Falcon,
Thanks.
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Falcon,
Thanks.
No problem, Jack. 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.
Falconvan,
Sorry to hear about your set back, but at least it sounds like you are in good hands.
Andy
No turning back now......:eek:
I've found similar damage on a number of builds. No big deal, it'll come out just fine Falcon!
Man, I hope so. It's looking positive, though. We got the upper part of the A pillar moved to where it's the same as the drivers side with a port-a-power. Now to put it all back together this week.
Should work, Falcon! Looks good, should go back together nice!
Falcon,
Do you have any pics showing the bad fit of the door before the repair? What size portapower did you use? When I was building my 34 for the first time 46+ years ago I suspected it had been in a role over. The drip flare on the drivers side wasn't as defined as it was on the pass. side, the hinges had to be forced to get the hinge pins to fit and the door never fit right. In this present rebuild I discovered that the rocker panel on the drivers side had been replaced and was done poorly as well. This time around I am cleaning up the original repair by cleaning up the welds on the rocker panel and using the portapower to force the lower body to better fit the door. Sorry to ramble on but we seem to have similar problems. It looks like you are doing a good job on your repair and it looks like my body will be off and on several more times before this is over. Keep up the good work.:):cool: Jack.
Hi Jack; I wish i had taken a before picture but I didnt. It was most pronounced at the top of the door right before it turned to go down by the vent window. The port-a-power he used was about the size of a standard cherry picker hydraulic cylinder. It sounds like we're in the same boat; hopefully yours comes out straight, too.
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.:D
Falcon as always some great work nice to have some good ole hands getting involved huh!!
Your wife is going to love this car for sure , But I bet you have some play time behind the wheel of it also . :)
Thanks, Bobby; we're planning on doing some traveling in this baby. We've been looking at magazine pictures of the Hot Rod Power Tour long enough; we're ready to go on one of those long multi state cruises.
I figure if you build a car for your wife, you have to turn around and build yourself something afterwards, right?;)
Looks a lot better, should work out fine for you Falcon!
I think it will, Dave. Hopefully we'll see some primer on this thing before too long. Once we have the main body primered it's time to get the chassis lined out. I'd really love to hear the motor start by the end of summer.
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.
A bolt in radiator for a Plymouth???? Be right back, gotta check the rule book, I think that's cheating!!!!
I was pretty shocked myself, Dave. Not much new stuff out there for the old Mopars.
Quote:
Originally Posted by falconvan
And Champion Radiators are inexpensive, I think it's like $220 for the one for my Panel/Bus. Hell thats cheaper then what I can buy one for my old daily driver for. AND they are made here right in the good o'USA...joe
Ain't that the truth? I don't even like to think about what it cost me to have one made for my 48 DeSoto about 10 years ago:CRY:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Severson
There is a great place in Superior Michigan, that will custom make radiators to fit old car, but to your modern specs and need out of aluminium. I had one made for my 460 in my 48 ford truck, with a built in trans coolers, for about 250.00 It is rated for up to 600 hp motor for cooling. There are places out there you just have to do the leg work! It's great when you can find one for an old rare application that bolts right in!
yeah, totally unexpected to find one but a nice bonus. Only $210!
I actually got to spend a whole day on this myself for a change! My body guy is still going strong; he's got a skim coat of filler on the quarter and the A-pillar fix is done. Still haven't got my parts back from the blaster.:mad: This guy is good, cheap, but he takes forever. Hopefully he'll get them done this week. I got my brackets for the rack n pinion tacked in and did a test fit on the drive train. At first it looked like the oil pan wasn't going to clear so I re read the directions and ended up moving the rack mounts down 2". Now were getting close. Looks like I'm going to need a different trans cross member. I've got a 3" drop but I'm going to need a 2" to get the drive line angles right. But at least I'm making progress; that feels pretty good.
Going to fit in there just fine Falcon! Who makes the rack kit for the car?
Fatman's sells a kit where you use a Cavalier rack and tie rods, 2wd Explorer tie rod ends, and they send you adapters for the tie rods and the mounting plates for the rack plus a steering ujoint.
Looks like it fits good, and what I can see of the tie rods they appear to be fairly flat...should work good! A rack makes these old cars steer so nice!
Got everything back from the blaster last night! I'm happy; I expected some swiss cheese but everything is pretty solid. Only some minor patching on one door bottom, the lower decklid inside edge, and one inner fenderwell will be needed. I'll have to build one good decklid from the two I have but it looks like it wont be too bad. Pics to follow this weekend.
Good news, huh??? Better then having the blaster tell you there's nothing left to bring home, anyway!!!
Looking great! Lovin it! These early Plymouths make for a fantastic project. Don Jr.
Thanks, Don! I'm glad you like it, not a whole lot of folks like the old Mopars. Never could figure out why they didn't get the attention of Fords and Chevys of that year; they're good looking cars, I think. I spent about 10 hours on this today and got pretty far. I swapped out the 4 inch drop cross member for a two inch drop, got the rack and pinion mounts welded in and built motor mounts. Everything came out good, I'm happy. Trying to weld upside down was a chore, I kept getting burned so i lifted this sucker up so i could sit and do it.
Here's a few more...
And here's some of my parts after returning from the blaster.
OK, time to start putting it together for real. I pulled the drive train back out and installed the flywheel and torque converter. For anyone who is wondering how you mate the LS series engines with the pre-LS transmissions, you need this hub adapter and the stock LS flexplate. I used a TCI 2800 stall converter and had the 700 R4 trans rebuilt using TCIs new constant pressure valve body to protect from clutch burnout from a misadjusted TV cable. Next step is to clean up the frame and repaint all the area that got scratched up during the last few years of changes. Then we can start plumbing the brakes.
Kewl news!!! Now the real fun begins, huh?
That's right, Dave. At least until i run out of money again, that is. I think I've got the I-Scream sold to a guy in Ohio so that'll help keep things moving along.
OK, this is completely the wrong way to paint a chassis but I said the heck with it and went for it. Id painted this a few years ago but the off brand chassis paint I used scratched easy plus I had to hack off my original steering setup and start over. So really it needed a lot of touch up. I'm sold on the look and toughness of POR-15 but it pretty well puts an end to the life of a paint gun because you'll never get it clean and I didn't want to brush it on. I went to Harbor Freight and found a regular suction paint gun for $12. Mostly plastic, made in Indonesia (where all quality tools are made). I loaded it up with straight paint, no reducer, cranked the air pressure to 80psi, opened the feed wide open, kept it moving as fast as I could, and laid it all on in one coat. When I was done, I threw the gun away. It really came out nice; good gloss, no runs, plus this stuff is as tough as nails.
I used POR-15 on my Jeep. Tuff as nails, just don't get it on your skin.
After it drys, make sure you paint over it with a paint that won't get broke down by UV rays. POR-15 and the sun just doesn't mix.
I've heard that about UV rays. I'm hoping it wont be an issue since it'll always be out of the sun once the body is on.
Long as you keep the frame on the bottom side, UV shouldn't be a problem with the frame!!!!! Good to hear you discovered a use for the junk spray guns, at that high of air pressure I would imagine the overspray got a bit heavy from time to time? Frame looks great, BTW!
You'd think so, Dave, but without using reducer it took that high pressure to atomize the stuff and pull it out of the gun. Very little over spray, actually. Glad you like it, I think it came out good, too.
Looks fantastic. I learned something here about the sun getting to the POR 15. Always good to learn something. That LS engine is a great choice. I have a LS engine in my 2004 ZO6 Vette and that thing pulls like crazy. Your Plymouth is going to run great. Looking good! Don Jr.