Customs 1937 Dodge, Ol Bessie Is Coming Home

Dads feeling good. Made another trip to the shop. He took along old ad copy and photos of restored D5s for the body men to use on aligning parts and sorting trim holes from antenna holes from years of holes drilled for accessories.
The last fender was going in for paint, all shaped and aligned for final mounting and in the process he sorted the 23 years piled up parts and located the last of the body bolt ons for simultaneous prep and prime. Both headlights, both headlight mounts, both tail lights and tail light stands, license light, license mount and trunk lid holder upper mechanism.
Now we start sorting through the piles of trim and spares to see if by Christmas we can locate and organize a complete set of original stainless bright work and the few potmetal surrounds and cloisonne badges front and rear.
Merry Christmas Ol Bessy, yer about to get yer bling back!

 

Quick email update to Dad this morning fielding his questions on parts and in particular, trim work.
Dad,
Regarding your question on the stainless molding for the Dodge.
- We have spares of grill (left and right), grill center and grill potmetal surrounds (left and right) under your deck.
- We have most or all of the hood spare molding and a spare ram hood ornament in your attic.
- We may have additional spare door molding on the few spare doors in your attic.
- The original rear bumper, bumper uprights and rear mounting brackets are in your attic.
- We may (not sure at all on this) have spare rear quarter molding on the spare quarters under the deck.
- We should have a few hinge beauty covers on the doors in your attic. These should be reversible from side to side by simply flipping them upside down.....I hope!
- We DO NOT have any spare running boards. The only one we have is passenger side down at Jims. I believe the drivers side was destroyed.
As for finding all the trim.....Worst case, and before we weld any trim holes shut on the body (i.e. substitute a paint line for stainless molding), check out the attached link.
Its expensive, but its custom made stainless steel molding that can be mounted to the Dodge if we are missing too much or can't find any on another parts car.
http://www.mcmillanrodandcustom.com/Moldings.ivnu

 

Another stainless molding source that was recommended.

http://www.maxmerrittauto.com/showpage.php?page=body-molding.htm

 

Happily, I found the original brown rubber gear shift knob attached to the original three speed trans! Its in great shape and I'm gonna have to machine up an adapter to mount it on the new shift lever for the OD automatic that'll be going in the car!

 

Email from Dad today. Glad he is there in town with the car, 10 minutes away from his home for 23 years......he's having a ball inventorying all the parts. (Never could figger why he kept all the parts all those years when I had "Sold" Ol Bessy to a hot rod shop......guess I'm more than a bit slow.)

Richard,

I checked under the deck and in the garage attic.

Deck

Grill, left, right, center top all there. Also, the curved stainless steel trim that goes around the headlight mounting bracket---there for left and right. Missing is the lower center section (about 5 inches), which I believe was a crank hole access piece. I don't think the original one was two piece,.

Left and right rear quarter panels--no chrome on these pieces, and I don't believe there was one originally.

Attic:

The hood has the center SS strip, and the Dodge Ram. The SS trim on side of the hood is there left and right.

Where the hood ends, and the body panel begins, there is one 4 inch piece in a box in the attic. So one is missing---I believe it is floating around the inside of the house somewhere---in a letter box, or something, but for the garage attic, only one, so one i missing.

There are 4 doors, a complete set in the attic. All have the beauty covers,and all have been separated from the body by removing the hinge pin. Two doors have SS trim, and 3 have handles, and the passenger side has a lock piece. Drivers side has no lock insert, just a hole. I am away from my notes, going from memory, so I can't remember which doors have the handles, which have the rim. Will come back with that later. Rear fenders are there, one has a tail light, one does not Again---memory as to which one.

There is one bumper, with two uprights. So, we have both the bumpers. The bumper has the rubber piece that covers that ugly bolt, but could not find the metal covers that go over the rubber---If that is in fact supposed to be.

I will try and get down there to Jim's next week to go through some boxes and better sort and catalog the pieces.

 

Emailing back to Dad as he sits in the basement office inventorying parts and taking notes....parts at the shop, parts in the attic, parts in the crawl space, parts at my home in NC, parts in his basement, parts under his deck.......Oh how Ol Bessy got meanly parted out over the years......I am sorry!

Dad,

Yes, lower center section missing on both cars as I recall. It is in fact a hand crank hole cover as the original engine has a balancer with teeth for a hand crank. I say we don't worry on the lower center section.

Sounds like we are 95%+ on front end trim work. We'll see whats at the shop for the doors and the curved pieces that go from rear door downward matching the curve of the fender. (ie the curved piece that runs under the rear vent windows.) Bet we have over 80% of the trim handy. As such I think we will trim it in the original and either locate the lost pieces or have custom bits made up as needed. With luck, we have the curved pieces in the shop as I think the custom stuff is straight only.

Good on the doors and their beauty covers.....we may need some bits there including window bottom metal and mechanisms.

Plan to put a tape on each piece and mark it left right front rear hood cowl, etc. It will save lots of money paying for time for them to locate and figure out.

As for Desoto bumpers, pretty but I agree, I want to keep it looking more original. We'll put Desoto bumpers on another project.

Thanks.

Rich.


And Dad pops back in with.....

Rich: I agree---we have most of the trim, maybe all of it. Do it up with what we have, and find the others as necessary.

 

Cool....found 3 37 D5 Four Doors being parted out in about 10 minutes of google foo.
Closest is Mass.
Got Dad continuin the inventory and pinged the Mass owner via text on running boards and stainless trim. He's doing a rat rod but mebby can get some door handles and bracketry, etc. Natch, for the right price, I'd go all in for a complete spare set of the stainless trim! But, he might be usin that even on a ratty.

 

The rain never stopped today to hunt....and I don't have cash for the stocks on the coach gun yet so......fixin up the Cloisonné nose badge for Ol Bessy.

This is a $145 nose badge on eflay....mine was much worse shape...



My "restoration" won't be perfect, but it'll be good I think.

After cleaning off all of the flaked chrome plating and using gentle heat and picks and brushes to remove the enameled inlays that were all broken down, I had a clean copper, original to Bessy, nose badge.

First step was to ink in the black circle and Star of David in the center. The "Dodge Brothers and remaining Star of David will remain gold colored instead of the original chrome. But, I'll still be able to replicate the gold background and chrome edging with some more effort.

Here in the photos, I have taped out the gold background of the wings to keep the paint off....after the black circle drys and I clean up the lettering a bit, I'll mask it to. Then hit it with primer all over. After that, a coat of bare aluminum spray for and aged look and top it off with clear to protect it all/seal the edges. After I see how this turns out, I gotta dig around and try to find the larger badge that go's on the trunk and get it under a similar "restoration".

Tooth pickin in black paint on the circle and star were the hard parts so far, it is amazing just how little paint goes so far when flowing it in around the letters.

 

First and second coats of primer.

 

A couple coats of bare aluminum misted on. Last steps will be to pull back the tape exposing the gold color and several coats of clear. But for now, it needs a day for the paint to set.

 

Couldn't wait.....watching paint dry is tuff!

Some clear coat and then I think it'll be ready for another 78 years in the wind.

 

Cameras are wonderful for showing old eyes where the mistakes are. But after some clear its glossy and looks good for a battered 78 years old. Other than cash, its my first contribution to Ol Bessy's return to life on the road. It also highlights just how hard a true restoration is and confirms my and Dad's choice to have much of the heavy lifting done by a shop full of professionals.

But, this will go on the nose of Ol Bessy, nestled under the leaping Ram to Ride Eternal....Shiny, and Chrome!

At the Thanksgiving Dinner table, I was asked who'd get Ol Bessy when I'm gone, In my 50s now and just getting her back after 23 years lost, I have to plan. I indicated my stepson, he's the only one I think understands my connection to the car and with the skills to care for it. So, I said so. Boy was that a mistake. But, Hell with the greedy ones, they just want it to want it.....never even looked at the photos, old and new, of the car. Stepson it is.

 

Doesn't look like much, but its the original shifter knob from Ol Bessy. Brown hard rubber and now smoothed out a bit to remove years of dings and scratches and polished up....gotta get it adapted to the Auto OD trans lever that will be installed soon....

 

Very cool restoration work that looks Great and a huge cost savings!! glad to see all the progress you have been making ! I am still moving along on my Plymouth build Can't beat having the original shifter knob with history that brings Congrats on a Great Restore!! Hobo Jim

 

In visiting the car I noted the wood grain dash I did back in 90 still looks great. The dash chrome is all dulled and green though. That will be another project, pulling the chrome and getting it back to bright condition. lots of gentle slow work there on the dash and the door/window hardware, etc.

 

Looking good mate, I've missed what you've been up to. Great progress!

Good to see your Dad is on the mend too.

 

He is doing fantastic. Was great to hunt with him this past week. He is strong, nimble and alert. We didn't get any deer but Sis got a fine wild boar and Dad and I got to spend excellent time in the blinds together!

Found a series of photos of the wheel style for Ol Bessy. All chrome like these. Not sure if we'll go black or white wall at this point. Leaning toward blackwall though.







In the meantime, after returning to VA from our recent hunting trip, he went to the shop. It seems the body work is finally completed and the car is all in prime. The entire front end has been removed to allow access to the front frame members and we are ready to strip off the antique suspension and update it with modern. Last discussion, we had decided to go with Heidts Independent with power rack and power disc brakes. Looking forward to getting up there soon to check out/photograph the progress and to spend some time locating and sorting parts.

 

very nice!
If I had my time again, I would find a front clip with the steering rack up front. I reckon this way you'd save some space under the dash, keeping the motor forward more. Because I have what I have, the motor will sit kinda high (for my pinion angles) therefore I have to make a pretty large tunnel in the floors... when I get that far.
Have a great Christmas mate.

 

Thanks, you too. With luck, the Heidts will be getting installed when I get up next week to see the car and I'll know if its a front or rear rack. I believe its a front rack....should leave plenty of room for the GM Vortec to snuggle in without fire wall mods.

 

Found some original ad copy, photos that will help us decide how to lay out the interior pattern wise.



A three deer trunk too...

 

Have you seen the ad on film for the 37 Plymouth?

 

Very cool!

 

Visited the car today. Tearing it back down for suspension and drive line. Spent bout 3 hours sorting parts. We have all the chrome and stainless trim but one single 4" piece for the cowl. Even found the original Ram Hood Ornament, glass, door handles, window handles, grab ropes, seats, door and arm rests, ash trays, gauge panel, NOS parts to sell, etc.

Today I gave away the mild performance 74 Maverick 200" L6 with C4 TCI Street Fighter Trans and Lokar Shifter. Gave him the headers for it too. One of the fellas doing much of the body work on the car really liked the set up so, its his. It has 30 minutes of run time after being carefully assembled 20 odd years ago. I suspect it'll need seals, but he has a project in mind...so....





As she sits now. Old Bessy is about to loose her antique shoes and stockings for Mustang II, PS, PDB, etc.









We rounded up and laid out and marked all the trim. With whats at the shop and at the house in VA, there is nothing critical missing for cosmetics.





The original Ram Hood Ornament. The spare is much better condition, but this one go's back on the car and no Parking Lot Slummer better ever yank it off - perhaps I'll electrify it with a fencer, a good heavy duty weed burner I think!

 

Oh yeah. Pretty sure we decided on the Wheels and Tires.

All Coker.

600-16" Radial Wide Whites with Chrome Smoothie 600-16" Wheels and Chrome Baby Moon Hub Caps.

 

G'day Sharps,

Any progress? I bet you and your Dad are chuffed to see all this coming back together. Must invoke some special memories between the two of you.

 

Predictive photograpy.
Next hunting season this will be Dad and I heading to the Low Country to link up with Wncdeerhunter for the first hunt of the year....

Here we are in the blind.....several beers into the evening hunt.

And here, the hunt successful and pulling out of camp right fast cause the ice is melting in the September heat.

 

Some more predictive photography.
The average female reaction to a pair of fine mature gentlemen driving a classy old car.....

 

Yes Sir. After the look over the car in Dec, photos above, we chatted on the Xmember and floor.....might have to remove/mod some for the Auto OD. But thats lil bits compared to replacing the rusted quarters and straightning the fire wall and entire drivers side! No worries there, she's in the booth for final blocking now!

Had a long talk with the builder on the bill so far.....thank goodness for Friend of Family considerations! Its expensive but it's not off the street pricing either. I think we are going to be fine on the cost and the quality of work is far above what we had hoped for on the existing budget.

Timeing wise, work is speeding up.

As shown previously, the front end is back off and the 79 year old suspension is being removed in preparation for a Heidts independent front suspension with power steering and power disc brakes. The shop is acquiring the driveline packages. We'll be incorporating all the GM stuff so it'll be scannable/off the shelf for service no matter where we find ourselves in need of a service man. And, its a 21st Century rendition of the V8 Auto driveline that Dad so wanted to install before being drafted and sent to Viet Nam!

We have a good rear from a Pontiac Le Mans to install and depending on its gear will likly rering it for 3.73 and are seriously looking at Eaton Posi at the same time. Plan is to run Coker chrome smoothies (600x16 if they clear the discs) and the Coker Wide Whites.....so, that and not too much drop in the stance and we'll have our exterior goal.....a car that looks much like what Dad could afford to build in 1957, e.g. wheels, tires, paint.

Power pack will be late model GM 5.3L Vortec (300ish HP in factory trim) with the associated overdrive automatic transmission. We are casting about for a doner with the Active Fuel Managment system and with luck can find budget to transplant in much from the doner including heat and air. Meantime, I've sold nearly every hunting firearm and hand crafted shaker furniture I have to keep the charge card cool and ready for the next infusion! We are getting there and the craftsmen in the shop are totally in love with the car. Many have walked past the car daily for over 20 years wondering who owned it and what it was about. I may do up a brass name plate for the fire wall with their names engraved on it.

From 77 original horse power to 300+......Ol Bessy is gonna be a HellCat!

 

wow - awesome!
thanks for sharing

 

I'd thought that until I find as good and inexpensive a 1937 NC Plate, this one will be the one Ol Bessy runs. MD is her home state for 79 years, hopefully before she's 80 she'll be dressed and movin to NC.

But, once she's rollin and barring any last minute plate changes, look out for a Pearl Blue Widebody HellCat with quiet exhaust, this plate and narrow tires smokin on the 3-4 shift.



And then, moments after arrival of the MD plate for Ol Bessy, months of searching comes to an end with a PM from a Pal...

Sorry, small photo, but if I recall, its all original in very fine condition. The 1934 the seller had for the same price was worse shape. But even if redone, I'm tickled! Thanks Sir!

So, I spose NC for around town and MD for when I'm on toll roads?