Fleetwood Meadow

The windows are in and they are working beautifully. I took it out today and put the windows up and down a couple times. I gave it its first wash in probably 45 years. Naturally it leaked at the door seals and a tiny drop of water showed up on the inside of the rear window but didn’t leak off of the gasket. It’s got a long way to go before I’m comfortable taking it anywhere (front tires, suspension front and rear, tightening the steering, fixing the vapor locking symptoms, fixing the internal engine issues that cause the low oil pressure when warm and the faint smoke coming from the left tailpipe) but it’s getting there. Starting it is a monster, it cranks so slowly and just as it slows down to where you think it won’t crank anymore it fires up. Its a newly rebuilt starter so I know the starter is not an issue. Overall it was an enjoyable trip. Coming off of a stop sign I floored it and was surprised at being pushed into the seat as it took off. Who would have thought this big boat would act like a sports car with pickup..

How about this hat? it seems like it is the same as the one I originally posted. This is a picture of Milton Hershey. Is this a homburg?

What’s the name of that style of hat?

Although it was a warm day today I decided to tackle the windows. The rubber sweep for the bottom of the windows case in and I was feeling excited about being almost done with the windows finally. I only had the rear windows to do. I turned on an old country song that I love and got the first of the two windows done. So I moved onto the second one and was putting on the track when it slipped off and the window fell forward. It cracked the glass in one crack on one side and two on the other. It wasn’t flimsy or falling apart so I decided to keep going and finish the job. I got one half of the track on and then the track slid and the glass folded in half. Rather than try to keep playing with it I put everything down and walked away. For now, today’s adventures with Ricardo are done. Now I have to order a new piece of glass and wait the week for it to come in.

Before I install the rear window cylinder assemblies I want to take the rear windows out and replace the rubber trim at the bottom of the windows. In order to do that I need to remove the window from the door, pry the metal from the bottom of the window glass and replace the rubber, then reinstall it. But when I lower the door to remove it it gets stopped by the block that connects the cylinder assembly to the door and the metal covers that protect the electrical wires and metal lines. They stop the windows as if they are a stop for the windows right at the bottom of the window opening. There is no wiggle room for me to pry the windows out and I don’t see any screws to move the window channels. Any ideas of how to get them out? If I can’t get them out I will have to disassemble the window and replace the rubber in the door which will be very difficult because you really have to press with a lot of pressure the rubber and metal around the bottom of the door. The first picture is the bottom of the door, the middle picture is the front of the door, and the last picture is the back of the door.

Minus the hydraulic lines, the front windows are back together! I finished coating the inside of the door earlier today and then replaced the old cylinders with the new ones and put them in the doors. I aligned and connected the window glass to the cylinder assembly and wired it. Unfortunately I have the new lines but am still trying to collect the fittings to connect them. It’s hard to imagine but the shops around here only had a limited amount of them and I had to order some online. I had enough to connect the rear ones so I started connecting them and split an old brass connector so I will replace those and by then the parts should be in. I didn’t think before I acted and I blew into the new line to make sure it wasn’t leaking and spat brake fluid into the rear door through the other end of the line. I will be doing that later but when I’m prepared to flush the lines. 😝

The insides of the front doors have been sprayed with rust converter. When it fully dries I will apply the bed liner material then put the cylinder assemblies in, flush the system, then put ATF in it and the windows will be done. Then on to the next fun adventure on that car.

Heading onto the highway. Guy all dressed up and the engine was spitting steam or smoke when he took off.

Matt, the book says to set the timing to “A” for premium and “C” for regular gas. This was back in 1952. With gasoline’s changing to unleaded and the octanes being different, I’m assuming, what is considered premium and what is considered regular gas to this engine? Currently the car has 87 in it. Out of habit I put it in because I remember the octane debate with my ‘51 Meadowbrook on P15-D24 and they said that that engine is a tank and can handle lower octanes without a problem. Anyone can answer that if they know.

Jumping the gun a little, I had a couple minutes to do some body work and for the sake of giggles I painted the bare metal with some black lacquer I had in the garage. I can see why they were mainly painted black. However, when I bought the blue parts car, in the trunk there was quart of some old old paint which matched the car. It is a blue that is very pretty in the sun. Way down the road when I paint the car I’m going to get them to try to match the color.

The issue is that the square part of the cable isn’t grabbing onto the gear housing. It spins inside it which means the cable is too small. It doesn’t make much sense because it’s a standard Hydra-Matic transmission.

The book says 20 weight oil in all seasons except under 32 degrees, then use 10 weight so I was wary of going all the way up to 50 weight oil. That won’t cause an issue inside the engine being so much higher than original?

Keith, I’m using 10w-30 currently in the car. I have an oil pressure gauge that I am going to use to test the engine pressure. I get a little confused on oils because it was my understanding that this oil starts off thin and then gets thicker as it gets warm. Someone suggested using straight 30 weight and it may help. I have added Lucas oil to thicken it but the warning light still comes on when going slow in 4th gear or at idle when the engine warms up. When the engine is cold the light does not come on.

Spinneyhill, I agree with you on the heat shrink. I like using it but I didn’t have any. The closest stores to me are 45 minutes away so when I run out of stuff it’s not a quick run to the store I have to improvise on several things. That has been my fear about the tape as well. To combat that I wrap it one way, overlapping, then overlap it wrapping it the opposite way then 3 laps in one place generally to make it harder for it to just untangle. Where these wires are connected they are under a cover that has no clearance so they can’t move and don’t have really any chance for them to unravel. The next time I get to the store I will be getting some heat shrink to go over single wires like this.

My ‘51 Dodge Meadowbrook has a leaking rear window. When it’s raining I watch the water come down the window and then in the bottom rubber between the glass and rubber. It is causing problems with the cardboard, or whatever it’s made of, lid and the rear seat. I have checked Steele Rubber and they don’t make one. I have tried Andy Bernbaum in person and he told me that their gasket would work but it doesn’t. The rubber has a slot for the window glass, a slot on the other side for the pinch weld, and a slot for the stainless trim. The one that I was told would work has one slot for the window glass and a smooth side. Any suggestions?

And in case you were wondering about the wiring..

To answer that question, it’s all I had. Today I decided to start tackling the rust inside the door so I could finish the door and put the new window cylinder in. I wire brushed the inside of the door then sprayed it with a rust reforming/converting spray. I then put the wires in the channel and moved onto the next door to remove the cylinder assembly and rewire it. Now both rear doors are rewired and sprayed with a rust converting agent. My next step is to apply the bed liner stuff to the inside of the door so when it rains or the car is washed the water won’t sit on the metal and the moisture won’t start to rust it. Then I will put the new window cylinders into the assemblies and the new rubber lines to them and move to the front doors and front seat cylinder. I bought a coil of black wire and attempted to make a differentiation between the two wires that go to the light in the door. Now the hot cylinder wire and initial hot wire to the light are red and the tail end wire is black.

Absolutely not my friends. Sticking to one job until the whole thing pisses you off and you give up is entirely ridiculous. You need to have little wins. I am fixing a door so that I can have windows. That is what I am sticking too. If I decide that that frustrates me I will move onto another thing and have success and feel rejuvenated to go back to finish them further. These cars are meant to be enjoyed and used, not hidden away dismantled for years while we pretend we are making progress. And certainly not sent out to get everything done by someone else then we pretend we did the work. And CERTAINLY not bought to be fixed up and sold again. These are my cars and I am fixing them how I see fit. And if I don’t have the money to play around with that engine I will certainly not stop working on the car until I do. Instead of telling me what I’m doing “wrong” perhaps you should be giving me credit for taking on this project at all. I’m 33 years old. I’m sorry I don’t have thousands of dollars set aside to rebuild an engine. I’m baffled how nobody was talking to me on this until a great guy said he enjoyed reading about my project, at a time when I was writing one last post then stopping the chronicle. It made my day so I continued with the posting. Then Matt comes in and said some great stuff that was positive but added a flawed thought which was don’t bother working on the rest of the car if the engine isn’t 100%. I ignored that part because that car has one hell of a strong engine and even though it has some issues it is still a serviceable engine. Now I’m getting votes to stop ALL other projects on that car because I haven’t stuck to playing with the engine? I’m sorry if this all sounds harsh but imagine being on my side. I am part of only a select amount of young classic car owners and it’s because when we try to reach out to people who have been working on them for years we are met with less than encouragement. I’m disappointed in anyone that does not applaud any little success made in getting these beautiful cars one step closer to being as great as they once were. And think about it, at least I’m not taking that great engine out and swapping it for an LS1..

While on a roll with fixing stuff I decided to replace the destroyed wires in the door. There were three of them: 2 for the in-door light that lights up the ground when you open the door and 1 for the window cylinder. The wire covering was completely gone on 2 of them. I thought they were going to be tricky to get at but I cut the wires at the door and then made new wires and snaked them back through the door. Now I have to find the metal covering that goes on the to protect them when the door is opened and closed. The metal connectors previously used were pretty interesting. I tested the wires and they worked great. I haven’t put the light back in so it is sitting in the door and since I have no cylinder in the door I can’t hook up that wire. And then finally I finished the wiring for the back seat controls by adding a ground wire to the driver’s side passenger cigar lighter. The cigar lighter itself doesn’t work but I tested it with one that does and it worked. It’s a shame that you can’t show videos here or I’d show that. Maybe I will make a YouTube page with links to it so you can see video progress. That may also help with diagnosing issues better than words can.

I tackled the speedometer cable today, it is essentially the wrong cable. I didn’t know that the cables inside the cable housing were different sizes. I took the gear out and checked it thinking it was broken or that some of the old cable was broken off in it but it wasn’t. So I put the old cable in it and tried to spin it without spinning the gear and it wouldn’t because it was the right size. I put the new cable in it and the cable spun inside the gear housing. So that means the cable I bought has a smaller diameter than the original and that was the problem. I checked the speedometer to make sure it will function and I checked that the gear was locked into place properly so when my new cable comes in everything should work properly. With that being all i could do with the speedometer I moved onto the rear door that I lit on fire. I still have some body work to do on it but at 90 degrees I wasn’t feeling it. I prepped the inside of the door to receive some sort of undercoating or bed liner material, something to help it not rust when water sits in it from a rain or washing the car. I left the drain hole alone so the water will exit when the door is opened. I had to weld a little of the bottom of the door to get the hole for the under door light screw to screw into properly. I know we all love pictures but I didn’t take any of it yet because I’ll do a before and after when I finally coat it. I found a replacement rubber boot for the door light too because it melted away when the door was on fire. I’ll put that back in after I coat the door.

So I didn’t know that the cables inside the cable housing were different sizes. I took the gear out and checked it thinking it was broken or that some of the old cable was broken off in it but it wasn’t. So I put the old cable in it and tried to spin it without spinning the gear and it wouldn’t because it was the right size. I put the new cable in it and the cable spun inside the gear housing. So that means the cable I bought has a smaller diameter than the original and that was the problem. I checked the speedometer to make sure it will function and I checked that the gear was locked into place properly so when my new cable comes in everything should work properly.

I have been using 15-40 in it. The book says 20 weight. Starting that car is a monster after it’s hot. It takes a lot of cranking and after a little bit of cranking I end up holding the gas pedal down to the floor and it finally starts up. When it’s idling I can see the bubbles in the fuel bowl. They put the pump on the upper crankcase breather so the lines going to it from the tank and going to the carburetor are on top of the engine. I have the one going to the fuel pump way above the engine, about 10” higher. When driving the car doesn’t act up but when idling after it’s warm it will shut off after a couple minutes of idling and I’ll have to turn on the fuel pump to get gas in it. When I had the pump running continually it caused problems because the 4psi electric pump coupled with the 4psi mechanical pump would cause gas to dump down its throat when the car was shut off.

I have an electric pump. But that’s not the problem that I’m trying to tackle here. My issue is the 209 degree coolant temp when the thermostat is 180. That seems way to hot and is vaporizing the fuel. I should not have to operate an electric pump when the car didn’t come with it. They were able to keep the car running with its mechanical pump. I understand that when outside temperatures get high or the car is sitting too long idling there is a rise in temperature and the electric pump will temporarily fix the issue but I need to get the engine temperature down to the appropriate temp first and foremost.