Adam H P15 D30

If you go to an electric fan, loose the mechanical one all together. Makes for much quieter driving. Make the electric fan thermostat controlled so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to turn it on. I put a T in my heater hose fitting at the back of the head and installed a temperature switch there.

Small block Chevy / TH 350 trans.

No pictures but it's ugly.. Got a belly button engine / trans

I went to Jegs chrome wheels baby moons

James, I can think of a few reasons why the engineers built negative caster into their specs: 1. The engineers made a mistake - Yes it does happen, a lot! 2. The engineers were counting on the rolling resistance of bias ply tires to stabilize. 3. The engineers were trying to minimize steering effort with the heavy car. 4. People in 1949 weren't rolling down the freeway at 70mph with slicker radial tires. Positive caster for stability at speed is a FACT not a suggestion. Radial tire's less rolling resistance may make it more noticeable. For less than the time you have invested in your research, you could have rolled the upright back (add pos caster) and been done with it. It does take a little creativity with the front end to adjust the "non-adjustable" caster but it can be done.

My Dodge is my 20 footer that lives outside and gets parked on the street and Costco etc. This is a 36 Ford rumble seat coupe and it deserves to get finished, but I'll still drive it and park it in parking lots because that's what they are made for.

Got a new toy to add to the stable the other day. Not sure what the plans are yet but it's a 20 footer that needs a lot of work. 36 Ford Coupe

Not to be blunt but that seems like a lot of effort for something that is well known. You need positive caster for stability no matter what kind of car it is. I would add as much positive caster as the front end will allow and retest. It will probably only allow a couple of degrees but anything positive will help the wander. I don’t have the OE specs in front of me but I remember 0-1 degrees positive. I would never set up negative caster on a street driven vehicle no matter what the “book” says, it will always cause a wander. I think I got 2-3 degrees positive out of my 49, it’s adjustment is maxed. A simple angle finder can be used to add the caster you need. 4-6 degrees would be ideal but expect 1-3 with the old front end. Maybe they ask for negative caster on your heavy car to reduce steering effort but trading stability.

Front disc brakes are one of those things that you may not need until you need them, especially if you drive it a lot as I do. I did the drum brake thing for a few years but eventually gave in. I installed the Rustyhope kit on the front of mine and retained the stock master cylinder and no power booster. All I had to do to the master was pull the internal check valve out. I did also go to a newer rear axle with modern drum brakes and the car stops extremely well with a light pedal. Total costs for the front discs was less than rebuilding the drums and I’m not concerned with originality. Adam

The early stages before I went to modern rims... This is just paint cracking because of the flex.

Ok, if it is a Mustang "car" pan it will have 2 sumps and 2 drains. The front is small so not much comes out. If someone installed a truck pan, it will only have a front sump. The engine is at a bit of an angle but it won't effect anything, I've seen v-drive boats with twice the angle. That is an 86 and up 302, but I cannot see if it says 5.0 EFI or 5.0 HO, there is a difference, mostly with the cam and firing order. If it has a truck pan, put 6 qts of oil and see where it is on the dipstick. If it has a car pan, put 5 qts of oil and do the same. Looks like a light truck or Crown Vic engine... If the firing order is the same as a 351 Windsor, it is an HO motor, probably out of a Mustang. Low performance 302's use a different firing order and the upper plenum says "EFI" Hope this helps????

Thank you for the compliment, the idea is to make the graft as invisible as possible. Nova subframes are rear steer and present more issues than a minor radiator support mod. Anything will fit in anything, just depends on how adventurous you are with the angle grinder and welder

Plymouthy refers to 97-04 Dakotas for the earlier P15's and and the prior Dakota generation for your 51? I would consider him an authority on this and I'm sure he will clarify if I'm wrong. I made my choice because I had a Camaro parts car from another project. Your tape measure will be your best friend when choosing; measure frame rail width, frame rail height at ride height, track width and steering box location. If I were in your shoes now I would drop the assembled HEMI into the stock engine compartment, reassemble the front clip and start measuring how much (if) you need to cut the firewall, steering shaft placement and exhaust clearance. You can see in one of my prior pictures how close the headers are to the frame and steering shaft. This wasn't luck it was careful planning. If the Hemi has frame clearance issues, you will know what to look for in an donor clip. When installing a clip I always remove the springs and use threaded rod or some other semi permanent fixture to simulate ride height for ALL measurements. Make sure measurements are taken with the car at desired ride height front and back using jack stands on the frame behind the cut area, the car is then not to be moved until the new clip is attached. Use a plumb bob to mark your garage floor with a sharpie. Always remember, the ball joints are not the front axle (spindle) centerline. Take this measurement from the spindle! Seen lots of tires located incorrectly because it was assumed the ball joint is the centerline. Before you disassemble the donor vehicle, measure the angle of the upper control arm front to back at ride height near the frame attaching point. this angle is critical for proper handling and is the anti-dive part of modern suspensions and needs to be duplicated on install. You will probably find the upper control arm front to back angle 7-10 degrees up in front. You could also take this measurement at a frame rail location just mark that location and use the same spot over and over. This is one of the major improvements a modern suspension has over the stock front suspension. In a nutshell, the frame not only has to be level side to side but there is a critical front to back angle that must be maintained, kind of like pinion angle. Never say this is your last project, my dad is in his 70's and just finished a body-off 35 Ford build...

Check for cracking near the hub area. That’s where radial tires flex the older rims

Radial tires and stock rims? Check the rims carefully for cracks...

I used 1971 Camaro clip because I had one but if I were to do it again, I would've used a Dakota for several reasons: 1. bolt pattern - MOPAR (not too much of an issue as most aftermarket wheels are drilled for both) 2. I wouldn't have to spend $$$$$ on narrowed control arms but they look cool... front track width is good with 15x6 rims now. It is low, bottom of front bumper is about 4" off the ground. I don't do air ride so I'll have to be careful. I butt welded the Camaro rails to the Plymouth rails, they would not fit inside. Plated 360 degrees around the splice with rosette welds and lap welds. The plus side is the frame rails are wider on the Camaro subframe compared to the stock frame and Dakota frame. With headers there was an inch gap between the exhaust and frame rail. Since you are thinking early HEMI, measure carefully or Hot Heads sells good flowing iron manifolds if you run out of room. Front steering made it all possible, no steering box in the way. but a small mod for the radiator support. Here is an old mock up picture showing the stance. I removed the front springs and blocked the Camaro front end to ride height, set the Plymouth to my desired ride height and let the tape measure, plumb bob and sawzall do the rest. This is BEFORE the narrowed control arms. I had to cut the shelf off the inner fenders and make new lower pieces. Completed The engine is offset to the right about 1.5 inches which lines it up with the offset Ford 8.8 rear axle perfectly. I have driven the car and though MOPAR had good front suspension this was a major improvement in ride, braking, and handling compared to my 49 Dodge with stock suspension. I will not do this to my 49 only because there is a "charm" driving an old car that gets lost with modern parts. The car is now back apart for finishing, upholstery, and paint. I will road trip this vehicle so I want it finished. ~year or two... Hope this helps, Subframing is no small task but much better choice than frame swapping and ending up with a car looking like it's sitting on the wrong frame.... Adam

Below are some shots from my 47 Plymouth build with an early HEMI and a Camaro clip. It should be very similar to a Dakota clip except I had to buy narrowed control arms and you probably won’t have to. I grafted it just below the firewall and had to mod the radiator support slightly for the steering box. Still uses a stock radiator.

I've had good luck with AC plugs. Never had a problem with Autolites either for that matter.... About 4k miles on the AC plugs now.... R45's I think. Adam

You need to find one of these Edmunds 2x2 wet intakes. They used them on Allards and incorporate 2 stock carbs. The carbs shown here had the kickdown switches on them $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ HEMI PARTS $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Running my 6v starter on 12v for years now without issue, I would say that starter was wasted long before he started jumping it with 12v.

I've used a company called E-Stopp that has an electric parking brake actuator that utilizes your existing park brake cables / hardware... I would not call a line-loc a park brake, should be mechanical. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/E-Stopp-ESK001-Electric-Emergency-Brake-Kit,65217.html?sku=142100&utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuLPnBRDjARIsACDzGL3_NO5XS2iWrrlKZ8PJmNqCwwfk-dJyL2iCoMTXSdYbEKWZHR6jNKMaAgcxEALw_wcB Adam

It's a Midland Ross and only works in single circuit systems. Just google Midland Ross remote booster or it is in every streetrod classifieds.

I've used these before with good results....

Near the bottom of the page http://p15-d24.com/page/p15d24/tech/tech_tips.html/

Fatman sells or used to sell Chevy Cavalier rack kits for your car. There are better options with certain steering boxes but I don't have the links handy. Also, there is a recent thread on the car main page talking about some of these options. None of the potential doner vehicles you mention are rack&pinion, in fact they are front steer cars so the boxes would not work in your application.