knuckleharley

After buying my P-15 coupe I discovered it only had two colors for wires,red and black. I also discovered the V-8 he had swapped in there only had a motor mount on one side,and the transmission mount was just sitting on two "L" shaped brackets welded to the frame. They didn't even have holes for bolts. The most amazing discovery was when I discovered why it was blowing oil out under the car. When I put it on a lift I discovered the hole in the trans tailshaft (turbo 200) was covered with masking tape. Seriously. What makes that even more amazing was that when I looked around,I spotted the speedo cable jammed up in a floor brace,and all I had to do to fix that leak was install the speedo cable. The frame clip wasn't completely welded or braced either,but other than that the installation for that was perfect. I just had to make a few braces and do a little welding and it was done,and it sure does drive nice. Or did until it backfired and caught fire under the hood. Damn good thing I carry a fire extinguisher with me. Don't feel too sorry for me,I got it really cheap,and drove it for about two years before it caught fire. Which gave me a chance to figure out what it needed,what I wanted for it,and to buy it all. The plan was to keep driving it until I had everything sitting in my shop to redo it and get it back on the road,and I almost made it. Even have a new Ron Francis wiring harness still in the box,ready to install.

I doubt you will have any trouble. Just keep a close eye on your oil level and you should be ok. I say that because for reasons I don't understand,your engine can start using oil/pumping oil out the tailpipe if you switch from one brand to another. Even in modern engines. I had a 400 Pontiac once that I changed the oil in when I first got it,and I don't think I got 50 miles per quart. Don't remember the brand right now,but it was a major brand that I bought because I was in a hurry to get it running,and couldn't get 10x-40 Havoline,which was what I ran in all my modern cars until synthetic oil came out. I went and bought the Havoline and a new filter for it when the Napa Store opened on Monday,and it would burn/use less than a pint per 3500 miles.

1937 Dodge 1 ton. Was sold new as a firetruck and has the tag on the bed to prove it. Has anyone ever seen a 1 ton 37-39 Dodge truck with a bed like this before? I am guessing it was custom-built to fit the pumper installed in it/ The truck now sits on a 72 Ford F-250 4X4 chassis,and still has the 390 FE V-8 engine and drive train. The engine has a Comp Cams cam,aluminum intake,and 4brl Holley carb. What it desperately needs is PS and PB. Was coming back home from the building supply one day with the bed loaded full of siding when I was remodeling my house,and clipping right along at about 60 MPH on a two lane road,and some idiot pulled out right in front of me and sped up to about 45 MPH. I came within inchs of running into him car. Planning on putting or having a shop putting electric PS in it this summer,as well as PB. Probably going to sell it after that. Need the money for other projects.

Keep a VERY close eye on the oil pressure gauge,and shut it down if the oil pressure starts to drop. I bought a 57 Ford tractor a while back from a guy in a nearby state that put it up for sale after changing the oil to HD 10w-30 and being shocked when the oil pressure dropped to zero. I discovered this AFTER I bought the tractor that "runs perfectly" and started watching the oil pressure drop as I used it. I ended up having to change the oil filter and oil 3 times to flush out the clogged areas. I ended up putting non-detergent straight 30 wt in it after getting it cleared out some,and used it that way for a couple of years with no trouble before I bought a newer,larger tractor,and parked it. I am sure the guy that sold it to me thought he was lying to me when I asked him about the mechanical condition. The oil filter was so heavy when I changed it the first time it was almost comical.

Probably too late for this to help,but since the Plymouth Doctor is in the biz of doing this and lives close to you,why not ask him? Chances are it is something he can sell once he has the pattern.

Best part of welding is that you can't weld rust,so if you get a good weld you know you got rid of the rust.. Just try to make VERY sure you can seal the area behind the weld because the heat will cause it to rust back there if you don;t.

NEVER sell a tool. NEVER! If you do,you will instantly need it again,and no longer have it.

I am eaten alive with envy at that paint job. Whoever did it sure knew what he was doing. Sadly,I live up a dirt road and have to stay aware from dark colors.

Oh,yeah! Nothing matches having local help that know what they are doing,and can even tell you where to buy cheap and tell you what NOT to do,

First off,congratulations on making an EXCELLENT pick! Simple,easy to work on (except the brakes),and reliable like a rock once you get it right. You are young,this is your first car,and nobody in your family has experience rebuilding cars,so keep it simple and focus on fixing what you have instead of modifying anything. Yeah,people selling stuff will tell you,"It's a little different,but simple to install!" Unless you are a mechanic at a NASCAR shop or some similar place,that is a lie. The truth is the original stuff is sometimes hard to remove and install. The suspension is fairly straight-forward and not that expensive to fix,but like the brakes,it is something that MUST be fixed before you start driving the car. New shocks aren't that expensive,and neither are new sway bar bushings. If your car doesn't have a sway bar,that means someone removed it in the past. Find one (they are cheap),put all new rubber on it,also cheap,and install it. At a MINIMUM install new front shocks and then install new rear shocks later. Pull the drums and redo the brakes. Be aware that pulling the rear drums is NOT the simple task it appears to be. Do a search here for rebuilding brakes and pay close attention to everything written before you even start. The next thing you need to do is post some photos here for us to look at. We LOVE these things and we love looking at photos of newly captured ones.

Mine is worse than this. I HOPE to have the body off the chassis this coming winter to start the patch panel/repaint job.

Back to your basic "oil filter or no oil filter" question,as long as you KNOW there is no trash in your base pan and no crud clogging any passage,I'd say it is personal choice. These cars lasted for decades of daily driving with no filter back when the best oil you could buy was crap compared to what you can buy today,so it really shouldn't matter. My only caution is to NOT put high detergent oil in your engine if it has been using non-detergent oil. If you do,you will be buying a couple of cases of oil and several filters if you run an oil filter to try to get the passageways cleared out again. In extreme cases you might even end up having to drop the pan and blow out the oil pump lines. I run straight 40 wt non-detergent oil in the old cars and trucks I have on the road now in the summer,and 30 wt non-detergent oil in them in the winter. Once I get around to dropping the base pans and cleaning them out,I will probably switch to 5-30 and 5-40 synthetic oil. But straight non-detergent oil is fine as long as you keep the oil changed and make at least occasional highway trips with the car to make sure the oil gets hot enough to circulate good and burn away any condensation. Non-Detergent oil IS getting pricey,though. If you run it,make sure you carry a few spare quarts in your trunk because it's hard to find on the road.

Really none of my business,but you might want to take a chisel and hammer and knock some of that crud off your frame rails so you can derust and paint them.

I like it. It reminds me of a MUCH shinier version of the first car I ever bought,a 1938 Chrysler flat 6 4dr. Paid 20 bucks for it with a clear title. Some valves were stuck,but once we freed them up it ran like a new one. I was 14,and my plans were to get it safe and reliable to drive from "summer job money" by the time I turned 16. Then one day I came home from school and discovered somebody stopped by and offered my father 250 bucks for it,and he sold it and kept the money. "My yard,my car,my money" is how he justified this theft.

I have news for you,bubba. EVERYBODY has an eye for your car. I am personally eaten alive with envy at the paint job and the chrome. That may be my favorite shade of green,and IMNSHO,it adds a touch of class to anything it is sprayed over.