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Well yeah, that was the very end of that thing. Here's the setup to that last part:

After he smacked his wife with a fire poker and stuffs her body into the trunk, he get's pulled over the first time by that cop who tells him to follow him to a gas station that's still open where he can get a new bulb. When they get there, the mechanic/attendant puts the bulb in but it doesn't work, and so the cop tells him to open the trunk so the mechanic can check the wiring. The killer then walks up to get the keys out of the ignition and pulls the trunk key off his keyring and drops it between the seats and walks back to the back of the car where the cop and mechanic are waiting and tells him he can't find the trunk key. The persistant cop then says that the machanic can jimmy the tnuck open with a crowbar, and which time the killer says he doesn't want to damage his car just for this and then hits the tail light with his fist at which time the tail light starts working. The cop then tells the killer that he's lucky but he better have the thing checked out the next day, which the killer agrees to just to get away from the situation and he drives off. And then thinking he's "Dodged" a bullet(pun intented here), the killer continues down the road to the lake to dispose his wife's body, BUT the killer had given the attendant 10 bucks for the bulb which cost only 25 cents, and because the change of $9.75 coming back to the killer was considered a lot of money back in 1950s, the cop, being an honest and forthright servant of the public good, chases down the killer to give him his change, whereupon we finally get to the ending of the show which you saw, and whereupon the cop now insists that the killer now follow him to the police station so police mechanic on duty can open up the trunk with his set of skeleton keys to see why the tail light had quit working again.

(...and the "exciting conclusion" is something that is left to the audience's imagination, which is something that is now apparently out-of-fashion in today's world where everything and every action is now blantantly expressed on screen to much less sophisticated generation!!!)

Aside from the actual componants Dwight has a good point. It would be best to rebuild the wheels cyl. and master cyl. if those old rubber cups were dry they will swell in time and give you tons of problems. When I first pulled my Studebaker out of the barn all I did was put fresh fluid in the system and they worked fine for a couple weeks I think it was the I started having problems with wheels locking under just the slightest pressure on the pedal. Turned out the rubber cups had swolen after the reintroduction of fluid.

I'll keep that in mind Ian. Thanks for the heads up. It was a B trying to run the new line on top of the frame from the master cylinder to the T-fitting up front all by myself, an extra few hands would have made it a lot easier.

Yep! That's pretty much how Tarantino(and definitely NOT Hitchcock) would film it today, alright!!!

I have to mail order historic tags from Missouri, but I figured since it only costs an extra 15 bucks for personalized I may go that route if I think of something I like. I have 7 characters to play with, so I'm thinking something along the lines of...

49DODGE
DODGE49
49FLTHD (keeping the original motor is important)
FLTHD49
MEDOBRK (it is a Meadowbrook after all)

I like the idea of having the year somewhere in it, and I guess it depends on what is already claimed in MO to see what I can get. Anyone have other ideas?

49'er

49MOPAR

69INA49 Sorry, Dave. Couldn't help it.

EXTINCT

XTNCT49

hahaha, that back seat is actually a sofa bed!

How about ANGLS49? Major brownie points.

I suppose it's been a while since I updated here, huh? Well, the car is coming along, the brakes were not as simple as I had stated earlier. I had to rebuild or replace all the cylinders, and rebuild the master cylinder also. And some more of the brake line, I think there is only one or two pieces untouched now. But the car runs and drives and stops great! Just took a while with winter and parts ordering. I got new tires on it last week, and also replaced the leaf springs. On the old springs, the left side had cracked and was welded back together and had some flat stock and a couple bolts holding it all sandwiched together. I figured since I am replacing the leafsprings anyway, why not drop the car down a bit, so I ordered the rears 2" lower than what was on there, and when I re-do the front I'm going to drop it 3". Should look pretty good. Plenty of fender to fill up. I am going to try and get my brake lights and turn signals working in the next week or two, it will make me a little more comfortable driving it around with at least some sort of tail light. We finally sold Angela's car, so I have a budget to work with now, makes getting parts a whole lot easier!

here is a side pic with the stock height


and here it is dropped 2"



I need to get a new windshield soon, really I need to get all new glass except the rear window, but the body work is gonna take priority I think. Getting the holes in the floor gone will be a good start.



Here is a shot of that sweet 231 running (note the positive ground), it has some pretty good giddy up for an old motor!

Always enjoy your updates on the ol' '49!! You're making some serious progress there Dave... must feel good.

And I'm wondering if you went for '69INA49' on your plates? I thought that was a real good one!!

nah, I ended up just going with a generic state issue, maybe eventually I'll do personalized

I had a '52 De Soto Sportsman with the Firedome V-8 engine. It had brake lines with seams. Once the seam opened up and the brakes failed. By the time we got the car to the garage the seam had closed. No leaks. Filled the master cylinder and it worked until the next bumb and the seam opened up and the brakes failed again. This drove us nuts for about two weeks until we started to trace the brake lines carefully and found the seepage. We cut out the damage portion and replaced it and no more problems.

My Dad gave me the car with 240K miles on it it. I drove it for another 50 K. Then I sold it to a kid who made a dirt track racer out of it. It completed for two years and won some races and finally met it's end in a demolition derby.

Those old cars are hard to kill.

Wow Dan, that story sounds like a car version of "Black Beauty", dude! 'Cept as I remember, Black Beauty lived out its final years on some bucolic little family estate.

(...kind'a like, I suppose, this Old Dodge o' Dave's here is gonna do)

Here is a really bad cell phone pic of the new and old leaf springs for comparison. Too bad the good camera died after only a couple pics...

Wow! My my, hey hey!!!

Yep Dave..."Rust Never Sleeps"!!!

(...and other Neil Young selections, I suppose)

I'd say those leaf packs were due for replacement...

I resto'd a '49 Dodge panel truck in HS - then right after I redid the rear floor in teak, some ****** stole it. So I'm watching your resto with interest.

I just found a 41 Chevy panel truck with tons of new parts that go with it. It isn't what you normally see, this is a duel wheel truck. I think it may be a 1 ton but not sure.

I have to find out more about it now.

Milk is too heavy for a single axle.

Turns out this was an ambulance that made it back from over seas, he said very few made it back. Too bad that it's out of my price range. Oh and it's a 1.5 ton. Now back to the Dodge, sorry for the side track.

Praise the low'rd!!! Chopped some coils and dropped the front today! Man I am really pleased with how it turned out, it looks so good! Had a good long day of working on the car, started out by changing out all the coolant hoses and flushing the system, then on to the front suspension.

stock height



dropped





looks like I may need to drop the rear 1 more inch to even it out...




I have new front shocks on order, they should be her in another day or two, and some new mounts to relocate them to the frame instead of on the upper control arm. It should really improve the dampening of the suspension and really make it a true independent front. I also ordered my new Flowmaster muffler and it should be here in a couple days and I will be getting the exhaust redone with 2" pipe front to rear. Should have a really nice rumble and eliminate the carbon monoxide issue inside the car. I have a bunch of parts coming from a donor car in Arizona, and I really need to get the electrical stuff fixed up soon. I've been driving around using hand signals out the window instead of turn and brake lights.

Boy Dave, looking at those first two shots really shows how much you dropped it. I think it looks pretty killer. I actually don't mind the rear a little higher on your car. Evened out would be my first choice too but it doesn't look bad at all just like that! Very cool. I need to stop by and see it again in person soon.

Looks great Dave... fantastic! Really enjoy these little updates as you go along. Man, that car looks solid!!

I had to start rewiring today... not by choice but the ignition was not working and I couldn't start the car so it needed to be done. Not much to say except that I hate doing electrical work. Changed out the ignition wires that were rotted and exposed, I'm sure they were shorting out somewhere and that's why I could get it to crank. Took the entire dash out because I don't have any gnomes working for me that can fit up inside there and my hands just don't fit, so take the whole thing out to get back behind there. Ran new and then put it all back together and it works perfectly. In fact, the ammeter is now actually showing charge where before it would just show drain. Bonus! Took it for a drive and everything on the dash works. No big surprise since it's all mechanical and not digital. Forgot to hook the oil pressure gauge back up on one test crank and got oil on my floor. Rust prevention! Some of my parts came in today for the suspension to get it finished, and my new Flowmaster muffler came in so now I need to get to the exhaust shop maybe Friday and get all new pipe run in. She should really sing a song then!

Bummer about the wiring...
But it's all for the best. Better to get the new stuff in.

Looking forward to hearing it with the new throat!!!

Okay, so I got my shock relocation brackets on today. Had a couple issues. The brackets were for a '34 Ford F1 full fender, and they were angled out and away from the frame. I thought I could get them to work that way by mounting them on the inside of the frame and over the top, but they were not long enough. So I was able to use the heat and bend method to get an acceptable angle so the top of the shock is mounted out and away from the frame but with plenty of clearance for the control arm. I drilled the frame and bolted through it. I used all grade 8 hardware to mount it, probably overkill, but I don't mind. You can see the chrome discoloration from the heat on the angle. Believe it or not, I'm not worried about the chrome here, I'm going to paint it black.






My other issue was the shock itself. Nothing wrong with it, just too long. I need to find one that is between this size and the stock length. This length would be perfect for stock ride height, but since I lowered mine 3" I need a shorter one. Hopefully Autozone has something in stock, because this ride is super bouncy right now!

You've shown great strength in character Dave but putting aside any issues with the chrome. You should be very proud of yourself and you serve as an inspiration to the rest of us to learn to be flexible when called for!!

Other than that here's hoping you find shocks that work. Nice going on the retrofit!!!

If anyone is wondering why I did this, you can barely see a bolt hole on the upper A arm right in the middle, kind of right next to where the hard brake line curves. That is where the original shock mount is. The factory shock goes between the upper and lower arms. The thing is, they both pivot up and down with the wheel travel. So basically, the shock is moving up and down on both ends. Can't dampen much by doing that, so this way it gets mounted solid on the top to the frame and the shock can actually do what it was intended to and make the car a true independent front suspension. Pretty good design for the time in theory, but poorly executed.

Here is an example of stock...

I went to get a shorter pair of shocks today.
I was going to use the shock parts book, but AutoZone doesn't have one
I called the tech line and got a number in a couple minutes. Of course the guy was like, "why did you go and do that?" when I told him I lowered it and relocated the upper shock mount. Asshat.

Wait minute here, Birthday Boy!(alright already, that's tomorrow...okay, I GOT that!)

I'm a bit confused here...Who was callin' who(or is supposed to be "whom"???) an "Asshat" there???

(sorry, ya see I'm on my second glass o' Balvenie already, and some o' these threads are starting to become ALL mixed up to me tonight now!!!)

Oh, it was about tech support. You should have heard the tone in his voice when I said it was lowered 3" and the upper shock mount was relocated. Like a total douche. I wanted to tell him to get in his leased Honda Accord and ****** off.

Quote:

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I wanted to tell him to get in his leased Honda Accord and ****** off.

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Yup, 6 asterisks... genuine swear word.