(51620 mi) Short Circuit Investigation...

Day One:

I disconnected all the devices off the 30 amp fuse which include the headlights, map light, and stop lights.  No change in the car's behavior. Ammeter flickers, and car won't start.

Day Two:

Nothing works.  No flicker in ammeter.  Nothing.  Battery tests fine.  Full charge. 

 Jumped the car to turn it over, and it behaved normally.  Mystery!

Tested main line entering interior.  No reaction.  No electricity apparently flowing through wire.  Unwrapped the wire from an interior loop, and it worked!  Was it an interior short in the wire?  Maybe in this instance when no power was reaching any part of the car.

Day Three:

It's possible that I mis-wired the system.  It looks as though the I ran the power through the fuse before the ammeter, but the fuse should never have been involved.  There is not absolute certainty.  Many wires are still exposed for continued examination.  Tomorrow's run to Disneyland will be a good test.

Day Four:

It is confirmed.  The power to the ignition was being run through the 30 amp circuit breaker, which was a mistake that resulted in weird behavior by the car.  Live and learn!

(51620) Massive SHORT Circuit!

While driving back from a Malibu beach at dusk, I heard a strange noise coming from behind the dashboard.  CLICK...buzzz...CLICK...buzzz...CLICK.  Over and over again.  I then also noticed that my lights went out and later discovered that the brake lights were gone too.  After many, many warnings from fellow motorists about my lightless condition at sunset, I finally reached home.  While the engine was idling properly, the rest of the electrical system was out.  Having no interest at the time, I left it for later.

Thankfully, my Service Manual has a rather thorough circuit diagram to help the service man repair the electrical system, and it looks something like this:

However, I thought that the diagram was rather hard to read, so I improved it.

If you note the red line leaving the STARTER RELAY, it leads to the ammeter, which then distributes the power to the rest of the system.  After removing that line, the short circuit was gone.  I am assuming that the short is hiding under the dashboard.  *SIGH*  After some careful photography and shoving my huge head into the space, I might be forced to disassemble the dashboard.  I hate disassembling the dashboard.  

Summer Supplanting the Chrysler Desire...

With the onset of summer, the beach has beckoned me each weekend, leaving the poor Chrysler to the garage.  While I could drive the car to the beach and other fun summer destinations, the expense, the parking, the traffic would make the effort less enjoyable.  When I'm not beach roving, I have been creating 3D models of various mystery parts.  These parts are usually the ones I would replace without examining them closely because they are factory sealed.  Well, I'm breaking those seals and discovering the inner workings.  My first victim was the Autolite Horn Relay - RAF-4001.

(49122 mi to present) Stupid, stinking electrical short...It MUST be gremlins...

I've been replacing all the electrical motors, solenoids, wiring, and gauges in a slow and expensive attempt to locate a short in the system.  The car will start fine for multiple starts, long drives, and short hops under any weather conditions.  Then, without apparent cause, the whole system will go down, no lights, no starting, nothing.  The solution is an easy disconnect from the battery, and usually the car starts again.  Occasionally, I have to do it twice, but what a bother it can be!

There are other symptoms.  Driving down the road, we'll get a concerned citizen flagging us down from their vehicle to inform us about the right rear brake light not functioning.  We have stopped and verified it.  As soon as I return to fix the problem, it is working again.  I've also noticed that the gas gauge goes wonky once in awhile too.  It appears to be showing the proper fuel level, but I may just be receiving the appearance of a full tank without it actually being full.

I'm running out of things to replace and will have to commit to an entire body long search, following every wire and testing every component.  Before I do that, however, I intend to have the starter rebuilt.  It can't hurt anything more than my pocket book, which already strains for many other reasons.   The upside to the car trouble is the fuel savings.  The car is not running, and the exorbitantly expensive fuel is not being consumed ($4.07/gallon).

The Windsor Newport

CHRYSLER INTRODUCED the Newport body style shortly after the war and it has since become a very popular body type among the old and young alike.  The CLEARBAC rear window, the roll-down side windows, and the wide windshield give open car vision and freedom with the safety of the Sedan.

The Windsor Convertible Coupe

As THE YOUNGSTERS would say . . .  "What a dream-boat," and we follow with "What a dream to drive"!  The Windsor DeLuxe Convertible Coupe . . . one of the smartest and most beautiful cars you ever laid your eyes on . . . with performance that will open your eyes and make you say "that's the car for me"!

(51305 mi) "Poor Adjustment" - The Squeak Revealed

Poor adjustment refers to the clearance of the pad from the brake drum; in the case of the C-51 Chrysler Windsor, it is 0.006 inches.  Six thousandths of an inch requires a particularly exacting tool to ensure that the heal and toe of the pads hit the brake drum equally.  What is the heal and the toe of the brake pad?

The only effective way to illustrate is offering a page out of the 1951 Chrysler Shop Manual, page 56. (see below).  The toe of the brake pad is closest to the wheel cylinder.  The method for using the MT-19H tool requires repetition.  First you adjust the toe then the heel and repeat.   You can spend some time going back and forth between adjusting the heal and toe until the pad appears to be reasonably even and round.

Once you have the whole thing adjusted, it may still need final adjustment on the car.  It becomes especially apparent when the brakes pull to one side or the other.  

I had another particular problem with the adjusting cam - the bolt and pin turned but the cam did not.  It was an interesting problem.

Someone had originally tack welded the cam to the pin, which worked fine until the weld broke.  I tried the same technique but used epoxy to secure the pin to the cam.  That worked like the tack weld.  My most recent attempt included a torch and a hammer.  There is no assurance that it'll work any better.  However, I plan to replace the drum brakes with disc brakes soon.  It is a large expense, but well worth the trouble if I plan to keep the car.  

After twenty years, I plan to keep the car until I can't see the road anymore.