Chester Brzostowski Posted February 13, 2011 Report Share Posted February 13, 2011 Nice work, Can't wait to see the finished product. Chet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted February 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Me, too, Chester. Starting when I bought the first car I've been building this for about 4 years. I kept changing ideas and directions with it but I'm locked in now. Funny, when I decided this would be my wife's car things just seemed to fall into place with it. She's an amazing woman and I want this to be my best work for her. I painted the bottom of the car with POR-15 yesterday; This is great stuff but don't get it on your skin! I made sure I wore protection; hat, rubber gloves, long sleeves, goggles, and a mask. So what happened? I dripped a big glob right on my ear! I guess I'll have one ear with a big black racing stripe for a while cause it aint comin off! Anyway, the bottom is painted and I just need to go over it with some seam sealer to button it up. I also sanded all the old paint off the front of the dash. I'm hoping this week to bolt the motor and tranny together and start working out the motor mounts and steering. We've got one side of the car ready to primer and we're moving to the trunk sill area. I did a lot of patching back there so there's plenty of smoothing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yourpc48 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Awesome project. Very cool Idea for the back seat. I will be painting up under my dash with a light color. 25 years and I have never thought to do that. Crap where were these good Ideas back then??? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niel Hoback Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 You can make up for that feeling by passing on the info to somebody else. Then you look like a genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn F. Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Man oh man your project is coming along nice! Remember me? This is FMXhellraiser from Club Hot Rod! I've been following your project on there like crazy. Actually made me go outside to check out my 46 Windsor today and try to put a plan together to get mine running and driving. Keep up the great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatS.... Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Looking good. You might consider this---Several people have paintedthe underside of their dash a light color (white or tan) as that makes it a lot lighter and easier to see under there. ...and maybe a wired in light or two as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thanks! My trunk was very good but the floors were junk. I took a few days off to get some quality garage time in so hopefully we'll get some more done in the next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 I finally took some time and started setting up the Fatman's steering. You get a kit with brackets, tie rod end adapters, and instructions. The first order of business was to get an 89 Cavalier rack and pinion and hang it to approximate the location. The instructions are very good so it should go smooth. The next thing I saw was that I was missing several parts I needed to get so off to the bone yard for a set of Cavalier tie rods, hold downs, and the bolts. I cleaned up the rods, installed the tie rod adapters, and ordered the tie rods ends. It uses a 04-05 2wd Explorer tie rod end. Once they come in I can do the final location on the rack and weld the brackets on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbomb Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Looking good! That Uni-Strut is handier'n a pocket, ain't it?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Sure is; i never throw that stuff away. I made quite a few car parts out of Unistrut over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-12 Tommy Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Wow! I'm impressed with the way it's coming along. Lookin' good! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Since I'm waiting on the tie rod ends I spent part of the day under the body with a couple tubes of 3M paintable seam sealer and a putty knife. I did a lot of patching to get the floors together and want to seal all those joints to keep it all as watertight as possible. Quite a mess but well worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Well, we fought with this door for a few days trying to get it to line up right with no luck. Finally we called in one of the local old timers who looked at it and said that the minor dent in the fender and the cowl had apparently caused more than minor damage. The whole "A" pillar on that side had been pushed back about 5/8". He tried a hydraulic body jack to push it back but it rebounded as soon as you let it go. So it looks like we're going for some serious "A" pillar surgery. Luckily I had cut this piece from the other car so we have a donor. Now I'm really glad I farmed this out; I never would have saw this or figured it out myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 No turning back now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maine48ply Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 A leap of faith...I am impresed by your determination to get it all right. As I've been trying to fit my donor, rebuilt rocker onto the car, the doors also haven't fit just right. The issue is the gaps near the bottom of the A and C pillars. I also had a "Pro" buddy come over to have a peak. He suggested to me that maybe these rockers from the donor are not "exactly" the same as the originals. I am unfamiliar with the process of building these older vehicles, is it possible that the technology back then allowed for some deviation in the manufacture of these pieces? I am throwing out this question because if true, your donor A pillar may not be an exact match. I hope I am wrong...would love to have an answer to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I wondered that myself and asked about it. Was factory fit and finish tightly controlled in the 40's or do you run into some with bad gaps? The answer I got was "sometimes". It seems like it's pretty rare to run into a 60+ year old project that doesn't need some fairly extensive adjusting to get things to fit right unless Lady Luck and some previously dedicated owners have been dilligent in keeping it well preserved. My replacement rockers didnt fit exactly right, either, but I was able to make them work. I'm feeling better about this already; the three of us worked on it last night and now have the upper A pillar section pulled out to match the driver's side. It had definately been worked on before, further grinding found brazing rod and lead in the crumple zone. We got the donor part cleaned up and so far it's looking like it's going to be a good fit. I'll post some pics this weekend; my camera was dead last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbomb Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 More magic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 I hope there's going to be some magic; i"ll be really happy if this all lines up right in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Looks like it's going to turn out OK. This is just tack welded in place but the door gap is way better than it was before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maine48ply Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 That looks great Pat.........glad to hear about the gaps being so good. I am still struggling with mine and am at the point where I'm going to do some welding then hope that a little minor tweaking with the hinge adjustments will get me where I need to be. You get to a point.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Flanagan Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 That's some slick work. Reminds me of my own project when I was at that stage. Looks like you have plenty of room and all the right equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks guys. I think I've learned more watching these two guys over the last two months that I've learned on my own in the last several years. It's most definitely a gift to be able to visualize what the problem is and how to go about fixing it. I know I couldn't have got there on my own this time, but now that I've seen it done, I might be able to do better on the next one. Joe, my shop is a 30 X 40; the nicest anniversary present my wife ever got me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbomb Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Wow! Give that lady a kiss!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconvan Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 I just might do that! After a week off we're back on it; we've got the A pillar welded in and i gathered up the doors, fenders, trunk lid, and inner fender wells to take to the blaster tomorrow. Should have all that back in a week. I also found a company called Champion that makes an aluminum radiator specifically for the 46-48 Plymouths. This is really a slick piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aero3113 Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 That's the same company that made my radiator for my 50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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