Fuel Lines

Well its late October, leaves have turned different colors of reds yellows and browns. Another summer has come and gone and winter is knocking on the front door. The crisp cool air seems to provide me with more attention and motivation. I had a opportunity to spend a Friday at a local scrap yard looking for odds and ends for the Coronet. The gentleman that runs and owns Classic Auto Recyclers In Langley is a great guy to have a conversation with. I've dealt with him in small doses in the past but he seemed occupied and the conversations were always very short. On this day however I was the only one around and business was slow. After I mentioned what parts I was looking for and what they were for he remembered my previous visits.

      The yard was full of older cars and trucks ranging from 1960 to 2000 and a couple of 50's era cars that were stripped down to a nub. Places like this are getting harder and harder to find. Most of the scrapping business run 2000 to current date. This is a small block goldmine! After a tour of the yard and getting to know a little about each other he asked me if I brought any tools. Lucky for me I always keep a few tools on hand. There was a small amount of trust on his part after our conversation and I was allowed free reign of his little goldmine. After a very reasonable fee for my hand full of treasures we spent another half an hour chatting about the ones that got away I was headed back to the garage.

      The 1950 Dodge Coronet now has complete fuel lines and a electric fuel pump. Its nice to see a lot of the small things being crossed off the do list. Motor mount bolts, power steering bracket and fuel lines. As I get closer to paying off my truck I get more and more excited knowing ill have that much more cash to put into the Coronet. Going to ask Santa for Gauges or maybe a shifter for Christmas. Well I'm going to post a couple resents for your viewing pleasers.

The Langley Cruzin car show has come and gone another year. This is another year my car is unable to make an appearance. Its a constant struggle to find time to devote to the car. I'm  hoping after my truck payments are complete I will have better funding for the goodies the Coronet needs. Now as for time,,,,,,, well that remains to be a on going problem. I have since my last post jack the car up on jack stand and started the fuel lines. Talk about a big hassle, trying to find ends and connectors was nothing but a headache. After countless failed attempts of ordering parts through Lordco,   I realized I was putting way to much thought into it. For now I'm going to keep it simple till after I get it running.

   I've decided to run hard lines from the carb to the electric pump. From the pump into the trunk were going to run 3/8 hose to the fuel cell through the trunk pan. I picked up a 3/8 grommet to ensure the fuel line is not to rupture. There a trip to one of the many marine shops in town to pick up a fuel cell vent this week. There is a couple parts that came as extras in this model of Coronet I would like to trade. The car has a almost new radio with a great chrome cover and a clock. These really nice option's have no use to me and want to trade for the plane face plates that cover where the radio and clock would go. So if a reader out there is in need of these, please let me know.

Well here we are aging. There's a little more progress on the Coronet and a little more to write about. Judging by the small amount of followers I have this is more if a personal car journal. Another year goes by quickly and another car show my #1950Coronet will not be in. Every year Langley BC puts on a great car show. Hundreds of cars from Canada and the US come to show there fabulous colors and great attention to detail. I've had a chance to move the front bumper in 2.5" in. The rear bumper was moved in when I first started the project. So in total I shorten the over all length of the car 5". The way the front bumper was mounted from factory you could of put a continental kit on the front of the car. I've just lifted it up on jack stands this week and am running fuel lines and the electric fuel pump. My son and I finally did a full bleed of the new break lines.

Seem like I'm moving in leaps and bounds lately but the end seems so far away. A quote in having the seats re finished came back really high. Doing some Craig's list snooping I considered some leather buckets. The cost for a Audi interior is a 3rd of what the redo is. Keeping to the look and theme I want it look like I'm forking out some serious dough. Ill be blogging after the car show this year and will post a few pics.

 I was just doing some forum snooping and came across this little beauty! Its a 1953 Dodge Cambridge. Ive never been a fan of red cars (except Ferrari and fire trucks) but this one is very well done. I don't have a lot of info on this little gem but its still worth a look. This is one of those looks fast standing still cars. This is very rear for 50's Dodges as everyone knows. So here's a few pics to enjoy..........your welcome!

I've found some inspiration!

     Its been a while since my last post only because I have spent my time working on the Coronet.

When I can find time between life and sleeping, I've been digging back into the car. I almost hired out a few of the things I needed to complete as I thought I wouldn't have time. Instead I forced myself back into the project. After a few minutes of hesitation I dove in. Probably the best few hours in mmy garage in a long time.

The rear break lines were a breeze. I knew the front lines would not be as much fun. Just as I was tying up the rear line to the proportioning valve, my neighbor Craig came over to see what I was up to. Craig is the type of guy that loves getting his hands dirty when it comes to cars and trucks. He happily volunteered to do the front lines for me and knowing what I was up against I gladly agreed. After thirty minutes or so he was done. Anyone tackling a big project like this knows what a great feeling it is to cross off some of the work needed.

     When I first started sourcing parts for the Coronet I came across a teloscopic steering column. The column was from a early 80's caddy. Thinking this is what the car needed it turned out to be a bad decision. The steering column was warn out and too many moving parts for the Coronet. I did use the column to move the car around for the last two years but it was time to make it better. On one of my daily scrumage hunts on CraigsList I came upon a nice set of GM seats.  I wasn't looking for seats but sitting off to the right side of the seats was a "cherry" tilt steering column form a Jimmy. A quick phone call and a 30 minute drive was worth the all the crap you have to look though on CraigsList to get bits and parts. The purchase was a steal when my offer of $40 was accepted knowing most of them were going for $200.

       As it turnes out this column was a little longer from the fire wall to the steering wheel. This was a way better fit for where the seats are going to be.  The next thing to cross off the list is the fuel line. I have the lines already just have to find a couple hours on the weekend. All three of these tasks were on my "hire-out" list. I figure I've saved myself about 8 hours in labour charges. Which by my calcuations is a F#*kin lot!

I've just recently starting watching Californication. It's giving me inspiration to write. I'm hoping that my writing will improve but I need to start writing without the TV on. Stay tuned for more stories with summer right around the corner. That's right - it's car show season and I am looking forward to seeing the cars that have been finished over the long winter months. Here is a few pics of the 1950 Dodge Coronet and I in the shop.

Finally getting started!

Well, I was hoping to be well on my way by now but  a few of my neighbors changed my plans for me. I ended up doing 2 break jobs and a garage door opener install. So late Saturday afternoon I got some time to give a little love to the Coronet. I also had a chance to work on it today. The ball joints were due as well as new callipers and break pads. Later this week I'm hoping to get to the intake and carb.

Sunday after I was tired of working on the car for the day I took a trip down to the fab shop to discuss the future of the 1950 Dodge Coronet. My buddy Dustin is going to run the fuel lines and the break lines for me. With a LOT of luck we might be able to have it running by the time it leaves there. While at the fab shop I had a chance to see the 1939 Pontiac, they built in the fall, fire up when they were bring it in the shop. The Pontiac turned out pretty cool! It sounded fantastic with such a short wheel base and big exhaust.

Focus!

Its time to get back into this on going project.

I seem to hit the 1950 Dodge Coronet project hard a couple times a year. I have taken 1 year completely off (last year) but had full intentions of doing something to it. Life, kids and other activities always come first obviously, and the car get shoved further and further into a dark corner. This year the wife and I have made a serious plan to get the Coronet on the road. We seem to be so close but after its put in a list form were a long way from the finish line.

With the list in hand I'm hoping to start crossing things off piece by piece. Theres a lot of freaking pieces! I've already started purchasing a good portion of the parts needed to get it running. That still leaves me very, very short in other areas of the car. The first step forward and 3 steps back rule of hot rods can be very intimidating and discouraging.


    The rule I was just referring to is why I took the year off from working on the Dodge. The reason I loved working on the car some how turned out to be the reason I really didn't want to work on it anymore. Maybe too much of a good thing IS bad?

With those feeling hopefully behind me there is nothing I want more than to be rumbling down the road in it this summer with my family. I've just leaped over a couple huge obstacles at the beginnig of this year and with that behind me I feel I'm more focused on what's important to me. I do owe a great deal to my wife and kids for helping me through my tough time but this blogs about the car! (sorry Kris and kids, lol). Were planning to get the show started (ie, working on the car) at the beginning of February. I will be posting progress reports and pics of the car as always (when ever there is something done to it) and hope to be posting again soon.