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Hi everyone. I’m the usual long time lurker, first time poster. After enjoying the forum for a while I thought you might be interested in seeing my ‘54 Dodge Coronet Suburban wagon. I imported it a couple of years ago and have slowly (I mean slowly....) been going through it. It hasn’t been properly on the road since the early 80’s. If you like it, I may start a build thread as I have plenty of pictures and the input would be helpful. Pics below were the day it was delivered -

Well, I did not need another project, but this was too nice to go to the scrapper. A friend told me about an old Chrysler wagon with a hemi, that had been sitting in the same spot for 39 years, up in the mountains of northern CA, about 3 hours from my house. I talked with the owner, a nice fellow, a lumberjack, sawmill owner who used it for his business in the 70's and in 1981, parked it when it began to smoke and drip oil a bit. He covered it up, and although the snow caved the roof in a bit here and there, everything else is in remarkable shape, even for a California car. It is a 1954 New Yorker Town and Country wagon on a 125 in wheelbase. It has the last big old-style hemi- the 331 cu in motor with the 2 bbl Carter carb making 195 hp. If you swap it out for a 4 bbl Carter, it jumps to 235 hp. It has the Powerflite 2 speed auto trans and power steering. There is one small rust spot under the driver's foot area, but the frame, floors, rockers, etc and all solid. I may switch horses here, shift concentrating on the '52 Plymouth Suburban, and begin restoring this one, as it will hold the grandkids and make a great, comfortable cruiser. I need to find some folks who have restored Chrysler wagons, to see where the pain points are.?. So much fun!

Been awile since I have posted on here but I got myself a new project, pretty rare I think 1954 dodge Crusader Wagon

I have been making good progress on the P10 wagon since summer. As Don indicated, it doesn't rain anymore here in Fresno, so we can work on our cars 24hrs/day, 12 months /year. Here are a few progress pics. I put 10 coats of varnish on it last summer, and then fit the wood to the chassis this spring. Most of the metal pieces inside the car are powdercoated -there is a shop in Clovis - Kip's Powder Coating) that not only does great work, but is very reasonable too. I find myself powder coating parts that I hadn't thought of powder coating, like the piano hinges for the doors and tailgate, just because they make it so easy! I installed a split intake and exhaust manifold from George Asche, with two rebuilt Carters and had a local radiator shop make up a split exhaust that blends back into the single exhaust pipe. These are old time muffler guys and assured me that I didn't need dual exhausts, because of the size of the single pipe and the output of the 218 that I'm using. Good thing, because the placement of the gas tank, off to the drivers side, makes it pretty tough to route a second exhaust there. I also installed a George Asche OD that I bought from him 10 years ago and with the dual carbs and split exhaust, I can easily get it up to 65mph. Not sure how fast I want to go in a car made out of toothpicks, but it's nice to know that I will be able to keep up with traffic anyway. Next challenge : the seats.

I've been making good progress in the last month on what started out to be my 1940 Plymouth wagon project and now has turned into a '40-'41 wagon hybrid. A year ago January I found a '41 with great wood, but on a chassis that would need a ton of work.I wondered if it would fit the 1940 chassis/cowl that I had been working on since 2003. The differences between '40 and '41 wooden bodies (made by US Body and Forging Company) were minimal, so I did the frame measurements between the 2 years and asked around (thanks Jim Benjaminson!) and decided that the swap would work. I pulled the wood off the '41 and spent the summer applying 10 coats of varnish, hand sanding etc, between coats. I think it's looking pretty good. Right now I'm sorting out the mechanical and electrical systems, and the George Asche OD. I've upgraded some components - front disk brakes, dual master cylinder, OD, turn signals, Coker WW radials and halogen dash and headlights. I got the P20 engine from a guy in N. CA that runs his own auto repair shop and used to race the Mopar flathead 6s, so this one purrs like a kitten. I kept it 6 volt and as stock looking much as I could. I hope to put the wood to the metal in the spring. The hardest thing was choosing the color. They only came in Hampton Beige, with yellow brackets and trim - which I didn't care for. The color is the same green that Chevrolet used in the 1941-46 pickups and if you didn't specify a color- you got this green. It's all about the wood, and I think the green will enhance the look. I will be powder-coating the brackets and trim a dark bronze with just a hint of metal flake in it. The top will be black vinyl, the seats leather. I'll post more pictures as I go Bob Riding

Well, after a year of other projects, I finally got back to working on the P10 wagon and got it running on Saturday. The 218 came from a flatbed Pilothouse farm truck I bought (for the engine) a few years ago for $500. The truck isn't much - no glass or gauges, the spider gears in the pumpkin are welded together (for better traction in the mud), etc., but the motor was rebuilt by a mechanic and runs sweetly. I've been using a "Jump 'N Start" portable car battery starter to start the wagon, and I put the red lead to the bendix post and the black to ground. It works great, except last night the bendix stopped working - I'm not sure if the 12volt portable starter caused the problem (it was a new bendix) Are bendixes not able to carry higher voltages? Next steps after fuel tank and fuel line install is the cowl.