Chrysler Books

I got some interesting Chrysler books through interlibrary loan.  I'll list them here and try to give short reviews as they become due.  They are:

Chrysler Engines: 1922-1998 by Willem L. Weertman, SAE International (October 26, 2007).

Chrysler Corporation Classics, Publications International (January 2008).

Chrysler & Imperial 1946-1975: The Classic Postwar Years by Richard M. Langworth, Motorbooks Intl (June 1993).

A Chrysler Chronicle: One Man's Story of Restoring a Classic 1948 New Yorker by Dave Floyd, McFarland (September 1, 2000).

Chrysler Engines is due in three days so I'll start with it.  It is an exhaustive 400 page study of every Chrysler production engine and many experimental engines.  It is very interesting and very informative but not much of a page turner.  I wish I owned it for use as a reference manual.  Besides the details of the engines, it also describes the formation and history of Chrysler Corporation and many of the key personalities such as the design team of Zeder, Skelton, and Breer.  I did not know about the relationship between Willys and Maxwell and the formation of Chrysler in 1924. 

Regarding the Traveler, I learned that its 6-cylinder is a four-main-bearing, shallow-skirt, L-head engine.  The book constantly uses the term "L-head" but never really explains what it means.  "Short-skirt" refers to the height of the crankcase walls measured from the centerline of the crankshaft to the bottom of the block where the oil pan attaches.  This distance is only 0.125 inches, considerably shorter than the skirt on the earlier 6-cylinders, reducing the weight and cost of the engine.  The engine premiered in 1933 Dodge and Plymouth vehicles and was adapted to Chrysler and DeSoto in 1937.  They look very similar and the key method for telling them apart is by the length of the block at the cylinder head surface.  The Dodge and Plymouths use a short-block of 23.4 inches and the Chrysler and DeSoto use a long-block of 25.7 inches.  The Dodge/Plymouth version remained in production for passenger cars through 1959 and the Chrysler/DeSoto version through 1954.

It's a great book.  I wish it were at the local libary or in my own library.  I didn't even have time to read about the hemis.

Mopar Model 802 Radio

It turns out that this car has a pretty cool radio (the cats really seem to like it).  It's been sitting on the front seat and I finally decided to have a closer look at it.  It's an 802 Mopar manufactured by Philco and weighs about 20 pounds.  It has a tone control feature which adjusts the tone as well as the color of the backlighting on the face.  From the original manual:



"An entirely new and novel color tone control is designed into the MoPar Radio Model 802.  The disc behind the volume control knob allows the owner to change the tone of the radio to suit his taste.  The tone is indicated by the color illumination of the dial, push buttons and the tone indicator.  When the indicator shows the word MELLO and the illumination of the dial is VIOLET, bass notes are given heavy emphasis.  As the disc is turned to the right the VIOLET light gradually changes through the spectrum until YELLOW appears and the bass notes are blended with the treble notes, and the word MUSIC appears in the indicator.  On turning the disc further to the right the treble notes are emphasized, the illumination changes to RED and the indicator shows VOICE.  In this last position, speech is more natural and pleasing.  For music use the position MELLO or MUSIC.  When static or other electrical interference is present it can be reduced by adjusting the tone control to MELLO."  See http://www.dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/802/imgcol/contact_1.htm

I took the front and back panels off to have a look inside.  It is not as bad as I expected judging from the corrosion on the outside of the case, but I'm sure it needs serious work to get running again.  Some googling turned up several restorers, one of which had a general quote of $400 to restore all 20 paper and filter capacitors and includes up to five tubes or resistors, and a new dial cord and dial lamps if needed.  I don't think it covers any cosmetic work.

Maybe there is a retired guy living out in the backwoods of Vermont, stuck in the snow, who needs a winter project.  Maybe someone who used to be a ham radio guy and an electrician?  Surely, amongst the throng of readers of this blog, there is someone out there like that who would enjoy the challenge of getting this thing fired up again.