thrashingcows

Then once the center part was secure and mounted to the bellhousing I could figure out how much I needed to remove from the sides to make it line up with the stubs that were secured to the frame rails. Turned out I needed a little help to position the motor....it was sagging back on the front engine mount. SO I hooked up a small ratchet strap, and with the help of a small floor jack and the engine hoist I was able to position the motor perfectly. Then it was remove another 1/4" from each side of the big center piece...again with the vice and sawzall..and hope for the best. Actually went in fairly well...here it is tacked and ready for removal and final welding.

Now the real fun began. Seems the old rear engine mount spacing was about 1/2" wider on the old fluid drive vs the new manual 3 speed bellhousing. So I had to cut the mount down the middle. Then remove about 1/4" from each piece...using my vise and my sawzall...no band saw for me. The trial fit it, remove it and grind off a little here and a little there...a few times Then mount it for the last time, square it up and tack weld it.

So now I had to figure out just what I needed to do to mount the old rear engine mount assembly into it's new location. The frame was already drilled for the new location...Lucky me!! So all I did was find some matching 3/8 bolts with captured washers from my buckets of misc bolts...and then tap the holes to the right thread. Had to open the holes in the bracket a little with a rat file to allow the 3/8 bolts to go through. And then trim off the lip that was welded to the frame in the old location. Since in the new location the bracket is actually mounted up higher. But once that was done they bolted up fine.

Now the motor going in. It went in fairly easily. Only problem was the Alternator was hitting the support bracket for the battery tray on the LH inner fender...sawzall took care of that.

Well been busy working on Fernando the last week or so. Running out of time to get the motor and tranny in, and get it running before May, when it goes into summer hibernation and the wagon comes home. So after the old motor came out I was looking and trying to figure out the best way to get the new motor and bellhousing combo into the car. I figured it would be easiest if I pulled the RH side fender, grille and other misc parts. That way I could swing the motor in mostly level and feed it down and into the engine bay. Here it is missing the said front end pieces....

"A" is the lower bell housing shield. Covers the lower portion of the clutch and flywheel assembly. "B" I want to say is maybe the cowl box for the fresh air scoop on the cowl? The others...other then "E" which you already know...I'm not sure about.

My opinion is that you should buy the car...if you can get it cheap enough. It's a 3 window coupe like you want....and even if you end up hot rodding it you are at least saving the car form a worse fate. Rare or not it's still a derelict car and from the state it's in I don't think it will ever get the full top notch resto. Or do as suggested...if you can get it cheap, then spend a few days cleaning it up, re-assembling it as best you can, then flip it for a few dollars more then what you paid for it.

A lot of women can't see the beauty of the car when finished...they only see what it looks like right now. My wife said my 68 T/C wagon was a POS when I got it...now she loves it!! I didn't notice you wee in Surrey BC there dieseldust...if you need any help let me know. And I see dodgeb4ya has pics of the same car I posted up...guess I'm not the only one who gathers pics from on-line auction sites....;)

I think these cars a beautiful!! I would jump on it. Here's a couple pics of a 42 Chrysler that was on E-bay a while back...

Wow...Very nice!!

I can still see the big grin through the window..... Congrats!!

The metal for the cross member has to be 3/16 or better. As long as you bevel the edges, and get good penetration, I don't think any additional bracing will be required.

And a couple more pics.... Before... ..and after.... Only other thing I need to do is put a small brace on the front side of the MC mounting bracket. Since it used to be welded to the old mount.

Well I eventually had to drill out the center of each rivet with abut a 1/8 bit, then went back with a 5/16-ish...or about the same size as the rivet body. Only went deep enough with the big bit to clear the bracket. Then it was a couple swift hits with the punch and hammer and the rivets fell into the frame. Here the are the 3 pieces together. Once I get the motor and tranny in the hole I'll hook up the center piece to the bell housing and then trim the outside pieces to fit and tack everything in place. I'll be bolting the mount to the frame this time though.

Well over the weekend I decided to get in there and pull that rear engine mount. Since I'm swapping in a new 218 motor with a 3 speed manual, I now need a new location forward of the fluid drive mount location. First I cut all the heads of the rivets, and cut the welds on the underside of the frame rail....mount would not come loose. Tried pounding the rivets into the frame...they would not move!! So I figured since I'm going to have to shorten the width of the mount anyway, I'll use my sawzall to cut the mount into 3 pieces. cut the mount off about 4-5" from the frame rail on each side. Tried again to pound them loose but no go. This side was a little tricky to get to the two rivets behind the master cylinder mount. Thank goodness for my dremel and a cold chisel.

I just removed the original one from my blown 251. No squishing, or squashing...just a very tiny hole in the tip.

They come up on E-bay every month or two. Usually just the one, and it runs for 30 days..then goes away for a while. But interesting about the size. My original chrome one is in pretty nice shape. Been thinking of making a casting of it and pouring my own clear resin to make my own "new" one.

I've been looking at the reproduction clear "flying lady" for my desoto, and doing this exact thing. If the reproduction piece was a bit less then the current $200 ,I'd me more inclined to do this.

Interesting information. Desoto stayed with the 2 pin stripes until when???

I agree with Fred....That is some very nice craftsmanship!! Regardless if it was all you, or you and a friend, it's still impressive...I have to give you two big thumbs up!!!

Congrats on getting it going...Great feeling to hear it run for the first time!! Glad to see you have the fire extinguisher right thee too...safety first;)

Rockwood...I agree. Only reason I'm swapping is I needed a new motor since the 251 was toast. And I found a rebuilt 218 and it came hooked to a 3 speed manual...with resurfaced flywheel, new clutch and throw out bearing....all for $450!! So in it goes. But I do like his solution to moving the trans cross member forward. But will probably move mine forward anyway....Less fab work really. Thanks for the pics Rockwood!! What did you do about the longer drive shaft? Did you have a new one made, or ???

Yes but the switch from the fluid drive, to a manual 3 speed is the same. That's what I'm watching.

I'm watching this with much interest, since I'm doing the same thing to my 48 Desoto.

You can start from scratch. Pull the plug out of #1 cylinder. Then put your finger over the hole and have someone "Hand crank" the motor until you feel compression against your finger. Then check you crank pulley to make sure your timing is close to where it should be. You should now be at close to TDC for #1 cylinder. Now remove your distributor cap and check to make sure that the plug wire for #1 cylinder is directly over the rotor end. Once you've done this set up the firing order around the distributor and try starting it. If it doesn't fire after this then you probably have another issue...fuel, spark etc.