homebrewer

I remember one nite back in 55 or 56 me and my buddy were out there trying to pick up girls. It was a great place for that besides all the fun you could have. While walking down the midway we found a $20.00 bill lying in the street. Back then this was serious money. Probably more than a grown mans days wages. Gas was around 30 cents per gal., and the rides at Playland were anywhere from 10 -20 cents. The Big Dipper was probably a quarter then, it was the most expensive ride there. Man we had the time of our life that nite. Don't remember if we scored with the girls that nite or not, but with that 20 dollar bill burning a hole in our pockets we rode every ride we could and more. By the way, do any of you remember the Chutes d Chutes or the Diving bell. My real favorite besides the Dipper was the bumper cars. Man, "Getting Old Ain't For Sissies". George

Back in 1956, I had a 48 sedan with a Chrysler spitfire, fenton headers, w smittys, and an Edmunds head. We used to dabble in a little stoplite to stoplite street racing back then, and I could hold my own with most semi stockers of the day. Back then ChevyV8's were very rare and in 1956 dollars very expensive.There was a kid in the neighborhood who put a 283 chevy in a 48 P15. It was unheard of then, and let me tell you that sucker was the king of the streets. Ever since then I've lusted over Chevy powered P 15's. I've had 3. Two I built myself and one that I bought done. I love P15's. I can see both sides of the argument. Since I've been on this forum the Chevies have either been dissed by some people or embraced by others. Ya'll have your opinions & I have mine. I don't mind the fact that this forum has a lot of purists on board . I respect their knowledge and their love of the hobby..Lets face it a chevy powered P15 is still the same car as a stocker except for the running gear. So most of the problems that are solved on this forum apply to 90% of the cars out there regardless of running gear. If I ever get another P15 it will probablyl be a stocker But I will always keep my little hot rod.

Check out Fat Fendered Relics web site. I bought mine from him. It is a full length piece of stainless. Fit like a glove. Good people to deal with also. George

Ply-do should have everything you need. That is where I got most of my stuff. George

I was a Captain in the San Francisco Fire Dept. Been retired now for 20yrs. If I live another 10 yrs I will be retired for as long as I worked. Thats my goal. George

Don't mean to steal someone's thunder, but Hernando was the explorer De Soto's first name. I.E. Hernando De Soto. Neat name for your car. A lot of people call their Ford's "Henry"

I definitely don't think those are California plates. At least no California plate that I have ever seen. I'm thinking they are from some foreign country, or are some kind of souvenir plate you would buy in a tourist place. Just guessing though. George

Try www.taillightking.com He is in Texas I believe. He might have what you need. I got my blue dots from him. Good Luck. George

Condolences to the family. He will be missed. George

I had the exact same sentiments as you re: a non Mopar transplant. P15 was also my first car. I've had four now. The last two were chebby transplants. They are bulletproof and speed equipment can be obtained without mortgaging the house and selling your 1st born child. It is reliable and I would drive it anywhere. I was little cautious about the air conditioning in the summertime here in the Central Valley of California, but since I've put a Walker radiator it has been smooth sailing. I've never felt like an outcast on this forum and I hope I never do. I respect the opinions of all of the forum members here. But remember they are just opinions and some are more opinionated than others. I think most of the forum members are mature enough to have a live and let live attitude. I don't post a lot but when I can answer a question re: Chebbys I usually try to jump in. Enjoy the small block and Merry Christmas to you and all the forum members. George

I have Hagarty. I guess they are all right, I have never had a claim, so I really can't say how good they are. Their prices seem reasonable though. George

Stock chevy rams horn cast iron exhaust manifolds are the way to go if you can find them, with about a 1' offset. Also it is kind of a tight fit front to rear in order to clear the radiator. The distributor will be almost touching the fire wall. I've done this conversion twice, but it has been so long ago my mind is a little fuzzy. But with a little patience and ingenuity almost any problem can be overcome. Good luck. George

An old saying among Harley riders is " If I have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand." I Think Joes reply pretty much reflects that opinion. This is why it is called a hobby and not a business. Hobbies are enjoyable, business is WORK. My wife doesn't get this hobby either, but she doesn't bug me about what I do to the car as long as I don 't bitch about the hairdresser, manicurist, toenails etc. etc. etc. If it has T--s or wheels, its gonna cost ya. LOL George

And they say that a boat is only a hole in the water that you throw money into. I guess not. If we had only known this ahead of time. LOL George

The hood is on and adjusted. The rivets seem tight. Almost too tight. The metal where the hood is supposed to stop is kind of worn away, and the two pieces just sort of slipped by one another.I lined the hinge up with a large crescent and then I just had to tweak the hinge with a screwdriver to get the "stops" lined up. Once that was done everything else was basically a piece of cake. Thanks for all the help. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. George

Thanks for the tips guys. The old hood was aligned, so I don't think I have to remove and readjust the hinges. I think Jimainnj might have hit the nail on the head when he talked about the stops. I can see where they are supposed to stop, but they kinda just slide by one another.I will try to adjust them so the stops work or try the C clamp trick. I need to get my son in law over here to give me a hand. Might try installation today or tomorrow. Thanks to all. George

I'm replacing my existing P15 hood with a better one. Are there any tricks or tips to installing the new one since the hinges now seem to be way past where they should be. In other words, they seem to be sticking almost straight up rather than at an angle that would make the hood an easy bolt on. Thanks, George

It has been my experience that most newly rebuilt engines will run a little warmer till they break in. IE tighter tolerances = more friction= higher temps. It should loosen up after around 500 Miles.

From the looks of the grille, it looks more like a 35.

Don't worry, relax. Have a home brew. ( This is the motto of the American Homebrewers Association) George

Good article on the hop. I had never seen or heard of the method described to estimate hop bitterness before. I guess you learn something everyday. George

I have enough hobbies to almost qualify as a full time job. Woodworking, Metal working/fabrication, Neighborhood Mr. Fixit. Beer brewing, vegetable/fruit gardening, motorcycling, traveling/RVing. Cooking, sourdough baking, Pool playing and Texas Holdem. Whew I'm worn out.It is tough to get up every day and decide what I have to do as opposed to what I want to do. Honey do's always take preference. Any day above ground is a holiday. George

I am a master homebrewer with many awards to my credit. Including California State Fair Best of show Winner and many more 1st places. I'm Also a certified Beer judge. I have a couple of cascade hop plants growing in the garden and have had very good luck with them with minimal maintainence. The only problem with using home grown hops, is there is no way for the home grower to know the alpha acid content of the hops. Without that knowledge, it is impossible to duplicate a batch of beer from year to year because the bitterness will change depending upon the IBU's ( International Bittering Units) of the brew you are making. I'm still pretty new to this forum, but when it comes to beer, I would consider myself Zen Master. If you need any brewing help. let me know and I'll send you my E mail. George

Retired Captain with San Francisco Fire Dept. (30) yrs. FWIW I have the clone to Dennis Hemmingways P15 except mines got a Chebby in it. Sorry, it came that way. George

Went to see The movie Cadillac records yesterday. Lots & lots of neat old cars in it. Only problem was they needed a technical advisor to coordinate the years of the cars with the years they were try to portray. As an example, the year is supposed to be 1941 in the opening scene and the guy drives up in a 49 merc. other than that it is a pretty good flic if you like the blues. I give it a thumbs up. George