I got the last of the floors tacked in today; now I just need to go around and finish welding the seams. I bought the replacement bolt in panel that goes in the drivers side floor. It gives you great access to everything when it's out. After a lot of thought I also decided to go with a small block instead of the flathead. I plan on driving this a lot so I think a few more beans will make it more enjoyable. Nothing big, just a 318 with a bigger cam and some standard bolt ons, along with this Dakota 5 speed I picked up yesterday. It should make a nice cruiser.
I got one rocker welded in tonight. Not too bad of a fit for a cheap re-pop. The curve wasn't a perfect match so with a little persuading I got a decent fit and the door gaps are acceptable. The doors close nice and solid, too.
Good to see one of these being done. My dad has one just like it, and out of his many cars it's one that gets mentioned in regards to scrapping. It's solid too, but these things aren't in great demand.
Yeah, I kind of took a liking to them because you can find decent ones for a good price. Lowered, chopped, and shave the handles and it still makes a nice affordable custom even though it is a moredoor. I figured I'd rather build a budget rod than no rod. I need to win the lottery.
My grandson was over yesterday and wanted to help so we decided to start looking at what it would take to put the 54 dash in. After measuring we found it was about 2" too long so he helped me strip it down and we figured out a good spot to narrow it. Also, the 54 was a lot deeper on top and rounded at the back. I took the 51 dash and cut the top off to use as a pattern. Then I traced it on the 54 dash and cut it out. It fits nice; I'll just have to make some small filler panels for the ends and it will be ready to prep for paint. My grandson thinks the car should be orange; I'll have to think about that one. He already talked me into going with a V8 instead of the flathead. <!-- / message --><!-- attachments --><!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
I got the other rocker in tonight. They really did a crappy job when they stamped this one out. I couldnt get the front and rear body line to line up so I got the front lined up and the rear as close as it would go. I'll fix it later whenever I get around to painting the whole car. At least it's at the bottom where it's not noticeable when the car is on the ground. Now to grind the welds, some skim filler, and some primer.
She's back on all four feet and I pulled the 318 out of the parts pile. New cam & lifters, timing set, oil pump, and gaskets came in the mail today for it.
Not sure why these pictures are turning out so grainy, I guess my camera has about had it. Anyway, I finshed a few welding spots and wire brushed all the old paint off the floor to start fresh. Next step on this is a coat of etching primer and some seam sealer followed by a topcoat but im going to take a break from the floors for a bit and start pulling the front clip apart and putting the drivetrain together. My back needs a break from all that bending over.
yours looks killer! keep us posted on the progress. by the way, i need a few small items if you're parting out the '49...
cool project. how was the 8.8 swap? my 51 chrysler chewed up the ring gear pretty good, thinking about a ranger swap
Subscribed! I've got a 51 Plymouth cranbrook belvedere 2-door hardtop...it's rough but is a solid west Texas car. I also have a 403 wedge motor that was once on an irrigation pump my grandfather had out in the field. Hmm. After the 59 apache is done I may combine those two. Looking forward to following your build!
Cool, glad to see there are other old Mopar fans with similar projects out there. The 8.8 swap was a piece of cake; length was perfect. Mine came from a 2001 Explorer.
Lots done today; I got the front clip apart, motor pulled, powerwashed the front of the frame, pulled all the suspention, and cut out the old crossmember. Tomorrow we start cleaning it up to get ready for a trial fit on the motor once it's together.
I got the frame cleaned up today; this has to be the dirtiest job there is when doing a build. It took about 4 hours with a heavy wire wheel on an angle grinder. I had cleaned and painted all the suspension parts on the 49 and it's the same parts so It'll all go on here. From this point it's almost all reassembly; that's a nice point to get to.
Doesn't look like much yet. I was going to do a basic re-ring but the bearings look like they were just put in and the cylinders still have visible hone marks so I'm going with it as it is. I did get a new oil pump, timing set, and stuck in one of Summit's mild street/strip cams. The only thing i could find wrong was two freeze plugs with pinholes rusted in them and some gunk in the cooling passages. I popped all the plugs out and flushed out the block so it should be good to go.
Yep, it's always good to crack open an old engine you got cheap and find that it's still got a lot of life left.
Got my shortblock buttoned up, now to lap the valves and replace the seals before I bolt the heads on.
Reminds me of the 360 I built for my '79 Dodge Pre-runner PU. It came out of my good pal's '78 3/4 ton Dodge with 200K miles on it. My brother temporarily put it in his Dart for about a year (don't know the mileage) He damaged the oil pan plug one night and it always leaked, told me "I put oil in it when it starts makin' noise" Well when I finally got it I expected the worst - It only had .0005 taper in the cylinder walls, bearings were worn but the crank mic'd good. Threw the block in the hot wash tank, ringed and bearinged it, did a valve job on some police heads I had, threw it together with a .268 duration cam, 340 intake and headers... it ran goood. Hell I even left in the original cam bearings!
Yeah, I bought this one off Craigslist for $100. It was laying on it's side in an old shed with a couple of exhaust manifolds bolts broke off in the head. The seller said it had ran pretty good so I figured it was worth the gamble at that cheap of a price.
Thanks, your hardtop looks killer. This car is really solid so Im tossing around the idea of a two door conversion or a chop or possibly both after it gets some good road time.
The Jalopy Journal
