1937 Dodge D5 Sedan

Dad,
As I work on the 37 Dodge, I continue to review the theme, what you might have done with her in the late 50s to mid 60s.
I think back to your original set up with the flat head six, though you always wanted a V8. Your set up of the six was bored, shaved, split dual exhaust and twin factory 1 barrel carburetors....with that set up, you won a lot of races against more powerful cars.
Uncle Mike, your brother, did similar things with his Fords.
So....since the computer controlled engine and transmission is coming out, I'm going to try getting us back in line with the agreed upon original theme.
Pending some fitment questions from the manufacturer, the photo shows your potential new fuel system. Something an 18 year old could have done in 1960. Dual 2 barrel GM carburetors on an original look adapter, because of course, why have one boreing 4 barrel carburetor when you can bolt on more!

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Dad....Opera windows are in....harder than I remember.....arthritis fingers...but still doable as a one man job.....trunk shelf is next and gotta buy more rubber for the doors. And just like the old days, Bessy's license plate gets cocked at the drop of a hat. Also, FatMan responded, some bowing is normal, finish it, settle it, then disassemble and trim coils for best ride height.
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I don't really like the rubber from Mopar Direct. Plenty soft and nice quality but small in all dimensions compared to original seals. I may try the front rubber components from Andy Bernbaum. I can't afford the Lynn Steele stuff, its priced so high. Must be made of Unobtainium.
 
Dad,

I'm no professional restorer/hot rodder....but I put my hands on her/your car every night for a couple hours. They wouldn't do that. She'll be a mix of new and old. Professional and amateur. But in the end, every original and new part will function properly and look at least good.

Started cleaning up the windshield frame, inside is scuffed, primed and painted. Couple days, I'll flip it over and treat the face. Not willing to risk breaking the frame to remove the glass and the rubber is good in any event, still soft and pliable and no checking at the tight corners.

Started cleaning up and painting the front vent wing frames. I found a complete set of hardware and trim for each. One wing primed and painted. The other wing still in the cleaning up stage. The stainless and chrome hardware polished nicely.

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Dad,

Finished installing chrome hardware on the vent window frames for the front door. Finished the sanding and painting of the windshield frame. I removed the stainless trim for cleaning. Its looking somewhat better. Will install in 48 hours when the paint dries hard. Also located the steering column drop spacer that the shop lost. $50 for the proper tapered spacer but, where else ya gonna find a critical 83 year old part than on Ebay? We will see if we can use the oversize hole they drilled in the firewall behind the head for the column. If not......I'll figure it out. Coulda used a 1.5" hole rather than a 2 1/4" hole.....HA! Maybe i can use that hole for a wiring bulkhead if its not right for the column. Coming along. I'll call this weekend. Time to buy the last of the rubber and glass channel and get her buttoned up in the next week or two.
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Dad,
Worlds first Bug Induction System is back online. Brought to you by Dodge, because they care. Not even an Indian Motorcycle can so effectively channel protein supplements directly into your mouth as you motor down the road. Seal is good, window opens full and the crank mechanism works like a champ.

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Dad,

Parts are on the way to finish buttoning up Ol Bessy.

Shipping 2 weeks out:
2 Front Vent Glass Panels
1 Front Drivers Roll Up Window Glass

Shipping Today:
2 Front Vent Wing Rubber inserts
2 Front Roll Up Vertical Division Seals
2 8' Sections of Window Glass Sweeper
24 Feet of Roll Up Window Glass Channel
1 Set Top of Door Seals
1 Pair Headlight Rubber Inserts
7 Feet of Hood to Cowl Lacing
4 Rubber Hood Corners
1 License Plate Bracket Pad

Not much left in the way of rubber requirements after this but a handful of door, hood and glove box bumpers and bumper grommets.
 
Dad,
First time Ol Bessy had her trunk shelf in place, in my memory. So, call it 50+ years without its shelf. Originally, the shelf came all the way to the trunk lid and the spare tire under it had hold down clamps accessible at the lip of the deck. Since the floor is nicely replaced and all those clamps and fittings long gone, I put in a half shelf and we'll mount a compact spare under the shelf on the passenger side. The shorter 20" shelf will leave room to install and access a center hold down bolt for the spare, jack, etc. After thats in place, just like originally, i'll install an off center support for the shelf that runs from the shelf edge to the trunk floor. Then she'll be roomy enough to carry three dead deer or 2 big coolers full of them and our rifles......looks like room for a nice 4 gun rack right there on the back of the back seat across the big X member.

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Dad,

Having committed to Gunsmithing over nearly 40 years, I have acquired a rather eclectic mix of thread cutting taps and dies.

On shutting the door, the sole lock on the car popped out and hit the floor. No worries, no key for that one anyhow.

Dug through the parts inventory and found Bessy's original door lock and key. A good start. The set screw tube, like all of these old cars, had long since rusted and required the shop to drill out the set screw. Doing so destroys the 10x32 thread.

No worries, off to the gun box where i round up those ancient taps, dies and screws used to repair rifles from the turn of the century when all the threaded fasteners were equipped with odd ball thread pitches.

In this case, the seldom used these days size of 12 x 24 threads per inch cleaned up the set screw bore and I scrounged up a nice new stainless steel screw and lock washer for the job.

Everything lubed up and working and with a toothpick to guide the floppy square shaft of the lock cylinder, in it went. Cinched it all down and viola!

Bessy's Passenger Side front door locks and unlocks properly.

As you will recall, Dodge pushed Safety in 1937. As such, all doors lock from the inside by raising the door handle. You were to enter and exit the car curbside and lock the final door using the key, thereby never standing in or opening a door into traffic. (Of course Dodge has a steel dash.....but they advertised recessed knobs and controls to prevent injury.....I suppose flattening your face was fine so long as there were no projections to cause a depressed skull fracture.
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Dad,
Getting ready for receipt of glass, rubber and window felts.
This morning, finished setting up the front door check straps and installed 6 of 8 pins in the door and window handles. Just got to make two more pins to replace the missing ones.
Also, preparing the front window risers for Drivers and Passenger side front doors. The best of the four vertical division bars are polished and awaiting their felts and sweepers.
The best of the window risers were chosen, stripped and painted. I'll do final assembly of the stainless division bars to the painted risers, and in about 2 weeks it'll be glass time. Probably set the glass in urethane rather than try to beat them into place using the old school butyl rubber tape. Less chance of breaking the glass. At $50 to $70 per pane, I'm glad to tell you that you only had to buy three pieces of glass.

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Dad,
Shop lost/did not send the chrome bumper brackets that mount the fog lamps that I converted into Run/Turn Lamps for Bessy's front end.
Additionally, I received the crusty rusty peeling bent parts car front bumper uprights instead of the nicely straight and shiny chrome ones that were on the front bumper to begin with.
So, I yanked the crusty bumperettes rather than spend a hundred or more to get new lamp mounts and decent bumperettes. If I ever find another pair of either part in good condition I'll grab them up and put them on.
For now, a temporary bracket was made up and the lamps put in place to see how they ride. Pretty good I think, the bumperette holes line up better under the headlights than just about any position possible on the bumper braces. Overall, a win I think.
Now to get some stainless steel carriage bolts to polish up and some heavier gauge steel to make a more sturdy bracket and finish the job.
Ol Bessy will finally have run and turn lamps out front, only took 83 years to find a way to do it.

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While this thread shows your self evident craftsmanship and the beautiful car coming together at a good pace, I keep thinking your former mechanic/shop needs a good lynch mob visit.
 
Dad,
We had made up rear lamp brackets for inside the buckets. Fitted them to, before the buckets were painted. They provided positive ground, dual bolt mounting and wired for brake, run, turn and flasher.
Rather than use them as intended, including all the stainless steel hardware, the shop cut them up and installed them in there loose, no grounds, lots of vibration that would have broken the filaments with each bump in the road. So......I rebuilt them again.
Anyway, we have good grounds by wire instead of through the bucket, fender and body to frame. Only a single bolt was usable for mounting but the brackets are sturdy and shouldn't shake loose.
Tested here with a 9v battery, both are working fine.
Also, I found that the left over seal material for the cowl vent makes an excellent back of the lens retention gasket.

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I'm not really a classic car guy, I'm more of a Rat Rod/Mad Max vehicle sort of dude, but you may make a believer of me yet mate. Just like with your revolver builds, every piece in place, everything for a reason and usually fixing something else someone bunged up.
 
Dad....

Good news. Rear is 1970 to 72 Chevelle 12 bolt. Stamped E so it may be positraction. Either way...the most desirable rear for a street rod. Have to open it up but thinking positive.
 
I'm not really a classic car guy, I'm more of a Rat Rod/Mad Max vehicle sort of dude, but you may make a believer of me yet mate. Just like with your revolver builds, every piece in place, everything for a reason and usually fixing something else someone bunged up.

Thanks. Maybe one day we can build a road warrior intercepto . The one with the big fuel tank.
 
Thanks. Maybe one day we can build a road warrior intercepto . The one with the big fuel tank.

I'm more a villain car type of fellow, I'd love to built a wasteland meat wagon/van. Mobile fortress cum butchers stall.
 
Dad,
Big box of rubber and glass sweep arrived. Glass comes in 2 weeks.
Tonights work:
1 Front door division bar sweeps installed. Once i figured out it had a thick and thin side, both went right into place.
2. Hood lace installed. I'll replace the screws with stainless steel later, much safer for now to self drill and tap the threads using hex head screws. Hood fits snug, very little rattle now.
3. Four hood corners installed. These just need stainless split rivets (Brass was original) or perhaps something as simple as Chicago Screws in the holes.
4. Headlight to body seals installed. There are none for the 37 Dodge sedans. But, 37 Plymouth sedan seals are very close, a touch of trimming inside and they mounted up just fine.
Headlights were color and cleared. Never buffed. They don't feel smooth. But I've been making some grand progress using fff gunstock rubbing compound to buff up the many marks and flaws in the paint that were added by the shop during the move to their new workspace. The clear is buffing up fine and a test on the headlights is giving a nice smooth finish with some light hand rubbing. I figure if fff gunstock compound is good enough to bring a Browning rifle stock back to as new condition, it oughta work for clear coat. So far so great!

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Dad,

You've had me working on and under Ol Bessy for as long as I can remember. The earliest jobs were checking and changing the ammeter fuse before each night trip and making sure we had enough fuses in the glove box to have headlights all the way there and back. I remember when I was 8 or 9, Joppa Town Maryland, Ol Bessy failed inspection for an exhaust leak. You showed me how to fix it, hangers cut and straightened into wire, coffee cans cut into strips, wrap the pipe at the leak with coffee can smeared with muffler cement and twist the coat hanger wire tight around the coffee can patch. Go for a ride to heat it up and seal it for re inspection.

And all those years and all those cars I put weather stripping and rubber seals on using 3M adhesive. Just like you taught me, smear a coat on the steel and the rubber, let it dry, pull off all the stringy stuff that got on everything and every place you didn't want it, smear on another light coat of 3M goo on the rubber, press and hold.

Where the hell was 3M weather strip tape when I wore a younger mans clothing? Peel, stick to rubber, peel, stick to car. Done. No strings and no black or yellow goop on my hands for days.

In the time it took for you and I to wrap an exhaust pipe in tin and wire, all four doors are sealed.

Thank the Good Lord its the 21st Century.

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Dad,



You've had me working on and under Ol Bessy for as long as I can remember. The earliest jobs were checking and changing the ammeter fuse before each night trip and making sure we had enough fuses in the glove box to have headlights all the way there and back. I remember when I was 8 or 9, Joppa Town Maryland, Ol Bessy failed inspection for an exhaust leak. You showed me how to fix it, hangers cut and straightened into wire, coffee cans cut into strips, wrap the pipe at the leak with coffee can smeared with muffler cement and twist the coat hanger wire tight around the coffee can patch. Go for a ride to heat it up and seal it for re inspection.



And all those years and all those cars I put weather stripping and rubber seals on using 3M adhesive. Just like you taught me, smear a coat on the steel and the rubber, let it dry, pull off all the stringy stuff that got on everything and every place you didn't want it, smear on another light coat of 3M goo on the rubber, press and hold.



Where the hell was 3M weather strip tape when I wore a younger mans clothing? Peel, stick to rubber, peel, stick to car. Done. No strings and no black or yellow goop on my hands for days.



In the time it took for you and I to wrap an exhaust pipe in tin and wire, all four doors are sealed.



Thank the Good Lord its the 21st Century.

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We don't thank industrial chemists enough I think.
 
Thats some shit there, OMGosh, So glad I tried it! Wonderful. Sticky. Clean. I'm a happy man.....now if it would just work on window felt and channels.....But I think that'll be old school 3M goo and hand made screw clips to replace the damaged and missing ones.
 
Dad,
Off duty for the hurricane (no worries, I'm in the mountains over 4 hours from the coast and more than 1.5 hours from the edge line, getting some rain here but not expecting more than flooding the roads and low water crossings). So, since I don't have to "work", I went to work this morning on your Ol Bessy.
Window sweeps. I have enough to do all 4 doors, both garnish side and exterior side. For now, working the garnish side as they are retained by clips. Parts cars provided sufficient clips to restore two car's worth of interior garnish sweeps.
A touch of contact cement to hold the sweep to the window garnish, install a clip, crimp with vice grips and ..... one done, three to go.
Super easy. Sorry, can't do the exterior sweeps today....gotta drill out the rivets and then go get more rivets. Can you believe it? I ran out of rivets!

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69818146_2897657146971424_2842805270873112576_n.jpg Dad,
Found enough parts to replace broken springs and rebuild the Drivers side window garnish molding and vent wing. Rubber seals look good and I installed the stainless bottom plate. Used stainless hardware to attach the vent wing. Should hold up fine. Just waiting on glass for the vents and front door but proceeding on now to rebuild the Passenger side front door window garnish.

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Dad,
Passenger side front window garnish and vent wing is fully rebuilt and installed. Fit is very good.
This was the broken part that I took a replacement into the shop for them to use. They painted the broken window garnish molding instead. In any event, I took parts from a spare window garnish off one of the parts cars and was successful in rebuilding the painted piece. New rubber and window sweep is installed and looking grand. I had to cut the mainspring of an old Mauser Rifle in order to come up with a final spring for the tensioner on the vent window. The Dodge springs are 83 and they just break when you back the clamp screws off.....too old and stiff to flex any more. In any event, this one is up and running and looking fine.
Next job is back to the back doors. I think the glass is tight in its bottom track. Once cleaned and inspected I'll be getting started installing rear door window sweep on the exterior and putting in the fuzzy channels for the glass to move in. Hopefully this week I'll have all the glass installed except for the Drivers door and both front vent windows (those three are the pieces we had to order.)

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Dad,
Fitting up one door with window channel. It don't get glued, thank goodness, pinch fit. Grabbed the worst of the unbroken panes of glass to check fit and function, this piece of glass had several gouges in it and a chip.
Got it all together, working great, (figured out/remembered, on the Dodge you have to install the glass THEN feed in the channel it rides in. What a pain).
But, put in the last screw, tink, cracked bottom to top. No worries, I have two much newer pieces of glass that match and have no gouges. Also have one more 83 year old piece of laminated glass, also clear and defect free.
Now to get those pieces of glass on good risers so I can install them.....now that i remember how!

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Dad,
Rear door glass is in and functioning. All external sweeps riveted on. Seals tight. Nothing busted.
Originally there were no exterior window sweeps, dodge had rubber bumpers in the middle of the door pressing on the outer face of the glass. These prevented rattles but are long rotted away. I'd put sweeps in in the 90s, liked it better for sealing up the door and window. So, did it again here, a sweep inside and outside and no rattles.
The riser track on the passenger side door was worn. Closed it up as much as i could but the fix to keep the button from jumping out of the track was to bend the riser arm slightly, it pushes the button into the track now rather than pulling it out. Works fine. Just got to let the adhesive holding the track to the glass set for 24 hours and then we should be in business.
If needed, after the glass runs have set in for a while, I'll glue the tops in place or set them with small sheet metal screws should they look to be loose. But, the originals and the ones I had put in in the 90s were not glued or screwed and never fell out. I suspect the additional efforts will not be needed. Starting front windows as soon as I get the 3 pieces.
Ol Bessy is nearly buttoned up!

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Dad. Glass #8 of 11. 3 pieces to go when they arrive. This is passenger front door. Small strips of electrical tape at 4 locations center the pane. Gorilla adhesive for glass instead of urethane or butyl tape (easier to clean off and edge is paintable to black out the seam.) Clamped lightly to line it up in the bottom of both grooves. Grabs fast so I can pull the clamps and remove the ooze out while soft. I think it'll be fine. Off to inspect the differential now.

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