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I took this old buggy "Gussie" out for a ride over to my brothers house the other day. 12 hilly miles each way.

Dug mine out of her shed this morning as well, and drove her to work. She got 15 minutes of highway time, just enough to blow off the winters dust accumulation. Supposed to be 100% washout weekend here in central Massachusetts, so it wasn’t a hard decision to make, and it’ll make the drive home a little more enjoyable today.

Good Morning Crew! Just a quick good morning & happy spring. Finally dug the "48" out from under all her blankets and wow is she dusty. Gotta' give her a bath and shine. We did take her our and stretched her legs. Runs like a top.

Looking good Paul. Maybe this new concept of painting things will have a good influence on you... ?

Just bought this 39 DeSoto a few weeks ago from Washington state. Had it delivered to San Francisco. Drive it almost every day. Need to adjust the emergency brake a bit but other than that, it’s a great driver. Nick

Been turning wrench’s since my teen years. Will be retiring in 2 years. Started with CP. and I still have a few around. Gave a few to a new hire 3 years ago and he is still useing them . I’ve owned Air tools from Matco, Mac, Cornwell, and Snap-On. I’ve moved away from dragging air lines all over the place. I’m useing Snap- On cordless tools. I rebuild Onan Generators on a daily basis. It makes my life a lot easier.

Have you removed all 13 fasteners?

Here is a photo of the 70's GMC motorhome with a Olds Toronado Drive train. Vintage but still popular.

I have been following this saga with morbid curiosity as I am also doing a frame off but on a '56 Suburban (the frames are almost identical). At age 74 if I am going to physically be able to continue to enjoy the hobby. even if it is only for one project, and for safety reasons, I had to get a Rotisserie. Best $ 1000.00 delivered I ever spent.

1. I was going to lift the frame up to the body, a reverse of how I removed it, and was going to remove the engine and transmission to reduce weight. I do not have the benefit of a lift. I do suppose I can arrange proper jacks in proper places and with some one on each jack lower the body onto the frame. Set up correctly, should have better control lowering than lifting. What have I got myself into? 2. Body mounts. Here are suggestions: used hocky pucks, used skate wheels, sliced discs from HF mallets, but after a closer look at the removed mounts, these mounts are quite involved and are not all alike. The center mounts, 3 each side, are key, they hold the body proper. This is a suburban so the long roof body has much more leverage on the frame, than a coupe for example. The Suburban is a unique body to frame, to road balance, etc., so needs these special mounts, see pictures in previous post. So I will order a set, poor foundation after all that I've done, appears to be foolhardy. Ergo, I will meticulously assemble the chassis and drive train then lower the body onto the frame. Do wish me well.

You'll probably need some bedsides soon, too!

Dennis, do yourself a favour and buy one of the EZ Wiring kits (other brands are available). A colour-blind monkey had been employed at some stage to rewire my D20, using a random GM truck harness from a scrap yard. Maybe 15 or 20 unused and unlabelled circuits were just zip tied out of the way behind the dash, but still live and occasionally sparking out when they touched bodywork.. Where wires weren't long enough, another random colour wire had been crimped on, but the join hidden inside conduit or wrapped in electrical tape, so while you might start out looking for a blue wire with a white tracer, it may be dark green at the other end... By far the easiest thing to do in the end was to rip out the entire harness - every last piece of wire on the car - and start from scratch. Every wire in the kit is labelled with it's name printed every few inches. An absolute joy to install. You need to be methodical and patient, but it is so much easier than trying to patch what is already there. I'd also recommend buying a kit of 1/4" multiway automotive connectors and the right crimp tool. This is a UK one, but you're bound to find a local supplier: https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/26-piece-multiple-connector-block-terminal-kit.html

I use an electric 1/2". Less oiling and it's easier to drag an electrical cord around than an air hose.

I have a Chicago Pneumatic (from Sears) Impact and socket wrench. Bought them 25+ years ago, still working. I'm a Milwaukee tool fan and I have one of their NiCad 18 volt impact guns and it has been a disappointment, just doesn't have enough torque. If I was getting a new one the IR 231 mentioned earlier looks pretty good.

I've used this same gun in an industrial environment for 12yrs. The gun was rarely oiled, maybe 20times to date. It still works great and seems as strong as new. Its a 1/2" drive gun. Used 3/4 drive sockets on it often with adapter. I have dropped it, abused it and asked a lot from it. It's light and ergonomic. When I left my old job I brought it home and it seems to do more with less air than my old craftsman. My old craftsman is a good gun and one like it can be found cheap but the IR 231C composite has my vote for the best gun ive used.

Oh thanks Knuckleharley ! I've always liked this year too. My first car as a high school kid in 1966 was one just like this one. I had been looking for it or one like it for more than 40 years and finally found one on Craigslist out of Spokane, Washington. The seller had owned the car since 1958 and I got the car with the old tires he purchased way back then. Complete with whitewall paint. Here's a photo of my first '33 Plym.

No, It has the original soft top. The roof is very dusty which is blending the 2 materials together. I've added dual horns now and a rear trunk.

I think I read it here "a vehicle in motion tends to stay in motion, a vehicle in parts tends to stay in parts"

Back in the early 80’s I found $750 in a bank envelope under the trunk mat. Paid $700 for the car and beat the hell out it for two years and then sold it for $1,500. Sad part is that it was a 1971 Dodge Charger with a 318. The car only had 30,000 miles on when I got it.

Ok, I found the curb weight in a 1952 Dodge Salesman's brochure and now my baby is officially titled and registered in my name.

I just got to this thread, nice. But the age thing. . . , Double your 33, and raise it 14 more to get to me. I'm trying to even remember 33, 1971, Nam war, peace nicks, draft dodgers, you probably don't know what the draft was! Hippies in VW vans, Woodstock, 1969, line was so long I turned back!

May 9, 2018: Got the Meadowbrook back on the road. The brakes work pretty good, but I’m not a great expert on the bleeding process. After work tomorrow morning I’m heading to a friend’s to put the car up on his hoist. We’ll get the brakes bled properly then. Here’s a shot while it was warming up. Felt spectacular to be behind the wheel again. My kids rode into town with me to get gas. Can’t wait to drive to work tomorrow morning!

My retired neighbor had a HF impact wrench, eventually his shoulders were giving him enough fits that he asked me to use it one day to break loose his mower blades...I was shocked at how heavy that thing was, and it would not break those big bolts loose...I ran up to the barn and retrieved Dad's 2yr old Craftsman, he could hold it with one hand and broke those bolts off himself...so he got a similar one on sale for like $30, and was pleased as punch to be able to keep working on his stuff...if only shopping online, definitely compare weight as well as air flow requirements

I have a dewalt 20 volt cordless impact. 1/2” drive. I haven’t found a bolt it won’t break loose yet. Amazing power.

5 months later, I got my engine back from machine shop. Crank was ground 0.30 over, bored 0.40, cam, tappets, oil pump and gone over throughout. Cost was crazy high in my opinion at $3,700. But stuff cost nowadays. Now to paint this and that so the 40 Chrysler Windsor will be back on the road soon.....

It’s now sitting in car. Won’t be long now

VERY clear thinking! My motto these days is "If it ain't broke,don't fix it!"

I would be very surprised to find any repo rubber parts that were a material match to an original. I mean, just look at what happens to even tires from the Orient. Early cracking, poor wear etc. I think we're lucky to get parts the same size, never mind hardness and flexibility. Yeah, I know I'm a cranky old cuss and don't trust offshore vendor sources. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong. I'd try a lot of things before paying the exorbitant prices of some rubber parts.

Thanks, he did use some parts. Looked at the box of old parts today and he even returned the old freeze plugs.

His quote was 3,500 to 4,000, it ended up right in the middle. I really want to be able to drive with confidence 175 miles to the beach a few times a year. So I’m happy to bite the bullet to help have that piece of mind.

Can’t wait to be cruising again.