Fireball

The biggest Hot Rod mag in Finland has been frequently asking for a story of my ride since it was orange two years ago. I told them to wait when it's ready, and now it more or less is so today the pics were taken. I had the opportunity to chose the location near my house, and here are some shots I took myself while the pros were doing their stuff. I thought I should share with you guys since many here love pics. I tried to be as "artsy" as possible but I know nothing of shooting good photos. It'll be fun when the mag is published to see how different the pro photos will look at same location ***continues***

:p:D

I'm speechless.

Great job Ed!

It does, the "lip" on the bottom area is not as deep as the surroundings though, maybe 3/8". Hopefully this pic shows it

and ready to haul

sorry about the weak photo quality

Here are some pics of my rebuild

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen! Bill I have to admit that I hesitated whether to put the side pipes back or not, but to my eye they made the car look lower and also take the attention off a bit from the really worn moldings. Dummy spots I like more. All the houses around are built according to traditional Finnish style. I just wish my house being in Catskills!

Couple of fresh pics for your pleasure. Finally we have a real summer here too!

Thanks Bob, plenty of pretty cars

Tasteful! Congrats for the job well done, keep us posted

I just love those wildest Exner creations. Gotta love fins and Finns. (lame...)

Innovative thinking with that first pic "panel sedan". Covering the backwindows looks surprisingly good, although the overall appearance is a bit tasteless with pink flames and those wheels.

Looks great, nice job knighthawk

Yeah why not, many of us has put MOPAR 3.9L V6 into our old Mopars and I doubt GM is that much different. It'll do the job, but....

Some food for thought

Rare car, in good condition, but soooooo ugly. Not my cup of tea, woody wagons look nice though.

Thanks Bob-T!

I have Goodyear 235/75/15 on my ride. I quess they are Ok, but pricey

The reason for big turning radius is faulty positioning of tie rod ends versus center of rear. It is called "Ackerman" steering principle. If you wish to educate yourself properly read this http://www.rctek.com/technical/handling/ackerman_steering_principle.html and do it right next time.

Rock the instructions are in your email, and sorry if you thought I'm suspecting your skills, no way, it's the language barrier if my post was put like that. I just ment that I had to wrestle the most with totally other things than I originally was thinking could be the culprits in my own setup. The hardest parts went smoothly and easy ones were surprise surprise not easy at all.

Frankie you caught me with pants down, I would never quess they are manually operated. Neat and rare car, very rare. Never even seen a picture before.

Tough question I must admit. It's so much up to personal preferences, and what is a "big" task and what is not. That varies with peoples experience, but nevertheless swapping the whole drivetrain is not a snap and will require a lot of work. Could be well worth it or then not. Anything is doable but it really is up to individual whether it makes any sense. What caught my eye is that you consider modifying the floor for A518 something that you are not willing to do. That could easily be the easiest task along the whole project... I recently put modern MPFI V6 with 5-speed standard and jeep rear in my '46. Lots of custom fabrication was needed, engine mounts, tranny mount, perches, clutch linkage, headers pipes etc. just to mention few. So my recommendation for you is to go with auto tranny, but not with modern RE42 that'll require computer. Maybe 318 and 4-speed auto out of early 90's ram van? How about Aspen Volare Mirada from late 70's early 80's as a donor car? PM me your email and I'll shoot good instructions for installing LA into these puppys into your direction, someone here passed them couple years ago when I was planning my swap. Those are in word.doc format and cannot be posted here. Whatever you decide, good luck, it will be fun with V8.