Mopar Newbie

Hey, Good morning and thanks for the add! I have lurked around here a little and decided that, as my car addiction seems to be changing focus from muscle era cars to 50s cars I should join the hamb!

Here is my story in five hundred words or less.

Graduated high school in the mid 80s, I was brought up around muscle era mopars and 30s-40s Fords. I became a helicopter mechanic, moved to western Canada and owned many 60s and 70s Chrysler products.

I Found my 55 Dodge in a wrecking yard circa 1986 and convinced Dad we should buy it as a father son project. We located a replacement Red Dam Hemi block for it, painted the car and drove it on and off. It is the one car that never got sold off for lifes reasons.

I met my wife, got married, had two great kids and moved a few times. The Dodge was brought out from time to time on special occasions and stayed stock.

The car ended up parked for quite a few years untill our daughter graduated high school 4 years ago when she said that she wanted the 55 as her grad ride! I pulled it out of storage and went through the crappy old drum brakes to make it driveable. Two years later our son graduated and he wanted it too, but by this point I had noticed some cracks in the frame at the steering box, and while the old hemi was cool..... it was boring to drive.

What ensued was frame repairs, a 440 / 727 / ford 8.8 transplant, 12 volt and 4 wheel disc brake conversion.

All this was completed on time for the grad and it jas been my daily summer driver since.

Thats the long and short of it. I now jave the bug to build a straight axle gasser car as my next project.

 

Nice 55. I've always liked the 55's and 56's. I have a 70 Challenger 'vert. Like you, I graduated HS in the mid 80's (84) and the Challenger is the one car that i've managed to hang onto through the birth of my children, a nasty divorce, getting married (again) and putting my two kids thru college.

Glad to see you got rid of the single circuit drum brakes those cars came with. I have a 64 Chrysler 300 that's getting it's tapered axle nightmare upgraded to a sure grip 9 1/4 and disc brakes all around.

 

Good to see another Mopar guy chime in. Welcome to the jungle.


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