many sources. I was watching TV, listening to the radio, and scouring multiple web sites for Covid-19 updates and stories. At one point it started to feel overwhelming. The world never ended. I still eat, sleep, work and play. This past weekend I spent about 18 hours working in my garage. I made tons of great progress on my old car. Today I was driving it around the block with a big smile on, not a care in the world. All that time in the shop was extremely relaxing and stress free. Well mostly, except when I struggled to re&re a master cylinder. Then had to pull it again when it didn't work right. Then re-install it again. For a couple days I didn't give much thought about Covid-19. I spent a lot of time doing something I really love. I feel refreshed and rewarded after a couple good, productive days of work.

I tested the heater and it works! It blows nice hot air. I installed a simple 10A on/off switch with a 7.5A in line fuse. Momma likes that. I reinstalled the front seat today. I really wanted a safe test drive. Sitiing on a milk crate is very sketchy. I do not recommend. Seat has been out since October. Looks and feels so nice! I made Momma jump in and enjoy her efforts. She reupholstered the seat. We went for a brief cruise around the block. Big smiles all around. Part of me is shocked how very much improved the car is, compared when I bought it last May. I will forge on!

Thanks very much @fargopickupking . I appreciate the help. Since I posted this question I’ve done more research again.. I found a Canadian Mopar service book that covers 1953/54. Looking up specs for D54 engines I had reason to believe my Canadian engine is a 1954 Dodge Regent or similar car engine. 228 cu. Its defintely 25 ¼” long. Still no head off yet. But someday I will, and can then confirm bore.

I suspect it's too early to know, as data is not yet available. I am hearing stories of folks getting lots of work done on their auto projects. I am included in that group. Yesterday I put in a 12 hour shift in my garage working on one of my cars. I visited a local Auto Parts store to pick up a few things this week. I asked the parts guy if business was quiet due to Covid-19. He said no, that they are seeing people coming in form all walks of life buying lots of parts for their vehicles. He said he's been selling some items that are rarely sold. So it does seem that folks stuck are home, that are into working on their own cars, are indeed doing so with vigour these days. Perhaps a slight resurgence in the old car market will happen after this is all over. I'd like to see a boom in economic activity when it's all over. I hope people do indeed want to celebrate. Get out and live life like the 1920's, or after WW2. Life's short and delicate. Perhaps more will whoop it up!

Good car the '49 Windsor. Likely has the 251 ci engine in it. Have you owned any early Chrysler Corp cars before?

Big progress today. The ‘38 is testing well. Time to get serious and get out of the driveway for extensive testing. All rebuilt brake system feels great. Stops well. New tires. Time for an oil change and a valve set.

Totally unrelated....This is the car that pulls my away from '38 Ply project. A pic from today is below. It also inspires me to stay motivated on my 1938 revival... (It's my thread, I can hy-jack it right?) My other vintage car, a 1953 Chrysler. It was my first vintage car. It bit me and gave me the bug for old Mopars. Once I figured it mostly out, I needed another car. A project. Something to work on, while my '53 remained ready to take out for cruises and shows when I wanted. I had built up a support network for my '53. The '38 is not a whole lot different. So I bought the '38 Plymouth and dove in. I've been loving every minute of it. Progress update on the '38: All the brakes have been rebuilt. Wheel cylinder and master cylinder rebuilt. I made all new brake lines. New hose flex lines. 1 last steel line to be built tomorrow. Followed by bleeding. The diff is re-installed. All new axle bearings and seals. Foot pedals assemblies are out tonight. They need a good degreasing and clean up, adjustment and re-installation. Rims painted. New tires installed. I plan to change the diff pinion seal next , then maybe it's test drive time again. I want to test all my brake and drive line work. Perhaps I'll put the front seat back in and perform a proper test drive.

I tried...It could be period correct to 1953. I took this today. I had to get out of the house to lighten my mood. Was a nice solo-cruise. Felt like going back to 1953 a little:

Car ownership...I think back to when I was a teenager. I was buying early to mid-70's used cars. This was in about 1987. Those cars were only 12-15 or so years old. But man, they were wore out! All I could afford to do was work as many hours as possible to buy parts, to get under the cars, in all weather to fix them and keep them usable. It was a real steep learning curve for me. I learned a ton about looking after cars. Back then it was painful. Today it seems easier. My daily drivers are not clapped out 70's cars. Today I have a couple options on what I can choose to drive. I work on cars because I enjoy it. I own 4 cars between the wife and I. Plus a company vehicle. So one car can always be down and out while I do major repairs. Yes, I do feel fortunate. Until I add up all the expenses! I'm a fool for cars. Today I feel that maybe we have a little shorter attention span for vehicle ownership. My wife got a brand new Honda in 2016. I think we'll run it out to 120,000 miles or so. We'll see. It is fun driver. (1.5L turbo) but she is missing features that give her confidence in bad, snowy weather. Every winter up here in my area of Canada, we get some good dumps of snow. My wife has commented that a smaller SUV 4x4 would be nice. I get it. That'll be next. The Honda won't be worn out, but we'll have gotten our expected value from it over the years. Today it has about 55,000 miles on it. Every weekend and most evenings I can be found out in the garage fixing up my 82 year old Plymouth. Definitely a labor of love. Who knew that reviving an old car would consist of so many hours of chiseling away old grease, tar and road grime? Just to gain access to so many chassis parts! Lol. If l my health and finances carry on as they are, I hope to have that Plymouth car for its 100th birthday. We shall see!

The manual 3 speed calls for gear weight. My semi-auto M-6 calls for 10W engine oil. I don't know what oil is specified for your M-4 transmission. What does your manual say?

I must slay this beast soon. I will. I may cuss, but I will get it done.

For your info I put 80W90 gear oil in my 1938 3 speed manual transmission. It is leaking very slowly, out the countershaft bore where the counter shaft meets the tranny housing. As seen in my pic above, post #2.

The countershaft does not turn. The cluster gear turns on the countershaft. The countershaft is held in place by an interference fit and a keyway, into the main tranny housing. In another example the main countershaft and the reverse idler gear can have a shared lock tab. As seen in post #2 of my 3 speed manual tranny, above. The countershaft is pressed/hammered in place. I guess if you wanted to, you could weld the countershaft in place. I could not recommend nor would I attempt to try this. Two very different metals. Cast housing versus machined steel shaft. The cluster gear & countershaft needs to be movable to properly perform transmission repairs. The Semi-Auto tranny needs to see 10W oil to shift properly. A different viscosity oil will cause shifting problems. The ground-speed driven transmission oil pump needs to make 40 psi. I use the suggested 10W non-detergent engine oil. The semi-auto tranny functions differently from the manual tranny. When you select hi or lo range, you lock either the hi or low range final ratio gear to the output shaft. This is the manual shift that I talk about early in my semi-auto tranny video. You are only picking hi or low range. The sliding of the manual synchronizer happens. Once you get up to a certain speed, you lift your foot off the gas. The tranny gyro-switch is now open. The solenoid 6V power is cut out. The internal valve ball is lifted up off its seat by a spring. Oil then flows into the hydraulic piston. The piston then moves forward. Its related linkage moves, engaging the main automatic clutch gear at the input pinion. Then the direct drive action of the main shaft occurs. This is when the input pinion and the output shaft are joined by the main, automatic, clutch gear near the front of the tranny. Remember though, its final output speed is effected by the final output gear you selected. (hi or low range). This is 100% dependent on the cluster gear being in pace and spinning. The spinning cluster gear is 100% mandatory to the operation of this tranny. This all can be a little difficult to grasp. Additionally I'm no skilled technical writer. I recommend a shop manual..

The countershaft gear set (aka cluster gear) does not move by sliding. The shaft you are seeing the end of, only provides an axle for the cluster gear. The cluster gear only spins on it. If you are interested in learning more about how countershaft transmissions work see a couple of videos I made and uploaded here. Video #1 here is a manual 3 speed that I tore apart and rebuilt. Video #2 is a semi-auto tranny, M-5. It's also a countershaft tranny that shifts automatically by hydraulic oil pressure. Very similar to your M-4 that uses vacuum to shift.