51 Meadowbrook

[BigBeerds]

This is my first post here and I pretty excited! I traded one of my buddies friends a couple of mini bikes for the meadowbrook. He got it in an estate sale where the car had been sitting in a garage for the past ten years. The car is complete with no rust but has run in along time. As soon as I saw this car I fell in love with her. My dream is to spray it all primer black put my logo on the hood and do green flames on the fenders and front doors. I am going to leave the motor and trans in it for a year or so but would like to drop in a 318, 340, 350 or 360. Along with the motor I would like to replace shock towers and put disc brakes on her. For the interior I would probably gut it put buckets in front and redo the back bench. Replace the door panels with wood and spray the rest black with green flames in the interior. I have attached pics of the car and a pic of my logo. The green in the logo is the color I want to do the flames with. Any suggestions, ideas or comment are welcomed along with parts site. Thanks Dennis

[Don Coatney]

Were your mini bikes in running condition?

[BigBeerds]

No

[falconvan]

Nice car and a great plan, Dennis. These cars make great drivers with modern running gear. I had a 51 Cranbrook with a 318 /5 speed and disc brakes and it really drove nice. The guys on here have loads of knowledge on these cars and are always willing to help. Welcome!

Edited February 15, 2014 by falconvan

[BigBeerds]

Thanks falconvan

[Lumpy]

And loads of opinions! I think you'll learn to love the flathead motor, if it's not worn out. If it is, I still think you'll really enjoy it with a rebuild, which would be far less time and money than dropping in a small block V8. (But I salute you for sticking with Chrysler DNA!) A good running, fresh flathead six, with 8.0:1 compression is a fine running engine, and it has stump pulling torque right off idle. The flathead six is not a slug, it just does not rev real high...and does not really need to.

 

Your flame idea is cool, I'd keep it subtle though, kind of "ghost" flames...? But, whatever works for you.

 

I find that my D24 drives and stops great with the stock front end....mechanically she's in tip-top shape. I suspect that sometimes people replace the front ends on these cars because the front end and brakes were on their last legs, so to speak. So again, an overhaul of the front suspension and brakes with brand new stock parts may surprise you as far as handling and stopping goes. Like the engine, a total overhaul of the brakes is probably less time and money spent than swapping in some other kind of brakes, and same with the front end. ??

 

Just an opinion to sift through. That's a cool car and will be cool no matter what you do with it.

 

k.

[BigBeerds]

   Yeah Im not opposed to keeping the 6 in her for a while. Really all I want something that will smoke the tires when pin it. As far as it being worn out the drive train has 36,000 on her. I think a tune up would do her good. Hell I might hop up the 6 a little and throw a turbo under the hood and call it a day. I still need to get her home tho, This winter is kicking our asses here in the midwest. So getting 6hr up into WI to pick her up is a challenge with all the snow we have here. 

 

   With the flames on her, I really want to put hop vines down the fenders and doors. So when your say 50' away you see flames and the closer you get you realize they are hop vines. I would like to gut the interior and spray it black and do the vines inside also. Im a beer brewer, so I totally want to make the car a beer brewers dream ride. In the trunk I want to put a keg and use it for a gas tank. Here is a link to keg I would like to use. http://www.geemacher.com/firkin.php

[pipebomb]

i was eyeing that car up on craigslist. good to see it went to a good home.

[Lumpy]

Oh I love it. You have some far out ideas going on. And a beer tap for the shifter I assume....!

 

I'm here to tell you, that with peak torque produced around 1200rpm or so, the flathead six sure does not have any trouble smoking the tires. These things have over 4 inches of stroke. I don't do that, (massive burn outs) in deference to my driveline, but Lumpy will squeak the tires, or burn out the same as any other car. Well maybe not a Ford Maverick. But again, the flathead six will burn the tires right down to the rims, if you are really inclined to do that.

 

And waking up those engines is easy, mill the head a bit, throw on some dual carbs, run a healthy diameter exhaust pipe and you are good to go.

 

But I'm not worried, you'll learn to love it.

 

Well my interior is gutted, but she came that way. Kind of a non-issue, as she runs and drives so nice that I don't worry about it...or notice it.

 

Good luck and have fun with it.

 

ken.

[BigBeerds]

Thanks for the input Ken. I can't wait to wake this ole girl up.

[MarkAubuchon]

Will look good. You can make a lot of upgrades to the existing components and still keep the original feel. Brakes, Old Daddy aka Rusty Hope makes an affordable disc brake conversion, George asche makes all the engine improvement parts, Roberts Motors all of the front end rebuild parts and Paul Curtis makes an adapter to install a S10 T5 Boom, Done Finished

[_shel_ny]

 A 1951 Meadowbrook  will have the 3 speed standard (most common in the baseline vehicle), or the M6 gyro-matic transmission(most common in the Coronet), either of which will be connected to the engine with a "fluid drive" coupling. I seriously doubt that there will be much tire smoking unless you fill the coupling with sand/rocks/cement/nails/marbles, or weld the vanes together to make it non-functional.

[Lumpy]

That would be true...!!! The fluid drives are a bit "sluggish" off the line. I was thinking in terms of the regular 3-speed and clutch, which is what Lumpy has. What tranny does the '51 have?

 

k.

[BigBeerds]

It has a 3 speed semi automatic fluid drive. That's how he described the trans to me.

[_shel_ny]

The fluid drive was an option on the D24, but it seems that most had it.

 

By 51 the fluid drive was standard equipment.

 

Sounds like the Meadowbrook has the gyro-matic.($95 option)

 

This shop manual is pretty good. I believe it is also available on cd.

[Niel Hoback]

  The semi-automatic is a four speed transmission. 

[Dodgeb4ya]

AKA the Dodge Gyro-Matic M-6 hydraulicaly operated transmission.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Dodgeb4ya

[Niel Hoback]

Also Desoto TipToe shift M6

[54Illinois]

Keep me in mind if you ditch the Gyromatic.  I picked up a 52 Desoto that could use extra parts.

[BigBeerds]

To get the power of the 6 to the tires can I hook it up to a different trans? Like a 727 or a 500?

[Tones52]

Welcome BigBeerds and good luck on your Meadowbrook build. This could make a great marketing tool for your business.

 

Earlier today the Mrs. and I took "Lil Jenny" to Claremont Craft Ales which is located in an an industrial park workspace and had some delicious brews with a lunch we brought along with us.

 

Looking forward to seeing the progress on your '51 and like me, you'll get great help from the folks on this forum.

 

Tony

[Lumpy]

To get your tire-shredding ability it's fairly easy to convert to a standard 3-speed transmission, or a more modern manual 4 or 5 speed transmission. The car does already have a clutch, right? Or am I confusing it with the fluid drives that had clutches. ???

 

If not they do have conversion kits for the 904.

 

k.

[Don Coatney]

To get your tire-shredding ability it's fairly easy to convert to a standard 3-speed transmission, or a more modern manual 4 or 5 speed transmission. The car does already have a clutch, right? Or am I confusing it with the fluid drives that had clutches. ???

 

If not they do have conversion kits for the 904.

 

k.

That conversion to eliminate the fluid coupling is not exactly a bolt in. I have seen one done with less than desirable results. It would be possible to swap a standard bell housing but to do this requires severe rear cross member modifications. All fluid drive equipped cars have a manual clutch. But face the facts, a Mopar flathead 6 will never be a real tire smoker. It will power the car at acceptable highway speeds with a few modifications and correct gearing but a tire smoker it is not.

[BigBeerds]

Well I got my old girl home, she seems pretty solid. I need to find a few things tho. If anyone can point me in the direction of rear window trim and front passenger headlight bezel. That would be awesome.

[BigBeerds]

Well, I ripped out all the interior today. I found the rear window trim under the front seat. I ended up finding headlight bezels on eBay for a good price. First things first tho, I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to concentrate on getting her running and driving.