1934 Dodge Full Body Off Restoration

[Kevin bc]

Thanks for all the discussion on the brake  lining tool, the use of it, and the use of a feeler guage  with it makes total sense, so I'm off to the shed to make one, using 5/8 threaded rod I aready have. Its use is going to be a lot easier than trying to get feeler gauges through the slots in the brake drums, and a lot less time consuming, and a lot less swearing, and probaly more accurate.

 

Kevin BC

[knobless]

On 7/3/2021 at 4:41 PM, knobless said:

Spring goes behind esconshion “ and against fabric

 

Exactly, 

[knobless]

On 6/20/2021 at 5:10 AM, knobless said:

 

Here is the seal for 36 Dodge/ Plymouth steel insert tops, 1 piece takes the place of rubber washers found under the insert too, fits extremely well, sold many,,,,,

 

Never said it was “ Correct” era wise, it is a “ all in one type “ meaning it replaces the large rubber washers found under the steel insert that give it the hight to match the roof but also creates the top seal to make a water tight seal, they do not make a seal that fits the 36” Dodge Plymouth cars with the steel inserts, I know I checked every supplier, that being said I developed and reproduced the seals I sell, most who have purchased have been extremely satisfied, with the way it fits and it’s appearance, the smooth finish on the roof looks and protects much better then “ dumbdumd” smeared into the groove”””funny I thought I was helping some people finding a solution for sealing their 36s, apparently some can only criticize, others help, oh well there will always be some you can’t help no matter how much you try,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ll,l

Edited October 23, 2021 by knobless (see edit history)

[knobless]

On 2/1/2013 at 2:40 PM, Ian_Greenlaw said:

Hi Jason,

I couldn't with the original boards as they were too far gone. Once I ordered and received the new ones I took them to the shop and the holes drilled and fittiing took place.

Even though the panels were fitted I suppose its not exacting so when you get down on your hands and knees to actually fit and align them and the fender welt between them there are quite a few adjustments to be made.

Also when the shop fitted everything, there is no guarantee once refitted after painting that the body etc is sitting in exactly the same place. It only has to be a small amount out ( full adjustment the other way ) and things arn't fitting like in the photo.

Dont get me wrong, I'm happy with the progress. Maybe I'm too fussy with having the panels aligning up. After watching the 1936 production line video, I should just drop everything in place and bolt it up.

This is the offending little stud I mentioned in a previous post. I'll etch prime them, repaint and refit, then I can put the front fender back. I've also taken the headlight stalks and a few bonnet holddowns to the plater. I hope to have the two front guards and radiator assembly losely fitted this weekend. I'm also still working on the front floor timber.

Another question. My Dodge has a Thrust Bearing grease cap. Now according to the manual the 34's didn't have them but the 35's did. If anyone has a 34 or 35 where is this acuually mounted. I tried on the top bolt of the bell housing to crossmember mount but it fouled on the front floor board when fitted. I've attached a photo so hopefully you can make it out.

Cheers

Ian

Hi Ian, need to know where you found the fender to frame mounting studs,or if they are called a different name, was able to salvage most but need a few more Thanks,Knobless””

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Steve,

Do you mean the threads that are sticking out from the chassis ?

If that's the ones I thought they were welded in ?????

[knobless]

The side ones have a threaded shaft with a slit” in them so when tightened they squash ever so slightly, I will picture shortly, I managed to remove all and soak in Pb blaster, then wire wheel, but noticed I am missing a few, just wondered if anyone has a source, the ones on top of the frame are welded in with a bung,,,which I also need, these hold the bracket on the firewall,  will also picture shortly, Thanks, Hoping all is well,,,,,

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi all,

Must apologise for not being on the forum much and done very little on the car.

My wife's mother passed away the other day which has hit my wife pretty hard.( mine last year and her's this year )

That coupled with her sister living in Western Australia ( Ron, you'd know all about this )...she wasn't able to come over due to the return travel restrictions that have been in place.

Funny thing is she lives 3 hours out of Perth on a farm so the only one she could have spread Covid to is the cows !....if she even got it.

Anyhow, as you can imagine, we've had a lot to do in a short time only to be told the cemetery has a backlog and we have to wait 2 1/2 weeks for the funeral.

Now restrictions in WA have been lifted the family can finally come over.

 

I'm hoping to get back to the car this coming weekend and get it finished asap.

Just didn't want anyone to think that I've given up. It seems every time I'm about to get stuck into it something else crops up.

 

I shall be posting very soon.

 

Cheers

ian

[Ron Lawson]

1 hour ago, Ian_Greenlaw said:

Hi all,

Must apologise for not being on the forum much and done very little on the car.

My wife's mother passed away the other day which has hit my wife pretty hard.( mine last year and her's this year )

That coupled with her sister living in Western Australia ( Ron, you'd know all about this )...she wasn't able to come over due to the return travel restrictions that have been in place.

Funny thing is she lives 3 hours out of Perth on a farm so the only one she could have spread Covid to is the cows !....if she even got it.

Anyhow, as you can imagine, we've had a lot to do in a short time only to be told the cemetery has a backlog and we have to wait 2 1/2 weeks for the funeral.

Now restrictions in WA have been lifted the family can finally come over.

 

I'm hoping to get back to the car this coming weekend and get it finished asap.

Just didn't want anyone to think that I've given up. It seems every time I'm about to get stuck into it something else crops up.

 

I shall be posting very soon.

 

Cheers

ian

Hello Ian, Condolences to your family on your loss You are right, the border restrictions have been hard on many At present there is talk of moving the DB rally which is being held in Busselton to South East South Australia Hopefully now that restrictions are being lifted the committee will let us keep it in WA 

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Thanks Ron,

Its been a long 12 months for us. We'll get there !

[keiser31]

So sorry to hear.

[Bullfrog_eng]

Likewise, sorry to hear Ian. I know where you are comming from, buried my Mum fortnight ago. Life (death?) gets in the way of our cars sometimes. Still in my situation, Mum is in a better place.

John

[Mattml430]

So sorry to hear all of this guys. Hopefully things improve soon, sometimes it feels like it never ends. 
Im sure there will be good things to come. 

[knobless]

Sorry to hear Ian,  with everything going crazy, not much interest in getting back on mine, hopefully the climate changes this year, both in the weather and our lives,  coming into spring , maybe start getting back to normal, again sorry for your loss,,,,,

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Thanks all, really appreciate the support.

Cleaned out her house ( hasn't been in it for 5 years ) and getting ready to sell.

I'm doing the probate side of things to help out too so pretty busy.

We're staying in the city for a few nights this weekend just to get my wife away so hopefully be back to it soon.

[rageracing]

Quick question, where is the correct place for the battery ground off the battery

[PlymouthPE]

Mine is bolted to the top of the transmission cover plate.

[knobless]

Top of trans,,,

[rageracing]

Going back through this doing amazing work.  I feel everything I put together on mine is seen to nick or scratch the paint.  I should maybe be doing a better job taping everything off but that adds time and time is a hot commodity for me like I’m sure everyone here.  My painter tells me not to worry and that’s why you see high end builds constantly be going back to paint for touching up here and there.  Maybe I’m being picky but my dad tells me too perfect and you won’t drive it so just get it together, drive the crap out of it .  What an awesome build you got and thanks for the education.  I’m trying to learn as much as I can

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hey all,

Well I'm back and spending quite a bit of time of the car now so hopefully not far off finishing.

First job off the rank - Accelerator return spring. I've noticed on a number of cars ( left hand drive dodges ) that there is an accelerator return spring located on the linkage assembly. Some cars don't have one. As the linkage set up on mine is different ( right hand drive ) I had to come up with something.

So I found a little bracket which had the exact hole size I was after. I ordered in a fairly hefty accelerator return spring and using some padded 3M tape around ther linkage I got the spring in place and it seems to work quite well.

Only thing I'm not sure is how to attach the accelerator pedal to the ball type fittings ( 3 of them ) protruding from the floor and the linkage. I tried some slippery stuff but I have to really force it which I wasn't too keen on. Suggestions ????

 

Anyhow, I back to it and making good progress.

 

Cheers

Ian

[Mattml430]

Great to see you back spending some time on the car Ian. You definitely deserve it after all that you’ve had to tackle in the last couple of years. 
 

looking forward to watching the progress. 

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Thanks Matt,

I'm doing the probate and after lodging the documents found that the solicitor who did the will didn't put the month on it ( we thought it was under the document tape ) so another Affidavit to do !

Lucky I'm a Justice of the Peace.

[Taylormade]

Getting the accelerator pedal on those little knobs is a real,pain.  Depending on whether it’s a NOS or a repo, the rubber may have hardened over the years.  In either case, you really have to force them on - which makes sense as you don’t want it to flop off while you’re driving.  Since most pedals have steel backing, you can put quite a lot of force on it - just make sure you are pressing right over the two bottom knobs and I found putting the upper, linkage knob in place first, works better.

[ply33]

8 hours ago, Taylormade said:

Getting the accelerator pedal on those little knobs is a real,pain.  Depending on whether it’s a NOS or a repo, the rubber may have hardened over the years.  In either case, you really have to force them on - which makes sense as you don’t want it to flop off while you’re driving.  Since most pedals have steel backing, you can put quite a lot of force on it - just make sure you are pressing right over the two bottom knobs and I found putting the upper, linkage knob in place first, works better.

I too have found putting the top linkage know on first easier. But even there I have had to resort to clamping the linkage shaft with a pair of ViseGrips to keep the linkage from simply disappearing below the toe board.

[Alan Cutler]

10 hours ago, ply33 said:

I too have found putting the top linkage know on first easier. But even there I have had to resort to clamping the linkage shaft with a pair of ViseGrips to keep the linkage from simply disappearing below the toe board.

Hey Ply, If your return spring is on, the linkage will not slip into the toe board....the return spring forces the linkage in the resting position (up), not acceleration position (down).

[ply33]

2 hours ago, Alan Cutler said:

Hey Ply, If your return spring is on, the linkage will not slip into the toe board....the return spring forces the linkage in the resting position (up), not acceleration position (down).

But the spring is only so strong and no stronger. My accelerator pedal required so much force to install that the spring was not sufficient to keep the ball end of the rod high enough .

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Well looks like some force is warranted. Thanks heaps for the advice. I'll do the top one first as suggested ! Wish me luck...

[Ian_Greenlaw]

I'm back to it !

 

Decided I'd mount the two bonnet sides. First though I'd install the bonnet support bracket.

Well two of us couldn't make head nor tail of the instructions. First it says to install the bracket ( using the outer most holes )  4 to 6 inches from the fire wall.  Well that won't even come close ....in fact its probably closer to the radiator than the firewall and we followed the instruction as well as we could for the 33/34 models. Not a chance in hell this is going near the firewall so we mounted it as even as we could along the radiator support rods. Anyone else mounted these things ?

 

We did a trail fit for one of ther bonnet sides and gently tapped the hinge pin in place....tricky job but go there in the end. Had to apply a little pressure to each section, tap the pin and so on until we reached the end. Lifted the bonnet and sat in the bonnet support bracket. Seems to stay ok and there is no room for adjustment. Did the other side so now the Dodge has wings !

 

Finished for the day and packet up. When I shut the drivers side door the spare wheel support bracket was facing the wrong way and it took a chip out of the edge of the door. ( another touchup to take care of later ). Next jobs are the brackes have to be bled and the interior continue on with installing the garnish moulds.

 

Cheers

Ian

[Minibago]

Nice job Ian.

Will be a ripper when finished.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Thanks mate.....Struggled a bit over the last 12 months but I'll power on now.

[Mattml430]

I can’t wait to see this car finished Ian it is absolutely beautiful I love it. 
The bonnet supports are a brilliant idea. I was only laying in bed last night with heart burn thinking I’d love to think of a way to hold my side curtains and bonnet up. Quite often you want to get to both sides of the engine. 
Beautiful mate just beautiful. 👌

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Thanks Matt,

I've seen these before so I bought them thinking should be a sinch to install. Very odd instructions.

I think TCR Components have them.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

More progress,

Decided to install the garnish mold on the rear 1/4 vent window. Started by seeing if the window wind out handle would fit. Nope but realised that the hole in the backing board was too small. Using pinch nose pliers I was able to break bits off of the backing board and finally got enough out that the handle would suit. Note in the bottom of the picture that the garnish mold is sticking out a bit from the window rubber. As this entire piece was literally remade out of polyurethane ( as the original rubber had deteriorated and nothing remained ) and molded around the metal frame, I not suprised that it didn't fit exactly. I did a trial fit and found that a screw holding the robber and frame in place was binding against the inside of the frame. Using a Dremel I cut a small section out and it fitted perfectly.  Second issue I had was that due to the upholsterer using padding between the backing board and leather that the screws holding the garnish molds in place were too short. Couldn't get them in Australia ( yep tried everyone as the longest was 1" )) so finally got them from the Restoration Supply Company in the States. Held everything in place and the screws were perfect. Finally making some headway. Got the passenger assist strap ( again needed longer metalthreads so got them at the same time. Went straight in and pulled the trim board in nicely. Buffed up that ashtray again and locked that in place. Finally coming together !! Couple of detail shots showing that assist strap and ashtray.

 

Cheers

Ian

[Scott Bonesteel]

On 4/25/2022 at 12:27 AM, Ian_Greenlaw said:

I'm back to it !

 

Decided I'd mount the two bonnet sides. First though I'd install the bonnet support bracket.

Well two of us couldn't make head nor tail of the instructions. First it says to install the bracket ( using the outer most holes )  4 to 6 inches from the fire wall.  Well that won't even come close ....in fact its probably closer to the radiator than the firewall and we followed the instruction as well as we could for the 33/34 models. Not a chance in hell this is going near the firewall so we mounted it as even as we could along the radiator support rods. Anyone else mounted these things ?

 

We did a trail fit for one of ther bonnet sides and gently tapped the hinge pin in place....tricky job but go there in the end. Had to apply a little pressure to each section, tap the pin and so on until we reached the end. Lifted the bonnet and sat in the bonnet support bracket. Seems to stay ok and there is no room for adjustment. Did the other side so now the Dodge has wings !

 

Finished for the day and packet up. When I shut the drivers side door the spare wheel support bracket was facing the wrong way and it took a chip out of the edge of the door. ( another touchup to take care of later ). Next jobs are the brackes have to be bled and the interior continue on with installing the garnish moulds.

 

Cheers

Ian

I have had the same hood support installed on my 34 PE sedan for years and the problem is the same:  The attachment points are too narrow to get the bracket located closer to the firewall.  My guess is that this was designed for the Ford crowd, particularly the '32s, where the support rods come from much closer to the center line of the firewall and not from the outside corner brackets as on the '34 Mopars.  I suppose one could use a longer piece of U-channel with the holes drilled further out so that it would span the support rods closer to the firewall.  I just don't trust having those 'wings' sitting up there in the air without a more positive support to keep them from crashing down on the radiator shell/headlights.  I am working on a design to put a small bracket immediately adjacent to where the rods bolt into the firewall brackets that somehow locks in position but swings out of the way when not needed, without using the U-channel to span the entire width.  Bigger, rubber-coated 'hook' that would be much more of a positive latch.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Scott,

I see what you mean. I'm hoping that the weight of the bonnets will be enough to keep the support they need. Seems of so far but I wouldn't want them up like that in a strong wind !

I'll be interested to see what you come up with.

[Alan Cutler]

7 hours ago, Scott Bonesteel said:

I have had the same hood support installed on my 34 PE sedan for years and the problem is the same:  The attachment points are too narrow to get the bracket located closer to the firewall.  My guess is that this was designed for the Ford crowd, particularly the '32s, where the support rods come from much closer to the center line of the firewall and not from the outside corner brackets as on the '34 Mopars.  I suppose one could use a longer piece of U-channel with the holes drilled further out so that it would span the support rods closer to the firewall.  I just don't trust having those 'wings' sitting up there in the air without a more positive support to keep them from crashing down on the radiator shell/headlights.  I am working on a design to put a small bracket immediately adjacent to where the rods bolt into the firewall brackets that somehow locks in position but swings out of the way when not needed, without using the U-channel to span the entire width.  Bigger, rubber-coated 'hook' that would be much more of a positive latch.

I’m a buyer when you get them designed, these are for the Ford guys.
 

Over time the hook will rub the paint to a dull shine, they are too narrow.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Might need something with a bit more substance !

[Ian_Greenlaw]

We to complete the other side of the car and found that the trim panel was just a bit short. Tried adjusting it but again to go. Undid the screws and took it down the upholsterer only to find that his factory was fully of flowers for Mothers Day.....bugger !!....Have found out since they moved out 2 weeks ago but are in another factory a short drive away and they will make me up a new panel. ( I'm still waiting on a return phone call ).

 

Fiddly job but using the screws and the little cup washers certainly save the paint on the garnish molds.

 

[Steve9]

I believe I have a better hood support for you guys. Roberts Motor Parts sells these. I am including pics from my car.

[knobless]

4 hours ago, Steve9 said:

I believe I have a better hood support for you guys. Roberts Motor Parts sells these. I am including pics from my car.

Nice 36, Yes Roberts is right down the road from me,,,,

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hey Steve, how's it going ?

 

Well this is certainly a different type of bonnet support.

So this support basically holds it from near the firewall and the front just hangs there ?

 

Looking interesting I must say.