Saturday Night Car Show In Fullerton

Late yesterday after noon I decided to head over to a local car show in Fullerton. I asked the girls if they wanted to go and Ava was the first one in the car. After hangin' out there for a little while when noticed the announcer talking on the microphone running their 50/50 raffle and handing out show trophies. So the girls and I moved our chairs closer so that we can hear who the winners are. After about the 5th trophy was announced Nayah asked "dad if we win a trophy can I go get it?" I was like "yeah, But you have to speak in the microphone"... Next came the trophy for the coolest car. The announcer proceeded to say the winner is #6, a Black, completely original, 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe. I was like WTF... Thats us. Nayah ran up to receive the trophy and speak in the microphone. Here are a couple of photos taken with my iphone.

Here's the coolest car trophy

for the classic car lovers

1948 plymouth video

Just want to post up a little video of how the car sounds. Hope you enjoy! 

The 1948 Plymouth is running!

It's Runnin' Baby!! After replacing the head gasket, and the water pump, I went ahead and began to put the engine back together. I replaced the all the hoses, plugs, belt. Once the block was looking normal again, I proceeded to drop the oil pan. replaced the gasket and cleaned out the sludge from the pan. At that point I thought I was ready to try and start the car. I added oil, Gas and antifreeze. I tried to crank the engine over with no luck. Try most of that day and no luck. At that point I looked into rebuilding the Carburetor. Picked up the kit and did it. I went to crank it over. after about 5 mins of trying,,, VVVRRROOOOOOOM! it was on! And holy crap It smoked up the entire neighborhood. I thought for sure someone was going to call the fire dept on me . But never the less its running, backfiring and all its running! and to think I was told that I needed a new engine! Feel free to comment or just say hi.

Freeing up A frozen Flathead 6

Well once the radiator was taken out. I was able to get to the to the front crank bolt by removing the harmonic balancer and the belt wheel.I had to remove the fan, the upper belt wheel and the water pump only to find that the water pump was on its way out. With everything out of the way I was still unable to place a 1" 13/16 socket wrench onto the crank bolt. So with a saws all we were able to cut a notch into the radiator bracket to allow room for the socket and the wrench to fit in place. Once that was done, and the transmission was out of gear I was able to rock the crank back and forth to free up the stuck pistons. Once it was no longer ceased up I proceeded to removed the head to find a nice surprise the pistons and the valve were quite clean. I found very, very little rusting in the cylinder walls. I did find that the head gasket was busted and was the reason for the water getting into the engine.
Now I'm In the process changing out the head gasket and replacing the water pump, cleaning out the oil pan and replacing its gaskets. Boy, talk about a messy job. Because the car has sat for about two years I 'm going to drain the gas tank as well The gas that was in the tank has lost its octane and smells like laquer.
Once it is all put back together I will attempt to start the engine. Here are a few photos with the head off.

Engine Repair

Well I've started the process of removing the engine in Pichirilo. As you will be able to see the radiator and some minor components are out. Because the engine is frozen on the vehicle, I have taken out the spark plugs and added marvel mystery oil to the plug holes to try to free up the frozen pistons. But for now Nayah & I had some fun taking photos of the car. Here are a few. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment at the bottom of each post. Or give me some hints onto what the hell I'm Doing! :O

1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe

Well, it has been 14 yrs on October 27th since dad's passing. Since then I knew that it was going to be my responsibility to take care of one of dad's prized possessions. His 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe Coupe named "Pichirilo". Over the years it has been sitting in the garage at our Bakersfield home. On October 28, 2007, I had it towed to my house in Orange County. The car was fully restored by my father and was running in tip top shape in the photo above. That photo was taken approximately in 1988. Surprisingly enough the car is still in extremely great shape. However, it is not in a running condition. The engine has ceased up and will need to be rebuilt.
On this blog I will share images and events that occur with Pichirilo. So stay tuned to keep up with what goes on with this beautiful piece of machinery.