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Taylormade

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Everything posted by Taylormade

  1. I will always lean toward getting a car back on the road, hopefully as original as possible. Fiberglass fenders are certainly an option, especially if this is just going to be a fun driver, but be sure to keep the original fenders and running boards in a safe, dry place in case you want to do a restoration in the future. Fiberglass repairs alone just aren't going to cut it with this car. This isn't rust like you find in the lower fenders of 50s cars. The body area you are addressing is a structural part of the car. Plus, fiberglassing over rust isn't going to stop the cancer. In a few years you're going to be dealing with the same rust bubbling out all over the repaired areas. Even if you finish with fiberglass, you are going to have to cut out ALL the rusted areas and patch them with metal. If you don't, the repair will be temporary and lead to big problems down the line - the type of problem you're seeing in the pictures. To compound the problem, the cost in time, materials, and most of all, paint is going to be almost as expensive as doing it right. Buy a welder, get some sheet metal and go to work. It's fun and very satisfying. Even if your work isn't all that smooth and professional, the new body fillers work well, last, and are easy to work with. Much better than fiberglass. Of course, you could just get it in excellent and safe running and driving condition, throw blankets over the seats and drive the heck out of it as is. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  2. Not trying to put a damper on this, but I'd be very careful with this car. Lots of good things - pretty complete, lots of hard to find items are there, very attractive car - but I can see some things that are eerily similar the my project and they spell trouble. Yes that splash apron can be fabricated, but I wouldn't call it an easy job. It looks like it was just painted over the rust and pits - not a good sign of what's under the rest of that blue paint. I'd be even more worried about the area above the apron. That looks like a hunk of bondo peeling off. This was the area on my DL that turned out to be nothing but rust - and I only had a small hole showing before the paint came off, nothing as bad as yours was visible. I would almost guarantee that that strip just below the doors and above the apron is toast and that one is no picnic - just see my thread for what we had to do to get that area right. That crack in the fender, I suspect, is just the beginning. I had the same sort of rust showing on my back fenders and once we got them off there was literally no good metal in the area where the fender meets the body. Again, all this can be repaired, but I have seen some nice, driver quality Chrysler product sedans from this era go for between ten and fifteen thousand. Even if you got it for four grand, you'll have another fifteen in it to get it to a dependable driver. Take it from someone in the middle of the same process. It's a cool looking car, but not a daily driver in that shape. I can only guess what the brakes, cooling system, wiring and fuel tank are like. As a project, I'd say get it cheap if you can and enjoy working on it, but don't plan a nice Sunday drive in the next few weeks. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  3. Solved! As usual, the solution turned out to be simple and logical once I thought about it. There had to be some way to get back inside the emergency brake drum. I looked for some sort of access hatch in the dust cover, but couldn't see anything through the grease and crud. It's the piece highlighted in purple in this photo: I could see that the plate was held on by small bolts and was pleased to find that they came out - once I found them all, they looked like little round blobs before a scraped them clean - and did not have a nut on the other side, but screwed into a threaded fitting. As soon as I had the first two bolts off, half the plate fell away. That was the secret - it's in two pieces so it can come off and doesn't have to slip off the shaft. I suspected this might be the case yesterday, but I couldn't find any trace of a seam under all the crud. Here's the little bugger in all its glory. Once I had both pieces off, I could get access to the inside of the emergency brake drum and with a socket wrench with a U-joint extension, I could hold the nut and turn the bolts out. Once they were free the U-joint came right off. And there was the big nut staring me right in the face. I got it off with a little work, then used a puller to remove the flange from the shaft and transmission seal. It was a bear to get off, but finally began to move and then the puller got it off the shaft. Now the brake drum and the brake band support bracket came free with no obstructions. Finally, my original purpose could be accomplished. With everything out of the way, the transmission support bracket could be slid off the trans. Now the transmission is stripped down and ready for cleaning and inspection. Notice the free-wheeling extension on the back. Thanks for all the help and advice! <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate><quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  4. Solved! As usual, the solution turned out to be simple and logical once I thought about it. There had to be some way to get back inside the emergency brake drum. I looked for some sort of access hatch in the dust cover, but couldn't see anything through the grease and crud. It's the piece highlighted in purple in this photo: I could see that the plate was held on by small bolts and was pleased to find that they came out - once I found them all, they looked like little round blobs before a scraped them clean - and did not have a nut on the other side, but screwed into a threaded fitting. As soon as I had the first two bolts off, half the plate fell away. That was the secret - it's in two pieces so it can come off and doesn't have to slip off the shaft. I suspected this might be the case yesterday, but I couldn't find any trace of a seam under all the crud. Here's the little bugger in all its glory. Once I had both pieces off, I could get access to the inside of the emergency brake drum and with a socket wrench with a U-joint extension, I could hold the nut and turn the bolts out. Once they were free the U-joint came right off. And there was the big nut staring me right in the face. I got it off with a little work, then used a puller to remove the flange from the shaft and transmission seal. It was a bear to get off, but finally began to move and then the puller got it off the shaft. Now the brake drum and the brake band support bracket came free with no obstructions. Finally, my original purpose could be accomplished. With everything out of the way, the transmission support bracket could be slid off the trans. Now the transmission is stripped down and ready for cleaning and inspection. Notice the free-wheeling extension on the back. Thanks for all the help and advice!
  5. The bolt heads are too close to the housing to get a socket - even a htin-walled socket - on them. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  6. A professional version of Photoshop. I make my living doing videos and graphics so it's a no-brainer for me. Something of a learning curve otherwise. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  7. I wish, but the owner's manual cutaway drawing shows a big old nut holding it on. I'm heading out to the garage to try again and I'll post any progress - or lack thereof. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  8. I had a similar idea, but if you look closely at the bolts you will see they are very close to the housing. There isn't enough room to get a socket on there. The only thing you can use to loosen the bolts is an open-ended wrench. I know there is a simple answer to this problem and I'll probably be slapping my head once I discover it, but for now all I can do is scratch my head. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  9. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>Thanks keiser31. I wish my brake drum was that easy to access. Mine faces the opposite way and that's where the problem lies. Thanks for trying.
  10. I posted this elsewhere but thought i might catch someone's attention on this thread. Subject: 1932 Dodge DL Transmission Problem: Confused restorer I'm working on my 32DL tranny and have run into a problem. It's the classic Chinese Puzzle and I'm just plain stuck. I'm taking off all the Floating Power motor and transmission mounts to send in to Tom Hannaford to have them revulcanized. The transmission sets in a rubber cradle that's bolted to a stamped metal bracket that bolts into the X member of the frame. I got the rubber mount off with no problem - half of it is attached to the tranny and the other half to the bracket. Now I want to slide the bracket off so I can clean everything up. Here is the transmission with the bracket (in blue) just sitting in place. It's not attached to the tranny in any way at this point and will rotate and slide forward and back. It's actually upside down in this shot and the two holes are where the rubber mount was attached inside the bracket. I should be able to just slide it over the emergency brake drum. BUT NO! Notice the emergency brake support pointed out in the photo. The nuts on the studs that hold it on came off just fine, however when I try to pull it forward to clear the studs, it hits the edge of the emergency brake drum before it can clear. I also can't get the studs out as they hit the brake drum before they are completely unscrewed. With this support bracket there, I can't slide the large bracket over the brake drum. No big deal, right? Just take off the emergency brake drum - I'm going to need to have it turned to clean up some grooves in the surface, anyway - and then the brake support will slide off and so will the big bracket. So, from the owner's manual it looks like the emergency brake drum is held on by a large nut on the shaft coming out of the free-wheeling portion of the tranny. Looking things over, that bolt must be under the front U-joint. So, I have to take off the U-joint. Here is the U-joint highlighted in green. It's held on by lots of bolts - just like at the rear axle. So I start to take them off - after carefully marking the position to keep everything the same when it goes back together. With a little effort, the bolts loosen up. It's then that I realize they are held on by nuts inside the drum. So I go back to the rear of the drum to see if there is enough room to get a wrench in there to hold the nuts. Hmmmm... Dodge has thoughtfully provided a plate that covers the drum. You can see it highlighted in purple. It apparently keeps the dirt - and me - out. It's bolted on, and doesn't spin with the drum, but even if I get the bolts out, I can't get it out of there without taking off the drum, which I can't do because... So, I can't get to the nuts, to remove the U-joint, to remove the drum, to slide off the band support, to slide off the trans bracket. Has anyone done this - and how the heck did you do it? It obviously can be done - they put it together in the factory - I just can't figure it out. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  11. They were about $380 each, not cheap but totally new except for the casing and end pieces. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  12. Subject: 1932 Dodge DL Transmission Problem: Confused restorer I'm working on my 32DL tranny and have run into a problem. It's the classic Chinese Puzzle and I'm just plain stuck. I'm taking off all the Floating Power motor and transmission mounts to send in to Tom Hannaford to have them revulcanized. The transmission sets in a rubber cradle that's bolted to a stamped metal bracket that bolts into the X member of the frame. I got the rubber mount off with no problem - half of it is attached to the tranny and the other half to the bracket. Now I want to slide the bracket off so I can clean everything up. Here is the transmission with the bracket (in blue) just sitting in place. It's not attached to the tranny in any way at this point and will rotate and slide forward and back. It's actually upside down in this shot and the two holes are where the rubber mount was attached inside the bracket. I should be able to just slide it over the emergency brake drum. BUT NO! Notice the emergency brake support pointed out in the photo. The nuts on the studs that hold it on came off just fine, however when I try to pull it forward to clear the studs, it hits the edge of the emergency brake drum before it can clear. I also can't get the studs out as they hit the brake drum before they are completely unscrewed. With this support bracket there, I can't slide the large bracket over the brake drum. No big deal, right? Just take off the emergency brake drum - I'm going to need to have it turned to clean up some grooves in the surface, anyway - and then the brake support will slide off and so will the big bracket. So, from the owner's manual it looks like the emergency brake drum is held on by a large nut on the shaft coming out of the free-wheeling portion of the tranny. Looking things over, that bolt must be under the front U-joint. So, I have to take off the U-joint. Here is the U-joint highlighted in green. It's held on by lots of bolts - just like at the rear axle. So I start to take them off - after carefully marking the position to keep everything the same when it goes back together. With a little effort, the bolts loosen up. It's then that I realize they are held on by nuts inside the drum. So I go back to the rear of the drum to see if there is enough room to get a wrench in there to hold the nuts. Hmmmm... Dodge has thoughtfully provided a plate that covers the drum. You can see it highlighted in purple. It apparently keeps the dirt - and me - out. It's bolted on, and doesn't spin with the drum, but even if I get the bolts out, I can't get it out of there without taking off the drum, which I can't do because... So, I can't get to the nuts, to remove the U-joint, to remove the drum, to slide off the band support, to slide off the trans bracket. Has anyone done this - and how the heck did you do it? It obviously can be done - they put it together in the factory - I just can't figure it out.
  13. My tags were black and as far as I know they are the original tags. We discovered my tags also said just Anderson Indiana rather than the more common Dayton - Anderson tags. My 29 Plymouth also had black tags.
  14. My 29 Plymouth had unpainted bands but I doubt if they were ever polished. These units on my 32 were black and looked original, but as Phil says, who knows what happened earlier. When I first took the bands off to look inside, the paint just fell off leaving an unpainted surface so I don't know the real answer. I guess I can paint them black if I don't like the "bling" look, but they sure do look pretty! The best part is everything is new - bolts, windings, brushes, starter relay, wiring - so my electrical system should be dependable.
  15. Just got photos of my newly restored starter and generator from Jason Smith at Advanced Electrical Rebuilders. Looks like I'm going to have to up the quality of the rest of my restoration about 500 percent to match this. All new insides as well, so they should work as good as they look. He's sending them out today. My engine is due to be finished by February 14th and I just sent my Floating Power motor mounts off to Tom Hannaford to be revulcanized. With the frame coming back in the next two weeks blasted and powdercoated, I should be ready for some reassembly next month with clean shiny parts!
  16. A few days ago, when the temperature was hovering at 2 degrees above zero, we brought the body back to my garage. It's fairly heavy, but four of us could lift the body off the truck and onto the stand I built a while ago. When it warms up, Crin and I will color sand and buff it out. Now that the frame is off to the powder coaters, I'm begiining the tedious task of getting all the frame parts ready for paint. I took all the springs apart yesterday. A pretty simple and straightforward job. The biggest hassle was all the grease still hanging on to everything. Phil kept her well lubed, which means all the bearing surfaces are in great shape, but it sure is a mess to take apart! One thing I did notice - some of the bolts that run through the spring clamps (The U-shaped brackets that keep the ends of the leaves together) have thin metal tubes that I think are spacers meant to keep the ears of the clamps from bending in. You can see one in this photo. But other clamps didn't have them. And the driver's side front spring didn't have any at all, as in this photo, leading me to believe that it had been taken apart for some reason in the past. Notice how the tops of the clamps are bent in due to the lack of a spacer. Everything came apart quite easily and I had all the springs taken apart in about two hours. They weren't as rusty as I'd expected and should clean up just fine. This little item on the front end of the driver's side front spring is a damper to improve steering control. It has two large coil springs inside. I'll take better shots as I restore it. Pretty boring stuff, but it's all part of the job.
  17. If you look at the manual, you will see these instructions: Rear Axel - Rear Wheel Bearings - Universal Joints (Every two years or every 20,000 miles) <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate><quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate> Rear Wheel Bearings - Short Fiber Wheel Bearing Grease - Medium. Remove plugs in rear side of axle housing near brake support plates and lubricate with 1/2 ounce of recommended lubricant, using low pressure gun. Replace plug. Do not over-lubricate. If a relief plug is used on grease gun, the exact required amount of lubricant can be applied. Over-lubrication may result in grease leaking past the seals onto brake linings. There is a reason there are no fittings on these plugs - if you put them on and pump in lube with a high pressure gun, you will gum up the brake drums every time. This was done on my 32 Dodge and required removing everything to clean the mess out. This is the reason they tell you to use a low pressure gun and a small amount of lubricant. The "Do not over-lubricate" line is in heavy black type in the manual for a reason. Stuffing the entire cavity with high pressure grease will result in a catastrophic mess.<quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  18. Sorry about the photos not showing up. I fixed the problem.
  19. I got a call this evening from Crin, my paint guy. I posted some photos of the body after he painted it three weeks ago and I thought it looked pretty good. Well, he said he wasn't satisfied with the paint and he sanded it down, put on a new basecoat and then cleared it with a new clear formula that he really likes. It dries more slowly and seems to even out the clear so there is far less orange-peel. It still needs sanding and buffing, but it looks like a pretty good start to say the least. You can see in this shot of the cowl that there are still some slight waves that will sand out during color sanding and buffing. Sorry about the photos not showing up before!<quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate><quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  20. And a 32 coupe is one rare beast. All the extensions that mount the body to the frame have been cut off during the channel job, so getting the body back to stock would be a chore. But as was mentioned, a good parts car. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  21. The last thing I wanted to do is start a war here. As I said in my original post, I'm not necessarily against rodding a car too far gone to restore - although some of the restorations I've seen on this site have started as a lot worse! I personally can't see any "skill or creativity" in this car, but that's my opinion - and ONLY that. What made me sad was a car torn up, never finished and then left to rot. Check out the rust on the truck lid. Check out the "work" on the frame. If they'd driven the original coupe into any kind of dry storage and just left it there it would be worth a lot more than this sad relic will ever be. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  22. Post it if you get a chance. <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  23. Thanks Phil! <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  24. Also, notice that the color chart lists upper and lower colors and a "moldings" color, all of which are black. I thought 32 DLs had a solid body color and that the moldings were not painted. Phil's DL has an all gray body, a repaint, but you can see some of the original paint under the current finish and I suspect you'd see some of that black molding paint peeking through if it was under there. Having an all black car I don't have to worry about it! And now I'm not sure if I'm going with pin stripes if they weren't offered on black. Anyone out there with an original black sedan that can comment? <quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>
  25. Some days things just seem to go right. This was one of them! My next door neighbor and his son came over the other day and helped me flip the frame over. It's now sitting bottom up, totally stripped and ready for the powdercoater. The DL had one sturdy frame in 32. Check out the new for the year X-frame that extends almost to the front of the frame itself. It even has the rod-rodder's favorite trick - oval weight reducing holes! I was worried about the gas tank straps. They are notorious for breaking when you try to get them off the frame. You have to remove both nuts to get the strap through the opening in the frame and the inner nut is usually totally rusted on the threaded rod and the rod snaps when you try to remove the nut. I cleaned up the threads with a wire brush and soaked everything in penetrating oil and everything came off smooth as silk. Another part I won't have to find or fabricate. That's undercoating, not rust that you see on the straps. They just have some surface rust and are solid. I don't know if my friend and former owner Phil ever took a look at the differential, so it may have been hidden for at least 45 years, but I got up the courage to take a peek. Once the back cover was off I was very relieved to find everything looking just great. No chips in the gears, no real wear that I can see. It looks even better in real life, the photo makes it look darker and less shiny than it really is. I windered if the car sitting for forty years would drain oil off the top of the gears and that they might have rusted, but no worries there thankfully. I took the front outer bearing out and it looked brand new. The race was also smooth and scratch and wear free. All this was a real relief, as I was hoping to avoid having to do major work on the rear axle. Next I called my engine rebuilder and got the really good news that all my babbit bearings are in perfect shape and don't need to be replaced. The crank can just be polished and the bottom end is ready to go. She's still getting new pistons and rings, a rebore, valve job (only two valves needed replacing), a new timing chain (still looking for a NOS grear), a reground cam and an oil pump rebuild. This means I'll have a few well needed bucks in my pocket for future problems. The more I tear into my old car, the more I find that mechanically she has held up very, very well. I'm hoping the tranny looks as good as the rear end.
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