1937 Dodge D-5 4 Door Touring Sedan

HotSoup said:
What I like the best about this car is it just doesn't sit around and look pretty, it's used for what it was used for many years ago. Good job Rich!
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I love the history of this car. Post 23 in this thread is awesome. For a young man to drive a car from 16 to 30 years old and lose it to a drunk driver for 20 plus years. Then find out he really never did lose it. Now to enjoy it with his father again. Thats pretty darn cool in my book!
 
Yeah. Kinda the coolest thing to happen to me. I'm really glad it's on the road daily again. Dad doesn't know why this car is so important to keep all these years , says it just is.
 
Leftover exterior trim, damaged sections cut out. Polished and added GM panel rivets. End caps for the cut ends robbed from my tool box.

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I run a GM HEI (Chinesium copy cause at the time I was assembling, A Genuine Item wasnt in the budget.) Since then I located in the junk spares at Dads house a fine condition GM HEI Distributor. I won't keep the entire dizzy in the trunk when traveling but the genuine gm module can be stowed against a road side breakdown.

Comparing the two, I noted my Chinesium module is a 4 pin and the GM Module is a 5 pin. Did a bit of quick research and it seems pin count really dosn't matter. Running a 4 pin dizzy I can swap in any 4, 5 or 7 pin module to mine and it'll work fine. Even the Buick 3 pin module can be wired to replace my Chinesium unit or used to control points dizzy should I ever go back to that. (I did further research and found even the common 4 pin can be wired to any points dizzy for nearly infinite points life and full 12 v power {ballast resister eliminate} to the coil at all times. Neat stuff.)

Essentially, the common 5 pin uses one pin for spark knock....not needed on mine. A rarer, 2 year 5 pin, uses one pin to retard timing 5 degrees, not needed on mine. Same with the seven pin, just swap it in and ignore the additional pins. The odd 3 pin can be used but requires rewiring.

So, nice to know I've got a spare in the trunk and if i ever needed a parts store on the road, there are many choices against their inevitable "shows in stock but ain't actually on hand" scenarios.

Heres 2 links.


 
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Tops in. Got some steaming to do and snugging up areas around the doors and windows where the saw tooth retention strips are plumb worn out and loosing tension, but Ol Bessy has her 3rd set of upholstery in 86 years.

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Sharps40 said:
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So. Not the end of the story, butt....a momentous day.

Just shy of 4 years working and driving Ol Bessy.

She is officially done!

Time for a bath, fresh wax and her first car show in about 40 years.

Just gotta convert those screws I had to add to the saw tooth strips into buttons, maybe disc rear brakes, ac, amplifier, tow hitch.....it'll never end.

But...."We shall ride eternal, shiny and chrome".

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Spent a good 4 hours finalizing the fit of the doors. Got the hinges and dovetails adjusted now to lightly compress the seals. Doors sound solid when shutting them now. Fit is as good as can be at 86 and no attempt by the shop to fit the replacement doors before spraying paint. No more light showing at the corners and the rattles and noise are much reduced.

Shortened the tail pipe so I don't bark my shin anymore. Converted all the exposed screw heads on the headliner to buttons.

Started shopping for an underseat gun vault.

No car show tomorrow, just too hot to be sitting out on the street downtown. Maby Sept.
 
Got both new fire extinguishers installed in the front seat foot rest....still tons of room for feet and fixed the windshield opening mechanism. Making pizza now....a good day.

Last of the door and windshield seals should arrive tomorrow.

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Get an idea how strong screws are. All that holds that windshield in for 86 years is 6 each .375" long number 10x32 screws. I put new hi tinsel screws in cause she goes markedly faster now with 225 horses instead of 77.
 
Bessy, WHAT? Yer 86 and never had reverse lamps?

How's a nice pair of early 40s marking lamps wired to your shifter? (Guide B-31 models)

Welcome to the 21st Century My Girl!

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Front end is back up to 1 inch below ride height. Last month, I swapped out the too soft springs for a higher rate set of Moog coils. Gained 1.5 inches height up front, combined with the 1.5 inch raised Mustang II spindles, Ive recouped 3 of the 4 inches of drop that is inherent in Mustang II suspension installations. Tie rod angle is good, bumpsteer gone, and firmer/more precise road feel. (We grossly underestimated the weight and weight split on this vehicle. The 2800 lbs listed for the car and on the hot rod spring rate sheets is probably for a....who knows, but it didn't work. I selected the new spring rates based on 3700 lbs with driver/passenger/gear, 55/45 front-rear split, 100 lbs unsprung front suspension and 2.5 inches front coil compression. Seems to be perfect now.)

As for the rear, got them done yesterday. Waiting for the rain to stop to give it a test ride, but jouncing it is fun! Cant hit the bump stops now when jumping on the rear bumper.)
 
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1937 Dodge D5 4 door sedan. old on top. New on bottom. Old is 7 leaf. New is 8 leaf (850 lb rate). The new made springs are for the 40s/50s Chrysler (heavier car) and others. All the measurements are the same. Sole difference is the rear spring eye is not threaded for the old steel Cee Shackles rather using the more modern Rubber bushings and shackles. The Cee Shackles were used on the 37 and many models before 1942ish due to a cross member just aft of the fuel tank.

A leaf spring rides best flat or with 1 to 2 inches of arch. Passenger side was flat, drivers side inverted. Time to replace. 86 years is a good run.

This particular spring length/rate was used Mid 30s clear up to late 60s on Mopars, and clear up to date on other items like trucks, trailers, other make cars, etc.

(Freshly installed, the new springs are giving me about 2+ a little inches of arch, so, even with normal settling, should be perfect for a long time.)

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Better view. 86 road years is a lot of flexing and the old springs have quite a set. Remember, spring rate does not change with age but Arch will. You might have them rearched (Factory arch should be 8.5 inches) but finding a shop that can and given the low price of brand new springs, plus the upgrade to one additional leaf and the ability to convert from those hard to service threaded bushings.....

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The new part number. Available from lots of places, shop around for the best price. These were under $400 the pair shipped. NOS springs are still available with the threaded eye but its getting darn near impossible to find a matched pair.

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The old shackles. These were righty tighty on both sides, others may or may not be so I try the socket in both directions and don't round off the head, they can be in the frame sleeve pretty darn tight.

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The new shackles and bushings, Boomerang style/heavy duty courtesy of the OffRoad types.

The old Cee Shackles measure 4 inches CTC. The new Boomerang Shackles (allow clearance of the aft cross member) are sold at 4 inches CTC but actually measure 4.5 inches CTC. Not a problem, thats only 1/4 inch lift out back. New grade 8 hardware, including grade 8 locking nuts were acquired. Some triming and reshaping of the inner shackle arm was required to ensure cross member clearance through out full stroke. Finally, a few washers are acquired to ensure the spring is aligned to prevent bind and breakage. (I used 3/8 thick shackles for strength since I knew I'd be trimming a bit. Not shown, a 2.25 in steel sleeve was used on the center bolt establishing a 2.9 in width across the shackles arms with the bushings compressed)

The bushings shown are rubber, 7/8" outer, 1/2" inner and of a length needed for 1 3/4" wide springs. (EG just a bit longer so they smush up and lock tight in the eye/sleeve and around the bolts.) I did not smooth out the old threads in the frame sleeve as rubber bushing do NOT rotate in the hole....they twist a bit with the shackles turning on the bolt. And those threads are really more round bottom and shallow, shouldn't be any problem at all.

Short leg goes up (Frame bushing) to maximize clearance and stroke.

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New and old ride height. (Factory ride height restored!) Remember to leave all the bolts (including the axle u-bolts) slightly loose until you have weight on wheels. Jounce the rear end several times then torque the front eye bolts, snug up the rear shackle bolts to compress the bushings. Finally, tighten down the axle U-bolts.....then go ride.

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Just finished the entertainment upgrades for the spring driving season.

Took out all four of the Pioneer speakers and upgraded significantly. In the rear are Harmon Infinity Kappa 463XF Plate speakers. Up front are the Harman Infinity Reference REF-6432cfx. Wow! What a difference in musical quality on just the Pioneer head unit providing only 14w.

Sounded fine but couldn't be pushed much past 20 on a dial that goes to 50 without clipping, so.....

Constrained for space, hard to figure such a large interior has so little spare space but, rounded up a pioneer mini amp. It was $180 us but ordering from the UK got the same unit for $99 and 72 hour free delivery. Its a small amp but matches the RMS for the speakers pretty well pushing 100wx4.

WoW again! Cleaned up the sound even more and the volume is uncomfortably loud about 25 or so on the dial. Seems to clip about 35 and up but I also have no idea how to set the crossovers and equalizer functions. A better ear is needed for that.

Gotta go cruising tomorrow and see how it rocks on the road and I should be able to hear the phone calls now too!

I suppose next on the list is to swap the dinky 7" Dual brake booster for a 9" dual cause that small booster was "over sold" and really dosn't inspire confidence for emergency stops in this heavy car.
 
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