Bloo

I don't believe the studs are as big as you want, however Fords of that period (60s, 70s) in general used bigger (larger hex) nuts than similar Mopars, etc. on the same size stud, and so the holes on a Ford wheel may be bigger than expected. It wouldn't surprise me if they went on without drilling. The 4" pilot hole might be a problem. but I'll bet aftermarket white spokes would have a huge center hole.

Thanks for checking!

5 on 5.5 is Ford 1/2 ton truck isn't it? Could the holes be bored out? Even if this is not possible on a "stock" type rim, possibly some aftermarket HEAVY (overweight) pickup wheels, like the white spokes that are just thick flat steel at the center, or maybe some aftermarket alloy wheels.

Simichrome (note the unexpected spelling...) is also fantastic on stainless steel.

Wouldn't counterclockwise be easier for a right handed person? I'm right handed and crank with my left hand.

Both! Newer cars with engine controls, digital radios, alternators with electronic regulators, etc. have a constant draw on the battery, and that will run the battery dead if it sits for a while. The more current drawn, the faster it happens. Old cars like your Skyliner would have no current draw when shut off, unless there is a clock. Even if there is no clock, a door or glovebox can get not quite shut, or malfunction, leaving a light on to run the battery dead. Older cars often have unfused circuits, due, among other things, to the unreliability of the old glass fuses and their holders. Aditionally, some circuits are "always on". A notorious one is the dome light. Dome light wiring is usually switched on the ground side, so the wire is hot all the time. In sedans that wire is buried under the headliner, where you can't see it's condition. Some people might also think of it as an anti-theft device.

They're pushing car washes probably. Around here (Washington State USA), you often have to confirm or decline a car wash before the pump will turn on. I have not seen a difference in gas price as shown in Mike6024's pic.

Well.... Looks like it's a crush sleeve in 49.... http://pontiac.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/1949/1949%20Pontiac%20Shop%20Manual/06-Rear%20End%20Suspension/page1.html

You should also post this over on VCCA. https://vccachat.org/

I'll bet he wants to know if that rear axle uses shims or a crush sleeve to set the pinion bearing preload. On some axles it makes the difference between quick and easy, or hard and scary. If the axle uses a ball bearing and a Hyatt bearing on the pinion like my 1936 Pontiac (and several models of Chevrolet and Buick) does, it may not even be the right question to be asking. 1948 sounds way too early for crush sleeves to me, but I just don't know. Anybody got a shop manual?

120v is going to be REALLY dim on 90 volts if they are incandescent.

75 volt railroad bulbs maybe? https://www.zoro.com/ge-lighting-mini-incand-bulb-15s113dc-15w-s11-75v-15s113dc-75v/i/G2357135/

I am needing a front floor mat for a 1936 Pontiac. I have heard of people substituting the unpunched 1936 Buick 40 mat from Bobs Automobilia, Bob's is currently showing "out of stock". Anyone else have these? Also, in the Buick, what determined whether you got a brown or a black mat?

What is the double spare thing like? Is it one of those expanding things that hooks around the other spare, with the lock in the middle?

I second the MTL, it is made for synchronized transmissions. MT-90 is the same thing but a little thicker. 75W140NS (don't forget the NS) is thicker yet, and although it is rated for Hypoid gear use, it is still made and intended (and safe) for use with synchros. I have it in my 36 Pontiac. Shifts great. Note: this thread is from 2011. The fellow who recently bumped it is looking for a 53-54 Buick stickshift bellhousing, not synchronizers or oil.

Manual choke on one side and auto on the other? No linkage to the accelerator pump? Something ain't right.... @Carbking? any comments?

I miss those things. Also the plaid ones everyone seemed to have that clashed with the rest of the upholstery. I hated them back when. Now it adds a bit of realism and connection to the past you rarely see in restored cars.

If it turns yellow, thats conclusive. If it doesn't, there is probably no combustion leak, but it can miss occasionally. You can also wave the probe of an exhaust analyzer over the radiator neck with the engine hot, if you have access to one, but not many people do. Generally you will see HC first, but HC can be there for other reasons. CO is conclusive. EDIT: Oops, it is CO2 the blue fluid looks for.

I guess I would be examining the head and block extremely close for porosity or cracks. I can't think of anything else (except the headgasket).

I'm glad thats working for you. When I bought my 1936 Pontiac, I tuned it up, and attempted to set the timing with my trusty old Snap-On dialback timing light. It didn't work, just locked up constantly. I opened it up and didn't find anything obviously easy to fix, so I went out and bought a new Bosch dialback timing light. It locked up. I kept trying, and I think I have killed the Bosch. When I last tried it on another car, it wouldn't even light up. Later on, I figured out the Snap-On is not broke, it works fine on other cars. The car has oversize headlight bulbs because the correct ones are not available. I thought I had better monitor the charging voltage, because I am not sure if the tiny generator can keep up, and also to see if the regulator was set correctly. First, I bought a cheap digital panel meter on ebay and temporarily hung it under the dash. A drive across town blew it to smithereens. Several tiny surface-mount resistors inside the cheapie meter were open. It did not look repairable. Next idea was to use a DMM. It is much harder to keep track of while you are driving compared to a lighted display, but I own some good DMMs, so I gave it a shot. I tried a Fluke 8060a (two of them actually), a Tektronix TX-3, a circa 1991 Radio Shack meter, and a Harbor Freight cheapie. None would work for more that a few seconds. The Tektronix behaved bizarrely even after having it's batteries pulled out, but came back to life a day later (whew!). To check the advance curve of the distributor, I needed a tachometer. Normally I would just use the Snap-On timing light, as it has a tachometer built in. An old Sears basic timing light (no dialback or tachometer or anything) seemed to work. I bought MSD timing tape, and a digital photo-tachometer at Harbor Freight. The photo-tachometer locks up in close proximity to the Pontiac, and will not work. It isn't even electrically connected. As it turns out it works fine on other vehicles. I used it on a tractor 2 weeks ago. YMMV

All I know is that the one in the picture needs to be a lot flatter than it is. End clearance is death to oil pressure, and a little clearance is a lot of pressure loss. It wouldn't bother me to sand that on a piece of glass. It isn't very big, and since I don't have a surface plate, that is probably how I would do it. Use a figure-8 motion. The best end clearance for an oil pump is as tight as you can possibly get it, as long as you do not go tighter than the shop manual allows. There will be wear on both ends of the gears, so it is almost impossible to get it too tight by sanding a cover, but always check it! Repeatedly! Getting it tighter would involve sanding or surface grinding the pump body, or new gears. That might be necessary if the shop manual thinks it is still too loose after you flatten the bottom plate. Moderation is the key. Don't go there unless you are absolutely sure. It is tough to put metal back.

OH Well that makes it easy. It might even work!

I can't see how the dwell/tach works. All those batteries! I also see that the test leads, of which there are two, only connect to that battery board, and I see no wires to the main circuitry. That can't really be right. Can you see how it was connected? Hookup of the two wires to the car is just going to be one to the points, and the other to ground.

On the Voltmeter-Ammeter, that copper strap around the outside is the shunt for the Ammeter. It makes sense that the wires would be big. Ammeters are as close to a dead short internally as possible. They never connect from positive to negative like a Voltmeter. Since they measure Current, you have to break the circuit and insert the Ammeter. All the current must flow THROUGH the ammeter. It looks like they intended you to disconnect the battery wire at the regulator, and connect this between the BAT post and the wire you took off... I think. They probably had the red clip on the regulator side, because the regulator would have slightly more voltage when the system is charging. If it is wrong, it will just try to read backwards, so that should be pretty easy to figure out. At the end of the day, it's just an Ammeter, and you can insert it into any circuit you want to measure current, as long as you are expecting less than 60 amps. I see two taps on the shunt. I don't know why two, but the distance between them probably sets the calibration of the ammeter. More distance between them would make the ammeter read higher. If you check it's calibration with another Ammeter, remember to put the two Ammeters in SERIES (not parallel). All the current must flow through an ammeter for it to be accurate. For the Voltmeter function, the leads can be a lot smaller. Voltmeters connect from positive to negative, and as such have very high internal resistance. They are as close to an open circuit as possible. Like the Ammeter, if the leads are reversed it will just try to read backwards. That should be pretty easy to sort out. I think the two variable resistors hanging on that board on the back of the meter movement calibrate the two voltage scales (one for each). To calibrate, a variable power supply would be handy. make sure the mechanical zero is set (the screw on front of the meter). To check accuracy, hook another Voltmeter in PARALLEL (unlike the Ammeter). In theory you would calibrate at full scale. In practice, it is usually better to start by calibrating at 3/4 scale, and then check at several places across the scale. If you can't get a scale to read high enough using the variable resistor, the associated fixed resistor (there is one for each Voltage scale, at about 7:00 in the picture) is probably at fault. For what it's worth, on 6 volt cars, accuracy around 7 to 7.5 volts would be most important.

I have no idea. Better pictures, close ups of where the leads attach, the meter scales, and inside, and I might be able to make some good guesses. I won't know until I see. I am currently restoring some similar gear of a different brand. The tachometer is a little baffling, but I have it sort of working, not calibrated yet. I am building a voltmeter from scratch for 6 volt charging systems. Here are some old auction pictures of the HT-400 showing the leads: It looks to be just a voltmeter and ammeter, with the heavy leads being for the ammeter. It is not quite a whole generator test set, as usually you would have a rheostat, or a carbon pile, depending on what method the shop manual gave you. Sometimes those were separate pieces. You would be able to see charging voltage on this without anything extra, and that's handy, as many DMMs will fail to work on a running 6 volt car. And here's the HT-864: This looks to be a typical two-wire dwell tach. Hook one wire to the points (at the coil), and the other wire to ground. I imagine for dwell you adjust that knob for full scale with the points open. RPM must just work. What does that switch say? Double? I guess they leave it up to you to pick an appropriate scale.