Rusty_OToole

Canadian made Chrysler engines were different from American made in that Canada only had one engine block while the US had 2, one for plymouth and Dodge and another for DeSoto and Chrysler. All Canadian made engines used the larger DeSoto Chrysler block. It measures 25 inches long at the head while the smaller engine is 23 inches. Your T147 it a 228 cubic inch model used in Dodge trucks. The same displacement engine was used by DeSoto from 1937 to 1941, certain Dodge truck and industrial engines, and Canadian made Plymouth and Dodge cars up to 1959. It has a bore of 3 and three eights and a stroke of 4 and one quarter inches. parts are generally available for repair and rebuilding, I believe the same engine was used in Australian made cars and trucks up to the early sixties. Chrysler's Flathead Engine

DeSoto and Chrysler had a lot in common as did Dodge and Plymouth. I doubt the DeSoto box will fit without some adapting.

Dont know if this is significant or not but the electrolysis also seems to keep off rust. As an experiment I cleaned an old wheel this way about 5 years ago. Then painted it and hung it up outside for a garden hose reel. It never rusted and the paint never peeled or cracked.

The easiest way is to remove engine and trans as a unit. Especially as the front clip is off and you need to take both out anyway. Remove mount bolts, wires, hoses etc dont forget the speedo cable. Lift the engine and tip it back so the trans is low. When everything is free roll the car backwards lifting the engine as necessary until the engine trans assembly is clear.

Chrysler products before the sixties are a lot more critical about shoe alignment. Follow the procedure in the repair manual.

The full flow filter was first used in the early fifties. Older engine designs used the bypass filter up to the mid sixties. If you see a full flow filter they are usually built into the block. If you see a separate filter with little pipes leading to it, you have a bypass.

There are charts in machinists handbooks giving recommended torque for all different sizes of bolts. They are available online as well. In the absence of factory recommendations they are a good source. Usually the same as the factory spec or close to it.

How would that make it reliable. The original engine has already lasted 82 years, no crate motor has ever lasted 3O years. I have seen a few that did not last 1 year.

Doesn't have to be. I know guys who have practically no money, not even enough for the cheapest collector car. But they participate, attend shows and cruise nights, take pictures and have as much fun and interest as the rich guys. They are also quite knowledgeable, certainly smarter and more fun than the typical stuck up trophy hound.

I didnt know they made the throw away filters that long ago. They are supposed to be replaced every 5000 miles at least the newer ones.

Joe is correct about the mounting points for the front seat belts being visible from under the floor. I would add, that if the carpet has been replaced and you need to make holes in the carpet for bolts the easiest way is with a hot soldering gun. Mark the hole by pushing an awl or ice pick up from below then melt the carpet from above. Rear seat belt mounts are under the seat. You must remove the bottom half of the seat. Older cars had 2 bolts at the front but I think yours just pulls out. If there are no bolts in front of the seat, just take hold and lift it straight up then pull forward. You will see the reinforced bolt holes under the seat.

Can the filter be take apart to replace the filter medium.

Ask at local carpet stores. Some of them have the machine, or they should know someone in the area who does. Larger stores usually have them. I know one of the local stores has one and this is in a town of under 2O,OOO.

This is guess work on my part but what if packard put a resistor in parallel with the fuse. In normal operation the fuse would carry the current and the lights work normally. In case of a short the fuse would blow but the lights would continue to work although dim. The resistor would prevent the wiring from burning up. This would be a safety feature so your lights would not go dead at the wrong moment. You would at least have some illumination to travel at reduced speed and other motorists would still see you coming. The odor you smelled was the resistor heating up and burning off 81 years of dirt.

You can get a spray can of heat riser lube at auto stores. Spray some on and gently tap the manifold and the heat riser with a small hammer. Do not hit hard. You are trying to set up a vibration to vibrate the riser loose. If you can get it to move the slightest bit move it back and forth, back and forth and it will come free eventually. It is common for them to freeze up but they usually come free with a little work. Once you get it free lube with graphite when you lube the car. Do not use oil, grease, penetrating oil or anything else. They will only gum it up. Adjust the choke according to the method in the post above. If it still sticks examine the choke carefully and see why. Be careful the air cleaner clamp is out of the way and do not tighten it too tight. If the air cleaner clamp is worn to the point it will not hold the air cleaner you may have to take it off and adjust it. The > shape gets spread open. To close it up lay the clamp on a hard surface like an anvil and tap all around with a hammer. Do not hit too hard, the trick is to close it up evenly but not too much. Once you get it adjusted to the same angle as the carb and air cleaner it will hold tight. You only have to tighten the screw snug. Do not overtighten, that is how they get bent and how the choke gets jammed.

Once at a farm auction sale I saw a little boy with a man who looked like his grandfather. They were looking at a big iron pot. The boy asked what it was for and I said, the cannibals used to cook the missionaries in it. The old man laughed like hell.

Might be easier to cut them out at home. For authenticity you could buy cork gasket material from auto stores. I use white foam gasket material left over from a house building project. Newer cars use the white foam.

Not much dust in the sky compared to an updraft carb a foot and a half above the road.

Dont know about that specific tool but any parts store should have a tool that does the same job.

I just cut the gasket a little bigger than the base of the choke and drilled 2 holes. The hole drilling goes better if you sandwich the gasket between 2 pieces of scrap wood. The inside is solid. I believe it is there to insulate the choke so it does not release too soon. procedure for adjusting choke. Start by removing the air cleaner. There is a tiny hole in the brass shaft of the choke and a matching hole in the base, or else there is a slot in the bearing. Open the throttle and line up the holes. Stick a piece of wire through the holes to lock the choke in place. You need a perfectly straight wire that fits as accurately as possible. I prefer to use a small drill bit. You will need to hold the throttle open about one third to free the choke. With the choke locked in place, loosen the clamp screw on the choke lever. push the lever upward until the choke blade is closed tight. Holding the lever in position, tighten the clamp screw. Check the setting by feeling the choke blade to make sure the slack in the linkage is taken up. Remove the adjusting tool. Check carefully to be sure the choke works smoothly without binding or sticking in the closed position. Replace the air cleaner. Be careful the tightening clamp does not bind the choke mechanism and that the fast idle and choke mechanism are not gummed up with oil or grease. NOTE #1 Hold the throttle partly open when making adjustments so the fast idle cam is released. NOTE #2 Do not put oil, grease or other substance on the choke mechanism or you will gum it up. The choke should be clean and move freely. Incidentally the choke spring does wear out and lose its tension over time. New ones turn up on Ebay or the old parts specialists might have one.

Engine life for your car when new was 1O,OOO to 2O,OOO miles between overhauls. This was with an oil change every 1OOO miles. An air filter and oil filter will do your engine nothing but good. And extend your oil change intervals as well.

Yes it will definitely clean your oil and lengthen the life of your engine. With one that is old and hard to rebuild and lets face it, not that long lived to begin with, an oil filter is a good thing to have. The old oil filters before about 1953 were partial flow. They did an excellent job of cleaning the oil but only cleaned part of it at a time. The newer theory is to clean all the oil before it goes to the bearings but of course, this requires a coarser filter. If you are using a partial flow filter which is the only kind for some old engines I recommend one that uses toilet paper for a filter medium. They do the best job of filtering and are used by the military for stationary power plants and on big hiway trucks where the ultimate in filtration is required. Big engines actually use a roll of paper towels. There are several brands on the market including one that dates to the early fifties and another that is made in Australia. Or you could continue to use the one on your engine. An air filter is also an excellent idea. It will double your engine life by itself. I recommend an aftermarket filter as used on motorcycles. Easy to fit and can be removed in a minute for car shows. No brand names because that would violate board policy but if you do a web search you will find the filters I mentioned.

For an old flathead you need low octane not higher. Some find the engine runs better on a mix of kerosene and gas, 1O to 25 % kerosene depending how low the compression is.

There is a specific method for adjusting the choke. Not difficult if you know how. If you do not know or do not have a manual I can tell you how to do it.

The base should be flat, held down by 2 small bolts, and there should be an asbestos gasket between the choke and manifold. It is the same material used for exhaust manifold gaskets. Dont know if the gasket is still available, I cut my own from a Ford flathead intake manifold gaskets.