New guy

[Suess]

Ok. Got the caliper issue taken care of (thank you Charlie) new master cylinder is in all new brake lines run, metering block is installed. And got her back down on the tires. Started engine tear down last night and I found metal in the oil pan hoping it is just a cam bearing. Will find out more tonight.... Also the passenger side coil spring seems firmer than the drivers. Hoping when I drop the engine and trans in everything will smooth out. ( I know it is stiffer because of the old jump up and down on the frame maneuver.)

[Plymouthy Adams]

Progressive wheels..

[Suess]

Figured it was time to do an update. Still waiting on the engine to be buttoned up at the machine shop. Finally found brake lines that are long enough. Got the lines bled and everything seems to be working on that end. Started vacuuming out the the floor pans and I discovered numerous rust spots and the center hump had been hacked at. So pulled the hump out and had it sandblasted beat it back into place and cut out all the rust and welded in new patch panels. Filled all the seems with 3m seam sealer. Painted the floor with zero rust then used brushable seam sealer over that. Finished up the day with laying rubber sound deadening material all over the place.

So now for the "what I learned"

1. There is always rust

2. Flexible seam sealer is not that flexible.

3. Replace the cartridges on your respirator. ( seriously do this, they do go bad my left eye is still twitching from the fumes)

4. And Tape up your finger tips when laying down rubber insulation. I did not do this and there is no skin left. I can now commit the perfect crime.

[yourpc48]

Looking good. Way better than I was able to do on my budget and workspace. Great Job! Keep us up to date.

[fstfish66]

LOOKS GREAT,,,,,,, what brand of sound deadener or heat insulation did you use ??

[Suess]

I looked at dynamat but the price was way to much. So I went to my local roofing buisness and bought 120 square feet of roof sealer for $100. This allows me to seal everything inside of the doors outside of the doors all my quarter panels and all the way up the firewall. I also bought hot water heater insulation it is aluminum on both sides with the plasticky bubbles sandwiched between. I will also use that on the quarter panels. I know there is automotive stuff out there to do this but it also costs a small mint to do it. Oh and I also sealed all the seams with aluminum tape.

[Plymouthy Adams]

the door panel looks to be be totally sealed off, but is this easily removed to service or lube the interior mechs of the door later..or relqce glass, adjust vent tension etc etc...just curious..

[Suess]

It is sealed. I am not sure how to make a (hatch). I need to be able to lube the window mechanism. I know I can leave the hole open and no one would know. But I would know and there inlays the problem.

[Plymouthy Adams]

not sure how well this stuff sticks and if you could easily peel it back.but you may be able to just let it seal about the edges and let the inner stick to a piece of 4-6 mil plastic..get the best of both worlds that way..

as for the open hole if it comes to that..all you need to do is cover that with a pices of plastic in the future should you need to cut an access panel..anyway..was just curious as to how it was applied..does look like it will serve to seal and silence..

[Suess]

It sealed very well, I did run my scraper over all the loose junk the vacuumed everything out. I bought numerous items while the floor was still raw I revealed all the seams with 3m flexible body sealer caulking. Let that sit for 24 hours the painted everything with zero rust ( kind of like por 15 minus the price) in the quarter panels and the door I used eastwoods brushable seam sealer. The roof sealer comes in a 33" x 30' role. I tried doing a large peice that went from the passenger side all the way to the drivers. That was a horrible idea it rolled in on itself and stuck. So I layed down a sheat of plywood and cut them into managable pieces. Once it was layed down I used a 10" linoleum roller and pushed it down. And for the spots were the floor has its divits I used my heat gun and the handle of a screw driver to massage it into place. I have been tapping on all of the panels listening for that metal rattle. So far so good there is still a thump but it is a solid thump, if that makes sense. I will post a pick of the product when I get home tonight. Also it does have that smell of roofing tar. It has since gone away but you can defiantly smell it when you are laying the stuff down. God forbid the car catches on fire it will be like a tire thrown on a bonfire.

[fstfish66]

I looked at dynamat but the price was way to much. So I went to my local roofing buisness and bought 120 square feet of roof sealer for $100. This allows me to seal everything inside of the doors outside of the doors all my quarter panels and all the way up the firewall. I also bought hot water heater insulation it is aluminum on both sides with the plasticky bubbles sandwiched between. I will also use that on the quarter panels. I know there is automotive stuff out there to do this but it also costs a small mint to do it. Oh and I also sealed all the seams with aluminum tape.

aah ok,, we just learned of this stuff recently from the roofing industry,,, a friend of mine,,we turned a tent garage in to a garage,,,used the pipeing of the tent garage and attached metal roofing to that for walls and roofing,,,turned out pretty well,, but there were a lot of gaps where the wals and roof met,,, so we used that roofing one side sticky,one side foil to stick to the inner side of the walls and roof to close up the gaps,,, cleaned every thing off with solvent, then rolled the material down with a wall paper roller,, some edges have popped loose,,but should be good on a car where other things cover the foil material,,

[Suess]

Happy fathers day to everyone.

This weekends update is the rack and pinion install. I purchased this kit from old daddy. I did look at fatmans kit and after seeing the $255 price tag I declined. First thing that needs attention is that you need to cut old daddy's brackets so that they fit your frame. This took maybe thirty minutes, that includes the time it took me to find my cutoff tool and a sharpy (i must have at least twenty sharpys in the shop but oddly enough they always seem to vanish). The rack came out of a 1996 chevy celebrity along with both of the inner tie rods. The tie rod ends are for a 1996 ford exploder.

After bolting the rack up to the brackets I slid the unit in between the rails measured to make sure I had my center mark. To do this I placed a 1x6 board across the frame and tacked a string with a nut tied to it on the center. This made sure that the rack was centered. I then layed two torpedo levels from the inner lower a arm bolt to the inner tie rod bolt, this gave me both center lines.

Once the unit had been centered I began checking my steering shaft lay out. I used mechanics wire and tape for this. I taped the mechanics wire to the borgesons joints and eyeballed the alignment. Sounds strange but it did work.

So after making sure everything was lined up I tacked both sides to the frame. I had already removed the spring from the frame so I dropped her down to the ground and then all the way back up so that I had full extraction and compression of the frame. While I was dropping and lifting I kept moving the tires from lock to lock. After making sure everything was good I began welding everything up. So far it looks great and I can steer it when she gets pushed in and out of the garage.

So onto what I learned:

1. Power steering fluid tastes horrible.

2. Do not wear shorts when welding. You will get a sunburn. And other horrible things happen. I have welding gear and know this, but whining about being to hot in the proper equipment or whine about burning the hell out of your legs.

3. If you continue to keep getting power steering fluid in your mouth you will aquire a taste for it (think of it like buttermilk it's horrible but tastes so good).

I will try and get some pictures downloaded tomarrow.

[Suess]

Here are some pics

[fstfish66]

looking good ,cant wait to see more on the steering,,,

[chopt50wgn]

Welcome........always glad to see a new member.

Ever since I joined this forum ,I have found everyone here to be very eager to help a member. Also everyone here is really knowledgable about the older Mopars and have helped me more than once.

BTW..............your car is a very cool ride and looks good.

You it wouldn't take much to remove that chebby and put in a small block Mopar.....

[Suess]

Finally making some progress.

Engine should be finished this week. It is a chevy 350 some Guys live them some guys hate them. At least it isn't a Toyota 22r going in. Anyway I smoothed the transmission cast lines down and started laying some paint. This will hopefully become my work vehicle so it is not a show car but I have said it before and I will say it again. I have never owned a vehicle where the engine/trans and engine bay all color matched. Always wanted to try it and now is my chance. I wiped the trans down with prepall then put down three coats of high temp ceramic red fromeastwood. Then I coated her with the same color as the body. It's a 90s ford metallic red/ maroon rose???? No clue what it is but it shore is purty...

To begin I bought two box fans and plastic I layed the plastic on the ground and taped more plastic into the garage side entry door. I opened up the window across from the shop and kind of got a site draft going.

I found my dads turbine sprayer and hooked it up. I do not have any painting experience. Dead serious about this. But I will give anything a shot just to say I tried. And I figure this will be great practice before I do the inner fendors.

So here we go

This is what I needed up,after cleaning all the gunk and casting material smooth down a bit

I got my coats of ceramic red down. I though it looked just to much like a fire engine. And for the last color....

I am looking forward to the engine hopefully I will get a call on Tuesday, go get it tape everything off and have it ready for install by saturday.

I also took the time to,try changing my valve cover color. Let me know what you think.

Thanks again

Suess

[yourpc48]

Looks good. Dont forget to put a trans cooler on it and if you run rubber hose make sure its a high pressure hose. I made the mistake of using regular fuel line hose on mine and blew the line out right away. Of course this was over 20 years ago in my twenties. I have not done that again. Lesson learned I guess.

[fstfish66]

nice job on the trans and valve covers,,,

[Suess]

The engine is home!!!!!!!

Got the phone call today. Engine is ready, my loving wife jumped in the truck and met me at the machinists house. Was given explicit directions on sharpening the cam and so on and so forth. So a list of what I had done.

Bigger heads 2.05 int/ 1.6 exh. Cast iron

Bored .040 over new pistons, bearings,rings,rockers,and springs. He also grooved the lifter journals for more oil. The cam is where I did go a little sideways. Again some like them some hate them but I did buy a thumper cam.

Got the engine home unwrapped it tested out some of my shiny pieces ( I am a firm believer in that chrome will indeed get you home and that women cannot resist a shiny engine, they are like raccoons)

Hosed the block,down with paint prep and started taping everything off. Will start putting down the color tomarrow and will be stabbing her back in this Saturday.

I also talked with the upholstery guy and he will be glad to do the work. I have decided on tuck and roll all the way around.

I know it is not a mopar so please rejoice in the fact that I got the engine back and will be able to make a couple runs this year. And as everyone knows Chevrolet and mopar share the same R.

[BeBop138]

Lookin good! I am a sucker for red---that SBC will make it scream...nice work.....I bet you can`t wait to hear it run..........Lee

[mrwrstory]

I have followed this thread since day one. Hard to believe it's only been 5 months? Your enthusiasm and progress is impressive, especially noting that you just started the project such a short time ago. Not only great that you are working on an old Plymouth, but one that's been in the family for some time. Sets a good example for us all, whether newbie or veteran. A heartfelt "atta boy!"

I like the story about the sunburned legs. I set my shorts on fire once when a piece of slag ignited a frayed edge.

Now I'm going for another cup of coffee before heading to the garage to think about what I might do today.

Edited July 26, 2012 by mrwrstory

[Suess]

Well it Is Friday and I have everything layed out for reassembly. I am happy with the paint. I have started bolting certain things on. Oil pan, timing cover, intake, fuel pump. I was hoping to take care of all the little things before I put it in. I only have a couple of concerns.

1. The oil pan hitting the rack and pinion, it shouldn't but man that would suck.

2. The new serpentine conversion kit hitting the front crossmember. Again it shouldnt but i think she will be tight.

I will update tomarrow as I go along.

Mrwrstory made think back to the day I got her home. It was supposed to be a simple tune up and carb rebuild. The next thing I know it was gutted. Wish dad was here with me. Oh well he will have to come and visit the grand kids at some point.

[littlemo]

Great job, great colors !!! Keep us all posted of your progress ( this old man is so envious of your progress and following closely ) and "Lots of Pics", "Lots of Pics" !! lol, Cass, alias littlemo...

Edited July 27, 2012 by littlemo

[Suess]

Update: put the engine in and it is a no go. It hits the rack and pinion and will require me to hack the front crossmember. After checking everything I will need to move the engine back 2.5 inches. The homemade motor mounts will be gutted. I will get some plate and build new mounts and redo the transmission mount.

Hind sight being 20/20 I should've asked to borrow someone's mock up engine.

If someone makes a good motor mount would you let me know please.

[Don Coatney]

This is how I modified the front crossmember.