The Ressurection of Daphne - a 1932 DL

[1930 4]

How much for the powder coating of the frame and did they sandblast or was that farmed out to someone else and how much? Thanks

[1930 4]

<quickprintreadystate style="display: none;"></quickprintreadystate>As far as I know that is the correct curve to the steering arm. There appears to be no damage or kinks to the arm. Without the bend, it wouldn't fit correctly between the pitman arm and the front steering post. I'm getting a new front ball with the rebuild kit, so that is not an issue. The pitman arm repair will be interesting once I see the replacement ball from Then and Now. I agree with Jason - the thought of welding a new ball to the existing shaft worries me.

Same shape as mine

[ply33 232]

With that nice insulating powder coating I can imagine you'll have a little "fun" getting getting good grounds for all the lights and electrical.

[keiser31 3,294]

I agree with countrytravler on the punch side.

[Taylormade 444]

How much for the powder coating of the frame and did they sandblast or was that farmed out to someone else and how much? Thanks

The total charge for everything - sandblasting, cleaning and powdercoat - was $500. This included a ton of small individual frame parts, some of which you can see hanging above the frame itself. This shop does the sandblasting and powdercoating, so nothing was farmed out.

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[Taylormade 444]

With that nice insulating powder coating I can imagine you'll have a little "fun" getting getting good grounds for all the lights and electrical.

Yes some judicious grinding with my Dremel tool is going to be necessary to get a good ground. Another fun project will be chasing all the threads with a tap - and there are a ton of threaded fittings on this frame.

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[frank29u 29]

For bending over that frame, may I recommend a comfortable chair, favorite libation and great tunes. Fantastic job you're doing!!

[Taylormade 444]

For bending over that frame, may I recommend a comfortable chair, favorite libation and great tunes. Fantastic job you're doing!!

I always have my IPod stereo player cranked up when I work on Daphne. And I have my grandfathers comfortable old chair out there, too. As for the libations, I stick to the soft stuff - in my case, alchohol and power tools don't mix too well.

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[1930 4]

The total charge for everything - sandblasting, cleaning and powdercoat - was $500. This included a ton of small individual frame parts, some of which you can see hanging above the frame itself. This shop does the sandblasting and powdercoating, so nothing was farmed out.

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Thats cheap and well worth it, there is a special tape that can be rolled and inserted into any threads within the frame so that you will not have to re-tap. Just something to consider but the guys doing the work should already know that.

[Taylormade 444]

Finally, a hint of Spring. Despite the wonderful weather (70 degrees F and sunny), nothing very exciting is happening with Daphne. Just rather boring jobs that need to get done. You won't learn anything from this post except that I need to lose some weight.

I took the rear axle housing down to the local car wash and spent some time cleaning off most of the dirt and grease. Then it was back to the garage (in this case, in front of the garage) to wirebrush everything down to bare metal.







Even with a grinder and very aggressive wire brushes, it took a while to get everything clean. I left the welding splash on the metal since it was put there at the factory by the welder over eighty years ago. I guess it's always a decision to either leave it a bit rough and original or over restore it too a perfect finish.



Despite all the grease and some original paint, there was a lot of rust on the housing - as you can see from this before and after shot.



With everything shiny, I wiped the housing down with lacquer thinner and then shot on a coat of primer.





Job done.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[1930 4]

You may already be aware but a trip to the local dollar store can yield a can of spray on oven cleaner that works absolute wonders with de-greasing parts

[Spinneyhill 1,376]

You may already be aware but a trip to the local dollar store can yield a can of spray on oven cleaner that works absolute wonders with de-greasing parts

I have found those steel wire brushes a pain: you get showered with sharp steel wire filaments. Those you are using with twisted tufts of wires are far better than those with straight wires. Plastic stripper wheels on an electric drill (max speed 3500 RPM) are excellent and safer.

[Taylormade 444]

That's the reason I'm wearing a face shield. Even the twisted brushes start to shed once they get worn. I used a 3M stripper disk on the grinder for the driveshaft and it worked great.



Speaking of the driveshaft, has anyone seen U-joints like these? They are a new breed to me. The "ball" rotates, which is why I didn't paint it.







Does anyone know if this type of joint had a cover to protect it? My 48 Plymouth had a rubber boot over its joints and you could also get a lace-up leather cover. It seems like this needs some sort of cover, but it did last all these years without one and appears to be in very good shape, with smooth action and no looseness.

I marked the back of the driveshaft so it will mate up the same way it came off. It mentions in the Owners Manual that the driveshaft is factory balanced and should be put back the way it came off. Naturally, when Ed and I took the motor out way back when, we didn't pay attention up front. I'm hoping this is a mark to indicate how the front of the shat mates with the front U-joint (which is exactly like the one at the rear. I haven't taken all the grease off the front U-joint to see if there is a corresponding mark.





The driveshaft and rear axle housing are due for a coat of black paint as soon as the primer dries thoroughly.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[keiser31 3,294]

To answer your question, yes, there should be a leather cover over the U-joint.

[Taylormade 444]

Transmission question. Has anyone taken one of these apart? I have no reason to believe the unit has any problems, it always worked fine for me and for Phil.



I was cleaning it up today and noticed it would be a lot easier to get some of the crud out of the top shifting unit if I removed it from the rest of the transmission. The setup on this car is really weird, I believe because of the "Floating Power" feature. The shifter itself is not attached to the transmission, but instead is bolted to the frame. This allows the tranny to "float" while keeping the shifter steady. If it was attached to the transmission, it would be shaking all over the place.



Anyway, I wouldn't mind taking off the top cover to clean it and just take a peek at the gears to make sure everything looks okay. My worry is the shifting arms getting moved or out of whack while it's out and then finding myself unable to get things back together. Making a new gasket is no problem. Any advice from someone who has disassembled one of these units?


 

Edited June 22, 2015 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Taylormade 444]

To answer your question, yes, there should be a leather cover over the U-joint.

Ah, another problem to solve! Anyone have a source, or a pattern to make one? I didn't have a trace of a cover on either joint.
  Edited June 22, 2015 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Phil 32DL6 15]

Ah, another problem to solve! Anyone have a source, or a pattern to make one? I didn't have a trace of a cover on either joint.

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I'll crawl under mine and see if I find any remnants of a leather boot, but my initial thought is that ours didn't come with one. If they did, wouldn't you think that they would show that in figure 30 on page 76 of our manual? Yet it doesn't. Maybe they were available as an option? Back to you soon.

[1930 4]

I'll crawl under mine and see if I find any remnants of a leather boot, but my initial thought is that ours didn't come with one. If they did, wouldn't you think that they would show that in figure 30 on page 76 of our manual? Yet it doesn't. Maybe they were available as an option? Back to you soon.

Not original, aftermarket item. Not recommended because they hold water and sand

[Taylormade 444]

I'll crawl under mine and see if I find any remnants of a leather boot, but my initial thought is that ours didn't come with one. If they did, wouldn't you think that they would show that in figure 30 on page 76 of our manual? Yet it doesn't. Maybe they were available as an option? Back to you soon.

Thanks, Phil. Don't bump your head!

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[Taylormade 444]

The frame finally came back from the powdercoaters this morning. It looks good and I'm really glad to have a clean palette to serve as a base for assembly. There was a lot of surface pitting on the top of the frame rails, but I opted to leave it alone as none of this is visible when the car is together. As a matter of fact, almost all of the top and most of the sides of the frame are covered. The body channels over the frame, and the side rails are further hidden by the runningboard splash pans that hug the frame very closely. The rear of the frame is covered by the gas tank cover. About the only thing visible are the sides of the frame under the front and rear fenders and the bottom of the frame rails. All these areas are almost pit free. Finally, this is a driver, not a show car, and I want to get her back on the road!

The frame on jack stands in the garage.



Back springs due for one more coat of paint and then ready to install.




Frame rail showing smooth sides and pitting on the top.



Engine monting support/frame brace.



The X-member, new for 1932, that makes this such a solid car.




Now it's time to start attaching things!

Edited March 21, 2016 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[Taylormade 444]

I've been staring at my front axle, trying to figure out how to get the old kingpins out. I had already gotten the small tapered pins that hold the kingpins in place out. I had to drill out their centers before I could get them loose enough to remove. I think the heat and vibration from the drill loosened them up enough that I could drive them out. The kingpins, however, wouldn't budge. I went on the web and found lots of information - most of it useless. The general consensus was to heat up the spindle and then drive out the kingpin with a large drift and the biggest hammer you could find. This didn't sound like a very sensible or safe way to do the job. Since I was going to go to Columbia, Missouri to videotape a basketball playoff game, I called Ed Thomas, the gentleman who did all the bodywork on Daphne, and asked him if he could help me out. Ed is more than just a body guy, he seems to have an innate knowledge of all things automobile, and he said, "Sure, I have all the tools you'll need to get everything taken care of." Yesterday, I made the two and a half hour drive and pulled into Ed's at around 10:30 AM.

The first order of business was to get the old kingpins out. No heat was applied, and although we did use a type of a hammer, it didn't involve swinging a 20 pound sledge and possibly removing fingers or pieces of hands in the process. Ed pulled out his trusty, twenty-year-old Snap-On impact wrench. We set the axle on the edge of his solid metal workbench and he began hammering down on the top of the kingpin with the impact driver. Within a few seconds the pin began to move and it was free in about half a minute. I didn't get a shot of the process because I was holding the axle. In any case, it worked like a charm.




The second kingpin came out much easier than the first and we discovered that it had gotten a full dose of grease over the years. We went back and examined the stubborn pin and noticed a great deal of rust at the bottom bushing and very little grease. This seemed odd as the car had been well lubricated over it's lifetime. The rust had been holding the pin in rather tenaciously. More on that later.

Now we drove out the bushings with the correct stepped tool Ed had handy for the job. This is the type of tool most of us simply do not have. They aren't cheap, you need one for each size bushing you want to drive out, and you'll probably use the tool once or twice in your lifetime if you're a hobbyist. As usual, with the right tool, the bushings came out with no problem.





We cleaned up the end of the axle and pumped some fresh grease into the four fittings to clear out any old, dried out grease from the openings. As Ed said, "You don't want any of that stuff getting on your new bushings and kingpins." That's when we solved the mystery of the rusted, stubborn kingpin. The grease fitting was defective on the lower bushing. We tried to pump grease through it but nothing came out the other end. Over the years, when the car was lubricated, the mechanic must have assumed grease was going into the bushing, when it was actually just oozing out around the fitting. That one bushing hadn't had a shot of grease in a long, long time. The good fitting is on the right and the bad on the left.



Now it was time to put the new bushings in. I bought a NOS kingpin set at Hershey and I had all the parts ready for the restoration.



Ed explained that the surfaces of the axle and spindle have to be perfectly flat and burr-free. If they aren't, any shims used will be torn up by the rough surfaces. We carefully filed everything smooth and flat.



At this point, I figured that Ed would drive the new bushings in with the same tool he used to drive out the old. Au Contraire! No banging on the new bushings! He installed them using this handy little apparatus that allowed the bushings to be slowly pulled into place and for the lube holes to be correctly lined up. Just tighten down the bolts and the bushing slides into place.













With the bushings in place, we cleaned up the spindle in the blasting cabinet. There was a lot of rust and corrosion and the kingpin would not slip through the bore of the spindle. A quick cleanup and all was ready.



Now came the hard part - reaming the bushings. They are manufactured slightly over-sized so that the interior bore can be reamed to the correct diameter. This process also allows for both bushings to be reamed to perfect alignment so the kingpin can just drop through both bushings without any binding.

Using this reamer, with and extension and a pilot fitting to align it with the other bushings, we slowly reamed the bushings to an exact fit. The reamer expands and we adjusted the cutting diameter with each pass. It took about seven or eight passes to get things right on the nose. In the shot below you can see Ed holding the pilot bushing in his left hand as he inserts the reamer into the top bushing.









Now the kingpins fit perfectly. I can push the pin in with slight finger pressure and the spindle moves easily and smoothly. The bearing is installed with the rotating surface down against the spindle and at the top of the spindle.





I shot the basketball game (my team won and are going to the state championship game) and I came home, the axle ready for paint and final assembly.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[1935EB 21]

A few months back this discussion came up on my "Paint Colors for 1933 Plymouth Convertible Coupe " thread. The response was that there is a "gasket" that goes between the top of the transmission and the cross member to keep water and dirt from getting up in here. For those that have not seen how this goes together the pictures show the shifter housing and fingers. It gets bolted to the cross member and than the fingers go down into the transmission to move the gears. The photos are for Plymouth cars but the configuration for your Dodge may be very similar. DodgeKCL replied indicating it was made from canvas duck material which I assume is wax or oil impregnated cloth in the shape of a donut. I am guessing here. Based on this I do not think a motor mounted correctly on good mounts would move or jerk much so as to allow the fingers to come out of the transmission.

Chris

[ply33 232]

Looks like someone stole the pin bushing reamer out of my tool chest.

By the way, I think that the style of grease fitting in your photo was first used on Chrysler built vehicles in 1934. At least I'm pretty sure that is true for Plymouth and generally that type of thing was introduced on all makes at about the same time.

[DodgeKCL 16]

All "Floating Power" systems had the gear shift suspended over the transmission on a part of the frame. As you guessed this was to allow the tranny and engine enmasse to swing about it's centre of mass without the gear shift lever following it. Some systems also had a small 4 or 5 leaf spring setup on the passenger's side (usually) working through a rubber "sleeve" to stop the tranny and engine from swinging too far. The bottom of the gear shift lever had to be made dust and water proof and this is the piece of duck that needs to fill the gap and give flexibility. The front engine mount is a single block of rubber glued to an upper and lower piece of steel plate which bolted to the engine and down onto an "A" frame brought up from the main frame for just this purpose. The rear engine and tranny mounting varies with CPDD vehicles. But is usually 2 rubber mountings ,one on either side, made in the same fashion as the front one but larger and more robust. They bolt to another extension part of the main frame that goes under the rear of the tranny and to the rear of the tranny. This system started in 1931 with the '31 PA Plymouth and then the next year was put on every CPDD vehicle including trucks for about 30 years. ( The general public must of been well aware of "Floating Power" on Chrysler vehicles because an elderly friend of mine who knows I'm well into CPDD stuff tells me when he was young and trying to start an recalcitrant old Dodge or Plymouth,they used to push down on the starter pedal and yell "Float you bastard float !!".)

Edited March 22, 2014 by DodgeKCL (see edit history)

[countrytravler 264]

(Some systems also had a small 4 or 5 leaf spring setup on the passenger's side (usually) working through a rubber "sleeve" to stop the tranny and engine from swinging too far.)

Anybody have a diagram of this?