Taylormade

Next came the more complicated exterior door latch assembly. Two of mine had cracks and were bent out of shape. This is a weak point on this car. When ply33 sent me some replacements from his stash I was worried as they were slightly different - mainly the steel was thicker, making for a more sturdy unit. I had to disassemble them to switch over some parts, so I was starting with just the basic main section. The biggest problem was the fact I'd had to grind off some rivets to get things apart. They were stepped rivets and I was afraid I might have to turn then on a lathe. Luckily I found replacements from Hanson Rivets and ordered them. They are exactly the right size and depth except of the bottom part of the shaft, which was slightly too large for the existing hole. Here is the main piece and the new rivet. The rivets are nicely made and just the right size. They have many sizes and depths available. I had to drill out the hole in the plate to accept the slightly larger rivet shaft. It needed a 1/4 inch hole. The rivet fit perfectly. The rivet holds the latch slider. It has to be properly stepped to allow the piece to slide back and forth. The pieces assembled. Everything assembled and the spring in place. That's another stepped rivet holding the extension arm. Getting that spring in is no easy task! Three done and the fourth is already in the door.

I've finally finished the restoration of my door latch mechanisms. Many thanks to ply33 for supplying needed parts from his stash (his 33 door mechanisms were made from thicker steel than mine, but they still fit), and to Knobless for his repo parts which also fit perfectly. I discovered that the spring was missing on the interior mechanism on the passenger side rear door. I found some new springs on Ebay, expensive at twenty bucks for two, but they fit. To replace the spring I needed to remove the cover plate held on to the main plate by four tabs. I was lucky to get this part from Knobless as the tabs broke off the old one when I bent them back. With everything disassembled I was ready to clean everything up. You can see the repo cover and the new spring at the bottom. It was a bit fiddly trying to get the spring in place. I eventually just laid it in place and slide the cover over it. I bent the tabs down and gave everything a shot of white lithium grease. Job done.

Another senior moment today. I'm reassembling the door latch mechanisms and have everything laid out to put them together. Then I realize I'm missing a part from the rear passenger side. A while ago ply33 sent me some of his spare parts and I was sure I had this and it should have been in the marked box with everything else. Nowhere to be found. The usual search came up empty, but I was positive I had that part in the box and had cleaned it up. I checked my old one, but it was too bent and damaged to use or straighten. With a heavy heart I come inside and begin a post begging anyone who has this part to contact me. I figured I'd better take a photo since the part is left and right handed, so I grab the old one and just check it against the door to make sure I have the right one. That's when I noticed the two screws by the latch opening. With a head slap I realized I had bolted the good part in the door to make sure it would fit. I did it since ply33's parts were almost identical, but the metal was just a bit thicker. Anyway, I will put the mechanism together tomorrow and take some pix in case anyone needs to go through the process. If I can remember to do it.

As a Dodge Brothers Club member I can tell you just from the club roster that there are many left, especially the ubiquitous four door sedan model. The car may run well, but how old are those tires? Has it been sitting under that blue tarp (a perfect moisture trap) since November with the front window open and the driver’s window down? A nice one of these cars (and I love them, having a 32 sedan that I am restoring) brings between nine and fifteen thousand on a really good day. I bought mine eight years ago (in about the same shape as yours) when the market was much stronger for four thousand. A 31 sedan here in town with side mounts in a bit better shape than yours just went for four thousand five hundred and it took almost a year to sell. You can ask what you want, but the folks here know the market and are merely trying to point out that your asking price is wildly optimistic. No one is disparaging your car, just trying to bring you back to reality.

It's very tight to the metal. The padding compressed to just about nothing when she stretched the material over, there is no give on the edges. The old top actually had rather thick tape all around the metal edges - I have no reason why, but it was replaced some time before I bought the car in 1965. I don't think it will be a problem. I got the material from Restoration Specialties. They list it as Sedan Decking, and I got the Smooth Grain Black. I agree, it looks very similar to the original material I have seen.

Angie, my upholstery lady came over and put the fabric on my top insert. I live in a very small town, but her shop is right down the street. We had more room in my garage, so she decided to do the job here. One of the benefits of a small town, friendly folks and good service. I had kept the old material in case she needed a pattern, but it wasn't necessary - she went right to work. We put the new stuff out in the sun. It's over 90 today so it really softened up. She had the cotton padding on in no time. Then the fabric. It looks great! I forgot to take a shot of the finished job, we were practically fainting from the heat, but you get the idea. Then I went inside to cool off and ending up watching some of the HenRefurb YouTube videos on the restoration of a 31 Dodge Brothers truck. As he was explaining his problems removing the steering box (I had exactly the same problem) he mentioned he would have to remove the engine before he could get the steering box out of the frame. My blood ran cold. My freshly painted, ready to go steering box was sitting out in the garage ready to be installed. Was there enough room between the engine and the frame on my 32 to allow the steering box to fit? The thought of having to take the engine back out at this stage was heart-stopping. I rushed to the garage and steadied my nerves. I measured the distance between the engine and the frame - 9 inches. Then I measured the width of the steering box - eleven inches. Oh, no! So I grabbed the assembly and carried it over to the car. To my relief, I could angle in into the generously large hole in the frame (which is boxed up front from the factory) and slide it into place. Catastrophe avoided! I'm getting too old for stuff like that.

Thanks everyone- that’s what I was looking for.

Does the thread "Hot Rodding the Gemmer Steering Box" by idrjoe_sandiego still exist? Tried the search function and am having no luck finding it. On a similar note, has anyone found a replacement for the felt gasket on the bottom of the box? If I remember correctly this is an area that always leaks even with the gasket and in the article a tube was welded onto the bottom bracket that extended up the inner steering tube and prevented leakage around the tube hole.

Luckily most of my top wood was in good shape and making the one new piece was really kind of enjoyable. Good to know there is a supplier out there for the few 32s still remaining.

Painting the steering box. Primer coat.

Finally got this job done. Two new kittens have taken up too much of our time lately, along with 95 degree temperatures in the garage, but things cooled off and I bought a pneumatic staple gun from (gasp, choke) Harbor Freight and got the chicken wire on the top frame. The staple gun actually performed flawlessly. How long it will last is always the question, but for 24 bucks I can't complain. First, the cats, These two knuckleheads are just too entertaining. For the top insert, I took everyone's' advice and removed the old chicken wire. Then I went through the tedious task of removing every tack and staple that still remained. The padding along the top bows just crumbled away, so I replaced it with felt that I glued on the bows. Then I used the new staple gun to attach the chicken wire. The staples were exactly the size and shape of the originals. The chicken wire was also identical to the original in size and spacing. I guess some things never change. It cost me six bucks for ten feet at the local farm feed store. Finished and ready for the the padding and fabric.

Did you take off the side cover to see if the valves were moving? This is a five minute job. If the valves are free, you can move on to broken piston rings or other possible problems that are causing the noise and lack,of compression.

Love my LEDs, but I had my first set fail when the temperature went below zero. The company replaced them, but I’m careful no to try them in very low temperatures. If you turn them on and they flicker, kill the power immediately.

Remove the side cover (front one) and have someone crank the engine while you watch the valves. If one or both are not moving, you have your answer.

Thanks. July or August in central Illinois should provide all the heat necessary.