49 Chrysler with no compression

i got to ride in it one time, when i was five. what a great time!

I am just dying to get the thing running already, but i have been so
busy and haven't had time to do much to it..

BTW - update.. I removed the thermostat housing, as i said in an
earlier post. So I filled the water jacket with water again and stuck
my coffee-cup heating element in there... cranked the car after
heating the water jacket to 140 and sprayed a little ether in there
while cranking... *POOF* it backfired through the carb.. probably
hosed it up with my luck!

 

Hey, I forgot to show you guys the car...

Here's what it looked like after a preliminary washing..

http://a811.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/23/l_55c900b80ce7ef8593eba20bcc25d08a.jpg

 

VERY COOL. You will have a lot of fun getting it back on the road
again.

Steve B.

 

WOW! That's definitely a keeper, even if you have to start from scratch
on the engine. FWIW, all the wear parts for Chrysler flatheads are still
readily available. Not as common as big-block V8s, but available.

 

Is that the coupe? Which model: Royal, Windsor/Deluxe?
Mine is the 4 door sedan, Windsor. My 40 Royal is the coupe version.
Looks like the chrome is in good shape and you have the hard to find
chrome side spears. Also, the tail lamp housings/lenses are hard to
find for this year car. They were only produced from about March 49
to September, known as the second series 49's, the first series were
carryovers on the 46-48's.

 

It's a Royal Coupe. I will take some more pictures of the car later
when it is not 100 degrees and 110 percent humidity outside..
argh.. damn that global warming... LOL ... I have an idea -- we
should change the season name from "summer" to "global warming"....
aahhahahha

Mostly the chrome is in good shape. A couple of pieces are dinged/
dented from "road hazards" in the past, i imagine.. One of the rear
bumper overriders is pretty well toasted. The taillights are
intact, but show some cracking internally.. I was afraid of hearing
what you said -- the taillights are hard if not impossible to find..
The only broken lens is the one on the top of where the chrome on the
back of the trunk says "Fluid Drive". I guess it is the license
plate light.

The trunk is a little rusty and that band around the back under the
trunk is pretty well rusted as well. It looks like someone used
lead foil (was there such a thing?) to temporarily fix that part..
The door sills are rusted and there's a nice hole right above the
master cylinder. Other than that.. when I go to remove what I think
is rust on the bottom of the car, it turns out to be some heavy
undercoating... or some 45 year old georgia red clay... i'm really
amazed at the structure of this thing.. if it were built today, I
believe it would be a terrifically expensive piece of machinery what
with all the extra gusseting that today is considered "overkill".

The cowl vent leaks... not a whole lot, but i found out when i washed
it, it does indeed leak .. can't wait to use that 55 mph A/C ... LOL

Just got the generic wiring harness today in the mail.. woohoo!
Can't wait to see how difficult it's going to be to install.. I think
I'm going to have to re-use a majority of the old connectors... lots
of soldering..

 

Look at Andy Bernbaum Auto Parts. Great source for all old Chrysler
parts. The cowl vent is no problem, as are complete gasket sets,
door/window handles, lenses, check it out.

 

excellent site! Thanks!

 

Nza wrote:

They usually do. You can adjust them to clamp closed a bit tighter, but
unless the rubber seal is in good shape it'll leak a tad.

Warn your date you're about to open it if she's wearing a skirt. Or
don't.... ;-p

 

LOL... i'm the type that wouldn't warn anyone except a relative or old
lady..

 

I was wondering if it's possible to access the valves without removing
the manifolds?

 

On the passenger side front tire, remove it and there is a panel on
the wheel well, remove that and you should see the side valve cover.
Make sure that you have a new gasket, which you can order from
Bernbaum. The cover is held on with two wing type nuts, easy to
remove.

 

Awesome! I truly value your (and the others as well) information on
this car. I wish I had paid attention to the car about 10 years
ago.. Now, I am way more thoughtful than I was at age 21.. however,
the engine might not now be in the condition of stuck-open valves had
i been as thoughtful then.. ah well.. it will run soon!

 

Define "access."

IIRC, you can get to the cover and remove it and look around (and maybe
even compress some of the springs) with the manifolds in place. But I
don't think you can get a spring compressor at all of them without
removing at least the exhaust pipe, if not the manifold itself. If
you're just going to inspect/clean/unstick things then give it a try.
Remember, you can remove the hole fender to improve access, if
necessary. Not that big a job.

 

Indeed, what you say is what I intend to do... just try initially to
free the valves via the valve covers. I went out and sprayed all the
fasteners with PB B'laster on the inner fender... let me tell you..
that is one hell of an inner fender... i was expecting some dinky
sheet metal cover where i could barely get my arm in there... however,
i found a huge piece of heavy sheet metal with like 10 screws holding
it in..

LOL... I know why we won WW2... really .. it's obvious if you work on
anything from that period. It's so hard to understand why so many
people have embraced socialist ideals in the past 60 years..

I love this car.. It restores my faith in America.. maybe someday
we'll get the gov't out of our pockets and back to the way things used
to be... but i'm not going to hold my breath. And I apologise for
everything I say turning into some half-assed political statement...
LOL

 

I charge my 8v battery with the 6v charger. This works very well with my 47
Windsor. The starter cranks fast and the lights are bright.

 

I found this out as well a few days ago.. i just tried setting it on
6v, then checked with the meter and it read 8.5v .. doesn't charge it
quickly, but it does charge it.

 

Well, I finally had time to remove the cylinder head from the
engine.
Bad news, #5 cylinder is galled like a mo-fo... has some really deep
"marks" at the back end of the thing. Looks like it was probably
done quite some time ago. I'm pretty certain it would ruin a hone in
a heartbeat.

Can these engines be bored ? Would I be better looking for a "new"
block? I was looking at the top of the block and it looks like
there's not much room to bore the cylinders any wider.

Also, I've managed to remove the 6 intake valves so far.. Can't get
the exhausts to come out yet.. Is there an easy way to remove the
valve springs from the engine? This is the first flathead from which
I've tried to remove the valves.. I assumed it was going to be quite
a bit easier than it is. I haven't managed to get any of the
springs out yet.. I've removed collets from all the valves.
Unfortunately, I now need to remove the oil pan to retrieve half of
one.. those oil return holes are in such a convenient location!
I've managed to remove one spring retainer so far... but that's it.
I'm going to go out and see if I can do better this morning. If it's
this hard to get these crusty, weak springs out, I can't imagine how
difficult it's going to be to install the new parts!

I'm thinking more and more this is going to require a complete
overhaul, possibly including a different block... it's no problem to
me, but didn't want it to cost so much initially..

 

Oh yeah, they can be bored. The castings are very thick. The critical
thing will be finding out what step oversize pistons are available.

Intersting thought- the "big" Chrysler six was made as an industrial
engine for a long, long, time (into the late 60s) so finding one is
possible. But

 

The block can be bored. Don't see any reason it couldn't be sleeved
if the damage is tooo much to take out.

Can't offer any help on getting the valve springs out.

Steve B.