Grimy

Given the difficulty of converting the trans controls, please tell us what you need 12V for: stereo, hydraulics, air conditioning, etc. Some of these can be done with a separate 12V battery and circuit(s), without having to get into all those other 6V to 12V difficulties.

In California, with a Class C (regular) driver's license, you can tow up to 10K lbs (i.e., a trailer whose GVW per sticker is 9,999 or less) in non-commercial use with a tow vehicle whose own GVW is up to 26K lbs (e.g., motor home). If your trailer is mfr-stickered as a GVW of 10,000 lbs or more (including almost all goosenecks), you need a Class A non-commercial license (carrying your own stuff) which requires an annual medical and an initial driving test with such a trailer--meaning you get a licensed friend to drive you and the rig to the DMMV. No log book, though. That's one reason why there are relatively few gooseneck car haulers here in Califunny. And some people order trailers with 15K total rating of axles (2 x 7,500 or 3 x 5,200) but administratively downrated to under-10K by the mfr on its sticker. Obviously this places a premium on lightweight walls and roof.

Medd448. your second photo in post #7 above appears to show the fastening of the cylindrical road draft tube to the engine. Disconnect and remove the road draft tube (there may well be a bracket attaching to an oil pan bolt), and clean it out. Look at the chamber where it attaches and see if there is some copper mesh which prevents liquid oil from being thrown out; if so that needs to be cleaned too. This car is well before sealed crankcases and positive crankcase ventilation. Air enters the crankcase through the oil fill cap and exhausts through the road draft tube to prevent a buildup of pressure in the crankcase. If air cannot flow in and out freely, the pressure in the crankcase from normal engine operation will force oil out through any possible escape point, past gaskets. You may need to remove the sheet metal valve covers AKA side pans to gain access to any mesh or diverter inside the crankcase--a little hard to do with the manifolds on. You may find access easier by removing the right front wheel (car on jackstand(s)) and then removing the inside fender sheet metal. You'll have to do that for a valve job anyway.

Afterthought: Have you cleaned out the oil filler cap in kerosene? Checked the road draft tube (if any) for being plugged?

Yes, that's definitely excessive oil consumption and you're due for a ring job--but most likely will have to do quite a bit more "as long as you're in there." I still think the overhaul would be a good winter project and you should give the rings a chance to get freed up. They've probably lost their tension from that 45-year rest. I'd continue to use 30 weight, but would buy it in gallon jugs... Does the car pull to one side when the brakes are NOT applied? If so, an alignment is in order. If the pulling happens during braking, no need another go at brake adjustment.

89-94 is pretty even, so the car should idle well, and that compression is not too terrible given the compression ratio. As far as oil consumption goes, how much are you using? Many of these MoPaR flatheads will burn off the first quart of oil quickly, and then consume oil at a much slower rate. Let it drop the first quart, then watch the oil level fairly closely. Beyond that, a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in your crankcase oil will help un-gum rings (I think you said the car had been sitting quite awhile). Next oil change, drain the oil HOT, after a minimum of a 45-minute run. On these engines, I'd consider 400-500 miles per quart, after the first one, perfectly acceptable. And DRIVE it! Enjoy it as it is for the rest of this driving season, and take care of the small incremental improvements they all need while enjoying the car. I don't recall if you've addressed the cooling system and brakes yet; those would be my first priority. I recommend you defer judgment on an engine overhaul until the end of the driving season at least, and perhaps until a year after that.

Lump, there's a cheap solution to increasing one's visibility from the rear, day or night, but no turn signal capability: Walmart sells LED red bicycle lights for about $10 each, powered by 2 or 3 AAA batteries, with a switch to permit steady light or rapidly flashing light. They are equipped with clips which work on trunk straps, and also have Velcro attachments. They claim battery life of 14 hrs steady or 42 hrs flashing, but I get about half that--YMMV.

I'm throwing this issue out to stimulate comment by the flathead MoPaR experts (i'm not one): On Jeep vehicles originally equipped with the bulkier ether-filled t'stats, when the latter were replaced with the smaller modern style, a copper/brass insert for the neck was offered to take up space and hold the modern t'stat firmly in place. A MoPaR specialty parts vendor will have these IF the same solution was pursued by Chrysler Corp.

There was a recent thread which in part addressed the correct routing of the fuel line on a 1941--may have been on the big 320 engine. A photo was provided.

It is for use on wood-spoked wheels. The pointy side goes to the outside and functions like the more modern "Denver Boot." The "signal" occurs when the wooden wheel is destroyed in its first revolution.

First, I can understand why (liability) commercial places don't want to work on it AND use the customer's fluids. Almost 60 years ago when I was working in a gas station while in HS, the station had a sign saying we won't install customer's parts and comparing it to the customer bringing his own bacon and eggs to the diner. My boss explained it to me as if we supply parts/fluids, we make money on the parts as well as the labor--why give that up? Suggest the vehicle be driven 30 minutes or more immediately before draining the transmission and differential to get the 600W warm and thus thinner to make the drain more effective and quicker. Plan on letting these components drain for at least 30 minutes before replacing the drain plugs. One-quart squeeze bottles work best for me to fill those units.

Back to the OP's as yet unanswered questions--at least one of them, pertaining to the water jacket cover/plate: I've done these on my 1934 Buick 50 of happy memory, and on at least a dozen Pierce-Arrow 6s (Series 80) and 8s with similar sheet metal covers. The following includes lessons learned the Hard Way. The female threads in the block are fragile because they probably have been somewhat eroded. Accordingly, it is better to set them a tad loose initially, then snug after some heating and cooling cycles. Repeat and rinse. Use #2 Permatex on the capscrew threads. If you're not going to undergo serious judging, use a small diameter flat washer to spread the load on the cover/plate a bit more. I don't recall whether Buick used lock washers (too long ago) but Pierce did NOT; in such a case, use a tooth washer as well as a flat washer. Initially, use a nut driver or no greater than a 1/4-inch drive ratchet applying pressure to only the ratchet head to tighten the capscrews, and make about six or more passes to complete the initial tightening. Afterthought: hope you've run a chasing (not a cutting) tap through the holes.

ADD an additional condenser ("Pardon my redundancy," as WC Fields used to remark) with the lead attached to the coil terminal which is connected to the points. Use a jumper wire to ground the case. Go for a drive....

Afterthought: My Jeepster owners manual is VERY explicit that although EP gear oil (GL4 and up) must be used in the differential, the transmission and overdrive must have only "straight mineral oil" or GL1.

Much more sulfur/sulfurous compounds in GL5 than in GL4, and *apparently* in GL6 synthetic. And that stuff is hostile to yellow metals.

Agreed for modern vehicles, but the following explains why I don't use synthetic gear oil in older cars. In 1997 I auditioned retirement by driving my 1936 Pierce-Arrow from Oakland CA to Cleveland OH for the wedding of a good friend's daughter, then on to Superior, WI for the Pierce-Arrow Society annual meet, then home via US 2 through the Dakotas, Montana (including Glacier Park). I had a telephone conversation with a PhD chemist at Sta-Lube, who assured me that their GL-6 synthetic gear oil would pose no threat to the yellow-metal bushings and thrust washers in my differential. So I used it. Eastbound in Wyoming, about 900 miles from home, at a rest area I went to refill a leaking rear shock and found the differential to be as hot as the hinges of hell. I made my way to a parts store and purchased a drain pan and GL-4 conventional gear oil. The draining synthetic had the dreaded golden sparkles of disintegrating yellow metal. Changed the oil again in Des Moines while visiting friends and saw only a minimal trace of the golden sparkles. Must have caught it in time, because the car has many more thousands of miles with GL-4 and no excessive heat.

We're at least 90% of the way there....

In that case, I hope you can find a wrecking yard connector with an inch or more of the color-coded wires still attached. That is, get the yard to cut off a small part of the harness when they pull the connector. Might as well get a back-up headlight switch at the same time, if available. Next best option is to spring for a 1967 shop manual. Finally, there is the Hard Way: Examine switch against diagram to see where the 12V input (hot wire) enters. Using a VOM, find the hot wire. Then, with power applied to the switch, use a jumper wire from each different switch position to each unattached wire to see which lamps are connected to that wire.

Right, specifically the PEDAL return spring. Thanks, John.

How about the brake return spring, whose attachment hole is visible in your photo of the as-yet-unrestored pedal and master cylinder assembly?

You should use SAE 90 GL-4 EP (extreme pressure) gear oil, available at O'Reilly's and other chain stores. These days the shelves are full of GL-5, which is for limited-slip, so be sure you get GL-4, which is much easier on any yellow-metal (e.g., brass, bronze) components that may be in the diff. If the diff is loose/worn, use 140 weight or mix half-and-half with the same brand's 90.

And unless the gearing has been changed, you wouldn't be comfortable doing so. ? Hell, I drive my 1918 Pierce 48-B-5 dual valve, 7'8" tall with the top up, almost twice that--55 mph. This will get the Packard boys and girls spun up!

C is for Chrysler, De is for DeSoto, P is for Plymouth. P is definitely NOT for Pierce-Arrow, whose caps always spelled "Pierce" with an arrow thru it. Oops – Keiser has responded while I'm typing and he will have the most authoritative word.

Are congratulations in order? I won't comment on the relative attractiveness of man and car but will say you look great together! Just in time for the PAS Annual Meet in Rohnert Park, CA (near Santa Rosa), July 9-13 with add-on thru Monday the 16th. Let me know, please, if you and/or the coupe can make it.

Bloo, this is a late-1970s Craftsman inductive timing light with a plastic body. I've had issues with the metal-bodied light on older cars. When the inductive pickup was attached just above the cap towers (to see if there was a steady spark being sent to the plugs), the idle faltered--not a dead short of that cylinder, and an irregular strobe resulted. This was a hotel parking lot diagnosis on a 5-day tour based out of Sequim (generally your neck of the woods). The intermittent short effect was minimal at the far end of the wires near the plugs, BUT this was a no-load test. The owner is attending to replacing the plug wires before the Pierce-Arrow Society annual meet in Rohnert Park CA next month. This light does NOT have dialback. I'd used it on my 1930 roadster a week before in the same manner while diagnosing an occasional miss at idle. In that case, one spark plug was at fault. The 1919 Pierce in question had recently been acquired by a WA collector from a static collection, and the plug wires were decades old, smaller than 7 mm, and although not visibly broken were dried out in their high-heat location below the exhaust manifold. I get a lot of use out of about three sealed 12V batteries which were designed as backup batteries for home alarms and for gate openers. I run an 11-year old Garmin GPS off such a battery, connected by a Radio Shack cigar lighter intended to be connected directly to a 12V battery. I cut off the alligator clips and soldered on female push-on connectors to fit the male push-on connectors on the battery. The battery rides on the floor in a plastic Folger's coffee can. This set-up is easily moved from car to car, and feeds the GPS for about five days without a recharge. I prefer using my Sun 820 machine but (1) its timing light is not inductive, and (2) it's anything but portable.