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Welcome! This is a farmyard hack for hinge pin. Not an engineers fix but think of it as a diagnostic. Open the door, with a block of wood to protect it jack it up enough to take some of the weight off, after using some penetrating oil see if you can tap the hinge pins up a bit with hammer and punch, a quarter inch will do. Now with vice grips see if you can rotate the pins 180°. This should rotate the worn part if the pins away from the moveable part of the hinge, and move unworn metal into alignmemt. Tap them back down. If after releasing the jack you find you don't need to lift as much to close the door you know you need new pins, and maybe not so extensive pillar, rocker repair. I replaced the pins on the driver's door, and did the twist the pins and left them on the passenger side. Been OK for 15 years. I lube them twice a year.

Got a call from Bill Hirsch today. Can't say enough about how much it means to me that the principal of a company takes the time to place a call to his customers. How it happened was that my trimmer opened up the cartons that the top was shipped in and found that the padding for the roof and the wire-on trim were sent in the wrong color. My trimmer called Hirsch and let them know, whereupon Bill got the note and called me to apologize. Bill promised all incorrect parts would be replaced asap without cost. I did my homework before I made the purchase from Bill Hirsch. Many people told me he runs a good company and delivers good products. Today I learned that first hand his customer service is also great.

Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun, But Mama, that's where the fun is. They were blinded by the light, reved up like a deuce, you know like runners in the night. Neat to see you and the family having such a good time discovering the simpler things in life in the old Meadow Brook. Out P15 has the same effect on our dog, she loves to be out and about in Kate. In fact she gets excited to goferaride, she runs to the door barking every time I start her up. Just spotted the deal about the keys. My dad had a 41 Dodge which he traded to the local Dodge, Desoto dealer for a 49 Meadowbrook fastback ( the first car I have a memory of) he traded that in 56 for a 54 Meadow Brook two tone green four door. I remember those keys attacked to a cardboard merchandizing stand, along with dealer installed accessories like backup lites, cigarette lighters, under hood and trunk lites, vanity mirrors, Pocking gas caps, dashboard compasses, and rubber bladed clamp on fans. When the salesman delivered the car, included was a set of those keys, which he said were presented to Preferred Customers, whichwe bacame with the third car purchased at the dealership. It got things like a wash with service, two dollars off an oil change and grease job. Two cents off gas when filling up at the Sunoco station across from the dealership, discounts on MoPaR branded wax, carwash, radiator flush, wiper blades etc.products purchased at the parts counter. Dad really thought that was special. He bought at least three other cars there before they got bought up and moved. Always wondered if people who bought the keys yot the same discounts??? Great deal for three bucks. Maybe the preferred customers were marked like the ones you showed??

The Chrysler was a very pretty car at the LeMay Family Collection.

I watched the eclipse on my large flat screen, but could not see much with my welding helmet on. Add to that, the battery in my hearing aid died, so since I did not have any replacements, I had to watch the total eclipse in total silence! ! !

I carry a spare distributer all set up, complete and ready to drop in, a fan Genny belt, set of pregapped spark plugs, a condenser, and cuz I have a strange rear u joint I pack one of those, Also have a spare head gasket, headlamp switch fuse, a couple fuel filters. Tool box including torque wrench, fender cover. I have a floor jack, wheel chock and a jack stand. I bring along my jump charger to power a GPS, and a radio and speakers I have mounted in a small box. Triple A card and my wife packs her cell phone. Good spare tire and star lug wrench. 2quarts of oil, some brake fluid,and an empty gas can and a small funnel. So far, on long treks, I have only needed to replace a broken fan belt. I also carry a tow strap and two axle straps in case I can help someone else out with a short tow. Last year we made the WPC meet in Maine with three other cars, 46, 2 49's and a 51, and nobody needed any thing except fuel and oil. We avoided interstates unless they couldn't be avoided. I put about 1600 miles on during that trip. Today we did about 220 miles to and from an AACA meet without a hiccup. Good luck on your preparation and trip.

Hello everyone, I discovered this board when I started doing research on the '49 Dodge Coronet that I ended up purchasing. I am new to things pre 1960s-1970s and would sure appreciate any help I can gather. First I'll go over the car 1949 Dodge Coronet Club Coupe. 230 flathead with fluid drive three speed manual. Last registered in 1976 and appears it was used as someone's college transportation. Lots of Mississippi university stickers and a fraternity front plate haha. Car is complete and, to my surprise, we drove it onto the trailer with a coffee can "gas tank" hanging from the hood. Has some rust. Holes in front floor boards etc. but right now I'll just be fixing things to get it running, driving, stopping, etc. Now some stuff about me. I live in the Detroit Metro area and work as an engineer. I grew up with 1960s muscle cars but have grown a little "bored". Fear not, I have no dreams of hemi swaps or front clip conversions etc for this car. It will stay as original as possible. I'll probably even go with some new bias plys. I want to get an experience of how these cars drive. Not how the latest hot rod show thinks it should drive. Now that that's out of the way I have my first question and it's related to doors. I ordered a shop manual from faxon but it hasn't arrived yet. Has anyone experienced sagging doors and what is a good fix? I have to lift the door to shut. Do these have conventional hinge pins? Can't seem to find them online. Also the drivers door does not open from the outside. I suspect a linkage issue. Thanks for any help and I look forward to asking many more questions haha!

I need to try that on my passenger side. Thanks @greg g

Maybe I'm missing something here? Can't you remove the tappet rack with all the lifters in it? The two bolts are out of it and on my engines that have this same style rack... remove the two of them to remove the camshaft.

dropped you a PM...it is the HF 34104

Engine number??? Another place to look for the serial number plate is the sheet metal where the seat mounts. Good luck with it. More fun to get it running and driving than making it concourse material.

yup to the scrap yard haha

The front doors are locked on the inside by pushing the interior handle forward, and outside by key. Some cars did not have key locks both sides, but that's another story. So, try pulling the interior door handle back. That would be too simple. It that's what it is, it'll get you somewhere else.

I love that floor. I'm thinking to eliminate the risk of some cat burning down my shop if I weld in a new floor, a well fitted marine plywood floor would do just fine and be rust proof.

heck of a find...that is going to be a "boldy go" build....you going to need be up on your metal fabrication..this comes under personal challenge...Wish you the best....this will make an interesting build thread.

you have low beam and high beam, these are different wattage, wattage divided by voltage is amperage....thus the need for a heavier gauge on the high beam as opposed to the low beam.....I would not doubt the engineers, it has lasted all this time till you got the car....they surely have done many things right.

The character in me says to walk away from that for a couple of days and work on something else until someone can help you twist them apart-if I'm understanding the issue

I prefer to think more of it as 'character' building....

Fargo Express

Here is a diagram I have, honestly do not remember if it is for a car or a truck like I have. But it is for 6 volt dodge and you can see what wire sizes are used. Just in case you want to add flame throwers, is another wiring diagram.

woot woot. Congratulations!

Even better!

Any club coupe has more trunk space than my PD two door (no trunk at all). Behind the rear seat there is room for the jack, lug wrench and a tool roll. In the glove box there is a box with spare light bulbs. On longer trips (>200 mi each way) I'll load a larger tool kit and some extra oil in the rear seat floor area before I load the luggage on top. I also carry Don's tool kit (AAA card and cell phone) at all times even in the new cars. Longest trip I've taken with this set of tools and spares is only about 2000 miles, so I guess your trip from the PNW to Tenn. would be longer. But my general philosophy is that if the car is well maintained I should be able to drive it anywhere without worrying about a break down. And if it is not well maintained then I should get to work on it.

A quick check, if everything is assembled, is to use a jumper wire and momentarily connect the terminal on the sending unit to a good ground while watching the gauge. If you ground the terminal the gauge should peg out at full, hence the momentary thing. That will tell you that the gauge and wire are good. Then you need to check the sender and/or ground connection.

Assemble the pump with some trans gel on the rotors. That way if you don't get around to starting the engine for a while, the lube will still be there when the time comes. The trans gel will quickly break down and will not clog anything one the engine is running. I have used this method for both transmission and engine pumps for years. Adam

I carry this tool box. I also carry a spare transmission in the trunk only because I don't have room to store it in my shop.

@belvedere: I've not installed mine yet either.

Thank you for the information. I'm going to look into a mild grind. Might give Earl a call later in the day to get his input.

Grinding the cam is generally to achieve a couple of things........... a reground cam is using yours or another 2nd hand cam, a new billet is just that a brand new piece of cast steel with the cams ground to suit, sometimes a new billet is preferred as it can be made to accommodate a higher lift and longer duration over and above what a stock cam will allow due to larger cam profiles to start with......off course their are limits to what is practicable due to cam bearing size, lifter shape, etc ........the increase in the lift and therefore the height that the valves open thereby allowing more fuel & air in and changing the amount of time, ie, the duration, that the valves stay open and also allowing more air/fuel in, the change in cam ramp or slope can also help as well to increase power.......I had a stock 230 industrial cam reground by a local Oz company, Waggotts and while I unfortunately didn't get to finish the engine build they assured me there would be approx. 20% more power in the 1/2 race cam they did.....they were a long time Oz speedway and general race car engine building company and knew what they did, the cam had a longer duration grind and lift........grinding the cam will in no way weaken the cam although I didn't get to the stage of getting the rest of the machining done on the 230 but with other engines I've played with over the years its worth paying a little extra and getting the reciprocating assembly balanced......crank, rods, pistons, flywheel/flexplate, clutch assembly and front pulley if needed.........balancing makes any engine smoother and generally much more responsive, at least from what I've found..........andyd

Lisa doesn't like the shift knob. Maybe some red LED's for eyeballs?

as for the front suspension...are you going disc brakes, relocated shocks and possible upgrade to R&P....are you in the frame of mind to leave stock ride height over that of lowering a tad for a difference stance say raked a bit with lower front or lowered all around. It is at this time you need to know you final goal here also. Think of the big picture and again of how things interact. Some of these mentioned features make all the difference in riding and stopping characteristics. Anyway, I have said enough on this, I cannot ever stress the importance of building your car on paper first and STICK with the original build concept to keep it flowing and less costly in the long run. Only you know how you wish the car to drive and perform. Good luck

ACE and others have a product called Prep and Primer, by Jasco. It has no color and clear adheres to it. My clear over this product on my controversial patina, shows no sign of peeling after three years of application.

Found this if your using your original ammeter.