clubcoupe

Hey...that looks nice. I bought out a few boxes of NOS stuff a while back and got some amber light caps that are plastic and snap over a bulb using a spring. I put a set of them on my 52 Pontiac because my hood ornament glows amber and when the park lights are on it all matches and looks nice. These are 1960's accessories, copyright on the package was like 1962... I'll probably put a set on my 46 Dodge also once I get it ready. I'd say something similar could still be found at a truck stop, like someone else mentioned. Dave

I have to do some work to the valance on the front before I can get those fog lights to sit right. I had them sitting up once, but they just slip back off to the side. I can't get them to tighten up right. I have been watching that freeze plug, it doesn't appear that it has leaked in many years, just stained where it did leak once before. The parking brake doesn't work yet. It needs some adjusting done to it, I haven't gotten to that yet. I just keep the wheels blocked.

Don, it does appear to have been painted a green once upon a time. You can see a lot more green on the back half of the engine, but it was oily when I took that picture because I accidentally spilled the oil out of the oil bath air cleaner. Here's the number off the engine - D42 - I22075 ... I've already been told it's a 51-52 Dodge engine. I got front brakes on this car now. I took the drums off the front and everything looked new. The linings still had writing on them where someone had them re-lined once before. I drove it to the post office and back today (about a mile round trip) and it never missed a beat. Run cool and held good oil pressure. I'm just having problems with the accelerator pump so I'll have to get me a kit and rebuild the stromberg carburetor. Here's a couple of better pictures. I found a can of green paint I had laying around, so I painted the wheels green for now This is probably one of the more solid cars I've ever had to start with. Dave

I've been working on this old Dodge off and on the past couple of weeks now. I've got the car running pretty good now. It fires right up every time. I took the master cylinder off and rebuilt it. I'll probably go ahead and replace all brake lines next. I still have to have the shoes relined also. I found a place locally that does that kind of work, I just need to call them about doing the Dodge shoes. Once I get the brakes fixed, I'll probably start doing some body and suspension work. I'm hoping I can have this car ready to drive next summer so I can take my 52 Pontiac off the road and redo it. I'll post updates in this thread as I go along... You all have been lots of help already . Dave

Yes I looked at the wheel cylinder closely and the inside looked great with no pitting, cups looked good as did the dust cover. I haven't inspected all of them yet, just this one. I'm going to pull the others apart tomorrow. I know a guy that has boxes full of NOS shoe linings, I may go see if he has any linings that'll work on mine and have them relined. I'll check around tomorrow also and see if I can find anyone else that may be able to get them or reline the old ones. The car had spare shoes in a box in the back, but the linings are coming off those also. Would make good cores though. Dave

It is a 3 speed. I don't know a whole lot about these transmissions, just what others have told me and from what I've read online. I'll probably just stick with the fluid drive since it seems to be fine. I started working on the brakes today, but the pads separated from the shoe so I'll need to get new shoes for it in order to get the brakes working. Other than that, the wheel cylinders look great as well as everything else so I'm hoping it won't take much to get brakes on this so I can move it around a little easier. Wasn't hard at all to get the drum off. I thought it was going to be tough, but a couple of hits with a hammer on the puller and it nearly fell off. Also found these visors in the back window so I stuck those on there. Dave

I never thought much about what I was typing or I'd had made myself a little more clear I found out yesterday while I was driving it that the transmission will not slow you down like a manual will and hold the car also. If I can find me a regular 3 speed or a parts car to get the parts from, I'll probably just convert it. I don't want to have to worry about anything when I park the car and most places around here are hilly. Also with all the mountains, I like to be able to shift to a lower gear and not have to ride the brakes. I appreciate all the help I've gotten... Dave

I fired it back up a little while ago and even drove it down the street. I'm feeling a little bit better about this project now haha. The accelerator pump in the carburetor isn't working very good, but I did manage to make it down the street. It idles fine though. Anyone know how much count these "Fluid-Drive" transmissions were? Is it something I should think about keeping, or converting to a 3 speed straight drive transmission? My plans for the car are to build a mild 50's-60's era custom out of it. I'm not planning on going all out with it, just doing some minor things. Here is the video...

It runs! Finally... I took all the plugs out and sprayed around each hole with some carburetor cleaner then lit it on fire. Waited until it burned out and then put a set of new plugs in it and it fired right up on the first spin. Engine sounds good and the clutch works, goes into all gears good. I'll post a video of the engine running after while. Dave

Wouldn't it at least backfire? Pop? crack? do something? It hasn't made a sound other than cranking. I just helped a friend put a RD450 in a 1958 Diamond T water truck and we had the distributor 180 out and it would backfire through the carburetor. I'm not getting anything at all on mine. I'll check the wires again though. I have number 1 on the bottom left of the distributor cap I think 2 post before the clip. Dave

I'll check the wires and timing again tomorrow after work. It may think it's awinnin, but I'll get my cherry picker involved in this situation...then we'll see who's winning. If that sucker wants to purr down the road again it'll start or be replaced with something that will haha I'll keep you all updated on what happens Dave

I'm outside of Fayetteville, WV. The firing order is right. I got that information out of my Chilton's manual.

That's what I've been thinking too, but it seem to be right. I took number 1 plug out and took the cap off the distributor and turned it until number 1 piston was at the top. The rotor button is sitting right on number 1. I've also tried adjusting it some both ways while cranking it and never got it to hit. This is the first Dodge Flathead I've had to work on, I've owned Pontiac and Ford Flathead's and never had any trouble getting one started. If there's something different about this Dodge, someone let me know...

I've replaced the cap, button and the points on this thing, I have fire to the points and to the plugs, but it still won't hit. I checked the timing and it's right also. The spark plugs look fine and the wires I'm using were were on my 52, but I put new ones on it even though it didn't need it so the wires should be good. I'm getting fire to every plug. It is getting fuel, I've even tried a little starting fluid and it wouldn't hit off that. I've done away with the ignition wires and I'm just running a hot wire from the battery to the coil and cranking it with a starter switch I made to hook up to the solenoid. (Same way I always do when I have one sitting on the ground and firing up.) It fired up once a few days ago for about 10 seconds and I haven't been able to get it to start since. It's showing 120lb compression in each cylinder cold... Anyone got any ideas? What would be the correct way this coil should be hooked up to the distributor? I never changed anything, but I switched the wires just to see and still nothing. Dave

I posted some pics of my Dodge in another thread. Here's a few pictures of my Pontiac's though. My 1952 Pontiac current and what it looked like when I found it... This is a Flathead car. Here's my 64 Pontiac. 389 car.