Rusty_OToole

I find that if plugs have been soaked in oil and gas they get a glaze that conducts electricity, and cannot be removed with a wire brush. The plug will misfire unless cleaned by sandblasting. I have a small hand held blaster called a "spot blaster" used for doing small areas of rusty bodywork. It is like a small paint spray gun with a cloth bag to catch the used sand. It cost $12 at an auto flea market. If you can get one, and if you have a small air compressor they are a very handy thing to have. Be sure to inspect the plugs carefully after sand blasting and use a needle to remove any bits of sand stuck between the insulator and shell.

Large trucks often have a multi plate clutch. They have a habit of dragging and not releasing as you describe. So the factory put a brake on the clutch that engages when you push the pedal all the way to the floor. In other words you have to push the pedal down all the way, hard, to completely release the clutch. They can also get gummed up with oil, dirt, rust etc over the years. If there is an access plate under the bellhousing it can help to spray Brake Kleen spray into the clutch. The idea of propping the clutch pedal down when the truck is out of commission for more than a month, is a good idea to prevent it sticking.

Soviet cars in the USA are extremely rare. None were officially imported. A few were privately imported by individuals. I think there would be less than 100 total in the country. In the 70s thousands of Lada sedans and Neva 4 wheel drive vehicles were sold in Canada. I haven't seen one in years. A few may have made their way into the US. In 1984 a Canadian limousine company imported 1 Chaika from Russia and 1 Hong Qui from China. With the idea of selling them in North America. The cars had to be imported without engines because they did not comply with Canadian safety regulations. They fitted one with a Chevrolet V8, the other with a Ford V8. Nothing came of the experiment. These are the last I know of.

Wish I could help you. As a point of interest a Fluid Drive and a torque converter are 2 different things. The difference is, the Fluid Drive has 2 elements, a drive turbine (fan) and a driven turbine. A torque converter has a 3d element, a deflector turbine in between the 2, which increases pressure and multiplies the torque. The Fluid Drive unit is completely self contained. Torque converter models have a separate oil supply. On some cars they have a special oil pan, on some models they use the engine oil supply, and on Powerflite and Torqueflite they share the transmission oil supply.

The "over restored" business is dying out. In recent years the original unrestored cars are coming into their own. I was looking at a car magazine in Walmart today. Two of the featured cars were a 1953 Buick Special, unrestored, with 200,000 miles on it still being driven by the original owner. And an unrestored Franklin from the twenties. Every month they have a "driver" car and an unrestored antique of some kind.

General lack of interest by the younger generation now that the car has been nothing but an appliance for 35 years. Plus the high and rising cost of everything from gas to paint to decent cars. Plus the ever growing burden of government regulations aimed at getting old cars off the road. In the modern world of political correctness, global warming and terriss threats anything to do with cars, fun, or anything other than being an over regimented wage slave, tax payer and consumer is verboten.

The basic engine dates back to 1933 or 34. It was redesigned about 1937. This included making the water jackets the full length of the cylinders instead of only the top half. This required moving the starter over, and changing the bellhousing and flywheel. After that they made basically the same engine from 1937 or 38, up to 1959 for cars and possibly as late as the early seventies for industrial engines and marine engines. Every year or 2 there were changes made, such as higher compression, more HP, they went to a lower water pump in the mid fifties to get the fan to clear the lower hoodlines, things like that. But many parts are alike and interchangeable for many, many years. Most parts still can be ordered from NAPA and other good parts stores. Vintage Power Wagons has literally tons of new and used parts, the same engines were used in Power Wagons too. Then there are Chrysler specialists like Andy Bernbaum who have large stocks of parts. 6v starters and generators were used up to 1955. As time went on there were different designs and the later ones put out more amps.

Henry I have an internet acquaintance who needs an axle shaft for a 1940 Canadian made Dodge or Plymouth based Dodge. Do you have one, and if so, how much do they cost? I can pass along the information.

Every car needs to be tightened to a certain torque to crush the spacer. You need to stop just short of that. Tight enough to hold but not tight enough to change the adjustment. Or let a good mechanic who is experienced with differentials do it.

The reason for there being so few cars newer than 1959, is that when Cuba became a Communist country private ownership of cars became illegal. Along with private ownership of houses, businesses etc. Anyone who had a car was allowed to keep it but no one could buy or import a new one. Therefore, no dealerships garages or parts stores either (they all belong to the government). Cars and trucks were imported for official government use, usually from Russia or the Soviet bloc. Incidentally the embargo on Cuba is purely an American invention. President Obama could do away with it any time. As it has been in force for 54 years and has not brought down the Castro government it doesn't seem to be working anyway.

Definitely keep it original. This is a new trend of the last few years. An original, preserved vehicle is more interesting and desirable than a perfect restoration. There are ways of cleaning, polishing and preserving what is there that will make it very presentable at shows etc. It will draw more interest, and positive comments than a restored one. It will also save you much money and time. A decent paint job today is $5000 to $10000. Chrome several thousand more. And when you are done, the originality is gone. Go ahead and replace the worn out upholstery, missing parts etc. but more in the way of running repairs, keeping to the original type parts as much as possible. Fortunately there is a plentiful supply of parts for Model As and I imagine, for Model AA trucks as well. An old vehicle can be restored many times, but it is only original once.

As you are new to the field of old cars you may not be aware that all the most popular cars have been photographed literally millions of times, and featured in magazines, calendars etc thousands of times. Anything you do of the "Top 10 most popular cars" will be incredibly hacky or incredibly arty and in either case, of almost no interest. That is being very blunt and I do not say this to be offensive but to save you from a lot of work for nothing. You may want to be more creative, or ask a new question regarding what theme old car fans would like to see. Or, visit a few car shows and see which cars you find the most appealing or striking. Your own taste will lead you to a more interesting selection than any "top 10" list.

You really need to be careful here. Most old cars have a crush spacer to set pinion load. It is supposed to be replaced if you remove the pinion seal. You can replace the seal without replacing the crush spacer if you are careful to tighten the nut exactly the way it was before.

Start by checking for looseness or free play in every part of the suspension and steering mechanism. Tie rod ends,king pins, etc. Don't overlook the steering box bolts, sometimes they work loose. When you are driving there could be 3 or 4 inches of free play of the steering wheel and everything within factory spec. They were not as precise as today's cars. If there is play in the steering box itself it can be adjusted. Be careful here, and follow the factory manual exactly. If you do it wrong it is possible to wear out the steering box in a couple of months. No doubt it needs a front end alignment as well, but get everything in good shape first. When everything is right the steering will be smooth, easy and accurate but you will never mistake it for a sports car. Young son may need to learn a more relaxed driving style.

I don't think they had a starter heat shield but they did have a fuel pump heat shield. It is a strip of sheet steel about 8" long and 3" wide, bent into a J shape, that goes between the starter and exhaust manifold.

Try tapping on the voltage regulator with the handle of a screwdriver. If that does not fix it, you need to have the regulator serviced or replaced. Probably points stuck together.

I never consider a car if the price is not in the ad. I have called in the past on such ads, in every case it was an overpriced, over rated car owned by an ignorant dreamer with an attitude. I won't waste my time again. On the other hand, I have never been in the market for a $1,700,000 car.

The TDH oil is for tractors, Transmission Differential Hydraulic oil. ISO22 or ISO32 grade. Here we buy it at auto parts stores or farm supply stores. It is not expensive, about $10 for 4 litres. You should not need to flush the transmission. Drain and refill every 10,000 miles. Fluid Drive unit does not need to be drained, just checked every 10,000 miles and topped up if necessary. It does no harm if it is a little low, the FD will continue to work with only half the recommended fluid.

Ashes were used where ice and snow were a problem, to combat slipping and sliding. Otherwise disposing of the ashes was a problem. Throwing them in the street was cheaper than having them hauled away. If the road was dirt they would fill in pot holes.

When you see wiring like that it is hard to blame the car for not working correctly. Bad wiring and low oil account for 90% of the problems with these transmissions, both are easy and cheap to fix. With new wiring, you should have no more problems! (I hope!) Be careful to route the wiring so it will not touch the hot exhaust pipe or rub against the engine, even when the car is running. Do you know there is an access plate under the carpet, that is right above the transmission controls? Makes it easy to work on the controls and wiring from above.

Not changing down as you describe can be caused by dirty points in the governor. Over the years oil can work its way in and gum up the points. Take the cover off and spray with contact cleaner, and drag a strip of white paper between the points. Do not use a points file or sandpaper, the points are a soft silver based material, not tungsten like ignition points. Do this every 25 years ha ha. Could also be a fault in the wiring or control switches. If you do a search for the Chrysler Imperial Club they have a lot of original Chrysler service literature online, including how the Fluid Drive and Hydraulic Transmission operates, and how to troubleshoot and repair it.

There is a lot of good information on this Chrysler Imperial Club web site. Master Technician Service Conference - Chrysler's Training for Mechanics You could start with The Hydraulically Operated Transmission and How It Works 1948 Imperial and Chrysler How The Fluid Drive Transmission Works (Session 12.1) from the Master Technician's Service Conference There is a lot more information on your transmission in the Technical section.

You could raffle it off for charity. With the amount of old cars cluttering up the place this might be the easiest way to get it off your hands.

Last saturday at a car show I saw a Pierce Arrow from the late 20s. It had no badge on the radiator shell and no mascot on the rad cap (it had a motometer). I don't recall ever seeing a twenties car that had no ID. I don't remember if the Pierce name appeared on the hub caps. Was this modesty typical of Pierce Arrow?

A few years ago I picked up a DVD of Flip That House with a guy named Montelongo from Texas. After I watched 2 or 3 shows I started noticing a fishy smell. On watching the shows a second or 3d time it became obvious that this guy has not done what he purports to have done. I doubt he ever made a profit on a house deal, the way he goes at it. This opinion is based on 40 years of investing in real estate, doing renovations etc. A web search confirmed this opinion. Eventually he was canned from the show. His next move was to give classes in real estate investing costing $10,000 in which he drives around in a bus and teaches his worthless "secrets". The sad part is innocent people are being scammed out of their money, because they can't see through this bird.