old rat 49

Any pics of the SHO installation ?

I had a /6 super with a 390 carb, headers, shaved head etc and it ran great in an old Dodge D100 pu. . But would like to go to a modern V6 in my P15. Plymouthy: what doner vehicle did you use for your car and did you use the rear end also. I am thinking about just buying a doner so I can use everything from it. Just want a modern reliable drivetrain for pulling one of my small vintage campers safely down the road.

Make sure you get one that's vented.

I was narrow by almost two inches. Thanks guys.

B pillar just above hump inside steel to steel or outside. Either would be great.

Mine is a 49 first series two door sedan. Same as 42 to 48.

bttt Can someone please measure the side to side width for me, either id or od ?

When I redid my floor panels I inadvertently welded the rear door posts too narrow. They were totally rusted out at the bottom as were the rockers and I made it too straight not realizing that the rockers had so much of a curve and the doors don't fit for beans at the bottom. I need someone to measure and tell me what the width should be. It's 46-48 two door sedan. An above the hump outside to outside measurement would be easiest for someone to do. Don't have another near me to take a look at. PS just completed redoing the front bushings and hangers on the rear axle. They were so worn the tires were rubbing in turns. Should handle better too.

Three years ago I went through this in Fayetteville NC. Had a VA title with sn tag on door frame that matched. Inspector came out 3 or 4 times determined that the sn on engine and frame were the ones that should be used. Fortunately no engine change so they matched. Problem being that the NC data base does not acknowledge the few 1949 first series P-15's. Ended up using the engine/frame number. What happens if I change engines ? Due to having a title I paid nothing extra. Just normal title/registration fees.

Also on the MOOG site are place we should be able to identify our sway bar bushings and tie rod ends.

http://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/Universal_Coil_Springs.asp This gives all the coil spring info we need if I copied this correctly.

Thanks for the input. Now I'm looking for the best deal I can find. Cruise season is almost here and need to get back on the road.

Don; your engine has a bit more pep than my stock 218 and I would like to keep the 3 speed for right now. PS: Love that engine work you did.

Is a 355 gear too tall for a stock engine; keeping in mind I want to pull about 1800 pounds ?

Thanks Robert that eases my mind a bit. My thought is to use the entire rear end as an assembly; driveshaft (modified to fit P15 trans)-diff-springs by just adding new mounts to frame. Spring location on axel would more than likely have to be moved. The Ranger does not appear to have the arch of the P15 springs therefore providing a little lowering. During install rear mounts can be reversed to use for more lowering if desired by changing length of hangers. It would seem to me that the truck springs are wider with fewer leafs than back in the day so weight carrying ability should not suffer. Any obvious flaws with my conjecture. Will try the Aerostar coils in front.

One thing I have noticed is that back in the day these cars were using 8 and 9 leaf narrow spring. Now we use wider with fewer leafs. Buying/fabbing new brackets is easy. Also noticed that on a Ford Ranger site I ended up on they are quite frequently reversing hangers for lowering swapping out different length springs with relocated mounts with apparently no ill effects. The Ranger springs seem to be quite a bit flatter also so lowering a bit may not require too much work.

Thanks. Knew I saw it somewhere. 3/4 inch per side. I Think I can work with that. Will make some more measurements to verify. My whole spring assembly is shot.

Have the opportunity to pick up a 96 Ranger 8.8, 3.73 rear end; drive shaft to springs complete at a good price. It is 58 1/2 inches face to face for my sedan. Can't seem to find stock P15 width. I think it was 59 or 59 1/2. Would this be a reasonably good rear for the 218 ? Truck has the V6

http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r606/sdtrucksprings/leafspring010.jpg Does anyone have these dimensions for a P15 ? I have no darn idea what the load capacity of these would be and trying to get the measurement on the car is difficult. Any reason a slightly wider spring could not be used with different or modified hangers ? Going hunting for disc brake dif and might as well look for new springs too. A and B are running along the top surface of the spring.

Took mine out of a trailer side marker light. It had a long metal strip that had a hole for the forward mounting screw and looked like the original. A slight bend and it fit great. Wired it to high beam switch so it does double duty.

I have on hand an engine and trans that came out of a 51 Suburban. Am I correct in assuming that clutch and pressure plate are interchangeable with my 49 first series P15 (built in Dec 48). Would like to go ahead and get them serviced now so I can just do a quick swap as my old clutch is just about gone.

Guys, this is for a vintage Italian race car and needs the complete work over. Trying to help my older brother out. When I can come up with a couple of suggestions for him I will forward info to him.

Looking for someone who can test/repair an old dual point distributor ? Someone with an old Sun unit maybe. Help appreciated. This is for my brother in the Detroit area.

The spare engine i bought last week is from a 51 for use in my P15 and is trashed, however I did get a new water pump and fuel pump and a much tighter coil with it. Am I correct in thinking that this newer head is better than the 48 style ? If so I will do as you are doing and send it off for a quick milling. 30 thou off maybe.

2 more. This was at once a month (2nd Sat) cruise in the small town of St Pauls, NC. First time there and about 150 cars using both sides of 2 1/2 blocks. Police close off two outside lanes of main street for it. Told they have had close to 200 cars. Doesn't take into account those just cruizin through or the bikes and tractors. Stars about 4 in the afternoon and into the evening.