Thanks! I bought a Mopar Performance seal this time and it fit much better. It's back together, running great, and no leaks! I also got my brackets cut to mount the front brake calipers. Those water jet machines sure make some slick cuts.
Now that I've got a running engine I figured I'd finish up the front end work since it's up on stands. I started trial fitting the Explorer front brakes tonight and everything worked out good. I needed some spacers between the new plate and the caliper bracket so I drilled the threads out of some 1/2" nuts and they worked real nice. Other than that it was pretty much a bolt on. Now to clean everything up, paint the brackets and put it back together for good. I've also got a heavy duty sway bar from a Grand Cherokee that looks like it will fit good once I make some mounts for it.
Thanks! Nice work on your 53, Cowboy1; I checked out you photo album. Looks like you had some serious cancer to tackle!
Yeah, It's been a slow process. I'm going to start on the floors this spring.I'll post more pictures then.
Dont feel bad, I have a 48 Plymouth coupe I've been working on since 2008. Just have to plug away at one area at a time.
Brakes and tie rods are on, now just need to run the brake lines to the calipers and I'm ready to bleed the system. He's the Jeep swaybar next to the original; about twice the diameter. It should help handling quite a bit.
Im all about cheap and simple, Larry! I finished plumbing the brakes tonight, just need to bleed them. I got some front shocks ordered so I fugure I'll wait until I've got them mounted before I mount the sway bar. I also found this cool old tach on Evilbay, I painted it to match the dash and I think it looks pretty spiffy.
One of the best sources of junkyard upgrades I've found yet thank you and I'll be using a few of your upgrades on my 49 special delux. I've already got the explorer rear end but didn't know about the front brakes, most conversions kits out there want a ton of money for the brackets and a list of other parts you need to buy. I would love to see some pics of the brackets installed, any more details on the set up would be appreciated as well.
I paid $90 to have my brackets cut. I'd be glad to post a few close up shots; I'll take some tonight whem I get home from work.
Did you use new springs or just cut down the factory? I've got a set of Aerostar springs on the way and I'm preparing to do the Exploder disc conversion on my 47. I really dig your work! And the dash/guages look great! philjafo check out the links below. Lower it cheap! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...?t=685246Heres a shock relocation on the cheap!http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...nts+moparHeres a disc brake conversion on the cheap!http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...?t=702258Heres the Cavilear R&P steering swap on the cheap!http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...ht=rack+pinion
I just cut down the stock springs; the frontend had been rebuilt with new springs before it was parked so everything was in pretty good shape. Thanks, i've checked out your build, too, and you did a great job.
Well, my 5 year old grandson decided it need a "fast" motor after I took him to a car show this fall. I had this 318 sitting around waiting for a home so I figured I'd let him make the call. Not that a 318 is "fast" but with the five speed and the 3:73 posi, it'll do OK for a nice highway cruiser. Here's a few shots of the brakes up close. The only issue I had was the caliper was located a little low and came close to the steering arm. It cleared on the right but I had to redrill the left to move it up a little. Other than that, pretty much a bolt on. I was going to have to run 3 relays (fuel pump, ignition, and cooling fan) so I pulled this from a Dakota while I was at the boneyard. This gave me all the relays with fuses and puts it all in one convienient spot. Plus just the one power supply wire off the battery prewires all of the line sides so it'll keep things tidy once I've got it all wired.
Thanks; it just comes from having to work on a tight budget. There's an unlimited supply of late model stuff that can be adapted out there for a fraction of the cost of new aftermarket.
What are you doing for your master cylinder? I might be picking up a 51 business coupe and am looking at ideas of what all I will need to tackle on it.
Subscribed, lot of good info for me to use on my 49. On a side note, in the last set of pics, it looks like you have the calipers on the wrong sides. The bleeder screw should be on top. Hope you see this, or notice yourself before the bleeding starts. Great Project, and good luck!
Good call on the calipers, I totally missed that. I got my sway bar finished up today along with wiring up the fuel pump relay and some other misc wiring. I've been sicker that a dog since last week and am just starting to feel human again. I worked in the garage about three hours and I was wiped out. Im off the rest of the week so hopefully we'll make a little better progress tomorrow and Friday.
Cool, thanks. I felt much better today and was able to get a lot more done. I finished the underhood wiring and installed the cooling fan and bled the brakes. For some reason one of the back calipers is not getting fluid; I'll have to figure that out. Even still, it's got a good solid pedal. The stock wheels wouldnt fit over the disc brakes so I pulled a set of steel wheels off of a Crown Vic last time I was at the boneyard. I've got a set of full wheel Plymouth hubcaps, i'll just use those and get some fresh rubber. I didnt like the rearward angle on the shifter so I cut it and welded it back together to be more upright. Im real close to a road test; just need to get a driveshaft made and put an exhaust system together. A couple of bummer notes; my cool old tach doesnt work and Im having a fuel gauge issue. I've got a new VDO 0-90 ohm gauge and a 0-90 ohm sending unit. I dumped about 3 or 4 gallons of gas in the tank and I read 34 ohms on my meter going from the sending unit to ground. I checked it up at the gauge and I read the same from the sensor terminal to ground. But when I turn the ignition on, the gauge goes past full. Any ideas???
Just guessing, but could the guage problem be related to the fact the original guage was on a positive ground system?
Going past full indicates very high resistance or open circuit, try running a ground wire from the guage to a known good ground. If you've converted to 12 negative ground system, if your still running 6 volt positive ground system your new gauge likely won't work.
It's a new VDO gauge and sendor; it's starting to look like the sender is bad. I ran a few tests listed on the VDO website. The old positive ground is long gone; I've got a GM wiring harness in the car.
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