funny, thats what i was thinkin Instead just a ford guy building a mopar powered by chevy - now whats up with that?!?!? haha, kidding aside, the 48 looks great, and an awesome story to go along with it - keep up the progress, are you still keeping in touch with the old guy that donored the ride?
Actually, that where the screen name came from. I had a 63 Falcon van that I put a 350/700r4 combo in a few years back. I traded it for a 64 Galaxie, which I sold to build a 70 Monte Carlo, which i sold to build a 48 Plymouth sedan, which turned into a 48 Plymouth coupe. Plus a few in between, of course.
Thanks! Before I decided to use the 5.3 I had a 4.6 DOHC Ford mod motor I was going to use because they resemble the old hemis. But they're really wide so I decided to make things a little easier. Mike (previous owner) and I are staying in touch. We go to church together so I bring him updated cell phone pics every week. I want him and his wife to take it for a weekend when it's done.
really great to see your progress on your car. the old owner will really get a kick out of cruising it one day.
I hope I can do it some justice; it's almost like being trusted with part of his family. I cant imagine owning a car for that many years and giving it up. Great guy with a heart of gold, for sure.
I spent most of my free time this week hooking up my compressor and dryer but I did get a bit of work on the other side of the floor started.
I finished buttoning up the other rocker after work today; now I just have to weld the floor all the way around. Here's a shot of what's left of the 48 Dodge I'm parting out. Hmmmmm......anyone see another hotrod lurking in there somewhere?<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
I havent got to work on this much lately but I did finally buy an intake/carb setup for the 5.3. It's an Edelbrock Performer RPM for the LS1 style engines with the MSD control box for the ignition. Also got a 625 CFM Road Demon. I've been stockpiling parts, hopefully will get back to work on it in a few months.
I havent updated this in a while; I gave myself a fathers day present and spent a few hours on the Plymouth. I had bought these patch panels for behind the doors so I got the right side cut out and tacked in along with replacing the inner structure. Also, here's my grandson pushing me on his bike. I tried to tell him I was too big but he insisted.
That's what it is all about. You definitely need to let them take it out for a day or two. That would seriously rekindle some sparks for the old love birds. Awesome thread!
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I see Mike (the guy that gave me the car) every Sunday morning so I keep updated pictures on my phone for him. He's really excited about seeing it come back to life. I've taken my time and tried to do a better job on this car than any of the ones I've done before. It's a real honor to be trusted with something that's been a part of someone's family for so long.
I picked up the 700 R4 transmission for the Plymouth from the shop; they built it with heavy duty internals, one of TCIs new constant pressure valve bodies, and a 2200 stall. he said it should be good for 500 hp which should be plenty. Next step is to redo the rack and pinion setup. I had a chassis shop look at it and tell me it wouldn't work the way I had it. They said it would have a bad bumpsteer problem so I went back to Fatman's Fabrications and got their mounts for a Cavalier rack. Then we can plumb the brake and fuel lines and get the drivetrain set in place. And clean off the 2" of dust, of course.
Time to redo the steering and hopefully get it right this time. I bought the brackets for the Cavalier rack from Fatman's. First thing is to cut off the other brackets I had made. The plus was that I found out my welds had penetrated pretty well. Here's everything cut off, the new rack, and a cool little sheet metal brake I picked up on clearance at the local farm & feed store for 50% off. I dont need it for this but I'm sure I'll find something to use it on. <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
Here we go; first real work in a year. I put a new inner and outer patch panel on the other side last year; now it's time for this side. Here's the old stuff cut out, new inner panel, and some rust inhibitor applied. Next we'll paint inside the panel and put the outer patch on.
It's funny how when Mike told me he was giving this to me and I looked at it in the garage I thought,"How in the world can a guy have a 40's 2 door coupe apart and not want to finish it?" Man, doing a car like this is nothing like taking some old beater and throwing in a big engine and a cheapie paint job. Even with starting with what I thought was a decent body; the commitment to get 65 year old sheet metal back in good shape to paint is huge. You definitely learn a whole new set of skills along the way. Looking at it as a whole is overwhelming so I decided to divide the body into quarters and concentrate on 1/4 at a time. I know this is going to take a few months to get all the way around the car and get it right so I'm mentally prepared for slow steady progress. When we brought this home from the blaster we ran into rain and it started to rust before we got home so I decided to spray the whole thing down with this green rust inhibitor I got from Advance. It did it's job of stopping the rust but the whole car looks like a giant glazed donut so part of the task is sanding all that crap off. I spent about 4 hours tonight sanding 1/4 of the car, finish welded my patch, and ground down several welds from previous patches. A couple questions: I have some All-metal body filler I was thinking of using to smooth out the joints where I did some patching. Can I just use this right on the bare metal or should I wait for the first primer coat and the use filler on top of that? Also, here's a shot of a factory lead joint by the rear window. It looks fine; can I just leave it or does something need to be done with it before top coating?
Congratulations See You young guys should be nice to the old guys.You may be surprised what they do with there old cars and parts. I had a old friend of mine that after he died left me his 27 model T coupe to build a hot rod.Its a keeper,never sell this one.When I die someone else will get it,just hope not the junk man.
Oddly enough, I like your engine choice. How did you decide on a 5.3? Is the computer completely eliminated with the msd box?
The Jalopy Journal
