Dodge Kingsway rebuild

[DC3Td]

Great looking motor Dennis. Amazing what a few pinnies do to the overall look.Very nice. gordon

[smokenell]

G'day Dennis? ( I hope), thanks for the reply. My Desoto has failane steering column and steering wheel. I would like to fit an oiginal wheel if we could adapt it. The car looks original except for the 14 inch mags and the ford steering wheel. We will keep looking for a wheel and a teardrop.
happy dodging, Smokey

[Jennison]

any pics of your desoto?
jennison

[smokenell]

G'day Jennison, will upload some pics when we download from our camera which is in the control of Nellie (Mrs Smokey). We have only had the car for two weeks and have been working feverously (as fast old farts do) to get roadworthy and rego as soon as possible.
Car has been shedded for eight years so brakes etc have had to be renewed. Hope to be rego'd late next week.
Still looking for a small 50's van. the one near Nowra a bit far away at the moment.
Keep looking. Smokey & Nellie

[kaybee]

Aug 1, 2012 20:06:55 GMT 10 smokenell said:

G'day Dennis? ( I hope), thanks for the reply. My Desoto has failane steering column and steering wheel. I would like to fit an oiginal wheel if we could adapt it. The car looks original except for the 14 inch mags and the ford steering wheel. We will keep looking for a wheel and a teardrop.
happy dodging, Smokey

G'day Smokey ,could be worth having a look at this guys stuff , particularly photo no.3....

www.ebay.com.au/itm/1940-Pontiac-Bonnet-/180943277246?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a210f4cbe

[poddydodger]

Woooohooo...just goes to show what some people have secreted away in their shed.

pd

[smokenell]

Looks interesting Kaybee, will check him out.
Smokey

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well I’ve been going thru a period of small jobs that cost a lot, & nothing much seems to happen.



Under the bonnet, I’ve been finishing fitting & securing air con & heater hoses, getting clamps from USA, modifying them to fit properly, etc.

A lot of stuff you buy is not what it is made out to be, but generally with a bit of time & effort you can get it to do what you want.

I’ve had braided brake lines made to go from master cylinder to distribution valve, & re routed the heater hose to enter into a bulkhead fitting. Also made a new bracket to support lower end of HQ steering. Replaced rubbers, & stripped steering column to tidy up , paint, make it fit better than it did, etc. Found out its got bits from most models all mixed up, so hopefully I will get it back together later.



On the other side of engine bay, I’ve fitted bulkhead fittings for Aircon, & mounted hoses on billet brackets screwed to inner guards.



I’m pretty happy with the engine bay as it progresses. Soon have to start to tidy up & refit the LPG bits.



This is the dash as I bought the car



As the original pix shows, the previous owner fitted the dash panel from the Fairlane he removed the running gear from, along with every switch , gauge & bit he had laying around.



Refitted the dash panel, which didn’t fit properly after the door pillar repair. A bit of cutting & welding helped. So then I started on the new gauges.



So I bought a set of US gauges a while back, & had a panel made to accept them. I saved a piece of the dash from the Tara spare car, so I cut & welded to get the shape I wanted. Then my welder died halfway thru.





But I like this bit as well, it’s just how I pictured it, & not the same as all the other hot rod gauge sets. Also speedo is Kilometres, as should be in Australia.

Lots of time with not much visible result, but its all fun



JBJ

[DC3Td]

Hi Dennis. So you have been busy through all this quietness since your last update. I actually thought the Fairlane dash looked pretty good but now seeing how you rebuilt & reconfigured everything it`s certainly given a whole new look albeit still not finished.Very nice. gordon

[kazandadam]

That engine Bay looks fantastic Dennis! Theres just something about Fire Engine Red mixed with Chrome Did you know that 'HEMIS' make the world turn around How long now do you expect to have it finished? Cause Iam ready to go cruisn' and buy that first case of beer for you ;D Should get two laps out of that lot? cheers Adam

[JBJ]

Hi Adam ( & toonoos)


Thanks for comments.

I'm like most of us, I have periods of motivation stronger than at other times when I hate the sight of it.

realistically I belive some time next year should get it there.

I know if I really got into it, I could do it much sooner, but I dont think that will happen just yet.

If I could find a good honest reasonable priced helper locally, progress would happen. But they are very hard to find up here. Most of the older guys with the experience that aren't working fulltime, have little need or motivation to do any more than they are at present ( like me to a point).

I've only got the one rhr door, & the right side around the door openings & sill, & right rear guard to finish off & prime. Then I can finish off the dash, finish fitting the cable drive wipers & aircon unit, paint the interior with POR15, then I can paint inside all the panels with my rust prevention treatment. Then pull it down again & put some final colour on.

Still a lot of work, but most days I get a few bits taken closer.

Its mostly fun.

JBJ

[humpyboy]

Motorvation? we need to find a way to bottle it and then we can sell it to our hearts content and get so much more done ;D Dennis, that little bit you do each time you get out there will be enough to get you over the line at the end of the day, you're retired mate whats your hurry? the sooner you finish this one the sooner you will want to start the next one ;D I'll get back in my box now.

[JBJ]

Hi Derk,

Not quite retired yet, just very light on work as I'm self employed in the building industry drawing plans, & have been since 1981.

I still sit in front of the phone & computer every morning, hoping someone will want me to do some plans for them.

You never know what tomorrow brings, but when I have nothing to do to earn income, I try to make the most of working on my Dodge. Unless Boots gets me doing other things.

Hopefully by the time I get the Dodge finished we can pack up & travel around Australia for a few years before health issues stop us.

Its still fun

JBJ

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well its taken me nearly 3 years to get to the stage I can say that the whole exterior is in 2 pack primer, with 95% of the finishing body work completed.

Sure I've now got to go over each panel & get it into final primer, & fit all the fiddly bits to the doo frames, like windows, vent windows, catches etc, but its good to have got to this stage.

This door is getting close



I found the scuff plates the previous owner had made, the other day.
I always thought they were pretty crappy, & never paid any attention to them.
So I had a good look, & he had made them from stainless steel. Pretty well made, & a lot better than I could ever do. So I gave them a quick polish, & a bit of reshaping. I'm impressed with them.

The shiney bits have the unpolished opposite side ones sitting behind them.






Got more rubbers from USA the other day. The door & boot seals are different from the ones fitted previously, which were Aussie made. USA ones feel like soft foam rubber, & are different shapes than the Aussie ones, which feel like really hard foam rubber.


Its still fun.

JBJ

[kaybee]

Hiya Dennis, so a couple more weeks then and it'll be finished?..... ;D ;D

[Swellwillys]

Looks like your gonna win Dennis!

Gavan

[sportsman 1]

Only 3 years hey Dennis.

I got one at home I started on 18 years ago, it is still a bare body with the timber framing mostly done sitting on a rolling chassis which has not yet been started.

I have done a few others since but still I do need to get into it again. (had big plans before I holed the block in the 1925. That gave me yet another motor to do)

Keep at it Dennis, every thing you do is that much closer to the finish.

Leigh.

[JBJ]

Hi All,


Been doing a lot of little jobs, all very time consuming, without much visible progress.

I have polished, wrapped in glad wrap, & stored a lot of the stainless trim. Made new clips to hold them on car, & took the couple of damaged pieces to a local guy who is specialising on repairing stainless , aluminium & brass trim.

Carl Mills is his name, & he is very good. I reckon as good as Val Neill, the guy in Brisbane that used to do it ( he is retired as far as I know, but did a brilliant repair on one of my mudguard strips that was damaged, a few years back)

Carl is a Chrysler Royal fanatic. Anyone wanting to contact him send me a message with your contact details, & I will pass them to him. He is at least 9 months wait for any repairs already.

So I've welded up my dash, primed & puttied it. I'm happy wth it, still needs a few areas puttied & primed, but pretty good. More work than I would have believed.




Got the final door into primer & pretty straight.



Also final rubbing & priming completed around RHS doors. These areas, & door jambs, are very fiddly trying to take repair marks & factory folds/faults out. But its worth the effort when they are primed & look smooth.



One back guard bottom to finish, then the whole body has been got into primer after the rebuild.

Looking back after my open heart surgery 16 months ago, I think I'm going OK. & I think its all downhill from here.

I think its still all fun, even if slower than I thought.

JBJ

[Roehm3108]

And when it all boils down Dennis, the last bit is always the easiest. I admire anyone who will tackle anything mechanical/metal ;D You've persevered and it really paying off for you. What a changed vehicle from the one I sat in (would be a few years ago now)

Well done and good luck on the home run

Ray

[JBJ]

Hi Ray,

Just looked thru my records, & I drew the plans on that job I took you to in June 2008, so its a while back now.

All you can do with any project is work on it when you can, providing you are mentally & physically up to it.

I find trying to plan ahead for time allocation is getting to hard. Theres always an excuse available to go shopping, or to Bunnings, or to the pub, or............

JBJ

[Daggsey]

Lookin' forward to a trip into South Lismore to Bunnings with ya JBJ in the Dodge........by the time we leave Hedland you should have the rebuild well and truly over.....keep up the good work mate

Daggsey

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Boy fitting air conditioning into an old car is fun.

The "universal " unit that I bought that supposedly fits behind any dash doesnt ( without a lot of of alterations)



But eventually I got it to fit. Had to make a new bulkhead/air distribution box, with parts of the bought unit & a bit of folded sheetmetal.



Got my wipers finally installed & working also.

My dash has taken a lot of time & work, & because of the air con problems I had nowhere for my glove box to fit, so I welded the door in place.



I'm making a parcel shelf/tray/glove box under the dash on the passenger side to replace it.

Its nice to be onto the detail bits at last

JBJ

[tucky29]

hi dennis,
i know what you are going through, i just finished fitting a vintage air mini air con in my 48 chev pickup. it just fitted between my glove box and steering column. i had to make brackets to fit the compressor to the sb chev v8. but it has worked a treat ,2.4 deg. keep up the good work. hope to get over to your side one of these days and catch up.
tucky.

[pope]

Hi JLJ, I too am doing a Dodgekingsway 54 pretty standard I am nearly but having a terrible time finding exterior door handles. Mine were pited and a mate tried to clean with acid and burnt holes in the lot. I was wondering if you have any you were willing to sell pitted or not or know where I may find some as I am pretty desperate. I will get some photos together and post through soon.

[humpty2]

Hi Pope,

You would have more luck finding a set from a Chrysler Royal.......they are exactly the same behind the door.
Have seen some fitted to your model and only a purist would know.
Regards Humpty ( owner of a '54 Belvedere)