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.

Motor mockup

I've finally had a chance to put a couple hours into the Coronet.

We meet great friends of ours every Summer in Osooyse for holidays. They drive in from Calgary to join us for a weeks worth of fun in the sun. Tim ,who is kind enough to supply the boat for our vacation every year, also brought up some "goodies" for the Dodge.

Tim races enduro cars and had some hidden treasures left over hiding in the corners of his garage. He supplied me with a nice intake and carb. He also threw in a 63' 327 corvette block.I've done a mock up on the motor i have in the car already and am going to save the 327 for a rainy day.

I would like to do a write up on Tim and his racing in the future and a few pics of his cars. The motor I received is no stranger to me. I saw it race down the track in one of his cars. That was a summer I helped on his pit crew at Race City Speedway in Calgary AB. That was also the year he took 1st place.

 So here's a few pics of the 1950 Dodge Coronet with the new parts.

39 Pontiac Update

I stopped by Dons fab shop a few weeks back. When i arrived he was helping a local rodder
"Ian" properly align his doos handles. This is another car Don built. I beleive its a 51 Chevy. This car was being built at the same time my car was getting clipped.This visit gave me a chance to check on how the 39' was coming. Looks like hes getting close to driving. I didn't get much of a chance to ask about the motor and tranny, but i did get a change to snap a few photos.  The first pic is of the Chevy.

About a month ago i found a baja bar on a 2003 F-350 i really liked on Google. I already have a pipe bender and a welder in my garage so all i needed was some pipe. This is something i have never done before but to save a few bucks i was up for the challenge. it took about 4 hours to cut and fab and ready for paint. Keep in mind this is my first one and was also new with the pipe bender. I have since with the help of you tube figured out some better ways for bending with out ripples. my next project is to make another one using the first as a jig. I would also like to fab up something for the rear.

Here's a funny story about after i put the baja bar on. I was backing out of a parking stall after my sons hockey practice. I noticed a green pillar in my mirror while i was reversing. I was so focused on not hitting the pillar i ended up hitting the Dodge 3500 beside me. if it wasn't for that baja bar i would of recked my front bumper. So that being said its paid for it self already. I'm really liking the fab work and plan on trying new thing in the future. I'm also going to be making one for a 95 Dodge 2500 and maybe a 03 jeep liberty.

Back from the fab shop!

Sent my car out for some more work right after Christmas. Schwab Customs in Langley BC takes care of the things I fight with in my shop and some thing I might be to lazy to do my self. There the ones that did my front clip and rear end swap. Don Schwab is a veteran when it comes to old school hot rod building. His son Dustin is his right had man and some times his left to. I met them in Langley at Tim Hortons Friday night meet about 4 years ago. Don has a 50 shoe box and has just started a 39 Pontiac. Dustin cruzes a 1960 Impala around.

 On my last visit they installed my rad and made the front end supports for the Chevy clip to meet the Dodge fenders. The front bumper was also installed and brackets were made to join the old to the new.  I supplied them with a pair of Flowmasters and my exhaust was fabbed and installed. Dustin wired the complete car for me and Don secured the fuel cell in the trunk. A custom battery shelf was also made by Dustin but the install  is a home work project. Its going to go on the passenger side fire wall . I had to make a bracket for the back side of the fire wall so the bolts don't tear through. All this work gets me closer to driving the Coronet but there is still a quite a lot to do.

  I'm going in for shoulder surgery on February 1st so all work on the project comes to a halt for a month or so. I'm planing to devote some serious time to the Coronet when I've had a little time to recover. This time off should give me a lot more time to blog and hunt for cool pics of other projects. So next post coming soon,,,,,I hope! Till then.

Cool Dodges and plymouths I have found

Here are a few of my favorite Dodges and Plymouths ive found on the H.A.M.B Forum sight. Hope you enjoy. 1948 plymouth, 1949 Plymouth, 1950 Plymouth, 1949 Coronet, 1950 Coronet