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1948 New Yorker 2 year road trip


48NWYKR

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8 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

I am a bit concerned about this talk of air shocks and towing a trailer. This may be asking a lot of a car that is not a spring chicken. What exactly do you have in mind?

 

If you are thinking a trunk full of baggage and a small tent trailer or canned ham you should be ok. If you are thinking a family of 5, full trunk, roof rack loaded, towing an Airstream all bets are off. Sell the Chrysler and buy a motorhome or a Chev Suburban.

NO Airstream.... to dam heavy, just a small canned ham style. Nothing to big or heavy. Only the most necessary items. travel light.

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In October I drove my '52 Chyrysler Saratoga from Ann Arbor, MI to Utah and back. It was about a 4,500 mile round-trip journey. I agree with every single thing that Rusty has said. I would certainly give everything a good once-over but I think it's a bit extreme to rebuild an engine if it already has good compression and oil pressure. To prepare for the trip I fixed everything that was leaking and brought with me the following spare parts:

  • Water pump
  • Fuel pump (six volt electric)
  • Distributor with fresh points, cap, and rotor. 
  • Coil
  • Six volt generator (recently serviced by a reputable rebuilder of old-time automotive electrical components)
  • Three Chrysler voltage regulators (all untested...ran out of time).
  • Belts
  • Idler pulley
  • Governor for the transmission

My car is equipped with the original 331 hemi and the fluid torque drive two speed "clunk-o-matic" transmission (started trip with 83,000 miles). Two things on my car are not of the original configuration. The first is the six volt fuel pump. I removed the mechanical pump and installed a home-made plate where the old mechanical pump used to reside. I did this because my car will occasionally boil the gas out of the carb and having an electric fuel pump makes it much easier to "recharge" the carb once it has had a moment to cool off a bit. This problem never occurred during the trip as I rarely found myself in any sort of stop and go traffic. The other thing(s) on my car that are not of the original configuration are my tires that look like bias ply tires but are actually radials. I really agonized over what tires to run for my trip and wound up running the radials on the old original rims. Everything worked out OK, my rims didn't crack and fall apart as some promised me they would, but what did happen was that my wheel covers would "walk" on the rims and put a lot of strain on the valve stem. I thought that was really weird. I have since learned that my "rotating wheel covers" were a by-product of the radial tires on the older rims. I wound up completing the trip with the wheel covers in the trunk. I would put them on for photo-ops and then take them off while traveling. This was a pain in the rear. I've heard that some guys who run radials on the old rims put a small weld-bead on the rim so the wheel covers won't "walk" on the rim. I"m not sure how I feel about that plan. Moving forward I might try metal valve stems that essentially bolt to the rim. 

 

Oh, I guess I should mention that because my car is still running a six volt generator, I did place a 12 volt battery in the trunk to power-up my stereo and Garmin. I would recharge that battery in hotel rooms every three days. 

 

I encountered two problems during the trip. 1) When I gassed up in Iowa City, I noticed a fair amount of fuel going on the pavement beneath the car. The 64 year-old hose that connects the fuel filler neck to the tank finally rotted through. I had the replacement hose with me and the following day I paid a shop $40 to install it. I bought the hose about four years ago knowing that the hose on my car was beginning to look shabby but I didn't have time to make the switch before I left home. 2) The morning we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the car shut itself down due to carburetor icing. It was a very cold (below freezing) and damp morning. I had disabled a couple of the features designed to introduce heat to the carb area (in an effort to get rid of the fuel boiling issue previously mentioned). I let the car sit for ten minutes and the problem resolved itself.

 

Tools and other stuff:

Other than a standard tool box full of standard hand-tools, I also lugged around...

  • Small Floor Jack
  • Two Jack Stands
  • Dwell meter
  • Timing light
  • Electrical meter
  • Battery Charger
  • Grease gun
  • Marvel Mystery Oil that was added to fuel with each fill-up
  • I ran with pretty standard 10w-40 oil but added some diesel truck oil as well in hopes of getting a little zinc into the mix.

Things I didn't service before the trip that I wished I had...

  • I should have replaced my springs and shocks. 
  • There were a couple of times I would have liked to have had disc brakes up front.

I thought about a dual chamber master cylinder but I didn't go for it. I replaced any suspect brake lines (anything that looked corroded), and felt comfortable that my four year old master cylinder and wheel cylinders were hydraulically sound. When I encountered steep descents, I let my transmission and engine help control my speed. 

 

Anyway, I love your plan. I love a good road trip and they are even better in an old car. I've met some great people along various old-car road trips BECAUSE I was driving an old car. Everyone wants to check out the car and hear your story. I made a brief two minute "music video" about my trip. Enjoy! 

Cheers!

IMG_20161021_102855919.jpg

Edited by Old Car Steve
Forgot to mention a few tid-bits. (see edit history)
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I have never seen  a red "Chrysler Crown" embossed in the end of the Lucite plastic turn signal lever on a 1946-48 Chrysler! The traveler shows it.

Yes I know the red crowns are embossed on the shift lever and cowl vent Lucite knobs but never the T/signal lever knob.

I've restored and worked on many of these 1946-48 Chrysler sixes and eights

It's pretty cool where ever it came from or who ever made it!!!

Some pics of Chrysler 1946-48 Knobs too.

Thanks for all the pictures Dave!!

Knobs C38 C39 Chrysler Lucite Plastic (9).JPG

Knobs C38 C39 Chrysler Lucite Plastic (14).JPG

Edited by c49er (see edit history)
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There was a guy looking for one of those turn knobs a year or so ago.

I don't recall if it was the same guy that was looking for some of the rollers for the roll up windows but I finally have some of those freed up if you happen to be following.

48 parts car for sale cheap.

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Hi there Old car Steve, I really appreciate the information in your post, my plan is pretty much along those lines, I am just going to change the generator for an alternator on this trip. I will keep all the original parts just so that I have the option of putting it back one day but for this trip I'm going with the higher output and internally regulated alternator. Never knew the tires were such a talking point, I was just going to put radials on and did not even think twice about it. I'll have to go do more reading! 

The pictures are great, keep them coming!

 

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15 hours ago, c49er said:

I have never seen  a red "Chrysler Crown" embossed in the end of the Lucite plastic turn signal lever on a 1946-48 Chrysler! The traveler shows it.

Yes I know the red crowns are embossed on the shift lever and cowl vent Lucite knobs but never the T/signal lever knob.

I've restored and worked on many of these 1946-48 Chrysler sixes and eights

It's pretty cool where ever it came from or who ever made it!!!

Some pics of Chrysler 1946-48 Knobs too.

Thanks for all the pictures Dave!!

Knobs C38 C39 Chrysler Lucite Plastic (9).JPG

Knobs C38 C39 Chrysler Lucite Plastic (14).JPG

 
 
 

Those are cool. I'll keep my eyes open when I see these cars. These cars are absolutely beautiful. Especially the T&C Convertible.

1948-Chrysler-Town-Country-Convertible3-528x259.jpg

55361958-770-0@2X.jpg

Edited by countrytravler (see edit history)
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Another  1948 Chrysler.....A T&C I've owned since 1978.....

I do have factory correct NOS Trim rings and wheel caps for it but really don't like the look so I put NOS 1950 Chrysler eight cylinder Cloisonne caps on it back in 1980..

 

C39 T&C Sky Valley Photo Shoot (4).JPG

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On 12/8/2016 at 3:56 PM, c49er said:

Another  1948 Chrysler.....A T&C I've owned since 1978.....

I do have factory correct NOS Trim rings and wheel caps for it but really don't like the look so I put NOS 1950 Chrysler eight cylinder Cloisonne caps on it back in 1980..

 

C39 T&C Sky Valley Photo Shoot (4).JPG

 
 

Same car that I posted above?

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

So "Lucy the Tank" as the kids have dubbed her is getting pulled out of storage today for her TV debut, going to be an extra in a Canadian TV series called Timeless. Its not that much money but the production company will pick it up on a flatbed, pay all the insurance and bring it back as well. A good excuse for me to get some thing done before our trip. Planning a pre trip trip to Sturgis in August, without the trailer. Will see how that goes, that reminds me I still need a trailer hitch, make one or buy one that is the question....

 

Anyone have a lead on an OWNERS manual for the New Yorker? I got the Shop manual (great to have) but the owners manual would be pretty cool as well, I find lots of them for the 6 cyl cars but not the 8.

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  • 2 months later...

So.... here we go, I have done about a 1150km since pulling her out of storage and I have learnt two very important things.

#1 do NOT trust the fuel gauge!!! you will run out of gas at "half" tank!!! (replace the sender unit?)

#2 the old generator just does not cut it! you can NOT have the lights, the radio, the defrost blower AND the wipers on at the same time while sitting in traffic.

So out with the old genny and in with a brand new 100 Amp 6v positive ground alternator :)

(I will keep the old genny so I can put it back to stock if need be)

Other than that she runs just fine, just did 450km round trip this weekend up to the mountains in BC and NO problems!

(big long climbs, high elevation and steep downhills)

She does burn a bit of oil so I might look into that a bit more.

Also scored a great front visor off Ebay for the old girl.

20170408_194223.jpg

20170410_085105.jpg

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  • 4 months later...

Hey guys....

So I have a question..... I have been driving the car for a while now, done more than 2000 trouble free miles (unless you count running out of fuel because of a faulty gauge and a lazy owner) Oh and running the battery dead because the old generator could not keep up! (new 100amp 6v positive ground alternator fixed that!) plus TWO 6v Optima batteries! (will post pic soon)

 

And here is my stupid question.... drivers side right next to the hand brake warning light is a little switch that can go in one of three positions from left to right..... what on earth does that switch do? I've had it in all three positions and all configurations and it does not seem to do anything, so... it probably does not work properly right NOW so really my question should be "what is it SUPPOSED to do?"

 

Thanx!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Perfect! Thanx guys!

That switch must be broken or not wired in properly then. The front courtesy light on the passenger side comes on when you open the door regardless of where that switch is positioned. Drivers side light only flashes when the ignition is on and the hand brake is engaged.

I have the fog lights in the spare hole! 

Slowly working the bugs out!

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  • 3 weeks later...

We were really trying to get going by the end of October but things change I guess, we will still be going! It just looks like closer to January will be more realistic! In the meantime work on "Lucy" has started in earnest, gotta get the old girl ready for her trip!

 

Carburetor / Distributor and Solenoid getting rebuilt/replaced.  

20170927_110137.jpg

20171003_174523.jpg

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Rusty mentioned an aftermarket suspension upgrade that moves the front shock mounting position to the frame instead of the upper control arm where it is now, does anyone have any info on that? I am not having much luck finding anything on the old interwebs... even just a picture of an existing conversion could work then I could just have it made?

Any help or info appreciated!

Edited by 48NWYKR (see edit history)
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Did a Google search for 48 Chrysler shock brackets and got 1,690,000 hits. Here are 2 of them. They are about Dodge and Plymouth cars but very similar to your car.

 

http://p15-d24.com/topic/286-shock-mount-relocation/

 

http://p15-d24.com/topic/29180-f1-shock-relocation/

 

One guy mentions he put new gas shocks on the stock mounts and they work fine.

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