I had a similar issue with my 38 only it was #4 cly. Did a valve adjustment and and #4 started working

Have you checked that at TDC (checking the piston) and the TDC mark on the balancer agree with each other? I've had the balancer ring slip on some other cars.

I run a hidden AM/FM radio in my 38 using a 6V pos grnd to 12 V neg grnd converter that I found on Ebay. I puts out about 2.5 amps which runs my 2 speaker unit just fine. I was lucky in that I could use the vol and tuning dials on my dash to run my radio but there are are units out there that can be run remotely.

I've had good luck with intercity lines
http://www.intercitylines.com/

Shot ya an email

That's the critter

I was at a cruise night last evening and a modified 34 Studebaker came in with a glass wing Goddess of speed hood ornament. Oddly she wasn't pushing the tire but rather had her arms folded back toward the wing. The owner said that he heard that for 2 or 3 years California wouldn't allow the arms forward (safety issue). Anybody ever heard of this?

I have an R11 in my car and it has the side mounts. I believe the R11 is later than 1951.

My 38 has some aftermarket switches for the heater/defrost under the dash. BUT I did some research on two extra knobs by my radio controls and it seems they were used for the heater.

narragansettreproductions.com can make you up an authentic set.