Ironmightys Americana 1952, 58,59, 73 & 85

[glenanderson]

Having worked through the same quandary with my P4 Rover many years ago, and eventually ended up with a completely re-trimmed and re-painted car in a colour that wouldn’t have been my first choice if I’d known a full repaint would be the end result, I can only suggest that you decide on colours right from the start. It’s a slippery slope when you start replacing stuff, and new trim and paint anywhere makes the old stuff look much worse.

If you want to preserve the wear, then you’ll be in for a lot of work to protect it. If, ultimately, you want a repaint in a different colour, then you’ll kick yourself if you spend out on trim that’ll need replacing again.

[forkliftfred]

Cool wagon. I'm along for the ride too. Keep the patina, even down to the oddly coloured wheels.

[pedalcarjoe]

Oct 23, 2021 17:20:03 GMT ironmighty07 said:

So, I normally would never commit to buy a car without even seeing it in the flesh..so quite how come I threw caution to the wind and not only committed to buy but sent the money is something I can't explain...

I know exactly what you mean, I did it a couple of years ago, sadly my choice did not work out as well as yours.
Most of it down to the sellers and my idea of "been done correctly" being vastly different but enough of that rubbish.

You look to have a very solid base to start with, I bet quite a few people would run it as it is.
I guess the dilemma is which direction to go in against cost and we've all got that one wrong and spent way too much.

for what it is worth I think the blue and white would work well.


I'll be following your progress and good luck with it all

[ironmighty07]

Plan had been to crack on with making the Apache more civilised to use, but I've been putting off doing a task on one of the "moderns".....exhaust manifold gasket on the P3 V70 2.5T....knew it would be a pig of a job but....

3 studs broken in service, gasket fell out in 5 pieces...but no big deal remove manifold and turbo change studs bolt it all back together....err no😳.
1st broken stud snapped flush so its full engine pull to drill it out properly, and I loathe pulling modern FWD engines...

[homersimpson]

Can you get to the broken stud with a welding torch? I usually weld a nugget onto them then weld a nut onto that, sometimes you have to have a lot of goes but eventually they always come out.

The worst one i've had so far was a calliper bleed screen on a jaguar 420, it took 5 goes but it came out clean in the end.

[ironmighty07]

Nov 11, 2021 18:02:38 GMT homersimpson said:

Can you get to the broken stud with a welding torch? I usually weld a nugget onto them then weld a nut onto that, sometimes you have to have a lot of goes but eventually they always come out.

The worst one i've had so far was a calliper bleed screen on a jaguar 420, it took 5 goes but it came out clean in the end.

Sadly not,not enough room between bulkhead and cylinder head combined with no clear line of sight annoyingly. Gives me something to do while waiting for some parts from the USA

[blackpopracing]

If you bought from Jimmy in Falkirk, he's a good guy to buy from.
Blue/cream Lose the silver inside.

[ironmighty07]

Nov 11, 2021 19:47:50 GMT blackpopracing said:

If you bought from Jimmy in Falkirk, he's a good guy to buy from.
Blue/cream Lose the silver inside.

That's the fella!
Had pretty much decided to keep the original Dawn Blue but contrast with ivory/cream/vanilla shade, final choice yet to be made but will be a variant on that theme.

[skodacious]

That is a lovely looking thing. For what it's worth I quite like the space age silver on the dash. But you are the lucky chap driving it so make it the place you want it to be 👍

[ironmighty07]

With various other distractions in life, including a massive back to brick renovation and back ordered parts for the Chevrolet it's not really received the love it needed but have been doing little bits as and when...
First, coolant temp sender, ordered the 'correct' one for the V8 that would work with gauges... fail, wrong size for my vehicle😟... plan b called for a new thermostat housing with a suitable port.. which subsequently revealed no thermostat🤔. Thankfully these were available in the UK, fitted this and sender, all good holding the right temp now. Happy days

Eventually the some of the back order parts arrive, including a OE repro steering wheel to replace the small 80s spongy orange hideous entity,

Next up, replacement locks to, firstly enable me to lock the doors(drivers door only has a push button and no lock) and then standardise the keys. No clutch bits stopped me dismantling the doors, so started with the simple ignition and glove box locks... err no, another fail, shoddy pattern lock was not working correctly and turning in the barrel.. spot the failure in the picture...

A little work with the file soon sorted the issue, but a reminder that the quality of some parts is a little variable at best.

Another little fail, using it for a short run the gear selector jammed, it's an SM465 manual trans and there's a roll pin and o-rings joining 2 parts of the shifter, both wear and it tried to select 2nd and 4th at the same time and the lever wedged, cue a tow of shame back through the village. Thankfully the rudimentary mechanics involved meant a relatively quick fix, involved new o rings, although I might invoke the seemingly recognised corrective procedure to weld it solid.

Wasn't happy with the fuel piping, there isn't a fuel filter and the pipework could best be described as sketchy awash with kinks

Currently going with a combined filter regulator and upgrading to braided lines and proper unions throughout(pics will follow once completed). Probably a little OTT but equally keeping fuel in the pipes is never a bad idea.

Finally using it a, little more highlighted a slight challenge, the SM465 is a L-1-2-3 box and not a true 4spd...its a great crawler gear, ideal for a loaded commercial, not especially great for a touring hot rod as it soon runs out of revs by the time its at 55/60mph. So in time a decision is necessary whether to change to a more practical g/box.

But next up, is a brake upgrade to include adding a servo and going discs upfront. Hopefully arriving in July, but with global shipping who knows

[grizz]

Do you have a horn push for the new wheel?

[ironmighty07]

May 15, 2022 7:21:22 GMT grizz said:

Do you have a horn push for the new wheel?

Yes, sourced the wheel centre at the same🙂

[grizz]

May 15, 2022 7:46:46 GMT ironmighty07 said:

May 15, 2022 7:21:22 GMT grizz said:

Do you have a horn push for the new wheel?

Yes, sourced the wheel centre at the same🙂

Cool,

I was going to offer you one I brought home from my road trip in 2019 forum.retro-rides.org/thread/210620/deja-2019-grizz-craig-dennis

Was actually looking for a container to use as a coolant tank in the Rezin Rockit yesterday and rediscovered it.

Amazing what people throw away in the USA 😢

[ironmighty07]

May 15, 2022 7:55:41 GMT grizz said:

May 15, 2022 7:46:46 GMT ironmighty07 said:

Yes, sourced the wheel centre at the same🙂

Cool,

I was going to offer you one I brought home from my road trip in 2019 forum.retro-rides.org/thread/210620/deja-2019-grizz-craig-dennis

Was actually looking for a container to use as a coolant tank in the Rezin Rockit yesterday and rediscovered it.

Amazing what people throw away in the USA 😢

Yep, it's plentiful, and to many its just junk, hence why you still see what we think of as quality metal just laid up in yards.

As for the road trips I've been fortunate to spend time in upstate NYS and off the beaten track in NC....Great food and lenty of brewery tap rooms, although drew the line at the gumbo here😳

[ironmighty07]

After using the Apache on/off a little in the summer I reached a decision that...
1. It looks and is as cool as a penguins dangly bits
2. It's really not geared for modern use.
Thus it requires replace g/box and/or rear axle plus sound proofing and all the heater recomissioning to make it a tad more suitable for regular use...

So with that decision made, plus a few delays with needed parts on back order I made the decision to add to the fleet with another suitable/usable toy with potential...

Enter a 1959 Plymouth Custom Suburban, 318ci, push button auto, scruffy but drives ok. Would benefit from a brake booster/Servo and pas(it's actually heavier than the Apache), and needs little bits of general tidying(front Valance Straightening and trunk lid replacing which is supplied). It's got huge, unnecessary fins, that are awash with dents(but that does mean it's not filler)
Plan is to use/enjoy whilst working on the Apache then perhaps then decide what to do with it... Hopefully first outing is the Friday/Saturday at Goodwood Revival and then drop into The Gathering as I head home on the Sunday🤞🙂












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[Alpina99]

That looks like a nice old motor, you certainly shouldn't be strapped for space in it anyway,
Little "late to the party" but, with regards to the van colour, that claret / cream combination looks stunning in my opinion,
Looking forward to seeing future updates on this thread,
Nigel

[crockpot]

The Plymouth is lovely!

[PhilA]

Huh. Don't ask me how I missed this one because I've no idea.

Re the van keys, they're fairly easy to recode, you might have enough matching tumblers in the back door set to match them to the fronts.
They're coded in 0.025" steps, at that year in 4 steps.
The blanks with the octagon head on are available on the key rack here for $0.80 each so if you have trouble finding them let me know.

I say baby blue and cream. But then again, I'm biased.

Phil

[grizz]

Loving that.

Simple really.

Long roof love.

[ironmighty07]

Aug 7, 2022 13:41:38 GMT grizz said:

Loving that.

Simple really.

Long roof love.

Not really sure the pictures represent quite how long the beast is! Was a close call, was nearly seduced by a 67 Monaco wagon but the fins lured me in😁