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knuckleharley

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Everything posted by knuckleharley

  1. Can you contact him and ask him if he has any nice trim parts for sale? Especially a grille for a 42 Dodge?
  2. I agree. I would MUCH rather have and drive that car with the original running gear and other parts that the trendy ride they turned it into,but I'm old and have pretty much always liked original over restored or hotrodded. For all we know,Richard and Aaron like originals,too. They make their living by providing "as seen on teebee really,really cool and trendy cars that will make YOU look really,really cool and trendy driving them,and all you have to do is supply a bag of cash!" I'm guessing their typical customer is more of a "we want to buy a car or truck that will make us look like cool,cutting-edge gearheads when we drive them once a month." than actual car guys, There is another program called "Counts Cars" that has a elderly (70's) couple show up with a bag of money every once in a while and buy themselves a new personality. We are talking 60 grand + in cash and they have several cars. The last one I saw them buy was a 27 T roadster with a 3 carb 348 in it. This was a seriously nice (in MY opinion) clean traditional roadster when the Count bought it and pimped it up a little to attract the "I bought a tv car" buyer. I liked it in the medium blue with the white rolled and pleated interior that what they turned it into,but that's just me. I have no idea why this old couple bought it. I bet they have a hard time even getting in and out of it,and I doubt they ever drive it. There is another show with a famous guy whose name I can't remember buys and builds cars to take to one of the big auctions to sell. Big guy with a bad complexion. Can't remember his name. Anyhow,his cars always sell for more than 50 grand,and there are people bidding against one another to own the most recent one being auctioned that collect cars he builds. One bidder said he already owned 4 or 5 of this guy's custom cars. Tv show cars and tv show car buyers are their own little sub-culture.
  3. My 48 Ply coupe has a 78 Camaro front clip and 10 bolt rear. I can't imagine it riding or driving any better. I'm getting ready to pull the tired 305/Turbo 350 and replace them with a blueprinted 412 SBC that would snap my neck hitting passing gear in the old 1 ton van,and 700R overdrive. Mostly because I already have them (pulled from a van I used to drive) and because they will bolt right in in place of the old engine and trans. I may be wrong but I think that 412 is going to wake up that little Plymouth. Would I do this if I were to buy a nice stock P-15? Not one chance in hell. IMHO there is not a thing wrong with the way the stock front ends allow the car to drive and ride. Not,they aren't as precise as the more modern suspensions,but so what? They are plenty good for everyday driving if in good condition with good springs and shocks.
  4. My thoughts are : 1: Flatheads just don't breathe good enough to make it worth your trouble. 2: Jag sedans must weigh 4,000 lbs,and they have rack and pinion steering. 3: Turbo-charged Cummings from a late model Dodge pu. I know a guy that has one in his 34 Dodge car hauler. If that is too big for you,GM is supposed to be coming out with a small inline turbo diesel in their mid-size pu next year. Probably another Izuzu,but Izuzu has been building diesels forever.
  5. Maybe a powerflite. I just pulled the auto trans from behind my 55 DeSoto hemi engine last week,so my memory is fresh enough I remember the dip stick is on the drivers side. My bellhousing looks like that one,though.
  6. Sure is good to see so many adults there that are under 50.
  7. Me,too. I've been like that all my life. I would run right past a show car at swap meets to look at the project cars on trailers. Survior cars have history. Somebody thought enough of them to keep them around all this time instead of going for the quick buck of selling them for scrap metal. One really surprising thing about my old truck is the damn thing rides and drives like a new one. Not the least bit of vibration in the steering wheel,and it tracks as straight and true as a new one with no looseness at all. Probably the most surprising thing is I can cruise right along at 55 MPH with the head so warped oil leaks past on both sides. I'm hoping to cruise at 60 after milling the head. (G)
  8. I live up near Kitty Hawk,but driving my old IHC to Wilmington may be too much of a challenge right now. The head is so warped that oil actuall leaks out between the head and the block. I didn't think such a thing was possible,but it is. I have now found and bought a new headgasket,and as soon as I get caught up on my "gotta do's" I will be getting the head milled. I am still shocked it runs on all 6 cylinders,but it does. I also need to drop the base pan,the timing gear cover,and the valve covers to replace all those gaskets,too. If it has oil or grease in this truck,it leaks. The guy I bought it from in ND bought it in Mn in 1973,and had to cut down trees to move it to where he could load it on his trailer. All he had done to it since then was shimming the bearings. Plus I need to put new door glasses in it before I drive it very far. The ones in it when I bought the truck shook themselves to pieces on the trip from ND to NC.
  9. So far I have entered a total of 1 car show,and will probably not enter anything in any more. Cost me 25 bucks to enter my 39 IHC D-2 pickup in a local show,and they put me way the hell out on the back row and not within 50 feet of any other cars. My D-2 is a "barn find" original and isn't real shiny,and isn't even cool enough for the rat-rodders,who go right up front. More rat rodders than anybody else around here,and they are all flat black with lots of chrome. I have better things to do with my 25 dollars and my time.
  10. Thanks for posting. I have always lusted after 55-56 Plymouths,and it's good to see them get some attention. I even like stationwagons,and own a 58 Rambler Cross Country with factory air and ps. Then again,the list of things I don't like is a lot easier to post than the list of things I do like. Mostly I don't like 59 Chevrolets,58 Buicks,49-58 Packards,and 46-48 Hudsons,and I like everything else
  11. Maybe I'm wrong,but I don't see any danger of a open block freezing and cracking because unlike a sealed unit,there is room for the water to expand when it freezes,and it always takes the path of least resistance.
  12. Call around trucking companies with dump trucks,and ask them where they get their springs re-arched and repaired. Then you can take your springs to a local shop and have the work done,and most likely save a bundle in the process. If they can re-arch and heat treat dump truck springs,your Plymouth springs are going to be a walk in the park for them. You need to check your manual to see what the factory spring rates are to get the springs done right,but I don't see any real reason why it would be a big deal for them to get you the "drop" you need while maintaining the right spring rate. After all,this is a large part of what they do for a living. It will also be a good place to get a new drivershaft built if you ever need one.
  13. Ooops! My mistake. Thanks for the correction. BTW,for those who have never been there,there is some sort of trasnsportation museum right across the street from it. I didn't get a chance to go in there because I was tired and on a schedule when I visited the A-C-D museum,but it sounded promising.
  14. Nope,Auburns,Cords,and Duesenbergs. If any of you are ever in the area,you owe it to yourself to stop by the A-C-C museum/factory and take a tour there. IMHO,the 3 most beautiful cars in the entire world were all built in that little factory. Yeah,I know. You have all seen photos of Auburns,Cords,and Duesenbergs. It ain't the same thing as standing next to one and looking at it,though. Trust me on this. When I was there there was a deep maroon Cord Cabriolet next to the door that I would spend stupid money to own,if I had stupid money. AND....,I'd drive it around to show everybody what cars are supposed to look like. BTW,I do have a 1939 D-2 IHC pu that is (IMHO) pretty damn stylish if you like the art deco styling of the late 30's,but neither it nor any other Binder compares to the A-C-D's.
  15. There is what looks to be a VERY nice cream-colored 36 Ford 3-window coupe in the background with all the paint sanded from the top that never seems to get worked on. Which suits me perfectly because I suspect some idiot took it there to have the top chopped and that's why the top is in bare metal. IMHO,the 36 Ford 3-window coupe is one of the most beautiful designs to ever come from any factory not in Ft.Wayne,Indiana,and since you can't improve on perfect you need to leave it the hell alone.
  16. You can easily afford to do that when you are being paid to buy,work on,and sell the car. I suspect Richard and Aaron are both earning 6 figures for the show,and any money they make on the cars is just gravy.
  17. I enjoy the show even though I don't like some of the things they do to most of the cars. Ok,I don't like almost anything they do to the cars,and actively hate some of it. Especially the "paint over rust" thing. One thing I like about it is that this is maybe the only car show on tv where sometimes the guy admits he screwed up and lost money on a deal. Also,the show is about running a business,not a hobby. The guy builds what is trendy and sells. Think of him as a used car salesman with a tv show and it starts to make sense. It's all about the Benjamins and meeting a payroll at the end of the week. As for them building a car from scratch in two weeks,it's not hard to do when you have more than a dozen people working on it in 2 12 hours shifts that know what they are doing,every tool they need,a place to work,and if you order a custom part the guy that makes it shows up the next day to personally install it. Most of us in the real world just ain't going to place a order to Art Carr for one of his street/strip modified transmissions,and have him show up the next day with it in a crate in the back of a truck,and insist on installing it for us. AND......,no doubt the labor and the transmission were swapped for the advertising. This didn't happen on Fast and Loud,but I did see it happen on one of the other programs. In OUR world we are lucky if most of the parts we order even get to us in 2 weeks,never mind finishing the whole car in two weeks. One program I really hated was some Hollywood weirdo had a custom shop and he and his wife mostly styled and profiled while other people did the work in the background. The guy used to have a minium of one 350 lb bodyguard follow him everywhere he went. I'd have to ask myself "Do I really want to turn my car over to a shop where the owner is so afraid of his customers he always has a bodyguard peeking over his shoulder?"
  18. If you have to do a total rebuild,you have to do a total rebuild,and it makes no real difference financially if the engine has been sitting in the open for years or not. IF necessary you can bust the pistions to pull the crank and rods,and then just bore the cylinders out for oversize pistons. A rebore is a rebore. On the slim chance they are too deeply pitted to clean up with a overbore,you can always overbore any individual cyldinder and fit a sleeve of the correct size. Same with the crank. Turn it to clean it up,and if it is scored you can always have a crank shop or REALLY competent automotive machine shop reweld it and and then weld up the jourals to oversize and then polish them back down to standard. It really ain't that big a deal. IF you ever have to do this,MY recommendation is to use a shop like Power Engineering out in Denver. Rebuilding cranks and cams is about 95 percent of what they do,and they even rebuild cams and crankshafts up to 32 feet long. I know for a fact they do good work because I used to work there as a machinist in the mid-70's. http://www.manta.com/c/mmc79b6/power-engineering-co With Power Engineering you have to furnish your own cams and cranks to be rebuilt,though. They don't save and swap cores. Even broken ones are ok with them,but expect to pay more. Another place I know does good work is Delta Cams in Washington state. I have Delta cams in 2 of my current engines. One a 640 Ford tractor,and the other a 58 Rambler wagon. Make sure you buy new lifters from them while you are at it. Yes,you can save core charges by sending them your old cam and lifter,or you can just send yours in to be ground to your specifications. BTW,you do know hemi heads can be bolted onto the Poly blocks,right? All you have to change are the pistons,IIRC.
  19. If you can't be nice to yourself,who can you be nice to?
  20. ???? My trailer weighs right at 4,000 lbs. Granted,it is a 5 ton rated equipment trailer,but it's still only 16 feet with a beavertail. I think if you are going to find one sturdy enough to haul a 4,000 lb or so car or truck that only weighs around 2,000 lbs you are going to have to go for one of those really expensive aluminum trailer. My front end loader weights 9,000 lbs,so I wanted a trailer heavy enough to tow it to a dealer if I need it work on. Costs a fortune to have a commercial hauler take something like this to a dealer,and if the dealer comes here he charges me 150 bucks per hour starting at the time he leaves his shop until the time he returns. Including time on the road if he has to run back to get a part.
  21. My preference would always be for a trailer if possible,but I wouldn't hesitate to pull a modern car behind me on a dolly if I had to. The key word here is "modern". No way would I tow something and real distance on a dolly or flat tow it that has been sitting somewhere for 30 or 40 years without being driven. Heat build up can cause ugly surprises.
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