Thread: '37 Dodge sedan

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Rust is always worse than it looks, although yours in one of the nicest I've seen. The patch looks good!

I got pretty lucky finding this one, that's for sure. There's some rust repair that needs to be done, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that 95+% of this thing can be stripped to bare metal and prepped for paint as-is. Of course, I can't leave well enough alone, so much of it will be worked over anyhow, but there's not much that I would consider "necessary".

One of these days I'll get the seats back out of it and post some pictures of the floors: they're pristine, and were actually a huge selling point for me when I first looked at the car. I figured that, if the floors were as nice as they are, the rest of the car stood a fair chance of being in similar condition. So far that logic hasn't disappointed me.

Decided I want to get my dash figured out. At first, I really wanted to fit a '49 Ford dash into the sedan, but I've since decided to stick with the original. I stripped off the original paint and it will get a bath in the molasses tank for a couple weeks to get any rust out of the nooks and crannies before it gets some epoxy. I'm thinking I'll probably lose the ashtrays and whatnot in the center section and make a flip down cover to hide a modern stereo. I want the comforts of a modern car, but I hate the look of modern parts in a car that's supposed to have a classic vibe.

Side note: a '37 Dodge sedan is 3ft 7.5in wide across the inside cowl. I've only sat inside it with another person once before, and I know it's tight, but that measurement really surprised me. Glad I'm using the automatic in this one, it's even narrower at the toe board and I like to stretch out!

IMG_20180130_061610684 by Ryan Mazingo, on Flickr

Can you share some info on the molasses tank please? I've heard of people using vinegar to remove rust but not molasses.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Can you share some info on the molasses tank please? I've heard of people using vinegar to remove rust but not molasses.

DISCLAIMER!!!!!!! I am not a chemist or metalergist, nor do I have your particular part in my hand to make an educated guess as to whether or not this process will work for you.

With that said, I should also note that I've only tried this process on a small scale (10 gallons) because I didn't have a large enough vessel to go bigger. I see no reason why it would work any differently on a larger scale, and I don't intend to change any part of my process now that I'm moving to a bigger tank.

I mix 9 parts water with 1 part molasses in a non-ferrous vessel. Submerge the part in the mixture and let it soak. Minor surface rust is usually gone within 24hrs, heavier rust can take up to 3 weeks to fully disappear. I pull the parts and hit them with the pressure washer, then use compressed air to fully dry quickly. Prime or paint immediately after to avoid surface rust.

Limitations: pot metal will disappear if you put it in this solution, I read that it would and decided to run a little experiment of my own with a '72 Ford interior door handle. Sure enough: no more door handle. I have also read that it can make cast iron brittle, though I've never tried it personally. Machined parts, I've read, can end up with pock marks in the machined surfaces. Further reading has led me to believe that using white lithium grease on the machined surfaces of a machined part will leave those areas untouched, but I've never tried that myself to verify.

There are a lot of videos on YouTube that demonstrate the process, and I recommend watching a few before trying this out for yourself. Its a cheap and easy alternative to many of the existing options for rust removal, but it does have it's limitations.

I've heard of it; and have friends that have used it with good results.
But I have no personal experience with it.
And I too have heard of its limitations just like you.
So yes: caution is the word.

Thanks for the info. I will do some more research. I have some K20 suspension brackets I'd like to try this on.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Thanks for the info. I will do some more research. I have some K20 suspension brackets I'd like to try this on.

Forgot to mention: after a while, especially in the warmer months of the year, it stinks to high hell. Within a couple weeks my 10 gallon tub of molasses solution was still working just fine, but it stunk so bad that I would gag every time I checked my parts. Absolutely horrendous stench! I highly recommend thick gloves, an apron and rubber boots when dealing with this stuff: you DO NOT want this stuff on you, cause that smell ain't coming out. I've decided to put my bigger tank a long ways away from the house. It'll be a little more work to get my parts cleaned up, but at least I won't have to deal with the smell.

The temperature outside can also effect the amount of time the solution takes to break down the rust. Lower temps will slow down the process, but higher temps don't seem to speed it up. I'm toying with the idea of using a cattle trough heater to keep the temperature at a nominal level, though I'm not sure what effect, if any, the solution will have on the heater element.

I'm really enjoying following your project. I kind of chuckled when I read your comment about the width........it was pretty much my reaction when I sat in my 37 Dodge Pickup the first time. I suspect the pickup is close to that width if not a little narrower. Unlike your sedan the truck is limited on how far the seat can go back so even at 5' 9" I'm pretty scrunched up in it. I described to one of my friends as the most uncomfortable most fun project I've ever done.

When I did my original mockup like you I decided on a column shift (that later changed to a floor shift when the build changed from Streetrod to more traditional Hotrod). When I was trying to figure out a mechanical shift linkage that would give me room for exhaust etc, I hit on the idea of converting the column to use an aftermarket shift cable. I ended up using the left over brackets from a couple of shifters I had installed on other cars and came up with this.


CS by M Patterson, on Flickr

As it became a discarded idea I never got around to trimming the brackets and making it pretty. As far as function it worked out really well and shifted nice once I figured out the ratios on the column and shaft arm linkages.

I found your comments on the molasses soak interesting, especially the smell. I've never used molasses but years ago I used vinegar for de-rusting. After a few days soaking the parts the smell was one of my complaints too. A few years ago I read about using citric acid and started using it to de-rust some old farm tools and was really impressed with it.......and it didn't result in an unpleasant order. It also comes in powdered form so it's easy to store (I usually buy it in 5 pound bags off amazon).

I never got around to it last year but I want to do an experiment with it this spring on an old weathered 283 block I have here. I want to mix up a batch big enough to soak the block in and see how well it cleans the water jackets.......... usually an almost impossible area to clean.


Anyway nice work in the 37.



.

Mike-

I had a '49 Chevy pickup that I put a 292/TH350 setup in. I was running an early 80's GM tilt column with the shifter built into it. I actually bent up a piece of 3/8" steel rod and welded some washers onto it for bracket stops and used cotter pins to keep it in place. Some how I managed to get my bends just right (no talent, just random luck) and it shifted flawlessly. I used that setup for a couple years until I finally decided it was too ugly and went with an aftermarket cable linkage.

Also, while we're on the molasses topic: Blackstrap molasses will work just fine. You don't need to buy the more expensive baking molasses, the stuff from the feed store will work just fine.

I've never tried it myself, but I have also heard tell of a guy getting good results using the powdered stuff you can buy on Amazon, though I don't know what the proper water to molasses ratio would be with the powdered stuff.

Word of caution: I usually try to be pretty involved in reading product reviews on Amazon before buying anything, and it seems like the way liquid molasses is shipped by their vendors is less than adequate. I'd estimate that more than 50% of the reviews I read said that the jars were either leaking or broken upon arrival, so I don't think I would order it online. The local feed store here in town sells 5 gallon buckets of Blackstrap for about $22 after tax.

Well, I ordered the new motor for my compressor this morning. Tried replacing the start and run caps, even though the old ones measured just fine for capacitance, but no dice. New motor should be here by next weekend, so I should be back in business pretty soon.

I did have to order a new pulley as well, because the new motor will have a larger diameter shaft than the old one. Hopefully they both show up at the same time.

New motor can be seen here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0009W8SBC

"Side note: a '37 Dodge sedan is 3ft 7.5in wide across the inside cowl. I've only sat inside it with another person once before, and I know it's tight, but that measurement really surprised me. Glad I'm using the automatic in this one, it's even narrower at the toe board and I like to stretch out!"
I was rather shocked when I put a seat in my stude and found out how little leg room there is. I ended up cutting and extending the floor a little to make more room with the pedals. Did people used to be smaller..?

i hear ya . i cant set in anything from the 30's and only a few from the 40's without setting on the floor in the backseat . how i did it in my youth is beyond me except i was a lot leaner back then my favorite car is a 56-57 corvette but there is no way i can drive one .

Yeah, setting in the coupe I can put both hands/arms out each side window at the same time, and if someone else is in the car one of us is sitting crooked or rubbing elbows.

Originally Posted by v8nutz

I was rather shocked when I put a seat in my stude and found out how little leg room there is. I ended up cutting and extending the floor a little to make more room with the pedals. Did people used to be smaller..?

This is the main reason I did not put a cummins in my 40. There would be no room inside after that.