1937 Dodge D-5 4 Door Touring Sedan

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Dad


Took most of the day but was able to trim the break pedal 5/8" lower. I think an oval Dodge or Harley break pedal set vertically will compete the spacing with out having to heat and bend the break arm. Should give me another 1/4" lower too.


Lots of bend and try found a more comfortable place for the gas pedal closer to the floor. I was able to move the seat up and the pedals still fit. Now for test rides.

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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Dad. Ranging farther afield. Over an hour today about 115 miles added to the odometer. Just under 600 now so about time to change the oil and filter for the 1500 mile cycle. Once that's done I'll change engine oil/filter and trans oil/filter and consider the power pack broken in. No serious issues today. A slight fan belt squeak to check on and the idle is a touch low but otherwise all is well. It was nice to tool around the big loop on the country roads at 50 mph and listen to Post Punk Radio. Doing well enough its likely time to take Ruger on a ride in his car. Every chance he gets, up and in on the front seat waiting to get moving.

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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Dad,

Hundred mile ride confirmed an issue for me today. Jump on it and she accelerates, but slowly. So, been two days futzing the accelerator pedal for a comfortable position and still not hit the floor before wide open throttle. I checked......back to Linkage Set Up 101 classes.

I was only getting about 50% open on the primary carburetor and nothing on the secondary. So....ripped out the cable, removed all the failure prone plastic parts and replaced them with steel, took out the S turn in the cable and routed a straight shot on the cable from the top of the pedal arm to the throttle. I had to drill and move the throttle link upward at the carb to get the straightest shot on the cable.

Before today's effort, the last 1/8 turn of the carburetor throttle arm to wide open position was actually a downward pull......cables don't pull down well. But now I have her pulling up and then straight back. I think we are about 90% here in the video. Primary carb (the back one) is probably opening 80% and the secondary carb (the forward one) about half way. So, as it sits now, the pedal still hits the floor before both are open full but we should have some real power now.

A side effect of all this was no kick down for passing gear when I goosed Ol Bessy. She just powered up slowly staying in third gear.

Off to the garage again in the morning and I'll dismount the gas pedal, hopefully for the last time. I think just a little more bend at the bottom will lift the pedal off the floor at wide open throttle, fully open both carbs, drop her into second, get the tires really spinning cause all 220 horse will come on line ..... and still be in a pretty comfortable foot position for driving.

Harley Davidson Brake and Clutch pedal pads are inbound. Should free up some space between brake and gas. Not sure if I'll use the oval pedal up and down or the 2/3 pedal mounted horizontally for the brake. But, both will free up some space and look lots better than the big round bullseye pedal that's on there now.

Wish me luck.

 
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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Dad,

Good test ride. Had to stop short on the first pull, secondary carb was coming in too soon and she went flat before picking up speed. Tweaked it and went out for a number of pulls starting variously from 20 mph to 40 mph.

Officially, the motor came to life! Lots of power in there and much of the vibration is gone now that the throttles are opening more fully.

Transmission kicks down properly for passing gear and later firmly shifts back to hi range.

Video below is the first pull from 20 mph. No where near as hard as the pulls that followed but you get the idea.

I made several other pulls, final one ended at 90 mph. She was still pulling hard at that speed and we were below 4000 rpm but I was running out of straight road!

Smile dad, Ol Bessy is now in the daily driving rotation. That Chevy Motor you always wanted for her is a great choice. It'll run rings around the flathead we had in her.

 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Rich, don't forget that any adjustment of the throttle linkage will also require detent cable adjustment. Too quick on the upshifts will not do any favors to your clutch packs..
 

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Played around with brake pedal pads yesterday. I think I'm going with the 2/3 pad for clearance. Messing with a heel pad for under the gas pedal now to get it more comfortable, the trans tunnel and recessed firewall take up all the room that was there for my feet.

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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Dad,

Good vibrations, or lack of. Looks like all the drive shaft vibration is gone. Pinion is now 1 degree nose down with the new shims. Run her up past 60 mph/3000 rpm and smooth as silk.

Now to aim headlights and do a final drop of the fuel tank to calibrate the sender.
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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
First bath since 1991. Lots of grit in the paint from all the work that had to be done post paint, and should have been accomplished while in primer. But, she's clean, has a quick coat of spit shine and a good winters project will be a complete polish by hand followed by a sealant. Gave her the gentle bath using the best home car wash concentrate I've always used. (1/3 to 1/2 cup baby shampoo, 2 heaping tablespoons of borax and a gallon of water. Mix the concentrate 1 to 2 cups per bucket of water for a gentle and thorough clean.)

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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Not bad as dirty as it got. Paint is about a year old now, has about 5 years wear on it. Lots of places its cracked since parts were not fitted prior to assembly. A few more years she'll be a 40 footer, but for now, pretty hot.
 

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Glad I found this before the tire did....an escaped Fleshette.....a career left over. Guess I should sweep the floor.
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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Ol Bessy has accurate fuel reading now. 16 gallon tank and photos show empty and 4 gallons accurately. Plus, with the float centered no more crazy bouncing readings. Success.

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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Dad,

Raining so a good day to work on your car. Productive day. Finished up all the brake adjustments. I think after yesterdays test rides and several "emergency" stops, that should be good to go. No leaks this morning so I count myself lucky.

Spent some time with the carburetors. I removed the secondary Rochester 2g. Throttle blades were sticking open. Once it was on the bench I could see that there is no light passing around the blades when fully closed, so, no vacuum leaks. After removing the accelerator pump push rod I could see there was no problem with the throttles, the sticking was internal and associated with a binding of the accelerator pump. So off came the top and I found the problem, seal had gotten cocked and was half on and half off the pump shaft. Got it all back together, after cleaning and blowing out the carbs, lots of fines in there even with dual filters. Gotta change oil this month so will probably do both fuel filters at the same time. Tank should be pretty clean by now, especially with having drained it last week to finish up tuning the fuel sending unit.

Spent the next 40 minutes at idle adjusting linkage, (finally got the primary throttle fully closed too) and fine tuning the idle mixture, set it for maximum vacuum/smoothest idle. She pulls 19.5 inches of mercury at idle. So, that part is perfect.

Rain should move out tonight so I guess tomorrow I'll load up a bag or two of corn, take her for a ride to check deer stands.

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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Just finished about an hour and a half ride with GoodWife. Ol Bessy seems to be happy with the new larger brake master cylinder and brake adjustments. Starts easy and runs pretty smooth. I'll check plugs again later, think she's still a bit rich but that can be solved later. Tuning seems pretty good and the pinion angle is much happier. Lots of squeaks and stuff so still listening closely to the motor but over all, we are happy. GoodWife so relaxed on the ride that she took a nap!
 

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Might have 7 days just in gas and brake pedal adjustment but I think I found the right spots for both and big tranny hump be damned.

First move was the brake arm left....still clears steering column

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Next move was gas pedal left and down....clears trans hump and floor. I think I'm done.

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Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Dad,

Good progress tuning Ol Bessy. Still rich but not as bad. Motor is still in the break in stage so, not expecting miricaluous changes in mileage but at the 650 mile mark I recorded 7.5 miles per gallon. With more driving and some judicious tuning, this tank turned in 10.6 miles per gallon.

Its about time to change her oil as she has nearly 1000 miles on the new V8 and time to think about jetting the carbs smaller for crisper performance and better economy. (I suspect those big deuces on top are set up for a 300+ horse engine. With us pulling a mild 200 to 250 horses, we can make use of much less fuel flow.)

For now, looking good and its 2 days and a wake up to the commencement of deer hunting season. I'll be in the woods Oh Dark Thirty Saturday. Come on down soon, we'll have Ol Bessy take us to the woods to hunt.
 

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
Dayum Chinese brake light switches!!!! Is nothing American anymore?
yessir!, ya BLEW THEM UP just before we got there!
what a sweet ride Rich, Ms Joy is really jealous...and wants to hear it run....lol. Thanks for showing ole Bessy to us.
 

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
I got a new chinese brake light switch. We'll see, still looking for American. Prolly gonna have to get one at the dump.
 

Sharps40

Old Mossy Horns
Cleaning up. Double date night. Ol Bessy is taking us to the open air concert at the Berry Patch, known world wide (well, in Montgomery County, NC anyway) as the home of the largest strawberry shaped building in the Universe. (It would seem for all the neglect and all the waiting to get back on the road, Ol Bessy hasn't lost the Old Dick Cunningham touch. Namely, get on the road, find the wierdest and oddest stuff, stop, watch, listen, eat, repeat......she and Dad were made for each other.)

Damn.....thats a big roof.

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