Pete O

I had run hot issues until I bit the bullet and pulled the head and cleaned out the crud around the water jackets. Half the jacket around the #8 cylinder (by the firewall) was filled up with a hard rust sediment that no amount of flushing would have ever removed. If this has never been done in the 60+ years on your engine, it's the only way to permanently and accurately address the root cause of your issue.

I suspect that a 60+ year old rubber part, even if it is NOS, is probably too brittle to be of use other than as a conversation piece.

If you're using an oil based paint, you can fill a large enough container with mostly water, and float just a layer of paint on top. As you dip the piece through the paint layer, by the time it hits the water it is covered in a waterproof coating and it will not wash off or harm the paint. I've experimented with this technique on smaller pieces and it does work.

Care to educate us then?

Do what JohnD1956 suggested. Get a voltmeter or test light and with the ignition on, put one then the other lead on the meter on one coil post and the other to ground. Any voltage? If not, the ignition switch could be the problem. If you do have voltage, then remove the distributor cap and check if the points are opening and closing when you crank the engine. Clean the point contacts with a file and re- gap the points. Put the high voltage wire from the coil near a ground source and open and close the points with the ignition on and you should see a health spark.

This is from a '50 diagram, but I can't imagine '49 is too different. Wire goes from ignition switch to the coil.

they're strange to our eyes 50+ years later, and I kinda think they were strange to the eyes of the folks back then too. Too bad they had those "blades" on the fenders. Without them, they're actually pretty nicely proportioned.

I assume you mean the bushing that is right under the steering wheel. It being a coupe complicates things a little, because you have to remove the horn rod before you can remove the steering wheel to get to the bushing, and the horn rod is like 4+feet long. Not enough space in the coupe body to withdraw the horn rod from the steering column with the column in place. So you have to remove the steering column from the car. That means taking out the floorboards, disconnecting the spark and throttle links from the levers on the column, and removing the pitman arm from the steering sector shaft. I think you'll need to remove the starter to get enough clearance. Remove the headlight switch body from the end of the column. Unbolt the steering box from the frame and remove the clamp on the column under the gas tank. Then you'll have to maneuver the column around the brake and clutch pedals while aiming the steering wheel out the drivers door. You have to remove the little retaining clip at the end of the horn rod that holds the spider in place. The spider is spring loaded, and removing that clip is always fun! After that you can withdraw the horn rod, which gives you access to the nut that holds the wheel to the shaft. You're likely going to need a puller to remove the wheel from the shaft after removing the nut. Then you have to remove the spark and throttle rods, which is again so much fun to do. You have to remove the levers down at the ends of the shafts. They're held on by tiny pins. Drive the pins out, and you can remove the levers and springs. You can now withdraw the rods from the column. Then I think that there's one or two slotted screws on the side of the column housing that holds the bushing in place. Simple!

Something to consider- do you know if the engine tends to run on the hot side? That long straight 8 block tends to accumulate crud in the water passages back near the firewall. If you do eventually decide to replace the head gasket, it will give you the opportunity to clean out the water jacket. Mine was half buried in muck and rust, and after cleaning it, it runs cool as a cuke. You'll need a hoist to lift that head off (or a strong friend or two with long arms and strong backs). Also, be very very very careful in removing the water temperature sensor from the head. Soak with penetrant for a long time, or you'll end up twisting and breaking off the capillary tube like I did!. Oh, PS, the service manual has a tightening sequence that is very important to follow when reinstalling the heat riser and manifolds. Not following can lead to leaking and cracks.

The data plate, usually located under hood on the firewall, has all the codes that tell you what the original paint color was and what color the interior was. Is you plate still on the car?

MrEarl, like others have expressed, thanks for providing a forum for this issue and for volunteering to moderate it. I do not personally know the gentleman. I didn't know Benedict Arnold either, but I know he was a troublemaker from reading about it in history books. I read the addendum to the BOD meetings that quoted some exchanges between the members and can form an opinion from what I read. Anyone who would intentionally sic the IRS on an organization is at best a troublemaker. If that is a disparaging remark, it is certainly a mild one. I can also form an opinion from your note above on what side of the argument you are landing on, and I would hope that would not cause you to silence dissenting opinions.

I'm sorry I offended your sensibilities. I will try to restate my position without the use of "profanity" (although in this day in age, I would argue that the offending word was not profane at all, just colorful. As a matter of fact, it's in the Oxford English Dictionary, so there). What I said was, every organization has a "malcontent", "trouble-maker", etc. whose purpose is to make things difficult for the honest, hard working, volunteers who run the organization. We now know who the trouble-maker is in the BCA. I for one would support his ouster so that the mission of the club can proceed without these useless diversions.

My take on this is the trend in the early-mid '80s to "europeanize" American cars. American autos before this time were brashly American in style. Big, lots of chrome, lots of colors. The fan mags (Motor Trend, Car and Driver, etc.) all did comparisons of BMWs and the their like to Fords and Chevys of the day, and of course the snobs at those mags drooled all over the beemer and joked about the Fords and Chevys. Detroit couldn't ignore the bad press. Add to that the euro imports started getting larger market shares, so Detroit countered by offering euro option groups on their bread and butter offerings. Off came the chrome, on went the blacked out trim. Whitewalls were banished, and interiors were all made black to match what BMW was doing. These euro packages started selling because euro design was marketed to be so much more sophisticated than our hokey American design idiom, and we sheep didn't want to be seen in a chromed out barge when the Jones next door had a oh-so-sophisticated 528i on their driveway. It didn't take more than a few years for American tastes to conform to this euro design tidal wave, and gone forever were the bright and beautiful two and even three toned interiors of just a few years earlier. We did it to ourselves by falling for the marketing. Will it ever change? I doubt it, because it would take courage for a manufacturer to buck the trend. If they were to go to the expense of tooling up for a two tone blue interior to go with a robin's egg blue paint job, and nobody buys it, it would mean the end of the career of the executive who pushed it through.

Backfiring out of the carb or out of the exhaust?

That looks like a pre 1951 to me. It has the relay mounted right on the solenoid. 51s and up have the relay on the firewall.