1940 Dodge D14 Build Thread

[kridgleyud]

Hello everyone.  I wanted to start a one-place thread to update the group on this build.  I have a couple little threads out there, but this one will tell the story (comedy or tragedy, we'll see) on the breathing new life into my 1940 Dodge D14.

To tell the story, we have to rewind to 2008 ... that is when I sold my 1973 Stingray.  The wife and I then got a boat ... and you know what they say about those.  Fast forward through 7 years or so of nagging her until she finally caved and agreed to get another car ... her only requirement, it needed to have 4 doors ... done.  I knew I wanted to get a prewar car and I started this adventure in 2015 looking to get a 1937 Desoto.  The deal fell through the day I was going to pick it up - the seller decided not to sell it/ or sold it to someone else, I'll never know now.  A few weeks went by and I found this 1940 gem for sale in Pennsylvania ... called the guy and went right out to take a look.

Here are the photos when we looked at it/brought it home back in 2015.  Cutting it close on the prewar era and some say it;s not ... but it was made by the US in the US and we were still technically not IN the war until 41 ... that's my story!

 

[kridgleyud]

So now, we're still in 2015 and the car is home ... I start to really poke around and figure out what I want to do with this.  When we bought it, it was not running ... the seller gave me a box of main bearings and caps and said, I think they're in order ... of which one was bad, split in two.  I knew it would need a rebuild and the foot brakes did not work, but the hand brake did.

 

[kridgleyud]

For how old the car is and the condition along with the price we paid ... it was worth pushing forward.  So, I started pulling the front apart to tackle the engine and removed the interior to address the floor rust.  Overall, there's not much rust here.

 

[kridgleyud]

Now ... this is where the story turns sad ... this project stalled until just a couple of months ago.  No one reason why, just life kept putting this on the back-burner.  With kids and working full time, wife working nights at the hospital, it was hard to get on the car.

Fast forward 2 years ... we're picking up again and I'm on this full-throttle ... between dance class, soccer, work, school ... blah blah.  But the real change here was my wife started days, this allows me to give 2-4 hours a night after the family settles down ... let's do this!

Over this time, I've always thought about how I would build up the motor, how to rebuild the car ... I consider this a resto-mod as I'm not looking to 100% factory, but I'm also not looking to do a hot rod either. So ... lets get this motor out:

 

[kridgleyud]

My plan was to rebuild the 218 into a 230, with all the nice pep parts ... headers, dual carb intake, hotter cam, etc.   So I priced all this, plus the machine work my motor would need during this rebuild, and then this fell into my lap ... a fellow selling a rebuilt 218 from a 53 truck.  40 over on the pistons, hotter cam, langdons headers, offenhauser intake, new water and oil pumps, converted distributor from slant 6 with pertronix ignitor, mopar internally regulated alternator ... nice motor, for the price of buying the parts to rebuild mine.  

I'll use this with my stock 3-speed.

 

[knuckleharley]

5 minutes ago, kridgleyud said:

 ... nice motor, for the price of buying the parts to rebuild mine.  

I'll use this with my stock 3-speed.

 

Seems like the smart move to make to me. You won't notice any power difference when driving.

[medium_jon]

19 minutes ago, kridgleyud said:

a fellow selling a rebuilt 218 from a 53 truck.

Awesome luck

[kridgleyud]

Now that the motor has jumped me forward a bit ... time to tackle the front end to get this ready to go in.

Have to scrape away years of crud, oil, crud, repeated on the frame and suspension.  @Andydodge pointed me to replacing the upper control arms to the more prevalent 41-52 style versus the '39-40 on mine now.  It's been slow progress on this front only working at night, under lights, without power tools in consideration of me sleeping kids and neighbors.  Last night, I finaly hit a milestone ... the suspension is off, next I'll remove steering arms and start cleaning the area for paint.

 

[kridgleyud]

here is where i ended last night.  I'm in the groove now and we have some nice weather ahead.

I've got a lot parts stocking up ... king pins, new uppers, all new rubber (bumpers, stops, seals), new pins and shafts, springs, tie rod ends ... been a rough week on the wallet

Got a flamethrower coil, new fuel pump (prior owner was going electric) and some cheap gauges to hook up to the motor as I time/test/tune it out of the car.  motor still needs to be oil primed, start researching that next.

[Mike36]

What is the advantage of 41-52 upper control arms?

[kridgleyud]

No performance advantage I could imagine ... I decided to do this just for parts availability.  The service kits for the 39-40 uppers are harder to find and while its off, wanted to think forward.  I found a pair of these uppers for $50 off a 48 Plymouth, they are a drop in replacement so it was easy insurance moving forward ... also, since those arms are more prevalent, the service kits are much easier to find, I was able to snag 2 sets of upper arm service packages (inner and outer) for only 25.  SO all in on the upper control arms I'm at 75 ... that's the cost of one 39-40 service kit.

[Andydodge]

I tell inquiring minds that the 41-54 upper arms are special Optional High Performance Nascar part.............lol.............but in all seriousness, parts are easier to get for a 12-14yr use part than a 1 year only part......the 41-54 arms are probably a little stronger being that the camber adjuster is supported on both sides but.......who's to know......lol...............andyd 

[40plyguy]

Interesting to me as I am in the process of refurbing my 40 Plymouth sedan. I didn't know the upper control arms interchanged. Do these work with the 40 uprights or do those need to be changed as well?  Thanks for the info...............

[kridgleyud]

@40plyguy the interchange shows the uorihhtd have the same PN. Andy has done it and I'll confirm for sure once my assembly happens, post painting. 

[40plyguy]

Would anyone be able to post a picture of the 40 vs 41+up upper control arms for comparison purposes? Thanks much................

[kridgleyud]

Easy @40plyguy have the old off the car next to the new ones getting ready to go on the car.  40 on left, 41-52+ On right. 

[40plyguy]

Thanks a lot. It's easier to see the difference with the picture...............

[wldavis3]

kridgleyud,

Thanks for the write-up.  Looks like it is all coming together for you.

[Ricky Luke]

Thanks Kridgleyud, I agree with 40Plyguy. Looks like I should go hunting for new uppers.

Rick

[Andydodge]

Guys............the funny thing was that I went to a Chrysler/Valiant wrecker in Sydney soon after i got my 1940 Dodge Sedan as I was told he maybe able to help with bits & pieces I was looking for........I was about 6mths too late for body panels as all those 2nd hand AND NEW panels for cars up to the mid 50's went to the scrap metal dealers......but they said have a look in that room over there.......so I did...........boxes and boxes of front end parts, MOOG 41-54(62 in Oz) upper A arms, new lower arms, stub axles, king pin sets by the bucket load, rear spring shackles and bushes, etc, etc, etc..........but I don't remember ever seeing any stock pressed steel 41-54 upper arms, just dozens of MOOG arms.........of course there were a few sets of 39-40 uppers as well which allowed me to just sit and compare the differences & similarities between the 39/40 and 41-54...........the 41-54 Moog arms looked to be a much stronger design and as I was thinking about a V8 for the Oz Dodge Coupe even then, I bought a couple of sets of the Moog arms.........ended up putting a pair on the sedan as well as the Coupe..........wasn't till much later that I saw the pressed steel mopar arms which look fine to me anyway..........and as I mentioned here in Oz these were used up until 1962 in the Oz Chrysler Royal so bushes etc are very common..........

..........BTW Ricky did you notice the little engine mount brackets on the rear edge of the front cross member?.......I've never seen these here in Oz, I suppose because our cars are based on the shorter Plymouth chassis...........I was very surprised to see these and learn something new.........lol.........andyd        

[Ricky Luke]

I haven't got the Chrysler down to that point, but mines a Windsor chassis (122 and one half inch wheelbase - that 1/2" must have been important...)

Rick

[Andydodge]

Ricky.........any chance you have a side on pic of your car as I'm curious where the extra 5" are in the wheelbase, is it in the front fenders?, also does your car have the 25' engine?............andyd 

[Ricky Luke]

I reckon it’s all in the doghouse. The body seems to be the same as the Plymouth /Dodges. It’s the 25” block.

Rick

[kridgleyud]

Well just a quick update since it's been a while ... I've been scraping, wire wheeling crud off and de-greasing like crazy ... lots to clean.  Small suspension parts are painted, ready to back onto car.  Except for the inner bars ... need to get creative to get these in and spaced right.

I'm also cleaning, painting and moving over the bellhousing, clutch parts, trans and starter over to the rebuilt motor in anticipation of painting the front end.

I have the pedal assembly out for better cleaning and talked myself into the ECI bracket and dual cylinder master ... scarebird is on backorder so I have a few weeks before all of that arrives.

Left on the to-do ... degrease frame, paint, install suspension, new brakes and pedal bracket, drop motor into it's new home.

... hope the snow hold off this year, I only get a few hours a night!

[Andydodge]

Also meant to mention that when using the 41-54 upper A arms you also have to use the 41-54 upper rebound rubbers as the 39-40 ones have a stud in them that allows them to bolt onto the cast bracket on the side of the 39-40 upper arms whereas the 41-54 rebound rubber is held onto the upper a arm by the upper shock mount pin..........hope this helps...............andyd