'59 Plymouth Forum

just took batmobile for a drive today, first time in a spell, ohh i love the feel of being behind the wheel, alignment is way off, and the idler arm is toast, which is giving me a pull to one side or the other, but i still loved driving it. i was on cloud nine.... well anyways i drove her about a mile, from my house to my workshop, which IS cemented now, yaeh!- the plan is to get her drivable for a cheasy local car show on labor day. nothing fancy just get her where i can drive her, maybe take to work now and again also. i'm not definately not gonna win any awards at this time, but at least i'll get a free t shirt out of it lol- and to show off my baby of course.

i have come across a couple of probs that maybe someone here can lead me to the right direction on. first off my front signals wont work, at first i had no signals, but i unplugged and replugged the flasher and plug coming out of the column and the rear signals function fine. but no front signals, or dash turn indicators. i did however jump across the the column plug for the rear signals and jumped to the front and the front lights worked fine, but that gave me brake lights in the front too. lol - i have no power at the plug for the front signals. according to the '59 supplement it is the light green and tan wires that supply the power, no power there though, where could my problem be? surely it's not in the column because the rear lights work?.

my second prob isn't really a prob but a question. do 59's have a fuse panel and where? the repair manual lists the fuses but does not say where they r at.

i have my gas tank almost ready to paint, i think i will try to adapt a universal sending unit to fit it, i will keep yall posted on that. any and all help is appreciated, talk to everyone later. --jeremy

No fuse panel, thay have circuit breakers!
How you hook up anything else is something i dont know, guys, any answers?

Bob

Hi Jeremy - Just a guess but check out the switch mounted under the turn signal actuator that looks like a "C", its under the steering wheel. If I'm not mistaken there are four wires going to that switch. I see that switch occasionaly on ebay and I think Frank Mitchell may have them but he is outrageously pricy.
Dick.

Hi Jeremy - Just a guess but check out the switch mounted under the turn signal actuator that looks like a "C", its under the steering wheel. If I'm not mistaken there are four wires going to that switch. I see that switch occasionaly on ebay and I think Frank Mitchell may have them but he is outrageously pricy.
Dick.

Great to hear that you've got your car on the road, Jeremy, you'll have to post a pic when you go to the car show.
I have had the turn signal switch contacts get a slight amount of corrosion on the contacts after being parked for some time, and have gotten many to work well simply by moving the lever up and down rapidly, over and over. It sounds like a crazy thing to try, but give it a shot, it might just clear your problem up. ---John

i've tried moving it a few times, nothing crazy. if the contacts were coroded wouldn't i have any signals? the rear ones work perfect. i will try to move the lever a few dozen times tomorrow, it would be nice if that fixed it.

i have brake lights now too. since i have the later model m/c, i had to convert from the hydraulic brakelight switch to a pedal mounted one. now the lights work like a charm.

i will take a few pics, hopefully my digital camera don't erase them again.... . thanx for the help as always, talk to ya'll later. --jeremy

hey john, u were halfway there, the contacts were dirty. yesterday i moved the signal up an down a few dozen times and the right signal started to kinda work, but u had to hold u tongue just right and jiggle the lever. the left one quit working almost entirely, i could barely get the d/s to work even though it was just the rear. guess a piece of crud fell into that contact. anywho, i took the horn ring off and sprayed carb cleaner liberally into the switch area and moved the lever up and down a few times and that seemed to fix it, flashers work perfect, just like they would have in '59. i sprayed a little wd40 onto the moving parts, i figure anything heavier might clog it up again, and i topped it off with a chrome horn ring off the steering column assembly i purchased from u sometime back to replace the original painted button. granted the chrome on it's pitted, but some navel jelly made it shine a little bit. don't have to get too fancy, there's gaping cracks in the steering wheel - lol. all that stuff i will fix in due time, - i already have a steering wheel that's in better shape and a decent horn ring kicking around in a box/s somewhere...

today i also got my package from kanter auto parts. got me a carb kit for my 1 barrel carter and a idler arm bushing -yah! (don't know if the pair are worth $107 bucks , but they had me over a barrel, i could not find them anywhere else)

bought me some used tires yesterday also (i was afraid to drive on the present ones, dry cracked pretty bad). $50 dollars worth of rubber and about 5 bucks worth of flat white spray paint and gloss black and them rims look shiny again on them wide white walls. NOW THAT'S HOW YA DO IT PO' BOY STYLE! LOL.

i'm starting to get there, got my fuel sending unit to fabricate still yet (which i'm procastinating something fierce)- which i must have, and i would really like to get my generater bearings swapped out, but i don't know on the latter just yet... will keep everyone posted... jeremy

Thanks for the update Jeremy! It sounds as though you are getting things dealt with! ---John

i didn't make it to the show like i wanted to. my gas tank patch sucks, it's leaking like a sieve. i think i did not use the proper welding wire, that's probably y it wanted to burn throught the metal so bad. i'm still learning how to weld, school of hard knocks- u know how tha goes.
i had the fuel leak to contend with and i was also told at the last minute i had to show up to work the same day, oh well .
the car runs good now, got the carb kit installed and idler arm bushing in so it is manageble steering now. i had to replace the m/c again, the one i put on last summer was defective, so now i have brakes 100% of the time again . all i have to do is get the fuel tank dealt w/ and i'll be on the road.
the signals tried acting up again, i sprayed some more carb cleaner and did not spray any kind of lubricant and that seemed to have fixed it.
what little i have driven the car, i have gotten all kinds of compliments even though she is a bit rusty. --j

Jeremy,

As mentioned before, a turn signal switch that appears correct is currently listed on ebay for about $10.

Item number: 300147934601

I hope this helps.

Curt in MD.

Jeremy,

I forgot to mention this - check out ebay for seller in Colorado parting out 4-door car. Perhaps the gas tank is solid on this car.

Item number: 190149784627

This may be the forum member from Colorado parting out hundreds of cars.

Perhaps he has a solid gas tank -- CHEAP!

Curt in MD.