Projects 47 Dodge business coupe build

Picked up a nice and complete 47 3 window coupe a few months ago. This will be my first car from that decade. Not really sure how it will end up, but right now I'm working on getting it back on the road. The brakes were all taken out when I got it, so a disk conversion is first priority.




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Check with www.rustyhope.com for disc kits.

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I actually built my own. I found some good articles about using '99 Explorer brakes so I went that route. I found a templet online and cut it out of some 1/8 to use for mockup. Only 2 of the three holes lined up. I think the issue is that the P15 uses a different spindle than the D24 I have. So I made one from scratch. All in all I have about $175 into the brakes and some front end rebuild parts. I also relocated the front shocks. I'll write that up as well. If anyone is interested I will post up my parts list and a .pdf or .dxf of the parts I made. The first bracket is the pdf I found online. I brought it into my software and redrew it. The third bracket is the one that worked for my car. The fourth part is the spacer to locate the caliper. Two spacers were required. I cut everything out of 3/8". You can see there is a big difference between the P15 and the D24 bracket. I'll follow up with some pics of the parts and the install.

 

This is the bracket I made. Cut the parts on a CNC plasma. Rebuilt the front suspension while I was in there. It was much easier to have the parts on the bench for mockup. The bracket and spacers were tig welded together. I had to chamfer the top of the bracket to clear the spindle. I also had to take 3/16" off of the OD of the wheel hub and put in some new studs. I painted the wheel wells and reinstalled everything. If you don't like pictures this is not the thread for you.











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Nice work. CNC plasma is a handy toy to have.

 

Every time I see one of those cars I think about the Ramcharger. That is really good work you did.

 

Had to take a little meat out of the factory rims to clear the calipers. A cutoff wheel made got rid of the bulk and I finished it off with a flap disk. They will come back off soon for powder coat and new rubber.



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Cut the factory springs down. Cut them twice to get it where I wanted. I took about 1 & 2/3 turns off. Still have 3" of suspension travel left. I hope that's enough! If not at least it will look cool until I fix it. Some before and after pictures. I put the corona bottles in for reference. I don't have beer bottles laying around everywhere ..... usually.








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Good looking car. Keep posting the pictures. What are your plans going forward?

 

Cool coupe.. I like the body style...

 

Stock motor? What is the rear like, staying stock or going Explorer or what?

 

Gofast I just bought one of these and am waiting for it to arrive. I really like your disc conversion. I will have to do one on mine as well. Any info that you can send my way about it would be much appreciated. All of my prior experience has been resto. Making update gear changes will be new to me. Thanks

 

The car was 100% stock from what I can tell. It has a 230 flathead and a fluid drive trans. Right now I need to finish the brakes with a new master and then figure out what to do in the rear. I have an explorer rear sitting 30ft from the car. It was a leftover part from our last build. If I go that route I will probably install a 5 speed while I'm messing with the driveshaft.
The car will definately need more power. I'm leaning towards a turbo. I see this setup in the very near future

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dskutHwOy7U

Last year we built a twin turbo Buick nailhead. It got a great reaction and it was a beast. Might do a build thread on it soon. I could put something together in a few weekends time for a few hundred bucks.





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Casper50
I can post the complete parts list later tonight. I bought it all from rockauto. It was less than repairing the stock stuff. I can also post the .dxf file for the parts I fabbed. You could have them fabbed local to you or you could pm me for a finished set.


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Thanks I'd appreciate that a lot.

 

Here is the parts list for the brake stuff. The calipers come with the brackets and all the clip and hardware. The wheel studs were slightly too narrow to press into the hub. I fixed that with a tig.




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Excellent choice in cars. Keep us updated.

 

Thanks for the list Gofast. I printed out both your bracket drawing and the parts list. Where did you order the parts from? Where these new or used parts? And the bracket list prints so that I can't read any of the measurements or see whatever is on the bottom part of the photo. Is there anyway that you can send it to me full file? [email protected] Thanks

 

The list is from rockauto. Ordered it all from them. I'll email you a some files.


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Totally impressed !
It always makes me smile a bit (at ~70 years old) how those old cars were so butt ugly when I was in high school, but now are just the tits !
I like that car a lot.
Good luck, and keep us in pic..

 

Gofast did or are you going to change your master cylinder? If so what are you using?

 

Definitely going to replace the master. From what I've read I have three options
1-Gut the stock master and run a rod thru it to the new master
2-Fab a new mount and pedal to mount under the floor
3-Put it on the firewall

The firewall isn't going to happen. I my opinion the only thing that looks good in the engine bay is an engine. I really want the run power brakes. I think I'm going to try running the Explorer master. It's nice and small and it will match the brakes. I plan to run the explorer rear or adapt the brakes to the existing rear. There is a pic of the last pedal setup we fabbed. As you can see, gas pedals are more our style.





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Best gas pedal ever?



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Several posts have been made about using 1989 Ford Aerostar front coils on these early Mopars tons of folks have used them also on 1949-59 Ford cars benefits are 2"-3" drop, better ride and handling and cost for the MOOG CC 850 only $48.79 from your friends at Rock Auto,better than chopping old parts.

 

Relocated the front shocks. Used a Monroe 555004. It took two tries at the mounts. The first set bottomed out the shock an inch before the "bump stops". By bump stops I mean where they used to be. Welded the shock arms to some 1/8" plates with some holes for plug welds. I uses the stock lower mount. Worked well.





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using the EXPLODER stuff is cool, no need for some high dollar "direct bolt on" kit that we all know needs to be modified any way.

 

Here is the explorer rear. We had set it up for a triangulated four link for another project. I guess I'll be cutting those back off. I haven't climber under there to figure out what to do about the driveshaft. I have a fluid drive setup now. I have never driven a car with one. Anyone have any advice on whether to keep it or swap to a t5? I've seen a ford Ranger swap that looked good too.




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The folks over at the p-15/d-24 forum know about the Fluid Drives.

I would go for the T5 for the overdrive if nothing else. Top speed with a stock motor is about 55 mph, not fast enough these days most places.

If you get more carb (two 1bbl perhaps, or a carter 2bbl) and a split exhaust you can get more power without opening the motor.

 

Made up some spring perches today. I figure I might as well take care of two bird with one stone and made the perches 2 & 3/4 tall. Between the extra diameter of the explorer axle tube and the tall perches it should be about 2.5-3" of a drop. I couldn't make all the bends in the brake so I programmed a slot so the part could be hand bend and welded. It is easier that making it out of separate pieces because it holds together really well. Ground them smooth and ready to try them.







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You do nice work. Keep posting update pics.