49' dodge, 3 speed fluid drive, flathead 6 L230, stock carb, stock rear end, what kind of top speed are you guys getting out of similar setups? The best this thing will do is 61mph, up hill down hill, she don't care 61mph. Can't decide if I should be looking for a problem?
Check to make sure you're getting WOT (wide open throttle) when the gas pedal is to the floor. 57 years is plenty of time for someone to mess with linkage adjustments.
yea, throttle is wide open, starts misfiring, like she floating the valves, or coming out of timing, but i am unsure if this is actually a problem, or just hitting the top of the rpm that ol motor has.
Have you checked all the usual ignition suspects? Plugs, points, condensor, cap, wires, coil, etc? Those old flatty 6's don't rev all that high, sounds like an ignition problem to me. If it sounds like timing is going out, is your distibutor advance working right? I'd start by checking timing, then secondary ignition items, particularly the points for wear and correct dwell.
The understanding I had was that 70-75 was top mph when they were new. That fluid drive may be killing some of it, but its probably getting close to floating the valves, I doubt the valve springs are as good as they used to be. That thing probably has rear gearing in the 4:10 area, a change to something in the 3:23 range would gain you some highway speed, but might make it an even bigger dog off the line. Did I tell you I wasn't a fan of the fluid drive? One of the sorriest things Mopar ever did. Too bad too, those years the Mopars were pretty well designed and built cars. Gene
caps points, rotor, plugs and wires new, advance seems to be ok, doesn't matter where i set the timing, same problem, so i am taking it this seems wrong to others also?
thats kinda where i was going, if 70 was top in '49 then 61 is probably top now, motors never been apart, compressions at 100, thinking valve springs might be floating out.
btw, any idea where i might find a gear set to change out rear end? i've looked but to no avail, she's got plenty of get up thru first and secong, i could drop some off to get the top.
Couple things to check. My 46 Plymouth will hit an indicated 85 prolly about 75 or so. Peak HP was at 3600. they should run all day at 3200. Couple things to look at. Fuel flow and the little wire connecting to the points in the dizzy. Over time and movement of the breaker plate by the cvacuum advance they can get to the point where only a couple of the strands are connected, or the insullation can break or wear away and allow the wire to short against the body of the dizzy. Quick and dirty repair of the wire assuming the strands are intact is to wrap it with silk or cotton thread, then coat the thread in rubber cement to reestablish the insullation. Now for Fuel flow, check the volume by disconnecting the line at the carb and direct the fuel stream into a cler plastic container. Disconnect the coil wire and have a helper crank the engine with the starter. Count the fuel strokes or pulses fromthe pump. 7 strokes should give you about 6 to 8 ounces of gas int he container. If it is less thatn this you have a problem. Likely cause is either an air leak ont he suction side of the pump, or debris in the intank oilite filter puck. So 1st thing to do is disconnect the line on the tank side of the pump and direct some low pressure compressed air into the line. You should be able to hear a good solid stream of bubbles coming from the fuel filler. this will also blow any sediment out of the tank filter. Item three but not as likely is that the short rubber line between the frame cross member and the fuel pump is soft inside and colapsing under vacuum and restricting the flow at higher engine speeds. Does the car rev freely in second gear??? you should be able to get about 40 out of her. Also set the static timing for TDC on number one. Send me a PM if you need the static timing procedure. Hope this helps.
Well, there you have it... welcome to life in the slow lane. Slap a slant 6 in that pup, swap out the rear end and enjoy it. Or you could just drive everywhere with the left turn signal going and enjoy irritating the driver behind you.
first i get 18mph, same problem, 2nd, i get 30, same problem, 3rd i get 61, and it cuts out. new fuel pump, tanks been pulled, lines are clean, yet i don't remember a rubber line from cross member, gonna go look for it now.
ok, so did replace the rubber fuel line and for gott it, looked at the wire in the dizzy, looks good, yet noticed i can't turn the breaker plate by hand, shouldn't i be able to move this by hand?
I will take issue with the fluid drive being a problem. From your statement your FD is backed up by a regular three speed. These units are pretty much 1 to 1 unless they are low on fluid and pretty much bullet proof. There is a an acces panel on the tranny hump which allows the fluid plug to be removed and the fluid level checked. Its position in the access port also limits the amount of fluid that you can put in. I fyou need fluid the current acceptable replacement is Universal tractor Hydraulic fluid. Look for one that states it contains a low foaming quality. Now on to rear ends. The 3rd member from a mid 70 to late 80's B Body Mopar (Charger, Belvedere, Satelite) are almost perfect, you will need to modify the spring perches a bit and change the driveshaft , and hoock up some cables to your new e brakes. Here is a chart for campatabilty;
I have no problem with the fluid drive, actually i kinda like it, and i changed out the fluid, to a low foam solution, but that list will come in handy in the future, thanks
I believe so, you could also check it with a hand vacuum pump. If your plate is frozen, you are only getting mechanical advance, about half of the 24 or so degrees needed for cruising speed range. If you need a new dizzy, I have a couple three kicking around. I can dig em out and check the plate movement. Also post your question on the Mopar Flathead forum at; http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2
Hook a hand vacuum pump to the dist advance a nd look with cap of and see........sounds like the culprit to me....also rear gearing is a hindrance!
Great thanks for the help, gonna pull the dist, and go thru it, but i think i found it, whats strange is we checked it 4 months ago, and it tested good, but she hadn't run in 20 years so, so it may have locked after a little running, i'll get back to you with the results. Once again thanks.
Just checked your profile. You car looks like the first car I have a memory of. My Dad had a 49 Wayfarer 2 door fast hump like yours in a Medium Blue. He traded it in 55 for a 54 Meadowbrook 4 door two tone light green over dark green. Both were FD wit three speeds. I rember a trip in the 54 from Syracuse to Long Island for a cousin's college graduation. We were on the Thruway (I90) and pop was having trouble keeping up with my uncle's 56 OLDS. guess the old mopar wasn't geared for high speed limited acess travel that was just coming into vogue. I think the gears in that were somwhere in the 3.89 to 1 neighbor hood. Great for the state roads but not so good for the interstates. Just out of curiosity, what size tires are you running????
Running 15" tire, 235 radials, stock wheels, pulled the distributor, oiled it, and it is moving, ordered a new cap points, rotor, and cond. , also figured out when i set the timing, i couldn't get it to advance further than 0, now i found the second adjuster under the base of the dizzy itself. So i may be back to square one, if this don't work, I'm gonna guess its the valve springs.
Change the rearend. I had the same setup in a '48 sedan and swapped in a '76 Torino 9 inch (2.73 gear). Width is perfect and it gave it some highway legs. It breathed easy at 75mph. Yes it was a bit of a dog off the line but jeez it's a small six in an ocean liner so what else would you expect? The '46 I'm currently doing is getting a SBC but using the same Torino rear.
5 speed will cure that. 1st things 1st, get it all running 100% BEFORE making it go faster. It is harder to diagnose coughs and sputters after a cam and intake change.
There was one like that at Bonneville a few years back running in a stock class. It sounded like 300, actual was 67 if my foggy memorey is working today.
Learned to drive a standard three speed with the fluid drive set up, couldn't have been an easier way. Couldn't stall it cluldn't lug it couldn't make it go ungha, ungha, ungha, ungha, whaaaaaaa!!!!!!
GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pulled the dizzy, checked, everything looked ok, pulled it all the way down, cleaned it real good, a few drops of oil here and there, put in new points condenser and a cap, set it, set the timing (same settings as it was) Old points and cap and condenser were less than 6 months old. Ran down the hyway pulling a registered 85mph Getting 25-30 mph first, 25-45 second Thanks for every ones help, It was either a bad part, or somthing sticking, but its right now. once again thanks
Glad you got it sorted out. Given the parts your replaced to fix it, I would guess the points spring was weak and the points were bouncing. Modern points arent nearly the quality they used to be. It's always a good idea to have a spare points and condensor in teh glove box.
i've had some trouble finding the points for this dist, its an "IT" marking, so they are backwards, but now i managed to cross the numbers, so i have 2 spare sets.
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