Thread: 49 More-door build

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Don't ask me why but I just cant say no to a cheap old Mopar with a solid body and a bunch of extra parts, even if it is a more-door. Same old story, some guy was going to restore it and got as far as taking a few things apart and buying a bunch of stuff like brake rebuild kits, extra gauges, etc. After it sat in his parents driveway for a while untouched, they said get rid of it. $400 bux for all of it just to haul it off. Trunk and interior are full of boxes of parts, i don't even know what's all there. I have no idea what Im going to do with it but I'll figure out something.

A common disease..................

body looks very good make a two door out of it channel it about 4 inchs cut the wind sheild down about the same then cut the roof off put it on bags stuff a hemi in it or leave stock

I like it. When we were teens my best friend had the exact car, except it was a 1950. He kept trying to blow it up so his Dad would get a new car and give him his 62 Chevy. No matter how he ran it out in gears and overrevved it the thing wouldn't die. Those old Mopar flathead 6's were bulletproof.

If it were me, I would clean it up, maybe some nice wheels, get it running well, and drive the wheels off of it. When was the last time you saw one that nice on the road?

Don

Both very good ideas; I'm going to make some kind of driver out of it. I'll have to think on it a while. I'm eyeballing the 88 Ford 2.3 turbo with the 5 speed trans I have in the shop. It wouldnt be fast but it would definitly have more beans than the flathead. It pulled a full size T-bird around with no problems. First I'm going to clean it out, do some inventory, and sell off the extras.

Its a nice looking old car..Old early/mid 50s Mopars are extremely hard to find down here now,as most of them rusted out some years ago,,then they became unloved,cos everyone wanted a SBC/SBF,so they just disappeared..They lend themselves to a bit of lowering,small block(mopar of course)..and used every day..Kool old car..

Thanks! Don, i think you're right. I'm just going to scrub it, get it mechanically sound, and drive it like it is providing the motors good. I'll have to rewire it; mice and amateur electricians have had their way with it. Good time to change it to 12 volt. The carpet's rotten but the floors are good and the seats are good; maybe just use a rubber mat.

I figured this was the easiest way to get at everything. You can pull the whole front clip by removing 8 bolts so it was a no brainer. Lots of cleanup needed but the good news is I put a wrench on the balancer and the motor turns freely.

What an exciting project and just drop that baby down an inch or two, clean it up with some paint and drive the wheels off it.

That's the plan, Whiplash. I dont think I'm even going to paint the body, just under the hood and what I need to clean up the interior. Cheap, cheap driver. That hideous oxidized green has a weird character to it; I don't want to mess up the vibe.

My first car was a 50 plymouth. I was 16 and I bought it from my aunt for $1.00. Spent all my vacation money on it to get it running. Didn't have enough $ to buy a starter so every time I shut it off I put the right front on a curb or parked on a hill.... When it was time to leave and go home my dad told me I couldn't bring the car as it had recaps on it and not safe for the 700 mile trip home. Sure was a fun summer.

Falconvan, I have seen threads on other forums where they took an oxidized car and used (I think) CLR that you buy at a hardware store, and a 3 M pad, and the thing cleans up like you wouldn't believe. I'll do some research and try to find a link for you.

The cars I saw done came out like a different car altogether.

Don


Here, I found one link, still looking. I understand you dilute it with warm water and use a green scub pad (and gloves)

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...5&postcount=15

Thanks, Don! it's got some surface rust and a few spots I need to fix but if what's left of the paint would clean up better that would be cool.

Charlie, that sounds like a great summer. Some guys reminise about there first love on a vacation, you remember your first car. Good priorities; i'm with you!

After a thorough soaking with engine degreaser and some serious power washing things are looking pretty good. The suspension and steering are all solid with several newer looking parts, and all the grease fittings were in good shape and took grease. The frame is all solid except for the front cross member which had a ton of mud packed in it. The bottom and back of it are gone and will need some serious rebuilding. I've got some steel plate that I think will work good, the only downer is that the motor will have to come out and the suspension will have to come off to get at all the bad spots.

Also ran a quick compression check and have 120-140psi across the board so that's a plus.

That rust is minor...........the whole car looks really solid otherwise.

Don