So my buddy came by this week while I was in Dallas and pulled my motor for me. He said that since he had to rent a hoist for his Mustang he may as well pull my motor while he had it. Before After This then allowed my to get the front of the frame cleaned and painted. I was amazed at the amount of built up dirt and grime. I went through 2 cans of oven cleaner on the front plus degreaser and a massive amount of elbow grease with a scraper. And painted...
After it was painted and "dry enough", I started reassembling the front suspension. I replaced my worn out front springs with CC850's and relocated the spring plate from the top of the control arm to the bottom. I also installed new shafts and bushings while I was at it. They still need to be adjusted which I hope to get to soon. While I was annoying the neighbors I went ahead and trimmed the upper shock mounts in preparation for the shock relocation. I am planning on using Ford F1 front shock mounts that I will modify a bit in order to line up the shocks better. Next up is the disc brake conversion...
Man it looks awesome. Good job! I know it's a lot of work, but it makes me wish I could have done a complete resto on my project.
Yep, looks awesome. CM3112 was nice enough to invite me over to see the car live. I was amazed at how much progress one person could make in such a short period of time. The dude is a machine! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build.
Started test fitting the brakes at the end of last week. The conversion brackets are from Scarebird and so far it all seems to be going together quite well. I did decide to have wheel studs pressed into the original bolt locations. I should have those back this week.
One day I will get the hang of the Internet. I installed a new master cylinder as well but I am now thinking that a dual set up would be much better. Not sure if I should go with the ECI set up or the AJJ unit. I have heard of some potential issues regarding the ECI unit on the P15 forum, but the assembly sure looks good. Any feed back would be appreciated.
When I did my disc brake swap on my 48 I relocated the master cylinder to the firewall. I used a universal pedal, prop valve and manual disc/drum master cylinder from speedway and it works great. Not really a direct bolt in option but it was cheap and effective. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Nice work. I relocated the lower spring pocket on mine too, I'll be interested to see the finished ride height with the cc850's. Subscribed.
It appears that the two lower bolts on the adapter plate aren't making much purchase in the nuts. If it were mine I'd install longer bolts. Having another look it seems that the calipers on on the wrong sides. The bleeder valve should be near the top not the bottom. Other than those two points it's looking good!
I will check the bolts again once I torque them down. Thanks for the tip on the calipers! I will get that flipped real quick. I appreciate the feedback!
Wow...Awesome work so far. Looks like a solid car! I'll be following along. Good to see another p-15 build thread!
So between traveling for work over the last few weeks, rain and a lacrosse tournament for my son, I managed to find some time to work on the car. I decided to go from the stock master cylinder to a dual setup since I am running a disc/drum set up. Figured this would be safer in the long run. I ended up using an ECI dual master kit which includes a GM MC, a bracket and some hardware. I had read some reviews on the P15 site about the ECI kit and I can say that had I not read the experiences of those users, this install could have proved very frustrating. However, I was able to read through those installs and made mine a breeze. I began running the brake lines as well and will hopefully be able to finish those up over the next week or so.
So after a fairly hectic start to the week, I managed to put in some time in on the Plymouth yesterday and this morning. It helped that some parts finally came in and my hubs were finally ready. I painted the master cylinder bracket and the master cylinder, then reinstalled the unit. Next I had to finish the brake lines to the front. Do to the tight clearance between the MC and the frame I ordered some 90 feh banjo fittings from Pure Perfomance. Next up ... Front discs Now that I had the hubs back with the new wheel studs pressed, it was time to re-assemble the front discs. I had to clean up the spindles a bit Then I cleaned the wheel bearing with some gasoline and re packed them with grease. I also installed new dust seals on the back of the hubs. Now comes the fun part... And now the front wheels. I feel pretty good about the build so far. Obviously I still have a long way to go, but feels good nonetheless. The frame is not sitting as low as I expected, but I hope that it settled a bit more once the body and motor are back in. Hope everyone has a happy 4th!
I'm on board with most of the other followers. This is an under-rated body style and glad to see one getting "the treatment" Also very happy you are sticking with the stock power plant. Upgrade to the brakes, is a no-brainer. Thanks for sharing. Really wish I could have yanked the body off my Olds 98 project. It was a super clean California car and would have cleaned up, just as nice as your. JT
Definitely glad the frame had minimal surface rust. Ended up throwing the new radiator on just because. I will remove it one the motor is ready to be set back into the frame.
So I have some 49 Plymouth bumpers that are in pretty good shape. I went to test fit the rear bracket, and wouldn't you know, not a direct replacement. I know need to decide if I should modify the stock brackets and cut new mounting holes in the bumper or modify the 49 brackets and the 47 brackets (find a way to combine them) to make it work.
I also started test fitting the front. Same issue as the rear (not wide enough) but the front will be easier since it seems to fit on the inside of the front frame horns. Needed to trim the front a bit to get clearance I still need to grind down the edges and repaint the exposed metal. Now I just need to sand and paint the 49 bumper bracket then drill some new mounting holes in the front frame and bracket.
Well even though the bumpers looked really straight, they were slightly tweaked. So I abandoned the install for now until I can get them straightened. So I am moving on to some bodywork. Plan to weld the fender seams Plan to fill the plate and 3rd brake mount. I will get the handle shaved at some point once I can figure out a better latching mechanism. This it what came back to me after i got the car back. This will get finished up as well. Plan to fill all the unnecessary holes in the firewall I will also fill the original mirror mounting holes and relocate some swan neck mirrors down the road. I still have some rusted floor spots but not bad and I need the rear rockers replaced on both sides. The trunk pan and the bottom of the rear deck lid will need to be replaced as well. More to follow...
Do you know how the door lock/barrel come off? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/index.php?threads/My '47 3W Dodge build..960954/ My build.
I have not gotten that far yet. My initial thought is that it may be easier to replace the stock mechanism with a Bear Claw latch
What are your plans for the drive train? If the engine is stock (the engine number is on the flat casting boss above the generator just below the head to block join) it should start with P15. Which would be a 217.5 cu inch of 97 HP. However it was common in the day to engine swap these cars instead of doing a 75K mile rebuild. Also the color of the head and manifolds indicate it might be an aftermarket rebuilt unit like a Jasper or such. So post the engine number and that will give you some information. Also it could be a 230 as some of the rebuilds swapped internals crank and rods from the dodge engine which had a longer stroke (the only difference in the displacement) on the head, above #6 cylinder is a square headed pipe plug. If you remove this and insert a piece of stiff wire Make sure it about 8 inches long. You can measure the stroke, as the wire will ride the piston through its range of motion. 3 3/8 = 218, 3 5/8 equals 230. The rule of thumb here is if you hop up a 218 with intake exhaust etc. you end up withthe same power of a stock 230, If you build a 230, then you have something. My engine came from a 56 Plymouth which was a 230 which had nearly 8 to 1 CR while the old 218 had 6.7 to 1. The 56 engine was rated at 125 HP neat 30 more horses. I went .30 ove took .010 of the block and .040 off the head, added dual carbs. Chassis dyno showed 127 hp at the wheels at 3300 RPM. So do a bit of research and lets see what you are starting with. Also keep in mind the you rear end ratio is likely a 3.99 to one so cruising rpms will be in the 2800 to 3200 Rpm area with the stock trans. and rear.
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