Thread: 49 More-door build

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Yeah,Falcon,,a blast from the past..Like it a lot..

Not sure what I'm going to do with it but I picked up this 360 really cheap off of Craiglist yesterday. Im hopeless.

There were some holes in the hood from a missing piece of trim so my first thought was just to weld them up. Then I thought I would go ahead and just weld the whole seam and make the hood one piece. Finally i though I might as well add a peak so I filled all the old trim and emblem holes and welded a 3/16" rod down the seam. It's got a little ways to go to get it in primer but I like it so far.

Looks good Falcon!!!! As with any simple plan, it always evolves into a project requiring many, many hours!!!!!!

I like....
Keep it up!

Looks good and nostalgic to me. Back in my college days I had a '49 PLY followed by a '50 PLY. The '49 had the grooved bumpers favored by some customisers but the '50 had plain rounded bumpers. Maybe you did not get bumpers with your $400 deal but I am just wondering if the title is really for a 1949 then you could go look for the rippled bumpers, although they may be hard to find now. Just wondering.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Thanks, Don. The title says 50 Dodge and the car is a wide mix of Plymouth and Dodge leftover parts from several 1949-51 cars I scrapped over the last few years, so originality is not a big concern. I love the ribbed bumpers, too. I've been keeping an eye out for a couple of pairs; I'd like to have them on my 48, too.

I did a little boneyard shopping on the way home from work today. One of the guys on the P15D24 website figured out how to put a Ford Ranger 5 speed behind the old Mopar flat sixes so I got one of those and an 8.8 Explorer rear end with disc brakes and a 3:73 limited slip.

Falcon good info for a easy change up to a modern 5 spd . I hope you delve a little deeper explaining what you need to convert it in . The 3.73 and 5 spd will be a street and good high way car .


b

Thanks, Bobby. The reason Im doing it is that the car has terrible highway manners and 1950 brake technology really blows. Id like to be able to keep up with traffic without sounding like it's ready to float the valves and be able to stop better. Im doing front discs, too; the 8.8 looked like a cheap easy way to get four wheel discs.

Yeah at the u pull its its a great way to upgrade , also the mustang 8.8 is a little narrower if you want some deeper wheels . I looked for a 8.8 from a 90 ranger with the 4.0 V6 that is perfect for the Model A in width .



b

I thought it was interesting that my 48 chassis is almost 5" wider than this car. 49 was the model year change but you wouldnt think it would have been that much. I finished my hood peak and shot some epoxy primer on it; that'll hold it for a while. Im still not 100% sure where Im going with this; just doing one small mod at a time and see where it ends up.

Hood turned out very nice Falcon!!!! Just keep listening to the car, it'll tell you what it wants!

Well, I gotta admit that I wasn't to sure about the hood mod but it's really "tasteful" and not so "in your face" as I thought it might be. Good Job!

Dave sounds like Mr. Miyagi trimmin' bonsai...

Hah! I'll call it the Bonzi Mopar! I started mocking up the Ranger 5 speed onto the factory bellhousing using an old spare flathead I had. I'm copying this idea; a guy on the P15D24 site designed this swap. I had the bellhousing blasted and made a template; just need to drop it off at the machine shop to have the center hole machined out 1/8".