Hot Rods 1937 Dodge Ol Bessy is Coming Home....redux

That steering wheel looks familiar? Grant? If so, the sliding horn contact seems to be a weak spot with them. Mine gave me quite a jolt when I turned on the left turn signal the other day. That will wake you up in the morning! The horn contact has gotten loose in the socket it sits in and is cocking side to side as I turn. As far as I can tell, Grant doesn't sell the horn button parts separately for this wheel. Probably gonna just buy another one, as this ones getting close to needing a refinish. That way I can refinish it and my dash together and they'll match! Also thinking about reinforcing the plastic piece that holds the contact by filling the bore it fits down into with some JB Weld or RTV. The trick is you can't get it on the wire, it has to be free to slide up and down as it moves over the slip ring in the column. Thinking about sliding a small straw or something over it.

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Forever sharp wheel going on a grant 3 bolt adapter

 

Back from a great quail hunt. Dad and I checked the new fan and we need an inch so....sheet metal back off and radiator back out tomorrow to find the space!

 

Found the needed room by moving the cross brace and radiator forward 1 3/4 inches. Not sure I like the high mounted alan grove alternator bracket. Belt wrap on the water pump is about 25% of diameter so I installed a double alternator pulley. If it slips, I'll get or make up a passenger side alternator mount to try to get more wrap over the pump pulley.

 

Radiator and fan are in neat and clean.

 

Merry Christmas Sharpes 40 this is looking really good so happy for you and your Dad!

 

Merry Christmas!!

 

Dad. Started routing the steering linkage. Waiting on another support bearing and thevcolimn drop bracket but looking like gentle angles and plenty of space.

 

Dad,

Progress on a lot of little things. Motor sitting in there and I really want to fire it off but it ain't like stickin one in a daily driver. So many little things to attend to first.

Rather than cobble together bits and pipes and elbows, I decided to go ahead and raise the radiator one inch. Got that half done today, finish it in the morning. No worries, plenty of room to get the radiator cap on and off and now the simple addition of a flexible lower hose (rather than a multi piece hose) will clear the fluid pipes on the power steering rack.

Got the steering column installed at the top and will finish locking it down at the firewall tomorrow. Looks good, a 28 inch unit was the perfect length, stainless with tilt. Its centered on the gauge panel and running within 1/16 inch of true. I'll probably trim the lower end of the column shaft to ease the angles on the joints a bit but all are well under 35 degrees. The tightest clearance is 3/8 inch and so, none of the shafts or joints will bump into stuff.

Nearly a full day was spent fitting the steering wheel to the column. Everything is universal/generic fit which means, make it fit yourself. It all bolted up okay but there was no room for the horn button. I needed 2 milimeters so.....out came the hand tools and got the top of the shaft trimmed, the retention nut thinned and the adapter fitted for full spline contact. Also had to fix the horn contacts as they were too short and no continuity.......so, shorten some parts, lentghen others and I picked up 3.5 mm of room inside the horn button. Final assembly is pending and so is final test, but I am confident we'll have a horn button in the center of that pretty Steering wheel that sounds off when you want it to.

Found some down pipes for the exhaust manifolds, waiting on exhaust doughnuts to fit them up then perhaps modify a Chevy truck y-pipe so I can get a start on exhaust.

Looking at and modifying a battery box to sit on the passenger side frame behind the front wheel. Clearances look good but will require trimming the inner fender panel and making a heat shield.

Front joints on the steering rack are installed, shaft fitted and a support bearing installed. Once the column is locked into position and I receive another support bearing, I'll make up the final shaft on the steering. Power steering hoses should be here in a day or so and I have already installed the 2 gallon per minute flow valve that will let us use the chevy power steering pump on a ford steering rack.

Still don't like the Alan Grove alternator mount. Nice piece but not much belt contact at the waterpump due to the high position of the alternator....but Old Bessy is sharp nosed and there just aint' much room on the passenger side. I've added double pulleys to double the belt contact and I'll try a longer belt. But if it slips I'll have to get jiggy cuttin up the existing mount and see what can be done to lower the alternator so as to wrap the belts across more of the water pump pully. I wish there was an idler pully I could modify, put on with a longer belt and so have more contact around the pump.

I can see the end.....lots of work but the jobs go fast and Ol Bessy ain't fighting me too much.

 

Dad,

Stainless tilt steering column is finally in....for the last time. Moved it left 1/2" to line the center up with the gauge panel. I suppose the factory column sat off center due to the 19" steering wheel. This one is 15" and the shift not only looks better, it makes a bit more room for brake and gas pedals and slightly eases the angles on the steering shaft joints.

Spent the better part of a day chasing the electrical fault in the horn wire. Did a partial disassembly and tested each part of the horn circuit from top to bottom through all of its several connections within the button, hub and base. Finally found the main fault when tugging on the wires......bad crimp at the column base connector.....re-crimped and it works great now. I suppose I'll pull, check and crimp every wire on the new column now to make sure nothing else is loose. Sure is a lot of work on these universal fit parts but, satisfied in the end.

Oh yeah, the position of the wheel? Very nice! Gonna make for a smooth ride.

 

Dad,

She steers. A bit of movement in the flat bar that I used for a bracket on the one steering support bearing. Guess I'll have to remake it with a welded gusset. But no binding and the right hoses are on the way.....I ordered the wrong ones first time out. Been kinda trying figuring out what all parts the shop used, no list of parts, just look at em and guess mostly. Guessed wrong this time!

 

Dad,

No photos today but lots of work done. Took a break from all things motor to work on the front suspension now that much of the weight is on the car. Overall, front bumper dropped 1.75", measuring the body mounts at the cowl shows a 3/4" drop and the frame angle changed from 0 degrees/dead level to 1 degree down. All this with the removal of 1/2 coil from the front springs.

Still need to drop her more as the shocks indicated, at full extension they remain about 1/4 below the top mounting point. Also, the lower control arms leveled out from 21 degrees to 15 degrees down angle, we'll want them slightly down angled if not parallel to the ground with all the weight on, so a bit more trimming of the springs, perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 coil should do it in combination with the deeper of the two bottom spring mount points.

Bessy got mad at me for all the cutting today and she spit her drivers side coil spring at me while I was compressing it. Hit my knee and hurt a bit. Then she apologized and let me put the spring back in. Since there is another spring cut to do, I think I'll acquire a spring compressor to prevent launching one from under the car again. Bessy is okay, so is my knee.

Loosened up the top mounts on the suspension and roughly set the caster and camber. Wheels are about 1 degree in at the top and the top ball joint is slightly behind the lower now, sitting at an angle of about 3 degrees. Good enough till all the weight is on, final spring trim is completed, then recheck and readjust.

Set the tie rod ends at equal length and bolted them up. I had 2 inches of toe in so adjusted them equally to 3/16" toe in with the rubber on the rear of the tire equal distance from the frame rails. So, pretty much set up as she needs to be for the first drive. Now have to go back to the steering wheel and get it straight up. By the way, nice rack on the car.....steering is quick, 1 full turn from center gets you hard left or hard right....should handle nicely.

Ordered the wrong power steering hoses, so, they go back and the right ones are on the way this week.

Finished up the steering column mechanical connections and made up a cover plate for the big giant hole the shop drilled in the firewall (in the wrong place I might add) when they were thinking about installing the steering. It looks fine and will be hidden below the brake system.

Brake system.....measurements indicate a floor mounted master and booster would fit, the pedal however, will not......engine and transmission position will interfere with the pedal stroke and preclude hiding the brake system below the floor board.

More measurements indicate a completely hidden brake system under the dash may well fit. However, durn difficult to fill and service the system and leaves no room at all for heat and/or air conditioning.

So....cutting some pie plates to size and fiddling with tape and markers show the best location for the power brakes is the traditional one, up on the fire wall in the engine bay. Plenty of room there.

 

Dad,

Ordered the next to last of the big parts. Brake cylinder/pedal and power booster is inbound, so is an exhaust head pipe that could work for us. Last big part to get is a drive shaft. So, walking around the car and getting on to the littler stuff.

Got an idea for a stiffer and simpler steering bearing bracket. Started it today, will finish it this week.

Started pulling the wiring together for the front of the car, firewall forward. Some needs to be routed and connected before the brakes go in place on the firewall as the harness will run behind those parts. Pinned the wires for the steering column and hooked up those seven leads for turn signals, hazards, horn and ground. Laid in the 150 amp main fuse for the harness and got leads run for the alternator and starter. (awaiting the shifter so I can hook up reverse and neutral safety).

Finally finished up playing musical fan belts. Had to do many modifications to the Alan Grove bracketry on the front of the motor so it would fit a Dodge. As such, the recommended belt lengths were no longer suitable. Measuring around the pulleys yielded belts variously too short and too long. After a number of trips and belt exchanges, I've setteled on 39 inches for the power steering and 50 inches for the waterpump/alternator. Got pretty good contact around the water pump pulley, some adjustment remains in the brackets to take up any stretch after the run in and I think it'll work

Pulled the leads forward for the headlights and horns. Didn't hook them up yet, as I'll finish wiring the engine first. Since we are running halogen headlights, I'll be installing relay switches to keep the high ampherage away from the dash and switches. It'll also ensure full power go's to the lights as there will be no loss through the switching or long leads.

Straightened up the steering wheel on the column.

Found some exhaust doughnuts that fit the Flowtech Rams Horn exhaust manifolds.

Gathered up a battery box, just gotta decide where to put it. If the exhaust head pipe works out, we'll be running a single exhaust down the drivers side. In that case, I'll either mount the battery under the passenger side fender or perhaps mimic the factory installation by simply moving the battery from the floor under the drivers seat to the floor under the passenger seat.

Ain't gotten around to thinking much on the emergency brake cables but after an initial look at the 87 Jimmy, its quite possible those cables can be run in reverse and serve for an ebrake for Ol Bessy. If so, a nice and inexpensive factory like solution.

 

Dad.

Started wiring the motor and power brakes arrived. Kenny stopped over to look at Bessy. Impressed I think. Several good pointers and as a lifetime professional mechanic, sees nothing out of place. He provided the gift of a drive shaft. Believe its out of a chevy truck and the front yolk should fit right up based on what I see in the reference data. If so, all we have to do is shorten it a few inches and make sure the rear u joint is the same one that go's on a 12 bolt rear end and we'll be in business for well under the price of a new custom made unit.

 

Dad,

I really don't like drilling holes in Ol Bessy. But some things are worth it. In this case, power brakes. Roughed in, fit is fine, plenty of clearance. I'll finish it tomorrow. Prolly have to shorten the brake pedal too but, for now..... And don't worry about that multi-color wiring.......I'll put it in black loom and it'll look much neater on the firewall.

 

Dad,

Good day working on Ol Bessy. Things are moving faster now with most of the big work completed.

Got the power master and booster/pedal assembly in place and locked down. Will fiddle with the pedal height after the floor is in. For now, the brakes are ready to be plumbed and juiced up. Looks like we'll have room for an acclerator pedal.

Checked the driveshaft we received. Back end will need shortened and either a transition joint of a larger joint for the 12 bolt. I think since we'll be shortening it, I'll just have it welded with a new yoke for the larger joint, easier to find if I ever need another out on a road trip.

Both exhaust head pipe and shifter remain on manufacturers delay. Maybe in a week or two we'll see them. Not sure how we'll work the exhaust, the fuel tank is offset to the drivers side, so all the room for the tail pipe is opposite, as you recall, factory outlet was down the passenger side. Will see, but I'm sure we won't be installing dual exhaust.

Completed wiring the motor. Hooked up the battery charger and run a test of the cars systems at 2 amps. Everything works. Electrically, all that remains to hook up are neutral safety, battery, headlights, front lamps/turns, horn, radio, cigar lighter, usb power taps, heater motor and fuel tank sender. It was nice to see all the lights working out back, the dome lamp inside and all the dash lights powered up and those turn/hazard signals blinking on the dash in green while the back end lit up the blue dot lenses.

I'll probably disassemble and cut coils on the front suspension again this month. My 180 lbs on the front bumper don't even flex the coils so, I'm sure the addition of 2 fenders, oil and water won't either. We are close enough to go ahead an approach final ride height out front.

 

Dad,


Ol Bessy is calling you....."I'm coming back, I love you."

 

Dad,

A bit hard to show in photos while the car remains in the garage. But, did the final tweak on the front springs. Bessy has a good rake down in the front. Center of rear bumper is 18" off the ground with the front sitting 3" lower at 15". Side to side, seems to be about equal. The front lower control arms changed from 16 degrees to 8 degrees and the springs went in real nice. (chained em this time so they wouldn't launch!) I think the front springs are about done now, need to get it driving and let them settle a bit. If we need to raise the front end later I can rotate the coils from the lower to higher pocket and pick up 3/4" or so of height on the front end. Bouncing up and down on the bumper is tiring but sure is neat to watch the springs and suspension work! I can still slide under the front of the running board, but its tighter by a good bit, no more using a rolling board!

Started the heater install. Spent all day looking for a place on the firewall but, no dice. With the 3" set back, just no room, even with the compact heater selected. So, since it has the old look, back down on the right side kick panel and just like the original, the new pipes will go out through the holes that got welded up.....figures.....gotta drill them back out!

Once the heater is done, I'll put in the trans cooler and start plumbing it up to the radiator. Will also remove, trim and finalize the transmission mount.

 

Heats in and tweaked a better angle for the steering joint.

 

Dad.

Check ride is getting very close.

Fuel line.

Brake lines.

Driveshaft.

That's lots of work but nearly to the point of switching from major work to fine tune all the parts to work together.

 

Set a fender and inner panel temporarily today to route wiring to lights. Stance looks great and tires clear the fenders.

 

Looking good should be proud of this build

 

I am. Still struggling with hi pressure steering hose. Gonna have to make one but gotta figure out the fittings, its confusing

 

Headlights...

 

Lookin good! I’m usually not too big of a fan of the bullet spider caps but I think they could look good on this if the other unilug holes didn’t show, just looking at the no cap pics you posted ,it looks good like that if it were more detailed in the lug nut area more like the true chrome reverse, but that’s just my .02 if your dad likes the baby moons best then that’s the only way it should be, I like it pretty good either way, carry on

 

Yep. Baby moon .

Finishing up the wires over next few days, then plumbing fuel and trans cooler.

Gonna try to have dad here for first start

Brakes and driveshaft last

 

Old school. Park lights out front are on only in park. E.g. front park lights off when headlights are on. Turn and flashers work all the time.

 

Dad

Finishing up all the electrical wiring this weekend
On the punch list is:

Install Battery and cables, Will be using the original under driver seat location.
Install new cigar lighter. I'll hang on to the original 83 year old lighter, still works but probably best from a fire safety perspective to retire it.
Install stereo. A nod to modern with blue tooth, navigation, text messages read to me by the radio, hands free phone calls, streaming music, USB charger/input and auxiliry music input, plus CD player (who but me still has cds, hell, I still have 8 tracks!)
Install heater switch.
Install USB Chargers and power taps.
Install stereo speakers.
Install fuel sender, after I clean the tank.
Hook up neutral safety.

After that, it'll just be hook up fuel, trans cooler and install fluids and I'll be calling you to come down for first fire on the motor. 20 minute break in at 2000 rpm, in the garage, no mufflers!

It'll be awesome cause we're going to fire it at 0530 hours and wake up all the women for celebratory AM Scotch and Cigars. (Fortunately the Army got most of your hearing and much of mine, so we won't know about all the bitching later!) Think about February, check your schedule.

PS, Gas pedal arrived. 87-01 Jeep Cherokee. Looks like a perfect fit for a flat firewall, two bolts to install. Uses a cable to the carbs. Easy peasy to modify, bend, etc for a perfect fit. Looks like stock too, not that loud billet aluminum stuff.

 

Dad,

Good progress on the final electrical bits. Finish it tomorrow and start working the go pedal.

New cigar lighter is in place, and as you recall, Bessy comes with a storage area for a pack of filter-less Camels just above the lighter.

Stereo, heater switch, power tap and fast/slow USB ports are installed in the glove box. Just awaiting speakers to install and wire up. I'll call you from the car as soon as I get a battery.

To the left of the instrument panel, the failed brake warning lamp is up top and the programming switch for the gauges is under neath it.

And finally, down on the lower right of the steering column is the gauge pod for the inbound Tachometer and sandwiched between the gauge pod and the dashboard is the microphone for hands free cell calls.

I installed the one gauge positive battery cable, crimped and soldered the terminals. I'll run the one gauge negative cable tomorrow morning. We'll be maintaining the battery in the factory location, under the drivers side front seat in the floor. I'll have to make a non-conductive lid with a seal but the cables run neatly and tight against the underside of the floor, up over the frame and transmission to the starter and ground on the passenger side.

Routed the neutral safety switch wiring over the inside of the firewall and down to the floor pan as we'll be using an above the floor mount shifter. Ran the other lead to the start terminal of the starter solenoid.

Probably get the go pedal installed tomorrow or Monday, then it'll be time to plumb the oil cooler for the trans. Then, we set a date in February to start it. Still won't be able to drive it but first ride ain't real far off either.

 

Small delay. Finished the wiring for start up. Disassembled front seat tracks to get em working and low and behold we are missing a number of body mount bolts. I'll finish the seat and then get the body properly secured!!!