Dodge Kingsway rebuild

[JBJ]

Hi,

I replied to your PM.
I have a lot of bits I will sell, & one of my friends locally bought 2 dodges, one is being used as a parts car as far as I know, but hopefully soon I will get a look at it & see what is on it. I need a few bits, & he thinks they are going to be available.

So probably if you send me a wish list, I will see what I have thats available, & what my friend has. My Email is on my avatar, probably better to use it than PM. That way when I reply you know you have a reply.

I have bought a few bits by chasing up Ebay sales of complete cars, and asking do they hava spare parts that I need.

I wont be keeping parts that I have replaced by modified bits, so they will be available. But it costs a lot to freight things like doors to remote parts of Australia.

JBJ

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Things are moving along, with regular work sessions happening.
But everything is being handmade to fit, & naturally takes longer than expected.

I had a lot of fun with my my dash after I fitted the airconditioning, & have found it the dash doesnt fit the cover strips that go between it & windscreen rubber.

So I got the dash to fit at the bottom & sides, & will modify the top as needed to fit the cover strips, after I get the centre console, new glove box, shifter, basic wiring/fuse box, & steering in final place


So the last couple of weeks have been spent on wiring the instruments, building the centre console & modifying floor pan to fit neatly, finding & fitting the Falcon shifter, & doing myriads of little bits related to wiring & plumbing








I made the frame for the console from 32x32x2.4 Duragal angle. Got a bit of 1.6 steel folded then cut & welded floor pan to allow console sides to fit with a square corner. Used a bit of a VS Commodore console at the rear, to provide vents for the aircon into the back seat. Then cut some 3.6 ply to form sides. I've fitted a Sony stereo, & a few other bits from a Diahatsu below the stereo.

Finishing of the panels will be done eventually by the upholsterer

I intend fitting the fuse box under a removable panel in front of the shifter, for easy access.


Not enough hours in day to work for a living, enjoy playing with toys, & having a few drinks.

I reckon I know which of the three will stop first.

Its still fun

JBJ

[humpyboy]

Rememebr the Tortise and the Hare Dennis, slow and steady, wont be long before we see you putting the good bits in.

"Not enough hours in day to work for a living, enjoy playing with toys, & having a few drinks.

I reckon I know which of the three will stop first."

Jeezzzz I hope it's work ;D

[JBJ]

Hi All


Finally got the caravan rebuilding finished, so its back to finishing my Dodge.

I changed a few things in my carport, so I could work on the car without being out in open for anyone driving past to see what I was doing.

So I fired it up. First start in over a year. But couldnt get brakes to work, so I drove it from one carport to the other by whacking it into park as it started moving. Not real good for the box, but I got it where I wanted. It was great to hear the 351 running again, nothing like a V8 sound

I've been grinding the rust off my bumpers, in preparation for powder coating them chrome colour. I dont believe body colour bumpers suit early 50's cars. Its a lot of tedious work, but will give a good result ( hopefully)

I've had the bumpers replated before, twice. They still rust with the poor quality( but expensive) plating available up here from Percy Peeloff the plater.

I was quoted over $1200 per bumper to rechrome them from someone else, so I've decided to powder coat them, probably about $800 total including sandbasting them.

So hopefully I will be posting on this thread again regularly, obviously depending on how things go money & health wise.

I am looking forward to getting back into it, doing something I've been doing for well over the last 50 years, & thats working on things to keep myself happy.
My income has reduced as my work approaches retirement time, but then I get more time to do things

Pix will follow in the next few days

Its still all fun

JBJ

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well this is car in new location, with heaps of room to work around it & a slab floor for when I need to get under it.







My plan at this stage is to get the inside front windscreen cover mouldings & top of dash to fit better than they do, & be easy to fit & remove, unlike at present.
I think I distorted the dash when I welded the vent tubes in for the airconditioner.

Then paint the interior with POR15. Then finish the wiring loom (about half done already)

After that I will remove the front panels & doors again, then concentrate on getting the body shell & panels into final colour. Car will be red where beige is now, & white SnoPearl where grey is.
Nearly all the stainless trim has been polished & dents removed, & most of the trim clips are here, new or rebuilt as required.
I have all the glass , new front laminated screen & rubber, & all the factory tinted side glass, rubber channels, door rubbers, etc.

That should be enough to worry about for the next few months.

JBJ

[humpyboy]

Good to see you get back into this project Dennis.

[Deleted]

GDay Mate..

Having been to your place on many occasions and seen the "working environment" that you have to toil on your cars . I can honestly say for a bloke your age ... and the health issues you have had to deal with..... you have achieved a bloody great deal .
Not only on your cars.. the Jailbar and the Kingsway .. but all the vans you and Boots have worked on in the 8 or so years I have known you..


You pair have worked through all that time on cars and vans and have managed to attend a hell of a lot of runs and events.. not just locally but interstate... the Nats.. the tours ..the rod, car and van shows and events all up and down the east coast.

There is a lot of people who have joined this forum during those years that have expressed interest in old vans and wanted to become part of the vintage van scene... some have taken a page out of your book and rolled up there sleeves and had a go at restoing vans....
Some are still on the starting blocks... waiting... talking about it ... and voyuering about how life will be once they get there car or van on the road...
All I can say is .. go back to the start of this thread ,,,, and a few other like your van restos on " Lucielle"... " Groovin" and the sunliner who's name escapes me at the moment..... and draw inspiration from what and old bugger can achieve in less than perfect working environment..

Keep at the Dodge mate.. shes comin up trumps. ;D

Reddoitwhileyacan

[JBJ]

Thanks Reddo ( & the others that understand what I am about)

Its a great feeling to be able to keep being interested in rebuilding things. Sorta gets you over the criticism I occassionly (often?) cop for saying what I think, but I like to try to keep things moving on this forum when I can.
The feedback & good comments I generally get on my projects help keep me going, but the real occassional smart arse nasty ones hurt. I guess if a person thinks what I,m posting is irrellevant to vintage vanning, or that I'm doing it wrong, they dont have to read the posts.

If I can do it, most people can.
While its still fun, I will keep going, & suggest those of you that need some encouragement should give it a go.

JBJ

[Deleted]

Hi JBJ,
I for one am always in awe of what you have achieved,and would love to have half the talent for restoring that you have.
May you continue to be an inspiration to all of us.
Cheers
hughdeani

[JBJ]

Hi All,

>:DThis mongrel thing hurt my leg bad about 3 months ago, when I had it on my mechanics hoist, removed LPG tank & brackets. I was in the boot on the hoist, undid everything as required. then he dropped it to the ground. I backed out of the boot, then put my shin on the tow hitch (50x50 square steel), then put my weight on it, & cut it pretty badly ,

So three months out of action, including some not real good pain levels, my leg is healing slowly.

Now I just sold my jailbar, & now I have the funds to get it painted professionally at last. I have it running, stopping & driving properly.
Hopefully in a couple of weeks it goes to the painter, who will give it back painted, assembled, with stainless trim in place, all door & boot rubbers in place, & maybe powder coated bumpers in place.

I will post pix as it goes. Its good to be working on it again.

Its all fun

JBJ

[neilncheryl]

That's great news JBJ.Haven't seen the Dodge since all those years ago at Canungra so I'm equally excited to see it again all finished.
Cheers, Neil

[JBJ]

Hi All,

well the Dodge went to painters on Monday morning, hopefully to come back before too long all painted & basically assembled.





its parked next to a fantastic Aussie sold tank fairlane wagon, originally sold new in Kyogle ( about 60 KM from Casino where it is now)

Has local history, & sat in a shed for a long time. Only minor rust holes, like real minor, no dents, & never been in an accident.
Its getting a full rebuild.



So I dropped my bumpers into Percy Peeloff, our local chrome plater, to give him a third go at plating them. He reckons they will come out good. But that's what I've been told previously, & then the rust bubbles up under the chrome, & the chrome peels off.
I had intended to powder coat them. But the owner of that business reckoned they would chip, & didn't want to do them. I guess at half to 2/3 the cost of plating, it wasn't worth the risk.

So all is happening.

Pix to come as it progresses

JBJ

[DC3Td]

Gday Dennis.Good to hear work has progressed to the next stage & can`t wait to see how the ol girl looks once she sprouting her new garb. gordon

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Not much activity in tow vehicles thread these days.
So my slow rebuild is still happening. My painter is pretty slow, but he seems pretty meticulous in how he is doing it.

6 weeks to get it ready to prime. But he has been working on other jobs at same time.
He told me he hoped about another 8 weeks it could be ready to go home to next step, but I will believe that when I see it.









Its supposedly going to be final primer today or tomorrow, with hopefully some colour going on in about 10 days. I guess I am the eternal optimist, but hopefully i wont bet let down again. I am confident he will do a pretty good job, based on other jobs of his I have seen

Its still fun

JBj

[Deleted]

thanks for the update JBJ

be thankfull that he is doing the job meticulously .....nothin' worse than 2 years later your nice paint job starts to bubble .... or crack....or unrepaired rust spots start showing thru

the ol' story hey ....preparation is everything!

Bet you can't wait to get it back though ........the "fun" part is putting it all back together,

cheers mate

Mark

[humpyboy]

Thanks for the update JBJ, can't wait to see her in all her glory.

[strugglebrook]

Hope you have her finished for the tour next year Dennis. The last time we saw the Dodge was on our first tour a few years back now.Most people don`t realize how much work it is to restore a car let alone modify it as well. Hope it turns out just how you want it too.

As you say it`s all good. JD.

[JBJ]

Hi All,

I think I could have found another REAL SLOW tradesman. He's had it 2 months, & its still not ready to paint. He says its nearly ready, & he has given the whole car a rub with 180 on the final primer, with more finer rubbing to go.

I got disappointed when he asked me where the two colours separated, as I had gone to a lot of time & effort working that out, & painting the two colours of undercoat joining where I wanted them to. He just rubbed all that off, not asking if there was a reason for it.

So now he has to reinvent the wheel, & I have to make another trip to check it.

But he reckons that in about 3 weeks he might start painting the white on the bottom.

His workmanship is very good so far, his time management is on a different frequency to mine.


Still hoping to have it back painted & basically assembled by this Christmas.










Keep tuned for the next exciting episode of " Will it ever get finished in my lifetime?" by the guy that can find all the slow tradesmen.

But its still (mostly) all fun

JBJ the sucker

[DC3Td]

Gday Dennis.Think of it as a bottle of fine wine or whisky - takes time to mature.Given the fact he`s supposed to do pretty good jobs best wait the extra time.Gives you more time to think & do other things.Anyways chin up & good to still see you here. gordon

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Finally got a bit of final top coat on. Not a lot, just the sills, lower rear guard bottoms & panel across rear below boot.
but boy does it look good. Its Spray Chief Super Snow Pearl, sort of a very fine metallic white, over white tinter base, with 3 coats clear over the pearl.

Hard to see much in the pix. But its white on the lower bits below the body moulding.

Hopefully Red Pearl starts going on on Tuesday, so when I get to see it next Friday, hopefully the shell will be in color.









I think I'm still having fun

JBJ

[neilncheryl]

Hi Dennis (and Sue)
Must be a relief to see some progress happening.
Colours are going to be awesome together and a good spot for the blend line.

NnC

[Daggsey]

Hi Dennis,

Long term projects are never fun when you are relying on other tradesman (ala, my HT Monaro that was at a panelbeater/spraypainter "mate's" for 15 years )

It's good to see yours progressing...hang in there old mate

Daggsey

[sutcac]

Onya Dennis. Looking good. I feel your frustration with the trades people.
My EJ yoot has been at the auto leccys for 14 months!!!!!!!!!!
Get to bring it home this Friday, then still lots more to do !!!
As you say,as still as it remains FUN, all is good!!!
Looks like we might be hitting the road at the same time.

You will certainly have a great Vintage Van tow car when it's finished.

Cheers, your FUN loving friend, Sutcac.

[JBJ]

Hi All,

Well got to see final paint colours today

The boot lid inside is in the sun, & all other pix are in shade, & dont show the intensity of the colour










I took my new wheels to the tyre service, with the mags off the car. I intended to get the low mileage tyres fitted to the new wheels.
When they removed a couple of tyres, they found the sidewalls had bad cracking , supposedly due to having been sitting around for 5 or 6 years unused. They looked dangerous, so I fitted a new set of tyres to be safe.


Hopefully over the next month it will be finished & assembled well enough to be tilt trayed home, & I can get stuck into finishing it.

Its certainly is starting to look like I hoped it would

JBJ

[Geoff & Jude]

hi dennis

she's starting to look the goods now.

i reckon you're chomping at the bit to have it home so you can get into finishing it.

look forward to seeing it on the road.

geoff 'n jude