andyd

Welcome aboard........I've had a 318 Poly in my 1940 Dodge since 1973, as far as I was aware Plymouth based Polys couldn't be converted into Hemis.........that "option" was supposedly only doable on the Dodge/DeSoto & Chrysler Polyspheres.......but I have been wrong before......lol........the easiest way to give the car some extra would be to give it a 4 barrel intake & carb, dual exhausts, upgraded ignition......or swap in a complete late 318 Poly or A series 318........my Oz 2 cents worth...........andyd

My car has had vented front discs since about 1975........I found out the hard way that disc brakes MUST HAVE High Temperature wheel bearing grease .........at the time I was running steelies on the front without hubcaps and nothing beats driving on the freeway and feeling a wobble thru the steering wheel and then watching the drivers front wheel dust cap go sailing into the centre divide trailing smoke as it did so.........on inspection it had semi welded the bearing remains to the stub axle.......lol.........this was 45 yrs ago & taught me a valuable lesson.......I thru out all the standard wheel bearing grease after that episode..........lol........Harley.....what sort of grease are you using?.......andyd

That Metro Molded Parts rubber list seems quite good tho at least 2 listed for a 1940 Plymouth are I am pretty sure are to suit the 1941 Plymouth..the Tailight and Trunk light pads look like 1941 stuff.........andyd

Mopar didn't use ball joints till 1957 as far as I am aware.......Noonan has used the 1940 Upper Outer bushing and pin from the pics posted.......andyd

I see you are using the original 1940 Upper A Arms, I used the 1941-54 Upper A arms on my Oz 1940 Dodge........the original 1940 a arms will be quite o/k, just that I found some MOOG cast steel arms when I was building my car 50 yrs ago......also are you going to use a sway bar?.......for 1940 they use a rubber lined metal link that bolts onto the front of your lower shock mount........I made some Heim jointed pieces that attach to the lower shock bolt then bolt to a custom made 1" thick sway bar..............the car handles much better with a front sway bar tho' I must admit I have not driven any car with airbags so I might be wrong........lol......andyd

Have you tried Andy Bernbaums?.....I have found them to be good to use.........but have not had good dealings with Steele Rubber.........my Oztralian 2 cents worth........andyd

The link posted shows the adaptor with the actual bolt to bolt measurement.........go measure your carb bolt to bolt and theres your answer.........and brand spanking new 97's are available now.........andyd.

Not sure if this helps but the only fuse that was in the wiring circuit in my 1940 Dodge was attached to the end of the headlight switch.......its no longer like that now.......lol......nice looking car BTW.....is there anything else electrical in the car which doesn't work now?.......if its just the top then it would seem that would be the 1st thing to check........andyd

Chrysleritis.......congratulations on a mammoth job........and I am impressed........regards from Oztralia......andyd

Mad201.....thats an interesting IFS conversion, looks basically like a Mustang11 style .........I was going to suggest that a XJ6 Jaguar front end might work....they are quite common conversions here in Australia, ideally the Mk 2 or 3 XJ6 are the preferred ones, they come with manual or a power rack & pinion, vented discs with Chev bolt pattern and are a neat bolt in style of suspension althought the upper shock mount has to be fabricated but is not that difficult........regards from Oztralia.....andyd

Saskwatch.......I've been wearing glasses since I was 13, now 71........so I have 4eyes........able to see things....lol......andyd

Michael.........the 25" engine was very common here in Oz from the late 40's onwards, and certainly in the Oz Chrysler Royals from 1957-1962.....if you have a workshop manual that covers the 250 engine then that should surfice...........I'd suggest that when ordering parts from the USA suppliers do not mention that its for a Dodge as the Yanks will then say that you need parts for a 23" engine.......lol..............what you need are parts for the "1957 DeSoto that you have".......try Andy Berbaums, I've found them to be good to deal with for over 40 yrs.......what exactly are you looking for?......regards from Oz........Andy Douglas

Your problem will probably be that back in the 1960's you may have found an adaptor fairly common but nowadays maybe not so..........and being in Belgium will probably not help........(I'm in Australia so can relate to the problem myself)....have you pulled the original wheel off and taken some measurements?.....any chance you maybe able to compare the size, ie, diiameter, spine count, etc against a Ford column for which you may be able to find an adaptor.....good luck in the hunt..and Welcome aboard from Oztralia.......andyd

The steering stop bolt goes on the rear of the stub axle as Plymouthy has said.... on my Oz 1940 Dodge(essentially a 1940 Plymouth), I used the later, 41-54 style (used up to 1962 on the Oz Chrysler Royals) stub axles which again have the stop bolt at the rear.......andyd

Nice work on the tool.......I have a question tho' regarding the spring pockets on the A Arms........are you running airbags?.........andyd