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I found this car on Craigslist a couple weeks ago. For the price he was asking I couldn't let it go. The PO put quite a bit of money in this car: new tires, gas tank, brakes, interior, starter, generator,exhaust , radiator, I also got an extra engine with it. An extra carb and three extra generators. I replaced the head gasket because it was leaking coolant . The people who put interior in glues the carpet and foam pad to the rusty floor pan. I'm working right now on cleaning that mess up. Rebuilt carb because PO painted it and the paint got into the carb and gummed everything up. Seems to idle and drive pretty good. Need to fix auto choke yet. Paint isn't perfect and it has a few small spots of rust and will need new window rubber all the way around having fun with it!

how is one 218 and one 230? I thought they were the same pump including the long 6s

My plan was to rebuild the 218 into a 230, with all the nice pep parts ... headers, dual carb intake, hotter cam, etc. So I priced all this, plus the machine work my motor would need during this rebuild, and then this fell into my lap ... a fellow selling a rebuilt 218 from a 53 truck. 40 over on the pistons, hotter cam, langdons headers, offenhauser intake, new water and oil pumps, converted distributor from slant 6 with pertronix ignitor, mopar internally regulated alternator ... nice motor, for the price of buying the parts to rebuild mine. I'll use this with my stock 3-speed.

Scarebird's listing most kits at ~$350 plus shipping, then add in the cost of rotors, calipers, and brake hoses. You'll also need a proportioning valve and most use residual pressure valves. $400?? Maybe but you'd have to be a careful shopper. Then you'll need to homeroll a dual master cylinder mounting bracket. There's a real good step by step Scarebird conversion another member just completed that will give you more info. I decided that with a subframe swap I could have disc brakes, power steering, and a V-8 complete with an automatic in almost one swell foop!!! Then it's a small step, or a slippery slope if you like that metaphor better; to a/c, power windows, billet junk and more $$$ into a '47 Plymouth than anyone could dream of recovering. I've become fairly mercenary and ROI is important to me.. So I finally talked myself out of it, I'm sticking with stock brakes..

Here is an example of the wood graining that I did while using the kit from Grain-it company. They have a metalplate willall of the various wood grains and then the appropriate base colors and then the top coats. The graining is applied with a soft rubber roller and is a simple process to do. This is an example of curly maple that was used on the 39 Desoto. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.comu

Hello everyone. I wanted to start a one-place thread to update the group on this build. I have a couple little threads out there, but this one will tell the story (comedy or tragedy, we'll see) on the breathing new life into my 1940 Dodge D14. To tell the story, we have to rewind to 2008 ... that is when I sold my 1973 Stingray. The wife and I then got a boat ... and you know what they say about those. Fast forward through 7 years or so of nagging her until she finally caved and agreed to get another car ... her only requirement, it needed to have 4 doors ... done. I knew I wanted to get a prewar car and I started this adventure in 2015 looking to get a 1937 Desoto. The deal fell through the day I was going to pick it up - the seller decided not to sell it/ or sold it to someone else, I'll never know now. A few weeks went by and I found this 1940 gem for sale in Pennsylvania ... called the guy and went right out to take a look. Here are the photos when we looked at it/brought it home back in 2015. Cutting it close on the prewar era and some say it;s not ... but it was made by the US in the US and we were still technically not IN the war until 41 ... that's my story!

Please look at my first attempts at woodgraining some trim on my P15 business coupe. Contstructive criticism,suggestions and compliments welcome. I used Krylon Khaki as a base color and Minwax Classic Grey 271 for the grain. There is no clear on it yet, I'm just experimenting.

My solution, floor shifter on a three speed. Regarding your need. The shifter column shaft is mounted by two Phillips heads screws at the very top just under the steering wheel. If there is even an iota of looseness there, you are out at first until that connection is SECURE!

I have one on my 265 in my truck... 30 years of changing it.... no issues for me.

I used a gold metallic as my base coat that I had from a car I had painted. Used a sponge and minwax stain to get my pattern. let it dry for a few days and cleared it with polyurethane

You do use the original MC, but clean it out and extend the plunger rod to activate a MC in line.

I paid around $500 bucks for everything new a few years back including the "kit"..

I remodeled a house for that lady last summer.

Thanks for the suggestions. I just inspected the head from the '40 and it appears the spark plug broke in the #6 cylinder. The threads are bad. Rather than tap it and use a heli-coil we'll look for a replacement head. Thanks for the tip on the head bolts. They are still available. This is a great site. Wish I had found it sooner.

The term "rebuilt" means different things to different people, doesn't it? If you're committed to running that motor you don't have many options other than to proceed with a real rebuild, starting with having the block, head, crankshaft, rods, and everything else thoroughly checked and brought back into spec by a reputable machine shop. It's up to your confidence in your abilities on whether you do the re-assembly.

Great attitude! They are only original once and your truck has great patina. Also, as mentioned, think of it one job at a time so it does not overwhelm you. As the saying goes, "You can eat an elephant................one bite at a time."