1949 Mopar More-door build

[falconvan]

Cool; post some pictures; I'd like to check that beast out!
Over the last few times in the garage I've got all the front wheel cylinders replaced, new shocks installed, and all new brake lines plumbed in the front. Still need to do the rear but that's coming up later. I got the broken seat slider fixed and the front seat back in, plus got the engine up on a stand so I can take a look at the inside. I've got a few days off so I'm going to try and tackle the wiring some cleanup and repair on the inner fender wells in the front clip, and maybe get the oil pan pulled from the motor so I can get a look at the bottom end.

 

[falconvan]

I had one side of the fender wells rusted through so I did a little patching and then painted the whole thing with POR-15.

Here's what I have for wiring; a friend of mine was scrapping a early 80's Buick G-body wagon so I just took everything front to back. I laid the whole thing out and started cutting out all the extras and labeling everything. After a few hours I had it trimmed down to a fairly simple harness that'll cover everything I need. I went ahead and mounted the fusebox; i"ll start putting the rear harness in tomorrow.

 

[falconvan]

Here's what I came up with for the fuel gauge;this is from the Buick. I'm going to use the Buick tank so it's already got the right sending unit and the wiring is right for it. Plus it's free. I opened up the engine and it looks like someone rebuilt this thing not too long ago. Zero sludge in the pan, you can still see hone marks on the cylinders, and all the bearings look new. I'm just going to get a gasket kit and stick it back together as is. I finished rebuilding the back brakes and got the rest of the brake lines ran. I was going through the spare parts in the trunk and decided I really don't like these taillights so I'm going to do something else. Not sure what yet but I think it looks much better without them.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Good bit of luck on the fresh motor!

 

[falconvan]

Yes it was; that kind of luck doesnt happen very often.

 

[falconvan]

Got most of the dash back together, a little more wiring done, got the old tires cut off of four wheels and getting ready to clean up and paint, and engine gaskets came in today. Here's my grand kids as anxious for a ride as I am. My granddaughter is just like her mama; always has to be in the drivers seat!

 

[Snake Farm]

Looks like you're making good progress! Love the pic with the grand kids [cl[cl

 

[Sam_Fear]

Dash looks good.

 

[falconvan]

Thanks, Sam. Those kids are a blast plus I get to send them home when they're being little devils. Being a grandparent is pretty cool. 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.

 

[falconvan]

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.

 

[Snake Farm]

Like'n the big tail lights [cl[cl[cl and that engine color grows on ya quick

[P[P[P

 

[falconvan]

Thanks! I like that color, too. It's got a cool industrial look to 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.

 

[Dirtyrat]

motor

Thats looking real nice all painted up!

 

[falconvan]

Thats looking real nice all painted up!

Yeah, a few cans of good old $5.99 engine enamel goes a long way in making them look good.

 

[falconvan]

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.

 

[falconvan]

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!

 

[bob w]

Nice work you are doing, of course. You are going to like the way it rides. Very comfortable. Not like a cube van.

 

[falconvan]

Thanks, Bob: I think it'll make a pretty cool lowbuck driver. Maybe down the road I'll do something more interesting with it but for now i'm just going for roadworthy and reliable.
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.

 

[earthman]

Nice job FV. You will enjoy puttin' around in this thing.

 

[falconvan]

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.