Rusty_OToole

Off the top of my head, wonder if anyone has thought of taking one of those new battery powered impact wrenches and adapting it to start a car in place of the crank. It would not alter the originality of the car but might spare the old guys a few heart attacks.

Do you mean $8OO to $2OOO for a single casting or for a mold. It appears a plastic model or pattern can be made in minutes. Could this be done with lost foam casting using a computer made foam pattern.

Very cool, here is Leno doing a demo. YouTube - ‪NextEngine 3D Scanner at Jay Leno's Garage‬‏

The one the idle didnt change on is a likely suspect. A compression test will tell the tale. Are you sure the plug is sparking It could be something as simple as a bad plug wire.

There was an interview with 2 of Packards top brass published in popular Mechanics in the early fifties. In it they commented on the latest cars they had examined and driven on a fact finding trip to Europe. They were dismissive of the Bentley saying it did not compare to Packards cheapest model and they felt the MG had a noisy muffler. All in all they did not find any foreign designs worth emulating.

Spark plug gap .O35 for all 49 Chryslers.

Keeps out the rain. Not so much the stamping technology as the lack of steel wide enough. The steel mills did not produce the new wide sheet metal until 1934.

Sounds like a miss to me. With the engine running pull the plug wires off one at a time. When you get one that does not make it run worse, that one has a miss. Check if the plugs are firing. If it is not a misfire it may be a bad cylinder. DO a compression test to find out. That is if the miss is regular and always the same cylinders. Might just be time for a tuneup. If you are old enough to miss Ed Sullivan you know what a tuneup is ha ha

Do a search for Vintage power Wagons the leading experts on the model. They have all the parts you need.

Will they let you return the ones you dont need. If not find another store.

Knew an old timer who built a model T hot rod when he was a kid in the 2Os. He couldnt afford tires so he got used ones, usually off the junk pile in back of garages, they would be stiff and hard so he would soak them in a pond for a few days. If he had no tubes he would stuff the tires with hay, he could drive around until a tire went flying off the rim and whizzed into the ditch lol. Maybe soaking the tires in water will help. If you have good tubes and inflate them they may even stay on the rims lol.

Have seen pictures of sedans with removable door posts, they were modified for use as ambulances. In that case I would think the interior would be modified to suit. Your car seems to have a standard interior So the theory that the original owner of your car needed wheelchair access looks likely.

The Carter E7L4 is the correct model for your car. It is called a Carter Ball & Ball or B&B type carburetor. It was made for many years in different versions for different cars. If you examine it carefully you should see the 2 electrical switches. The best thing for your car would be to rebuild this carburetor or buy a replacement. Easiest would be to buy a rebuilt from the US. Use the old wiring if it is in good condition. Usually the wires in the engine compartment wear out first. The heat dries out the rubber insulation until it cracks and falls off. You can repair any bad spots with heat shrink tubing or electrical tape, or replace the bad wires. The square box on the air cleaner support is for the transmission wiring. It contains the resistor and circuit breaker. If you clean it off you should see that the terminals are marked. At the top should be Ign and Int. Ign stands for Ignition, this terminal connects to the coils positive terminal. Int stands for interrupter, it connects to the carburetor and to the interrupter switch on the transmission. Below those should be Bat and Sol. Bat connects to the coils negative terminal. Sol connects to the Solenoid on the transmission. Refer to the diagram above for more details. If you wish to connect a manual switch you will have to run a long wire from the passenger compartment into the engine compartment and connect it to the carburetor switch wire. 1 wire to the switch wire, the other wire from the switch to ground. This will allow you to control the high to low shift manually. Just press the button when you wish to shift. I am told the transmission will shift up without the switch but will not shift down. You will have to experiment and find this out. If you know a mechanic or electrician, see if you can get some help. The transmission system is unusual and not easy to understand but if you just put everything back the way the factory made it, it should work grand for you. I would also strongly recommend that you buy a repair manual. They turn up on Ebay regularly. The factory made enough for every dealership and there are still a lot of them around. Usual price from $2O for a reprint to $5O for an original. Well worth it for the time and money it will save. The rattle noise may be from the shift mechanism or some other part under the car. One of us should have a look. You are closer than I am.

The best tire mounting lube is shampoo. Get some at a dollar store for a $1 buck. Dont use your wifes $45 a bottle stuff, you will get in trouble.

Looks like a standard Weatherhead fitting to me. Called a street elbow. Except, I cant find one with a double outlet. The closest match is a pipe street tee, see this page and scroll down to the fourth fitting from the bottom. Brass Fittings This would work if you can bend one of your pipes 9O degrees. Your local auto arts dealer or industrial supply may have a Weatherhead catalog with the correct fitting.

Or at least clean and adjust the one you have.

The doorjams would be the same as the exterior color if they have not been repainted. The interior does not look right. It looks like it has been reupholstered. The front seat back looks like it might be original. Is there a sign of old upholstery under the surface of the other seats? Often they simply put a new covering over the original one. The door panels look original.

Why not bolt the pump on, if it will not go on easy (pushrod up) just bump the starter. I never heard of going to such elaborate lengths to install a fuel pump. You should be able to change it in half an hour, no problem.

The wiring is very simple, you can make the wiring using a wiring diagram as a guide. If you replace the wiring, and add 1 manual switch you can make the transmission go into high gear. The switch you need, is the one that operates at closed throttle. When you are driving above 14MPH lift off the gas pedal and actuate the switch and the transmission should shift into high. What happened to the original carburetor? Is there any chance your father took it off and kept it in the garage? If you can find it, it is a simple carburetor to rebuild and adjust. The transmission is very simple, rugged and trouble free. Most problems are simply due to low oil level, or faulty wiring. The electrical contacts in the governor may need cleaning once every 150,000 miles or 50 years. They are soft silver, a shot of electronic contact cleaner spray will clean off any oil, then draw a strip of white paper or a business card between them. This is only necessary if the governor fails to work. 9 chances out of 10 if you return the wiring to factory configuration the transmission will work. Here is a typical wiring diagram. This should be correct for your car. Some models use a relay but I don't think yours does. There should be a square box on the air cleaner support. It is about 50cm square. It contains a resistor and a circuit breaker. If it is missing I can look up the spec of the resistor and circuit breaker. If it is not in the manuals already linked. On reviewing the wiring diagram it appears both switches on the carburetor are wired together. In that case only one manual switch would be necessary to make the transmission work. 46661d1264108238-48-fluid-drive-trans-wont-upshift-gyro-tranmission.pdf

Leno claims to have made up the elevator story but I think I heard it before. But I could be wrong. One other thing that amuses me is his claim to have bought the car from the original owner. By my reckoning he is the fifth owner. The car was bought new by Mr. Strauss. He left it to his wife. She sold it to their son. He lost it for storage to the garage. They sold it to Leno. I suppose he could say it was in the same family until he bought it and not be far wrong. But to call it a one owner car is a bit of a stretch.

Thanks for the correction. I will fix the original message.

A good oil for transmission and fluid drive unit is TDH tractor oil, ISO32 grade. TDH stands for (transmission, differential and hydraulic). This oil is available where auto parts and farm supplies are sold. The transmission will function without the electric controls but will not go into high gear. You will have only 1 and 3 gears. There are 2 switches on the carburetor. One is energized when the throttle is completely closed. It controls the shift to high gear. The other switch is energized when the throttle is completely open. It controls the kick-down. The kick-down causes the transmission to shift down from high to low for passing or climbing steep hills. It would be possible to make the transmission shift with manual switches. This would do for testing purposes but would not be practical for everyday driving. Your best option would be to buy a new or rebuilt carburetor. This would cost about $250. You might be able to find one on Ebay cheaper but there is no guarantee it would not need to be rebuilt. If you go to the Chrysler and Dodge sections of this site, and do a search for Fluid Drive you will find a lot of information. About 2 years ago there were 2 or 3 long threads on the operation and servicing of this transmission that are very informative. This website reproduces some original Chrysler service technical literature, very valuable to understanding the Fluid Drive system. Master Technician Service Conference - Chrysler's Training for Mechanics You will find a 1950 DeSoto works very well on winding and bumpy roads as long as you are not in a hurry. They have enough room for a family of Vikings wearing horned helmets, lots of road clearance and they have a suspension that soaks up bumps.

In the Leno video you can see the paint cracking and peeling off the cowl on the left side, revealing pink primer underneath. I don't believe that color primer was used in 1930 but it was in the fifties and sixties. This indicates to me that the car was repainted at some time. The story was that the son of the original owner put the car back in commission in the early 50s and had it overhauled by Duesenberg expert Jim Hoe. It was probably painted at that time. An overhaul, paintjob and a set of tires would comprise a comprehensive restoration at that time.

Old Cars Price Guide says $3800. Depending on condition, could be more like $2000. Is it in running condition and currently licensed and on the road? Pictures would help. If he expects to get $11,000 he will have to spend $20,000 on repairs first. Sorry.

We need more good looking cars. If today's designers are not up to the job, let them copy the work of past masters. That is better than nothing.