So what would make the car miss and run poorly AFTER kickdown?
That's what mine is now doing . Ne relay, solenoid, kickdown switch. Runs fine when in overdrive, but when you mash the accel all the way to the floor, runs terribly. Also, it won't come out of overdrive at 23 mph, only when stops. Bad governor?

I have 5 of them. Please email me. They'll need blasting and restoration.

Thanks for all of the helpful advice. When I got the car, I took it to the local radiator guy and was under the $400.00 understanding that he had rodded out the radiator. Well, I got an endoscope and put it into the top tank. There I found what appeared to be a cloth like material that had obviously been wet and dried. Since the grill and bumper was off, I pulled the radiator for closer inspection. I got some of it out, and it was essentially dried cloth fibers in the top tank clogging the tubes. So I took it to another place and had it recored. I took the old core and blasted it with the pressure washer, and more cloth like material came out, but not that much. Since the core was trash, I took a steel rod and tried to push the crud out. No dice. 3/4 of the tubes were clogged SOLID. Before putting the new radiator in, I pulled the dist tube, which was in fine shape, and blasted the inside of the engine with the pressure washer. Up thru the water pump opening and out the thermostat neck, and then the other way, until the water ran clear both ways. Then i did it again. Since replacing the water pump is a pain, I replaced that while it was all disassembled. Even got the right hose clamps from Kanter. Put it all back together, and its 179 degrees at the water temp sending unit, about halfway on the gauge. Oh happy day! Notes: Radiator weighs a ton, and getting the lower rad hose on and off is a chore cause there's not much room to deal with the hose clamps. Water pump fits above the engine mount arch, and its a close thing; takes a little English to get the bolts lined up, and one bolt is behind the engine mount arch, and can't be turned with a ratchet; ya gotta use an open end wrench the whole way. The recore is expensive, but it is a common dimension and not a problem to get if you are willing to pay the price. I found a place to make an aluminum radiator, but the meet judges can't possibly miss that, so I opted for the original one. If you have to take out the radiator, paint everything up there while its out because you don't want to have to do it twice.

Rechromed bumpers and grill should be in this week!

I removed the bumpers and grill for rechroming, and decided to re radiator while they were out. The old radiator was clogged with the remnants of a rats nest, which explains a lot. However, this raises the specter of more in the engine. I removed the water pump and put the pressure washer tip into the water dist tube and lit to go til it ran clean. There's a bolt hole next to to dist tube, and I did the same there.

The water pump back cover is still on the block. It doesent move by hand. Water seemed to be moving behind it and coming out other bolt holes. Is there a gasket back there? The bottom of the plate seems to be under the rubber of the engine mount, and I suspect that is why the rear cover won't move. Do I loosen the mount to get the rear cover off? Or do I tap it with the rubber mallet? If the latter, will it go back in?

Ok, I have figured the interchange out. There were only 6 chassis, and the cores certainly interchange between chassis. So, my parts radiator from a 2301 sedan will interchange with one from my club sedan, except for the bottom tank. Now I can wait til any other causes are eliminated!

I've done most of the things in the Kanter entry. I had a similar issue with a 413 in my Dodge 880, did all the cheap stuff, aluminum radiator finally fixed it. I'll look at the rad with the heat gun, tho, which I have not yet done. Its really overheating, steam out of rad cap. Pump appears to be working by observation thru top of rad. Going to have my mechanic verify that its the rad before spending the $, but this car has been cantankerous and it costs nothing to prepare for the worst case. Let's see if the rads interchange while I'm trying the cheap stuff.

Thanks for the advice. I'll start with the cheap stuff and then move to the expensive stuff. In the mean time, I have started the process of having an aluminum radiator made. No one makes them that I know of, and steel ones are just as expensive if you can find one. As I look at the parts manual, it appears to me that no two radiators for 49s are alike. The one I need is for a 2301 (49 standard 8) manual. I have a trashed one out of a 49 4 door parts car (288) that is an auto. Will they interchange? I'm not too experienced at the parts manual. The custom guys can delete the tranny cooler set up if there is one. My car has been ....cantakerous... so far, and I don't want to spend the money to have the wrong radiator made. That's the sort of thing that is happening with it.

The radiator place checked it and said it was more than enough to cool it. Before I pull the rad again I'll replace the lower hose. I checked the block with the heat gun and the rear of it on the manifold side is no hotter than anywhere else, so the dist tube should be fine.

The 49 runs hot on the gauge within a couple of miles and after 10 is overheating. Block and rad have been flushed cleaned, scoured etc. no indication that water pump is malfunctioning. Timing is where it's supposed to be. I'm at wits end. Does anyone make an aluminum rad for 49s? I've found them for 39s. Do I take out the thermo? Head gasket has been replaced, head decked. 3 speed od.

The rebuilt carb is installed! And no fire. Then it fired and started right up! Then no fire. Then it started right up! Ran rough while the autochoke was operating, and then died. Adjusted the choke, and no fire. Fiddled with points, No fire. Replaced condenser, and it started right up. Fuel leak. I did not want to get dinged for using Teflon tape, so I used pipe dope on the fuel line joints. Well, modern pipe dope is for water, so the gas dissolved it, and made a mess. Took it apart, redid with Teflon tape. Interesting fact: back in the 60s, Teflon tape was only available to the govt; it was top secret. Apparently it was the only stuff that would seal threads in liquid oxygen pipes.


With that done, no fire. Replaced condenser again. No fire.

In disgust, put the new hubcaps on. they look great, but the wheels are red, and they now look dumb on a black car. So, off come all four, and they get a nice coat of black. This takes a while, as I didge freezing temperatures, but finally gets done. Still no fire.


Resolved to solve the lack of fire problem. There is fire coming out of the coil-sometimes. Replaced coil. Thermonuclear fire! Started right up. Choke set properly, runs great. FINALLY!


THe second set of correct hose clamps I got are- too big.
All that's left to do is the rebuilt gas tank sending unit. Unfortunately, the Arctic blast arrives, and it 17 degrees outside. This is actually good because its dehydrating the mud in what we used to call the back yard. I have to cross this to get t othe Packard.


Tried to talk my sone into going out there, but he would not buy it. Bribery did't work either. I'll suffer through til a wam front (32 degrees) arrives.