Sharps40

Well, frame and body, from the pics looks to be excellent or better. I saw no rust whatsoever....but probably know more Wed as pics ain't the most reliable. But the paint looks great.....at least in the pics! I believe the title is clear too!. Selling the house, so, since its no roller and I ain't payin forklift by the hour too get it on and off a truck at both ends, not even counting moving it again when the house sells or the beating my wife and realtor will give me for fillin the garage of a marketed house with a disassembled car.....I'll leave the interior, body and frame to the next feller.

Big giant shout out to Jack's PA. Thank you Sir!!! SHOUT!! We have made a deal thanks to your brokering and it appears Ol Bessy will be acquiring, at a fair price, the following immediately needed and potential spares from a local rust free 1937 Plymouth 4 Door P4 Touring Sedan. Meeting and pick up is scheduled for Wednesday evening. I did not attempt to get the entire car (no rolling stock and my wife and realtor would kill me even if I had a forklift to move it around the house between now and any future sale) but, we did settle as follows: Trunk lid 4 Doors 4 Fenders 2 Headlight Buckets 2 Running Boards 2 Bumpers 4 Bumper brackets Hood with associated hardware Nose + Grill Windshield with frame Windshield Crank out mechanism Window trim, door handles (interior and exterior) and window handles Dome lights with lenses

Dad was at the shop yesterday. Said the boards and brackets arrived and look great. Ol Bessy is back in pieces in about 4 locations in the shop. Body in the booth for prime and blocking, front end in the bay finishing up, boards in the office, etc, etc. Its hard to sit 5 hours away and wait. Probably best though....otherwise I'd be in the shop regularly and slowing stuff up too much!

If you are talking to Tom Langdon, you are talking to the only Smart and Honest 6 cyl GodLike Most Excellent Knowledge Data Bank in the Universe. Unless you for sure and absolutely know better, (like, for instance, it pings at 10 degrees BTDC but not at 8), then do what he says. You'll like the hei, just run a good INTERNAL Regulated alternator, like a GM 10 SI or 12 SI. The older external regulator alternators are not a clean and level power source and the spikes will destroy any HEI/DUI ignition.

Dad got the hinges. He said they are so beautiful....excellent "seconds" and is tickled with the look and finish. Off to the shop this week I hope to check out the fit and perhaps to look over the SmoothieFab running boards. Seems they arrived 28 Jan at the shop. Will report back!

Three word answer....Oh Hell Yes! Put new springs on the old 37 back in 1990......NOS new springs and shackels, all the way around. Combined with a suspension rebuild and new king pins and brakes and ya'd have thought the car was only two hours old. At 65, we all need new springs! Biggest change was stability and sureness of the ride. Yes, it was a package deal and not just springs alone but.....at 65.......

All Hail, Fleabay! Found trunk hinges. Ours are pitted and one has been broken for nearly 50 years.

Old school fix for any combination of worn pistons, worn cylinders. Basically, in the days of needin valve jobs, rebores, new pistons and ring jobs every 25000 to 50000 miles, it was an inexpensiver overhaul......freshin up the bore, expand the piston, new rings, roll another 10000 miles at lower overhaul cost. Look at any copy of MotorAge from the 30s and 40s and you'll see scads of ads showing piston skirt expanders, ring expanders and telling the shop managers how to sell more "oil jobs" at lower cost to customer (less machining), higher profit for the shop and fewer returns. So.....a half assed engine rebuild. But it was common in those days....many shops did the overhauls. Remove the hood, install a sunnon hone to the block, stand on the fenders and hone the bore. Expanders could potentially eliminate much of that work standing over the stripped engine with the hood off.....if the bores were not too badly scored or tapered, or oversize.

And, after we got tired of hard starting with a 6 volt battery, or when the battery went bad, the perminant fix (back in the days before 12v conversions were popular and affordable) we dropped in an 8v battery and tweaked the regulator up a touch to keep it charged. Made all the difference, especially with cold morning December starts. 8 was much more reliable for starting than 6 and the 6v generator with tweaked regulator was very reliable for keepin it full charged. But.....dunno if there even is such a thing as an 8v car battery these days. And no, 8v did not hurt the wiring, 6v lights, heater fan, etc........

After a long sit, we always jumped em with a 12 volt battery removed from another car. Usually kicks em right off, never hurt anything.

Went to American Muscle Car, http://stores.ebay.com/American-Muscle-Car-Parts I think this was the last set, (they no longer show on the fleabay store) but the Part Number they carry them under from their email to me is: "We also have braces under item 290588336467 thanks" Look sturdy and are universal fit (trim/tweak) for 30s/40s cars. Ordered em and sent em direct to the shop. No sense paying $150 shipped for one side only and already 80 years old. Figgered to go new here and have both sides the same. After they are final fitted, they can be painted and look as good underneath as the new SmoothieFab boards will.

Used phrases like the parts are "beautiful". "Let's go slow". "My wife works at Walmart".

Gunslinger. Butler / la grange ky area code? Says if you call phone will be busy but emails always welcome? If so likely tryin to scam me but different name. I recovered my money though.

Woo Hoo! Just got off the phone with SmoothieFab. Boards done and boxed. Shipping soon as the weather breaks! YEAH!!!!!!!!

Dave, Yer a good man, sandblastin an exhaust manifold for a pretty finish. I wish ya luck! I never ever got one to look good....but then, I'm a mite lazy when it comes to prep work! I am super glad it arrived in good condition. Now the rust is off, look it over real close and make sure there ain't no hidden cracks. Its old but I think its good. Lemmie know, if its busted, we'll straighten up so you can keep moving forward. For now, I'm gonna hunker down and think about how easy its gonna be to see deer tomorrow from the stand with all this ice and snow we are supposed to get!

Perfect. Before the great HellStorm of 2016 (30" of snow predicted for Northern VA and Scads of Ice for the Carolina) tonight and tomorrow, Dad got to the shop and measured our original running board. Just as SmoothieFab indicated, it measures 73.5" tip to tip on the street side. Dad took some additional measurements and came up with Front Width, outer edge to inner edge of about 12". The width of the rear of the running board, from outer edge to inner edge is about 9". The length of the long frame side edge from front tip to the center of the radius at the rear fender, about 59". We should be good. I'll be calling SmoothieFab tomorrow and ordering mine up for shipment to VA. The builder looked over the photos of 37 Dodge boards produced in the past by SmoothieFab and feels confident they are fine quality and just what we need. He also said, the price is durn fine! So, SmoothieFab, I hope ya ain't iced in tomorrow cause I'm callin. But if ya are iced in I hope ya make good use of the time off, like me.....grab the bow and go Deer huntin! I'll be in the woods after lunch! Yall stay warm!

Well, bolted on pine boards and crossed fingers and 1.5 rolls of duct tape and a prayer that UPS don't play "Lets drop the heavy box just to see what happens." and I think ye'll be in business. Course, what they charge to ship, they oughta be holdin it in there lap and keepin it snuggly warm and cozy! Hard part will be deciding on natural patina or a buncha work that'll see the paint burn off in a year anywho! Luck to ya! Lemmie know when it arrives and that its whole and hale!

And, thanks to Lasttombstone, this one came up tonight. Sorry, small photo, but if I recall, its all original in very fine condition. The 1934 the seller had for the same price was worse shape. But even if redone, I'm tickled! Thanks Sir! So, I spose NC for around town and MD for when I'm on toll roads? Got it yesterday. Pretty happy even with the price. Its a 5 footer (looks great from 5 feet away.) instead of a 10 footer and thats just darn cool for a 79 year old license plate. It is very straight, rust free and the black paint is original. The yellow paint is new and hand lettered. Not real steadily lettered but plenty good enough and its goin on the car. Thanks for the lead Lasttombstone! The outside of the car is approaching completion (less color) and the mechanicals are gettin ready to go inbetween and under the frame rails. I hope to here the first fire over the phone soon, soon!!!!!

Woo Hoo! Good news, I hope. Running Boards! With luck, no more scammers with borrowed photos of junk cars from years back. Dad is taking final measurments from the one original running board we have on hand. Smoothie Fabrications of Indian Trail, NC has the boards ready to go. If the measurements are the same (and should be as we are both fairly certain that all 37 Dodge cars, coop-a to le-mo-zeen, used the same length board) they can be final welded friday and immediatly shipped to VA for instalation on Ol Bessy. And, if we want a more period look I already have good ribbed battleship rubber that can be attached. Very Excited. I won't get to see the boards right away but as soon as I do, I'll let ya know what I think. And for those that might need a smooth running board made up in new steel, check em out. Not for Concours I suppose but who cares, Ol Bessy is gonna be a "Runner". www.smoothiefab.com

OP. PM sent.

That's actually a durn fine ider!

Neither will be registered and both will be fine. All you do in NC is register the car and tag it with a normal tag, insurance of course.... Insert the registered/up to date tag in the glove box or under the seat, etc., for "Display on Demand". Install YOM plate on antique car. Done. Go ride. If stopped, produce up to date tag, registration, insurance from hidie hole. The law reads in part.... G.S. 20-63(d) reads: "Any motor vehicle of the age of 35 years or more from the date of manufacture may bear the license plates of the year of manufacture instead of the current registration plates, if the current registration plates are maintained within the vehicle and produced upon the request of any person."

I'd thought that until I find as good and inexpensive a 1937 NC Plate, this one will be the one Ol Bessy runs. MD is her home state for 79 years, hopefully before she's 80 she'll be dressed and movin to NC. But, once she's rollin and barring any last minute plate changes, look out for a Pearl Blue Widebody HellCat with quiet exhaust, this plate and narrow tires smokin on the 3-4 shift. And then, moments after arrival of the MD plate for Ol Bessy, months of searching comes to an end with a PM from a Pal... Sorry, small photo, but if I recall, its all original in very fine condition. The 1934 the seller had for the same price was worse shape. But even if redone, I'm tickled! Thanks Sir! So, I spose NC for around town and MD for when I'm on toll roads?

Well, sometimes our hair gets let down just a lil bit when we are in deer camp!

Some more predictive photography. The average female reaction to a pair of fine mature gentlemen driving a classy old car.....