Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[Big Man]

The emergency/park brake on my '48 Plymouth no longer holds. It can't be adjusted any tighter, but needs to be resurfaced (or whatever it's called). Does anyone know a source for this?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Andy Bernbaum has the curved gripper band brake liner that goes around the driveshaft -- http://www.oldmoparts.com/parts-service-brakes.aspx. Scroll down to the bottom of the page -- catalog number G-228 for $39.50 should sort you out.

 

[Stanley Doble]

On your car the handbrake is a separate brake on the back of the transmission. The new lining must be riveted to the brake band. At one time this work could be done by any well equipped garage or auto machine shop but since bonded brake linings came in, they all got rid of the riveting machine.

A round about way of saying you should order the relined brake band or send your old one in to be relined. Part # G224 on the page Lizzie linked. Unless you are lucky enough to have a shop nearby with the old brake riveting machine.

If you want to be sure it works properly you should invest in a new brake cable as well. I know it costs a lot of money for both the cable and brake band but it only has to be done every 65 or 70 years.

 

[Big Man]

Andy Bernbaum has the curved gripper band brake liner that goes around the driveshaft -- http://www.oldmoparts.com/parts-service-brakes.aspx. Scroll down to the bottom of the page -- catalog number G-228 for $39.50 should sort you out.

Thanks for the link. I have their catalog, but somehow completely missed seeing that part.

 

[Big Man]

On your car the handbrake is a separate brake on the back of the transmission. The new lining must be riveted to the brake band. At one time this work could be done by any well equipped garage or auto machine shop but since bonded brake linings came in, they all got rid of the riveting machine.

A round about way of saying you should order the relined brake band or send your old one in to be relined. Part # G224 on the page Lizzie linked. Unless you are lucky enough to have a shop nearby with the old brake riveting machine.

If you want to be sure it works properly you should invest in a new brake cable as well. I know it costs a lot of money for both the cable and brake band but it only has to be done every 65 or 70 years.

Very good advice. Thanks.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I second the brake cable advice. Mine was quite stretched out.

 

[Big Man]

When it rains, it pours ... In this case, it's gas.

I'm getting ready to have my '65 Ford painted (it needed to be done about five or six years ago, but that's another story). Since the Ford is my every-day car and my '61 Chevy isn't finished with it's restoration, looks like the '48 Plymouth will be my daily driving car for the two weeks the Ford will be out of use.

The transmission mounts on the Plymouth have needed replacing for a while and so has the emergency/park brake. Neither of these have been much of an issue (although they have needed addressing), seeing that the Plymouth has only been driven occasionally for short "pleasure drives". However, if I'm going to be using it on a regular basis, those two issues really need to be addressed. So, now seemed to be the time to finally bite the bullet and get it done.

I say all that to say this about the most recent problem. I was getting ready to take the car to the shop yesterday. I started it up just like normal (it has always started fine and ran fine - no problems). I backed it out of the garage and lit it sit for a while at idle. All of a sudden the car starts running rough and floods out. I raise the hood and gas is literally pouring from the carburetor. :eeek: I let it sit for a while, work the accelerator a bit, and crank it back up. Same thing. It runs fine for a while and then floods out. Gas pouring from the carburetor again.

Not being mechanically inclined, I'm hesitant to try to "fix" something I know little to nothing about. But, in this case, I grit my teeth, close my eyes, cross my fingers, and take thew top of the carburetor off. I know a piece of trash can sometimes get in there and cause flooding. I also know that the float level is what controls the amount of gas in carburetor. Remembering the advice I'd received before about the slight leak I had after the motor was shut off, I decided to try to see if I could do something.

I managed to take things apart (only the top of the carb and the float), clean everything out that I could find, slightly bend the lip of the float, and put it all back together. Hey, no more leak when I cranked it up. But, the motor quickly died. It tends to do that when it doesn't get ANY gas. OK, so I adjusted the float a little too much.

I take things apart again, and make a small adjustment to the lip of the float. Put it all back together again and it starts, runs, and then floods out again. Gas poring out all over the place.

Well, I tried. Looks like that membership in AAA will pay off (once again).

 

[Stanley Doble]

A run of bad luck indeed.

Get a rebuilt carb from Andy Bernbaum while you are at it. If you were a mechanic, or knew a good mechanic, you could just get a cheap kit and rebuild your carb but under the circumstances, the rebuilt carb is a good investment.

If you or your mechanic decide to tackle the carb, don't go by the instruction sheet that comes with the carb kit. They are incomplete and filled with errors. Get the original service manual either for the car, or from the carburetor manufacturer (your carb is a Ball & Ball or B&B carburetor made by Carter). Follow it to the letter and don't go getting ideas of your own, and your carb will work great.

 

[Big Man]

A run of bad luck indeed.

Get a rebuilt carb from Andy Bernbaum while you are at it. If you were a mechanic, or knew a good mechanic, you could just get a cheap kit and rebuild your carb but under the circumstances, the rebuilt carb is a good investment.

If you or your mechanic decide to tackle the carb, don't go by the instruction sheet that comes with the carb kit. They are incomplete and filled with errors. Get the original service manual either for the car, or from the carburetor manufacturer (your carb is a Ball & Ball or B&B carburetor made by Carter). Follow it to the letter and don't go getting ideas of your own, and your carb will work great.

Sounds like good advice, for sure. Thanks.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have the damndest things happen with the Plodge, just when everything's been running well. Last night as I was driving home from work I heard a gawdawful clicking-clanking noise coming from under the hood -- I was only half a mile from the house, so I got back safe. I thought maybe that new water pump I installed last month had gone south. But when I opened the hood I saw an extremely fierce looking crack in the generator pulley. The edge of said pulley had many small nicks in the edge, as though it had been getting ticked by the fan, although it looked like the fan was clearing it OK when I checked. Maybe vibrations had caused it to get hit just enough to weaken and eventually fracture the metal.

I have a dud generator that should be able to sacrifice its pulley for a transplant, so hopefully I'll be back on the road in a few days. I've seen this happen on my old Volkswagen, but the Plodge pulley looked to be made of sterner stuff. Live and learn.

 

[Big Man]

... I have a dud generator that should be able to sacrifice its pulley for a transplant, so hopefully I'll be back on the road in a few days ...

The good news is it sounds like a relatively easy fix.

 

[Big Man]

My son and his wife were out riding around the other day and spotted this ’65 Ford Galaxie 500 for sale. He sent me the photos and said that it would be a nice addition to the old cars I already have. With a price of $4200, I’ll admit I thought about it for a minute. Now, if it were a ’65 Galaxie 500 convertible for $4200, well that would be another story.

 

[jamespowers]

My son and his wife were out riding around the other day and spotted this ’65 Ford Galaxie 500 for sale. He sent me the photos and said that it would be a nice addition to the old cars I already have. With a price of $4200, I’ll admit I thought about it for a minute. Now, if it were a ’65 Galaxie 500 convertible for $4200, well that would be another story.

A couple hours and a Sawzall could fix that.

 

[Big Man]

A couple hours and a Sawzall could fix that.

:doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

 

[jamespowers]

:doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

:rofl:

 

[LizzieMaine]

The good news is it sounds like a relatively easy fix.

Pulley swap worked fine, but no sooner did I get home than the hood release cable snapped off. I was able to pop the hood open with a glazier's knife -- any long, thin blade will work, but the glazier's knife has a hook shape that fit nicely around the latch stud. I then tied a little loop of hookup wire on the latch leaving just enough to form a finger loop that remains accessible from the outside when it's closed. It's the Mickey Mousiest of Mickey Mouse repairs, but it'll do for the time being.

There's no such thing as a remanufactured/reproed hood cable/knob combo for this car, so I found one for a 1940-48 Chevrolet on Ebay that's generic enough to fit and if I can't get my old knob onto it I'll paint the one that's on there to match what I have. Always something.

 

[Fading Fast]

Pulley swap worked fine, but no sooner did I get home than the hood release cable snapped off. I was able to pop the hood open with a glazier's knife -- any long, thin blade will work, but the glazier's knife has a hook shape that fit nicely around the latch stud. I then tied a little loop of hookup wire on the latch leaving just enough to form a finger loop that remains accessible from the outside when it's closed. It's the Mickey Mousiest of Mickey Mouse repairs, but it'll do for the time being.

There's no such thing as a remanufactured/reproed hood cable/knob combo for this car, so I found one for a 1940-48 Chevrolet on Ebay that's generic enough to fit and if I can't get my old knob onto it I'll paint the one that's on there to match what I have. Always something.

Even though I know, (using your phrase) when you become dictator, I will be taken out and shot or, at minimum, imprisoned on some desolate work island, I am still impressed by you and amazed at your wealth of knowledge, practical abilities and general decency to others. I doubt that will lift my spirits much as I feel the cold steel of the revolver pressing against the back of my drooping head, but still, you have one heck of a range of skills.

 

[Big Man]

... Always something.

No truer words have ever been spoken when it comes to old cars. But, would we have it any other way ...

 

[Talbot]

Pulley swap worked fine...

Good news. I hope you kept plenty of play in the fanbelt.

Years back I learned the hard way not to over tighten fanbelts driving generators.

P.S. you will get a long cable with a truck manual choke kit.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I was told the rule of thumb with setting fan belt tension was just to let the weight of the generator itself determine the point where you tighten up, and not to pull it any tighter than that. Hopefully that's accurate.