Leaderboard

mirrors in "work" position, packed and loaded up, pulling out in the morning. taking I-90 to I-94 (Spokane to Billings to Bismark to MN) if you live on the route and see us passing thru, give a honk and a thumbs up so I know it's someone on the forum.

I really shouldn’t show my unkempt shop, but it will change when we return in late August. I crammed it all together to get both vehicles in the shop. Upon my return, the shop will get a massive cleaning and reorganization so that the 18, space wall to wall is clear. Then I will have ample working room and a two car shop. My right knee is giving out, so I have a last minute appointment with my orthopedic surgeon to get some relief. We leave this afternoon for the Bay Area, tomorrow we fly to Indianapolis, then on the 24th on to Maine. My body needs a long rest then finish it all this fall. Cheers Paul

this is from a little newer car than the P15's of this forum but rust is rust...I took a few days from all the other stuff about the house that is always looming over my head to work a bit on the 62 Polara. These cars are different in many aspects and one is surely it being prone to some rust in odd and often very hard to access areas. While the hood and deck emblems are unique, they are the single most cause for rust in the hood understructure, deck lid understructure and also the trunk floor especially the large recessed center section. I decided not to remove the tire stand as all that was solid..after full perimeter weld, the remaining floor pan got a dose of the magic elixir and cleaned up nicely. Obvious other areas of rust to address.

Still haven't gotten the new bed angles but I got started on the flooring

Got a little help today which was really nice. The trans just fits under the truck lifted as high as my jackstands go, then it has to get slid on the jack while it’s under there. It fits up through the exhaust farther back then can get slid up into position. Then it sat on the exhaust for a second to get some boards between it and the jack for a couple more inches max lift. It mated up pretty easily to the bell then spinning it around was a pain in the butt while I started the flexplate to torque converter bolts, then again to torque them. Speedo cable, kickdown, properly indexed shift cable, and starter with a new blanket on it all went on without a fight. The old small pinion yoke needed some love from a propane torch before the impact started unscrewing it, then I forgot to put a pan under it when I knocked the old pinion yoke free. Only lost a pint or so of gear oil. Torqued the new one on with a dab of red loctite- made much easier with the crush sleeve eliminator kit in there instead of a crush sleeve. I still have to fill the trans with ATF before I set her down but I have high hopes it will all work! Happy father’s day fellas

Hinge pin diameter, per my cheapo plastic dial caliper, is 0.34". That's a little fatter than 5/16", or 0.3125". Now, maybe Plymouths were different from the upper lines. Briggs would have made a zillion Plymouth bodies to the Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler bodies, so it's beau coup cheap hinges vs a good number of substantial hinges, at maybe a few pennies difference per hinge. Also, the upper hinges are made to proper dimensions for the fender curvatures, and the Plymouth bodies were subtly different from those of the upper lines.. (I bought a Dodge hinge on line, which is holding my door on for now. It's an exact fit, except that the strap seems to be bent back also. Maybe someone drove forward with the back door open.)

I agree Merle, for new application and foreign cars/bikes...NGK is the go to and has been for many years..Champions are best for throwing at the neighbors dog to keep him out of your yard...

dang that title is wicked... I had never seen a 230 cu in spark plug before......lol correct size is 14mm and the correct number can be one of a few depending on core and resistance style plugs...many here including me do not recommend Champion.....Autolite is the preferred….the NGK if the correct length of thread should prove to be a good plug depends again solely on preference. I like Autolite 306 some listed choices...…(per other threads).....Champion J8, AC R44, AC R45, AC R46, Autolite A7, Autolite 303, Autolite 306, Autolite 85

Your C-series cab may be a little different than mine, but the headliner I got from Quiet Rides is ABS plastic. It was 4 pieces sewn together. The side panels were already attached. The front slipped in over the top of the windshield header and it attached to the rear window header. The lower panel, around the back windows, then attaches over the top of the headliner. My rear panels were 3 pieces, but Quiet Rides now provides it in a single panel. I believe they now also have a lower section to cover behind the seat.

Have a great trip and visit Paul !

Awesome news, nothing like seeing your hard work paying off. John

Filled her up and went round the block- got all 3 gears & reverse! Heard one scary clunk- the tailgate only had one hook in and from the wrong side and fell down ? The latch holes are not so tight on the old girl- it’s why I swapped to carabiners years ago.

Got the assembly to the point of engine running for the 53 B4C. Dodge running.mp4

I like that you found hay bales to match the wheels. Great looking truck.

Wow those look great!?

I’ll crawl all over this car from top to bottom. For a couple of reasons. It’s all new to me and I’m enjoying the knowledge I am gaining. I also want to inspect everything and ensure its safe. In today’s example I had my legs up over the seat. My head down under the dash inspecting all the wiring. Found some interesting wiring for sure. Bad stuff that will be replaced right away.

Terrible advice......why don't you practice on it.....metal work, paint skills, welding....get better at using fillers or improve your sanding skills. Scrapping should be the last resort.

Been up on blocks for 40 years? Please, please, please go through the brake system before you head out for your first ride. You don't want any "surprises". That grille is just too pretty to waste.

Father's Day: I got to do some work on the '48 today. Got my lawn mowed too; which takes about 4 hours. The kids helped with some of that. ? Anyway, I removed the nasty headliner that somebody put in there which was just horrible, and those homemade door panels which were equally as horrible. I also took off the license plates because I'm going to run a year of manufacture plate. Found out that the truck really needs a tune-up badly; it just spits and sputters after you get to about 1/3 throttle. But I was able to drive it and shift all the way to 4th gear on the gravel roads by our house. I just had to be extra cautious because I only have the emergency brake ?. I tried adjusting the idle on the carburetor but the truck really needs the choke closed about 1/3 in order to run somewhat better. Exhaust has a big hole in it as well. I'm going to get a pertronix kit, new plugs, wires, cap, etc.

The rear of the head was hotter on my engine than the front or middle of the head, but not as much as you report. Mid head on mine was 170 deg. rear of the head was 190 deg. It is possible that your water distribution tube is partially blocked. However, if the engine runs OK and nothing is above boiling temp then you are probably OK running it.

It appears in your third picture of the rear u-joint that the clip is not fully installed down into the groove. May need to take a hammer and punch to get it fully set.?? DJ

The truck was down 3.5 weeks. Not exactly top fuel team turnaround time but I think my gas probably didn’t all turn to varnish yet!

I doubt the water pump is not putting out enough water ... though it may need to be replaced. I would bet, pull the water pump and you will find the water distribution tube behind it is clogged. This will stop the flow of water through the block, can be replaced without to much blood loss. I would also pull the welch plugs and clean the casting sand out of the block while working on it.

While I don't have any direct experience with these people, here are a couple of places to check out for performance parts. http://www.langdonsstovebolt.com/ http://www.moparmontana.com/

I used Nickel copper lines and found them easy to use with one word of caution...bend them slowly and carefully as they love to kink if you even look away for a moment. They bend without complaint but if you move to fast they will kink. Also be careful when doing the flares as they are soft and again slow wins the day. Good Luck! Here are some pics of mine: ( note I routed the front behind the transmission and then up the frame rail rather than in front of the engine as stock)

Thanks for the reply, Frank And for the name dropping. I'll try to track these guys down. I'm happy to post more pics. I just figured anyone reading this would already know what a black 1948 Dodge sedan looks like : ) I could pick up a copy of Hemmings, I suppose, and read it from front to back but I would still be flying blind without recommendations from guys who have actually been where I am. Hence my post, Frank. Again, thanks for the quick response and here are some pics as per your request. (Note: the first pic of the dashboard is mine with the empty switch/socket on the left. The following pic I found on the internet that appears to have the intact jewel capped switch in place)

Happy Father's day to all the fathers out there! So the shifter knob that was on my 48 was not original, it was a big aluminum knob and with each drive, was getting looser. I though the previous owner told me he had the original knob when I bought the car. Luckily, he didn't throw nothing away. The car came with boxes of parts. Including a bunch of new parts not yet installed like a whole box of different wiring harnesses. Anyway, I dug through the boxes and found the original shifter handle. And found why it's not on the car. The threads were completely stripped out. pulled the aluminum handle off and it's not got the correct thread size. It was held on by wrapping the shifter with Teflon and other tape to make a tight push on fit. thought I'd try a heli-coil in the original shifter. Worked great! Nice and tight and should be better then new as far as holding force. took the 48 to the auto parts to buy the heli-coil kit Friday, then to the local cruise in Saturday evening.

Just looked at my latest Plymouth Bulletin, June 17 - 20, 2020.

I had to work today so no transmission install. Tomorrow is supposed to rain but we’ll see. I did get time to finish the door card installation with armrests cranks and handles. I had to drill new holes in the square drives to account for the thicker cards. It feels solid and looks right to me. Now I’m thinking matching kick panels soon and headliner later.

Those curved rear bumpers, design wise, look wrong to me on a tail end that's straight across and they hang so low it gives the appearance the brackets are bent down. It looked wrong enough to me, I gave my rear bumper away. I'll build one I like.