1952 Dodge Coupe hot rod

[Gregarious13]

 

 

Hi,

 

Been a little while. My buddy Craig and I finally got moved into our new shop space. It's a 600 or so Sq ft shop in Mountain View CA. It's small but much better than where I was working. At least a car fits inside, under a roof! We're still getting set up. We have some electrical work to do for the welders and compressor.

 

The Dodge is a Wayfarer Business Coupe. It's complete except for the drivetrain. It's missing the engine, transmission and drive shaft. Front floors are shot too. All the trim and other miscellaneous front  end parts are in the trunk, except for the hood,that's in the garage.

 

The plan is to take a bunch of parts from a 1997 Jeep Cherokee 2 wheel drive and adapt them to the Dodge. More likely I'll be adapting the Dodge to fit the Jeep parts.

 

Parts from the Jeep that I will use in the Dodge:

 

Engine 4.0L (244ci.) Inline six. Fuel infected and all.

 

Automatic tansmission and shifter cable. Will be adapted to use the column shift for selecting gears.

 

Rear axle. Chrysler 8 1/4"

 

Rear leaf springs I'll adapt or make new spring mounts on the frame.

 

Parking brake system (equalizer box and rear cables) I will adapt the Dodge front cable.

 

Power steering gear box. I don't have a plan for how this will work yet but I would like to have the power steering.

 

HVAC. The entire under dash evaporator box and controls. I'll have to use the passenger side firewall from the Jeep to mount the HVAC to.

 

Gas tank with sender and pump. 

 

Some of the gauge guts to make the old Dodge gauges work with the electric sender's from the Jeep. So far the fuel gauge and speedometer. 

 

The power brake booster, master cylinder and pedal assembly. The driver's side Jeep firewall will be moved to the Dodge.

 

I will be using most of the Jeep firewall, transmission tunnel and the front portions of the floor pans. 

 

I won't be using the Jeep front disc brakes, instead I'll get an after market setup for the Dodge.

 

This will be a long project. I plan to just make it right. The thought behind using as much of the Jeep as possible is that I will be able to service the Dodge almost anywhere. I want to make this my every day car and keep my Ranchero (currently the daily driver) for when I need a pickup. I will post some current pictures too.

 

Thanks,

Greg

[Gregarious13]

Here's some pictures of the Dodge, Jeep and the shop.

 

I have just about completely striped the Jeep. The axles and glass are all that's left. I'm hoping to sell most of the parts i don't need or give them away if someone needs them.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Gregarious13

[Gregarious13]

Edited August 14, 2018 by Gregarious13

[knuckleharley]

Can't speak for anyone else,but I like your plan. Especially the ohv inline 6 Jeep engine.

[Ranger]

Quite the project. Keep posting the progress. I'll enjoy following along for the ride.

[Don Coatney]

Looks like your shop is tall enough for a lift.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Usually not a big fan of rods but yours is an interesting idea. I also am a fan of inline sixes and the  AMC/Chrysler 258  one is a fav of mine. 

[Gregarious13]

12 hours ago, knuckleharley said:

Can't speak for anyone else,but I like your plan. Especially the ohv inline 6 Jeep engine.

 

9 hours ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

Usually not a big fan of rods but yours is an interesting idea. I also am a fan of inline sixes and the  AMC/Chrysler 258  one is a fav of mine. 

 

It was an obvious choice to use an in line 6 for the Dodge.  I have had a few Jeeps and my wife drives one currently, so I figured I'd try to use that engine. The hard part was finding a Jeep with the 6 and 2 wheel drive automatic. This one was $600.00 for the entire truck!

 

Thanks,

Greg

[Plymouthy Adams]

buying a complete running donor vehicle for upgrading is the wisest thing to do.  You are going to be surprised at the number of trips you will make back to that donor chassis grabbing this or that for the job.  Be sure you the install complete before discarding of the carcass.   These are fun builds doing complete transfers...

[Gregarious13]

12 hours ago, Don Coatney said:

Looks like your shop is tall enough for a lift.

Yep! It's definitely tall enough. Not quite eady to spend the money just yet. Still have a bit of wiring work to do to get the shop fully functional. If I get a lift in there I would like a four post. And if I get a lift there's no room for the rotisserie I might build. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

the rotisserie if you build it yourself can be easily set up on the lift itself through the very holes that the casters are pinned if you apply yourself a bit.   I like the chap's rotisserie on the boat trailer posted on this site a couple weeks back.  Easy move about in this manner.  

[Gregarious13]

The front floor boards and parts of the inner rocker panels are in need of replacement. Some rust through on the lower trunk opening. And some quarter panel rust on the passenger side.

 

That's about the extent of the major rust, the rest of the car is surface rust.

 

Greg

Edited August 15, 2018 by Gregarious13

[Gregarious13]

3 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

the rotisserie if you build it yourself can be easily set up on the lift itself through the very holes that the casters are pinned if you apply yourself a bit.   I like the chap's rotisserie on the boat trailer posted on this site a couple weeks back.  Easy move about in this manner.  

 

Very good point! 

 

Greg

[Flatie46]

Sounds like an interesting project. I am a big fan of the Jeep straight 6 in all forms especially the 4.0 (242).  I had one in an 88 Cherokee that had 365K on the clock and still felt really strong when I sold it.  Sounds like a good plan keep us updated on the progress.

[tom'sB2B]

When I get my car back together. I’ll have to come by for a visit (I live in Santa Cruz). At the rate I’m going it might be in 2019. 

?

Great project. I look forward to your progress.

[Gregarious13]

2 hours ago, tom'sB2B said:

When I get my car back together. I’ll have to come by for a visit (I live in Santa Cruz). At the rate I’m going it might be in 2019. 

?

Great project. I look forward to your progress.

 

2019 is not that far away! Maybe we will have the beer fridge installed for your visit.

 

Greg

[Plymouthy Adams]

and boom we are back to the prob with most of the BEST ANSWERS..where is the question that the answer was selected?

[Don Coatney]

1 hour ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

and boom we are back to the prob with most of the BEST ANSWERS..where is the question that the answer was selected?

 

I like it best when the original question asker gets several good reply's then selects his own answer as the best.

[Gregarious13]

6 hours ago, Don Coatney said:

 

I like it best when the original question asker gets several good reply's then selects his own answer as the best.

 

8 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

and boom we are back to the prob with most of the BEST ANSWERS..where is the question that the answer was selected?

 

I'm not entirely sure what you two are referring to. Can you elaborate? 

 

Greg

[Gregarious13]

Well, the engine is temporarily installed in it's new home. I have the frame leveled, engine and trans centered and level side to side with about 3° tilt to the back. 

 

I cut out most of the trans tunnel and driver's floor as it was rusty and in the way. A little cutout for the valve cover to recess in the firewall was needed too.

 

The front suspension cross member needs a little more clearance around the crank damper.

 

Stock Jeep radiator may fit in front of the core support. Haven't fully decided if I want to use it or get a custom one  yet.

 

Stock Jeep trans cross member will work perfectly as is. However, I may modify the bottom for a little more ground clearance.

 

Stock exhaust and intake fit nicely around the steering. Even the shifter linkage on the column clears the manifolds.

 

I removed the power steering pump, may go electric, may stay manual. A decision for another day.

 

I will move the alternator from lower passenger side to upper driver, where the PS pump was.

 

Next step is to make the real engine mounts and attachment points for the transmission cross member. Then get ready for the Jeep axle installation.

 

It's all falling together.

 

 

Thanks,

Greg

[rhelm1953]

It jeep fits in there like it was made for it!  I really like the tubular exhaust manifold, it would really look sweet powder coated, the problem is you can't see because of the ugly a$$ intake manifold... 

[Gregarious13]

On 1/25/2019 at 1:10 PM, rhelm1953 said:

It jeep fits in there like it was made for it!  I really like the tubular exhaust manifold, it would really look sweet powder coated, the problem is you can't see because of the ugly a$$ intake manifold... 

Manifold is nothing to write home about. That's for sure. I figure I'll cut off the unnecessary brackets and fixtures from the manifold and put a faux oil bath air cleaner on it. We'll see, that's a ways down the road. 

[Worden18]

Very cool project Greg.  I'm keeping an eye on this one!  

[46DodgeDeluxe]

Very intrigued to see how you will be modifying the column shifter to work the automatic. Doing a 5.9 magnum swap in my '46 D24 Sedan. Was contemplating trying to find an automatic column with indicator that I could fit my steering wheel on.

[Frank Elder]

4 hours ago, 46DodgeDeluxe said:

Very intrigued to see how you will be modifying the column shifter to work the automatic. Doing a 5.9 magnum swap in my '46 D24 Sedan. Was contemplating trying to find an automatic column with indicator that I could fit my steering wheel on.

Find the column you like and replace the steering shaft with the same length out of your D-24.....that way you will have the correct splines for your steering wheel, or weld the last few inches on to get the splines you want?