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Your car,do what you want,but why in the world would you want to modify a 10k mile original car when you could sell it to a collector or restorer for big bucks,and there are cheap 51 Coronet's all over the country that have no drive trains or bad drive trains that you could buy for a percentage of what you can sell your car for?

A day late and a dollar short, but I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I know mine was. Didn't do anything related to my Dodge, but have been really enjoying time with family, and off from work.

Today was the first day of primer. I've been busy making something that resembles a paint booth (more to keep the rest of the garage clean and to keep the fumes away from the furnace as much as possible). My dad and I finished a few minor details, and we masked the car off today, so I thought I might as well give it a go. This is PPG epoxy primer that I'm using as a barrier between the original paint and the new. It's left over from my truck, and it was the perfect amount to get a good wet coat over the entire car. Tomorrow I'll fix some minor imperfections in the epoxy and put down a couple layers of high build over the body work areas to get the sanding marks out. I'll be a happy guy when the body work and paint is over! The booth did ok until the filter I have for the exhaust plugged up. I need to rethink it a little bit before I try again.

One thing I did was replace the clevis pin that secures the gas pedal rod to the bell crank with a bolt that has a machined shaft that I got at Ace hardware. It fits perfect and eliminates all the side to side slop in the gas pedal.I tried a new clevis pin but the fit was still a tad sloppy so I went with the bolt . The only other thing I can think of is the PO installed a 3:54 pumpkin in the stock housing which is great because pretty much all we have where I live is wide open level desert roads, mostly hwy with few to no real hills. I love it.

While this is the "stock" section some upgrades for safety or reliability are good, especially if they are invisible to the observer. Like Dot 5 brake fluid, or factory radio upgrade with FM added. I also added an Allison/Crane optical ignition system. The control box is well hidden so when you lift the hood you think it's stock. Giveaway is when it starts instantly. What's on your truck?

The epoxy came out nice yesterday, so I'm pressing on! Today we fixed a few small promblem spots with some glazing filler, and put on almost a gallon on high build. I used my new gravity feed HVLP primer gun, and I really like it. I had a couple learning curves with it, but I feel pretty good about putting the black down with the finish coat gun that came with it. I plan on painting the trunk next, then I'll do the jambs and firewall before doing the final block on the high build I just put on. Hopefully I'll get the cut in and trunk done this week still and get some of the blocking done.

One thing to keep an eye on is the clearance when you stick the 2nd gear back on. It rides against a step the main shaft. Even with a new snap ring on mine, and a new 2nd gear, it was beyond the specification. That step face wears. I had to take the new 2nd gear to an industrial hard chrome shop and have them add a few thousands to the rear face of that gear to make up for the wear. It has run great for over 10 years now and I do drive this car a few days every week here in San Francisco city traffic. Also, pop out the little plugs in the case and clean out the little slider shaft, about a 1/2 inch long, that goes between the shifting rods. It is missed by a lot of people, even some so-called professionals who rebuild these things. James.

Nothing wrong with a 'sleeper', had plenty of them in the old days....lots-o-fun. If you are not stuck on the T85 then remember that a Mopar trans will bolt to a Mopar bell and only require a 'normal' adapter at the block. 1961–1971 Chrysler A745 — 3-speed manual for V8 1970–1981 Chrysler A230 — 3-speed manual, all-synchromesh 1973–1974 Chrysler A250 — 3-speed manual, 1st gear no synchromesh 1975–1978 Chrysler A390 — 3-speed manual, all-synchromesh

surprised no pictures. must be pretty.personally i have always liked cars that are modernized with drivetrain and tranny, but mostly looking original. always up to the owner what to do. i do not have the money or physical ability to do my car, but a newer 8 cll and torquflite would be great. 10k original does seem like a nice car, and maybe a second car to modify would be better. capt den

I beg to differ. V-8's only sound as good as a inline with split exhaust and glass packs in their dreams

Have you looked at some of the somewhat period correct hopped up flat 6's? There's a few on this site that are pretty darn cool. Lopey cams, spilt exhaust. Some sound a bit like a V8. Just a thought, prob be the only one on your block.

I've found a phone call prior to ordering to discuss what you are looking to do clears up many of the issues you describe. DCM will talk your ear off if you let them and and really there to help you if you let them. As Merle said you have a different part than the lens would fit. SImple miscue on what the parts are. I find a pretty simple rule is that if it's cheap, it's likely not a repop of an original, but cheap Chinese made more modern parts.

usually only one seam is shown across the tranny hump and your trimmer will bind that with the matching fabric of your seat or door panel material to keep the theme correct and in taste

I may have touched it up a bit....as bought.....

the full disc caps you mentioned earlier were of the US marketing and stock on my Savoy with both trim package options from the factory on the car. I polished them up, refinished the badges with fresh paint and not long after that removed them from the car as I found a set of four of the Cello optional stainless wire basket caps and as before, I polished these up and again rounded them out by stripping and painting the crest on the center cap.

May all your barn find dreams come true. Out by Christmas, running by New Year.

I changed the center section of my rear axle with a 3.54 from a Plymouth for better cruising speeds. I also added an AUX plug on the radio in my truck so I'm not stuck with AM radio. Other than that, I added a factory spare tire holder, I added electric wipers from a junk yard truck, I stained and varnished the bed wood, and my truck originally had a black bed that I painted body color. Everything else is stock on my truck. It drives and runs great!

From Tim & Lori.

I liked your thought process when you were building that intake and exhaust thought about doing something similar. Wish their was a market to build a really nice system and produce several and market them. The ethanol content in today's fuel creates some of that cold temps. Use to run an alcohol funny car and we'd have to de ice the throttle plates just before the run or the throttle plate would freeze

First, you should downsample your images to the 100-200Kb size range. They will display fine and you will save a lot of your individual image quota. Second when you start the reassembly make sure you get the was the washer sequence on the front of the counter shaft correct. Their is a mix of bronze and steel. Also their is a welch plug on the front of the case and don't forget to install the thin gasket between the front of the case and the bell housing. Lastly be careful which type of lubricant you reinstall, some can permanently damage the synchro cage.

I used Eaton front coil spring(1" lower) along with fatman dropped uprights and front shock mount . Used Eaton rear leaf springs (2" drop). Ride quality is very good and handling much improved. Be careful lowering rear as driveshaft clearance becomes an issue. This isn't the cheapest way but it's very functional and it looks factory

I don't post often anymore, but still pop by a few times a week for a look-see. Merry Christmas to you all!

here's hoping for a great 2018 and that everyone has a happy and safe holiday season..............Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!

Happy Holidays everyone.

I've wrapped so much I think I deserve a record contract or a spot on MTV. Wife has been in baking overdrive, she gives friendship bread as a gift to family and friends. Going to have everyone over about noon tomorrow for dinner and exchange of gifts. First Christmas for my first granddaughter, pretty happy about that. Love the scene Greg! Hope everyone has a great Christmas, and New Year.

thanks Greg, ...everyone please have a safe and happy season with friends and family....the ham just came out of the oven.....rolls are in the oven...meal in just a few minutes.....we always do the Christmas eve thing....just got called to supper....

Tp23 is dodge 23" 230ci from 1960

I've been working on videos that cover things that are not made obvious in the manuals. For example the lowest midline manifold nut that is "hidden". The benefit of the videos is the fact that a lot of trucks/engines have been sitting around for a long time, so parts that should loosen up are "frozen" and can cause confusion to someone attempting their first teardown. Sometimes a video is the next best thing to a classroom, which is where most textbooks/manuals are reviewed and explained. I'm hardly a teacher, but I do like sharing what I know. The beauty of a tool like Youtube is you get to hear back from other viewers. If something has been missed or rings true, you may read that in the comment section. I believe you can say the same thing about a forum, its not the manual, but its a great way to "talk" the problem out. 48D

merry xmas gang!

Had to see what the forum could do with my animate gif.

I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas snd introduce Ol Rufus

This was last year for the Christmas parade.

This is from a couple years ago...

any passenger car trans from 36 to 38 and some 39s are top loaders but you need the bell housing too. These will fit onto the 50s blocks. They are very sturdy transmission.

Thank you gentlemen I will soon have rear brakes just waiting for my newly painted drum to dry

The trick is not so much in removing the axles but reinstalling them. The axle must be centered inside the blind hole so there is no seeing as it is all done by feel. I have seen the uninformed whaling away with a BFH trying to force the axle into the splines and thus destroying the axle and possibly the third member as well. The key is to teeter the axle and feel the splines by slowly turning the axle until they line up. First real job I had out of high school was working at the truck sales processing center for the International Harvester truck factory here in Fort Wayne. The old timers taught me how to install these axles a lesson I will never forget. IH used axles built by the DANA Corporation here in the fort and they are still in business today at the same location.