Rusty_OToole

Check the resistance of the shocks, also check if the links are tight if they are too loose the shocks won't have much effect. Yes they always drove like an aircraft carrier, more or less. You could also have your front end checked out and worn parts replaced as necessary, and an alignment done. This will insure the best handling possible, and is often overlooked. Friends who had this done on their old cars report that it made a big difference. When everything was working the way it was supposed to, they found their cars easy and enjoyable to drive even though they did not drive like a 2011 car.

wagary the first thing you need is a good repair manual. The factory sold one to every Ford dealer on earth so there are lots around, they turn up on ebay and at auto flea markets for $20 to $50. If your king pins are bad take the axle out and take it to an auto machine shop for new pins and bushings. Meanwhile take the backing plates off and rebuild the brakes on your work bench. Put on new flex hoses and all. Kanter sells complete brake kits. This way you can clean and paint everything and have brand new brakes. Have drums turned if necessary and repack wheel bearings and replace grease seals. Now you won't have to worry about brakes or steering for 5 to 10 years as long as you grease the front end regularly.

It is possible to repair a cracked block in most cases or you might need to find another engine. Best have an expert mechanic or auto machinist look at it. In most cases the crack is in the water jacket and is not a big deal.

If the original plating is intact no other sealer is needed. If it is worn off at all, the metal will rust. This will shed flakes that will plug up your carburetor, fuel pump or fuel filter and eventually rust through. So, it may be necessary to coat it.

I'm not exactly sure on a 48, but on 49-52 models the heater was located under the hood. It was a black box that sat on a shelf on the right inner fender. The heater hoses ran to it, there was a blower fan beside the rad, and a cardboard duct that took the hot air to the interior of the car. There was also a valve or temperature control on the firewall that the heater hose ran to. Possibly this is the fixture between the rad and engine you refer to? ====================================================== Update: I did a quick Google search and the 48 Chrysler seems to have a different arrangement with the heater behind the firewall. So the heater theory seems to be shot to blazes.

The Fluid Drive was one of the first efforts at an automatic drive. It works a little different from a modern automatic, and different from a manual trans. The best thing I can suggest is to do a search on the Chrysler and Dodge boards for "Fluid Drive". The whole subject was covered in depth about 2 years ago. Fluid Drive is a simple, reliable, and easy to use system as long as you know how to operate it, and how to do some simple maintenance. Look up the threads and it will save you a lot of time. Recommended oil or fluid is Tractor fluid, TDH type, ISO32 grade. You can get it at Walmart, auto parts stores or farm supply stores. See the threads recommended above, for more detailed service instructions.

The younger generations don't seem to have any prejudice against 4 door cars. This may be because the 2 door hardtops and coupes more or less died with the end of the muscle car era or at least became irrelevant. Those under 40 seem to go for a cool old car regardless of body style.

Pressing the bushings in and reaming them is 90% of the job. I recommend removing the axle or king pin assembly and taking it to an auto machine shop for removal of the old pins and bushings and installing the new ones. They can do the job in under an hour using a hydraulic press and Sunnen hone and get a perfect fit. Much easier and better than doing it at home, and the cost is small for what you get. Or take the whole vehicle to a good front end shop or truck shop that works on the old vehicles and let them do it.

Albert I defer to your experience. But everything I have read, indicates Packard did not recommend starting in Low as a regular thing as it would cause premature wear in the transmission. They later came out with the Gear Start Ultramatic which started in low but it even had problems. Eurohaus I do not think there is anything wrong with your transmission. It is sluggish at low speeds by design. This was a compromise made in the name of smoothness. Newer transmissions were redesigned to start off in low but yours does not. If you are moving it around or driving in traffic you can leave it in low. Or, for normal driving leave it in high. Check out the Packard BBS for more information.

Good for slicing dogs and pedestrians into salami cold cuts.

It sounds like they are working properly. Unlike tubular shocks, those old shocks will last the life of the car if they are kept full of oil. Even if they leak a bit just top them up from time to time. If the oil pours out or they have not resistance, then you need to do some repairs or rebuild.

For all normal driving you start in H. L is for emergencies like driving slowly thru deep sand, mud or snow, starting on a hill, moving the car around at low speed etc. Make a habit of starting in L and shifting to High, and you can wear out the transmission. The Ultramatic starts in high gear, this makes it smooth but sluggish. Many cars had this type transmission back then, as Buick Dynaflow, Chev Powerglide, etc. For more information you could search on this web site devoted to Packards. Packard Motor Car Information - Post-War (1946-54) [Packard Forums]

Auto electric shops use a growler.

On a beam axle car the caster is adjusted with tapered shims between the axle pad and springs. I would stick to factory specs myself. Except, as I said if you want easier steering you can cut down the caster if you have a steering damper. But this is usually not necessary.

I don't think you have missed anything except a careful alignment. For a solid front axle you may need to have the alignment done at a truck shop, heavy trucks are the only vehicle that still has a beam axle. So if the local front end guy runs away and hides at the prospect of doing a solid axle, go to a truck shop. Your car will be child's play to them. This should give you really good steering. You could add a steering damper but in your case I don't think it is necessary. I don't know anything about EPDM tape. If it is slippery and doesn't squish out it should be fine.

Toe in is for one purpose only, to make up for play in the steering mechanism. When the car is going down the road the forces acting on the tires, tend to push the front of the tires apart. This takes out any slack in the tie rod ends. When this happens you want the tires pointing dead straight ahead. So they have to toe in a little at rest, about 1/8" to compensate for the clearance in the tie rod ends. In the thirties race car mechanics had a slick trick to get the toe in perfect. They would take 2 flat steel plates, about 1 foot square, with grease between them. They would drive the car slowly over the plates and see what happened. If the top plate twisted one way or the other they knew the toe in needed to be corrected. If the plate did not move they knew the alignment was perfect. To do this test they would set out a board - then the plates - then a board all 3 the same height. Then drive the front wheel over. This is the sort of thing you do on a race car where every detail has to be perfect. Such careful aligning of the toe in would reduce the drag of the tires on the road, reduce tire wear and make the steering as accurate as possible.

If you want leaf springs to work smooth and easy you have to take them apart. Use a disc grinder and fine grit disc to polish away all rust and smooth out the notch that gets worn at the end of each leaf. Paint the leaves then Reassemble with suitable nylon sliders at the end, or if there is no provision for sliders, use thin strips of nylon between the leaves. Teflon is even more slippery but too soft and squishes out. You should also rearch the leaves as necessary. Or leave all this to the local spring shop if you have one.

It is caster that makes the front wheels self aligning and prevents shimmy. In the late 30s a lot of car makers experimented with easier steering and softer springs and had shimmy problems. They cured them by adding kick shackles, or on Packards they added oil filled dampers on the end of the bumpers. Jaguar used a weighted bumper rubber mounted to the frame, if you took out the rubber mounts the steering would shimmy. IFS eliminated a lot of alignment and front end problems but introduced design headaches of their own. On your 1933 car I would definitely rebuild the front end carefully including the springs. You want to eliminate friction between the leaves as far as possible. Add a steering damper and have the front end aligned carefully with minimum caster. Remember, as you load passengers and baggage on the car the back goes down more than the front and this can reduce caster. You need to take this into consideration when doing the alignment. With a set of good shocks on all 4 wheels, a rebuilt front end, and rebuilt springs in the back you may be surprised how well your car rides and handles at least on good roads. The old solid axle cars don't ride so well on real rough roads because of limited suspension travel. But on decent roads they can have a very nice ride.

It may have been me. I was addressing the question of replacing old suspension with more modern suspension, or adding power steering. My view is that if the old suspension is rebuilt and aligned to factory specs, the steering is surprisingly light and accurate at least good enough to negate the need for power steering. If you want it to be even more light and responsive here is a trick that was used by German car makers for decades. When aligning the front end cut the caster to 0 or close to it. This makes steering easier and sharper. But it reduces the self centering action and can result in shimmy. To prevent shimmy, install a steering damper. This is what the Germans did even on the VW Beetle. Chevrolet did the same thing on the first Monte Carlos. Another trick that helps easier steering is to pump up the tires to 32 PSI. Your tires will last longer and you will get better mileage as well. I know people who have had the front end rebuilt and aligned on beam axle cars and early IRS cars from the king pin era. All reported that the steering was greatly improved, very easy to steer except at a dead stop and they no longer wanted to change the front suspension or add power steering.

Fergus = Received your email, after posting the new info above. The server would not allow me to reply to your email as you have specified you do not wish to receive email ??? By the way what are you using for money? Last I heard the Zimbabwe currency was inflated to worthlessness?

The old wax paper capacitors have a half life of about 10 years. Any originals still working are a miracle. Tubes are made of glass, with a vacuum inside. In dry storage, not being used, have a life of 100 years or more. In use, about 10000 hours. So, the big problem is capacitors not tubes. Lots of tubes are available as there were thousands of radio shops, each got stuck with thousands of tubes when transistor radios came in. They still make capacitors of all sizes, the new ones use mylar instead of wax paper and tinfoil so they are more reliable and last longer.

Happens I bought a new OCPD since this was posted. The new book shows quite an advance in values. #6 $1080 #5 $3240 #4 $5400 #3 $12150 #2 $18900 #1 $27000. Your car would be on the high side of #5.

I hate to contradict NTX but a 1954 Plymouth is the last year that came as a six cylinder ONLY. A V8 will NOT fit without major butchery. Steering interference is the biggest problem. The easiest engine to fit would be a 230 cu in Dodge flathead six. A DeSoto/Chrysler six will fit but it is longer and requires some mods to engine mounts and moving the rad forward. The 230 is a very satisfactory engine with ample power for normal use. It is basically the same block as your stock 217 with a longer stroke crankshaft. In fact you could turn your 217 into a 230 if you had the long stroke crankshaft and matching connecting rods. Note, if it is a Canadian made Plymouth the big Chrysler six will bolt in. Only Canadian made Plymouths are built to take the larger engine.

If you remove the seats you may find an unfaded swatch tucked underneath.

You could try spraying them with electronic contact cleaner and working them back and forth. If that does not free them up they may need replacing.