January 1, 2002 The Finland Gazette Page P4
First Off - Carburetor Rebuild...
For me, one of the most important issues with owning an old car was having it be mechanically sound. This was most important because at the time I bought the car, I had very little mechanical knowledge. My first order of business was to have the carburetor rebuilt, since it displayed signs of leaking and had trouble starting if it sat for more than a day or two. In this 1988 photo, you can see my Plymouth's Stromberg 2bbl carburetor before the rebuild. Note that the engine is (incorrectly) painted red, which is the way it was when I bought the car. That issue was dealt with when the engine was rebuilt.


Above: Frank from Battery Ignition in Hartford, CT, works on the carb rebuild after disassembling and cleaning. I figured that he would be a good choice for the rebuild, since he had been working on carburetors for decades. Note 'cheesecake' calendar in background.

Right: Finished carb is tested on a special machine to determine that everything is working correctly.
...followed by Engine Rebuild
When I first purchased the car, the engine ran OK. But after a while, I noticed that there was 'blowby' coming out the tailpipe on deceleration. Rather than wait for things to get worse, I decided on a full rebuild. After locating a shop that I felt could do the job, the car was dropped off. These photos from 1990 show the engine being pulled and after it was repainted and reinstalled. Unfortunately, all the internals were rebuilt while I was at work, so no pictures are available.
Above and Right: Engine and air-cooled torque converter are lifted from the Plymouth. Note that the oil pan is incorrectly painted red from a previous rebuild. I had done some initial detailing by painting the valve covers argent silver, which is correct for this engine.
Left: Rebuilt and detailed engine is now installed in engine compartment of Plymouth.
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