New to forum 50 dodge questions & suggestions

[Abeblinkin]

I just picked up a wayfarer business coupe. Its my first car and my only car at the moment, so I'm gonna have a lot of questions for you fellas. I'm a denver guy and have been into motorcycles mainly so your gonna have to be patient with me.

I have big plans and little money. But first I need a set of matching wheels and tires. there are three different wheels and four different dry rotted tires. So my first question is what wheels were original to the car 15x6 or 7 maybe and the backspacing. I was wondering where to look to get a shop manual too.

Any thoughts to dropping one of these would be great as well. I see fat man makes a dropped upright kit and I guess you put blocks in the rear but I would like to hear any suggestions. oh and as long as I'm here anybody switch the bumpers on one of these to something different and what I think the fastbacks bumpers are even a big improvement.

Thanks mike

[PatS....]

Welcome. You came to the right place for info.

If you look at the front wheels, you'll see that there is little clearance between the wheel and the tie rod end, so if the front wheel fits, measure that backspace and that's what you'll need. Any more and you'll hit the tie rod end.

The rears can take more backspace.

Charlie on the forum (Olddaddy) makes a great disc brake kit.

Here's some more info from Rod and Custom:

http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/techarticles/135_0501_1951_plymouth_suburban_wagon/index.html

[Andydodge]

Mike, gidday from Oz.......original rims would have been 15 x 4 or 4.5"........I have Wheel Vintique Chrome Smoothies 15 x6 & 15 x 7 on my 41 Plymouth Coupe with the standard backspacing they come with, think its 3 & 3.5", and they fit fine, have also taken out 1 coil and 2" blocks on the rear, sits fine for everyday driving with the Smoothies.......hope this helps, regards, andyd

[moose]

Good looking car! Welcome.

[Tony Cipponeri]

Hi Abe, You don't say where you are located. If you are in the SoCal area,I know a guy that has extra stock wheels, that he will let go pretty cheap. Tony C

[greg g]

I am running 15 x 5 wheel vintiques style 20 smoothise with trim rings and baby moos on my 46 Plymouth. You can run rims from later MOPARS and some folks are running older police style wheels, which can be found in wrecking yards. You can go to 7 inches wide on the back but the back space is limited to 3 3/4 inch. supoose you could tun spacers but as noted before, the tier rods interfere in front and spring in the rear. Some of the older 70' and 80' MOPAR alloy wheels will fit (magnum cordoba) as will some of the newer front wheel drive style alloys. Early Dakota 5 lug 2wd rims will work also.

MOst people find that 205 to 225 75 15 radials work well. The stock rims at 4 inches are pretty narrow for modern tires but some are running them with up to 215's. 70 series are a bit wide for the rear fenders.

Your car is equiped with a fluid drive set up, It does not allow for compression breaking withthe engine off so make sure your parking brake is in good shap of carry some whell chocks with you if you need ot park on a grade.

Do a forum search for fluid drive, thee is a lot of confusion about the system and the transmissions mounted behind the fluid transfer unit. Most dodges had a standard 3 speed but many got the MOPAR semi automatic called by various names. IN the Dodge it is kow as Gyromatic. If you car has one the Gyromatic name should be on the car rear deck or rear bumper or on the Dashboard or both.

Loosk like a solid car, the Business coups have their certain appeal. Good luck with it.

Most would recommend and approach the would get you familiar with all the mechanical systems, get them all working to spec, and then worrying about appearence and other stuff.

One thing to consider is that teh electrical system if stock is 6Volt Positive ground.

One of the common problems is that people replace the 6 V main battey cables with thin 12V stuff. They will cause problems.

Have fun and check back with all your questions.

[Abeblinkin]

PatS- thats a great link I also found one on fatmans site http://www.webrodder.com/article.php?AID=52&SID=16&CID=11

Anydodge- thanks for the info, I think I will look for the same size wheels you have and maybe drop it as you said until I get the money to do the dropped uprights. My girlfriend is from Melbourne and I do get down to your side of the world occasionally and maybe one day permanently.

Tony- I'm in Denver and i updated my info so I'm not such a lurker.

Greg- Thanks for all the info the car has a few fluidmatic badges on it so thats what I got and I have heard varying opinions on its pro/cons I would like to swap it out for something different and have a floor shift and I have read lots of info here on the various swaps. But like you said I feel I should first attend to the brakes and get familiar with the car and get everything working properly. I see people do the 12volt conversion and I must admit I was surprised the first time I lifted the hood and saw the positive ground. What all is needed to do the 12 volt swap? I feel I should do some rewiring as there are lots of suspicious connections and some wires are just literally

falling apart. If I rewire it do I need to wire for 12volt or 6volt specifically?

Anyone know about finding a manual?

Well thanks for the welcome and I really appreciate the site without it I probably would not have bought the car

[wayfarer]

Check out Rebel Wire for a rewire package, and remember that 6-v wiring is a bit heavier than 12v so you can rewire now to use with 6v operations and later change to 12v with no problem.

If you want to swap the trans for either a Torqueflite of Mopar manual, give me a call, I have adapters. I am currently working on Dakota 5-speed swap package if that is of interest. 888-Hemi-Parts, M-F, 7A - 5P.

.

Edited June 28, 2009 by wayfarer

[Abeblinkin]

I didn't know that 6volt wiring was actually heavier. Thanks for explaining that to me, it looks like that 8 circuit 6 volt kit would be what I need just wish it wasn't so much more expensive than the 12 volt kit. It makes me think I should just do the conversion and wire it all at once. What else do I need besides a new alternator and battery?

Thanks for the info on the trans swap I think I read some info you posted at another site about the dakota swap. Its will probably be way down the road but I will defiantly contact you when I'm ready.

[Captain Neon]

How long have you lived in Denver? Must be very difficult to get around Denver after one of their high volume snowfalls with a motorcycle? I lived in Loveland for one year which doesn't get as many huge snowstorms, but I bought a Jeep just in case just the same.

[Abeblinkin]

How long have you lived in Denver? Must be very difficult to get around Denver after one of their high volume snowfalls with a motorcycle? I lived in Loveland for one year which doesn't get as many huge snowstorms, but I bought a Jeep just in case just the same.

I've lived in Colorado my whole life, with the exception of some time in Australia. I've lived all over the state but I just moved back to Denver after 10 years in Eagle county (mountains). Luckily I could walk to work in the winter and I would push the seasons on my bike until I would almost get frost bite on my hands. After all that time in the mountains the winters down here seem like nothing, you don't even have to shovel your roof:D. We never had a problem getting around without a 4x4 in the winter but it sure is fun to have one in the summer! Loveland is a nice spot too, quite and kinda rural but still close to the city.

[Abeblinkin]

The guy I got the car from put a fuel pump back by the gas tank to get it running and it seems I'm having problems with it flooding now. Correct me if I'm wrong and I probably am but the stock fuel pump is located on the passenger side low in the engine bay maybe on the block and there should be a regulator of some sort. Help me out, I'm new at this and I still haven't found a manual.

[T120]

I gather the previous owner installed an electric fuel pump.These are sometimes switched on/off and used for filling the carburetor for starting only.The fuel pressure at the carburetor should be between 3-4 1/2 lbs.If it exceeds this, flooding may be a problem. You may install a regulator if you wish to use the electric pump on a constant basis.

[Abeblinkin]

I gather the previous owner installed an electric fuel pump.These are sometimes switched on/off and used for filling the carburetor for starting only.The fuel pressure at the carburetor should be between 3-4 1/2 lbs.If it exceeds this, flooding may be a problem. You may install a regulator if you wish to use the electric pump on a constant basis.

Its definitely running at all times when the motor is running because I hear it running when I turn the ignition to start the car and then I can feel it running when I reach under there when the car is running. Do most people use the stock pump and have no problems. There is no regulator being used that I can find and when I can't get the car started I'm smelling a lot of gas fumes so I figure its flooded? How do I figure the pressure at he carb? Install a gauge?

[T120]

You will need a suitable low pressure gauge to "tee" in to the fuel line at the carburetor.The only time I've used an electric fuel pump in the past was to prime the

carburetor, it was switched on/off and I didn't bother with a regulator.I use a mechanical fuel pump alone with no problems.You may have carburetor issues as well causing flooding.Needless to say in any vehicle -always a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy.Perhaps others who have electric fuel pumps could offer suggestions as to use of a regulator and recommend suppliers

[greg g]

Hot start reccommendation is 3/4 to WOT while cranking. Todays fuels like a lower setting for the float also. Most folks put an electric pump in for two reasons. Easier starting if the cars sits a while and the gas evaps out of the float bowl, or on the mistake belief the cars suffers the dreaded and much discussed (but physically impossible) vapor lock.

Make sure your needle and seat is in good shape and is shutting the flow of when the bowl is full, agai the lower level in float bowl will help.

The rear mounting of the pump is because that electric pumps push better than they pull, wereby the mechanical pump pulls better than it pushes.

Several folks have suffered from the pump lever pin backing out of the pump allowing the lever to not actuate the diaphragm.

[Abeblinkin]

Yeah I think the reason he would have installed it was the sitting for a long time between starting thing. He had 20 or so cars, some really nice stuff, and he just bought this several years ago because it was so solid and rust free. After some scraping and digging I found the original fuel pump. I thought maybe it was blocked off but it was still there with the fuel lines ruffly cut and just hanging there. I would like to use it, maybe I should remove it and rebuild, does it incorporate a filter? Do you guys think a good plan would be to remove the pump, rebuild, remove the carb (which he said he rebuilt) and check the float level and needle? Also there is a arm which connects to the carb from between the intake which was not connected is that a electronic choke? It controls the butterfly on the top of the carb which I would think was related to the throttle but I know I'm wrong. Give me a lesson here guys! (or gals)

[slicknapier]

Nice ride! Looks like you're in about the same boat as I am as far as the "to do" list. I just ordered an aftermarket wiring harness off ebay for $150. I'm going to convert it to 12 volt while I'm at it. Lowering the business coupes improves the look a ton. I cut one coil out of the front and had some dropped springs built for the back. They weren't low enough so I also added 3" blocks.

[Abeblinkin]

Slicknapier, Thats a nice looking buisiness coupe you got there and thanks for the information about the drop. I want to drop mine as soon as possible, but first I need to buy some wheels/tires. That bumper and grill look really nice what year is it?

[Abeblinkin]

Thanks for that Shel, you just planned my sunday for me! I'd say weekend but only barbecue and beer for my favorite holiday. I checked this afternoon about a fuel pump at the local parts place and as you said they are available but I had to special order. Thanks again for the info, which book do you have that you were referencing? and where do I get one?

[Abeblinkin]

Thanks again, Shel, I don't usually buy stuff off E-bay (unless its a buy it now) I hate thinking I'm bidding against the sellers buddy, you know. But sometimes, like this, its a great resource to find things. I appreciate your help once again. Mike