[JayD]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Nice going jayD! Congrats on your awesome resto! 'been following this thread though posting here for the first time.

And the Kingsway really looks a million $! Truly like the 'King' of the road (rather than those heavy vehicles that have the title painted on! )

Oh, and speaking of roads, if I might be a little , you do seem to have really nice roads there! Yours is the 2nd city (after Bombay) that I've seen decent roads in. This turns out very helpful to drive a classic car around. 'wonder when Hyderabadi roads would turn out as good!

Thank you chetta!!

The roads here are pretty nice actually. We did ave out spell of a few years where the roads just disappeared, but now its pretty good, and classic car friendly!

More than the roads in Hyd, i found the traffic to be manic. I found it very difficult to navigate in a modern car itself, let alone a classic!

Originally Posted by manishalive

Wow JayD chettah, this is one of the best DIY advice I have come acroos on the forum in the recent past. Thanks for the information. Things like this would make restoration an easy affair. By the way can you post this also in the thread -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintag...-classics.html

I found only this thread relavent.

Thank you chetta!

Ill surely update the meter resto in that thread. Am getting one meter after the other corrected. Once all of it is done, ill share the same there too!

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Steer, I will tell him when I see him next, that his retirement employment/engagement is assured with JayD.

Haha!! Absolutely!!


JayD hats off to your commitment and ingenuity in bringing back the meters as well to full working condition.

Beautiful restoration, the Amby as well.

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram[/quote]

Thank you sir!

[JayD]

Originally Posted by Bulldogji

jayD, HI.

Your dedication to the dodge and it's restoration is commendable. Congratulations on a very neat car.

Your last post, showing oil pressures makes me comment. I assume the two readings are when the engine is at idle, RPM being around 600, and the other with the RPM being around 1500, after the engine has reached its operating temperature of 80 degrees Celsius.

The difference between the two readings prompt me to request you to re check bearing clearances as you seem to have excessive clearances resulting in a large drop in oil pressure. If you check with a modern gauge you should have a reading of approximately 25psi at idle and 40psi at 1500RPM at operating temperature.

I mention this only because I see in you a perfectionist.

Thank you Sir, for your valuable inputs about the Oil pressure meter in my Car.

The first picture of the Oil Pressure meter shown by me in the post, is when the engine is not working and the second is, when it is running at Idle speed. I was following this procedure of illustration as in the previous two examples of Ampere meter & fuel meter, showing them in non working & working conditions. Probably you were alerted seeing the first picture where in the meter showed a very low reading ( engine not working ) and thought that this was the oil pressure at idle speed of around 600 RPM. I thank you for your guidance and suggestions for checking the oil pressure with a modern meter just to make sure that the pressures are correct at idling & at 1500 RPM. I will be doing this check just to be sure.

Shown below are the two pictures of the Oil pressure meter at idle and on application of throttle, once the engine has stabilised






Since these meters, (which are almost 60 years old ) are not calibrated like the modern gauges,I think that they were probably meant to give only a fair idea to the driver on the engine behaviour at high & low rpm.

[sankar009]

Commendable effort,time and money must have certainly gone into this restoration.
The previous owner made the cardinal mistake of tampering with the firewall.Cant see why it was needed for plonking in a diesel engine

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by sankar009

The previous owner made the cardinal mistake of tampering with the firewall.Cant see why it was needed for plonking in a diesel engine

Well, think about this. The Dodge Kingsway/Plymouth Savoy,being quite big, when compared to the usual Ambassadors, would a typical "Matador" engine , i.e The Mercedes Benz OM616, be powerful to lug about the weight of a well...HUGEish American Tank?

The OM616, could hardly be used for such applications. 2.4 Litres and 4 Cylinders and what not. Did I mention, it was terribly slow, particularly on the cars for it was designed. The 240D was so sluggish....Goodness!

So, under such circumstances, a larger engine would be mandated, would'nt it?

In comes the six cylinder Brit diesel, the Perkins. Now, Diesel engines tend to require a stronger block, amongst other things, when compared to petrols, don't they? This results in a greater surface area/Swept area/Volume occupied.

Hence, off goes the firewall!

Cheerio!

*If you ask me, the whole Dieselisation concept was flawed* *Out goes the smoothness, in comes the clatter!*

[sankar009]

Originally Posted by FINTAIL

So, under such circumstances, a larger engine would be mandated, would'nt it?

In comes the six cylinder Brit diesel, the Perkins. Now, Diesel engines tend to require a stronger block, amongst other things, when compared to petrols, don't they? This results in a greater surface area/Swept area/Volume occupied.

Hence, off goes the firewall!

Cheerio!

*If you ask me, the whole Dieselisation concept was flawed* *Out goes the smoothness, in comes the clatter!*

The end result of that would be lesser strength to the frame and the weight bearing capacity of the A-pillars

[JayD]

The last of the meter units on the Dodge dash panel which was to be activated was the temperature gauge. Quite naturally, this unit was also dead in our car. Before attempting to revive this, a bit of a study was done to understand the working of this unit in comparison to the commonly seen units. There are several types of temperature gauges in use, the most common among them being the one with mercury filled capillary connected to a gauge and the expanding mercury providing indication of the temperature on the meter dial. Modern day gauges have sensors connected to micro chips which in turn give precise temperature information on the meter. The indication can be either digital or analogue. Silicon diodes are temperature sensitive and are being used in several applications as temperature sensors.


The temperature gauge works on a different principle, in the Dodge. It has two electromagnetic poles behind the dial .The coil on first pole is directly connected to the 6 V supply line (created for the fuel gauge ) and the other end of this coil is connected to earth, or body. The coil on the second pole is connected to the same 6 V supply at one end and the other end is connected to the engine sensor unit which is mounted on the cylinder head of the engine in the radiator water route. This engine unit is called a Thermistor , which actually is an abbreviation for Thermal Resistor. The unique feature of this type of sensor is that it is not only temperature sensitive but its resistance decreases with the increase in temperature.

There was no trace of any temperature sensor on our engine head and the hole to fix this unit was plugged with a bolt. A suitable Thermistor was identified from e bay ( cost - US $ 15/) and order was placed for it. It reached within 10 days .Given below are the pics of the Thermistor.









Working principle

When the ignition key is turned on, the 6V supply flows through the first coil and magnetises this pole. The magnetic force pulls the meter needle to the left which is the ‘COOL’ position. The second pole applies only a weak magnetic force on the needle at this time because it has the sensor in series with the coil and the cold resistance of the sensor ( which is nearly 650 ohms) limits the current flow through this loop. Once the engine warms up, the resistance of the thermistor starts to decrease depending upon the coolant temperature. This in turn increases the magnetic field through this electromagnet (due to lower resistance of the sensor and higher current flow) and pulls the needle to the right which is the ‘HOT’ side. Thus, depending upon the cold & Hot resistance value of the thermistor, the dial indicates the temperature condition of the engine.



Once the new thermistor was installed and connected, the gauge promptly started showing the correct reading, letting us know how cool or hot, the king was feeling!!

[JayD]

Well, its been some time since the last update on this thread.

The king has been doing well, and has had quite a few trips around town, and he seems to be happily taking in the changes that have occurred in the outside world, since he went into a slumber.

People too seems to be quote shocked to see a yank tank, happily running around in traffic, as though it was his daily routine.

His first Fillup from a petrol pump in over 30 years!!



Lunch stop!






Taking in the view, basking in the glory!








Have a great weekend everyone!!

[Steeroid]

The King is lording it over lesser subjects! Fantastic pics, Jayadeva - looking forward to a ride in it later this month.

[coloneljasi]

@ JayD: The Kingsway looks regal, that colour is just fantastic. If Dodge were still selling cars in India, this would be the centre piece of their showroom.

I'd love to see the car in the metal the next time I'm in Kochi.

[car love]

Originally Posted by JayD

Well, its been some time since the last update on this thread.

The king has been doing well, and has had quite a few trips around town, and he seems to be happily taking in the changes that have occurred in the outside world, since he went into a slumber.

Your photography skills are now approaching your restoration skill Keep up the good work!!

[KPS]

Originally Posted by JayD

Well, its been some time since the last update on this thread. The king has been doing well, and has had quite a few trips around ......
Have a great weekend everyone!!

Hey, JayD it was nice catching up with you and actually seeing your cars. The King is certainly doing well considering the condition you got the car. Glad to note all your cars are regular drives. Your house and the cars next to the Cochin backwaters makes a wonderful sight. All the very best for your next project, when you find the right car.

Cheers

KPS

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by JayD

Taking in the view, basking in the glory!

Amazing car in amazing location. May I know where these pictures were shot?

[NNair]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this restoration job. The effort that goes into something like this, is no joke. Add to that the lack of parts in the market, the amount of fabrication required and the dwindling number of Ashaans (highly skilled dedicated workmen).

The final photos were fantastic. Absolutely jaw dropping!

[priyo]

Beautiful restoration. I have followed the process with deep interest and the result is amazing ! One small observation - is the front bumper in need of some adjustment ? From the photo it seems the wrap-around of the bumper is angled instead of being truly horizontal. A minor point, perhaps overlooked on an otherwise great job of painting and re-chroming. Please share some interior details , too .

[CrazyStuff]

Hats off to you Jay !
One of the beautiful restorations, would like to see the car once, I am also from Kochi. Can you please PM me your location and contact details, if you don't mind?