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My 52 is about roadworthy


mopar_earl

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Last week I got the car insured. Went with Grundy. 173 a year with 20k agreed value.

This week I will register my Pennsylvania vintage tag.

This weekend I will be back in Ohio to drop the overhauled engine back into the car. Than its just the related stuff to do. Doubt she will be on the road this weekend but should be within a few weeks. Hoping to get a few drives in before the snow/salt flys.

Earl

Edited by mopar_earl
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Some of the things done/bought since June.

The engine was overhauled. Bored to .040 over. Crank was turned .020"

*Gyromatic was taken apart, cleaned and new gaskets and seals.

*Rear axle taken apart, cleaned, new bearings, new seals and gasket.

*Driveshaft was taken apart, cleaned and new boots and grease. Used modern driveaxle boots and grease.

*Ran all new brake lines with nicopp and stainless steel line nuts.

*Installed ECI front disk conversion.

*Installed ECI dual circuit master cylinder conversion.

*Installed a GM combination valve.

*New rear wheel cylinders and hose.

*Used dot 5 brake fluid

*Ran new fuel lines with nicopp with an inline filter and stainless steel line nuts.

*Rebuilt carb.

*Rebuilt heat riser.

*New aftermarket aluminum 3 row radiator.

*New water pump, hoses and belt.

*New 180* thermostat.

*Used 1994 Lincoln Town Car aluminum wheels and radial tires.

*New clutch release bearing.

*Installed new wheel studs on rear.

*Blasted intake and exhaust manifolds and painted them.

*New stainless steel exhaust system with stainless steel hangers.

*Repaired choke mounting studs on manifold.

*Installed new steering box rubber isolators.

*Installed new parking brake shoes.

*New 7 psi radiator cap, dual sealed for recovery tank.

*Installed a coolant recovery tank.

*New front and rear engine mounts.

*New locking fuel cap.

*Replaced broken seat adjuster handle.

*Bought and installed the complete correct tire changing equipment.

*New tail light lenses and front turn/park light lenses.

*New 6v dry cell battery.

*Full tune-up and coil.

*New fuel mechanical lift pump.

*New 6v turn signal flasher.

*Scored a mopar parts list.

*Scored an Ammco 1750 brake adjusting tool.

*Scored some nice 1952 Pennsylvania license plates to register.

Car won't be restored. I'm going for a reliable safe survivor car. It won't get painted either.

Future project items

Seatbelts.

Steel radial rims and original wheel covers.

New radial tires.

Air conditioning.

Maybe a modern rear axle.

Get the original radio restored with added FM.

Electronic ignition.

Earl

Edited by mopar_earl
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Got an updated picture? Original paint, my kind of thinker!

I have pics. I need to resize them in order to post them. Haven't had the time yet. Would like to do a thread on the disk and master conversion install.

Earl

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Which plate do you guys think? I love the 440 plate but the 441 plate is near mint. I will register one of these plates this week.

Earl

I like the 440.  441 doesn't mean anything.  And a Patina Plate fits the car.

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You sure have done a lot in one year.  I like the radio FM conversion idea.  I had mine rebuilt as standard AM and there is little besides talk radio here on AM now, certainly no good music stations within range of my house.  In Minnesota in 1950 all the auto license plates were all numbers and the Minnesota DMV will not let me use an original plate without a letter. :(

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You sure have done a lot in one year. I like the radio FM conversion idea. I had mine rebuilt as standard AM and there is little besides talk radio here on AM now, certainly no good music stations within range of my house. In Minnesota in 1950 all the auto license plates were all numbers and the Minnesota DMV will not let me use an original plate without a letter. :(

I agree, not worth having AM these days. Years ago they could put a module in the radio and when you turn the radio on than off than back on, it would be on FM. I'm guessing they still do that.

That sucks about your state and your vintage plate. Fortunately Pennsylvania allows it now.

Earl

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I like the fact you're not worried about posting the plate on the internet. Some people cover them up in photos, like someone from across the country is going to travel 2,000 miles to steal a 4 door whatever. Looking forward to the disc/dual master thread.

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I like the fact you're not worried about posting the plate on the internet. Some people cover them up in photos, like someone from across the country is going to travel 2,000 miles to steal a 4 door whatever. Looking forward to the disc/dual master thread.

If someone wants to hunt you down, they can do it without license plate numbers. Lol

Earl

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I  don't know about other states, but here in Indiana, you cannot learn anything from a plate number no matter how close you are to any police or other government official.  For the very reason you stated, "hunt you down",  no one in any place of authority will help you trace a plate number.

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There are two places that I found  that will rebuild the radio & install modern stuff for FM, Bluetooth, cd, etc. pretty reasonably. One is in Texas & other is in Freeport, Long Island, NY.  They go thru radio and replace paper wound capacitors with new ones, resistors, tubes as necessary. Will put in mechanical  or electronic vibrator you choice. Price was around $200 for stock Am.

 

Nice looking car. Good luck with it.

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Registered my plate today. Went with the 440 one. I'm excited to drive it. Been 15 years since I last drove it and that was with the parking brake as it had no brakes lol worthless single circuit death trap that they are. Glad to have dual circuit now.

Earl

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Hopefully there is a pic with this post.

Earl

YIKES! No wonder you don't want to paint it. I wouldn't repaint my 51 Ford if it looked that nice.

 

BTW,that looks just like one original color I am considering to paint my car. What was it called by Mopar?

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Had a productive weekend working on my 52. We just about have it finished. We did get it running but ran out of time to get it 100% completed and road tested. But we did get it up to temp and set timing and carb. Retorque the head bolts as well. Need to install the lower flywheel housing cover and the hood. Adjust rear brakes with Ammco tool and she will be ready for road testing/seating the rings.

I will be out again this weekend to finish it up and trailer it home.

Earl

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The 52 is on the road and back in Pennsylvania. Had to pull trans back out as it wasn't upshifting. Had to "retime" the blocker ring, sleeve and third and direct gear to get it to shift. No idea why but we got it to shift by just retiming the components. We had it apart to clean and reseal it and apparently it didn't like how we timed it the first time.

Car rides, drives, and brakes excellent. Had her up to 65 a few times. Definitely much noiser than modern vehicles. Lol

The ECI disc brakes and dual master upgrades were well worth it. The car stops like a modern car and straight. Very pleased how the car performs. Just too bad they didn't put a 5th OD gear in the Gyromatic/M6 trans lol

Earl

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