Rusty_OToole

Here is a chart of Dodge truck flathead six engine numbers. Unfortunately it only goes back to 1933. It does show H prefix numbers for 33-34 but does not show your number. T Flathead Six Engines

By the way, the Spohn built Chrysler that started this thread? I think it looks like hell. But that doesn't take away from its build quality or its historical significance. I think it deserves to be preserved as a historical relic of a specific time and place.

So, the car was modified by Spohn, a respected German coachbuilder, when a year or 2 old. How does this differ from a Darrin Packard that was modified from an assembly line Packard coupe to order? There must be other "full classics" that were modified into their present state when they were late model used cars. How about the Mormon Meteor, used to set a record at Bonneville with its Duesenberg engine, then repowered with a Curtis Conqueror for further speed record work, and eventually rebuilt for road use with a Duesenberg engine, either the original or a replacement. You may turn up your nose at such a car and refuse to give it room in your garage but I wouldn't. I am trying to emphasize the difference between a car that was modified when new or close to new, and one that was put together recently. To me there is not that much difference between a car that had its body modified or custom built before it was delivered new, and one that was modified shortly afterwards. The quality of the work should count, and the history of the car as well. To dismiss a car as worthless because it was modified shortly after delivery instead of shortly before, seems to me to be splitting hairs.

I think it was always legal to use whatever brand of car you wanted. The difference was, you were not allowed to carry more than a certain number of passengers. Cars with built in jump seats could carry 5 passengers instead of 3 and could charge an extra fare. Therefore they could make more money.

I get a kick out of seeing brand new cars of long ago in the movies and TV shows. There is a Vincent Price TV series called The Veil on DVD, one of the shows features a brand new Edsel convertible, very cool to see it on the road and closeups of the interior. Also in another episode, Mr Price in a sinister looking 58 Lincoln limousine.

They don't always destroy good old cars. Usually they have a nice one for closeups and driving scenes and a refugee from a junkyard for the wrecks. One old move from the forties, featured a late model Continental convertible. It eventually goes over a cliff in a flaming wreck. But if you look close, the car that goes over the cliff is a 41 Ford coupe with the roof sawed off and a spare tire bolted on the back. Another good trick is to make a fake mangled fender of aluminum. Unbolt the original fender, bolt on the fakeroo, carefully pose the car next to a lamp post and shoot the scene. The movie Tucker used an old Studebaker junker for the scenes where a Tucker got wrecked at Indianapolis. The car was suitably modified by the prop department of course. They also built 10 fake Tuckers with fibreglass bodies on Ford frames for driving scenes. These cars had only one working door, the driver's, the rest were permanently sealed shut as they were part of a 1 piece molded body. The Dukes of Hazard used a lot of Coronets faked up to look like General Lee. I believe they went through 200 or 300 during the run of the show. There were only 2 or 3 genuine General Lee Chargers and they were carefully looked after. So, next time you see a $2,000,000 Duesenberg, or even a $50,000 57 Tbird demolished in a movie, remember that Lee Marvin got up and walked away without a scratch every time he got killed and so do the really valuable cars.

This brings up an interesting question. If a new or late model car, say a 1951 Buick, were taken to a well known coachbuilder known for their full custom bodies like Spohn or Coachcraft, would that be accepted today as an original? What about a 1951 Chrysler Imperial limousine modified by Derham to a customer's order, before it was delivered? Do you draw the line of what is customized, and what is a custom body by whether the car was modified before, or shortly after delivery? How about a car like the Sam Barris 49 Mercury? He bought the car new and chopped the top shortly after he took delivery. It would be a crime to "restore" such a car to its unmodified state. The same could be said of cars modified for racing that are now historical artifacts. This does not go for old cars recently modified. I suppose it goes by the history of the car. The more history, and the longer the better.

Couldn't you build one cheaper than that? The plans appeared in an old Popular Michanics magazine didn't they?

Short answer, nothing usually. As has been pointed out the generator is sized to the load. A stripped six cylinder car with no accessories will have the smallest generator. A loaded V8 model with air, power windows, power seats, heater, radio, and other power sucking options will have the larger generator. An ambulance or police vehicle with 2 way radio, siren, etc would have the largest available generator. A regulator too small for the generator will not let the gen develop full power. A too large regulator is an un necessary expense. So, the regulator should be matched to the generator. I once used a Delco regulator off a Chev pickup truck on a 1962 fuel injection Mercedes 220SE. It worked fine. The point is that generators are not too finicky about regulators and vice versa. But for best operation you should use the correct ones if possible.

Have you inspected the underhood wiring? How bad is it? If it is just those 2 wires it should not be a problem to fix. All you need is some wire of the same gauge (size) or larger and the appropriate connectors for the end. If you are doing a 100 point restoration you will need the same color code and the identical plug on the end but other than that, should be no problem.

The Checkers had a big back seat and jump seats and could legally carry more passengers than a standard sedan. Likewise the DeSoto Skyview that used the Chrysler Limousine body on a long wheelbase frame. Packard, not so sure, but they built limos too so they could have built a stripped down version for taxi service. I have also seen a 1947 Dodge limo with the same Chrysler limo/DeSoto Skyview/ DeSoto Suburban body. It was originally used as an airport limo, obviously no millionaire would buy a Dodge limo. It had to be for commercial service.

Walter, under hood wiring often deteriorates before the rest of the car due to heat, gas, etc. You may be able to just replace the damaged wires and the rest of the car is OK. You will have to trace the wires and replace the bad parts. A wiring diagram will help.

From early 1942 until 1945 cars and trucks were rationed and not generally available. In other words you could not go to a dealership and just buy a car or truck. They were rationed out to essential users. This could include doctors who needed a car to make house calls, or farmers whose work was essential to the war effort. I know of a veterinarian who got a new car at this time. His job was considered essential as horses were very important to farming then, especially since gas, trucks and tractors were in short supply.

How about no reasonable offer refused? Local dealers use this all the time, I feel like calling them up and congratulating them, and saying they probably sell more cars since they stopped refusing reasonable offers.

I recently converted a 1975 Porsche with point ignition to electronic with a Ford thick film ignition. I used the module out of a Probe, it is mounted on an aluminum heat sink next to the rad, not on the distributor. Only a few Fords have the heat sink like Probe,Aerostar, and Cougar. I used the stock points distributor, the module will work with points, I also used the stock Ford coil. I tested 5 coils including the stock Porsche (worst) and Ford (best). It throws a hot spark an inch long, the Porsche ignition is pathetic by comparison. It allowed me to increase the spark plug gap from .55MM or .021" to .035". The car now starts with the touch of the key. Have not had it on the road yet but no doubt the ignition is far hotter, and I dare say equal to any aftermarket ignition. This is a very good conversion using stock parts available anywhere and requiring no changes to the car that cannot be changed back in minutes. I recommend it for any 12 volt car.

Before the collecting of antique cars caught on the expensive cars were the most likely to be scrapped. Repairs were so expensive, and they used a lot of gas. Even a worn clutch or a set of tires would be enough to send a car to the junkyard. There were plenty of cheap used cars around. You could buy a perfectly servicable luxury car for $50 or less, why bother with one that needed work? Even when they reached the junkyard, some poor person or bargain hunter would buy a Model A, Chevrolet or Plymouth and put it back in condition, while bypassing the Peerless. There was a curious example of the rapid depreciation of luxury cars on a Packard bbs recently. Someone showed the bill of sale for a 1937 Packard limousine. It cost around $6000 minus $700 or so for the trade in. The trade in was a 1932 Packard, presumably in good shape. This illustrates the rapid depreciation of the heavy cars of that time.

Years ago I read an article on Hitler's limousine. There was one that was often seen in parades and military reviews. On close inspection it had been repainted 7 or8 times, midnight blue, olive drab, blue, olive, blue, olive etc. It seems he had one official parade car and it was repainted as necessary for state or military occasions. Not many of the big limousines were made, they were very expensive, and all were handed out to top Nazi officials or given as gifts to foreign heads of state. It's not like there were dozens of them laying around in a garage someplace.

You do not say if it will shift with the engine stopped, if so this points to a dragging clutch.

This is a new one on me. The only thing I can think of is worn or bent parts in the shifter mechanism at the base of the steering column but I suppose you already checked that. In the factory repair manual under "Hard Shifting" it says a) Improper selector rod adjustment b)synchronizer shifting plate (or plates) damaged or broken c)synchronizer springs improperly installed d)broken or worn synchronizer stop rings e)absence of gearshift rail interlock f)remote control gearshift rod bushings out of alignment or too tight causing the rod to bind g)improper clutch adjustment. It then explains the cure a) Place the transmission gears in neutral position. Loosen the lock nut on the front end of the selector rod. and tighten adjusting nut until all play is removed from the rod. Back off adjusting nut 1/2 turn to allow clearance and tighten locking nut. b,c,d,e, can only be corrected by removing and disassembling the transmission f) disconnect linkage at bottom of gearshift and check the lever for binding. If the lever operates exceptionally hard replace the selector rod bushings or align the burning brackets; whichever is the cause. If you have any more questions just ask.

I remember the same kind of story in the news. Now that I think about it, the story does not make much sense however it does sound like the kind of cover story someone would put out if they wanted to cover up the disappearance of a lot of valuable cars. I have no proof of this, just thinking out loud.

Take it to a good front end man and have it checked over, worn parts replaced and get an alignment. When they were new they were not hard to steer and shouldn't be hard to steer now. If you want to have a real masterpiece of a Ford, have the wheels checked and trued up and tires balanced. New shock absorbers all around. And here is a real trick, get a steering damper and have the caster set to 0 or close to it. This will reduce steering effort and sharpen up the steering. German cars like Mercedes, BMW, and VW were set up this way for years. You have to have a steering damper or else some caster, to prevent shimmy. If you use radials pump them up to 32 PSI for easier steering.

120 MPH on 3 inch wide tires made of cotton cloth dipped in tree rubber on a surface of wooden boards dripping with motor oil, in a car with no seat belt no roll bar no windshield and 2 wheel brakes. Safety equipment consists of goggles made of window glass cotton coveralls and a leather helmet. Yes I guess you could say that.

Sometimes it's just low pressure due to a clogged filter and thinned out fluid. A fluid and filter change will fix it. Usually this works.

Here's a wild one. A quick search turned up what purports to be the only surviving film of board track racing in the world. It was made in 1919 by the Czech distributor of Indian motorcycles, and the only copy in existence was found under the bed of an old lady in Prague in 1995. BOARD TRACK RACING

Someone made a replica of an XK120 with a fibreglass body on a Japanese pickup truck frame. Sounds like a good starting point for what you want.