MickO

Thanks Jack M for your reply i will have a look at those on their website.

I am thinking of converting from the Vacuum system to a 6 or 12 volt motor for the wipers on my 1934 Chrysler Kew Six (Plymouth PE DeLuxe). I have the Cruising Electronics 6 to 12 volt convertor fitted so i can go with either a 6 or 12 volt motor set up. I have sent numerous emails to Newport Engineering to see if their 1935-36 Plymouth/Dodge kit will fit the 1934 PE DeLuxe Plymouth but have not received any replies. ( Are they still in buisness ?) I would appreciate any advice/suggestions on what might fit my car wiper set up. I could go single wiper motor on the driver side without the linkage set up for both wipers, but 2 functioning wipers here in Ireland would be ideal for the amount of rain we get.

Hi hchris i think that when the Generator was rebuilt it may have been presumed by the company doing the work that it was a neg earth system and then set it up that way by flashing the generator as neg earth and then fitting a new negative earth electronic regulator which i am led to believe will only work as a neg earth unit. Given that it was fitted to a pos earth set up i am surprised that it was not damaged in this set up, but it seems not.

Hi hchris, thank you very much for your reply. Yes she is hooked up to pos earth and i was having charging issues, when i discovered that the Dynamo had been fitted with a new neg earth electronic regulator as well as rewound armature, field coils, new bearings and brushes etc. so i had a pos earth system with a neg earth dynamo regulator set up. Strange i know. The starter was also rebuilt at a cost of £325 sterling. The dynamo and regulator are charging perfectly in neg earth so i dont see the point in changing back to pos earth on the dynamo regulator etc, it would seem to be easier and more cost efficient to go neg earth. will there be any issues with fuel sender unit ?, will i have to change polarity on that as well ?

Olson's saved the day. They initially sent me the wrong gasket but when i emailed them they immediately realised their mistake and sent out the correct one for the 2.7 without hesitation and super fast delivery method. Great no quibble service from them.

The previous owner spent a nice sum of money on a Dynamo rebuild (£500 UK) including new electronic regulator. I was having charging issues so i discovered that the Dynamo was set up as neg earth unit with a new 22 amp neg earth electronic regulator fitted. Now i know why i was having charging issues. I got a local company to check the charging and the Dynamo is working perfectly in the neg earth mode. I am thinking that the most cost effecient way to go now is to change over to neg earth from pos earth. Its a 1934 flathead so no radio clock etc. I need to reverse polarity on the coil and reverse the ammeter wires as well as the battery terminals. Any advice on this and other things i might have to consider. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Yep tried them but no luck as yet.

Well Rusty & Viv, i managed to get the tappets out by making wedges out of PVC Facia board cut with a slot to slide them in past valve stems and prop them open against the force of the springs. I only propped them open about 10mm. I then held the tappets up with solid core electrical cable wound around the adjuster bolt and wrapped tightly around the head bolts to prop them up, this alowed me to carefully pop the cam out with enough clearance so as not to scrape the cam lobes off the tappets. I had Andy Bernbaum send me a new set of tappets and a local Engine shop specialist PJ Donnellan in Lanesborough did a gre at job regrinding the cam as well as skimming the head as it was slightly bowed. The new tappets had the new adjuster which does not have a lock nut on them, they seem to be an interference fit with a fairly tight thread. I managed to eventually wind them down to get the required clearance but had to pop the valves up a little bit more using copper coins in addition to the PVC wedges to get more clearance when getting the cam back in. I am now ready to get the timing gear back on and the head etc. I am having great difficulty getting a head gasket for the 2.7 litre 19.8hp engine which has a bore of 2 7/8" or 73mm. I believe this size engine was used in the Chrysler crown marine engine. I have ordered 2 seperate head gaskets from suppliers on both East & West coasts but both were wrong and for the larger 3.3 or 79mm bore 23.4hp. Anyone know where i might get one of these gaskets for the 2.7 19.8hp. I attach a photo for comparison.

Thank you for your reply. I have everything off now including the head, front grille, radiator and oil pan. will the oil pump have to come out as it is driven by the cam ?. any advice on taking out and reseating the camshaft bearings,is it difficuly to drift them back in ?. From inspection it appears that some of the cam lobes have an edge on them from the broken tappet heads, so i will get it reground. I remember reading an article on Ford flatheads where it was possible to wedge the valves open with timber wedges to get enough clearance to take out the cam and drop the tappets.

I have some photos of the broken tappets, No 2 & 3 inlet have their heads partially sheared, and no 4 inlet shows a crack which would have sheared off at some stage. The rest of the tappets appear ok but i am going to replace all as Rusty suggested above. Any advice on the best way to do this is appreciated. I may also have to repair the camshaft or would it be possible to regrind ?. ihave other photos but these show the damage.

Thanks Rusty, yes they made a 2.7 for export to the UK between 1932 and 1939 i believe. It has a 73mm bore. Mine is a 1934 Chrysler Kew, same as the Plymouth PE De Luxe. I aquired the car last year and imported it to Ireland. Would incorrect valve clearances cause this ?, I have parts ordered from Andy Bernbaum and will have to add a full set to the order. Can i do this without pulling the engine out, by just dropping the pan and working from below as well or would it be a simpler job if i pulled the engine out. I dont know what went on in the rebuild but some work appears to have been done well and i have receipts for valves, timing chain, con rod bearings, timing chain, water pump kit, chain case cover, piston rings, head studs etc. I dont know if the tappets were replaced or not. Is it possible to prop the valves open to give enough room to pull out the camshaft without removing them and drop the tappets after taking the cam out. I am new to these oldies so it's an exciting learning curve. i appreciate your advice. Thank you.

I have discovered that i have 3 broken tappets (cam followers) in my 2.7 flathead 6. They are broken at the head with the edge broken off, i tappet has part of the head cracked but hasnt broken off as yet. I was stripping the engine trying to discover a persistent noise. The engine had a rebuild in the last 10 years with little or no mileage since then. I have recently acquired the car. The car was running and starting very easily. I tested the compression and 4 were 100psi and 2 were 105 psi, which i believe is pretty good for these engines. 6 valves were replaced during the last rebuild. A new timing chain was fitted but i am not sure about the sprockets. on removing the head all looked well with very clean smooth bores. the tappets clearances were pretty good with only 1 a bit too loose. Is broken tappets a common problem with these engines ? Should i replace all the tappets or just those which are broken or are showing signs of damage. Can you replace the tappets without taking the engine out ?. I have the car on a lift at present and am getting ready to drop the oil pan. Any advice greatly appreciated re the tappets and what to do if i need to take out the engine, things to look out for etc Mick

Thanks for the replies everyone, greatly appreciated. I will probably get new master cylinder and complete brake wheel cylinders all round. Then pull the hubs so i can be ready to replace brake parts as necessary. As NZ is right hand drive would you have any thoughts as to whether replacement master cylinder will work with both right and left hand drive vehicles, i amlooking at them online and it would appear that they will work for both, even though on ply33 site a different part no is given for both right and left hand drive.

Here is a few photos of wheels drums etc. (thats a serious looking puller Keiser31). The concern i had was, is the hub and drum seperate as i didnt want to be pulling using the wheel lug nuts which would be pulling on the hub as opposed to the drum, especially on the rear. Looking at the area og the wheel nuts it looks like that the drum is seperate from the hub, but i am not sure. if that is the case i need to find a way of pulling on just the drum.

Hi, I am a newbie after recently acquiring a Chrysler Kew Six, which i believe is essentially a Plymouth PE deluxe. It is a beatuful car and i am proud of my new addition to the garage. The car is mid 1934 no 2257834 which i believe was built in Detroit before being shipped to the UK for assembly. The car has been restored recently before i purchased it. I am starting to recommision the car. I have have brake and clutch issues. ( To begin with ) No fluid in system and i found leaks at 3 of the four wheels at the back of the drums. On inspecting the master cylinder the reservoir appears very rusty which i would presume means ditch it for a new one. On looking at various options it woud seem that a replacement is straightforward but i am not sure if there is a specific one for right hand drive models even though the 3 anchor mounting bolts appear the same and the brake line comes out from below which would not seem to be any different for either left or right hand drive. can you replace the bleeder bolts with bleeder screws to make bleeding easier, i see Chrysler 1263929 listed as a later replacement. I need to get the brake drums off and want to know what is the easiest method and if there is any special tools etc, having taken many drums off in the past usually it is back off the shoe adjustment and whack with a mallet etc to shock them free, but not being familiar i want to do it correctly and not cause any damage, as maybe they are linked to the hub etc. It would appear that the wheel cylinders are specific to each wheel front and back, left and right, is this correct, something to do with stepped cylinders on the front. Any help would be greatly appreciated.