ply33

It is definitely a different interpretation of the books than the earlier series. I am finding this new one interesting and fun to watch even if it isn't following the books as closely. Mrs Hall is definitely quite a different personality as is Helen Alderson. One thing I caught on, I think episode 3, was Tristan putting is boots up on a desk and seeing vibram soles. Pretty sure those weren't available (or at least common) until after WW2.

I was wondering about that last night as we were watching an episode. I found this: https://www.imcdb.org/m10590066.htmlI am not familiar with any British vehicles of that era so I don’t know how accurate the identifications are.

@wws944 Has good points: My plug-in hybrid gets about 4 miles/kWh. Looking at the specifications for current EV offerings it seems 3.5 to 4 mi/kWh is pretty typical. The newer more box like SUV EVs are pushing the efficiency down (into the lower 3s). Just because it is an EV doesn’t mean the same aerodynamics that applies to internal combustion don’t apply. Make a bigger boxy vehicle and it takes more energy to push it around. The key thing is that the amount you will be charging each day is dependent on how many miles you drive each day and how efficient your vehicle is. Assuming a typical daily distance is 29 miles and you have an average efficiency EV (3.5 mi/kWh) you will need to put 11 to 12 kWh into your car. If you start charging at midnight and want to be ready to leave for work at 7AM you will need to be charging at 1.6 to 1.7 kW. At 120v that is 14 amps. The implication is that a Level 1 (120v charger) plugged into your current existing outlet in the garage will be sufficient for the average amount of driving. Putting a 240v Level 2 charger into your garage will only be needed if you drive more miles than average (which, with a normal distribution, will be about half the households). The grid is basically configured for the current maximum loads. This is often for late afternoons and evenings in summer time with everyone running ACs. And the grid has traditionally had issues with rapidly changing loads (it takes time for boiler to heat up and a steam turbine to spin up or down). If everyone needed to fully charge their EVs everyday and started doing it between 5 and 6 PM the grid would have real problems. But that is not what is happening. One thing I see on the solar and EV forums is the wide spread introduction of “time of use” (TOU) billing being implemented. In California all of the investor owned utilities are required to offer it (and some seem to require it) if you are putting a non-traditional load/supply onto the grid. My local utility is San Diego Gas & Electric and we are on a TOU plan that makes it very, very attractive to only charge a car at night. If I charge the car in summer between 4 PM and 9 PM it will cost me $0.50/kWh, about $0.14/mi which in my plug-in hybrid is more costly per mile than buying gasoline. But if I set the timer on the car to start charging at midnight it will cost me $0.09/kWh, about $0.026/mi which is far cheaper per mile than gasoline. I ain’t dumb enough to pay 5 times more for failing to simply tell my car to charge after midnight. So get home and plug the car in and I am done. My car starts to charge at midnight (in my case on a 120v outlet using a Level 1 charger) and is ready for me to go about my way the next day with a “full tank” when I get up. A few points on this: The actual load on the grid isn't the worst case scenario. Everyone with an EV isn’t going to be charging it from empty to full every day no more than everyone with an internal combustion vehicle is going to be filling their gas tanks from empty every day. Yes, you do it sometimes like when you are on a vacation trip. But not every day for every car. You have to look at averages here. The load on the grid can be moved fairly easily to where ever the utility decides it best fits. If there becomes an excess of solar power during spring and fall during late morning, they can discount the rates for those times and people with discretionary loads (with respect to timing) will move to use those discounted hours. Once you find that you don’t need to go to a gas station on a regular basis you find that you don’t really want to go to one at all. They are not the most pleasant places to be at. I haven’t charged at a public charger (costs more per mile than gasoline in my car) and I can imagine public charging stations would be less inviting than a gas station if only because you would need to spend more time there. But charging at home is incredibly painless. All this is, of course, colored by my career in high tech and being a home owner. Apartment or condo dwellers will have a different take as will someone who isn’t into technology for the sake of technology. (By the way, a lot of my fascination with antique cars is because of the technology. It is very interesting to me to see how the engineers of the era solved hard problems with the materials, processes and knowledge they had at the time.)

Not sure how much I'd trust it without confirming on a paper map, but https://graphhopper.com/maps/ allows for a motor scooter option which limits it to lower speed roads. The one long route I tried also showed a elevation chart (got to think in meters for that). Edit: Looks like that route takes you over Mt. Hamilton. Not exactly the route I would think of when trying to get to Yosemite from San Jose. An interesting suggestion though, would make it a bit of an adventure as the road up Mt. Hamilton is quite steep and the one down the back side is even steeper.

I prefer apps that use downloaded maps so I don't have to have a data connection while on the road. But that also means they don't show traffic so I guess I can't suggest an app. That said, I am not sure you will find one that both shows hills (bicycle or hiking focused) and shows traffic (motor vehicle focused).

If/when you find one that works could you post the information so I can update my database? Thanks!

When you drop the pan to clean things you probably want to pull the valve covers, lots of gunk settles out there too. On the pan, the two end pieces need to be left long, don’t cut them down to be flush. Keeping the side pieces in place while you get the pan up can be tricky. Some use gasket cement on one side. I have used thread tied through a couple of holes. On the plus side, the pan gasket and procedure to change it are identical from 1933 through the end of production (1959 for cars, later for industrial) so there are plenty of tutorials and guides. And any Plymouth factory service manual from 1934 up through the end of L6 production will give the details. I don’t know if there is a better or worse brand for these gaskets but I do know that fresh manufacture is better than old stock. I have always just called up my local auto supply and ordered it. Often available in the afternoon if I call in the morning, if not then almost certainly there the next day. If you can’t get the valve cover gaskets separately, they are the worlds easiest gasket to make out of some cork sheet stock. There is a clearance problem with oil pan and the drag link, so I just remove the pitman arm from the steering box and push it out of the way. You will need a puller for that. With the pan off it is a good time to look at the bottom end for any glaringly obvious issues. Like missing cotter pins on the bearing cap bolts (or maybe the engine was rebuilt using so bolts that don’t use cotter pins). There is a screen, held on with a cotter pin and some washers, to keep the biggest pieces of crud from being sucked into the oil pump. That should be cleaned. In fact, cleaning it periodically is one of the items in the instruction book for the '33 Plymouths though with modern detergent oils and fairly frequent oil changes this should not be the problem it was in the 1930s. Oh, by the way, over tightening the pan and/or valve covers will generally make things leak so be gentle. And when you have your pan off look along the edges to see if if the sheet metal has been deformed by someone over tightening in the past. If so then you will want to level out the mating surface as best you can. With respect to the sealed canister oil filter, the $45 you mention seems about right for current price. You really only need to replace it ever 8,000 to 10,000 miles. So if you are driving the car 2,000 miles/yr you are looking at once every 4 or 5 years. Or about $10/year, not a big cost. . . Looking at eBay I see a bunch of housings that take drop in elements varying in price from $10 to $150 depending on condition and greed. Almost any of them would work, being lazy I’d probably go for one that doesn’t need refinishing to look good. Bear in mind that the replacement cartridges used in many of the later canisters are surface media versus depth media (i.e. the don’t filter as well). There are some Chrysler made that take a ‘sock’ style insert that is actually a depth media, in the parts book those were listed for heavy duty applications. There were a host of aftermarket ones in addition to at least two from Chrysler, try to figure out what inserts they need (surface vs depth filtering) and the availability before buying the unit.

I don’t know your skill level. . . And the only speedometer I have looked very closely at is the one on my old car, there may be a number of design differences. That said, there are a number of delicate and fragile parts that are easily broken. And, I suspect, a number of specialty tools (perhaps the same or similar to those used for clock repair). So I will say it is beyond my skill set with the tools I have.

Adding to the comment by @Bloo the speedometer works by spinning a magnet inside an conductive non-magnetic cup (the ones I have looked at are aluminum). The spinning magnets create an eddy current in the cup which tries to rotate the cup with the magnet. The shaft the cup is on has a spring to resist that motion. And at the end of the shaft is a needle with which you read the amount the cup has rotated as the speed. So a few things can go wrong. The first as @Bloo mentioned is dirt getting into the mechanism. Another one for a old speedometer is the magnet losing some of its magnetism. The incredibly strong rare earth magnets we have nowadays did not exist back then and the permanent magnets of that day were not as permanent as one might like. If it was abused, then something might have gotten bent binding up the works. Finally, the return spring could need adjustment. A good instrument repair shop will make sure all of the above is in order.

I believe that all old American cars with mechanical speedometers are adjustable. At least adjustable by someone with proper tools and knowledge. Way back in the 1970s when I got my old car the speedometer was way off. After breaking it attempting to fix it I took the pieces to a local automotive instrument shop (there were such things then). The fellow put it back together and calibrated it for me. But I was surprised that he did not calibrate it on the car and asked about that. His response was that all American speedometers are built so the cable turns 1000 times per mile. (Old memory, the 1000 might not be correct, but the concept that all American cars were the same stuck.)

P4477240 or P4-477240 is a number for an engine originally fitted to a 1937 P3 or P4 Plymouth so you have a correct engine code for your car. Might actually be the original engine: Check the outside of the frame rail along the driver side to see if the stamped engine number is still visible. On my '33 it is between the running board supports. On the post war P15 series it is on the kick up over the rear axle. Not sure where it will be on your '37. Or, if the Chrysler Historical is still in operation, you can send proof of ownership, the serial number from the front passenger hinge post and some money to get the “build card” which will show the original engine and body numbers as well as what options and trim the car shipped with. That will be a 201 cu.in. engine that was originally rated at 6.7:1 compression ratio and 82 BHP at 3600 RPM and 145 ft-lbs at 1200 RPM.

Yes, the dome light has an on/off switch located on the light itself.

That is for the dash lights.

If it is like the 33 Plymouth, and I think it is, then it takes a single contact #81 bulb. It has a hot wire from the fuse to the fixture, a switch on the fixture, and a ground wire from the fixture to the steel body (the wood framed roof insert is electrically isolated from the body so it could serve as a radio antenna). Should be easy to check: Remove the lens and bezel (pulls off), remove the screws holding the fixture to the wood frame to get to the wire terminals then use a VOM to check for power on one wire and a good ground on the other.

On my 33 Plymouth two door sedan the power wire goes up the A pillar on the driver side, runs along the roof line until it makes a 90 degree turn to go to the light. The ground wire goes the other way to the passenger side and is screwed into the body. I think it would be difficult bordering on impossible to replace those wires with out at least removing the upholstery panels that run along the upper sides of the car and detaching the headliner sides on the front half of the car.

Searching the web for “drum brake spring tool” or “brake spring pliers” should get you some hits.

Interesting the Classic and Vintage Bulbs no longer supplies quartz-halogen replacements. Check the Model A Ford suppliers: I believe most carry a LED brake light assembly that can go in the rear window.

I have never compared the sound level of my '33 Plymouth's horn with a modern car with any instruments but my impression is they are about the same level. It might be that the horn fitted on your car is designed for 12v instead of 6v which would reduce the sound tremendously (if it would work at all).

I'll second that thank you. Fay Taylour sounds like a very unique person based on the Wikipedia article on her. I liked this: “Taylour said, that the day she met a man who was more difficult to handle than a racing car, she would probably give up racing. She remained unmarried.”

I still have my slightly newer late 1970s or maybe early 1980s HP Programer calculator that also used reverse polish notation. Neat little device as you could set the word size, 1s or 2s complement arithmetic mode, etc. so you could check your algorithm for proper handling of overflow conditions, etc. Very useful back in the days of assembly language coding on machines with different word sizes and storage so limited that you bit packed fields as tightly as you could.

Looks like the link only works if you are logged into the site. . . At least that is my interpretation of the error message I get.

Having gone through engineering in college prior to the advent of handheld calculators, my first cut was that it should be a little more than 9 x 10^2 x 8 x 10^2 = 72 x 10^4. So I knew the answer was in the ball park. And the last digit was correct by immediate inspection (7x5 ends in 5). But yes, if you multiply it out it seems correct. But I did it in my head, you may want to do it with pencil and paper or even a calculator.

I have to admit I was compulsive enough to do it.

No, it is not an “oooga type horn”. The Klaxon company made a bunch of different horns over the years. There is usually a locking nut on the adjusting screw which I don’t see in your photo. So I don’t think that is an adjustment screw. It might just be a screw to hold the cover on. But I have no information on that horn so I can’t say for sure.

The stock horn on a '33 Plymouth was a Klaxon 31. See: https://www.ply33.com/Repair/horn I am guessing that it was used on a lot of cars, not just Plymouth. It might be that the mounting bracket was unique to Chrysler products though.