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2008
BACK AT IT !!!
 | 4/27/08 - Well, spring is here and I'm back at it again. Hope everyone is
doing well. Just came back from Carlisle, bought a brand new waterpump,
wheel cylinder kits, master cylinder kit, a nice set of Unity 6v amber fog
lights, and some automobila. I started work on the Dodge again today, I
removed the hood and side panels, then pulled the fan and waterpump, then
pulled the radiator. I am going to turn the radiator upside down and flush
it out again. I need to get a look inside now and see what the water
distribution tube looks like, I have a new replacement one if needed. Then
I'll install the new waterpump. I'm hoping this will get my overheating
problem corrected. If so, then it's on to the brakes and clutch. I was able
to find another oil pressure gauge over the winter, that's on the to do list
as well. |
| 5/2/08 - Was able to get a look at the water distribution tube and it
looks good and solid. All complete, and actually quite shiny. So I decided
on not pulling it out and changing it. I installed the new waterpump and
gasket, I flushed out the radiator upside down, then re-installed. New
gaskets on the thermostat gooseneck and heater bypass. All back together now
and hopefully ending my overheating problem. Now I directed my attention to
the brakes, pulled the front wheels yesterday, the shoes were actually in
good quite condition, as were the drums. I rebuilt the front wheel cylinders
and repacked the inner and outer wheel bearings. Waiting on a wheel puller
tool that I just ordered so I can do the rear now. Then I might rebuild the
master cylinder next after that.
I worked on the frozen clutch, I blocked the pedal and removed the
inspection plate. I was able to get a putty knife all the way around as I
clicked the starter to turn the flywheel to move it full circle. So it
appears to be free from the flywheel. |
| 5/30/08 - Moving right along in the resto on my '39 D11 but ran into a few
things, I have rebuilt the front brakes, and
repacked the inner and outer bearings. Now I am working on the rear. I have
rebuilt the rear wheel cylinders, and sent the shoes out for re-lining, and
the rear drums are being turned. One side on the rear was leaking rear
axle oil into the drum and contaminated the shoes. I pulled the brake
mounting plate and rear axle outer oil seal. I have replaced the oil seal
with a new one. Second issue, I was able to get one horn to sound, one
will not. The test light shows it is getting power to it but it will not
sound. Just a bad horn? Would it be the relay? |
| 6/2/08 - I took apart the horn and cleaned it up, I now have both horns
working. No new relay needed. |
| 6/5/08 - There has GOT to be a better way! I've almost got my brakes all
back together and I will be ready to bleed them soon, so I wanted to make
sure that the master cylinder was full. To try to get to it under the hood
was very difficult, so I lifted the carpet and saw screws along the floor
board. I ended up having to remove the screws around the steering column
grommet, then the gas pedal, then the carpet, then remove the floor panels,
two of them, to gain access to the master cylinder. When lifting the floor
panels I accidentally yanked the wires from the dimmer switch and had to
figure out what went where. Then, was able to fill the master cylinder by
lying under the steering column. Is there an easier way??? Just seems like
an awful lot to go through to add some brake fluid. I saw a special glass
filling container pictured in my Dodge Service Manual, but I would think the
odds of finding one of those would be slim to none. |
| 6/7/08 - I have been recently doing the brake work. I have rebuilt all
four wheel cylinders and have installed re-lined shoes. I topped off the
master cylinder and attempted to bleed the brakes and had zero pressure in
the pedal. The master seemed to be leaking at the dust boot, as I could see
air bubbles and fluid coming through a crack in the rubber boot. I removed
the master, honed it out nice, and installed a rebuild kit. I got it back in
the car, re-filled it and still zero pressure? I know there must be a lot of
air in the system, as I have rebuilt all the wheel cylinders as well as the
master, but when I try to bleed them, I do not even hear any air coming out,
and no fluid comes out at all. |
| 6/14/08 - I pulled the brake line at the master and pumped the pedal, and
fluid pushes out, so I must be okay at the master. I was able to bleed the
two rear, after some pumping and re-filling I got fluid out the two rear
bleeders. Now I am trying to do the front, but no luck as of yet. Still
cannot get any pressure, and still cannot get any fluid out the front
bleeders. I took the bleeders out and they are clear. I do not see any leaks
anywhere, and I do not see the level going down in the master. So I am still
stumped here. |
| 6/25/08 - Very discouraging... I got it all back together today, put the
floor back in etc, was actually going to try taking her down the road. Went
to start her, she wouldn't start. It would burn gas I poured into the carb,
but would not run on her own, wasn't drawing gas from the tank. I looked at
the transparent fuel filter I had placed in line under the frame and it was
completely black. I took it off and it was full of a pancake syrup thickness
black sludge. I think the new gas in the tank has loosened up old gas
varnish that must be in the bottom of the tank, and now it drew it into the
gas line. I took the drain plug out of the gas tank and drained the gas,
after the gas ran out it started dripping the thick black crap, I'm letting
set and drip. On a good note, thanks to the in line filter I had put on, it
did not make it to the fuel pump or carb. I need to clean out the tank and
fuel line running from the fuel pump back to the tank. I do not want to drop
the tank, what is a good substance or product I can pour into the tank to
clean out the sludge? Will kerosene work? If it weren't for this new set
back, I'd be driving! |
| 7/4/08 - Okay, I FINALLY got brakes. It ended up being the front hoses,
totally clogged and blocked, could not even blow any air through them. I put
on two new ones and voila, I have brakes. Got them all bled, good solid
pedal. Didn't have any brake lights though. Would not light when I stepped
on the brake pedal. I jumped the switch and they would light, so figured
switch was bad. I installed a new switch and now I have brake lights. |
| 7/7/08 - I just bought a gallon jug of gas tank cleaner from J.C. Whitney
Co., it should arrive tomorrow, I'll let you know how well it works. The
gallon jug is concentrated and is supposed to clean up to a 250 gallon tank.
It is supposed to work using enzymes. If this does not work then I'll be
dropping the tank.
On a positive note, I wired up an aftermarket turn signal switch, I just am
not too confident using hand signals, or I guess what I really mean is I am
not too confident trusting other drivers will know what they mean. I also
had the thought that after dark it would be kind of difficult for someone to
see hand signals, not that I plan on driving the car after dark, but hey you
never know what you'll run into.
The original fender top parking lights lent themselves very nicely to being
converted into turn signals, and there are still the parking lights inside
the headlight housings to act as parking lights.
Now I am trying to get the panel lights working. I believe that the switch
is bad, need to get in there with test light tomorrow. I am having a hard
time trying to figure out how to remove the switch from the dash. It is not
held in with the typical nut behind the knob, but rather a round smooth
bezel. Can't seem to figure out what holds it on? I do not want to chew it
up if I don't have to.
I replaced the broken oil pressure gauge yesterday with an original that I
found on ebay. Maybe with any luck I'll be able to drive soon. |
| 7/10/08 - I'm still plugging away on the Dodge trying to get it to
operating drivable condition, I am now confronted with the same problem I
ran into last year when I bought the car, the oil pressure is so high it
fully pegs the gauge and actually bends the inside of the gauge so that it
stays fully pegged and does not return when the engine is shut off. What are
some things that would cause high oil pressure. I installed another gauge
and it did the same thing to that one too. It is reading over 80psi and tops
out the gauge. The oil filter canister does not appear to be getting any
flow of oil to it. The oil pump must be working, as it is pumping oil to the
gauge. Clogged oil passages maybe? Clogged lines? I tried taking a look at
the pressure relief valve, the spring would come out, but I could not get
the plunger out. So I am stuck and troubled on this one....??? |
| 7/11/08 - I was tinkering around with it today and found that the fitting
going into the top of the filter was clogged. I unclogged it and now I have
oil to the filter, but it overflows the canister. I'll try getting the
plunger to move and see if I can get it free. |
| 7/11/08 - Alright, I tried tapping it just a bit with a small hammer and
punch, and I felt it move backwards, so it is moving at least somewhat right
now. I sprayed in more penetrating oil and I'm letting it soak for a while. |
| 7/13/08 - VICTORY! I got the son of a gun out this morning. Used an easy
out and it worked quite well. Was in pretty tight. I cleaned it up and made
sure it would slide in and out easily and put it back in. Now my oil
pressure dropped and it looks good. No oil blowing out the filter canister,
I took the instrument panel oil pressure gauge out and bent it back and put
it back in, I do not know how accurate it is now, but it reads about 40 lbs
or a little less when you give it some gas. FINALLY... I'm just about ready
to drive! I just changed her oil, straight 30 weight and a new oil filter
element, new fuel filter, new spark plugs, cleaned the carb and the fuel
pump sediment bowl, and oiled the air cleaner. I tweaked the idle speed a
hair, and now she's running quite nicely. Now I want to change the
transmission oil and the rear axle oil, the grease the rear axle bearings. |
| 7/19/08 - I finally gave in and dropped the tank this morning. I wasn't
getting anywhere with it in the car, it was actually extremely easy to drop
the tank. I am using muriatic acid right now to attempt to clean it. I
really do not have a lot of rust it's mainly sludge and varnish. Tar
looking stuff, it was getting into my fuel filter and even was in my fuel
pump sediment bowl, so I do not want to mess around with it anymore.
Hopefully this acid bath will take care of it. |
| 7/29/08 - I have my tank back in, I also replaced the steel gas line. I
dropped the oil pan today, as I could feel quite a bit of thick sludge in
the bottom of the pan when I put my finger in the drain plug hole. It was
quite thick in the bottom of the pan, and there was a spring from a fuel
pump rocker arm along with the sheared off broken arm. Apparently at some
time someone installed a fuel pump incorrectly and the arm was sheared off.
I cleaned out the pan really good, and installed a new oil pan gasket
set. I'm hoping that I do not have any leaks. I cannot start the car
yet as I am not quite finished with the fuel system.
On another note, I changed the oil in the transmission the other day, my
service manual calls for 140w in the summer and 160w in extreme heat of over
90 degrees for a prolonged period. It calls for 90w in the winter. I could
not find a straight 140w, so I used 85w 140, I hope this will suffice. I
also changed the oil in the rear axle, the service manual calls for 90w, and
again I could not find a straight 90w so I used 85w 90. Again I hope this
will suffice. I put straight 30w non-detergent in the crankcase. |
| 7/31/08 - Now I have new puzzle to solve, it won't run. When I had the tar
and sludge in the fuel tank, some of it inevitably got past the fuel filter
and into the fuel pump. I know this because the fuel filter filled with
black goop, and the sediment bowl was filled with black thick varnished gas.
Some of this must have made it to the carb. I replaced all the fuel line, so
I know that's clear. I removed and cleaned the tank so I know that's good. I
replaced the fuel filer with a new one so I know that's good. I installed a
new fuel pump so I know that's good. I have new line running from the pump
to the carb, so I know that's good. I have new gas in the tank, so I know
that's good. The car will not run on it's own. If I pour gas into the carb
it will run on that until it's all burnt, so I know I have ignition and am
firing. The fuel pump is pumping, as the filter has gas in it, and the
sediment bowl is filled with nice new gas. When I cracked open the fuel line
at the carb, it was filled with new gas, so I know the carb is getting gas.
The problem has to be in the carb itself. I am thinking it is probably
gummed up with tar. I have never rebuilt one before. Getting real
discouraged... |
| 8/1/08 - Pulled the Stromberg carb tonight, looks pretty dirty, going to
either try rebuilding it myself or have it rebuilt by a shop. |
| 8/4/08 - Greased the rear axle bearings today. |
| 8/6/08 - Took a crack at rebuilding the carb myself, got a rebuild kit and
went at it. Happy to say that it's now cleaned and rebuilt, and
re-installed and it's running like a top! Now it's time to wash,
clean, polish, buff and make this car shine! |
| 8/10/08 - Okay... not quite time to wash, clean, polish, and buff just
yet... Tried taking her down the road today. What was supposed
to be the first proud drive was instead an episode of overheating and having
to tow it back to the barn. Got it back to the barn and pulled the
radiator. I'm going to have it boiled out by a radiator shop. I
guess I've come full circle now back to the original problem.
Overheating was the reason the former owner parked it 20 years ago. |
| 8/12/08 - While waiting on my radiator work to be done, today I installed
a nice new set of vintage style spark plug wires from the Brillman Co., and
they look sharp! |
| 8/31/08 - Pulled the head today and changed the head gasket, one less
thing to worry about. |
| 9/2/08 - Got my radiator back from the shop and have it re-installed
now. Started the engine to check for leaks and to see if it would
temp. The temp gauge is not working now, must have done something to
it when I removed the sensor bulb from the head when changing the head
gasket. Let the engine run for about 45 minutes, no signs of leaks, no
boiling inside the radiator, but without the temp gauge I do not know what
the temp is? |
| 9/4/08 - What a stroke of luck! Found a mint in the box NOS temp
gauge for a '39 Dodge on ebay! Used the buy it now feature and I now
have a brand new replacement on the way! |
| 10/16/08 - Pulled the generator as tests showed that it was not
charging. The ammeter was at a constant state of discharge when the
engine was running and a multi meter proved it was not putting out any
current, so I dropped the generator off at the shop today to have it
rebuilt. |
| 10/20/08 - Got my generator back, all rebuilt and repainted, looks like
new! Re-installed it and I think I'm good to go now with the charging
system.
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DONE FOR THE SEASON... SEE YOU IN THE SPRING!
To do list for 2009, four new tires from Coker Tire and
a new clutch!
[CLICK HERE] for the 2009 season blog!
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