New build thread; 48 Plymouth

[stovens]

Por 15 is one of the best products out there for rust conversion. It also sticks to the metal great! The UV thing won't be a problem once the body is on. Nice to hear you can spray the stuff. I've painted most of my frame and differential with it. I also have a disc brake caliper paint kit from them that I haven't used yet, except for the cleaner which will strip grease easily also an excellent product. Your frame came out looking great!

[123pugsy]

The frame looks great.

The last frame I did was by hand. I'll know better next time. Nice tip.

[falconvan]

Thanks all! It's been a busy month; my youngest son is graduating high school and daughter is moving into a rental house we had vacant so just about every night and weekend has been full. After this weekend we'll be done with both so my wife and I are looking forward to some free time. I'm hoping to really kick some butt on this car over the summer and make a lot of progress. I'd like to be down to just chrome and interior by the end of the year. That may be pushing it, but you have set goals and give it your best shot. Has anyone ever done the window conversion where you eliminate the vent windows and make it all one solid piece of glass? I'd like to find a good resource with some pictures on how to do that.

[Dave Severson]

I've done it, not a real big deal. First consideration is that there is room for a door glass that big and that it has room to clear the hinge mechanism inside the door. Sometimes it requires going to smaller door latches, too, like the Bear Claw. If you're going to running power windows and the doors are flat glass, it gets even a bit easier.

As for getting the car to that stage by the end of the year, seems realistic to me if you keep going at your recent pace.....

[falconvan]

It sure is nice to see some open space in the garage again. I started putting the shocks on, running brake lines, and going through several boxes of parts to see what I'm going to need. I had all the boxes from the 47 I took apart plus several from this car that had already been mostly apart when I got it. I spent a while tonight cleaning up different body mount brackets and painting them. Also ordered a body mount kit, power window kit, and a kit to eliminate the vent windows. Should be test fitting the body to the frame on Memorial Day.

[stovens]

I'm right there with you Roger. More space is needed in my garage too!

[falconvan]

I definitely want A/C in this but I wanted to save a few $$ and find something other than an aftermarket unit. I went scouring the boneyard today and found this; a rear air unit from a full size conversion van. It has an evaporator with the expansion valve, a heating coil, a three speed fan, and two air outlets. I think it'll work; seems to fit under the dash pretty well. I just need to find or make a grill for the front.

[falconvan]

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I hope you all got to spend time with your loved ones and working on your projects which is what I've been doing all weekend. I did some more brake line plumbing and mounted the proportioning valve and worked on the brake pedal assembly. I didn't want the GM pedal pad so I cut it off and welded on a bracket to mount the 48 pad.

Next thing was to work on the doors. I decided to go with bear claw latches and found a step by step how to on Rod & Custom's website with some good pictures.

[falconvan]

I pretty much duplicated exactly how they did this in the article.

[falconvan]

Once I clean up the welds it should look pretty good. The door closes nice and solid. Is anyone else having problems getting their pictures to post in the right order? Mine are getting all mixed up.

[falconvan]

Here's the test fit on the body; I had to do a little firewall surgery now that the motor is relocated. Not too bad, though. i should just be able to build a small recessed section and it'll be good to go.

[stovens]

Any distributor clearance issues?

[falconvan]

No, that's one nice thing about the LS engines; no distributor.

[stovens]

Cool missed the type of engine, but still didn't know that! Car is coming along great.

[falconvan]

Thanks! Today I worked on the firewall and floor; I had to do something as the firewall angled out and back in and was hitting the engine. I decided to slice it where it angled out, drill out the spot welds that held the sides, and try to make it flat.