I sold that 455 a while back, Patrick. Some guy had a 70 Cutlass he wanted it for. One of the editors for Rod and Custom built this from a 46 Ford 4dr sedan. Not to rob anyones idea but this thing is cool! I might lean this way after its had some road time and my other project is finished.
Looks like the engine had been bored; .060 on the piston tops when I cleaned them off. Everything inside this thing was really clean. It doesn't look like it's been together very long. Got it all painted up and installed today. I decided on a non-standard color. It's Caterpillar Beige.
Ok, the head is on and the clutch linkage is squared away. The shift linkage was a nightmare. No matter how I adjusted it it would not hit all the gears. Finally after looking at the other trans several times I found that the upper shift arm was 3/4" longer than on the trans I put in the car. Taking this arm off while the trans is in the car is tough; you can just get three fingers and a wrench in between the floorboard and the nut that holds on the arm. Flipping the wrench gives you about 1/4 turn per flip. But after swapping it, all gears are where they should be. On another note my super slick homebuilt master cylinder bracket ended up right where one of the shift rods needed to be so I have to do some alterations if I want brakes AND gears. Also, I really don't like the look of the stock tail lights so I'm going with these. There from a 59 Catalina and are a little big but I like them.
Thanks! Same color as one of my CAT emergency generators I have at work. I like the industrial look of it.
Got a few more things put together. It took a lot of time on the manifolds this week; I had four broken bolts in the intake, one in the exhaust, and the heat riser was stuck closed. So after getting all that straight I finally got it put together. Also got the rear shocks on and the issue with the shift linkage and master cylinder worked out. Next is get the brakes bled and adjusted, plus finish putting the rest of the motor back together. Should be putting a front clip back on before too long.
I'll have to look at those, Patrick. I'm having some second thoughts about these the more I look at them.
Looking good. It's amazing what you've done in such a short period of time. Why is it all taking me soooo long? Keep up the great work!
Just keep pluggin away; you'll get there. I have a 48 coupe I've been working on almost 5 years so I know what you mean. I just bought this so I'd have a driver for the shows next year. I'm tired of going to the shows in the minivan; it's depressing.
They told me at work I had too much OT this week so I took a comp day and got some more done. I'm hoping for a test fire sometime next week.
Lots done yesterday; fuel pump back on, plug wires cut, many small fittings on the engine back in place. I started building an exhaust out of my stock of exhaust pipe leftovers from other projects. I found this Magnaflow so now I'll have one high performance part. The front clip is back on so it's starting to look like a car again!
Today i finished getting the fuel system lined out. A big plus was that the previous owners had the tank treated for rust and painted it so all I had to do was add a GM fuel sending unit and bolt it in. I ran a new aluminum fuel line as the original was in pretty bad shape. If everything goes as planned I should have a running engine by this time next week.
Coming right along. Don't remember reading if you're keeping it 6 volt pos. ground or re-wire to 12 volt neg.? If you're going 12 volt, can you tell me more about the GM sending unit for the gas tank? Is it a direct bolt in? Model/part #? Thanks...
Sure; I am going with a 12 volt negative ground. I just pulled a complete wiring harness out of a early 80's Buick G-body wagon and cut off everything I wasnt going to use. I had to lengthen the tail light harness but other than that it's worked out great. I got the sending unit from Speedway Motors, part # 665385C. All i had to do was cut off the retainer ring that held the stock sending unit into the tank and the new one bolted right into the same hole with some self tapping screws; and with the GM harness and stock gauge it'll work fine.
Checked back on page 1 and saw where you talked about going 12 volt. The information on the wiring harness you are adapting is very valuable, and I appreciate the sending unit specs., mine is the stock unit with a 6 volt "runtz" reducer and I'm looking to replace it, rest of my car is 12 volt. Great information here, this build should inspire anyone looking to revive an old MoPar who has been scared off by lack of aftermarket support/parts.
Thanks! With some good planning you can revive these old cars without breaking the bank if you just want to make a simple, reliable driver. By shopping craigslist and the local boneyard for useable parts I've kept this below $1500 and I should be on the road in a month or so.
I put an exhaust together out of my leftover pile, installed the radiator, picked up a new battery and tried to start it. No fuel. I've got a Holley electric pump I'll try later this week. Also, I think I found a use for the green paint.
Still going to town on the car, good to see. You really think you can have it fully roadworthy/done for $1500? That'd be pretty impressive.
Pretty close; of course keep in mind I only gave $400 for the car, a lot of the parts that went on it I already had, plus I got a free engine and wiring harness. That definitely kept the cost down.
On the tail lights, '46-'48 lights would look good,fit nice and make MOPAR buffs ask a lot of questions. '48 chev units would be sweet as well. I like 49-51 fords frenched in too.
Yeah, I decided against the 59 Pontiac tail lights. I like the look but they're just too big. The 46-48s are a good idea, I think I have an old set of those stashed around here somewhere.
It's alive!! I finally got it started and it sounds really good. Distributor was 180 degrees out and I had to run it out of a gas can. Even with an electric pump it's not getting gas; I think the fitting coming off the tank is clogged. Now to get the fuel situation squared away and start on wiring the dash.
I got a few days off for Thanksgiving so I put in about 12 hours in the garage today. I got the wheels cleaned up and painted and I'm taking them to get some rubber tomorrow. I'm just using a set of 235/75/15s I had for now. Most of the day i spent on the wiring. I got the ignition, starter, fuel gauge, and some of the lighting done and so far it's all working out good. Got a few other small things done but I was getting pretty tired and losing concentration so I called it a night.
Got some rubber on it today and decided against the 59 Poncho taillights. Just way too big. I picked these up at O'Riely's in the trailer lighting section. $9.99; can't beat it.
I kicked some butt the past few days; all the wiring is done and everything works, e-brake back together, drive shaft in, and she's sitting on all four feet. I got the brakes all bled but I need to do some more adjusting on the front ones: one is dragging. I found a vintage carb parts supplier online and he seems to think my accelerator pump problems are in the NAPA kit I used to rebuild it. So I've got a kit that's more specific for this carb coming. Once I get the carb and the front brakes right, it's ready for a trip down the street. I also started looking at how to fix the hood; it's got some pretty bad rot damage where the hinges mount and in the front on the bottom edge. I'll start on this soon. I really like the simplicity of this build; just buy a cheap beater and make it roadworthy using whatever leftovers I had, some free stuff, and a few boneyard parts. I know it's ugly as hell and has too many doors but I think it'll be around for a good while.
We took our first road trip; just down the street and back a few times. It runs good and drives solid, just need to bleed the brakes some more and I'm still having carb issues. I'm thinking of going to a Holley 350 or 500 two barrel. I saw another old Mopar flathead with a Holley 500 and the guy was really happy with it. I started patching the hood; big rust holes on both sides by the hinges and in the front. I got all the patches welded in yesterday; should be able to finish it and put it on today.
The Jalopy Journal
