falconvan

Hey Norm, You might want to check with a spring shop. I got mine re-arched for $175 for both and that was including new bushings.

I finished buttoning up the other rocker after work today; now I just have to weld the floor all the way around. Here's a shot of what's left of the 48 Dodge I'm parting out. Hmmmmm......anyone see another hotrod lurking in there somewhere?

I spent most of my free time this week hooking up my compressor and dryer but I did get a bit of work on the other side of the floor started.

21? wow, you've got some great car building years ahead. Glad to see that you like the old stuff!

I got it from a local farm supply store for $425. It's a Coleman 60 gallon, 3.5hp, 11.5 cfm@90psi. I had a little 20 gallon Coleman 5hp that I used for 15 years so I figured I'd stay with the same brand. The old one was still running but getting weak so I gave it to my son for his first compressor.

Selling those parts last weekend paid off; new shop tool:

I've got the same van; I changed 5 plugs about 6 months ago. There's one more new one laying on my workbench somewhere. Both my son and I tried half a day to get that old plug out.

I didn't get near as much done this weekend as I would have liked. I spent most of the day stripping the 48 Dodge I'm parting out because I sold a bunch of stuff from it. Can't say no to $$$, that's the only way to keep this one going. I did get one side of the front floor patched and tacked in.

Shawn, Here's a great no cost way to get a 3" drop. All you need is a welder; I did this on a rat truck that I built using a 48 dodge chassis and it worked great. Take your lower control arms and cut off the rivets that hold the spring support plate. Remove it from the top of the control arm. Cut the small structural support plate from the bottom of the control arm. Take the spring support plate, trim the edges so that it will sit flush against the bottom of the control arm and weld it all the way around, inside and out. Make sure you have the upright bolted to it while welding to make sure it aligns properly. Finally cut 1/2 coil out of the front springs. This is what it will look like when it's done. The original is on the right, the modified one on the left.

Check with Fatman's Fabrications for suspension, disc brake, and steering options. They're the only ones I know of who have a few different options engineered specifically for this car. Engine? Get that big honkin steering box out of the way and you pretty much have room to fabricate mounts for anything with a rear sump oil pan. Ford Ranger or Dodge Dakota rearends are just about perfect on the width; just need to relocate the spring pads.

Wow, what a beast! This looks to be in great shape, Shawn. Keep working on it and keep posting them pictures!

Do you have some pics of that Windsor? I'd love to see it. They have one of the best looking dashes of the era.

Cool! Glad to see you over here. You want old Mopar info, this is the place to be. I think this site and CHR are the best ones out there. It's a great way to keep your progress documented and keep yourself motivated.

I bought a Plymouth service manual off of Ebay for the 48 and it has some really good frame drawings with dimentions. There were about 4 different frames for those years.

Here's a couple more; couldn't get these to load for some reason.

This came out better than I'd hoped. Thanks for the comments, everyone! I finished the drivers rocker and test fit the doors. Both looked good. I took the whole floor section from the sedan and cut the sides back 2" and cleaned up the ends of the floor braces. Luckily enough, the sedan and the coupe floor measure the same from front to back. Then I cleaned up all the mating edges and slid it right into place. Now I just weld the whole thing all the way around. i still need to make front pans, those were bad on both cars.

This side went much easier than the first. I had to go back to the other one and do it a little different, as a matter of fact. These "factory reproduction outer rocker panels" don't fit worth a darn. But I'll use them anyway. Everything you'll see looks Ok, just the bottom lip isn't bent right. More to come soon, I'm concentrating on getting the rockers and the floor finished first.

1st try at fabricating inner rockers. Not too bad but it took all day to do 1 side, other than the 1 1/2 hours I spent picking up supplies.

Hey Bob, Did you take these pictures locally? I see some parts I could use.

Yeah, I'd say there's a little weight difference between a Nissan and a 48 Plymouth. How does yours handle with the Cavalier rack? Also, what are you using for a front sway bar?

Thanks, good info. The paperwork they sent me said to use Ford Explorer tie rod ends and they gave me a NAPA part #. Is that the ones you had problems with?

Looks great, Chet. Wow, I went through your build site and there is a lot of great stuff. I bought mine in pieces and looking at your build shows me how a lot of things go together that I wasn't sure about. Thanks for the great documentation!

They use a 88-96 Chevy Cavalier Rack and Ford Explorer tie rod ends. The kit comes with weld on mounting brackets and tie rod adaptors for $225; the rack and tie rods ends you buy yourself. I talked to a few guys that have used them and it was all thumbs up.

I got the sedan cut up today for the patch panels I'll need. Got the whole floor, cowl, and the tailpiece. I took Thursday and Friday off this week so it's time to start bodywork. It should keep me busy for a while, I'll keep posting progress.

Thanks guys! More to come this weekend. (I hope; mama is eyeing up the honey-do list)