Rusty_OToole

"Everyone" says flathead engines are no good but "everyone" never drove one. Those who own and drive Chrysler products of that era, including me, know there is nothing at all wrong with original engine, transmission, and drive train. On the brake question, I could go either way. The original brakes if in good shape are safe for all practical purposes. But, if you are going to drive in real meat axey traffic like you see on the interstate today, disc brakes and radial tires can be awfully comforting to have. To answer your question in another way, I have a 1951 DeSoto club coupe with very similar engine, trans, steering, wheels, etc. Right now I am working on a mildly hopped up flathead 6, a 265 cu in as used in the last flathead 6 Chryslers. The car will remain basically stock mechanically including the fluid drive trans. I may change to disc brakes at some future time but right now I am rebuilding the original brakes. I have driven these cars (Chrysler products of the 40s and 50s) and can attest that they are fully practical on today's roads. With the possible addition of disc brakes and radial tires. Also you can surprisingly fast acceleration with the fluid drive if you know how to work it. For example, start off in low range and run it thru all 4 gears. Yes, it is a 4 speed. You can drain off up to half the fluid from the fluid drive unit and have the same thing as a high stall speed torque converter. Furthermore the flathead engine is hardly the worthless junk a lot of ignorant people seem to think. Give your car a good tuneup and try it. Do a compression test. Recently I talked to a mechanic who just finished rebuilding the engine in a 1942 Plymouth. He was very impressed with the performance because he drove the car both before and after the rebuild. Before, the car started and ran OK with no bad raps or knocks from the engine. But the compression was low and the oil pressure was a little low. After the rebuild it seemed to have twice the power and it probably did. This was a guy who owns several hemi and 440 powered Dodge muscle cars from the 70s and has been rebuilding them for years. Of course the flathead does not compare to a race hemi but it has plenty of power for all practical purposes on today's roads. So don't be too quick to change your car. Give it a chance. See if it doesn't impress you with its own merits. You may find you like it even though it is different from anything you ever drove before. And, if it turns out what you really want is a Camaro go out and buy a Camaro. Don't waste your time and money trying to turn a 46 Chrysler into a Camaro.

Try Andy Bernbaum, he should have them. http://www.oldmoparts.com/

I'd try the Bar's Leaks or rad seal stuff. What the heck, it worked for me.

Sounds like you have a good engine and good rad, if it never runs hotter than that you have nothing to worry about. The old flathead 6 will run up to 200 or 205 degrees without damage. Here is an interesting story about a 51 DeSoto six cylinder, eight passenger sedan with a similar motor to yours, that ran nearly 200,000 miles under often extreme weather and temperature conditions. http://www.allpar.com/cars/desoto/suburban-1951.html

So far as I know there is no resistor internal or external on the coil. However on Fluid Drive models there is a box on the air filter brace containing a resistor and a circuit breaker. The resistor draws power from the + side or distributor side of the coil. The circuit breaker draws power from the - side or key switch side of the coil. Both these are part of the control system for the Fluid Drive. They do not supply any resistance to the coil itself. I believe the resistor is only there because it allows cutting the ignition by grounding out the coil without causing a dead short.

You may have to unbolt the pedal pad from the top of the pedal lever. This will allow the pedal lever to drop down thru the floor as you remove the master cylinder. Then you can take it apart on the bench.

So far as I know there is no resistor internal or external on the coil. However on Fluid Drive models there is a box on the air filter brace containing a resistor and a circuit breaker. The resistor draws power from the + side or distributor side of the coil. The circuit breaker draws power from the - side or key switch side of the coil. Both these are for parts of the control system for the Fluid Drive.

I had this happen on a later model V8 360. I put in some stop leak crossed my fingers and drove it for another 2 years. If there is a core plug back there it could have rusted thru by now. If you do take the engine out and find that is the problem it is customary to put 2 plugs in there for just this reason. You put in the first plug in the usual way then put a second one in on top of it.

You will have to remove the pedal first. Then unbolt the master cylinder from the frame. In some cases taking the pedal pad off at the top allows the pedal to drop thru the floor as you remove the master cylinder. In other cases it is easier to remove the pedal at the pivot point on the cylinder. There may also be a removable plate under the carpet. By rolling back the carpet you can take the plate out from inside the car giving access to the cylinder. Unless the brake line is new I find it best to cut the brake line off close to the master cylinder using side cutter pliers, and remove the fitting later with a socket wrench. Then install a new brake line. They always break off anyway and it saves a lot of monkeying around.

Not to be smart but why not just buy a newer car if that is the kind of car you want? A 1957 or newer Dodge will have an OHV v8, torqueflite trans, power steering power brakes torsion bar suspension everything you want except discs. around 1965 or 66 up comes with discs too. A 1950 Dodge is not exactly the hopeless wreck a lot of people think. If everything is in good shape it is perfectly capable of keeping up with modern traffic. To turn that car into the kind of car you seem to want, you would have to gut it like a trout and do thousands of $$$$$ bucks worth of work. It would be a lot better to either accept it for what it is, or sell it and buy the kind of car you really want.

A couple of thoughts here. One is you will be lucky indeed to get over 20 MPG with any 1920s or 30s cars. Exceptions would be the Willys Americar, Stude Champion, Nash 600 and American Bantam. These were all 30 MPG cars. The other thing is, old cars with compression ratios of 5:1 or less will run on a mixture of regular gas and kerosene. There was some discussion on this point a while back. One contributor stated that he drove thousands of miles with an early 30s Buick on 25% kerosene. He reported that it ran fine, did not knock, had more power and ran cooler than on regular gas. So this is something that you could keep in mind for your early car's fuel economy. The lower the compression ratio the more kerosene you can add.

I'ts a question of matching the speed of the engine to the speed of the transmission. When shifting up, if you shift in a leisurely manner the gears will go into mesh easily. There is a knack to it, not too fast and not too slow. When shifting down from high to second gear you need to go into neutral, release the clutch, and speed up the engine to the same speed it will be in, when you are in second. Then declutch and shift. If you are a real cool shifter you can ease off the gas, shift to neutral, match the speed of the engine to the road speed and shift into second all without using the clutch. I have done this many times, shifting up and down without the clutch. Once I drove an old renault with a worn out clutch, I drove this way for a year and a half. Only using the clutch to start off from rest. Finally the clutch got so weak it would slip when I stepped on the gas to climb a hill. The point is, you just need to match the speed of the engine to the speed of the car. Then your trans will shift very easily. You can even do it without the clutch if you are good. With a little practice the technique becomes second nature. Your clutch and transmission will last almost forever in the hands of a skilled driver.

Does the letter R appear in the part number? If so you have resistance plugs. They are made that way for radio noise suppression. This type plug came into common use in the 50s. They will work in your Packard but are not exactly correct.

Stutz made a Blackhawk model and also made a Black Hawk car. The second was a cheaper companion car with a flathead engine.1929 and 1930 would be about right. Look in the interchange possibilities. I suspect the car had a Stutz chassis with bought in engine but don't know the details. It would be interesting to know what parts they used.

Do yourself a BIG favor and keep it original.

No doubt an enormous amount of skill and knowlege is lost every day. I know I learned a lot from old friends alas no longer with us but how much did they take with them? And others I never met? Saw something a few years ago in a book about architecture. This was a conversation that took place in the 50s. One architect was bemoaning the sterile glass boxes that were all the rage and wished someone would build another skyscraper like they did before the Bauhaus movement. Another architect remarked that you couldn't do that if you wanted to because all the old workmen had died out (probably due to starvation)and no one could produce that kind of work anymore. There are old books describing surprisingly ingenious techniques for doing all kinds of thing but I'm sure only a tiny fraction of the old knowlege is preserved. In recent years historians and archaeologists have tried to recreate the world of the ancient past and let people live in them to see what happens. They rediscovered some surprising things but these re enactors were only amateurs compared to the people who really lived it. You could take this all the way back to the stone age, when the skill of flint knapping died out due to the introduction of bronze tools.

If possible use the original iron pistons. For your engine, they will be better than any aluminum piston you can buy. If you can't get the old wide rings you can get rings of the right diameter, half the width, and use 2 rings in each groove. Iron pistons are long wearing, and they seal better and are more silent because they expand and contract the same as the iron cylinder. Aluminum pistons, being light, are better for high speed high RPM use. How fast are you planning on going? To answer your original question. You need the correct bore, the correct pin height, the correct pin diameter and the correct weight. If all these things are the same the new pistons should work. If you use lighter than stock pistons you will have to have the engine rebalanced. Egge Machine Co. can supply pistons for anything. But, they aren't cheap and also I hear the quality isn't what it used to be.

Thanks for the info. Today I went out to check out the engine, about an hour's drive away. The head measured 25 1/4" long so it is the DeSoto/Chrysler block. The bore and stroke measured 3 7/16 by 4" even. This works out to be a 222 or 223 cu in engine. First off I never knew they made one with that short of a stroke. My measurement was done with a steel machinist's ruler. I suppose I could be off by 1/16 but not as much as 1/8. But I swear it is a 4" stroke. I may buy it anyway, or trade for it. Am waiting to see if I can get a reground crank and recon rods, 4 3/4 stroke from the local NAPA store.

If you look at your battery the positive post always corrodes more than the negative side. They figured, if your cable is going to rot off it is cheaper to replace a 1 foot long ground strap. Other than that I don't know any difference. Have wondered why they went to neg ground myself.

I'm sure I have seen cars of that era painted light colors. Beige, cream, pale yellow and grey come to mind. I am sure your car was available in light colors. Is it possible your color samples have darkened with age?

The electronic components are "potted" in some type of plastic or silicone. They are supposed to be sealed in and cushioned from vibration etc. I have never seen one do this, on the other hand I live in Canada and no doubt it gets a lot hotter where you are. Is it an aftermarket unit? It is possible the unit is defective. Either that or some part is overheating badly, probably on the verge of failure. Weak transistors, capacitors etc often burn up when they give up the ghost. I suggest you replace it before it goes completely.

A little more detail would help. Do you mean the shifter won't go into reverse? Or you can shift it but the car won't move? Or when you try to shift it, the gears grind and it won't go in? I suspect the clutch is sticking sometimes, after the car sits around. If the clutch does not release it will be hard to shift into gear with the engine running but if you get going it will work normally. Your transmission is a very simple and rugged sliding gear, manual trans. Except for the self shifting feature (which does not affect reverse). There is nothing much to go wrong inside the transmission. It is probably a linkage repair or adjustment, a sticky clutch, clutch adjustment or some simple little thing. Has your mechanic seen the repair book? He may get something out of it that you are overlooking. The manual is a great help in figuring these things out.

You might try retorqueing the head bolts, sometimes they work loose. A machine shop will check your head with a straight edge. They lay the straight edge on the head and try to pass a .003 feeler gauge under it. If the head is true there will be no room. If the head is warped they can true it up for you. It is quite possible to increase power by milling the head. But, at this stage of the game it's hardly worth the bother. Your engine will last longer if you don't monkey with it.

Very good answer from DeSoto Frank. One detail may have slipped his mind, that is you have push the clutch pedal to the floor when you shift into reverse. Especially if the engine is running but sometimes even when it isn't.

With a flaring tool. Most parts stores loan them out for free if you leave a deposit. To make a flared end on a fuel line or brake line, you need to take your time and work carefully. There is a bit of an art to it, but is not difficult to learn. The instructions come with the flaring tool. Don't forget to put the nut on the line before you flare the end LOL.