1934 Dodge Full Body Off Restoration

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Jason,

the hole in the front is under the drivers seat, where the battery is. Sorry, no tool box.

the round one in the rear, which you can see the floor grate through, is right above the diff. I think with a severe bump the diff hit the floor so a hole was cut and canvas filled it in so it wouldn't dint the floor. Either that or it's just an inspection port for the diff.

Ian

[Guest 1930]

Hi Jason,

the hole in the front is under the drivers seat, where the battery is. Sorry, no tool box.

the round one in the rear, which you can see the floor grate through, is right above the diff. I think with a severe bump the diff hit the floor so a hole was cut and canvas filled it in so it wouldn't dint the floor. Either that or it's just an inspection port for the diff.

Ian

Looks to me like the hole runs from side to side the entire width of car, is your battery that big?

[R.White]

I thought it was where a section of floor had been removed for replacement.

[Guest 1930]

I thought it was where a section of floor had been removed for replacement.

Is there supposed to be a wood insert there, I dont think so but I guess I could be wrong

[Ian_Greenlaw]

The first large hole at the front under the instrument panel has the metal toe board and this is joined to a wooden floor insert. The second hole ( on its own ) is covered in by a second floor board. I've attached a picture of the original floor board and I'm currently working on a new one. It does have a cut out for the battery but no and a set of holes on each side there the front seatmounts to. This is the original floor insert. There is also one more piece but thats at the rear of the car for a "shelf" behind the rear seat.

[Guest 1930]

Hi Jason,

the hole in the front is under the drivers seat, where the battery is. Sorry, no tool box.

the round one in the rear, which you can see the floor grate through, is right above the diff. I think with a severe bump the diff hit the floor so a hole was cut and canvas filled it in so it wouldn't dint the floor. Either that or it's just an inspection port for the diff.

Ian

I would be concerned with exhaust fumes coming up through that vent and filling the cabin, not sure why someone chose a vent I guess

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Jason,

The photo with what looks like a vent in the floor is actually the floor of the spray booth and not part of my car. Looking at the photo it sure does look like its welded to the car, even the lines align up so it looks like its part of it. Pretty good shot huh !

[Guest 1930]

Hi Jason,

The photo with what looks like a vent in the floor is actually the floor of the spray booth and not part of my car. Looking at the photo it sure does look like its welded to the car, even the lines align up so it looks like its part of it. Pretty good shot huh !

Oh I see it now

[Guest GaWajn]

Very nice work ... and a very nice car. I will be following your progress till it is finished. Keep it up!

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Bit more progress. The first four pics is the Body just being finished off and he's now down to 800 grit paper. Smooth as a baby's bum ! The last two pics is the completed body which is being sprayed this week. He sent me a pic on my phone this morning of the dash board thats been painted. Nice.

Cheers

Ian

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Just a bit of an update. The body and four doors have now been painted and the quality is better than I hoped for. Very Happy. I'm taking the chassis over later this week to have the body lifter onto the chassis and bolted down.

I'll take a few shots and post them.

When the engine was painted they painted over the timing marks. Has anyone worked out a good way to highlight these ?

Cheers

Ian

[1936 D2]

I was waiting for the '34 guys but here is a comment from a '36 guy. I am not sure if the markings are the same, but I "contrasted" my marks with a "Sharpie - Ultra Fine" black permanent felt tip marker. Any marker with a very fine tip that has "permanent" ink would work. Here is a shot:

The timing marks are done in black on the silver paint and I also put an "A" and a "B" on the marks in blue to remind me which is "AFTER TDC" and "BEFORE TDC". These show very nicely with a xenon timing light. (I have a period "Sun" light with the vibrator power supply built in. Works GREAT!)

In the past I have also used white chalk on a black harmonic balancer by rubbing the area with the white chalk and then wiping away the outer surface chalk, leaving the rest of the chalk down in the markings. That caused them to be white on black and also stood out nicely. You have to do this almost every time you need the marks though because the chalk washes away easily.

Maybe something like this would work on your set-up too.

Edited September 17, 2012 by 1936 D2 (see edit history)

[Guest 1930]

Get yourself a matchstick and dip its end in a little white paint and run it down the groove, wont wash off and easily seen

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Guys,

Tried the matchstick - harmonic balancer now look like a Van Gough painting ( not very steady hands ).

I masked it off and used a small brush. Came up looking good until I removed the masking tape and it peeled the paint of the harmonic balancer :mad:

I like the idea of the Utlra Fine Marker. I'll give that a shot. Then I can remount the front cowl / radiator back in position.

Cheers

Ian

[Guest Jen_]

very nice job , enjoying this thread

Jen

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Just picked up the main body and doors from the painter. Got quite a few parts to go but at least I can start.

Actually I have that many things to do now I dont know where to start !

Cheers

Ian

[MIClassicGirl]

Ian....that red is gorgeous!! I love it! That is going to be one stunning car! Good luck with finishing it!

Shannon

[R.White]

Hi Ian. That's a good choice of colour combination. I am sure you will be nervous in case it gets scratched or chipped. Have you got any spare paint (in case of sod's law)?

Ray.

[Guest DodgeKCL]

Jason as far as I know all CPPD vehicles in those years had a plywood insert under the front seat. Doesn't yours? The plywood had a black felt 'gasket' around it's lip to seal it on the metal floor edge. The battery was accessed through a metal cover that,usually, had 2 large wood screws holding it to the plywood. Chrysler had used plywood back as far as 1928 to my knowledge. The toe boards were exactly that,plywood. They only became metal in about 1930. But the floor of a CPPD vehicle had plywood in/on it for many years. The hole in the rear pan is clearance for the diff. It's in Plymouths as well. At first I thought it was an after thought by Chryco because driving tests showed the diff could hit the pan under hard,deep, bumps. But I think now it was Chryco's way of getting a lower floor,and car, without making any expensive chassis changes. And they put canvas in it because they didn't want the diff to make a 'clunk' sound if the car hit a really big bump. Plymouths had no metal filler around the roof insert only some kind of gumbo. I put in black RTV silicone rubber and wipe off the excess. You can not see the thin line of black silicone after it's wiped 'clean'. By wiping along the line you produce a 'U' shaped seal that is virtually out of sight. The seal is excellent and permanent.

[Guest 1930]

Jason as far as I know all CPPD vehicles in those years had a plywood insert under the front seat. Doesn't yours? The plywood had a black felt 'gasket' around it's lip to seal it on the metal floor edge. The battery was accessed through a metal cover that,usually, had 2 large wood screws holding it to the plywood. Chrysler had used plywood back as far as 1928 to my knowledge. The toe boards were exactly that,plywood. They only became metal in about 1930. But the floor of a CPPD vehicle had plywood in/on it for many years. The hole in the rear pan is clearance for the diff. It's in Plymouths as well. At first I thought it was an after thought by Chryco because driving tests showed the diff could hit the pan under hard,deep, bumps. But I think now it was Chryco's way of getting a lower floor,and car, without making any expensive chassis changes. And they put canvas in it because they didn't want the diff to make a 'clunk' sound if the car hit a really big bump. Plymouths had no metal filler around the roof insert only some kind of gumbo. I put in black RTV silicone rubber and wipe off the excess. You can not see the thin line of black silicone after it's wiped 'clean'. By wiping along the line you produce a 'U' shaped seal that is virtually out of sight. The seal is excellent and permanent.

No, my car has a large steel tool tray/box mounted underneath the front seat, laying on top of that and closing it off were ( in my particular bodystyles case ) two solid ( wood ) separate covers.

We are trying to determine where originally Ians tool-kit would have been stored. Vehicles prior to 34 and vehicles built after 34 used a tray of some sort under the front seat and yet his car is still a mystery.

[R.White]

QUOTE=DodgeKCL:

I put in black RTV silicone rubber and wipe off the excess. You can not see the thin line of black silicone after it's wiped 'clean'. By wiping along the line you produce a 'U' shaped seal that is virtually out of sight. The seal is excellent and permanent.

This sounds like a good idea, KLC. Did you use a two part kit? and what shore grade was it?

Thanks,

Ray.

Edited September 20, 2012 by R.White (see edit history)

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Ray and Shannon,

The colour looks Red in the sunlight but in the spray booth looked almost exactly like Empire Maroon the original colour. It changes colour all the time. Dave is painting the guards black and the fender welt is already done too.

Cheers

Ian

[Guest 1930]

Hi Ray and Shannon,

The colour looks Red in the sunlight but in the spray booth looked almost exactly like Empire Maroon the original colour. It changes colour all the time. Dave is painting the guards black and the fender welt is already done too.

Cheers

Ian

Once you get the black fenders on it will help the true color show as you prob. have been told, paint always looks different inside under flourecent lights so hopefully you looked at a spray out card outside before you settled on a color shade

Looks good to me just needs to be toned down a bit in my opinion and I am sure the fenders will do that

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Jason,

Your right and I'm looking forward to the guards going on. The colour on the car when I'm in the garage is exactly what I wanted. He sprayed a side of a dishwasher panel to give me an idea.

After three weeks of looking at it we decided that this was the closest colour we wanted. On a really big surface it does appear a bit lighter in direct sunlight.

Looking forward to putting it back together.

Cheers

Ian

[Guest DodgeKCL]

The tool kit in a Plymouth was stored in a black shiny cloth bag under the rear bench seat in a sedan if that's any help. I use Permatex products here in Canada. They make professional grade RTV in clear,black and red. The clear is a very good adhesive and sealer.The black is an excellent sealer and will stand up to most liquids you might find around a vehicle. The red is the so-called high temperature but I've found it fails me in every thing I use it in. You can buy Permatex in small 'toothpaste' tubes or large cauking catridges. To seal oil pnas and water pumps and transmission pans/covers I use Chrysler made black RTV silcone. They sell it at the local Chrysler/Dodge/JEEP dealer in the toothpaste tubes for about $6 Cdn. The shop at the Chryco dealer put me on to it. They use it to seal all the above covers without using a gasket. Have for years apparently. I dont' worry about sealing anything anymore. I do cut a new or use an NOS gasket but just smear the Chryco RTV on it and Bob's your uncle I've never had a leak. I know most of you will recognize this stuff as bathroom cauking. But that stuff is not up to the standards that industry uses. It will 'tear' and peel away quite easily. Permatex is permanent. It can be cut away of course but it will not peel or tear like the home stuff. I was introduced to RTV about 40 years ago when I worked in the geophysical industry. The company,Scintrex, made ground and airbourne magnetometers. The were sold and used all over the world,Austrailia,Mexico,U.S. etc. and of course northern Canada searching for oil and gas and metals. We used to seal the pc boards by dipping them in a liquid RTV that cured overnight. Apparently electronic equipment suffers from 'jungle rot' in the tropics and we had to seal everything from it. In the Canadian north frost would form on the boards that would turn to water as the helicoper or fixed wing aircraft's cabin heated up. This would short out the electronics if allowed to form. We also used the tube RTV on all mating surfaces and connector plug insides. This 'potting' sealed the unit pretty well from the rigours of the climates it would suffer in around the world. I've been using RTV ever since. My antiques and daily drivers are 'full' of RTV.

[R.White]

That's a pretty comprehensive endorsement for RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanization). I shall look for some Permatex with confidence. The only time I have used RTV before, it was supplied as stove pipe sealant and the flexibility was amazing so I used some for a leather seat repair patch and it is still sticking well years later! The RTV I have seen advertised is a two part kit for making moulds and has a range of 'shore' gradings for hardness but the ready to use stuff is what you use and I need.

I was also interested to learn that you were in geophysics. As you probably know, it has become essential for archaeologists. Did you hear that they have recently discovered the grave of the 'missing' Plantagenet King Richard 111 who was defeated by Henry Tudor [V11] in 1485 at the battle of Bosworth field - ending the so called 'Wars of the Roses'. The discovery was made in Liecester; just a few miles from here!

Richard 111 it is now believed, has had something of a bad press over the 'Princes in the Tower' scandal but although he did him no favours, Shakespear was not far out with his description of a "hunchback" ; the skeleton showed he did in fact have a condition called scoliosis that gave him a curvature of the spine. It's all big news over here!

Ray.

[Guest DodgeKCL]

Yes it was on the news over here. Apparently found him under a parking lot? I watch Time Team on TVO which uses geophysics to find old foundations under the earth. We had no such video and computer equipment when I was in it. I was actually back at Scintrex in 1980,my first employment there was 1968-'71, and they were still using the same equipment. It would seem computers and video memory etc. has made a great improvement in the search. I know over here there are companies that will scan an old cemetery and make a video of where the unmarked graves are. The Quakers here did not mark their graves at first and many of the Burying Grounds are being scanned to see where the fences have to be so modern building around the area can continue. Like Richard III's remains, the Quaker cemetery board in Newmarket Ont. now realizes that the first American Quaker immigrants are buried under the highway at the front edge of the cemetery. When the road was widened in the late 1800s there was no fence,there is now a wrought iron one, and no tombstones. The highway is now 4 lanes with a median strip and somewhere under the west sidewalk and the south bound lanes of the highway rest the remains of the earliest American Quakers. My own family included.

[R.White]

You are absolutely right KCL, Richard 111 was found in the ruins of the Franciscan Friary church of Greyfriars which was hidden under the Council Offices parking lot. The remains had lain undisturbed for over 500 years. There had been rumours that his body had been thrown into the river Soar after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry V111 but they proved erroneous.

I also am a follower of 'Time Team'. Tony Robinson also did an investigation into the "legitimate" Plantagenet Royal family and traced the present day descendant of the house of York to Australia!

Thankyou for sharing a little of your family history with us. If you don't mind my asking, Where in England did they originate from?

Edited September 21, 2012 by R.White (see edit history)

[Guest DodgeKCL]

They were Welsh from Radnorshire outside Cardiff. They went to Penn. in the 1690s following William Penn to his Quaker State and some went on to Canada in the 1790s a hundred years later. That was my ancestors who settled north of what was then the city of York and is now Toronto. The rebels,the new Americans, did not appreciate the Society of Friends not taking part in the rebellion against the English. The Quaker religion forbids the taking of life,fighting of any kind and even becoming a government official. They took the Quaker's homes and lands and businesses. Even tarred and feathered them and ran them out of town. A large migration started away from Pennsylvania west and north because of it. Some didn't stop until they hit California. President Nixon was from a Quaker family in Whittier. His mother was a practicing Quaker. The ones that came up here to Canada,then called Upper Canada, set up an 'underground railroad' to spirit away slaves to freedom in Canada. The slaves settled around my area here in southern Ontario but unfortunetly most returned in the late 1800s only to face the 'Jim Crow laws'. But I digress.

[R.White]

Intolerance is an ugly side of human nature.

[MikeC5]

Looks fabulous! I really like that red..

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Interesting the tricks the light plays on colour.

One was inside the spray booth.....funny thing is they are the same colour.

[R.White]

You are right there. I also have a 'yellow' sports car an when I bought some paint to tidy it up with (I had painted it a few years previously) the colour matched up O.K in the daylight but under the lights it turned almost green! I never have worked that one out!

That's why I asked if you had got some paint left over - you bet it will come in handy one day.

Ray.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Ray,

He's kept a pot of paint for me just in case. When we went to fit the doors the painter dropped and chipped one of the pins. He said no problems to fix it but at least it wasn't me !

[R.White]

That's just what happens when you are being careful.

Sod's law again.

Ray.

[beetles]

Hi Ian , Re your imported 34 Dodge, I too haven imported Dodge. Mine is a 33 Brougham and the insert looks the same as yours and was redone when previous owner had it. They used what looks like 'SIKAFLEX' to seal it.

After 7 years in the bus repair industry I can vouch for this stuff but it isn't easy to get off.

Cheers Beetles

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Beetles,

I have heard of Sikaflex and I'll check it out...thanks for that.

Have you ever tried to get the original build sheet from Detroit ? Mine was missing on the microfilm along with about 200 others.

Cheers

Ian

[Steve9]

Just picked up the main body and doors from the painter. Got quite a few parts to go but at least I can start.

Actually I have that many things to do now I dont know where to start !

Cheers

Ian

Thats a beauty of a car! Can't wait to see the finished product!

[Ron Lawson]

Ian What can iI say Except EXELENT workmanship This is sure going to be one pretty car (automobile) for our northern DB friends Boy I am Envious Cant wait to see the finished restoration Cheers Ron

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the comments. I'm not an expert and I need a lot of people who can do good work. I'm also going to start a thread under "My restoration projects" from when I first started on the car. Again a bit of an update, I picked up the four guards today. Damn, this painter does a nice job....and he's a great bloke to deal with too.

Cheers

Ian

p.s. The blue car was around the corner from where I work. That has gotta hurt. ( its a BMW and remember impact was on the drivers side ! )