Dodge Kingsway rebuild

[humpyboy]

It's good when the finish line comes into focus isn't it?

[DC3Td]

Hi Dennis. Glad to see both you & the car are making good progress. One more days work is one less days work to go. gordon

[JBJ]

Hi All,

More pix cause I know at least 2 of you like them.

The recoed 351 Cleveland Ford sitting waiting for paint colour change (soon) & detailing.




Side on with panels at about 75% finished. This is as close to finished surfaces as I'm going until all panels are done, & car is re assembled & I've found all the mis placed bits




I love the badges on the 50's US cars.
Dodge had 3 models in Australia in 55-56, the Custom, Crusader & Coronet. Mines a Coronet, which was the highest optioned version. The following show the slight variations in the badging. I'm not even going to try to detail the options, as they are pretty well unimportant to me.


My Badge (Kingsway Coronet)


The Kingsway Custom



Hopefully I'll refit bootlid & hinges, & rear bumper, in the next day or so, then turn car around so I can get to the front & drivers side to work on them.

Its all fun.

JBJ

[cruisindoug]

Looking good Dennis, starting to look like a car again!

Cheers
Doug.

[humpyboy]

Dennis, even though it is only in primer and filler it is looking fantastic, I'm lovin it.

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well finally got Dodge running again. Turned it around in carport so I can get to the other side & front to work on.

One thing I've always wanted to do is get rid of the blue engine colour.

Theguy that fitted the recoed Cleo wouldnt paint it Silver like I wanted, so I got Ford Blue.

So I cleaned it down, & gave it several coats of pressure pack Silver engine paint. That will look better in a red painted engine bay.



So I started fitting the Chrysler Hemi Fire Power valve covers.I put a set on my hot rod years ago, on the Ford Windsor motor.For a while I even had a set of Donovan 417 dragster engine valve covers



Then when I fitted the blower I had to drop the motor down & back for clearance, so there was no room for the wider valve covers any more.
But I've always loved the appearance of Chrysler Hemi V8 engines, so thats why I'm doing this.



So thats the basic start . Now have to make new plug leads, fit some oil filler/breathers, & paint the covers & air cleaner ( I'm re using the Caddy replica thats on the motor with the Donovan covers) the same dark red as the car, then get my friend Rick Pacey to stripe them with the engine size "354" on them. The Clevo is a 351 thats 20 thou over, so its 354 cubes, same size as one the early Chrysler hemis.

Its all fun, & getting more enjoyable as things progress well.

JBJ

[Swellwillys]

Running !
Well done JBJ.

That would have been an exciting time for you.
Love the Hemi Clone!

Swellwillys

[Daggsey]

G'day JBJ.....

It's all looking good my friend, and once again, a credit to your perseverance with a project....

Daggsey

[cruisindoug]

Well done Dennis, always good to get progress aye!

This one on ebay looks pretty rusted but maybe he has some bits and pieces that are worthwhile ...

[JBJ]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for that, but that one is the model before mine, with a different body shell. I wouldnt think there is anything I could use there.

I also think its pretty much gone, even for bits.

JBJ

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well the last week's been prepping engine bolt on bits for primer, & hitting them with a coat or two.
Also fitted the engine breathers/oil fillers to the valve covers.

Everything on the engine thats in beige primer will be painted dark red, to match the rest of the engine bay. I will make new plug leads, when I get the grommets for the holes in the valve covers.




I tell you what Col, I dont know how you manage to do all the fiddley stuff all the time, & you have to keep others satisfied. Its certainly getting harder for me as I progress. I have gained in patience as I get older, but lost some of the skills( & eyesight) at the same time.

But its still all fun

JBJ

[Geoff & Jude]

hi dennis

the dodge is starting to take shape and looking good.

following your rebuild with much interest.

putting it back together is always a great feeling when you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

keep up the good work.

and say hello to sue for us both.

geoff 'n jude

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well its hard to get my hot rod ready for the Cowra trip, & work on the Dodge at the same time.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been working on the hotrod.
I've had a problem with keeping the polished aluminium on the motor shiney over the 12 years the blower has been out in the weather. I tried "Zoops Seal" a few years back. It was a lot of effort & cost for very unsatisfactory result. So I've been partly dismantling & re polishing bits for years.
So I decided to give the POR15 "Glisten" 2 pack clear a go. Pulled the top of the engine apart, repolished over 40 bits, then paid a guy to paint them for me. It came up OK, but somehow my carby scoops got marks in the clear. So I rubbed them back with 2000 paper, then gave them a hit with cutting compound. That made them passable.
Replaced the faulty stereo, put new fan belt & filters in, & getting it serviced next week, ready for big trip.
So this is it shiney. Doesnt look like this often enough unfortunately.



So back onto Dodge. Working on welding up dozens of holes in firewall, where the previous builder had plugged them with an epoxy that looks like chewing gum.

Its hard to remember this corner was so rusty you could put your fingers thru the top corner.



Its all good

JBJ

[Roehm3108]

Even to a motor illiterate like me, that donk looks great Dennis!! Keep on pluggin' in there with the Dodge, it's coming along nicely.

Ray

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well sitting up here in the seemingly never ending rain ( my lawn mower man hasn't been able to mow for over 6 weeks), I finally got my spark plug lead bits from USA.

Its crazy, & I guess very bad, but I cant buy products in Australia for anywhere nearly approaching what I can buy from USA. Even when I include postage, the USA prices are generally 60 to 70% of Australian prices for the identical items ( sure they are generally USA sourced originally)

It generally only takes a week longer to get them in my PO box.



So I fitted them up to my Chrysler valve covers. These were bought many years ago, & were rough. I've spent a lot of time priming & filling them, then modifying them to suit my application.

So I didnt hesitate to put the plug leads in place using nut serts in the covers.

Its all coming up like I hoped.

JBJ

[Geoff & Jude]

hi dennis

the engine's looking good.

it'll look great with a bit of colour on it.

about those us parts.

i just bought a couple of transmission mounts for the lincoln from rock auto in new york state.

$13 each plus $30 shipping and they arrived 4 days after i put the order in - can't complain about that.

keep up the good work.

geoff 'n jude

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well this will be the last on my Dodge until after we get back from Cowra , in a couple of months.

So I finally got some primer on my firewall, & looked back at what I had a while back.



A bit better now



Left side wasnt quite as bad, but had a BIG hole cut to take a HQ heater, which I threw out.



Better now.




Also finally got the plug lead set up sorted.

I reckon putting plug lead ends on "make your own" kits sucks. My fingers dont like the bending & twisting involved

But I,m happy with my progress, albeit not as quick as I would like it to be.

Its still fun

JBJ

[Jellybean]

Looking good Dennis. Love the motor. Amazing what you can do in the back yard.
John

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well work is quiet, so I got a chance to get into the Dodge again.

I got brave, & put a bit of colour on many of the bits that needed to be red.
I really like the colour. This is an inner mudguard



turned out better than I expected for an old guy.

Boots doesnt like her carport being used as a spray booth, but stiff



How much fun can one person have???

JBJ

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Another day , another few bits done.


I'm a better painter than I thought I was. ( I'll stick to that comment until someone that knows better shoots me down).



I love the Red I picked , & after an attack of forgetfullness, I managed to remember how the power steering went back together.

Its all fun

JBJ

[DC3Td]

Hi Dennis. Coming together very nicely. gordon

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well finally got a chance & the motivation to do a bit more, after our trip to Cowra.

I've been collecting quarter vent windows to try to get them all working properly, since the guy I bought it off had removed everything related to opening & closing them, then Sikaflexed & pop rivetted them shut.

This is the sort of job that takes much more time & effort than anyone would belive possible, but it has to be done to get things as they should be.

After 3 days stuffing around, I managed to salvage enough bits to have ready to assemble all 4 quarter vents.

So I assembled the rear door vents, made up from bits from about 3 or 4 vents each.





I put the right hand rear in place, & it works OK. I guess i will still have problems with leaks, but that cant be finalised until after final paint.



I've been playing with fitting air conditioning to the motor, made more complicated by the way I've fitted the Chrysler valve covers.
Their missing at the moment, getting sign written & pin striped.



I've got the bracket sorted & tack welded together, & the new alternator & fan belt sorted. I like brackets to be multi use where possible, so I mounted my coil on it.



Also fitted the air conditioner filter/dryer, using simple exhaust pipe clamps (after a bit of grinding).


Its slow work doing the fiddley bits.

But I still enjoy it (most of the time)

JBj

[DC3Td]

Doing a great job Dennis & it shows. gordon

[humpyboy]

She is lookin good Dennis, all those fiddly bits can be fun till you start taking skin off knukles can put a dampener on things but as they say slow and steady wins the race.
Derk.

[Geoff & Jude]

hi dennis

it's looking pretty flash.

you and sue won't "know" yourselves once it's on the road.

all those mod cons, like windows that open and close, a heater and air con.

it might even be quiet enough for you to talk to each other (i guess there's a down side to everything (don't let sue read that bit, she'll hit me )).

geoff 'n jude