Ulu

Well I was impressed until I read the "Faux engine" bit. I didn't relate to that at all.

Big kids, big toys....

Do you think I'm just a one-trick pony? Just like the skateboards, the motorcycle, and the boat, the P15 is also a toy. But with modern running gear, it'll be a reliable toy, and that is more the plan than just raw horsepower.

If his 2 wives met, that's not what they would have called him. @William Davey An arguement? Sir I'm honored that you would take the time to post all that. I guess some things like the SS designation become a matter of tradition and accounting and eventually mean little more. But the thing that amuses me is the thought that a nuclear sub actually runs a steam turbine, so it's literally deserving of the SS.

SS? Oh . . . Nuclear subs boil water. Don't they? I just never ever thought of them as Steam Ships. LOL

BTW, when I bought my P15 it was always intended to become a hot rod. This was in the early smog-gear days when you could not really modify a late model car here. I had no interest in any "official" restoring, as long as it was presentable, and no interest in preserving the LaBomba stance. No chance that I'll be restoring this one. It's too far from stock to be worthy anyway; but it's still solid enough to be a good hot rod build. Now, street rods have to be pretty, but hot rods just have to go. What I have in mind will be unconventional, and that will certainly make it appear ugly to traditional restorers and traditional hot rodders as well. Nor will it ever be a rat rod. And the flathead stuff will all be left behind? Well that was always the plan, though I do have 99% viable classic mopar running gear (the starter windings are probably burned.) Now it might be fun to build as a flattie, but I'm not as forgiving about the limitations and the weight. The whole powertrain needs a big power/weight boost, and while part of that will come from extreme weight reduction, the engine must grow about 100 cu in to make me happy.

I've been infrequently looking for a donor vehicle for my '47 project, and I've also been looking for an excuse to vacation when my current "hot" project at work wraps up soon. My idea is to take off on the motorcycle for somewhere interesting, and go find a suitable donor vehicle for my car. A Dakota pickup seems to be the ticket, and I can put the bike in the bed and drive it back to California. This one looks somewhat interesting, and I've never been to Puyallup, and it set me off dreaming again. (it has the 4.7L (287) SOHC SMPI V8 "MAGNUM" ENGINE so a bit smaller than the 340 I was originally wanting.) But the weather is turning, so a bike trip to WA in November might not be much fun. I'm thinking a ride to Arizona or Socal would be more appropriate.

Wow sorry I lost touch with this thread! Must watch the videos...

Cast or drop forged. Never shaped from billet unless for racing.

Sure sounds like a low voltage situation because of a poor connection to something. Could be between the key and the battery. Could be lots of other places as well.

That middle photo is pretty grim, Paul. Depressing as all hell actually.

Ah, I remember Minnesota . . . And my good memory of it keeps me living in the desert.

Wow! If you gave six monkeys LSD inside a paint store, they might be able to do a worse paint job.

I used to hear this kind of stuff and nonsense, on the motorcycle forums, about Japanese bikes. Look, we conquered Japan, occupied their country, lived in their houses, ate their food, screwed their women and brought home their weapons (and women) as souvenirs. But for some reason owning a Japanese motorcycle makes you strange? My dad was a three war vet. He served for over 30 years and was as American as they come. He also liked Chevrolets, and had owned a few. But in the end he drove a Honda, because, "all the Chevys had gone to hell."

Merle, a quick look at my door post says mine was built in Baja Mexico by Toyota of Mexico SA.

There's no doubt I could have bought a 1500 Ram crew cab long bed brand new 2016 for the same money I paid for a used 2012 Toyota Tacoma. But taxes, insurance, gas and maintenance would all be higher. Now I admit I rather be in the Dodge if I got hit. But other than that the Toyota is more practical and fun for me. I'm sorry it's not American. It's a Japanese truck built by Mexicans. There's no getting around that. But I'm betting the Toyota dealer in Fresno (who is an American) made more profit on this truck than the factory workers who built it.

I build computers. The wiring is no problem, but the whole idea is indecent.

I was going to go through this with the Toyota but I keep having these distractions from working on my Plymouth so I just sold the damn thing off. I could have straightened the bent frame out myself, repaired the fiberglass bed (which is just like fixing a boat.) Everything else was really just minor scratches and the metal fenders and poly over fenders were fine. Cab was untouched. They shouldnt have totalled it but, it was fine with me. I didn't need the money I could have made on fixing it & I need more time to work on the P15 car. Now some other Gearhead will pick up nice Toyota and fix it up cheap. Everybody at work is asking me why I didn't use the Toyota powertrain in my 47 Plymouth. I guess they take me for a complete idiot sometimes.

The Ford 150s sell for more new but have a lower resale than Toyota. At least around here.

It's the Battlestar Galactica look... BTW, the Silverados and Tacomas out here are all built in Mexico, but the Tacoma comes out way ahead somehow. Also, I could have kept the old one for $8k but I wasn't interested in fixing it. I don't have enough time to fix the things that I want to work on.

Someone smacked my 09 Tacoma in the rear bumper, and the frame is pretty bent. Bed smashed up. Tailgate trashed. It got totalled by AAA, and I bought this 2012 Tacoma, for the settlement (plus a pretty penny more.) I got the same basic model (04 to 2015 or "second generation") as I don't like the new engines Toyota is putting in the 3rd gen 2016 models.

JB you've had some really nice finds. Color me green. I put a new cylinder on my old engine hoist. The old one had served Faithfully for over 40 years, but it leaked a lot and I was running it on 90 weight gear oil. The new Jack is 8 ton capacity and has a much higher lift, that gives me over 3000 lbs lift at the hook. I had to bob off some serious gusset and lug that I had installed back in '73, for the Surplus jack I was using. The new jack has clevises but the old one does not and I had manufactured my own from 1/2" bar. The top will require some welded bushings to correct pin mismatch. I originally used 7/8" but the new cylinder has 5/8" holes. The base touches at full extension or full retraction, so I need to grind off some more from the gusset. Anyhow it works well enough that I was able to pick up the corners of my new shed and level it up on concrete blocks. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the apparatus that I cobbled up to make this lift my shed, & it's already disassembled.

If dogs could talk . . .

Plymouthy is correct. This is just a coaster. No motor, no pedals. Just find a hill and hang on.

This will sure make a car slower to accelerate. You have to wind up a lot more moving parts now, and that eats up your torque. Just switching my P15 from the 3spd to the 3spd with OD I noticed this right away. Extra rotational inertia is nice for cruising, but it makes getting to speed harder.