Bloo

I'd be more concerned about what is underneath than the foam itself. I am assuming we are talking about foam that is sewed into the covers, not the molded foam underneath. Back in the early 80s, for a premium job I would have used "2735", no longer made, and in the late 90s the supposed equivalent was "2935". Today I don't know. 2735/2935 was long lived, but stiffer than what the factory would have used sewn inside a cover. It was generally a non-problem, but looking at those pillow type seats, I'm not so sure. You may simply need to use something softer but less durable. What part failed? On a cover that has foam sewn in it, there is generally cloth underneath of some sort. On factory jobs, and especially of that period, it is probably going to be something completely inadequate like cheesecloth or scrim. I'm not sure how that plays out in a pillow seat though, I don't remember. I'd have to see inside. It's probably in there. On a normal pleated seat, the cloth underneath is what takes at least half the abuse when you sit on it. The backing cloth would be taking all the abuse if they notched the foam, and they should have. I imagine those pillow seats are similar. When the cloth below rips along a seam, and it will, then all the force of sitting is concentrated on the top cover right in that spot. It almost immediately rips along the same seam. Trying to temporarily repair it from above is futile, because all the force of sitting is concentrated right there. Some decking/ducking cloth, lightweight but strong, is far more appropriate for the backing cloth than whatever rubbish the automakers were using at that time. For better or worse, this may stiffen things up a little. In the interest of durability, I care about this far more than anything about the foam.

Very likely yes. Grounding through the dash was typical for all sorts of things in 1948.

Is this really the roadster? I think I saw part of a window crank.

Sounds like it. If you've got 6v on + and nothing on - with the wire to the distributor disconnected, that coil is bad. This is checking + to ground, and then - to ground with the meter.

So you have 6 volts to the + terminal of the coil nothing going through the coil? What does nothing going though the coil mean? How many volts on the - terminal of the coil? Should be 6 volts with the points open, and 0 volts with the points closed.

I don't know. Of the type I have described, I have bought Lithonia as well as some store brand (Commercial Electric maybe?). Both came from either Home Depot or Lowes, and I can't remember. The Lithonia's had some plastic end caps on the fake tubes that had a tendency to fall off (I glued them on) and the others stayed on by themselves, but even if you lost them its just cosmetic. These are mounted on a fairly low white painted ceiling. I put in a bunch of them. You can't have too much light in a shop. It just occurred to me that since your ceiling is up higher you might want the reflector style, and the only ones of those I own are converted fluorescent. On the other hand, the LEDs only shine down, so reflectors probably don't make the difference they did on fluorescent.

Get LED. They don't have to warm up. I have a shed with a bunch of dedicated LED fixtures in it, and another with conversion bulbs that still run on the ballasts like the fluorescents did. The idea was that you could just replace a bad bulb. Bah. They draw a lot more current and have been less reliable than the dedicated LED fixtures. Never mind that a ballast could still fail. The ones I really like look like 4 foot double strip lights at first glance, but the "tubes" are half round when you look closer.

Nothing is ever easy, is it? The short answer is almost anything that will physically fit. 1940 Buick? Doesn't that have an Electrolock armored ignition? If so the answer is really easy, nothing has been made for decades that fits that. NOS and NORS aftermarket from Ebay and NOS Buick parts dealers. Many online vendors advertise coils for Electrolock equipped cars that will work electrically but not fit the Electrolock. They rarely point that detail out. The voltage spec is pretty much meaningless. It is the maximum the coil can produce, and has no bearing at all on what voltage the spark will run at. It is a spec that comes mostly from marketing people who want to advertise a big number. A higher voltage coil is no advantage, and might be a disadvantage if you want to split hairs because it is probably going to have shorter spark duration. Enough to matter? I doubt it. Any coil you can lay your hands on is going to have enough voltage available for a 40 Buick. The 1.5 ohms (or whatever) matters, but doesn't really tell you much about the coil. That resistance directly affects the current through the points, or through the transistor that replaced them, so it does matter. To that end, you wouldn't really want it to be any lower that whatever the maker of the electronic ignition wants. Lower resistance raises the current. In practice most American coils are about the same resistance, about 1.2-1.5 ohms if memory serves. This is because most 6V coils, 40s and later for sure, expect to be running on a 7.5 volt-while-charging electrical system. Most 12V coils expect to be running on about 7.5 or 8 volts on a 14+ volt system, after the voltage is dropped by a ballast resistor. There are coils meant to run on a 12 volt system directly. Typically they have about double the resistance of the normal ones. You probably don't want one of those, unless the car has been 12 volt converted, and in that case maybe you do.

I'm not doubting you, but I think those (as well as some foreign jobs with not-quite-typical PCV systems) must be outliers. Orifices sure didn't last long on American V8s. The PCV hoses and carburetor passages themselves can be as big as your little finger and still occasionally plug up.

Original pistons in the Pontiac Eights are all cast iron. Is the one in the picture? You'd better either match the weight or replace all of them.

Not from me. I struggle with this. I usually chicken out. It probably isn't that bad. There have been threads..... About the car itself, it's a Canadian Plodge if it matches the brochure. Down here just across the border in WA we love those. That is a Plymouth Fury dash and probably the rest of the interior is Plymouth too. There was a Canadian model called Custom(?) 880. We did not have them in the US. I worked on one, same year, back in the late 80s. It was a wagon. It had a Plymouth dash and whole interior like this probably does, except for special Dodge emblems. The outside looked about like a US Dodge Polara or Monaco, except for small details. The engine is painted a color that would not have been used on any B/RB engine in 1966 if it were a US model. Not sure about Canada. It is a Chrysler color. The car also appears to have the good exhaust manifolds, so probably has the improved heads right along with them. None of that appeared until 68. I think the air cleaner is newer too, but not sure. I'll bet the whole engine is newer.

Offhand, probably all four. It probably includes export options. If you and your Studebaker are in the US, I would be willing to bet a lot that you have or had straight sided rims. 34x4 is a tough size. Not common.

These are essentially Fiat 128s wearing the Fiat 127's clothes. Lots of mechanical parts fit. Probably some other parts too.

That AFB pcv port probably goes to the front barrels even if it physically comes out the back. I hope it does. I have seen some carbs that had PCV feeding over the secondaries, Chevrolets I think it was, with 4-jet or maybe WCFB. That can't possibly work well, and they changed their method right away. If the power brakes leak, that is a big problem, rebuilt or not. They shouldn't leak, at all. You mention an accumulator vessel. Is this a separate tank? Check it for leaks. Make sure all hoses fit tight. They shouldn't have to get smaller with a clamp to hug the nipple. The hole in the hose should have to stretch a wee bit to go over the nipples. If it doesn't, get a smaller diameter hose. Clamp them to keep them from potentially falling off, but they shouldn't need clamps to seal. On just about any of those old power brake systems you should have 2 good stabs of the brakes under power after you have shut the engine off.

Agree. Magnetos always ran a much narrower plug gap than typical points ignitions.

I believe he is on the forum. If I could remember his handle, I would tag him. I imagine someone reading will see this and tag him, unless RIchard himself stumbles across it first.

The power brake port should make zero difference. It only lets a booster can load of air in when you first touch the brakes, and since the engine is decelerating it does not care. If it makes a difference to the tuning, you have a leak down that vacuum line somewhere, probably a bad booster, and you need to fix that before proceeding. The PCV port would be instructive, especially if you have added a PCV valve to a carburetor that did not have one somehow, but afterward you will have to retune with it hooked back up. It is a vacuum leak, and the only reason the engine tolerates it at all is the PCV ports in the carb or spacer plate that cause the incoming crankcase air to mix properly with the air/fuel coming from the idle jets and transfer ports. In theory, adding PCV to a carburetor that never had it should always require some internal work, more than just readjusting the idle jets. Ive seen people get away with it though, and more often than I would expect. The key is mixing the PCV air below the idle jets like a factory system does. Since there is more air getting in that did not come through the carburetor, the throttle will need to be slightly further closed for the same idle speed, and the idle slightly richer. The transfer ports are not adjustable though. Transfer ports, along with the idle screw ports, are typically fed from fixed orifices. In theory you would have to make changes there. In practice, I have seen cases where those were already a little too rich and it just worked.

I've not heard of that. I wouldn't want to be wallowing around in it setting the hoist blocks if there are indeed loose fibers on top. That would be like working in insulation all the time. Yuck. Just epoxy it, whether it's fancy concrete or just the normal concrete. Epoxy coated floor is so much more user friendly than bare concrete you won't believe the difference.

That's a good start. I have a strong hunch you are going to need a lot more elaborate baffle than that. If the baffle is inadequate, your oil consumption will skyrocket. There is probably less oil spraying around in there than say... a valve cover, but still, Chevrolet had an elaborate oil separator down in the valley for the draft tube and just kept using it for a couple of years when PCV came along. You need to separate the oil from crankcase vapor, otherwise you will just burn it. Watch your oil level like a hawk until you figure out whether your solution was adequate. Choose a valve for an engine of about the same displacement and RPM range. That's the easy way. It's about flow. Theoretically one from a smaller but higher RPM engine, or a larger but lower RPM engine could possibly be fine, but there is too much to think about. Just hit the displacement and redline in sort of broad strokes and try it. If it's too much, go smaller. You will never match what the nailhead or any other engine "needs". Even with careful carburetor recalibration, there is a limit to how much of a parasitic vacuum leak an engine will tolerate. It is *never* enough air to ventilate the engine 100% of the time. On a brand new engine, some percentage of the time the PCV system will blow backwards. This is why there is always a little slime around a breather cap. As the engine wears and blowby increases, the amount of time the PCV system can keep up decreases, sometimes dramatically. Pay attention to the direction of flow. It's not always obvious. It helps if you can see a valve you might use installed on the car it belongs on so you can be sure which way it goes. Threads don't mean much. It's a check valve, and also flow metering. Without a check valve, a backfire can cause a crankcase explosion. Also, early systems that used an orifice instead of a PCV valve plugged the orifice very quickly. The PCV valve prevents plugging, not perfectly, but it is a huge improvement over an orifice. For PCV to work correctly, The carburetor needs to have a dedicated PCV port, or you need a dedicated PCV plate under the carburetor. Some carburetors have the PCV routed out the back, but not many because the idle jets are in the front. You'd need one of those with PCV on the back for maximum stealth. The PCV vapors need to mix with the incoming air/fuel or you are gonna have a bad time. Most commonly, the ports exit right below the idle jets. Some Fords had it over closer to the axis of the primary throttle shaft, but the goal is the same. It must mix with whatever is coming through the idle jets and transfer ports. Any PCV passage you make will have a tendency to plug right away, and you will notice the passages in carburetors and OEM PCV plates are huge. The outlets where they mix with the air/fuel are also huge. It's no accident. All flow metering is done at the PCV valve (or orifice). Plain vacuum ports will not work. It has been done, A few Ramblers and some circa 63 "California conversions" are like this. No amount of rejetting or recalibration can fix it, even if you don't mind how much fuel you burn. The fuel distribution is just too far off. Cars like this are basically untunable, and stink to high heaven. One final thought. There has to be a way in for fresh air (a breather cap will do), but if there is still a draft tube in the mix somewhere it must go. It becomes an inlet, and will suck dirt during the periods the PCV works. Best of luck picking out an appropriate valve.

1962-63?. The round tail lights pretty much nail that down. If I am not mistaken, the flatter roofline appeared in 1961, and 1964 was a total redesign, but using those same back fenders. But in 64 the nose was different and the roofline was wrong again.

I used Delta Cams, Tacoma, WA. They have an excellent reputation, and have been supplying hobbyists with custom cam grinds for decades. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I would call it recent. It was before covid. It worked out fine as far as I know, It hardly ever gets driven. I was driving it last week though. I don't recall what it cost. It was more than new lifters but not very much more. They disassembled and cleaned them, and reground the faces. Turnaround on that and a cam regrind was surprisingly fast. Probably a day or two. I didn't mail it as i was going to Seattle anyway, and that's close. I dropped them off and picked them up in Tacoma. Be sure to check your lifter preload. Delta said it shouldn't change much, but I suspected it was already out of whack due to high mileage. It was. If your engine adjusts lifter preload by selective pushrod length like a Ford FE does, There is an outfit in Oregon called "Smith Brothers" who will make you some custom ones if you can't buy what you need in a standard size. I needed 3 oddballs.

I don't know if it's disinformation? I am no expert on these. If it is mechanical only, that could help explain it. It was an option in 37 on the Reo bodied cars that I am interested in. Those overdrives were pure mechanical, because that's just how a Borg Warner overdrive was in 37. They changed every year, and as I recall there is an article about all the versions on P15-D24.com. 39 may have been the first year for the electric ones in several makes(?). Maybe Graham had a few all-mechanical left overs? My dad used to tell a story about thumbing a ride in Kansas in 39 or 40, and catching a ride with some salesman in a supercharged Hollywood. They were brand new at the time, maybe not even out yet, and I think it was the first one he had seen. The salesman was driving the Hollywood as fast as it would go, probably 80mph or more, at a time when people drove 45 or 50. He said you could see a long way ahead on the flat land, and now and then a car or tractor would be approaching from a side road, with no idea how fast that Graham was probably approaching. There were some close calls. I told that story to an informal group at the Graham nationals, and was surprised when 2 or 3 people said Hollywoods weren't built with overdrive because it doesn't fit, but some folks had managed to cram one in later on. Some newer car has an adapter that mounts the Overdrive solenoid on a right angle so it hugs the transmission. It might be the 49-50 Ford Convertible. Maybe that's the secret to getting it in there? This was several years ago, and I was brand new to the Graham club. I don't know if the people I was talking to were authorities on Hollywoods or not. There were some Hollywood owners in the room though. Anyhow, thanks for responding. I hadn't seen the earlier thread before now. I was hoping you would jump in as you seem to know a lot about these cars.

Newer production aftermarket switches in some of the common aftermarket brands have an "L" suffix on the part number and are rated to come on at a lower pressure than the originals ever did. Whether they are absolute junk or not is a separate issue. I don't know. The main claim to fame I remember about the Harley switch is that it can withstand DOT 5 brake fluid. Too much pressure needed to activate has always been the bugaboo in these pressure switches. Well, that and leaking. Glad you got one that works right.

Oh? Was that even an option? I asked the question at the Graham club nationals when it was in Graham, WA, and was told no, because it didn't fit, but there is some trick you can do to make it happen and a few of them have overdrive now. Do any of you know more about this?

One caution about Singer 111w. There are a bunch of versions, and if you are thinking of buying one, be sure to look up the original specs for the exact model that you are considering. Some 111w can handle more total thickness of material than others. By handle I mean if you lift the presser foot up does it go up high enough to insert the giant stack of material you had in mind. Even the best versions of the 111 will have less space there than you probably think. I don't think I have ever seen a 111w with reverse. I doubt they made one, but can't rule it out. Reverse is desirable, but not nearly the big deal it might seem. I once drove about 3 hours to look at a 111w at a university surplus sale. Only one picture was posted and no exact model number. As it turned out it did not have a walking foot. Yes, Singer made a version of this world famous walking foot machine with no walking foot. Caveat emptor. How good is the 111w? Good enough that it spawned a bunch of clones. In fact several different machines in several different brands you might see in an upholstery shop today are based on the 111w. The Consew 225, 226, 206RB and several Jukis, for starters. There are others.