mm289

Here is the original in my car, but I am really after a pic of the detail covered by the two flat plates that have been welded in, so i can see how the floor slopes down by the rocker and kicks up into the toe board and towards the tunnel. Paul.

Had a look at Falconvan's pics on his '51 which was helpful, could still do with some good quality pics of the floor shape going into the toeboard on passenger and river side if poss Thanks, Paul.

Thanks guys, will go check out that thread now. Cheers, Paul.

Hiya, just making up new floors for the Dodge and was after some pics of an original floor. Mine were already butchered before I got there and the ones in the Plymouth Doctor catalogue don't look the same as mine. So if you have any pics of an original floor expecially the front section from the seat mounts up to the toe board that would be much appreciated. This is for a '49 2 door/3 seat Business Coupe. Cheers, Paul.

Will do Casper That grill looks good from what I can see, have to get a picture in the daylight Cheers boys, Paul.

Had Christmas Eve off so a good chance to get on with the Dodge First off stripped back the rest of the rocker behind the bit I am repairing at the moment. It is reasonably solid but after getting rid of 1/4" of filler I found the panel had just been tacked onto the original, what a mess! It will all have to come off and I will make up a new lower qtr/rocker repair panel. So started on the floor panel next. Roughed out a cardboard template...... Then transferred it to steel and started putting some of the shape in..... ..... and then it was nearly Christmas, time to go prep the joints and bake some bread ready for tomorrow Have a great Christmas everbody Cheers, Paul.

Ha ha, smooth sailing and cash - I like that. the best bit about the time consuming stuff is its mostly "free" time then you buy all the bits you can't make and it gets very expensive Paul.

Hey Casper, haven't been around for the summer so just catching up. Progress is great, looking really good, well done. Makes a big difference being able to use cuts from other cars and replacement panels, but good to see your fabrication skills coming to the front on the patching and fender panels. If you haven't already have a look at the metalshaping and metalmeet forums, some really good insights in there. Started back on mine this weekend, so hope I can catch up!! Cheers, MM

I'm back, did you miss me? Took a bit longer than a few weeks but to be fair I did say I would be doing this resto sloowwwllyy Lots of stuff on over the summer so haven't had a chance to get back on the Dodge. Done a couple of small bits but nothing that would count as progress until this weekend really. Finally got round to fitting the middle outrigger I fabricated in the spring. All welded in apart from onto the sill, which I will do one the floor is in (thats the next big bit to fab) As a reminder this is what it looked like originally...... And now........ Next job to shape a replacement floor panel........ Cheers, MM

Thats a great job Casper, that will be soooo much nicer to work on now its all cleaned up. Will be awesome when its all finished Chers, Paul.

Thats what i suspected, been looking for a second hand one for ages, might even have a go at fabricating one myself if no luck soon. That and a proper box pan folder would be invaluable for all this stuff!! Cheers, Paul.

It always takes much longer than you think eh? I have been distracted the last few weeks with a trip to the States and then lots of spring time stuff on the house to do , hope to get back on this in the next week and get the passenger floor closed up then can attack the drivers side. Cheers, Paul.

Looks good fabricating some bits of the floor is the next job on mine, what did you use to put the strengthening ribs in? Cheers, Paul.

Followed up on that first one but it is in Canada and the seller quoted $74 for shipping it to chicago on a gauranteed 4 days!!!!! If anyone sees another one let me know. Cheers, Paul.

Thanks, thats great guys - I had seen that one on e-bay and thought it looked close but needed confirmation. I might see if I can pick it up when I am Chicago next week. Cheers, Paul.

Hi, my coupe is missing the ashtray so I am trying to track one down but I dont know what they should look like! My dash looks like this Anyony have a picture of what the missing item looks like? Or even better, a spare sitting in a cupboard somewhere Thanks, Paul.

Hi, I am over in Chicago next week on a business trip and just wondered if there were any places or events on where I could get to see/talk some old Mopars - they are a bit thin on the ground over here so wanted to take advantage of being Stateside. Already got a case load of parts being delivered to the hotel to take back Cheers, Paul.

Next bit of progress, starting to close up the front part of the rocker now. First of spot welded the new piece of inner rocker into place Then started fabricating the new piece of outer rocker - gonna flange it and slip under the existing outer rocker. Mocked up in situ, won't fix it in till I have the floor fabbed up as well. Cheers Paul.

I hear you Dave I am working from the panel gap between roof and door as that is the bit I know hasn't been played with and then working my way down. Door is slightly wavy but rocker droops by 1 or 2 mm so correcting that by jacking it Cheers, Paul.

hey Rusty, just as a bit of input, on mine the floor is the bottom of three bits in a sandwich, floor on the bottom, inner rocker next and outer rocker ontop Not very clear from this pic but that is how mine is laid up. Cheers, Paul.

Had a couple of hours spare this evening so managed to get out into the shop. Knocked up the inner rocker repair panel and then was able to mock up the fitment together with the new body mount. Old front body mount is in place but need to make a new one of these up as well. All beginning to take shape nicely, will need to jack the rocker up before I spot weld the new inner in place as it is sagging a little. Just need to make the top of the rocker to complete the box, but will probably fab up the new floor sections before I seal it up. Cheers, Paul.

Thanks Rod, its not quick but they should last longer than me, so someone else will be able to enjoy it as well - maybe my son if he ever gets the bug Paul.

Looking good Casper, dragging all the underseal and primer off the floor is a right PITA - must have taken a while! I'm doing it on one of my old VW vans with a scraper and it is evil - on my Dodge I have found a "needler" air tool works well for the wax as it is old and crusty - just when you hit a part of the frame which is old and crusty as well, you know about it as the needler punches lots of holes in it Headers look good, was thinking about getting something similar made up over here as the chances of finding a split manifoild are zero I have added some more pics to my build thread on the ongoing rocker repairs, looking forward to seeing how yours goes on when they arrive Cheers, Paul.

Didn't get much time to play on the Dodge this weekend, but managed to knock up the 1st of the 3 pieces I am going to need to repair the rocker. This is what would have been the lower return of the outer rocker. Made up in 16g to match the rocker. It’s a real pain trying to create the flange to slip this up onto the original panel, been looking for a bead roller for ages but they just fetch too much money. So I made a tool that I can use with my hydraulic press to press the flange nice and neat. Then fitted this up to the rocker and welded through from on top so it is nice and clean on the visible side. A old trick I use especially if welding thin steel is to clampo a strip of copper to the back, helps spread the heat and the weld won't take to the copper. Also really useful if you have to fill small holes in panels without making patches. And all welded up, just needs trimming and if I'm really fussy I might lay a bit of lead in the join to seal it. 3 panels done, 2 to go then I can weld in the outriggers I have made Cheers, MM

Hey Rusty, sometimes it is best to just get stuck in - trouble is I find I keep cutting away more metal each time Pete, that was definately worse than mine - looks like youve done a great job. If you are ever coming down Folkestone way drop me a PM and I will ping you my address, would be great to meet and chat. I have been keeping my build thread up to date so if you want to see where we have got to with loads of oictures drop in here http://p15-d24.com/topic/37817-restoring-a-dodge-49-business-coupe-sloooooowly/page-2 - its a bit quite so its always nice to have a few comments, helps to keep the energy levels up when you have been cutting welding and grinding for 12 hours at a time Cheers, Paul.