Eneto-55

If the ball is the same diameter as that used on later MoPars, that's what I'd try first. That way there is no modification to the motor part of the linkage, in case it doesn't work out. As far as which type of joint is going to last the longest, I don't know that, either. But wiper linkage involves more movement than throttle linkage. But if you avoid driving in rain as much as many old car owners, maybe it doesn't matter that much. My son drove his 75 Dart for quite some time w/o wipers, although I was worried that he'd get stopped in a safety check.

I don't recall now exactly what these look like on the P15s, but I replaced the nylon 'sockets' on the wiper linkage on my son's 75 Dart - got the nylon replacement parts at a local parts store. I rather doubt that it is the same design (since so many years difference), but if the socket fits the ball, then the linkage could be fabricated to take the nylon thinga-ma-jig.

I have seen S/N plates on both the Left & Right A pillars on P15s, but the most common is for it to be on the Left side. Pre-war were all on the Right side, as I understand. Even repair manuals of that period state that the tag is on the left side, but the proof is in the pudding. (At first I thought that the one might be a 42 model, but the S/N itself indicated that it was indeed a P15.)

No kidding about not being able to run from every tornado. I grew up in Oklahoma, and I remember only a few times to going to either the pastor's house (there was a cellar there), or to the church basement. When I was just shy of 12 one went right over our back yard. I slept through the whole thing, and was so aggravated that my parents didn't wake me up so I could see it, too.

The seat material looks like real mohair. So if it was reupholstered, how much would you all figure just the material ran? How much is mohair now-a-days, anyway? (Back in the early 80's, as far as my brother & I could find out, it was only available out of England. I wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper now than it was back then. Unfortunately I don't recall the price.) I'm not anywhere near ready for it, but I've been looking at "wool suiting" any time I'm in a fabric store with my wife. That's the closest thing I've seen yet, but then I haven't had an actual old sample along to compare, either.

I have used a bumper jack many times, and have never had the car slip off of it, including road-side tire changes. But I would also never crawl under a car supported only with a jack, not even my heavy duty hydraulic floor jack. I always use jack stands, and if possible will also leave the floor jack just snugged under the frame, just in case. I am personally not very impressed with the scissor jacks they put in cars now-a-days, either.

Didn't vote, but will comment. Lots of good ideas here already. I guess I wouldn't want it to be too broken up, either, but maybe the mechanical stuff could be left together, and the body related posts separated into the major model runs. But even then, there is a lot that is applicable for any one, even if the parts don't interchange. I'd say overall, I like it as it is.

One of those sites is at: http://www.geektools.com/whois.php

I replaced the headliner in my 72 Dodge (smoker's car) years ago, and after that experience I was going to make sure I cut darts, or made marks, to help get the separate panels lined up properly again before I took the old one apart for my 46. Then I put it away, and later took it apart, and forgot to make the alignment marks or cut darts (I think that's what the ladies call those little wedge shaped cuts they make). That was the biggest problem I had when I did the 72. It was harder than I thought to tell where the center of each panel was (because although I cut mine exactly the same size & shape as the originals, there was not the same amount of extra fabric on the two sides), and I ended up with one or two of them off a bit to the side in relation to the others, and so it was a bit short along one side in those areas where I had shifted that panel to the opposite side a bit. So maybe one thing would be to make sure that you leave lots of extra fabric on both sides. That way at least you will for sure have enough to fasten it properly along the sides. (I didn't do the sewing myself - my mom did it for me, as I was still living at home then (1980).) Another thing was that I used an ink pen to mark the fabric - vinyl in the case of the 72 Dodge - and after it sat in the sun awhile the marks showed through. It was that way for some time, but eventually they faded away. I was pretty sick when they started coming through....

Yes on both questions. The windlace goes on first. (Actually it needs to be installed before the dash is installed, as the dash mounts over the A pillar upholstery, which hides the windlace edge. The A pillar upholstery pieces cover the edge of the headliner as well. The headliner should have (muslin originally, I believe) sleeves sewn in at each panel joint (but not as wide as the headliner itself), and the ribs slide in through there. Do you know of a source for the windlace that has the metal reinforcement made into it? I have never found a source for it, and the windlace was not just for looks, it was also part of the wind noise prevention, so it really needs to press firmly against the door frame when the door is closed, at least for it to do what it was intended for.

Would running Av-Gas actually harm an engine? I had a moped for awhile down in Brazil, and after it got a bit older it wouldn't idle any more, and there was no air-fuel adjustment on the carb (it was pretty cheap). I could get av-gas from the pilots, and it ran well on that. (That was a 2-cycle of course, so it was the oil-gas mix.) Neto

I think I could compete for that award with some stupid stunt I pulled on a tractor.... Best wishes for your recovery. Neto

My first, a '62 Chrysler Newport, 361. Light blue, four door. 15" wheels, 53 DeSoto wheel covers.

One way an email address can get "Out There" is if you correspond with anyone who sends on a lot of forwards. If you write them, then many email programs will automatically add you to their address list. (Usually there is a setting to control this.) Anyway, if they think some message is really cool, and forward it to all of the people on their address list, and some of those people do the same, then pretty soon your address is in the lists of a LOT of people. Eventually it gets into the hands of someone who is willing to sell the addresses of people they don't even know anyway.

I would also suspect that it may vary depending on the location. In some areas of the country it will bring more (Eastern states), and others less (Midwest). This is just my impression, as I've seen differences in whole car prices in these contrasting areas. Neto

I wonder if that was similar (though probably tougher) to the window tinting film you could get back in the 70's. I helped my dad put some on his 71 Olds back then, and it was applied in that same way. Neto

Tim, What I was trying to contrast, and didn't do so well, I think, is the likelihood of the hotrodder to buy a custom front end, or even the whole rolling chassis out of some high-dollar speciality shop, where as what I see in the ratrod end is guys using what can be sourced from older model cars. I will readily admit that I am not really into either of these scenes sufficiently that I could say how it is for the average hotrodder vs the average ratrodder, I am just going by what I've seen in reading on sites like RRR and the HAMB. I am really an almost total outsider looking in on both - as I said, I am a restoration guy, and that is all I have ever done. Added: Re: paint. I don't like the rusty look, either. I just don't see the need for such a super paint job that you go bananas when someone touches it. I'd more so follow the example of some of the guys on here that use Rustoleum, and roll it on. Neto

If you go to some of the hotrod sites you can read a lot of hate directed toward the ratrod guys. But read an article about a rat rod, then another about a hotrod, and which one is within your budget? And it is not necessarily due to a lack of quality work, or safety. In my opinion the ratrod guys have raised the bar in respect to weld quality and metal work. The hot rod guys can cover over it all with bondo - no so the ratrod guys. It seems to me that metal working skills such as hammer welding were just about lost art forms when the ratrod craze revived them. It is of course a personal opinion, one with which I do not expect a lot of guys to agree, but I feel that rat rodders are more in the realm of the hotrodders of the past, where you used what was available and remade it into something you liked better. And sometimes it actually was better. The 57 Chevys my older brother had in HS in the late 60's were about the same age as my current work vehicle, a 2000 Chrysler Town & Country. They were just common old cars. Yeah, I'm a restoration guy, but I draw the line where you start trying to make everything more perfect than it was when it came off the line. And while I might someday build what some would call a ratrod, I have no interest at all in building a hotrod. The ratrod world still allows for personal vision and expression - too many hotrods just look like cookie cutter copies of such-and-so rod built by such-and-so great hotrodder from decades past. As I said, I'm a restoration guy, but I sometimes look longingly at the open field for creativity that is ratrodding. (No, not all of them appeal to me. But not all paintings appeal to me, either.) Neto

Regarding the original question about tight engines: My dad worked at a Chrysler Plymouth Desoto Dodge dealership back in the mid 50's to mid 60's or so, and when we rebuilt mine he mentioned how back then they would drag the car around the block a few times after a rebuilt to break in the engine enough so that the starter could turn it over. Neto

I had this distinction drilled into me as well, but lately I've given up trying to correct this error. Language changes, and leave us old guys behind. Neto

A friend of my daughter got ticketed here in Ohio for having earplugs on while driving. Illegal here. My son put in a USB port in his 75 Dart to power his IPod (or what ever it's called). That's a 12v car, of course, but I don't imagine it would take much power to run one of those, and couldn't you plug it into some 6v speakers? Just a thought. OR put a solar array on the roof (LOL). Neto

I have read (some place) that the wood grain pattern (for the P15, at least) was copied after the grain of Sapele, a tree from Africa. There is a lumber yard near here that sells a lot of different types of exotic woods, and I have seen Sapele there. It doesn't really look much like it to my mind, but of course the wood itself varies a great deal in grain pattern, and I've never heard if the pattern on the interiors of our cars were meant to replicate a certain type of grain, such as quarter-sawn. That can also change the look of a natural wood grain drastically. Neto

Does anyone know what Nebraska did in that era? I have a 49 first series that I bought there years ago (1981 or so), and several years ago I sent in for a title search through the state vehicle bureau. Oklahoma (where I'm really from) always used the serial number, so it never ocurred to me at that time than they might have used the engine number in Nebraska. The only thing is, I don't have the engine anymore - it had thrown a connecting rod out the side of the block, and I scrapped it soon after I bought the car. But I could get the frame number, of course, and try that. (I bought it for a parts car, but now it's too good for that, as it has very little rust, and is a 2 door as well.) Neto

I have a 1st series 49 (P15) that had had the spindles cut off when I got it. I mounted the entire suspension from a 53 Cranbrook. So while the actual spindles may be different (in general, if they show a different part number, then they are different), but the control arms & mounts are the same, at least at the mounting points. Neto

The caption states that this car is "wrapped entirely around a tree", but not so. You can clearly see that the "tree" is probably a powerline pole, and that it was broken off on impact, then was drug up across the radiator and hood, and into the cabin. (Or possibly it was a side impact, with the pole coming up across the right fender, then through the windshield.) It is probably just still suspended by the wires.