Adam H P15 D30

Unless you drive in big city traffic....

They will siphon the new road $$$ off like they did to the other road taxes that are currently being charged at the pump so the roads will not get any better but we get to enjoy the honored distinction of paying the highest (by far) fuel taxes in the country. The only reason your cost per mile has dropped is your fuel mileage has doubled. Some of us need to drive TRUCKS. I think the registration goes up an average of ~$100.00, might be mistaken though. The current road taxes should repair the roads, not get diverted.... Electric and Hybrid cars should pay the additional taxes based on mileage. To use their terms, "their fair share." You are braver than me, I'm afraid of plugging it into a spreadsheet. I already know we are getting ripped off. It WILL be repealed. My God, California sucks... Adam

Just wait till next year, you will see a huge jump in registration fees. Adam

As soon as you add up your labor hours, the ROI goes right out the window. This is true for almost all makes. Adam

Yeah but those Posie Superslides are so nice to drive on. For a few bucks more than your quote, it might be worth it. Adam

Assemble the pump with some trans gel on the rotors. That way if you don't get around to starting the engine for a while, the lube will still be there when the time comes. The trans gel will quickly break down and will not clog anything one the engine is running. I have used this method for both transmission and engine pumps for years. Adam

The Ford 7.5 and 8.8 flanges are both different than the Plymouth driveshaft flange.' Adam

Dump the Pertronix, your symptoms are classic Pertronix issues. Go back to points and return that junk. Seen it MANY times. In fact, there is a thread with similar popping and no power hot issues going on in the car forum that was fixed by removing the Pertronix. Adam

1 coil lopped off the front, 2" blocks in the rear, bottom leaf removed from spring pack, saggy rear springs. Dont let the haters get to you, plenty of us lower / modify / hot rod their Mopars. Edit: 4" blocks would blow past your scrub line. Better to go with lowered springs + a 2" block if you want it that low Adam

Just to answer the above question: Neither the flange from an 8.8 or the 7.5 Ford axle is the same as the one needed to bolt to our transmissions.... I have them both sitting on my shelf and the bolt circles are too large. Adam On edit: When I installed the Ford 8" in my 49 Dodge Wayfarer, the new driveshaft was an overall length of 59 inches. Your results may vary but you have an idea on the length needed. + or - and inch or 2. I don't think the Explorer driveshafts are that long, but I have never measured one.

The doors are original to the body unless someone was very careful to cover up a door change (I doubt it). The hole in the driver's door that got the key cylinder is painted with the original paint. I was the first person to take the car apart so i can say I am 99% certain....

Just curious, what's different about the generator adjustment? Looks like the one on my 49. just curious....

My P15 has a lock on the driver (Left) door for sure and possibly on the right door too but I haven't looked at that side in a while. It has never been a RHD vehicle. My 49 Wayfarer has a key lock on the passenger side only. Explain that one???? Adam

Just keep in mind, if you ever find yourself in a "low battery" condition and the alternator squeezes 60 amps through your 30 amp gauge, you could find yourself on fire.... Every electrical load including a potentially depleted battery runs through that gauge. Adam

I doubt it. A well done hotrod/streetrod almost always brings more money. On the other hand it usually takes more money to build one, but as far as value goes the modified crowd almost always wins. My thinking does not include ratrods and craprods.

Being that the 218 has a shorter stroke, I would think the rods are longer

Agreed, Make sure this is a project you can and are willing to see through. I've gotten a few projects for pennies because someone bit off more than they could chew. It's nothing like the TV shows make it out to be, lol. That said, my biggest concern would be the left exhaust manifold and stock steering, don't be afraid to offset the engine to the passenger side an inch or 2, Ma Mopar did it for years. I had to offset my HEMI an inch just to clear the steering shaft.

Thinking about this off and on for a couple of years, I would like to try, or at least mock up a 230 crank and 218 rods, then measure for custom pistons with any CR I like (within reason). Couple of reasons: 1. I've heard the pistons on either engine don't go to the top of the deck, so either grinding the deck or custom pistons anyway 2. benefits of a longer rod 3. benefits of a shorter, lighter piston, higher piston pin 4. custom pistons aren't that expensive now and are light years ahead of the stock 4 ring pistons, especially with the higher piston speeds of a long stroke engine If building a little more power is what you have in mind and are rebuilding one anyhow, why not? If you squeeze the head down too far trying to raise compression, you will kill what little flow these engines have... Oh, and the 49 Dodge PROBABLY won't have the internal bypass, so either head should work.

Getting around the stock steering is the hard part, but I would expect a little firewall work. FWIW, I'd do it in a second, you're probably never going to want to go back to stock anyway. Who would?

Exactly, my 49 has the key lock on the passenger side only. My 47 has it on both doors, explain that one???? Adam

Silver is the correct color. Since you are converting I would just go with the alternator of your choice but the generator can be converted and a later regulator installed. If you really have money burning a hole in your pocket you could call Power Gen and get their alternator that looks like a generator. The HAMB had an article a while back about people putting small foreign alternators in the OE generator cases. Either way, several choices. I just ran a GM 12v alternator on mine and fabbed a bracket that used the original gen mount, easy peasy. Adam

Sometimes a pilot bushing will cause the trans to pop out of gear.....

Though I don't have the answer you're looking for, I would measure the shaft and spline count as a start. How bad is the steering wheel? A lot of help here and on the HAMB regarding restoration of these old wheels. Adam

See, that's the difference. I'll bet a well maintained drum system would not stop as well as a disc system that hasn't been looked at for 20k miles the first hard stop. I'm not even going to talk about the second, third or fourth hard stop in a row. I don't have the data except for every car manufacturer (ok maybe there is one left in some corner of the planet) moving away from front drum brakes. Their engineers probably have loads of data for you. Now let's compare apples to apples.... Drive a drum braked car for 10k miles and do nothing to the brakes, then drive a disc braked car 10k miles and do nothing to the brakes. Repeat stopping test. This is more of a real world test. Adam

Unfortunately "decent" brakes don't cut it where I live. I drive 5-7 thousand miles per year in the worst traffic in the US at 70 MPH, brakes need to be top notch always, not just after each adjustment. I guess geographical location plays a big part when choosing disc brakes or not.