Dave, Thanks for the info. Since I already built the engine with a pretty hefty Comp cam and have everything back to gether, it's too late for me to convert to a serpentine belt set-up. At this point it is going to be a lot cheaper and less time for me to just figure out the radiatior/fan set up, but it sounds like a good idea. I can gain an inch by moving the engine back so the motor mounts fasten on the other side of the block ears, but I will have to give up the HEI or cut the firewall. For now I will see if I can fit in an electric pusher on the front. In my coupe the back wood floor panel sits under the seat, so putting the MC fill door there would mean that I have to remove the seat to get to it. How did you get around that problem? My wife's sons live in Dayton, so we get over there once in awhile. Next time I visit I would like to stop by and look at your build, if that is OK
Sounds good.I hope i can get to the opening by moving the seat all the way back.I might have to unbolt the seat though.Sent you a PM.
Lookin good Walt. You got more done this winter than I did, but then again, I moved too. I gotta get things together and start working on the truck again. By the way, I sold the 49 Plymouth.
Fat47, Thanks for sharing this build. It gives me hope! You're running across lots of the same issues I'm seeing in my '32 Plymouth build.
Cool. Subscribed. Love the '33 Dodge coupe. Probably will never have a '33 Ford, but I might manage a Dodge. Watching your build. Good luck.
So, again, here is what I started with last weekend. My daughter is an Operating Room nurse and once they open a package of these covers that they put over the patient for surgery they throw the unused ones away. So, she brings me a couple of dozen once in awhile. They are great for masking off big areas or, as in this case, to protect the interior from all the dust and dirt displaced by the cleaning action. Here is the interior firewall and the kick panel after a lot of work with the wire wheel on my 4" grinder, some 50 grit air sanding and hand sanding in the corners. After cleaning all the tar, old paint and rust off, I brought over the air nozel and blew all the surfaces off, then sprayed the firewall, sides and underside of the cowl with zinc phosphate (metal prep) and wiped it down. NOW, HERE IS WHERE I MADE A MISTAKE THAT LUCKILY DIDN'T COST ME. At this point I should have lightly scotch brighted the surface and blew it off again before brushing on the POR-15. But, I didn't and the microscopic particles that remained on the metal, from either the wipe down rag or from the acid doing its job on the metal left small bumps in the POR-15. Since this is going to be covered with insullating material it won't show, but remember this step if you try this approach. This is how the interior looks now. I am going to give it a couple of days to cure out before I glue on the insullation. Meanwhile I will build the new floor board and weld up the holes in the toeboard and figure out where I am going to mount the fuse panel.
Floorboard construction. I took the original plywood floor, cut it to fit around the 904 ****** and put a slit for the Lokar shifter arm to drop through. Given that the wood floor was 3/4" thick, I picked up some 3/4 x 3/4" box tubing to make a frame out of. I turned the wood floor over and laid out a pattern using 3/4" masking tape. I left enough room on the sides to wrap some 16 or 18 guage around. I also put in a cross member piece to rest the Lokar shifter mounting legs on. I will drill the cross members and bolt the shifter legs on top of the floorboards running bolts down through the cross members I cut the 3/4" box tubing with a cut off wheel, angling the ends as needed and clamped the pieces to the underside of the original plywood over the taped pattern. I tacked the tubing together, test fit it to the floor and, once satistied that it fit, finished welded it. The longest piece of the framework, that rests on the body cross member, actually sat a little high due to two rivits at each end that held the cross member to the side rail. I marked their location on the underside of the frame and drilled 7/16" holes in the bottom of the framework over where the rivits sat. This allowed the frame to sit down flush over the rivits. I put the frame back in the car, sitting the shifter in place to make sure it fit. I will drill the holes to mount the shifter arms to the frame and holes to bolt the new floorboard to the cross and side members in the original spots that the plywood bolted in once I have the floor sheet attached. I had some sheets of 16 or 18 guage, not sure which, and laid the frame on one of these sheets. I will try to cut, bend over the lips and spot weld it today. I picked up a bead roller last year from Woodward and will set it up and roll some beads in the floor pan in the area that fits between the framework to give it some extra strength.
I cut the 16 guage 3/4" bigger all the way around the frame so I could roll it over the outside of the frame. Before I did this, I got out a manual bead roller I had bought a year ago, set it up for the first time and rolled some beads in the 16 guage to strengthen the floor. Then I got out a body hammer and beat the edges over, test fit the new floor board and, satisfied that it fit, clamped it back on the original wood floor piece and used it as a guide to drill holes in the new floor where the orignial bolt mounts go through. I wanted to be able to remove the floor if I ever needed to. This is what it looked like from the top side. I also drilled out the holes to mount the lokar shifter for the 904. I had put in the extra cross bracing in the middle of the frame for this purpose. I slipped the floor shell off the frame and wiped it down with metal prep. This time I remembered to scotch bright it, rubbing the surface with my hand and blowing it with an air hose at the same time. My friend Max then shot it with DP 90. I slipped the floor shell back on the frame, wire brushed the corners back to bare metal and welded them together and to the frame. I was going to spot weld the sides where I had folded the 16 guage down over the frame, but since there are a dozen places where the floor/frame is bolted to the body lip and 4 bolts holding the shifter to the frame, I figured I didn't need it. You can also see in the last picture that I removed the wood panel that fits under the seat to see what I have there.
Actually, I had finished the initial floor board with the shifter day before yesterday. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the floor under the seat, but when I removed it, I realized that the seat was only held in by two 5/16" bolts on each side run through the wood floor. So, I decided to go ahead and replace the wood floor under the seat with steel. I had used 3/4 x 3/4 box tubing for the frame on the previous floor construction and this was just the right hight to match up exactly with the body cross member that the floor rests on. But I couldn't get any wider widths of 3/4 box tubing so I had to go with 1" for the floor under the seat. It will sit up 1/4" higher, but it won't matter because it is all hidden by the seat and the carpet can be leveled using an extra layer of padding. You can actuall see the new frame in the last picture on the previous post. I used 1 x 2" tubing along the sides and 1 x 1" on the back and front. I also set in a 1 X 1 1/2" piece close to the 1 x 2 on each side which will anchor the seat. I had to cut out part of the under side of the front 1 x 1 in the middle to fit over a rise in the body lip that the frame sits on. Again, I had to drill some holes in the bottom of the frame to sit down over some rivets and a hole on each side to fit over a body to frame bolt. The attached picture shows the 16 guage floor I wrapped over the frame just as I did with the first floor board. I have already drilled out out the mounting holes to attach the seat and to attach the floor to the body lip. I have to be out of town for a couple of days, but plan to paint the second installment of the floor board replacement on Friday then paint the body crossmenber, weld up the holes in the toe board, get it painted and finally get back to the project that started all this-----WIRING THE 33.
Side tracked again. The upolstry shop had an opening and I wanted to get the wife's 48 PU in, but had to work out some minor bugs that I had put off. So it is now in for the carpet, headliner and door panels. Then I got caught up in finishing the front suspension modification on my 50 Ford project ("Pic request" thread on the message board) so I could furnish pictures of the dropped upright and disc brake install. Then one of the dogs got into it with a pack of coyotes, a day at the vets and a couple of days taking care of her. Then Christmas, family, New Year. Life sometimes gets in the way of this car thing.. Finally got back out to the shop. Finished the floor board section under the seat, Cut out and shaped the ****** cover. Cleaned up and sandblasted the toe board. Everything bolts down, so I can remove it if needed. I will take the toeboard out tomorrow, patch the holes from the original floor shift, clutch, brake, etc, paint it and hopefully move on to the wiring.
Walt, Funny how threads get hidden away in the everyday din on the HAMB. Great progress on the coupe. Nice work as usual. Charlie
Laid out the wiring harness a couple of days ago and was getting ready to mount the fuse panel under the cowl on the drivers side, but I wanted to make sure it would be easily accessable. Needed to be able to see it clearly with the steering colum in so I looked at where I thought I would put the column, but realized that I couldn't get from the steering box to the column shaft without moving the column down to clear the engine and exhaust manifold. So I am going to have to finish patching the toeboard and put the column hole further down on the toeboard than I had thought. It was getting late and I didn't want to start welding the toeboard up, so I thought I would at least string the wires to the rear along the floor and into the trunk. This is when I lost focus and, as usual, became totally distracted. View attachment 1534500 Opened the trunk and remembered that the previous owner had used 1/2" foam for insulation. So out came the multi-tool from Sear's and out came the foam. Then had to clean up the trunk and spent time thinking about battery placement, wiring routing, a girl I dated in 1982, some more thinking about the girl and finally gave up for the night. Next morning, I started back to the wiring project. But I needed to finish bolting down the floor boards. Turns out the muffler's that the previous owner had installed where in the way and I noticed the exhaust pipes had gangarine on each side above the rearend. So, distracted again, I removed the mufflers and the remaining exhaust system. Now I had a clear view of the underside of the floor boards. The original rear must have thrown gear lube, so out came the degreaser and I cleaned the underside of the car. Everything was in good shape under the grime. Apparently the PO had done a frame off and all the paint on the underside was in great shape. Now, just as I finished cleaning up and was going to get back to bolting down the new floor boards and the wiring, I looked over and remembered I had not figured out a top shock mount system. About this time the wife let me know I was done for the day. View attachment 1534504 Today, I didn't even think about the wiring. Went right to the shock mount. Made a cardboard pattern for the 1/4" steel piece that I will have to box into the frame above the rearend to mount the top of the shock to. Then I cut a piece of 1" wood 2 1/8" wide which is a little larger than the width of a shock. With the car on the ground at ride hight I measured the distance between the middle of the already installed bottem shock mount and the middle of where I thought the top mount should go on my eventual boxing plate (16"). I then cut the wood piece 2" longer or 18" and drilled a 5/8" hole in each end of the wood, 1" in from the end. Got out my small level and my angle finder. View attachment 1534505 I wedged the carboard pattern for the boxing plate into the frame over the rearend then slipped the wood over the bottem shock mount. I stuck a sharpie through the top hole and rotated the wood piece forward scribing a line on the cardboard boxing pattern. Then I took my angle finder, put it against the front edge of the wood piece and rotated it slowly forward again, marking where the shock hole would go at 20, 30 and 40 degrees. I will have the local steel fab shop cut me the boxing plates using the cardboard pattern. A visit to my local NAPA and a look through their shock book should allow me to find a set of shocks that will work. Then with their exact extended and compressed measurements, I can drill the holes in the boxing plates for the top shock mount and weld it to the frame. With several holes at different angles I can adjust the amount of cushion. Maybe tomorrow I will get to the wiring
Reposting pictures. I've got to remember to post pictures and then edit in the explination. Posting the explination initially seems to take to long and I loose the picture post I used the angle finder to set the angle on the forward edge of the wood. I used the level pn the side wide side to make sure the wood(subs***ute for the shock)will be straight up and down from the bottom mount to the top mount
No pictures today. I have put a lot of time in but not enough progress to warrant pictures yet. Haven't done much with the wiring. Have pulled the toe board out a half a dozen times to patch the holes. Probably would have been quicker to make a new one, but it had some bends at the bottem that form a lip for the front floor board to sit on and I wasn't sure I could duplicate it with the tools I have. Have all the holes patched now and will probably paint the toeboard tomorrow. I will end up cutting a hole in it about half way down for the steering column but I need to figure out the master cylinder and brake pedal location first so I can figure out the exhaust routing and not end up with the steering shaft between the M-II box and the column being a problem. Got on line and pulled up the Monroe web site so I could look at what was available in shocks. I have a really good NAPA store locally with older guys who are mostly ex mechanics, bodymen and race car builders so you don't always have to have a part number. Unfortunately, someone made off with their book that lists shocks by mounting type, compressed length, extended length, etc. I googled Monroe and was able to copy off the charts. I droped a copy off at NAPA and the counter guys were happy for the replacement. I ended up ordering a set of Monroe 31000 which translated into a NAPA regal ride gas shock (94008). 19.5" extended and 12 compressed. So, I will have 7.5 inches of up and down. As explained in an earlier post, I will have 16" between the mounting studs at ride hight, so that will give me 4" of down side shock and 3.5 of extended. Since the distance between the mounting studs goes to 19" when the car is off the ground on the lift(i.e. the rearend is hanging free) I will still have 1/2" of shock left on the up side. The distance between my axle housing and the frame is 4.75" at ride hight, but the rubber bumper is 1.75". So the axle can push up towards the bumper 3" before contact. Given that I have 4" of travel on the bottem side I will have an extra inch and I don't think the axle will compress the rubber bumper that much so I shouldn't have to worry about botteming out. By the way, I was going to order some new stock rubber bumpers for my 50 Ford and it looks like the mounting holes are exactly the same as on my 33 and the curvature of the frame is almost identical. That's how I came up with the 1.75 inch thickness of the bumper. Ordering two sets now. I think I can use the stock emergency brake floor handle. I will need to fab a mounting bracket to come off the p***enger side X member. Another item to go on my to do list. On these early Mopar's, or at least on mine, there is a gap between the inside of the cowl and where the toeboard fastens. It is about 1/4" at the top and about 1 1/2" wide by the time it gets down to the flat floor. This will let water and road **** splash up into the inner cowl behind the kick panels. There is a channel that runs the length of the toeboard onthe edge of the mounting strip on each side to set your kick panel in to hold it so you can't just add a piece. Instead I made a triangular panel to fit under the toeboard going down to the frame and back to the firewall. This should keep the elements out and also engine heat. I will post some picture of this in the next couple of days.
Pictures to go with the previous post. You can see the triangular opening below the side brace that holds the toeboard. This will be below the toeboard so it is open to engine compartment and since the exhaust will p*** just outside the opening under the toe and floorboards engineand exhaust heat, as well as any water,etc from the road can blow up into this opening. This is looking from the top of the brace. Gap between it and the side of the cowl will let all the above blow up between the cowl side and the kick panel. Made a cardboard pattern. Transfered it to some 18 guage. Bent over the top edge so it will lay between the brace and the toeboard edge. Drilled a couple of holes on the top fold over where the toeboard bolts down to the brace so the filler panel will be held in place. Also will use a couple of self taping screws along the bottem to hold it there. Had to use the bead roller to put an indented lip at the bottem to match it up with the frame which sits a little inboard of the toe board brace. This is the other side. They are not mirror images, so I had to make a separate pattern and filler panel for this side. No posts for the next week or more. Going to the LA Roadster show. First time, and have really been looking forward to it.
Well, I'm back from LA. What a great show. I only remember seeing one 33/34 mopar there. It was in the first building--suade palace---a Ply coupe. These cars are either rarer than I thought or Cal is fixated on 32-34 Fords. My friend Ken and I went out a couple of days early and stayed a couple of days after. Went south along the coast before the show and north up through the Mts and back to the coast towards Big Sur after. Lots of beer in local bars and some good food. Spent the first couple of days back catching up on stuff for the wife. Finally got back in the shop last night and started routing the wiring. Spent more time thinking about where than actually doing it. Will post more pictures when I get something worthwhile to show. Please feel free to add comments to this post or ask questions.
Got back on boxing the frame over the rearend and installing the upper shock mount this week. Will post pictures later. Had the 48 pickup(pictures in earlier post here) I built for the wife in for upholstery. Upholsterer calls me and tells me he has it done, but he drilled a 1/8" hole in the roof of the cab when installing the last retaining screw in the headliner. He aways has been a straight up guy and is going to have it fixed at his cost and cut me slack on the upholstry cost, but it took the edge off this weeks incentive to work on the 33, not counting the trips to check out the damage, talk with his body man and back to furnish the custom mix paint.
I'm debating what to do about the steering column and wheel. As I think I mentioned before, the previous owner had restored the car, but converted it to 12 volt and added a late model steering column (Ford of unknown origin). So, I don't have an original to work with. I have a mid-70's Firebird floor shift column which I am thinking about using. Advantages are I have it, it is compatable with an EZ wiring harness/kit I have on the shelf, it is tilt and it has built in turn signals and dimmer switch and, since it its a floor shift column I don't have to worry about plugging a column shifter hole. Disadvantage is it is modern (i.e. bigger around) and, if I find an older Dodge steering wheel, I will have to do some machine work. Or I could go with one of the basic steel repops from ididit. Still have to do machine work if I want an older wheel, add a strap on turn signal, floor dimmer switch, etc. OK, before someone says go to the salvage yard and get an old 30-50 column and do the conversion work, I have been looking for an older Dodge wheel for about a year with no luck and the uptick in s**** prices has left nothing in the yards here older than mid 90's. I haven't been in any hurry, given the other work that needs to be done on the coupe, but the point is approaching where I am going to have to make a decision on the column.
Surely someone on here has what you need. Post up what you're looking for exactly and maybe something will show up. Come on people lets help find it for him!
Fat 47: I have a spare '32 Plymouth column and wheel that I'd be willing to donate to the project if you're interested. Let me know if you might want it.
Thanks for the offer Ezdusit. I have sent you a PM. For those of you who haven't checked out Ezdusit's build thread listed at the end of his message to me, you need to do it. It is really impressive.
Following up on post # 78, I transfered the cardboard pattern to some 1/8" sheet steel to use as the boxing plate above the rear wheel. I then transfered the hole locations from the cardboard to the 1/8". Three holes at 18, 25 and 32 degrees angel from the bottom shock mount. The greater the angle, the less efficient the shock. So, for 18 degrees you have about a 97 % efficiency; 25 = 93; 32 about 85. Then I cut some 1/4" stock to exactly match the 1/8" plate from top to bottom and a width that would be 1" wider than the distance between the outside shock mt holes I was going to drill. I clamped the two pieces together, drilled 1/4" pilot holes, slipped in some 1/4" bolts tightened them and proceded to weld the reinforcing piece to the back of the boxing plate on each end of the 1/4". I now had 3/8" of plate total, which should be enough to hold the top shock mt firmly. I drilled the 3 holes out to 5/8. I did primer the plates before welding to prevent rust. The 1/8 and 1/4 are exactly the same from top to bottom, so when I wedge the piece into the frame opening, they both are press fit into the frame opening. I welded self locking nuts on the back side, so I can change the angle of the shock if I need to. I will start with the top mt in the middle hole. I will put 5/8" fine thread bolts in the other two to add strength and to keep the threads clean. This is what the shock looks like mounted at ride hight. I will weld the plates in place to the frame this week and finish paint them. Oh, and I did order the 49-54 Ford rubber bumpers that attach to the frame over the axle. They are part # B6A-5783-A from Mac's and should bolt right into the holes already in the frame.
The Jalopy Journal
