falconvan

Haven't checked in on this in a while; excellent job! Great job finding that last brace; I had to make one but it doesn't look near as nice as the original.

For what you're doing I'd just shoot it with a rattle can rust inhibitor, then some primer/sealer, and finally wet sand it with some 400 grit.

Yeah, much easier than I thought it would be. And yes, You Tube is pretty cool for stuff like this. Some performance transmission shop posted a 19 part video that walked you through the entire teardown, inspection, and reassembly. Pretty cool of them to spend all that time and then post it for free.

Once I got the trans apart I found the case was cracked where the pump bolts in so I ended up buying another trans for parts from one of the local Mopar racers. I took the best parts from both along with a rebuild kit, B&M shift kit, and a 2800 stall converter to get it all together. Now she's bolted down for good and I can start putting everything else together. It was my first trans rebuild; fingers crossed that it all works. I used a 727 service manual and several You Tube videos for guidance.

It's definitely a tight fit, Tim. I'm going to have to get creative with the drivers side exhaust pipe, for sure.

It's going to be close, Mark. I may have to do a column drop and a smaller diameter steering wheel to bring it in below the last header tube and not have several u-joints in the steering shaft. The 400 was definitely wider than a 318; I put a 318 in my 51 and it was much easier. You don't recall what u-joint you used to fit the cavalier rack, do you? I did one on my 48 but it came as part of a kit.

Yeah, I was looking at the same shift kit for mine.

Today was cleanup day; I had grinding dust and tools everywhere. I rolled the car out and gave it a quick blow off and wash and touched up the paint on the frame along with starting the tear down on the 727. It sat in a shed for many years so I figured I rebuild it. Now the shop is clean; I can trash it again.

I pulled the drive train back out so I could make the rack and pinion mounts and box the frame where I notched it. When I did this swap on my 48 I bought some tie rod adapters that adapted Ford Explorer tie rods ends to the Cavalier rods; this time I figured I'd just make some. There was already an adapter that screwed into the Cavalier tie rod so I cut the end off of the Plymouth tie rod, ground the adapter down so it would fit inside, welded it, and put a tie rod clamp on it. With the Explorer tie rods you had to re-size the steering arm taper; this way I can just use stock 49 Plymouth tie rod ends. Now I need to patch the trans tunnel where I cut it, and take it all back apart to clean it up and paint it.

I got my cross member re-built today: I was able to reuse the one I had built for the SHO motor by moving the mounting plate and adapting a GM trans rear mount. I also notched it on both sides for exhaust clearance. I got headers trial fitted but had to do some frame notching for clearance. I'll box those sections when I pull the motor back out to finalize the mounts and rebuild the trans. Time to start test mounting the rack and see how the steering is going to work out.

I spent the morning at the boneyard and picked up a Cavalier rack and pinion and a shifter from a Jag XJ-12. I have the same rack on my 48 so it should be a relatively easy swap. The shifter is cable actuated and has a spring loaded side to side action rather than a release button so I'm going to modify the shifter lever that I had on the five speed to fit.

Welcome, Dave! Glad to have you aboard.

I did some trial fitting today and got the motor mounts built. Luckily I was able to reuse the mounting pads I built for the SHO motor and just moved them back. Als, the cutout I had made in the firewall for the SHO was the perfect width for the new engine. The big snafu looks like the factory steering box has to go; the motor is too wide. Looks like she getting a rack-n-pinion conversion. Also had to do some trans tunnel surgery but that was pretty minor. I ordered some block hugger headers and the next step is to modify the cross member for the trans.

Yes, we do. I've always had a couple of cats running around since I was a kid. They make pretty good companions and don't require as much attention as dogs although I do like dogs. My daughter has a couple of inside dogs that we babysit when they go on vacation and they can be a handful. I got the motor buttoned up today; time to bolt it to the trans and start building mounts and figuring out headers.

Yeah, she was a good one. Always listened to my complaints and never asked for anything besides a meal and the occasional belly scratch. I've got another cat and I can tell he really misses her; he's been crying and looking for her for several days. I'll have to get him another companion soon. Finished up the heads today; should have them bolted on this week.

I had to use a rear sump truck oil pan for my big block in my 49. The pan wasn't too hard to come by but the oil pump pickup is another story. You need a specific one for the rear sump pan and it's out of production. I ended up having to make one using a Milodon pickup by shortening it and building a different mounting bracket for it.

Sad day today; my #1 garage partner Monica went home to Jesus. 15 years old; she was a good friend.

Got the short block finished up today along with one head ported and back together. Hopefully I can get the other head finished and have them bolted on in a week or so. Lots of hours at work for the next 6 weeks so I don't have much fun time to spare.

I'd be happy to pray for her, Dan. The Lord welcomes us all into his presence and gives us His grace if we seek Him; not just the religious.

Nice; I like the Desoto grille in there. I think $3K is a little steep for a four door but the novelty of the mixed breed would be a cool conversation piece.

I had this same issue; I just took the shock off and measured from center to center on the shock studs with the car sitting on the ground. I took that measurement and looked up Pete & Jakes Street rod shocks and found some where that measurement was right in the middle of the travel range; they sell them in various lengths. Never had another issue with it. I think they are around $60-$70 a pair.

Well, there's a lot of guys heat their shops with wood stoves. As long as you have your proper clearances from combustibles and use the right type of flue pipe & chimney, it's no more dangerous than that. Waste oil burns well if you have your burner temp and airflow right.

It's a lot of work for sure; I've put complete floor pans in two of these old mopars. Have you checked ebay? I did my 51 about three years ago and at the time someone on ebay was selling them in quarter section. I ended up building my own but the ones I saw were fairly reasonable. Also, Rock Auto used to sell the outer rockers just a couple of years ago; they probably still have them.

I got the motor back from the shop yesterday; they just polished the cam journals a bit and its fits fine now. The more I looked at my oil pump pickup the more I didn't like it so I got this one from Milodon for a deep sump pan and did a little surgery on it. This fits much better and has a bracket to hold it in place. I also got the heads checked and resurfaced and started some mild porting. Nothing wild, just cleaning up the bowls and combustion chambers and port matching the intake. As soon as I get it all back together, I need to hunt down a 727 trans and start doing some trial fitting in the chassis.

After several years of heating the shop with a torpedo heater and $4+/gal kerosene, I decided to build a waste oil heater for this winter. Our hot water heater lost an element so this seemed like a perfect time to break out the plans I've been holding onto for a few years. This is made using a tank from a 40 gallon water heater and a fairly simple gravity fed burner assembly. Here's the link if anyone is interested: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html#mwoh