Thanks everybody for the encouragement. Getting ready to put in the back half of the main compartment floor. Having to do more serious clean up but will get there soon enough. As far as the 426, all indication are that it is a street wedge but there are some numbers on the heads and a strange letter addition on the block I D pad that have made it confusing. My plan is to disassemble it for inspection and at least freshen up the seals. When I get to that I'll know for sure what it really is. Thanks again for watching this blog and the words of encouragement.
Finished up repairing forward part of the trunk deck today. this was really rusted out bad but I didn't do pictures of the before but you can see what was cut out and installed. Basically there was no tunnel but the opening was there and part of the floor lip. This piece will never be seen because there is a second piece that installs over and to the front of this area. It is the piece that the front of the rear seats mount to. So once I get everything mocked up for the floor boards I'll por-15 the heck out of it before I weld up the box cover and floor panels. I bit the bullet and ordered up the inner rocker, scoff plates, and outer rocker panels, they were just to far gone to repair and they were full of rust that I couldn't get at. Unfortunately the outer rockers weren't correct, well I wouldn't really go so far as to say that, the pattern that was used for the rockers was from a different Plymouth model, just not sure. So I cut my originals out and shipped them to the manufacturer so they would have a pattern to work from, so now they have a correct sample of a 1936 Plymouth P2 Touring 2 door Sedan set of rockers to work from. I have my templates cut out for the floor panel so will be starting on those and get them mocked in. Surprisingly in my measurements the drive shaft tunnel is offset so one side. So one floor panel is a couple of inches wider than the other side at the rear. Seeing as I'm going to use the stock rear axle, I'll need to make the offset when I rebuild the floor. I do have the original top half of the tunnel and you can see that the offset was hidden under the bench seat. I'm going to be installing bucket seats so it will be interesting to see how I will have to conceal that tweak between the seats. Here's what I've done up to this point:
Time to update again. I've got the floor in, at least the rear half. I cut the floor pan from 16 gauge, was told that that would be enough strength for a floor as long as I put in some beads to add strength. So I picked up a bead roller even though it max's out at 18 gauge. Got the beads in, was a fun thing, and it took some time to get them all in. But got it done. You can see my pattern drawn out on the floor pans. Measured out the seats from my donor car and transferred them to my floor pans so I could build a set of seat and floor supports out of some 16 gauge channel. Worked out pretty good. Got both rockers built and installed. Installed the right side first, it was a bit of a challenge. Had to fab up an extension to the front rear of the fender well. That whole area was rusted completely out and mostly missing. So back to some reverse engineering of what was there and got it figured out. Had to do the same thing on the left side but it went together a lot easier and faster. Little different install on the left side because the lower front quarter panel is still in tact so didn't cut it out, even though I had thought about doing it and how much easier the install would be if I had. I made the rear part of the inner rocker extensions a little taller so I could weld up the interior braces solidly. After getting the right side welded in and getting started on the left, I had a visitor come by, who gave everything a good once over and showed my that my body wasn't down on the frame at the bottom cowl mounts. I knew that and figured I'd get to that later. He made it clear that without those mounts attached everything I was doing was all misaligned, you know he was right, so I got the mounts installed and welded in the left rocker. Lined up without a fight. So went back to the right side rocker, cut the back at the b pillar, wedged it up welded it back in and surprise it lines up, not perfectly, but pretty darn close, tough to see less than a 16th of an inch from my house. There are some shots that show my bad welding so please ignore them if you will. Still learning and I grind them down enough to know if the welds are good or not. I've progressed to fabbing and installing the driveline and transmission tunnel. I'm using the stock rear axle, don't see why a shouldn't, it is a semi float rear axle configuration. Should be heavy enough, besides every8 and 3/4 rear axle I've found is more expensive than they should be, not to mention they want to sell you the rest of the car that the axle is attached to. As I've said from the beginning I'm trying to keep true to the build and keep it all Mopar. The issue is that their is a bit of a bend in the tunnel because the rear axle is offset a inch or two. See the pictures of the stock tunnel. So anything I get for a "universal" tunnel will have to be modified anyway so I will essentially be building the tunnel. Good thing I really enjoy doing this stuff.
Ok, got a universal 23 inch tunnel on Monday and got it mocked in yesterday. Today I built the trans tunnel that covers the driveline loop in the x frame. Turned out pretty good without a break handy, did it old school. Then I built the fill piece but haven't mocked them to the floor yet. It will have the original angle that the original tunnel has. Will have to install the engine and trans to go any further with this part of the floor build.
Thanks Hobo Jim, I checked out your thread and see that you've been working on your ride as long as I have mine. I'm finishing up the floor pan and will be posting pictures soon. Keep up the good work on your ride.
Finally!!! John has a floor. This first set of pictures are the mock up. The build on this tunnel configuration was a blast. You'll note in previous picture the original driveline tunnel has a little crock in it. I did duplicate that config, the driveline tunnel was hidden under the original bench front seat and it will be concealed between the buckets from my donor car. The floor itself is what I could see that was left in the rusted out floor and I built it as close to it's original layout. There are support brackets under the floor where the front seats will be mounted. So there is good structure support for those. The floor is 16 gauge while the tunnel is 18 gauge steel.
Now these pictures are what I did today. I coated all the undersides of the tunnel with a rust protection paint, to include the box the is the rear seat shelf. Both the inside of the box will be enclosed so it can't be coated after its installed. I built the rear seat shelf is as close to the stock piece that was left in the car, to include the dog ears that attach the the inside rear fender wells and the tab that appears to be a piece that is use to attach upholstery. It does slant a little back but is in line with the slant that is in the truck area of the car. Once the coating dried, did the paint yesterday, I put everything back together this morning to get it ready to weld up. And then I welded up, well, most of it. Lots more grinding to do but its in and solid.
Looks a Great that's a huge step done! Love the traditional brake! I will be posting interior progress picks soon keep up good work! Hobo Jim
Thanks Jim and bct. Checked out your project Jim, looking good. Just finished up the welding on the floors and bolted done the floor to the supports. Used bolts for now because I'm not all that sure they are positioned right for the seats from the donor car. Just as soon not have to cut into welds if they need to be adjusted. Can always weld them up later. I was finally able to make the quarter panel repair today. Now it's really starting to look like I've made some progress. I'll do pictures later with a sort of risking repair that will certainly tax what welding skills I've got so far. I'll do the before and after pictures when I've got it done. I'm trying not to have to cut out an important piece of metal because I don't think I can fabricate the piece.
Got the quarter panel installed this week., fender side shaped and the captured nut tab and fold lined up to the rear fender. Fender fits a lot better now.
And then on to what I was talking about in an earlier post. The windshield header on the body of the car. Pretty rusted out, didn't want to cut it out so I tried something else. Shaped a piece of copper to the form of the front or outside of the header panel and celeco'd the mold to the outside part of them metal. Them I seam welded the area from the interior side. It came out pretty well with minimal grinding. It does help to have a 3/8 x 13 belt sander. So now i'll be getting the body off the frame so I can sandblast it.
Got the body off the frame and built a platform to support it so I can work under it. I will be putting some barrowed tires on the frame and roll it next door for a good sand blast. Seems to be going a little faster now that bulk of the metal repairs are done. Here's some pic's of what I call a poor man's lift.
Blasted the frame last Friday and sealed it up today after I got all the springs and axles off. Will take the springs to a spring shop and get the remanufactured. And blast everything else that I took off. This project has picked up some momentum since the floor rebuild. Will be working on the mechanicals this winter and hopefully be able to mount the body back on the frame by early spring if not sooner. Speaking of the frame what gloss black would you guys recommend to use on my frame.
Got the springs back and they are excellent. I took my old ones to Atlas Springs in Wichita, KS, was lucky enough to meet up with one of the employees there that knew exactly what I wanted and needed. Extremely please with the work he did. I'm really antsy to see what happens after I put the front suspension together and drop that monster engine on top of it. I've finished up the frame work and got it in gloss black, well, sort of. I used POR-15 top coat but it didn't gloss up much. So i'll probably get a different paint for the engine compartment but the rest of the frame will be unseen so I'm not going to worry about it. So in prepping the frame, I followed my friend's suggestion to weld up the front half of the frame top and bottom. The reason is that I'm dumping a hugh engine in place of the stock straight six that was in it originally. More weight and certainly more horse power. The factory welds were spot welds and spaced four to five inches apart and in some places seven inches. Not now, solid welds and just a little putty. The back portion of the frame was the same way so I welded those up as well but not the bottom. I also boxed the frame in at the front rear springs. Again it's all about getting some stiffness in the frame to support the horsepower boost that's getting put into it but there is still a little flex left. Took the rear axle apart today and surprisingly enough it's not in all that bad of shape. The outer bearings were in pretty good shape, no rust and they were still greased up. The diff was a different story. I will have to take it apart and probably have to replace those bearings. The pinion and ring gear show no cracks or chips or wear for that matter. I see no problems in using this rear axle behind the 426, it is a semi float rear axle after all. No pictures this time but there will be when I start assembly of the suspension.
Great Progress! I was just looking at your thread last night. Thank you for the update I am looking forward to the pics. Hobo Jim
Just saw this. Nice build. My 1st hot rod was a 35 Dodge 2 door sedan. I took my build a different direction, because there wasn't much of it left. I pretty much bought a title with a pile of rust included. I had to build a new frame. Mine was also all Mopar, but a small block. It was a great car, we put 77,000 miles on mine in the first 5 years. Looking forward to following this through that first drive. Gene
Back again after a long winter, at lease for me it was. Had some medical issues but I think those have been addressed for now. Was having some difficulties in putting any constructive time into the build. What I've gotten done so far these past few months: I reworked the luggage space and got it structurally sound as well as getting it's appearance more to my liking and in primer. Even though it will probably never be seen but I will know. Additionally I went underneath and cleaned up the welds (while I have better access to the bottom of the body while it's still in the air). Also finished up the rocker panels, front to rear. Will finish the inside of the passenger compartment when I get the body back on the chassis. As was mentioned in the previous post, got the springs, sand blasted the chassis, got it painted and ready for assembly. Which I've done. Using the original knee shocks, springs mounted perfectly, as well as the front and rear axles. Am using new u bolts but the stock mounting platforms. As I said earlier, I took the third member apart and replaced the bearings, have had this thing together and apart so many times that I think I could put it back together in my sleep. I took measurements and counted teeth and found out that the ratio is a 4.12 and the ring gear measures out at 8 and 3/4 inches. Don't know what to make of that. Almost seems that the rear axle has been replace at some point in this cars life. Didn't know that axle was available back then. Any thoughts anybody? Got a weld on rear disc brake kit from Speedway Motors and it is now installed. While i'm not a big fan of bolt on disc to hub assemblies they are lock nutted down. We will see if they work well or not when I finally get this car on the streets. Mocked up rather easily, just hope that the welds are good. I've improved my welding skills though those skills aren't exactly professional looking and they did need some dressing up. Did check for the weld penetrations on the inside of the axle tubes and it appears that happened. This kit included the parking brake mechanism so I'll be using that system from the donor car. Should install and work without a lot of modifications. So there you have it and thank you for everyone's interest in my build.
Very nice work! Glad to hear you are beyond the health issues and back to building. I am looking forward to watching your progress.
Thanks Jim, ordered up some more parts to complete the brake system for the rear axle. Once that's done i'll be tackling the front disc system. Will post pictures once that's done or when I've got the chassis all set up to mount the body back. Thanks for watching.
Pulled the gas tank down from the rafters the other day and started cleaning it up. Just to see if it was usable or I'd have to buy a new one. The bottom was pretty rusted up or at least I thought so. Got most of the rust off and decided to sand blast it off. If any bad spots were there the blaster would find them. By golly the thing cleaned up without punching any holes through. Still pretty pitted but is sound enough to hold gas.(filled it up with water a few times in the clean out process) The top was easy, used some heavy sand paper and wire power tools.(as you can see in the picture) The sender was original and came out easily, looked inside and the only real gunk was under where the sender was mounted, the rest looked pristine. Couldn't believe the luck. POR 15'd the tank, seams were good all around, both inside and out. Got a liner kit and have just finished up getting it applied. Did find one pin hole but it looks as though the liner material plugged it. I had one mounting strap that might have been usable but I decided to make a pair using the original as a pattern. They came out pretty nice. I also lined the inner side with an old bicycle inner tube. Turned out nice and am glad I will be able to use the original tank for this build. Shipped out my front spindle to get fitted for disc brake set up. Couldn't find any ready made kits that were reasonable and would fit. Hopefully have the parts back here by the end of the month and get the brakes mounted. Will start the tear down of the brake system on the donor car next week. Haven't quite got an idea on where I'll mount the master yet. Will have to give it a good study. Later
Got the front disc brakes mounted up and the brake system mocked up. Went looking to Speedway motors for a front disc brake kit but struck out. But they did recommend a guy that what build a disc brake set up, his website is DiscBrakeMike.com. Did a great job and he was timely too. So now the car has an upgraded four wheel disc brake system to stop that 426 wedge. In my last post I showed the clean up of the stock gas tank. It is now installed complete with a new sender unit. Of course i'll be upgrading the electrical system to 12 volt. I'm debating whether to convert the stock 6 volt gauge to 12 volt or use voltage reducer. I've seen some advertise but really haven't given it much study. There is still so much to do mechanically on this build that it really isn't that critical yet. I decided to go with the frame mounted brake assembly because with everything that I'm planning to stuff under the dash from the donor car, there just wasn't enough room to put it under there. The booster and master brake assembly fit perfectly under the floor. I went with this assembly, not because it is pretty(chrome that no one will ever see) But because it was extremely affordable. The booster is seven inches, the mounting bracket had to be modified just a little bit to get the assembly square in the frame so the pedal throw is straight. Did go with a proportioning valve and two 2 pound inline check valves. All were suggested by Mike the disc brake guy and the techs at Speedway motors. The master is a 1 inch bore. Because the master and booster are designed for a fire wall install, installing it in the frame meant that I'd have to tweak the lines in opposite directions from the normal install that would be the fire wall mounting. That's why the lines look all wonky from the proportioning valve. Not really all that happy with the way the lines turned out. Especially the line going around the front from left to right. Will give it some more thought and see if I can clean it up a bit. Couldn't really get the fuel lines run yet. Having a problem finding a good place to mount the electric fuel pump. I've concluded I'll need to get the body back on the chassis and mount it on the body. I'm looking for rims. I have one stock rim that was with the car when I got it. It's a 16inch and I mounted it up on the front after I got the disc installed and it clears the calipers about a half an inch so I will probably be looking for some 17 inch rims. Having issues with how everything is being advertise in mm. The backspace on the stock rim is 3 inches from the back to the disc and 3 inches from the front to the fender. The rim is 5 and a half inches wide and is a 5 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern or 5 on 114.3 mm. Next on the list is the exhaust system and hopefully I will be posting those pictures soon. I forgot the sheet metal in the pictures of the front are the stock splash shield that were still on the car when I found it' The measurements I took from the 426 show that the engine will fit. Only thing may be the balancer not fitting without some front splash shield modification.
Many years ago, I read an article where it talked about voltage reducers for your gsuges. They said that many cars still ran 6 volt gauges in 12 volt cars. In my case, I have a 52 Mercury. So what you're supposed to do, is go to a junkyard and find a 60s-70s car that has the same number of gauges as you have. On the back of the instrument cluster is a little reducer that is designed to reduce from 12v-6v for that amount of gauges. It's very small and does the trick beautifully. In my case, I found what I needed out of a 60s mustang. Works perfectly. I couldn't ask for it to be any better. Inexpensive, readily available and very small. I don't know if cars newer than 70s still have them and I'm not sure all makes had them but I do know Ford does and they can work with any brand as it's simply something you wire in.
Thanks Scott will defiantly look into that. Wonder if it will work not only for my stock fuel gauge but the volt meter gauge as well?
The Jalopy Journal
