I'm kind of excited. I just picked up a 48 Dodge Custom Coupe the other day and I can't wait to get working on it. It's an original Michigan car (it means a lot if you live in Michigan) with 55K original miles. I'll try and ad pics to this thread as the project comes along over the next couple of years (while still driving it as much as possible). My inspiration, for the completed project , will be a blend of Ryan's 40 Ford and this thing (the car, not the girl): Since I haven't got started yet, if anyone has any really good ideas or pics to post then please let me know. I need all the help I can get
What a knock out, man I love that front overrider on the front bumper and the factory spotlight is awesome. I would clean this baby up and roll with that sweet patina for a spell. Great original fulll wheel discs, all the trim on this car is first cabin, shine it and love it. Fab score bro. ~sololobo~
http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=2 You will like this forum for general knowledge....not much in the way of customs though.
Nice man! You're car is also similar to what I have in mind. I plan to lower mine (obviously). It looks like you did the same. How low did you go? I assume it's only an inch, but I may be wrong...??? If you did, did you chop the front springs or do somthing else? I plan to just use blocks in the back.
that's a nice looking car. when i bought my '52 chrysler wagon, the guy i bought it from was also trying to unload a '48 dodge. he was wanting $16K for it, though, so it was way too rich for my blood.
I have had my 48 Dodge Club Coupe since January 2011 and I am starting to tinker with her. My Dodge needs brakes, floor boards and a gas tank just to drive her. The engine runs well and I did driver her into the garage from the trailer. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your progress.
what a cool car. my dad has a 48 ford coup.. and i just cant dig it like he dose.. your dodge tho.. sweet. wow, just checked out the mopar forum link.. good thing i have no desire to join it as i do not own a ( so called )real email.. have not used a isp given email in over 15 years iv changed my ISP so many times over the years.. i would have lost touch with everyone.. .. hotmail, and gmail only.. trip policy. chris.
Alrighty then... So I guess this the start of my official build thread. Michigan winter is here and the car is now in the garage and going up on jackstands. I'm pretty excited to dig in, but also a little scared about what I might see under there (hehe). My biggest fear is cost. I'm not a rich guy, so I have to try and keep this all on the cheap like any of my previous (non-HAMB friendly) projects. I'm gonna ask some pretty stupid questions on here from time-to-time, but I'll appreciate some honest answers and criticism. My first questions is in regards to lowering this bitch. My last ca I used blocks in back and just turned down the tortion bars. Cheap and easy and it looked pretty damn good when I was done. I plan to use blocks in back on this car too, but I also realize I have to cut the coils on the fron of this car. It's my first time cutting coils and I'm kinda freaked out about it. I'd love to go 3" all the way around. When I pull the coils, how much of the coil do I cut to get the desired 3" drop? I'm not against trial and error, but I don't want to pull the front apart more than I have to. I need to salvage what I can becasue a front-end rebuild kit, for this car, is too rich for my blood.
I am a member of both the H.A.M.B. and the P-15 D24 Forum and have no problems posting on either site. Both are very informative although the P15 D24 site is not entirely H.A.M.B. friendly as quite a few of us run disc brakes, late model rear ends etc. But most of us are open to all modifications, some are purest. Several members of this site that have old MoPars also belong to the P-15 D24 forum and will try to answer any question you might have. Its the best flat head MoPar site around.
Check out Fireball's car! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...a.487362205468.304258.607210468&type=1&ref=nf
Hard to say how much to cut your coils since they are up to 63 years old if they are original and there is no way to know how much they have sagged over the years. On my 48 Plymouth Coupe I took of right at one full coil. It was not a 3 inch drop, probably more like 2 inches. The front suspensions on the old Mopars are very easy to pull apart so the trial and error method to get you where you want to be is not that big a deal. You don't even need a spring compressor. Drop the sway bar leaving the bolts hanging from the crossmember, but leave bar attached to the control arms at the ends. Unbolt the bushing retainers and let it drop down which removes a lot of resistance when you lower the control arm. Use a floor jack under the lower control arm near the spring pocket area, just barely compressing the spring. Remove the lower outer pivot pin. Lower the jack while pulling the kingpin support outward at the bottom for more room. Two rubber cups (grease seals) will come out or may stick to the upright support. Save them and mark which came from the front and which came from the rear they are different. As you slowly lower the jack, the control arm drops removing all tension from the spring. You can now take ahold of the spring and push it upward into the upper pocket and then pull it out. You might need to pry down on the lower arm a tad to get the spring out. Once you have cut (from the top) the spring , stick it back in with the cut end up making sure to reinstall rubber spring silencers. Rotate the spring to fit the bottom spring end into the spring pocket in the bottom arm. Raise the arm slowly with the jack until the holes in the control arm and the support line up. Thread in the pivot pin. Once it starts to engage the threads, stop and reinstall the two grease seals you removed / marked earlier. You can use a putty knife to helps keep the grease seals in place as you line up and thread the parts together. Once you have the pin all the way through torque it to 100 to 110 ft lbs. Another thing you can do is Remove the lower control arm and cut the spring mounting plate off of the top of it. It's just held on with a few rivets. There's a brace on the bottom of the arm, cut this off, too. Trim the edge of the spring mount bracket so that it can be relocated to the bottom of the control arm and will sit flush. Weld into place. Attached the lower spindle to it while doing it to keep everything straight
Thanks for all the info, hkestes! I finally plan to get working on it this week. I've had too many things in my way to get it done by Feb, but I finally have time to focus on this one project. Thanks and I'll post some pics after it's done. My goal now is to have it complete by our spring thaw in May (just so I can start driving it again) and be able to enter it the Sins of Steel show this year. <SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_7152266", true); </SCRIPT>
Great that you are saving another old MoPar, not enough of them out there IMHO! That chick is smokin'.......great set of bumpers !!!
Dig it! Great looking car, and I agree with Sololobo, that overrider and spot are killer. What color you thinking?
I have to agree with some of the comments, leave the patina, freshen the flathead up especially if you have OD, maybe add some hop up goodies and Mellowtone glass packs. It's a nice looking car. My '54 Ford is a Michigan car and had 50K original miles on it and in good shape when I picked it up three years ago in IN. I have some work to do but reasonable. You'll have fun with this Mopar. If you have to ditch the flathead try a 225 slant six and a 904. Cheap, reliable, and durable power. Cheers, Jim
Nice ride. I agree with the others, leave the patina for now and drive it EVERYWHERE! I've got a 48 dodge business coupe (same body as the black and white pic), its got 69xxx miles on it and we drive the wheels off it, did I mention it still has the original drivetrain down to the fluid drive trans.
Thanks for all the feedback, guys! I just got in from the garage. I got the springs cut and installed. It really was too damn easy I think I may go a bit lower still, but I kinda dig the stance it has after the cut. My next step is just to repaint the wheels black, get some white walls, and maybe some original dodge baby moons to replace the full caps I have. I'm gonna leave the patina for now, but long-term is to repaint it black (non-metallic lacquer look). The front end has grown on me so I may keep it all there. I'm still just not a fan of the spotlight. I may sell that to fund other stuff I need/want for the car. After the wheels and tires are done I'm just gonna drive the hell out of it this summer and work on it little-by-little. I'll post some more pics after I get the wheels and tires done. Sent from my iPhone using TJJ app
Actually I used the instructions posted on here earlier on this thread. Just make sure you have the jack under the lower control arm when you pull the lower steering knuckle bolt out. I cut a coil and a half start and it wasn't too low. Sent from my iPhone using TJJ app
Project update: Back in the garage. I have the gas tank out and all interior trim out. Going to work today on making new floor sections where they are needed. Only a couple. Sections in the front and an area behind the back seat. I'm also going to weld in a section of square-stock between the frail rails that I can use to mount something they call "seatbelts" in the back seat to keep my kids a bit safer. After that, I'll be pulling the rear axle and mocking up the new ride height. Once the rear is set, then I'll probably take a bit more out of the front springs to make it nice and level. Gas tank will be going to a stripper soon so I can reseal and paint it. Gonna throw the seats back in and drive the shit out of it for the rest of the summer. Il post more pics as soon as I can.
This would be an oppurtune time to replace the rear axle with a newer unit having better brakes, disc or drum... .
I love that body style, and am planning on a business coupe for my next build. James D did these photoshops for me, with `53 Chevy rear fenders and the side chrome from the same car, same thing second pic, with a chop and a blower with Enderle bug catcher. I think these mods would work good on the club coupe too! Good luck with the build, I look forward to seeing it!
The Jalopy Journal
