MercMontMars

@Rusty_OToole Oh wow.. seeing that made my old Chrysler look like a “clean example.” ColdWarMotors is great, I’ve watched some of his work before. Amazing to see the stuff he makes move again.

@Rusty_OToole Will definitely check there. There’s a registration sticker from New Hampshire on the windshield from 1988 so that’s where the car once was, now it’s here in FL. Not sure how kind NH was to it.

@c49er That’s reassuring, thank you. Nope, they all went in reasonably well. Makes a little more sense now why some of them were rusty, I was super confused by that when I removed them. Was thinking they looked like cast iron that was left wet.

I haven’t worked on my Windsor in a while now, last thing I did was pull the head and free up the valves. Due to time constraints and where the car is located, I couldn’t really do the best job on the head. Cleaned the threads as best I could and sprayed all the bolt holes with some WD-40. I put them back in after hand-threading the bolts a few times to try and get the excess fluid out, then torqued them with the head on. Didn’t use an impact or anything, just my old torque wrench. The car is currently stored outside so I wasn’t comfortable leaving the head off or loose. Alright.. after all that.. my concern is if I could’ve messed my block up. I’ve heard the horror stories of folks cracking their blocks because they didn’t clean the threads well enough or there was liquid in them. Really hoping I didn’t harm anything.. but if I did, where’s the first place to look? Probably sounds silly, but that’s just how my mind works. Won’t be quiet until I post about it. Thanks for any help or advice!

As I’m sure most folks have already seen, I picked up a free roached 1950 Nash Ambassador. I was able to get the hood open today and found a very complete decent looking inline-6. It probably ran when parked, the plugs are fresh and the oil was very clean which was surprising. I’m betting it’s solid, will need some TLC to be perfect of course but it looks good and well taken care of. It’s a bit soon to be asking as I haven’t fully looked the car over to see if it’s worth saving as a whole, and I haven’t fully decided if I want to start parting.. but should I decide to pull it what can I do with it? Whatever I put it in, I don’t want the hydramatic behind it. Nothing personal against it, I’d just prefer a simpler 3-speed or so but I’m not sure what bolts up to it yet. Any help appreciated, thank you!

Got the hood open and it is a nice looking inline-6. I found the original radio for the car in the backseat, and with it I found a receipt saying that someone had it recapped/redone in 2000. Crazy what 24 years will do to a car..

For anyone interested in parts I have listed some highlights in the main post, including a 100% rust free front drivers side fender that came with the car.

@EmTee That’s one thing that kills me about this one, every Nash I’ve seen is usually a 4-door. I’ve always been a sedan guy, but 2 doors look really good on this car and they’re not common by any means.

@Buick35 Sarasota FL, 34243.

@Restorer32 Haha, have to grovel at Jay Leno’s front door to have a chance of that happening. Even with his money he’d probably say she’s done. 😆

@31nash880 I’ll let you know as soon as I find out, the car is currently in Florida.

@Rusty_OToole Really? That is good to know, never knew about that. I’m leaning that way too, I don’t see this car ever hitting the road ever again but I’d love to see it get another one going again.

I got this car from a mechanic that was closing up shop, I have bought a few cars from him before and he just gave this 49 Nash to me. I really like the car, always had a soft spot for Nash styling and it’s a coupe which seems a little uncommon. Now the bad.. IT’S RUSTY…. I think this thing was parked in Atlantis for a few decades.. it’s bad. I’m not even sure of the frame, but I haven’t had a chance to look it over closely yet. Haven’t been able to open the hood yet but according to the door tag and what I can see underneath it has a Straight-8 w/ hydramatic trans. It would break my heart to see it crushed for scrap value, and I know these aren’t super common cars. What should I do from here? Does anyone out there need parts or have one in better shape so I can build a solid Nash? The drivetrain is probably OK, but I haven’t seen it yet. What should I do with her? Thanks for any help! —Parts available All glass, perfect and unbroken All badging except for passenger fender Headlights & bezels Grille Bumpers (will need rechroming) Interior is pretty good, will get photos Front driver side fender (not on car, fully rust free) Drivetrain is there, but condition is currently unknown as I can’t get the hood open Etc interior parts such as radio, steering wheel, knobs, metal dashboard has one rusted area. Chrome trim Anything else not listed that you need let me know and I’ll see if it’s there. Message me and we can negotiate a price we’re both happy with.

Almost ready to blow the cobwebs out of this project, after working away at the little things I pulled the head and found stuck valves. Explains why I wasn’t able to start it. Since then I have freed them all up and am getting ready to put the head back on. Gave the head a quick paint job because why not, it’s not a factory colour and it’ll look a little funny surrounded by rusty parts but it’ll preserve it and look nicer until I can do a proper restoration on the motor. (Planned in the far future.)

@R Walling Gorgeous! Looks like she was loved in a past life, I love to see survivors like that. One of my favorite mopar front ends. I always thought that was crazy too, even compared to my 52 Pontiac straight-8 the starters are SLOW. I don’t know how they do it. Curious to see how many miles my odometer says, I haven’t been able to read it because something inside collapsed and is blocking it, but I’m gonna guess no more than 50,000.

@R Walling Nice, did it start right up for you after freeing up the valves? If you still have it, how’s it running? After finishing this motor 100% I definitely want a mopar inline-8 to tinker with.

@DFeeney Wholeheartedly agree, I bought this car with the self-agreement that I will do it all myself. One day I can step back from it and say “I did that.”

@Larry Schramm You might be right, I’ll take a closer look at that next time I work on it. Luckily a new gasket kit is in the mail so if it’s bad no big deal.

@Rusty_OToole Thanks, I’ll definitely try that aluminum paint trick. Old head gasket seems to be in great shape, at least good enough to reuse for testing.

@arcticbuicks Very helpful, thank you. What I’ve done so far is douse them in penetrating oil and motor oil, that freed up two of them but one is really persistent. I got it free enough to snap back down with the spring but when it comes back up it likes to stay there. Gonna take the inspection plates off tomorrow or so and see what’s going on down below.

@Larry Schramm Much better! have no idea why it likes to flip images like that on me.

Well some good news.. and some even better news. Pulled the head today and everything exceeded my expectations. I found 3-4 stuck valves which explains why I couldn’t start the motor. Got all but 1 valve completely free. Besides that, the cylinder walls look excellent and I don’t see any cracks or reasons for concern. Hopefully once they’re all free I can start her up for the first time in many years.

Hi there, I’ve got a rather random question and want to see if anyone’s done this.. but is there something I can put in my engines to clean them out while they sit? For a little context, my 1939 Chrysler will not be running for a while but the oil in it has turned to black sludge and I want that as broken up as possible so I can dump it when the time comes to start the car (after fresh oil of course.) I also have a project 59’ Buick Invicta sitting around and that motor is in similar shape, won’t be started for quite a while. I did a bit of research on using diesel but many sources say that’s a big no no. Any suggestions?

I’ll definitely be careful with the head gasket, I’ll use it to test compression after freeing everything up but I’m ordering this kit that has a head gasket and other gaskets. Will definitely be helpful and I don’t have to worry about breaking something irreplaceable. https://www.partsgeek.com/cjfnzqt-chrysler-royal-engine-gasket-set.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ff&utm_content=TS&utm_campaign=PartsGeek+Google+Base&utm_term=1937-1942%2C+1950+Chrysler+Royal+Engine+Gasket+Set+Victor+Reinz+37-42%2C+50+Chrysler+Engine+Gasket+Set+1938&gad_source=1&cid=18313611776&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwvKtBhDrARIsAJj-kTgGNjY3NUq-f8lxca9iKkFAZZwcFgx3wRFdy-ANY4ih71iabmVt9-gaApueEALw_wcB

Hi there, I’ve been tinkering with my 1939 Chrysler Windsor for a while now whenever I have the time but haven’t gotten to start it yet. When the starter was in I tried firing it up with good spark and fuel but all I got was a crank/ no start and a couple huge backfires out of the carburetor. I don’t know why it took me so long to think of doing this but I just did a compression check and almost all cylinders are no compression. The strongest one was no.1 (counting from the water pump back) giving 30 psi on my gauge. 5-6 gave a tiny bit, just enough to move the gauge a little. I’m not surprised as this car has been sitting for at least 20+ years not driven. I’m going to be pulling the cylinder head then the intake and exhaust manifold to clean it out and see what’s inside and to get easier access to the valve inspection cover. Just looking for some advice and pointers as I go along. I have a shop manual that provides the head bolt patterns and torque specs thankfully. Thanks for any help!