All Body Patches Installed!

The last of the body patch panels have been installed, welds ground, and bare metal prepped for priming. Still lots of small repairs and welds to finish, but with the larger panels in place it feels like major progress has been made. The fenders and doors need patches, but for now I’m anxious to get enough parts together to roll around and to use as a base to build on.

 

I received the body mount pads yesterday, and the mount hardware has been soaking in a mixture of lemon juice and white vinegar for several days, so the rust is about gone. In theory I could install the body at any time, but I’d prefer to accomplish a few things while everything is easily accessible. I have all the parts needed to replace the suspension and steering, and the disc brake conversion can be done at any time, so that would be the logical next step.  Decisions, decisions!

I would also like to install a cross member for the transmission mount before the body goes on, but I haven’t decided what to use. I have one from an old ½ ton Dodge that could be adapted without too much work, but it’s awfully heavy. I suppose I could build one from scratch, but by the time I figure out the dimensions and the stock is procured and cut to size, the truck part could be long installed. However, I think the cleanest option would be to find one of the removable center sections from a unibody Mopar and just install stubs on each side of the frame to bolt it to.

Before anything can be done, I need to find the dimensions between engine and transmission mounts so the cross member can be properly located. That task will be complicated by the fact that I also need to install brackets to accept spool type motor mounts. Sure wish I had pulled them off my old Aspen parts car before I junked it!

I’m not having much luck locating a Poly engine. The only responses to an online ad were from New England and Pennsylvania, so the shipping costs would equal the price of the engine core! It’s hard to believe there isn’t something available in North Texas. I thought I had found one just six miles away, as a guy posted a Craig’s List ad for a 318 removed from a ’66 Dodge Coronet. Since so many “A” engines have been replaced by “LA”s over the decades, I asked the seller to check the valve covers before I went to see it, and naturally it turned out to be an “LA”.

I did find a complete ’66 Plymouth B-body in East Texas, and it also has the 727 transmission I want, but I don’t need the rest of the car and the seller won’t pull the parts I need, even when told he could keep the rest of the car.  By the time I had the car hauled 150 miles the price would be steep for a couple of cores, and I certainly don’t relish pulling an engine behind the garage while the temps are in triple digits.