Rusty_OToole

Evidently not. Chrysler does not make mistakes like that, if it made any difference they would have marked them permanently. Did you find the marks on the box on the firewall or breather strut?

You don't need stainless or permanently lubricated if it is in an oil bath case like other timing chains. Any good brand of high speed chain will do. There is also a low speed chain with split rollers, it will not stand up in your application. As to whether today's chain is better than 100 years ago I don't know. I do know that Japanese motorcycle chain in the 70s was not as good as English Reynolds chain from the 30s 40s and 50s. To insure the connecting link does not come off have the closed end of the clip pointing in the direction of travel. For extra security put a square of tin behind the clip and fold the ends over the clip. An old trick taught me by a motorcycle mechanic who learned it in the 20s.

Connection to another board that should answer your question. There is a picture from the factory repair manual if you scroll down. Oil line filter set up 54 Plymouth 230 PowerFlite - www.P15-D24.com

Helfen you are right there were small front drive cars before the mini especially in Germany and Sweden. None of these were best sellers or started any trends. The Mini was a distinctive design incorporating front drive, transverse engine, unusually small 10" wheels, and a very simple 4 seater 2 door body with no trunk. All parts of the design worked together in a unique way, producing a car unparalleled in economy and simplicity. In a few years it was followed by the Renault 4, FIAT 128 and a host of others. I trace the front drive, transverse engine hatchback subcompact right back the Mini. I don't care what other designers say. To think they never heard of the Mini is absurd, to say they did not draw inspiration from it and its imitators is likewise absurd. There was a magazine article in a well known old car publication a few years ago laying out the Simca - Omni/Horizon story in great detail provided by a Chrysler insider. That is where I got that story. The Simca's resemblance to similar European cars is obvious.

Centari is full of isocyanates, a relative of cyanide. If you don't use the right protective gear you are risking bad health damage or death. I know one painter, who had the right gear, who got sick in the late 80s and spent a year in hospital. It took a while for the doctors to figure out what was the matter. Eventually they told him he was poisoned. He asked what he should do. They said stay here till you get better or die. There is no medicine and no cure. He got better eventually but he will never be able to paint a car again or use certain chemicals. The poison stays with you for life. There is no outward sign, the stuff builds up and builds up until it reaches a critical point then bang. Some people used it for years, others got sick and died after one paint job. Oh well it's just another working slob. There are millions more where he came from.

What I want to know is where are all the greenies and lefties who said they would lu-u-u-u-v to buy an electric car if mean ol' GM would build one? If you don't know what I mean, watch Who Killed The Electric Car? a hatchet job on the auto industry in general and GM in particular. Everyone on it loves electric cars and is dying to buy one except GM bought them all up and scrapped them. Well boys the nearest Chev dealer will sell you an electric car that is about 10 times better than the one you wanted so bad in 1996. What are you waiting for?

Chrysler had the first American made front drive subcompact, without a doubt it was inspired by European hatchbacks which in turn, derived from the 1959 Mini. GM followed 2 or 3 years later, Ford came 3d with the Escort in 1982 and AMC last with the Alliance in 1983. In fact the Omni/Horizon started out as a Simca. In those days Chrysler owned stock in the French Simca concern. Their plan was to bring over an existing Simca model and build it in the US but this proved impractical. They wanted to change the suspension to struts for cost reasons. Ironically, the Simca had torsion bars a Chrysler trademark for years. They also had to flare out the wheel wells, American cars are required to have clearance for tire chains, European cars are not. While they were at it they redesigned the interior with new dashboard, seats, American fittings and gauges. Finally they bought VW engines and transmissions as a stop gap until their own 4 cylinder engine was available. In the end, the new car bore only a vague resemblance to the Simca. I don't think there was a single part identical.

I don't know about REO but have seen several references to the material used for wooden wheels at that time and it was always "second growth hickory". You might find the info in advertisements or spec sheets.

I'll go out on a limb and guess 800 pounds. 650 for the engine, 150 for trans, clutch flywheel and bellhousing. This is based on knowledge of what similar engines weigh.

It depends how you want to use it. If you just want to putt putt around, lead acid deep cycle batteries are fine. Optima type batteries are more expensive but give more power and range. Then there are newer options like Li On that are better still. There are lots of amateur electric car builder sites that have good tips on battery installation. If you have an original wiring diagram it should not be hard to figure out a system that will have the same voltage but more power and range, if that is what you want.

In those days a Swiss motorist could have a custom body car for practically the same price as a standard car, due to a quirk in the tax laws. Not specifically about this car, but might explain why there are so many custom bodies American cars in Switzerland. There was a large import duty on cars but a much smaller one on parts. And if a car was 40% made in Switzerland, it was considered Swiss made for tax purposes. By ordering a Swiss made body, the customer paid no import duties. While if he imported a complete car he paid a big tax. So it was just as cheap to buy a custom built car. Or so I have been told.

Tucker was deliberately scuttled by political skulduggery. Senator Ferguson of Michgan, whose wife owned a large amount of Chrysler stock, decided it would be good for Detroit and his political career to destroy Tucker. Some say the auto industry was behind him but this I doubt. Tucker was never a threat to the auto industry. 37 cars (or thereabouts) were completed when the government padlocked the doors and took all their files and records, effectively shutting the plant down. A few workers snuck in and completed 14 more cars. Tucker's lease on the plant demanded he build 50 cars by a certain date or lose the plant, that is why the government was so anxious to shut him down, and why they wanted to finish that number of cars. Tom McCahill toured the plant and tested the car in May or June of 1948 and reported seeing 200 cars in various states of completion. This could have been anything from bare frames to finished cars, in fact he was photographed in front of a bare body shell and also took a picture of the end of the assembly line showing 5 cars in a row, complete except for trim. The 50 or 51 Tuckers have been in use now for more than half a century. They have put up an impressive record of durability, some cars have completed 200,000 miles. Owners love them, some have reported they bought them as a show piece and intended to bring them out on special occasions, but once they drove one, found themselves driving it all the time because it was such a great car, easy and pleasant to drive. They definitely stood a chance if they had been left alone. In the short run, meaning the first few years, they could have made it. But in the longer run, would have fallen by the wayside like Kaiser, Frazer, and the other independents. One problem with the Tucker that no one could do anything about, was that it would have been the most expensive car on the market. In size and power it was comparable to Cadillac, Buick, Chrysler or Packard but would have been more expensive to build, partly because of its sophisticated design and partly because Tucker was starting from scratch. Could they have built and sold enough of them at the price they would have had to charge, to stay in business and make a profit? This I doubt. Possibly for a few years but once the novelty wore off who knows? They would have been in the position of an American Porsche, another company who has been forced to overcharge ferociously for their products to stay in business. Porsche managed to pull it off, selling to a small loyal band sports car fanatics but I doubt Tucker could have gotten away with it.

I don't know about ahead of their time. They were 2 years behind Chrysler (Omni/Horizon) 20 years behind Austin (mini/1100/1800) and 40 years behind SAAB in bringing out a small front drive sedan. Such cars had been common in Europe for years. They also were far inferior to GM's own 1965 Toronado/1967 Eldorado front drive cars. Those big brutes were a tour de force of engineering that rocked the automotive world back on its heels when they were introduced. They also had far less quirks and problems than the X car. How GM lost their way in those 15 years I don't know but somehow they went from being the envy of the world to a sad joke.

The Tucker was comparable in size and power to luxury cars of the time like Packard, Cadillac, Buick, Chrysler and Lincoln. Two things would have made it more expensive to build than any of them. The sophisticated design, and the fact that the builder was starting from scratch. If it had been put on the market, it would have cost as much as the most expensive luxury cars if not more. In 1948 in the US this would mean a retail price of $3500 to $5000. Here is a good web site for specs on American cars. Car Specs It will give you statistics like weight, wheelbase, engine size, horsepower but not prices.

If you examine the solenoid and other parts carefully you should find the terminals marked. You may need to get a small wire brush and clean off dirt grease and rust to find the markings. They will be stamped in the metal.

This happens a lot on cars that are out of commission for years. Bhigdog's solution is correct, if I may add some thoughts to make things easier 1) You don't have to unbolt the pressure plate just push down the clutch pedal and prop it down with a stick between the pedal and dash board. 2) Use the stick when storing the car, if the pedal is down the clutch won't freeze up. 3) If you can get at it, a shot of brake kleen spray on the clutch will also help loosen it up. Sometimes this is all it takes, prop the pedal down squirt some brake kleen on the clutch and let it soak in over night. Other times you have to get in with the knife blade.

One of the features of the Duesenberg was that every car was custom built for the owner and so was the engine. There were 3 different pistons, low regular and high compression, 3 different intake systems, single carb dual carb and supercharged, and at least 2 exhaust systems Also the cams could be adjusted individually to advance and retard. By doing this you could change the peak power point by changing the breathing characteristics. A top racing mechanic could make a variety of different engines this way, from a creamy smooth, quiet, engine that could pull the heaviest sedan or town car with ease, to a rip roaring performance car. I always figured the 265HP was a one off if it existed at all, the supercharged Mormon Meteor engine or one of the short wheelbase speedsters. Non supercharged engines for normal road use I figured 150 - 170.

Next time try putting the rag on the fuel pump. If my theory is correct your fuel pump or fuel line overheats, the engine stops, you lift the hood and let it sit for a few minutes, the fuel pump cools off and away you go. If putting a wet rag on the fuel pump cures the problem you know it was the fuel pump all along. High octane gas will not help, it will make it worse. The problem is the fuel is too volatile. You want lower octane gas. Some people have found relief from this problem by adding kerosene or diesel fuel to the gas. Start with 10% and see what happens. You could also try making a heat shield for the fuel pump. Make sure the fuel lines are routed well away from the exhaust.

What is interesting is the torsion bar Chryslers had a soft ride without mushy springs and handled the corners to boot. I put this down to the progressive nature of torsion bar springing. The first inch or 2 of travel was soft but the springing stiffened the farther you pushed it. Other makers later learned to get the same effect with coil springs. But Chrysler had the advantage for quite a few years.

I;ve never seen a broken one. The glass bowls are thick and the dome shape makes them nearly impossible to break. They can leak if the gasket is worn but that just means you need a new gasket. When you take one apart check that it does not leak and you will be OK.

Water jacket were those Duesenbergs supercharged? I have long thought that the 265HP Duesenberg must have been the special supercharged racing engine built for the record setting Mormon Meteor, if it existed at all.

In Brazil does your gas contain alcohol? In the US the alcohol content of the new gas formula, 10% or 15%,makes it prone to vapor lock. This is not a problem on new fuel injection models because the fuel is under pressure. But it causes problems on old cars with carburetors.

Julio I do not have a picture of the fuel pump heat shield. It is a flat piece of sheet steel about 10 cm wide and 30 cm long. It is bent into a J shape. It fits between the fuel pump and exhaust manifold. You will know at once if you have it or not, just look at the engine. ................Later................ Here is the only illustration I can find of the heat shield. This is in a catalog of Dodge truck parts but the heat shield is the same. http://www.vintagepowerwagons.com/pdf/parts/03fuel.pdf Scroll down to page 21 nearly at the bottom of the page. The heat shields are on the left. The tab at the corner goes behind a bolt at the front of the exhaust manifold and there is a long bolt that sticks up from the fuel pump to hold the other end. You can see small holes in the heat shields where this bolt goes through. If you can find a picture of the pump and shield on an engine, in a repair manual, you will see how it goes. It wraps around the front of the exhaust manifold, above the fuel pump. If you don't want to send to the US for one you could make one from sheet metal. Thick aluminum sheet might be better than steel as aluminum reflects and disperses heat better than steel.

There were cars that could exceed 100 in 1951, not in 1948. That is 3 years difference, practically an eternity in the car business back then.The OHV Cadillac was not out yet, neither was the Chrysler, Olds, or even Studebaker. The only OHV engines in 1948 were Chev, Buick and Nash. All prewar long stroke engines not noted for sparkling performance. Prewar sedans that could do 100 were few and far between. Why is it so hard to accept that this car was a sensational performer in 1948 when there is an independent report from a reliable source proving that it is? Why is it so hard to believe that a 335 cu in OHV engine could put out 166HP when only a year later, the Cadillac put out 160HP from 331 cu in? Why is it so hard to believe that a car lighter than the Cadillac, with more horsepower, was an excellent performer?

I just had a weird thought. What if the problem is vapor lock? What if when he raises the hood and changes the coil, or wraps the coil in wet rags, the fuel pump or fuel line cools down enough to start? This makes a lot more sense than a coil overheating. We have had a lot of threads in the past about old flatheads getting vapor lock on today's lousy gas. Next time put the wet rags on the fuel pump and see what happens. Also check the heat deflector shield is on there, between the fuel pump and exhaust manifold. They sometimes get lost over the years. The only thing wrong with this theory is, what is he doing getting vapor lock in winter? However, as he does not give his location, he could be in Death Valley or the Southern Hemisphere for all I know. The name Julio and the Bosch coil suggests he may not be in the US but that is not much to go on.