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1948 New Yorker 2 year road trip


48NWYKR

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Two styles of dash controlled water valves were available on the 1946-48 Chryslers... depended on which model of heater/ heaters the had.. IE #36, 53, 54, 55 etc.

One was a  brass single outlet and used for single heaters the other a aluminum dual outlet valve for dual heaters and also used with under seat heaters.

Base heaters did not use a dash controlled water outlet valve.

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Hey Guys, so the shop manual says the car uses a +A5+ Autolite spark plug, I am having a very hard time cross referencing that to any plug I know, currently the car has NGK B4 plugs in, what do you guys find work best? resistor or non resistor plugs, old style v newer plugs? The local parts store recommended a set of Autolite 303 plugs to go with the electronic distribution and new wires, to cut down on the noise in the radio... but the old timers are saying they foul up to easy.... thoughts? 

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  • 3 weeks later...

 Dear 48NWYKR,

 

 When I read your first post in this thread I thought you were crazy, but now after reading some of the later posts, I know you will make it!

 

 A word of caution though, nowadays, Mexico is considered a dangerous place to drive. I have a friend that went to Guatemala last year to visit family, and they all had bodyguards with them.

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So.... adding in the AC pump caused me to have to add another pulley to drive it, that meant losing the mechanical fan. Ok... I'll put in electric fans, great! right? I have 2 options, A: easy way, mount them on the front and have them push the air...not that efficient.  Or B: do it the hard way, mount them as pulling fans... So we went with option B. That meant I had to move the radiator forward! "surprise" the fans, despite being very slim do not have enough space.  

Mounting the rad on the front of the radiator bracket (lots of space for the fans) does not work because the hood won't close. sigh.... So I had to find a sweet spot on the inside of the rad bracket where I had enough space for the fans and the hood will close... SUCCESS!!

 

I'll post more pictures when its all painted and in properly.

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Updating an older car is a slippery slope, isn't it? :) But you are doing a great job, and as I've mentioned before this is one of my favorite threads because you plan on driving this car (more than just to the weekly cruise-in and back). The fans look good.

 

I have not had any experience with late '40s/early '50s MoPars, although I admire them for their engineering and their practical styling. Anyway, I was surprised at the shape of the radiator. Never seen one shaped like that, very unique.

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We have suction..... YAY!!!   I could have easily put the fans on the outside blowing in and saved myself many hours and a lots of frustration, but it would have bugged me forever that I did not do it the proper way.  Creating negative pressure behind the rad is just more efficient...

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Thanks for sending us a link to your website. I subscribed for updates. It will be fun to watch and see your family adventures. I had no idea you were in BC. I have been following this thread for about a year. From up in Kamloops. Cheers. - Keith

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  • 1 month later...

OK... its been a while, work kept me busy and all that! But here I am back in the garage. I have been moving along nicely.

I spent an entire weekend redoing the wiring from the firewall forward. Everything inside is still nice and flexible and not brittle to the point of falling apart. So I just left well enough alone. Everything seems in place and it cranks over. I hope to start it up in the next day or so. I might not get to it though as I will be going away again for a week on Sunday. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

More good stuff happening! 6V wiring Done!  Busy with the 12V system to run the AC/Radio/window washer motor/cell charger etc! I only Have one 6V to 12V converter right now but I'm waiting for 3 more,  I can only get 10A going from 6V to 12V so I have to run them all individually. The AC fan in the car draws 7A at max and the electromagnetic clutch on the compressor draws another 4A so I had to split them up and run the clutch through a relay powered by another converter, and somehow I managed to pull it off and it all works!

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Oh and it starts and runs just fine! Set the timing and adjusted the idle. Seems great... as soon as I get the wheels on and the driveshaft in... I might just take it for a spin.

Having trouble getting a video of the start done, but I'll have it on the other website soon I hope!

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On 10/22/2018 at 9:39 AM, c49er said:

You might hear excessive hissing noise from the modern air cleaner as you have no silencing chamber now.

Straight eights suck a lot!?

Yeah I heard it when I started it up for the first time! It sure moves a lot of air through a very small carb. Unfortunately that was the sacrifice for installing the AC pump. I'm sure someone better at this stuff than me could have come up with a better plan but it's what I could manage with what I had on hand. You win some and you just get by on others I guess. Same goes for the electric fans, mounting them as pulling fans (the better option for proper cooling) within the very small space I had means that it is all but imposable to change the fan belt now, without taking the entire front end appart. I still have not worked that one out yet..... 

Edited by 48NWYKR (see edit history)
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The rest of my 6v to 12v converters arrived! Some careful measuring and hey it all fits and WORKS! 

So the AC fan is running off one unit, and I'm using that signal as a power source to trigger a relay that powers the clutch on the compressor through the second unit. The other two will do the radio and window washer fluid combined, and the last one will charge the cellphones and GPS.

I have a 50A switch on the negative line under the dash so I can turn the 12v system on and off and I have a 50A fuse on the positive line by the battery to protect the 12v system just in case!

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Front-end done! I set the lights and fog lights, did an "at home, old school, string and measure" wheel alignment (good enough to get me to the shop) and as soon as I can get the driveshaft in I will turn it around in the garage so I can get to the rear! For now we keep going on the interior!

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Edited by 48NWYKR (see edit history)
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On 8/25/2018 at 4:56 AM, r1lark said:

Updating an older car is a slippery slope, isn't it? :) But you are doing a great job, and as I've mentioned before this is one of my favorite threads because you plan on driving this car (more than just to the weekly cruise-in and back). The fans look good.

 

I have not had any experience with late '40s/early '50s MoPars, although I admire them for their engineering and their practical styling. Anyway, I was surprised at the shape of the radiator. Never seen one shaped like that, very unique.

Thank You! Despite having no formal mechanical training, I think a bit of hard work and common sense goes a long way! Now it just needs to stay together for the entire trip! I will probably be doing repairs along the way!

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If you guys have some time to kill Google Tevie Smith's "Termite Taxi" the guy is a local legend here in Vancouver and has a 1947 Chrysler! And he has done over a million miles in it!  One of the fine gentlemen I buy parts off up here knows him very well and my family will be meeting him soon to talk and swap stories! I can't wait! I took the two darker pictures as I happened to drive by his place late one night, the other I stole off the interwebs.

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14 minutes ago, r1lark said:

Neat video! Did you already know the rear axle.needed to be rebuilt? Or did you just figure it out on the short test drive?

Nope no idea, I don't want to rebuild it, I just want to replace the seals. The one side was a little damp with oil and the pinion bearing seal is leaking so I just decided to replace them all. I also have new brake pads and slave cylinders. The springs were cheap so I just got a new set, the old ones were sagging and hitting the bump stops from before. This also makes it easier to get to the exhaust!

I borrowed a proper Chrysler puller tool from the 50's to pull the drums off, I just need to figure out how the get the axles out now.

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10 hours ago, keithb7 said:

I did my rear axle bearings a couple months ago.

Hey Keith! Thanx for that! Really neat trick on getting the axle out, I was looking at the axle and wondering if I should go buy a puller or not, well that saves me a trip to Lordco! And since its all open now anyway I'll get new bearings and seals. I have 3 very thin shims on each side that I took off so I hope that with the new bearings I can get the end-play just right.  If you ever want to get your hands on some NOS stock again Ron Whiting is my guy over here, I'm not kidding when I say he has 4 garages full of parts for old Chryslers. Cheers!

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Thanks. Don’t forget to replace the outer grease seals in the brake backing plate. They are super easy to change out while you have it all apart. 

 

I am will be in your area Friday Nov 30. I’d love to drop by and see your project. If we can find a time that works for both of us. I’ll  send you a personal message with my email address. -Keith

 

 

Edited by keithb7 (see edit history)
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On 10/31/2018 at 10:03 AM, 48NWYKR said:

Nope no idea, I don't want to rebuild it, I just want to replace the seals. The one side was a little damp with oil and the pinion bearing seal is leaking so I just decided to replace them all. I also have new brake pads and slave cylinders. The springs were cheap so I just got a new set, the old ones were sagging and hitting the bump stops from before. This also makes it easier to get to the exhaust!

I borrowed a proper Chrysler puller tool from the 50's to pull the drums off, I just need to figure out how the get the axles out now.

Where did you get your rear leaf springs from....I need two sets for my 1950 NewYorkers...

Is  your new  spring height exactly as you like?

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54 minutes ago, c49er said:

Where did you get your rear leaf springs from....I need two sets for my 1950 NewYorkers...

Is  your new  spring height exactly as you like?

 

Contact Laura at ESPO Springsnthings in Danville PA. She is a pleasure to deal with and all-in with shackles/ bolts/ nuts/ rubbers I paid $600 for a new set! They fit perfectly and as far as I can tell from putting the weight back on them they take the load better than the old ones. The old shackles use to hit the frame because they were pushed all the way back because the springs were saggy. These do not have the leather strips between the leafs and I have not had the car sitting on the ground with wheels on it yet so I don't know about squeaking noises or actual ride height yet... but I can take pictures and let you know as soon as its back on its wheels. I also got a great set of coilsprings for the front from them.

 

http://www.springsnthings.com/

Edited by 48NWYKR (see edit history)
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