I took the plunge.

[Guest mike_D24]

I'm commited. The car was in too good a shape to pass up. The rear bumper was a little bent, and there is some surface rust, but nothing is digested, the internals looked great for what they are, and the engine absolutely purs.

It should be here within an hour.

So here's my immediate list (so I can have a daily driver until I save up some more money to take it to the next level)

1) brakes: master cylinder is redone, but wheel cylinders (terminology?) are sketchy. Rear right locks up (evidently), and the others tend to fail.

2) replace some hardware: bolts are in bad shape I'm sure, and that one that snapped off in the head needs to be pulled and replaced

3) U Joints need replacing (he said bearings are exposed? I know what a U Joint is, but I'm lacking the knowledge of how it's applied to this car.)

4) all wires are original and in a bad way (all lights were working except for the front right signal, but a heavy rain could short everything out for sure).

So really the only thing that I feel unprepared to do is the U Joints. Wires will be fine. Hardware's ok. I've never worked on drum brakes, but they seem straight forward and the info on this site is thorough.

What's the best maintenance manual for this car? I don't really want to get knee deep until I know this car with my eyes closed. I read owners manuals and maintenance manuals like novels.

Thanks to those who gave me advice and pointers. I hope to rob you all of as much info as you'll let slide.

$3000 is where I stopped, and it got me this great car. A little higher than where I was hoping, but once I'm moving around in this car, I know my ear-to-ear grin will make up for it.

Thanks again. I'll post more pics this weekend.

Mike

[randroid]

Mike,

I live in Loveland and have the factory manual, almost as many tools as I need, and 18 years under my belt rebuilding my '48 P-15 4-door. By the time you fix the brakes this weekend (and I heartily recommend that as your first step) I'll have the following Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday free and we could get together for a closer look. PM me if you're interested.

-Randy

[John Mulders]

Mike,

congratiolations on the car !

You will get all the info from the guru's in this forum, I have been working on my car for 2.5 years and every time I need info I get it within a couple of hours.

Randy, why don't you live closer to me !

Always can use a hand with the car

John

[james curl]

The u joints have a convoluted rubber boot over them like cv joints in fwd cars. They use a ball with needles inside the ball on a pin through the drive shaft, one ball on each side inside a metal sleeve that fastens to the transmission and the rear end. I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased some good pig skin leather and some really good glue for the leather and made leather boots for both u joints, working so far.

[Reg Evans]

Mike,

Congrats on your new D24 !!! If this is the eBay car, did the missing head bolt turn out to be missing or broken off?

[Guest mike_D24]

Wow! Thanks, Randy!

Depending on weather, I will definitely want to get to the brakes first. I'm going to try and match up proper parts as indicated from the main site and then follow the directions provided.

I don't have a owners or service manual yet, and I've never done work without one. I'm a good recipe follower so far, but I'm not a chef yet.

I'll send you a PM about next week when I get a chance. I'm so psyched that you're so close!

Incidentally, the guy I bought the car from said he just saw another D24 at a salvage yard just north of him (so north of Longmont). He said the body parts looked mint. I'd love to take a look and see if harvest season is upon us. I'm just so new, I wouldn't really know where to start. Maybe you'd like to meet up there some time near future.

Thanks again.

Mike

[Guest mike_D24]

If this is the eBay car, did the missing head bolt turn out to be missing or broken off?

Broken off. The engine ran smooth like a kitten's pur. The damn thing was nicer sounding than my '01 Corolla ;-)

No sign of leakage, excessive rust, or visible warping (I know that warping would be pretty difficult to notice without taking the head off unless it was quite drastic, but the smooth run had me convinced that nothing was terribly wrong).

The floor boards are a little crusty, and I think it's because of some bad seals around the windows that let some snow melt in. Nothing was rusted deep, though, and nothing was rusted through anywhere on the car.

I'm a little curious about the shifter on the column, though. It moves so easily, I'm not sure how much resistance it's supposed to offer. It does stay in place, though.

I did what the site said and gave the wires a tiny bend. The insulation cracked to pieces. Wire harness is probably the way to go here, but electrics all worked except one turn signal.

Anyway, there's tons of stuff to dig my hands in, but with a working tranny, engine, and solid body, I don't see this car as being a black hole.

Thanks!

Mike

[Young Ed]

Mike I think you'll be happy with this car once you get going. Rust is the most expensive part to fix and you've avoided that. Did you get to hear it run?

[Guest mike_D24]

Did you get to hear it run?

See my "kitten" simlie above.

It took a little pedal priming (2 tries) and it sparked up, and I mean it just purrrrrrrrrrrrred.

I was surprised at the audible power of a flathead 6 of that size. It felt solid. No real test drive, because I didn't want to play too much with the brakes, and there was no place to really play. With working engine and tranny, though, I know I'll have it up in no time.

I've already got some paint color ideas. Tires I may leave as white walls to keep the classic look. I may go nice modern radials, though for the old-meets-new look. First things first: safety. I need brakes, U joints, and preferably seat belts.

This won't be a hot rod, but it sure as hell will be hot! Can you tell I'm still smiling?

Mike

[Young Ed]

Ya I saw that. I think we were typing at the same time. When I posted my question and the screen refreshed there was your post too. I have black wall radials on my p15 and 46 pickup and they drive great. Since it runs so nice I wonder how much of an issue that head bolt really is? Its not near the spots where the gaskets usually go on these.

[1just4don]

Congrads on a great find. Hope your enjoyment lasts for 50 more years then gets better!!!

I dont ever remeber changing any u-joints on these babes,,but plenty on years later cars. I dont really like them(u-joints) but they are pretty straight forward. There are little tips in changing them in general. Like the less you 'hammer' them the better you are. The more you can 'press' them together the better,,,even in a 'vise'. STIFF grease also keeps things where they belong till assembly is complete. Real diligent care is a must in doing it, get things out of place and they go south real fast. Keepem greased and they will last a real long time!!! ( I shocked them all I could when I was too young to know better, and didnt kill any)

have FUN!!!--just don--

[Normspeed]

Sounds like we have another old Mopar nut on board. Congrats, at $3000 it looks like a good deal to me. Wiring you can do yourself for very little money, or you can get a big bucks and very good new harness from Rhode Island wiring or several other suppliers. For the brakes you will need a rear drum puller. My local rental yard has them so you might look there. They are a bit expensive to purchase. Your locking up brakes could be just a broken return spring.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that I would put the head bolt way down on the priority list. If it's running well, no oil in the radiator and no coolant loss, You can probably hold off and attack that part later. Sure, a head could warp, but a warped head can be fixed at the machine shop later, and frankly these heads are pretty bulletproof. One missing head bolt might not cause any problems at all.

U joints, a pain in the butt to work on. You might try greasing the daylights out of them with a hand grease gun and a needle nose attachment, then wrapping them in saran wrap and tape for now. When mine go bad, I'll have a new shaft made up with modern u joints.

There's my 2 cents.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Locking brakes can result in the fact that the rubber line is collasped and pressure goes in to operate the brakes and as you slow and let up on the pedal..the fluid does not return quickly and as the need for heavy braking is lessened..the results are a locking up of the wheels....I highly recommend with a car of this age to go ahead and replace the three rubber lines..Advance has them at about 9.80 a hit..at least that was when I bought mine about 3 years ago..very cheap insurance..

[Guest mike_D24]

Yeah, I think the harness was around $600, but I bet if I just pick out the right guages, I can make my own. I'm fairly good with electrical (but have no real experience doing it on vehicles) and the system on this car is pretty brute force. I couldn't even find a fuse box at a glance.

I really need the manuals. Now I've seen some on books4cars.com, but how do I know I'm getting the real McCoy?

The private school where I work has a garage with lots of great toys (pneumatic tools, hydraulic jacks, the whole bit). I'm hoping to get it down there and tinker with it. I don't want to do much until the books are in my hands. Maybe I'll try some local bookstores to see if they have anything useful to tide me over until the manuals come.

Thanks for your help, everyone. This site is going to be a great resource for me. I promise to be as self-sufficient as I can, but now that I know a pro lives nearby, I might have to take advantage of that opportunity (I hope Randy takes burgers and beer as payment ).

The guy who brought the car to me on a flatbed said, "boy, you're going to turn heads with this one...I was gassing up for the ride down here and all eyes were one me and that cool looking thing up there."

I'm officially hooked.

Mike

[Allan Faust]

I couldn't even find a fuse box at a glance.

I really need the manuals. Now I've seen some on books4cars.com, but how do I know I'm getting the real McCoy?

I'm officially hooked.

Mike

The only fuse box I found on my 50 was right under the hood right at the front of the car... total of 5 fuses (if I remember correctly)

As for the manuals... you can find them easily on the bay, sometimes copies, sometimes the real mccoy...... it just depends on what you want, and to have your model in it..... I found a real 49-52 service manual, but it doesn't have as much info as my 1950 export model manual (just the 50 models) and I also have my 46-54 parts manual.... The first 2 are the must have (one or the other) and the other one I've only used a few times... for the sites or places that actually use the "true" dpcd part numbers.....

as for being hooked..... looks like you got reeled in here too..... we should all have a good time together.... congrats on your purchase....

Allan

[rearview]

Mike... I think ya did good. That interior is well worth $2000 alone, then the body is fine. Everything else is easy. Good job!!

[Young Ed]

My reprint manual is from crank'en hope. Its old so they may have a website now but the only thing listed in the book is a # 412-459-8853

[Normspeed]

I got my Plymouth manual from Faxxon, on Ebay. These are reprints but they have all the good info. They offered free shipping with the buy it now option, book was around $20-$25.

[Guest mike_D24]

Literature sources on P15-D24.com page.

http://www40.addr.com/~merc583/mopar/framesets/linksframeset.html

crank n hope is listed there.

Yup. I'd been looking at those. A few didn't come up, and most were awkward sites that were frustrating to maneuver through. I tire quickly from poor sites. (forgot to mention that most shop/manual/maintenance sites I've been to through the years tend to be cumbersome...which is why I haven't strayed far from this one for the D24).

I just ordered the OM from books4cars and I also ordered something called "41-48 Shop manual includes series D-19, 22 and 24, 227 pages by Dodge"

Mike

[Johnny S]

Mike, congrats...the car looks like it will be fun. I'm in Fort Collins and can lend a hand if you need something or a pair of eyes to look at something for you. John

[Guest mike_D24]

Thanks, John.

I will definitely need a watchful eye, a few extra brains, and maybe even a pair of hands if you're willing. As soon as I get the brakes working, I'll want any excuse to drive this thing around, anyway, and a trip to Ft. Collins might be just the thing.

I've been having trouble starting the car today. It might just be a cold day cold start issue, but it's also because I just don't know enough about the car. I'll be reading the books once they arrive. It was too cold today to hang out under the hood. I hate this winter we're having. I'll check for fuel in the floats and a few other hard start things tomorrow.

I'm used to working with CV carb'ed bikes with fuel circuits. I don't know what the D24 has exactly, but it doesn't seem to have a fuel circuit or a manual choke. I'm lost until my treasure maps (service manuals) arrive.

I'll be stopping at a NAPA tomorrow for some brake parts. I can't wait.

Mike

[John Nickell]

Mike, the car looks great. I am in Lakewood Co and would be more than happy to help out where I can. My dad has a 48 D-24 that we are working on, so while I'm no expert I have a little experience with these cars. Feel free to PM me if you need any help.

John

[Guest mike_D24]

Wow. Tons of Coloradans. This is great. I really picked the right project (and right forum) for my location!

John, I sent a PM with tons of newbie questions and a chance to pop up north a bit to salvage another D24 with decent body work. I may go next weekend if it's still there. I need to hunt down the phone number of that salvage yard.

Mike

[randroid]

Mike,

Just a quick thought; Martin's Auto Salvage is in Windsor (970 686-2460) and has tons of old cars and trucks around. I've been dealing with them for years and they're decent folks with fair prices.

-Randy

[Guest mike_D24]

Thanks, Randy. I'll check it out. --Mike