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Found this site after talking to The Plymouth Doctor in the USA.
Ordered some new steel repro parts from them to help transform an old bomb into something a little more modern.
Had it for just over 1 year now, and the rat skeletons and nests have been removed, had the chassis grit blasted, along with the grille shell, headlamp pods, running boards and inner guards. Still got a looong way to go, but I have a mental image that is my goal.
So far, the front tube axle has been given the flick, so has the ol' 6, and rear axle set up.
Still have a lot of tin worm to address, at least my labour is free.
Here's a couple of photos from the start.
It's a Dodge Six. Model D5, made in Australia 1937. First all steel bodied car here - beat GM to the punch by 2 years. Factory was in Adelaide South Australia - T.J. Richards, a coach builder ended up making bodies for Dodge/Plymouth/DeSoto, I think Chrysler bought into the operations around 1925, Factory was changed to building fighter planes in WWII.
Today it's Mitsubishi Australia plant.
Heaps of room in the back, front doors open normally, rear doors are suicide. Using 1983 Jaguar front end, & rear end. Inside I'll have reverse camera, bluetooth, Ipod conn, A/C, Power windows (from the Jag), Power seats (came from a '93 Toyota Aristo - very comfy) rear seat is modded Jag's rear seat. Hope to give progress pics as I go along. Looking for body trims, stainless steel in origin. Headlamp trim rings were missing, but I found a company in USA called Headwinds makes new bezels to adapt a 7" round H4 insert, so at least I get good lighting.
Cheers!
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dont for get to swap it over to 12 volt. check out hoping up the stock engine. i had a 1957 dodge pick up with a flat head 6 cyl. i made an adpter to hold a 318 two bdl carb, it was like adding an other engine. just be sure it doesnt lock at wide open.
Thanks, 12v neg earth is the way. 6cyl is long gone, a guy with a '38 bought it off me. Along with the rear axle/diff/leafsprings, and the steering wheel/column/box.
Front axle & leafs went to the pres of a rod club.
This is where I want to end up.
It'll be a while I can tell you.
Body off, so chassis work can begin
had it blasted clean, fixed a few small cracks not seen before the clean-up. Made a steel jig to be a "flat" base to get all this done. My floor was off at one corner by half an inch.
Jag front end cleaned up ready for fitting
On the jig getting centred up
Ordered a few bits from Steele Rubber in the USA - body mounts, cowl vent seal, headlight mount rubbers, some door stops etc.
Crossmember to horns distance is large, so I needed to make a graft like this
Made sway bar mounts too
Running boards next, surgery after blasting
New patches, new mount rails, new longitudinal tubes underneath
Grille shell next, had to make some new captive nuts around the front; this car had so much stuff rusted & siezed, makes all jobs time consuming. But it's being done right.
Mocking up the guards to see if the wheels are clocked. All good in original Dodge centre line positions.
This fella has saved me immeasurable grief in locating or making new steel for 'round the body on my project.
So not much progress to report on..been busy lately doing a few domestic chores...
such is life
hoping to attack the front guards and put a patch in them (from the Jag's sheet metal) and then they're done...rear guards will be sent to the grit blasters, then on to a guy I know who can bash out the dings far better than I am capable of doing.
The Jag rear has to be removed from it's cage - Dodge rails are too far apart to just add the unit. If it were chev or ford from the same age, the jag stuff just slips right in.
So I need to make a new rear X member & lower diff braces. Start on that bit later.....Just want to finish the guards that I've started on.
Then just put them away until it's time to bolt stuff back together.
Main reason I wanted to have the running boards & guards fixed up 1st was to make sure the wheels sat in all the arches right before comitting to cross member positions. So far the front & rear sit well at the original 115" WB. Trying to have all 4 wheels "clocked" so it looks right.
So I have no money for an expensive chassis punch/dimple die set.
I only have a right hand guard mount...(cowl to guard)
So I need to make a left one.
Instead of searching the planet,, I thought I'd have a go at hammer forming.
So after 2 x beers, I came up with this little "light bulb"
Grab one of these
Use one of these
To cut off a piece of this...
The "borrow" a used ball from an ol' pinball machine, grind a flat spot on it
bung the wood into the socket, and try it out on some scraps..
Drag out the home made bearing press (this cost a total of 2 x new tension springs)
chuck it all in there, and pump away!!
Seems to work ok, I guess!!
Used the same socket in the vise, and bashed out the round bits
And I have a spare part I didn't have before.
Close enough. It lives under the guards, so all's good.
My only dumb mistake was to drill the holes before pressing them with the ball. So they grew a bit. Nothing flat washers can't fix.
pretty slick once it's in no one would notice. nothing a few thinking beers can't figure out. i seen some other pics of your project what engine are you going to use?
75 year old Aussie Dodge
