knuckleharley

Looks GREAT to me.

OK,now I am officially scared.

I am suddenly loving the HELL out of Maaco!

Yikes! Back when I was a hell of a lot younger,I actually painted a couple of cars with spray cans. Looked ok at 20 feet,and a HELL of a lot better than they did before I scuffed and spray-bombed them. I know there is a LOT of detail and hand work involved in a true show car prep and paint,but that just ain't for me. Even if I had the bucks,which I don't. Then again,the hobby would be boring as hell if everybody did the same things,wouldn't it? Not to mention a LOT smaller if you had to pay for show car paint jobs before being allowed to drive it. Good for the people who have the talent,the physical ability in both physical form and shop/shop equipment,and the money to put it all together. It's nice to be able to see what CAN be done with enough talent,patience,and ability.

You mean just the paint job cost $4500? I freely admit I am out of touch with what that sort of thing costs these days,but $4500 seems like a paint job in the "show car range" to me.

One of the biggest truths ever told. On top of that,you won't be able to find a place to buy a replacement quickly.

I am also not familiar with drinking poison. I will take your word for the safety using today's shrink wrap and heat sources,but will still remain on the cautious side when it comes to applying heat on and around 50 year old cloth wiring with a lot of the cloth gone,and the rest mostly rotten. The older and less agile I get,the more cautious I get. If the old wiring in anything I buy is "iffy",I will just spend the bucks to replace it with new wiring. If I can't afford a whole wiring harness,I will replace it as section at a time. My motto is "A little bit of caution will beat a whole lot of risk every time."

I had never even considered that since I have never seen one used,but if it gets hot enough to shrink the tubing it has to be a fire threat. Remember,we are talking about 70 year old cloth coverings here,and dust all over under a dash.

Keep in mind that if you are going to keep the car 6 volt you are going to have to use MUCH heavier gauge wires than normal

You are a bolder man than I! There is no way in HELL I am going to get a little propane torch,or even a cigarette lighter anywhere near 70 year old cloth wiring with rotten cloth covered in dust. Especially since there is nothing wrong with using electrical tape to cover exposed wiring as a temporary fix.

I would be shocked to discover there were no old Mopar Clubs in Maryland,or in Ga. Do a web search for car clubs in your zip code,and in the zip code where you are going. Run down the list until you find words like "P-15" or "D-22". IIRC,a restoration cloth wiring harness can be pretty pricey,but even it is cheaper that rebuilding your car after it has burned to the ground. Not to mention your house,if it were parked in your garage when it caught fire. There ARE inexpensive wiring harness to be found if you are upgrading to 12 volt,though. Even if you want to keep it as stock as possible,you can buy and install a repopped cloth dash wiring harness a section at a time as you can afford it. Save your pennies,and buy the other sections as you come up with the money. The important thing to remember here is that unless you know what you are doing with wiring harnesses,buy one from a pro. This is a major safety issue as well as a major mechanical safety issue. Safety always has to come before flash or convenience.

You need two things. A new wiring harness,and a fire extinguisher. You need the fire extinguisher NOW. Actually,you need 3 things. The third is the new buddy that has been into and working on old cars for several years. Buy a 6-pack or two,and invite him over on a Sat or Sun afternoon. There is no shortage of experienced VERY smart people here on this board,but it's hard to beat having someone standing right beside you to scream "NO!" when "no" needs to be heard,and to guide you as well as explain things step by step. Are there no old Mopar Clubs in your area? If there is,join one and make friends. Not only will they help you with mechanical and "where to buy it" advise,they will add greatly to your enjoyment of your car by having someone to cruise with and talk cars with. Your wife can meet with his wife,and that usually makes it easier to justify spending money on new parts.

I have been carrying one of those things in every tool box I have owned since I was 17 years old,and STILL haven't used it. It's still there,though. Just in case it's needed. You never know what you are going to get when you buy a used tool box full of tools from a pawn shop.

I haven't tried it,but I suspect vinegar would work fine,too. It does a fine job of eating rust on steel.

It doesn't really matter what it is,you can find any parts you need for it by taking off the part on it and using the parts number stamped on it. Chances are you won't have to do that many times before it self-identifies. Pull the drums and look for the parts numbers on the calipers,wheel bearings,etc,etc,etc. If you need a part like a tie-rod end,take that to the parts store and match it up. Won't take long to figure out what you have. BTW,my 48 Plymouth coupe has a 78 Camaro frame clip,piece of trash 305,and I THINK a turbo 250. I will find out when I redo it,and I will be redoing it before I drive it again because it backfired under the hood and caught everything on fire while I was riding down the road. Damn good thing I carry a fire extinguisher. The car rode and drove like a 78 Cameo while it was on the road. In other words,good,and tracked like it was on rails. When it goes back on the road it will have a balanced and blueprinted 412 SBC with a roller cam,roller rockers,"long rods",strong Comp Cams cam,.060 over bore with Keith Black flattop pistons,and Dart 2 cast iron heads with big valves and a 750 Holley carb on a high rise aluminum intake. The block was assembled by a friend of a friend that works in Richard Petty's engine shop. The 350 trans I am using has been rebuild with a manual shift valve body and heavy duty everything. It has a custom torque converter bolted to it with a higher stall speed. Using it because I already had it and had pulled it all out of maybe the fastest junk 3/4 ton van in the state. Took the van for a test drive after getting it all put together,and my 10 drawer tool box and 10 100 lb bags of sand for my sandblaster were in the back. Got going down a straight road at maybe 35 mph and put my foot in it,and the speedo was going past 100 MPH before I could get my foot out of it. Should do a fine job of moving that little Plymouth down the road. BTW,can't really bitch about way the Plymouth was slapped together. Only paid $3500 for it and it looked nice under all the plastic and shiny paint. There were tornado warnings flying in the area in Texas where I bought it,so I just took it for a quick spin around the block before driving it up on my trailer and heading home in a hurry. After getting it home and up on a lift,I discovered there was only 1 bolt holding the engine in place. The trans was sitting on custom trans mounts,but they had no bolt holes in them,thus no bolts. I also found out why the speedo didn't work. It wasn't even installed in the tranny tailshaft. Instead,the tailshaft was wrapped with paper tape. Still haven't figured out why,since the speedo cable was jammed up under the undercarriage,and plugged right into the tailshaft. Did some bracing work to the frame clip,which was done perfectly,but unfinished,drilled holes in the trans mount to bolt it down,and drove the damn thing for maybe 3 years before the fire happened. The biggest disssapointment was all that plastic under all that shiny paint. Nothing that can't be fixed,but WHY would anybody spend all that time and effort to fill something with plastic and paint over it without even removing the rust first? Would have already been back on the road if I hadn't started getting sick. All that time I was driving it instead of working on it,I was searching for and finding better trim,having all the chrome redone,buying a new Ron Francis wiring harness,new custom digital dash insert that fits behind the stock trim (shown below),etc,etc,etc. AFAIK,I have every single part needed to tear it down and put it back up as a first class driver car that I could have enjoyed for years. This is one of those cars that will get sold at my estate sale.

I'm sorry,but didn't a long-time forum member make a post above in this very thread telling you ALL Mopar cars used the same gas tank from 1946 to 1948? Please correct me if I am wrong.

YOU are the one you have to please,so put that ahead of the line in your considerations There is very little I hate more than spending money more than once on any item that will last for decades.

I have a Tanks,Inc tank in my 48 Plymouth coupe,and have had no problems at all. Also have one is something else,but having a "chemo brain moment" right now,and can't remember what I have it in. I am sure your Chrysler has a bigger tank,so this is probably no help at all. Maybe do a web search for "problems with tanks,Inc gas tanks"?

This one gets MY vote for "post of the month",if there is such a thing.

I'm not surprised. I am GUESSING that most of the regulars here are 50 years old,or older. The reason for this is the same reason we love these old cars. When we were kids growing up we saw our fathers,older brothers,neighbors,and the "Kool Kids" in high school working on and driving them. This made our connection to them very personal. We wanted to work on and drive them too,just like the people we admired. The truth is this is a dying hobby. Within another 20 years or so it will be illegal to drive any pre-computer car or truck,and probably even tractor and lawn mower,without a special "one-time permit". Hell,by that time the left might succeed in having us all living in "Stalin Apartments" in cities and forbidding even owning a car without a special permit. At any rate,with rare exceptions the teens of today that are growing up and interested in cars and trucks are mostly hot rodders,and they will be lusting after stuff like the 4dr Hemi Dodges,supercharged Mustangs,etc,etc,etc. 20 years into the future the lucky ones (those with the "right" connections) may even be able to get special permits to buy gas to drive one once a week! Add to that the facts that cars were simple to work on prior to the 1970's,and anybody could go to a Sears store and buy enough Craftsman tools and a box to put them in for a reasonable amount of money,and for the most part needed very few special tools to do anything at home. Not to mention none of our neigbors could even imagine such things as "Homeowners Associations" ready to spy on and report anyone doing anything so low-cultured,and more than ready to hit you up with fines. We are a dying breed,regardless of generation. We,and the automotive world are the victims of circumstances,and there is no fighting that.

Old age sucks,and unfortunately there is only one cure for it.

Don't even THINK about using an inversion table if you are going to be alone while on it! This is especially true if you have mobility problems or blood pressure problems. If you live alone,maybe get a geezer pal to come to your house and take turns using the table with you so you each have someone to help you get back on your feet if you have problems.

I am facing it right now. My infected left leg seems to never get better,and now the docs are begging to mention the "amputation" word. Can't drive original 30's and 40's cars and trucks if you can't operate a clutch. Which isn't really the worse part. The worse part is I will no longer even be able to fool myself that I am once again going to be able to redo and then drive them. I have been ignoring reality and buying parts I knew that were needed when they came up for sale,and now it is beginning to look like someone else is going to end up with my project cars,and with any luck at all,will be interested in the period-correct parts. I have always loved working on them or saving them from the crusher to sell to someone who does want them more than owning them,anyhow. Getting ready to put a rough 63 Fury convertible that IS restorable up for sale as soon as I get feeling good enough to take photos of iHat. I bought it by accident. Drove about 300 miles to buy some parts I DID need,and discovered this convertible the guy was getting ready to load on his trailer to haul to the crusher. Of course,once he figured out I wanted to buy it,he was no longer the least bit interested in getting "crusher money" out of it,so it cost me 500 bucks and a trailer rental to get it home. Still has the original poly 318 and push button 727 in it. The guy told me one of his neighbors bought it new,and he bought it off the neighbor when he quit driving. He was going to do some work to it,put a new top on it,and drive it around,but his son shot the windshield out with his rifle,and then somebody wanted to buy the front fenders,bumper,and grille to repair a restored wreck,so he decided to scrap it. Had no eartly idea what I was going to do with it after I got it home,but I knew I didn't want to see it sent off to the crusher,so here it sits in my yard. Got a few other that are nothing but parts cars I am going to try to get rid of,too.

Not making any promises because I haven't seen it in years,but it is most likely stored in some corner of my shop. Maybe I can find it,and maybe I can't. If I do,I will post a photo. It looks VERY much like a skinny 1950's car jack. Base plate the jack "body" fits into,and a "hook" on the end of the part that does the actual jacking that lets the thin 30's bumpers fit into a narrow slot to keep the bumper from slipping in the jack due to the curve of the bumper. Typical jack handle like seen in every bumper jack seen up through the 70's,with a lug nut "socket" as a part of the end with the handle. It will look a lot like this one,but I am NOT saying this is the restoration perfect bumper jack for your car. If you just want a jack to jack your car,look for one that looks like this and the part that jacks your car fits your bumper, Unknown Application Vintage Bumper Jack Car Accessories Mopar Ford Chevy GM | eBay

It sure doen't look anything like the factory jack that came with the 1938 Chrysler I bought when I was 14. It was a traditional jack with a traditonal jack handle that also worked to loosen and tighten the lug nuts.