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Comparing Older Domestic Engines

87 messages,  Last post on Nov 23, 2010 at 9:55 AM

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Messages Page 7 of 9

#58 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [armes] by hpmctorque

Sep 10, 2010 (12:20 pm)

Replying to: armes (Sep 10, 2010 11:58 am)
My parents owned 5 Mopars ('51and '56 Plymouths, '57 Chrysler New Yorker, '60 Valiant and '69 Dodge Dart with the Slant 6) with ~65,000-110,000 miles on them before they were traded. None overheated, ever. I think they replaced a couple of water pumps, but never a radiator. Maybe these were the exception, but all were running well, though worn, when they were traded.

#59 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [hpmctorque] by andre1969

Sep 10, 2010 (12:26 pm)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Sep 10, 2010 12:20 pm)
Now that I think about it, I replaced the water pump on my '69 Dart, which had a slant six, as well. I think the worst was my '89 Gran Fury. I had to replace the radiator and a couple freeze plugs in 2000, and I think it was 2003 that the water pump finally went south.
 
And looking back, I was wrong about my '68 Dart's water pump. It was actually the starter I was thinking of, as that was one thing in common that the Dart, Newport, and Gran Fury all needed replacing on. The Dart had a seam that kept blowing though, where the top of the radiator was soldered to the tank. A friend of mine tried to fix it twice, but it kept leaking. Had the repair shop fix it, but it came back again after a few months. Finally, I took it out, took it to a radiator specialist, they fixed it, and I never had another problem.
 
I was really disappointed in that Gran Fury, considering it was the youngest Mopar I'd ever had up to that point. I thought going from a 19 year old Newport with over 250,000 miles, to a 9 year old Gran Fury with only 73,000 miles, would give me a big boost in reliability, but in retrospect, I should've held onto that Newport!

#60 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [andre1969] by isellhondas

Sep 10, 2010 (1:40 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Sep 10, 2010 12:26 pm)
Water pump replacements used to be very common in ALL cars. If you got 40,000 miles out of your water pump that was about par.
 
Same thing with alternators and starters. We replaced these constantly and thought nothing of it.
 
Now, when something fails on a car with 120,000 miles it's a MAJOR problem and the people run to the "problems" boards and whine about how they have been wronged and how it must have been a "defective design"!
 
Epecially if it's a Honda.

#61 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [isellhondas] by oldcem

Oct 21, 2010 (9:26 pm)

Replying to: isellhondas (Sep 07, 2010 1:15 pm)
I actually own a 1948 Chevy with its original 216 engine. The old "Stovebolt" does use dippers on its con rods for low speed lubrication. However at higher RPM, it uses a set of 6 nozzles to spray oil at the dippers, and, create an oil mist to lube the other engine internals. Mine is rebuilt, and, runs 15 PSI oil pressure at speed. The car retains its stock 4:11 rear end, so, about 65 MPH is about its top comfortable cruising speed. While its only rated at 90 HP, it makes almost 200 Ft-Lbs of torque, and, moves my big 2 door Town Sedan reasonably well.
 
Regards:
OldCEM
1948 Chevy Fleetmaster 2 Dr. Town Sedan

#62 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [oldcem] by euphonium

Oct 22, 2010 (11:32 am)

Replying to: oldcem (Oct 21, 2010 9:26 pm)
Agree with you. My '39 Master DeLuxe had the identical mechanicals and 60 mph was it's best and smoothest speed. I used to have an oil soaked "blanket" with two holes that fit over the tappets. That thing was effective as long as the intakes were adjusted to 6 thousandths & exhaust 13. We drove it from 1950 to 1958 lasting from high school through college & the Army.

#63 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [euphonium] by oldcem

Oct 22, 2010 (9:34 pm)

Replying to: euphonium (Oct 22, 2010 11:32 am)
Brings back memories - In the early 60's, while I was in High School, I was running around in a 1937 Dodge Business Coupe with a stock flathead in it. She made about 60 - 70 HP I think. As I remember, the engine only had 3 main bearings, and, would torque knock if lugged in 3rd gear. She could only make 60 with a tailwind.
 
Regards:
OldCEM

#64 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [euphonium] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 23, 2010 (7:59 am)

Replying to: euphonium (Oct 22, 2010 11:32 am)
Pre-war engines were built for torque and smoothness, certainly not for revs---that was a sure way to wear them out quickly. Not until you got those short-stroke V8s could you start to wind up domestic engines. This is one reason you see overdrives on a lot of the older cars with flatheads.
 
Of course, back in the day, people were expected to overhaul their engines periodically, even at 40K to 60K miles.

#65 of 87 Comparing Older Domestic Engines by armes

Oct 24, 2010 (7:17 pm)

The manual for my 1917 Olds Flat Head V-8 even says the oil should be changed once every week!

#66 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [armes] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 24, 2010 (8:35 pm)

Replying to: armes (Oct 24, 2010 7:17 pm)
I guess people had time for things like that, back in 1917.
 
Of course, engine technology wasn't too advanced back then, so the piston rings probably let a lot of compression leakage into the crankcase---that makes oil very contaminated quite quickly.

#67 of 87 Re: Comparing Older Domestic Engines [Mr_Shiftright] by hpmctorque

Oct 25, 2010 (6:40 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 23, 2010 7:59 am)
Very true. Was the Ford flathead V8 an exception, in a way, in that couldn't it wind up pretty well, especially when modified, as many of them were?

Messages Page 7 of 9

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