Project 48 build thread

[Dodgeb4ya]

On 11/14/2016 at 9:05 AM, falconvan said:

Great idea, i hadn't thought of that. I'll have to pick one up next time I'm at the boneyard. Here's the other side.

Is that loaded caliper just partially set on over the rotor or is that where its permanently mounted?

The Reason I ask is it looks like the pads don't completely cover the rotor surface.

[dale]

Made it really tough to build a removable transmission cross member...  I was like having two align cars because of lack of roof and the sills and floor were 90% gone.  Then the top has to meet the top of the windshield pins.. Oofda

[falconvan]

It's on the outer edge but it's all on there.

[falconvan]

Here's a drawing of the right bracket for the Explorer caliper swap; I thought I had lost it but came across it stuffed in my 48 Plymouth manual last night. I just drilled out the brackets I had but this really positions the caliper better on the rotor. I may have a set of these cut and swap them out. If anyone wants to use this just blow this drawing up to scale using the ruler on the picture as a guide and transfer it to some 3/8" steel plate. They come out spot on. They work on other years, too; I had a set cut for my 51 and they worked great.

[falconvan]

I'm on a 5 day off stretch from work so I've been hitting this pretty hard. The front end was together loose without cotter pins so I went through it with my caster/camber/toe gauge, got everything aligned, tightened down, and put in all the pins. I finished up the trunk latch and now it closes, locks, and all the lights work. I needed a center console for the radio and some cup holders so I took a couple of old metal shelves I saved and build that, just need to do a little bondo and paint on it. I also had bought a polishing wheel for all the stainless trim and needed to build a stand for it so that's done. Today I'm taking a break, tomorrow I have one more day off to get a little more done.

[falconvan]

I bought this T-bird backseat several years ago and narrowed it to fit; I dug it out today and built a base for it to sit on and snap into. Now I just need to build some brackets to mount the back pieces, make a couple of curved filler pieces for the backs, and make a center piece to go between the backs. Once that's done I'm sending the springs up to the sandblaster. Also test fit my console; needs a little tweaking but looks pretty good.

[falconvan]

Made this to go between the back seat; basically a spacer that will get painted dash color.

[Plymouthy Adams]

nice, but how would it look if not painted but lightly padded and cover in a vinyl that is a color match to the dash? 

[falconvan]

That's a thought, I'm going to use red vinyl on the package tray so I could just carry it down.

[falconvan]

Hit it hard this weekend; I finished the mounts for the rear seat and made some final alterations to the base. Now it's ready to go to the sandblaster. I also built mounts for the console along with making a shifter trim plate from some aluminum scrap and mounted a Plymouth emblem to it. Now its ready for a skim coat of filler and some primer to get it ready for color. I also dug out all the grill pieces and put the grill together. That was a bear; had to sort through a big box of extra grill pieces for the best ones, fix multiple broken studs, and polish each piece. There's about 20 separate pieces to this grill; glad I have some spares just in case.

[falconvan]

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I got a lot of little stuff done plus finished up the console and got some more trim polished and put on. I'm hoping to have all the trim on the car except the bumpers and rockers trim by the end of the week. One of the rocker moldings needs a lot of straightening and I've decided to order a set of Briz aluminum ribbed bumpers. They look pretty cool and are 1/2 the price of re-chromed stock ones.

[falconvan]

Finished up polishing and putting on the last of the stainless today. That is one hideous job I'm glad to have finished. If I ever build another car of this era, I'm welding up all the trim holes.

[46Ply]

That's about the slickest white paint job I ever saw on a P15.  But, I say go with the original bumpers!  

[falconvan]

4 hours ago, 46Ply said:

That's about the slickest white paint job I ever saw on a P15.  But, I say go with the original bumpers!  

Thanks; its a 1999 Porsche white.   I would go with stock bumpers but I need to trim costs where I can. Still have interior to do and I want to be on the road this spring.  My original bumpers are pretty rough and new ones are about $600 ea.

[jhm1mc13]

That white with stock chrome is fabulous.

[Cudan]

hi,

Did you used the windshield rubber and rear window rubber without the chrome trim ? i  have to order the rubber for my project but there are to options with or without the chrome trim. Seeing yours i think you used no chrome trim ?

Dan

 

[YukonJack]

On 1/6/2017 at 0:27 PM, Cudan said:

hi,

Did you used the windshield rubber and rear window rubber without the chrome trim ? i  have to order the rubber for my project but there are to options with or without the chrome trim. Seeing yours i think you used no chrome trim ?

Dan

 

Special Deluxe had chrome trim, the Deluxe didn't. 

[Cudan]

thanks for your answer YukonJack

[falconvan]

Yeah, I bought my window seals from Steele Rubber and ordered them without the chrome trim. The car was apart when I got it so not sure if it had it or not.

I've been working on doors the last few weeks; got my window fuzzies and channel put in, power window mechanisms put it and all the associated wiring tidied up, speaker wires ran, dome and courtesy lights wired; plus several other door related misc items finished. We just got some upholstery samples in the mail so we'll be ordering a headliner and stuff to make seat covers and door panels soon. I've got a four day weekend so hopefully lots will get accomplished over the next few days.

[falconvan]

On 1/4/2017 at 8:59 PM, jhm1mc13 said:

That white with stock chrome is fabulous.

Thanks! It sure is motivating to see the end in sight.

[falconvan]

More wiring done; console and sound system wires lined out along with other misc wiring. Built some rear speaker mounts that go where the rear window regulators used to be. I put in new tack strip for the windlace and new grommets for the headliner bows. Also got the front seats stripped to get recovered; should have my rear seat springs back from the sandblaster/powdercoat guy this week. I took a box of plastic body plugs and went around plugging several factory holes in the floorpan. Also bought two sheets of masonite and started working on door panels. One more day off tomorrow, we'll see how far we get.

[falconvan]

Got all my door panels cut out of masonite, trial fit, and trimmed today. Still some holes to cut for front speakers but they should work pretty good. My wife and I are going shopping for seat foam, then I'm hitting the recliner for the rest of the day. 

[falconvan]

My carpet and windlace came in, just waiting on the headliner and vinyl before we start putting the interior together. I finished my seat risers and got them painted along with putting some off brand dynamat on the roof. Still need to insulate the floor and firewall.

[falconvan]

Several things done this week; I finished insulating the floor. the guy that was sandblasting my seat springs once again put me off a couple more weeks. I finally said the heck with it, picked them up and just sprayed them with POR-15 after wire brushing off the rusty spots. I was looking at my air cleaner and was worried that even with the dual snorkels, it wouldn't get great airflow. So I saw this idea on a factory Ford high flow air cleaner. Should be much better now. All my upholstery stuff is here except for the headliner, which is another week out. As soon as it gets here we'll start putting stuff together.

[falconvan]

Finished up my air cleaner and the rest of my upholstery supplies came in so here goes nothing. I got the windlace on and just hung the headliner on the bows. It's been folded up in a box so from what I've read you should leave it like this for a few days and let it relax before you start attaching anything. I also have been having a major carburetor battle. I bought a factory rebuilt Street Demon 1900 carb to replace the old Holley 4160 I had on for a temporary. I fought this thing to no end trying to get it to run right, even called their tech line and had them send me some documentation on how to do all the initial set up adjustments but it kept flooding constantly and ran like crap. :mad:I finally said the heck with it and threw some rebuild parts in the the old Holley and threw it back on. Starts as soon as you hit the key and runs like a champ. Go figure.