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Posted (edited)

Good morning all, this is going to be my restoration album for any and all work I do to my 1940 Dodge D14 De-luxe (or deluxe, it varies based on what old brochure you're looking at).  I'm really thinking about naming the car Mary Jane after my late grandma, who never wanted anything more than to ride in it before she passed.  I'll always regret that I couldn't do that for her but I'll dedicate my work to her memory instead.  

 

Just so everyone knows, this will be the first attempt at something of this scale and complexity in my entire life so I'm sure I'll be asking for a lot of help on it.  But if you want to stay and read through goof ups or are thinking about the same thing yourself and want some ideas, I'll say my purpose in posting is complete.

 

One thing I really want to do is to break this down as intelligently as possible so here's what I'm thinking:

 

1.  Do work in zones.  Electrical, fuel delivery, transmission, engine, oil system, brakes and wheels, interior,body, paint.  Fully completing one and then moving on to the next

2.  Then break down each zone into its own checkpoints.  E.g for electrical, wiring the brake lights, converting to 12v (if I do), etc

3.  Keeping everything organized.  If you have any tips like special bins for parts or anything feel free to throw those at me.

 

 

This weekend I'll post pictures to show where I'm starting from and what my garage looks like and then we'll let the fun begin.

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Edited by 1940_dodge
Posted (edited)

I like the patina.  I have a '40 Plymouth that looks exactly like that.

However,...to your subject, I completely redid a 48 Plymouth, frame off, starting some years ago.  It was my first major project and the result you can see elsewhere on this forum.  I'm just an average guy ('tho accused of being waaay anal) of modest means with average skills and a few nice tools.  I found that one can do just about anything with an occasional hand and/or advice,....often from this forum.  I'm very proud of the result and it's given me courage to imagine even more ambitious projects.

What became a very important tool for me was a digital camera.  I used it to record the dis-assembly of everything.  I organized files to store them in the computer.  The images, recorded years ago, were/are important records to refer to upon reassembly because as much as I believed I could remember all the details,...I couldn't.  Also those images allowed me to illustrate questions to this forum's members and to graphically respond or others questions.  (See "dual exhaust,....." thread for an example)

This is a great forum.  You will get a lot of help (and opinion  :eek: )  Good luck with your D14.

And,....get a camera  :)  

Edited by mrwrstory
  • Like 3
Posted

Ditto on the pics.  You can't take too many or enough angles of the same subject.  Closeups need to be labeled since they may not show where in the car they go.  Baggies, lots of baggies, labeled and grouped, same as the pics, maybe some plastic totes to help keep groups sorted.  I put labels inside the baggies since greasy and dirty hands can often smudge the exterior labeling and an inventory sheet of the bags in each tote.  Oh, and a backup of all the pics.

 

Do the body and paint before the interior.  It's dirty, dusty and messy work and hard to keep it out of a clean and/or refurbished interior

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

I think Mary Jane is the perfect name for her!  Are you doing a full restoration or to make her a driver?  Looks like a great starting point!

My goal is to restore it as much as I can but my intent is to make it a driver.

 

 

Ditto on the pics.  You can't take too many or enough angles of the same subject.  Closeups need to be labeled since they may not show where in the car they go.  Baggies, lots of baggies, labeled and grouped, same as the pics, maybe some plastic totes to help keep groups sorted.  I put labels inside the baggies since greasy and dirty hands can often smudge the exterior labeling and an inventory sheet of the bags in each tote.  Oh, and a backup of all the pics.

 

Do the body and paint before the interior.  It's dirty, dusty and messy work and hard to keep it out of a clean and/or refurbished interior

 

That's a good point on doing the interior after painting, thanks!

 

The garage is still a work in progress as you can see from the pictures and that infrared tube heater you see there is a beast.  I start sweating if it stays on for more than 15 minutes.

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Edited by 1940_dodge
Posted

Jayson........Merry Xmas........tried to call you Tuesday night your time.........where exactly are you(what state)....... and what is the best time to call.....your time.........lol..............regards, Andy Douglas 

  • 2 months later...
Posted

Jayson........Merry Xmas........tried to call you Tuesday night your time.........where exactly are you(what state)....... and what is the best time to call.....your time.........lol..............regards, Andy Douglas

Hey Andy it was great talking to you. Posting some pictures of my progress, I found some more cancerous rust when I took off a wheel faring.

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Posted

Plymouthy Adams wrong post?

 

 

Hah, I tried reading that twice to see if I could make sense out of it.  If it was directed towards this thread, are you saying don't listen to previous owners and open up the engine?

Posted

Jayson, yep, that's a standard place that they rust.........I had to replace about a foot at either end of my cars rockers and about 6" up that rear dogleg on both sides, also the bottom of both sides of the cowl and an inch or two on both centre door pillars............still have seen worse.........lol..........ain't old cars fun?............lol..............andyd 

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