Bloo

Miles per gallon of oil, from the 1936 Pontiac shop manual:

Doesn't the shop manual have an acceptable range for end clearance? IMHO make it meet the spec in the shop manual, whatever that takes. If you are worried about expanding linings, soak them in ATF overnight. It's a good idea to do that anyway.

Always do that.

This advice is NOT Dynaflow specific but... What matters in a multiple disc automatic transmission clutch is the end clearance under the snap ring when you put it all together. If it is too loose it might not hold (slip), if too tight there could be catastrophic mechanical failure when it does not release fully. Additionally, in (non-Dynaflow) transmissions that shift under power, it affects the timing of the clutch. Asking how many plates go in is sort of like asking how long is a piece of string. The plates may not be exactly the same thickness as the original. The error multiplies as you stack plates. The end clearance when assembled is what matters. There will be an acceptable range and the shop manual should tell you what it is. If you need to throw an extra steel in at one end of the pack to get the end clearance right, do it. That is standard procedure. Old steels can be re-used if they are not warped, overheated or damaged. The shop manual should tell you how to check them. They were usually re-used if good back in the day. Sand a crosshatch on them with fine paper (then clean them really well) if you re-use them. They might be a little thinner and help you hit the end clearance spec if it isn't happening with the new parts. End clearance is what matters. If the shop manual contradicts anything I have typed here, follow the shop manual.

That's the 59 models when everything changed, though I imagine they hit the lots sometime in 58. 58 (and earlier) Furies were a one color option top-of-the-line car. The big change from 57 to 58 was the introduction of the new "B/RB" Engine line. The Fury in 57 came with a 318 engine with dual four barrels. In 58 you could still have the 318 with dual 4 barrels (like this car has), or a 350 cubic "B" engine with dual 4 barrels, or a 350 cubic inch "B" engine with Bendix Electrojector fuel injection. I doubt many made it out the door with fuel injection.

I think the new sizes introduced in 1965 are the ones that had an aspect ratio of about 80.

I use a 1.5v battery for that. It won't do the original poster much good because his speaker is completely missing. As for the new updated vibrators, they are solid state and are controversial. If you post about them on the antique radio forums you will probably get a 20 page argument with one side explaining how great they are and the other explaining that they have no "off" time when they switch, and as such are much harder on the power transformer, which will run hot and might be irreplaceable. I have no dog in that race. For my own cars however, I will stick with the mechanical ones because in my opinion that noise they make when they start is as much a part of the experience as the music coming up slowly as the tubes warm. I won't have any "converted" radios either for the same reasons. It would be a shame to burn up a mechanical vibrator just because you didn't change the buffer capacitor.

You didn't just read a code in those days and have the scan tool tell you what to replace. I know it often works today, but back then it did not. I made a career of it for a while. The code you read would just point you to which circuit to go looking at. Then, you would look at the part, the wiring, etc. Then you would investigate what the ECM saw (the computer was often called an ECM in those days) that it thought was bad enough to tell you about. Example: Today if you see a code that says "oxygen sensor", there is a very good chance the oxygen sensor is bad. In the 80s and 90s there was about a 75-80 percent chance it would be something else. Fords in those days had EEC-IV engine controls and, unlike the systems used on most other makes, the diagnostics routines were all built into the ECM. All a scan tool did was make it easier to trigger the internal tests. Oldtech: If you mean the pickup in the distributor, there was a rash of bad ones. Back then if you looked inside the distributor and found one with a rubber plug that was colored black (instead of gray or beige or whatever) you were supposed to replace it on sight! Not easy to get out either, with the distributor gear pressed and pinned on.... .

Tires of the 60s and earlier have an aspect ratio of either 100%+, 90% or 80/82% depending on when they were made, when the size was introduced, what digit the size ends in (with a couple exceptions), and so on. The last change was in 1965, and somewhere packed away I have a poster from that year explaining the new sizes. The other change may have been in 1948, but don't quote me. It is clear as mud. What you can take away is that if the aspect ratio of the new replacement tires is not 80 or higher, it isn't even going to be close. In the US, the selection of modern tires with an 80 or higher aspect ratio ranges from dismal to non-existent. So, what you do is take Joe's advice and use the actual measurements. In practical terms this means if you pick something that is narrow enough to fit, the outer diameter is going to be much smaller. It lowers the car a little, and on some cars it looks good, but also lowers the gearing. If the car is geared too low in the first place, lowering it more can be a problem. Tires wont always match their marked size, but are usually close. Example for a metric tire, 215-75-15: 215 = section width in millimeters. This is the width at the widest part of the tire, measured on whatever rim width the tire designer used when he designed the tire. It will vary some depending one what rim width you mount it on. 215mm = 8.46 inches. 75 = aspect ratio. This is the percentage of the section width that the sidewall measures, from the bead seat on the rim out to the edge of the tread. 215mm x .075 = 161.25mm = 6.35 inches. 15 = rim diameter, measured at the bead seat, in inches. 15" + 6.35" + 6.35" = 27.7" 27.7 inch tall tire, 8.46 inches wide at the widest point. .

The 36 is a whole different car.

Speakers are rated in impedance, not resistance. Both are measured in Ohms, but an ohmmeter only measures resistance. 6 volts vs 12 volts makes no difference at all, and neither does the polarity of the charging system, but there have been some screwy designs in car radios and the impedance could be literally anything. If you tell us what car it is, I might be able to guess... or not... There is no conversion factor for ohms of impedance to ohms of resistance. That is because resistance is a DC measurement, and is always the same, while Impedance is an AC measurement, and will vary depending on the frequency (hertz) it is measured at. There is, however, a happy accident in the case of speakers. A speaker will usually have a resistance (which you can measure) that is just a little less than the rated impedance. For instance, an 8 ohm speaker will measure about 6 ohms. A 4 ohm or 3.2 ohm speaker will measure more like 2 ohms. A radio old enough to be 6 volts might take a special speaker with an electromagnet. That type of speaker may have been connected in series with the high voltage internally for the tubes, in which case the radio would not work without it. On the other hand, sometimes the electromagnet just runs on 6 volts. EDIT: If it is a tube type radio with a vibrator be sure to get it serviced by someone who knows how before you put power to it. The buffer capacitor (for the vibrator) is almost certainly bad, and it will damage the vibrator. They aren't making any more of those.

"Early Times Chapter" for the pre-55 flathead cars. 40 is a fairly popular year in that club.

Whats wrong with the Nash?

37.... Pontiac? I am using the Penrite steering box lube in my 36. What's needed is a semi-fluid grease. Plain grease gets wiped off and wont flow back to lubricate the gears. Oil runs out on the ground because there is no seal. I don't know what you mean by a copper seal. If the bushing on your pittman shaft is loose you will need to fix that. If I remember correctly, the shop manual has a description of the properties of the thick fluid originally used, unfortunately the description isn't a lot of help in 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20181019165454/http://www.earlytimeschapter.org:80/steeringgearserv.html

Greetings from a 1936 Master Six owner. Check with KornKurt here on the forum. He has a lot of early Pontiac parts. Welcome to the forum!

Indeed. Mine changed all by itself sometime recently. I have not made changes to my profile in years. No biggie, just odd.

An ignition scope and a lab scope are two different things. What are you planning on working on? For ignition troubleshooting of antiques with distributors you want an ignition scope, and you want it to be ANALOG. Why? Because most digital ignition scopes sold for automotive diagnostics in that era (1980s-1990s) were close to useless. For troubleshooting electronic engine controls, sensors, fuel injection etc. you want a lab scope. A digital one will be fine, and probably a better choice, as long as it is modern. Some tools exist that are built for the automotive trade and are intended to do both. I have a fluke 98 that is a lab scope with attachments and modes to view distributor ignition patterns. It is a wonderful lab scope for automotive work, but isn't very quick to set up for distributor ignition. It is a far cry from pulling 3 leads out of an over head boom and having a pattern on the screen (as would happen with an analog automotive ignition scope). Once set up though, it works as well as analog.

I was elsewhere in the forum, and a notification popped up just as though I had received a "like" or someone quoted me or PMed me. It also popped up in the notifications list at the upper right of the screen. It has not sent me any email, at least not so far.

I suspect the @ trick doesn't work on this forum. It didn't in the past. That's a question for Peter. If you send Cgarv12 a PM, it will trigger an email notifying him.

As someone who has done that sort of work (long ago), I can tell you it is more labor intensive than you can possibly imagine if you have not done it. It is still going to be as much work in some other country, unless of course they halfass it. Would the difference in labor cost in some poorer country be enough to cover shipping and potential import costs? Maybe. Heck, probably. On the other hand if it is not done right, you might need to ship it back for corrections, or cut your losses and hire someone else. The idea of trying to do that across an international border, and probably with a language barrier too, is not appealing to me at all. I'm getting heartburn just thinking about it.

I recall someone posting in several threads here offering pot metal work. I just searched and could not find it. However I wonder if it might have been this company? I have no personal experience with them. https://potmetal.repair/

Unfortunately the car is put away for the winter and not easy to get to, To the best of my recollection they were ordinary upholstery tacks (blue tacks). Probably smaller than the ones you might see inside a seat. There could be some still there to see if I could just get near it. There may have also been glue.

In my 1936 Pontiac, also Fisher bodied, there are felt strips tacked along the edges of the boards. I suspect it is to prevent squeaks. Just the edges.

WOW! Looks like it's coming along.

Hello from another Miata owner. Mine is a 1990 and is at 330k miles or so. Great cars. I started to type out responses to the timestamps you posted, but as I continued to watch.... Holy ^&$$#. Ive never even seen one that rusty. I hate to be a wet blanket, but.. wow. There are people out in Minnesota who have fixed bodies that bad (and I am envious of their skills), but here in WA you literally could not find another Miata that rusty if you searched for years. I'm thinking you could buy another car on Seattle Craigslist with minimal or no rust, and ship it, for a small fraction of what that is going to cost to fix. Especially if you buy a car with some problem nobody wants to deal with (like an exploded differential, or a bad motor, or minor crash damage). It would undoubtedly have better doors too. If you are gonna fix the car, then yes, replace the wiring harness, It is the easiest way. As for the semi-rusty areas, it is always worse than it looks. Rust converter may slow it down but you cant stop the rust unless you cut it all out and replace. The trouble is, at some point there is nothing holding the car together and you are going to have sag-twist-alignment problems when you try to weld it all back together. An early Miata isn't the stiffest car ever made in the first place. You have already cut out more than I thought you could probably get away with without building some kind of support structure inside the tub. Regarding oil leaks, the most common one is the o-ring on the distributor-like (CAS?) sensor on the back of the head. I have replaced that o-ring countless times,and it is leaking again. If you have not replaced it, you probably still have an oil leak. It isn't a big deal to change. Best of luck whatever you do, and welcome to the forum!