1937 Dodge D-5 4 Door Touring Sedan

Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Amazing day on the hunt. 250 pheasant released and 247 killed and recovered. Fantastic work by the shooters and the dogs.
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
No, skinners worked them in real time. Had em all breasted out as fast as the group was shooting them
 
Last edited:
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Thinking about a longer trip. Take the car up to Dad since he's not been able to get here to see it together and running. Hard to believe its been a year since its first start in over 25 years.

So, washed and vacuum done. Fluids checked.

Got rid of the off idle hesitation by closing the butterflies and returning the idle mix for max vacuum. 18 in steady. Just under 800 rpm hot idle and about 700 in gear. I think it was Ideling off the transition slot so no fuel left for transition.

Found the dizzy loose again. Gotta get a GM clamp, the aftermarket clamps are worthless. Initial advance was down at 8 btdc so put it back at 12 btdc and torqued the clamp till the threads made smoke. Then I had to go back and reset the carb. Went for a ride and all is well.

Gotta finish packing the tool kit and put the dog bed in the back seat for Ruger.

I'll look at the maps. Not sure what roads I want to use but leaning toward I 74 to I 81 and north to Fairfax VA along the spine of the mountains.

Rear end ain't rebuilt yet but I think we will go anyway. Close to 1000 miles round trip.
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Made it to VA. Hand of God. Loosing power and getting hotter all the way.

Test run tomorrow but I think we have it resolved.

Vacuum leak fixed with new carb base gasket.

1 year old plug wires replaced and routed cooler.

Proof that most fuel issues are really ignition faults.

20210411_173832.jpg
 
Last edited:
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
They are even shielded with graphite sox. I'll need to go to a straight boot and come in from the underside. Perhaps add a factory tin heat shield. But for now new accell wires are in place and she seems right. Currently Bessy is outside with 15 minutes of hail falling on her.....I'll go check later. Been a fun 24 hrs.
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
HotSoup said:
Take the rear end to Tony Hancock in Spies, I guarantee that it will be perfect when he is done. Take the whole car so he can check and correct the pinion angle if needed.
Click to expand...


Good idea. Thanks for the referral. I didn't want to tackle it!
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Trip home was great. Hiway speed all the way, great power and performance. Wires and a gasket put her in shape. Stopped in Southern VA for a visit, lunch of Squirrel Stew, a bit of gunsmithing (a personal first, last tombstone and i "fixed" a trigger with masking tape! Permanent fix coming soon!) and some target shooting. Then made the final 3 hr run home. Gas mileage with no vacuum leak and good plug wires is just over 14 on the highway. I'm very pleased. Its good to finally be driving this car again and to be able to share a bit with family and friends.
 
lasttombstone

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
Ol' Bessie was a beauty to behold. Thanks for stopping by and letting me see her in real life. And thanks for the masking tape trick. Would have never known to do that. LOL.
 
bigten

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Sharps40 said:
Good idea. Thanks for the referral. I didn't want to tackle it!
Click to expand...

The same fellow that installed your exhaust can do that also. I don't have the tools needed to set the gears proper...
I'm glad you were able to reconnect your Dad with the car!
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
lasttombstone said:
Ol' Bessie was a beauty to behold. Thanks for stopping by and letting me see her in real life. And thanks for the masking tape trick. Would have never known to do that. LOL.
Click to expand...

I'll come up and get that rifle when you are ready to reblue. If not, we can warm up that screw to break the bond and put thin brass shim under it to get the trigger "Fix" finalized right proper! Might ought to glass bed that stock too so it'll return to zero every time we take it apart!
 
Last edited:
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
bigten said:
The same fellow that installed your exhaust can do that also. I don't have the tools needed to set the gears proper...
I'm glad you were able to reconnect your Dad with the car!
Click to expand...


Yep, I've been leaning toward Tracey for the job. He's close and does great work. After next week I won't be driving for several weeks as I have to get the top of my leg cut off and bionic replacements installed but I think we have the credit card freed up and I'm ready to get the center section totally redone. Sounds like a coffee grinder right now!
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Coming out of the woods. In Ol Bessy, after a long day's work.

I look out over that long hood and see the leaping Ram pointing the way...the engine purring and the heater fan blowing away the cold drafts.

I find I am looking not over the hood but all the way back, 50+ years, to a time when Dad had this view....my view back then was from the right side, that chrome Ram and Dad silhouetted in a soft glow of dash lamps.

I miss those night rides with Dad in Ol Bessy.

20220215_184632.jpg
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
My late Grandpaw ran a bulldog( I think it came off a mack truck) on his wrecker hood for years. Every once in a while he would say I need to take him off so he can go hockey.
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Good work today finishing the little things on cooling for summer touring.

Calibrated the fan for the 180F stat...on at 195 and off at 185, seems very steady now. It was on at 210 and she warmed up a bit much in traffic or sitting still.

Plugged the sides and top around radiator with foam and made up air dams for under the grill. Now it all goes thru the radiator and trans cooler.

Wrapped the head pipes to the muffler since the left bank pipe crosses under the oil pan. The pipe temps dropped 150f to 200f compared to the rams horn.

Installed water wetter now that I have 5k miles leak free.

Last step will be this week. I'm changing water pump drive from 1 to 1 to GM ac car 20% over driven. We rarely see 3100 rpm with the new 3.08 gear out back so should be no worries with cavitation.
 
Sharps40

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
I think I'll minimize further cosmetic restoration and limit the interior to headliner, seats and abs door panels.

With all the money Jim stole from dad another in a long list of crushing sac kicks....

5k miles and 1 year on the road and the car has numerous spider cracks in the paint. Parts not fitted, etc.

Today I installed a nos rear door latch to replace the broken original, it'll be nice to have the suicide door stay shut.....but part of the problem, even with the nos part was a 7/32" overlay of filler that fell out from under the eustecion......so thick the knob shaft couldn't engage the latch.

I've never had to feather over a quarter inch of filler. Lacking skill , Funds and a reputable shop ill focus on a reliable latch and cosmetic will fall where it may.


I suspect overall the car to look like hell in 5 years. Too bad and I will try to keep Dad from finding out.

Dosnt change my love for Ol Bessy but makes me despise life long family friend Jim.....nothing worse than stealing an ol man dream.

Progress so far.....

20220316_103019.jpg

20220316_124524.jpg

20220316_125418.jpg
 

HotSoup

Old Mossy Horns
Rich, you know you have a solid drivetrain even if the body crumbles. Much like us, time wears the outside even if the inside works well.

My suggestion, enjoy it and enjoy it with your father the next few years. If it gets to the point where you can't live with it anymore, put it in body shop jail.....otherwise, enjoy it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top