Rusty_OToole

Incidentally if you had asked the same question 10 years ago I would have said a Lincoln Continental Mark IV but you can't buy them for pocket change anymore.

Mercedes SL convertible, 1972 - 88. They made an awful lot of them and you can still buy a good one for less than a new Hyundai. This may be the last car made with a real engine, real chrome, real leather, and real steel. You may not be able to buy a good Duesenberg, 57 Tbird convertible, Mercedes Gullwing, or Jag XKE off craigslist or kijiji but you can a Mercedes SL.

Auto repair manuals used to have a chart in the back giving generic torque recommendations. They were based on the size of the bolt or stud. Machinists or mechanics books might have the same info. If you do not have any old manuals you might find such a chart online. Cars of that era were not critical of head bolt torque. Few mechanics had torque wrenches. Compression ratios were low. If you tighten the bolts evenly in a spiral pattern it should be OK. Here is a chart of Whitworth and BSF specs for Lister engines, your engine should be similar. http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/articles/rrchapt8.htm

I would call it an unrestored car that has been sympathetically maintained or repaired over the years. The repairs are part of the history of the car and should be documented as part of the maintenance records.

Maybe you finally got a good one. They were a fairly peppy car when new, but most of them are worn to the point where they are down on power and don't have the old oomph anymore. They can fool you because they have such a well behaved motor. It can be in an advanced state of wear and still start and run normally except down on power. I know a guy who has practically the same car. He set out to improve it first by having the engine rebuilt, then by adding overdrive or changing the gear ratio. As soon as he drove it with the rebuilt engine he forgot about any changes to the gearing or transmission. It ran fine and had all the power and speed he wanted. And this was a car that ran well before, just had low compression and one or 2 burnt valves. I would start with a compression test and then put a vacuum gauge on it. Check valve clearance, spark timing, points, carb adjustment, basic tuneup then the vacuum gauge. There must be something wrong, I hope it is something minor like a bad plug wire.

Once you see some old cars painted their original colors, anything else never looks right. I first noticed this on certain fifties cars, they originally came in pastel colors or certain eye popping 2 tone and 3 tone combos. Newer metallic colors never look right on them. Also, I think whoever picked the colors for the old air cooled VW beetle was a little bit color blind. Their colors never look like anybody else's. VWs especially never look right in any other color. It is true, most 30s cars were painted black, gray or dark blue. But there were other colors available.

Is it possible the oil pump drained out and lost its prime? If so you can fix it by pumping oil into the system thru the pressure gauge fitting or similar. Or by driving the pump with a drill.

The spit and hope oiled, babbitt bearing Chev motors were notorious for not standing up to high speed use even when new. If you can get a full pressure oiled, insert bearing engine 1953 - 1962 you are better off. Best of all the early Chev type designs is the GMC six. 270 to 302 cu in on the early ones but the 261 used in GMC and Canadian Pontiac in the fifties and early sixties are easy to find and a great engine. A Pontiac six could stay with a 283 up to 50 MPH due to better power delivery at low RPMS and would be perfect for your pickup truck. A 261 will bolt right in where a 216 or 235 came out.

Before the 1980s most states and provinces issued new plates every year. California was an exception, not sure how many others there were. During WW2 some areas reused plates to save metal. They had a small metal tag that clipped on the upper right corner of the plate the second year. Other places had plates made of a fibre material that resembled masonite. In 1952 only, Ontario Canada had no new plates. They reused 1951 plates plus a windshield sticker about 3" square. This was one year only, 1953 went back to new plates.

For those who are confused, there were 2 separate Cunningham car companies. The first made big cars, mostly limousines and hearses, with big flathead V8 engines, in Rochester New York from 1908 to 1931. The second was based in Palm Beach Florida where sportsman Briggs Cunningham built sports cars powered by Chrysler hemi engines from 1951 to 1955.

Just putting everything in good shape and buying an Optima battery should be all you need to do. Optima batteries are better than anything available in the 50s and help make up for the shortcomings of the 6 volt system/

Here are Chrysler's own books on how the transmission works and how to troubleshoot problems. These links are to a Chrysler Imperial site. Your transmission is exactly the same as the one used in the 49 Imperial. How the Hydraulically Operated Transmission Operates (Session 23) from the Master Technician's Service Conference 1949 Imperial and Chrysler Repair Of Hydraulically Operated Transmissions Session 24 from the Master Technician's Service Conference

1st I have changed 6 volt cars to 12 volts but would not do it again. It is not worth the bother. So much easier just to fix the 6 volt system. You may not see this now, but you will before you get done. Your car is one of the hardest to change to 12 volts and you are only beginning. 2nd your generator will not work, not even with a new regulator. You will have to either buy a new 12v generator or else add an alternator someplace else and then, either jimmy up a new power steering pump or else take the brushes out of the old gen and let it freewheel. Once you get the generator problem solved you have barely begun. Good luck.

1st I have changed 6 volt cars to 12 volts but would not do it again. It is not worth the bother. So much easier just to fix the 6 volt system. You may not see this now, but you will before you get done. Your car is one of the hardest to change to 12 volts and you are only beginning. 2nd your generator will not work, not even with a new regulator. You will have to either buy a new 12v generator or else add an alternator someplace else and then, either jimmy up a new power steering pump or else take the brushes out of the old gen and let it freewheel. Once you get the generator problem solved you have barely begun. Good luck.

Death the reason it is hard to find 20 is it was replaced by multigrade oils years ago, about when your car was built. Multigrade is better, I am sure Packard recommended it as soon as they knew about it,just like every other car maker.

Did you check the manifold bolts for tightness? I mean where the manifold bolts to the head? You can spray some WD40 around suspect joints, the engine will speed up if it sucks WD40 into the leak.

I also question the need for zinc in a flathead engine. The cam loading should be the same as a modern OHC or lower. It is the hi perf OHV V8s with pushrods that have trouble with the zinc free oil. But will wait until an oil chemist or automotive engineer gives us the straight dope.

Dexron fluid is the closest to type A. Some Packard owners have changed the fluid and filter and cleaned out the pan then changed to B&M fluid and reported the trans worked better.

What year is the Packard repair book? I also have repair books and owners manual from the early fifties. They often recommend single weight oils with a chart telling you which to use for which temps (weather). If you read a little farther they recommend using "heavy duty" oil which is detergent oil, and multigrade oil if available. As I said before, your car probably never had anything in it but 10W30 for the last 50 years. This was what we used when the book said 10,20, or 30 because it covered the whole range. 15W40 will work but may be thicker than necessary for such a low mile engine. It will quiet down an hi miler though. Personally I would use 5W30 and give it several oil changes in quick succession to clean out the sludge. For example, change oil, if it gets black real quick change at 500 miles then another change at 1500 miles and depending how it looked, another change at 2500. Then go to a normal 3000 mile interval with 10W30.

It is not a good idea to sandblast a whole car. It can warp the metal from the pressure. The bare metal will rust very easily if not protected. Usually we sandblast only rusty areas then wipe down with metal prep. Metal prep leaves a residue that will keep off rust for a time if the car is indoors and dry. It also neutalizes any remaining rust. Then repair rust and dents, fill, and prime in the usual way. Primer by itself will not keep off rust, the car needs to be painted within a reasonable time. If you mean to leave it in primer it is best to spray on a coat of clear to seal it. Even if no rust is evident, primer can soak up moisture which will come out and ruin your paint job. Often seen as millions of tiny blisters. Normally this is not a problem if you are working in a heated garage in winter, or warm weather in summer, and finish the repair work and paint within a reasonable time. But if a car is stored in an unheated garage for weeks or months you have to be careful and put it in a heated garage for several days to dry out, before finishing the paint job. It is hard to answer your questions without more information. Are you new to body and paint work? What kind of garage do you have to work in? How much work do you plan to do yourself, will you have a professional paint the car or do any other work? What kind of car, and how good of a job do you want?

NAPA is usually a good place to go for old car parts. Or, wherever the farmers buy parts. All kinds of parts are available for your car through normal channels, you just need to find them. An old gray haired or bald headed parts man in an old dusty parts store is probably better for this than a kid with purple hair and a snot ring in a shiny neon lighted store that opened last week. The brakes on your car are among the best of their day and will work fine if set up right. But the initial adjustment can be tricky. I believe DeSoto and Chrysler used basically the same brakes from the forties up to 1957. All the parts are still available from the original manufacturer which I believe was Wagner. It may take a couple of days to get them. Not sure how much you know about old Chrysler products. But will just mention that the electrical system is positive ground, 6 volt. And the wheel bolts on the left side of the car are left hand thread. These 2 things have thrown new owners who are not familiar with these cars. Will also mention that your car has the Fluid Drive transmission, a unique cross between a standard and an automatic. They are a very good, rugged and reliable transmission but require a driving technique all their own. This has been covered extensively in threads on the Chrysler and Dodge bulletin boards on this site. Do a search for fluid drive and look at threads from 2008. Lots of good info on driving technique and maintenance that I would rather not type out again . Finally the best investment you can make when you buy an old car, is a repair manual. Manuals for your car are available from Ebay and at old car flea markets. Usual price, $20 to $50. The factory supplied manuals to every dealer and there are lots of them still around. And there are reprints which are cheaper. If you do your own work they are invaluable and if you hire a mechanic they are even more valuable.

With a smile or with a sneer? I gather from your smiley face you are a Vega fan?

Oh boy the good ol' straight 30 oil gag. Deathrodder you should use a good name brand 10W30 or maybe 15W40 oil. In real cold weather like below freezing 5W30 Your car was built about the time multigrade detergent oils were first put on the market. Chances are it has never used anything but 10W30 in its life. I worked in a garage in the sixties and that was the default choice for everything that came in the door. We did keep good ol' straight 30 oil but nobody bought it except people with broken down oil burning klunkers who wanted the cheapest oil we had. Nobody ever put it in a good motor.

Your serial # denotes a 1950 D33 (Wayfarer) made in Detroit. Engine # is also 1950 Dodge so it is probably the original engine. 50 and 51 were very similar cars except for redesigned grillework, the hood and fenders, doors and other trim details. There may also be some minor mechanical improvements but nothing earth shaking. If you do a web search I am sure you can turn up some pictures if you are curious about the differences in appearance.

By the way I remember when the Mustang was introduced. I don't remember Iacocca taking any bows until after it was a success. In the initial publicity releases Gene Bordinat chief of styling got the credit. Only later did Iacocca claim it was all his idea.