gnoub1948

Thanks Tim. My car is void of rockers and floor so I may have some issues but I see what you mean. Gary

Tim, I still a bit confused as to the jacking technique of the A pillar. Also, right now the piece of new A pillar that I set in is inline with the original top portion of the pillar. The new A pillar section I mounted in is below the upper hinge mount holes, and I'm lined up with the upper portion. I'm sticking out to the side a bit but vertically flush. I'm thinking that since I need to somehow widen the door frame width an 1/8th and 'lift' the whole right side roof like an 1/8th the culprit might be, in spite of my bracing, the lack of a body mount at the B pillar (the floor is completely rotted away there) which may have caused the 'sag' before I even started working on him. I didn't lift anything when I braced it up, I just braced it as it sat. Since I have a new rear end section (with a floor) to mount in too, most likely I'm wasting my time until I get that mounted, but I don't think I should even try that until I have the A pillar firmly in place. I tell you its hard not really 'seeing' this in your head. I'm a trial and error guy....and that adds lots of hours to my endeavors. What if I get the A pillar lined and mounted; raise the right side roof line a bit (like a 1/16th) and brace that will tubing using the frame as a support; then cut out the rear and add the new rear end with new body mount pads, and then attempt to align everything while the body mount bolts are just loosely installed? Gary

Young Ed, right on the seam or above or below? Above the seam are the trim holes. Gary

Tim, what confuses me is why the body lines are so good if the back half is sagging? I guess it's the amount of adjustment in the door hinges that makes that possible? To further the madness, I'm wondering what's the best way to get this back half attached? I surely don't want to cut through the rear window. I think next time I'll just buy a whole car instead of pieces to sew together! I'm developing a great respect for real body men! Gary

Tim, thanks for the comments. The floor is missing as well as the rockers. I actually have a back half body replacement (B pillar to trunk) that needs to go in. Maybe that will help me align everything. I have the body braced every which way with the bracing supported by the frame. I was thinking that since the body was sill mounted to the frame and the bracing everywhere, I wouldn't have a sagging issues. Again, the drivers side came out very nice. Maybe it's time for a BFH and a jack???

Thanks for the help!!

Tim, thanks for the edification. I thought only Dodge, Desoto and Chrysler Arms were interchangeable. Gary

Fred, the hinges are attached. I bought a good set from a yard in SD. I cut the old pillar out leaving the top hinge section in place. The lower section is the replacement. The new pillar has enough room to just slide in place and bolt onto the mounts. On the surface, this should be very straight forward. The drivers side was for the most part. Having to bend the body to make things fit is telling maybe the car was in an accident and something was bent.

By the way, "haberdash"?? Now that's showing your age! Haven't heard that word in 40 years or so.

Plymouth will not work. Mine's a De Soto. Been looking for awhile. I can get a set from South Dakota, but they're costly. Gary

Well now that you put it that way......I guess you're right. Just trying to save some $$. I need both and so far I have not found anything cheap for this thing. Gary

Well, got back to working on 'Bobo'. I'm replacing the passenger side A pillar. The drivers side worked out great. This side is not. I cut the old A pillar out and placed the new piece in. Left lots of wiggle room this time. I used a new body mount pad and bolted the A pillar down. There are three locations. The front cowl mount (no pad); a side mount with a new body pad; and a floor mount that bolts into the frame. On this side, although I braced the body up good so I thought, I had to 'lift' up a little on the body (maybe an 1/8th) to get the correct distance between the hinges. The old pillar slips in and out incidentally. Anyway, I have a template for the distance between the upper and lower hinge mounts and also one for the fender body mount holes. I Lined everything up as best I could and and tacked a piece of bar to hold the lineup tight. My fender mount template and some vice grips hold the rest. Got the door back on and crossed my fingers for the line up. Well, the body lines are nice. But the door gap is non existent at the B piller. And a bit tight at the roof line. I looked at the tacked in A pillar and the side is out about an 1/8th out. Seems like when I line this up, the door fit will be worse?? Hopefully the picture shows the gaps. I used my cell phone. Also, the lower corner of the door hits the B pillar long before the rest of the door touches anything. The other picture attached shows that when the body lines are flush, the door from the body line down is in about 1/4". When I bought the car, this door never really worked since the hinges and hinge pins were rusted off. So I have no real idea as to the fit before this surgery. Again, the drivers side is very good. This car will be a rod. I have no intention of trying to make it perfect. It's so far gone now, its almost not worth doing but.....I still am. I would like to get the doors to at least line up reasonably well. I'm thinking I need to lift another 1/16th maybe. But I'm stumped right now concerning the B pillar door gap or lack thereof. So, any thoughts anyone?? Thanks! Gary

I had my control arms dipped with some other items. When they came back, the 'nust' on the end where the pivot pins bolt through were rusted off. I was thinking I could weld another nut on? Seems like you could. Just not sure if that would be a safe thing to try. May be a thread issue though. Thanks! Gary

Jacqualine: I have a '48 De Soto completely disassembled in the garage. Mine is a rust bucket. There's more rust than meets the eye I can tell you. Anyway, I still love him. If you need pictures of things let me know. I have found a ton of parts on eBay. Lot's of replacement stuff comes up. I've bought NOS fenders and some trim pieces and lot's of dash parts. Being in GA you most likely don't get to the Spring or Fall Carlisle events. I have found lots of things there. Actually, that's where I found the NOS fenders. I imagine Charlotte has lots of stuff too. I recently had many of the body and suspension parts chemically dipped. What looked like nice pieces came back unusable like the lower control arms. Bu then my car is a South Carolina car that looked like it sat in a swamp for years. Plymouth Doctors makes lots of replacement parts for the floor and some body panels. I have learned the hard way that I should have bought a parts car right away. You can find cheap ones and it's well worth the expense regardless of the condition of your car. Recently I bought a very nice set of door hinges since mine were shot. But the cost was $300. You can buy a whole car for $1,000 or less. Gary

Rodney: Yes I have a '34 Airflow.....in my dreams that is like the rest of the list! Right now the fleet consists of a '50 Buick and a bunch of '48 De Soto pieces! Gary