Dick Koch's convertible

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Thanks Dick for the pictures. I do have the brackets for mine. My NOS kit came with 4 of them so I thought that each wheel well gets two...(fore and aft) But yours seems to work fine with just one mounted to the rear wider inner wheel lip area.

Now one more pic that I need, I will send my number wings in to get plated soon, On the inside of the wing, There is a bumper bolt tack welded on mine (one of them is broke and I will need to replace it) Are your inner number wing bolt tacked in or posse for adjustment purposes for fitting to the main bumper? No rush on this one but I know your front bumper is off and thought I can get a picture of that area and some of your wise sage advice...



John Q.

[Dick Koch]

John = Regarding the fender skirts, Place the skirt in position, the top clamp will hold it in position, then placethe mounting bracket on the rear tang and mark the screw holes. That's the way I did it. (Is tang a word).

Regarding the bumper wings, that's bumper John, not number! heh, heh. It's funny you asked, the other day my Plater in Melbourne, Fl. (110 miles) called and said ALL my stuff was ready. I jumped in my Van and drove up to get my stuff to find out they made a Boo Boo and found out all was ready but the bumpers. They gave me twenty buck for lunch and my trouble. How nice. Anyway, I have my bumper wings so here are the pictures. The bolts on mine are crimped in place with very little movement. That bolts fits into the Valance. It looks like the bolt can be replaced because of the slot the head of the bolt can fit into.

It's still raining so I can't do nottin. I found a local company about 3 miles from my house that specializes in rebuilding power steering pumps, steering gear boxes, etc. He does work for people all ofver the country. I'm going over to see him today about a power steering pump. Will keep you posted.
Dick.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Dick, Wow! Nice bumper wings! I will have to get you re-chromer name. My guy went out of business who did my bumpers.. Thanks for showing those bolts on the inside of the wings. Are they slipped in loose or tacked in fixed with a welder? Yours look they just slipped in...

John Q.

[Dick Koch]

John - I'm guessing the bolts were crimped in place before the bracket was welded to the wing. The bolts are not spot welded because they can be wiggled slightly. If your wings have that elongated slot the head of the bolt should slip right in and then be spot welded to hold it in place. If necessary the slot could be opened up slightly without doing any harm. My plater is www.spacecoast-plating.com. He charged me a $140.00 each. They enjoy a reputation as one of the best platers around..
Dick.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Thanks Dick! One of my wings bolt was broken off before I picked them up a year ago, It looks like I could indeed pry a little on the bracket to get the busted bolt out (after grinding down the old tack weld off course) I will do this before I send them to your guy to do.

Thanks for the picture of the location of the skirt bracket, I did not know the orientation of the bracket on the wheel lip, but horizontal install works for you and will work for me too! I have the actual installation diagram but still wondered which way, I will post that original installation document on the Tech spot on the Forum as to not detract from your wonderful build up.


John Q.

[vic barone]

Great work Dick

Love how its all coming together.

Every time I see you guys quote how much it costs to get work done e.g chroming , anodizing etc I get so envious. The cost is usually half of what we have to pay here in my state Adelaide and sometimes the quality of the job leaves you even more annoyed then when you first started. I recently tried having my front grille re-anodized - came out worse then what it started out as and of course the usual quote you get " no guarantee" once they have done it!

The next big job I have is the re-chroming of my front quarter window frames - they are pitted and i would like to have them looking like new given their prominence. Fingers crossed

Keep up the good work as its been great following your progress

Cheers

Vic

[Dick Koch]

Vic - Don't be disheartened, we have those kind of platers here also. You just have to be careful, the best recommendations come from other car guys.
Dick.

[big m]

I have a friend in Cocoa, FL. that has a restoration shop, and he also recommends Space Coast plating. I may decide to go with them also, as the local shop I used has been shuttered.

---John

[Dick Koch]

Hey Guys, check it out, correct year (59), correct State (Florida), correct county (6) Palm Beach, correct weight designation (W). Had it authenticated by the State and it stays with the car. Local car guy had it, I was luckey to find it. My other cars have authenticated plates with correct year but not as correct as this one is. Cool huh?
Dick.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Looks great Dick! Great Score on the plates!

I am running on Year of Manufacturing (YOM) plates here in Colorado too! I am glad most states do this for old car guys!


John Q.

[Dick Koch]

No pictures this time, just an update on progress or maybe not. Long dry spell with alighning the doors, still not good but will have to settle with what I have for now. I can now go ahead with front fenders, grill, hood, bumpers, etc. etc. etc. Engine would barly turn over, only with a slow groan. Everybody said it was the starter but to change it I had to take the exhaust pipe down that mean't the whole drivers side. Good thing I hadn't had it welded in. I installed another starter I had and took the one that was in there to have it checked and rebuilt if necessary but it checked out OK. changed solenoid, no help. not sure about wiring so bypassed all that. A friend came over and got the starter to spin a lot faster, I have no idea what he did and I don't think he does either, then I found out I had not seated the distributer properly, after getting everything lined up again she started right up. albiet with a god awful noise. The alternator fan was hitting the top adjuster bar. Ground it, now better, noticed the carburetor accelerator pump would only work it I pulled up on it so changed to a brand new one I got on ebay, then the fuel filter between the fuel pump leaked so replaced it with a hose for now. The electric fuel pump I installed worked real good, the only plus so far. A squirt of either and whamo she started right up except the front wheels took a hard right. Turned the engine off and found a puddle of red oil on the floor. When I installed the tranny I had another god awful time connecting the tranny cooling lines to the tranny so I installed a short piece of hose in the line. It came off so I put a longer hose and double clamped it. Next to that puddle of oil was a small puddle of engine oil that had leaked out of the K2 spin on filter adapter I had installed. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Tool that off and installed another one I had, started it up and that one dropped about 4 qts. of oil on the floor. DOUBLE GRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Took that sucker off reinstalled the original canister filter and HOORAY, no oil leak, another plus, dry as a bone and the rubber hose held also. then another god awful noise surfaced. Called the engine rebuilder and he sent the guy that rebuilt the engine out to the house, it was the valve tappets, he is coming saturday to reset them. The power steering pump oil disapeared so added some more. Then found out the gas tank had a leak at the supposed drain plug that you can never get to move, tried to epoxy the area but gas came right thru the epoxy. Then I tried the tranny with the wheels off the ground, pushed the drive button and damed it it didn'd break in half. I think I have another one. When my friends came over to help alight the doors, we set the top Mechanism in place and adjusted the header bar. I'm kinda afraid to go out in the garage today so I think I will stay inside, pay some bills, read about auto electrical and power steering systems. Isn't the old car hobby a lot of fun. Oh, by the way I have two K2 spin on adapters for sale if anyone is interested?
Dick.

[big m]

Don't you just hate when you have a day like that, Dick?

Sometimes I just have to walk away when everything starts going south, and come back at it another time.

---John

[Mark Merritt]

Dick; Ya; I'd say it's BREAK TIME.Been away from mine for A little while cause it's too darn cold,looks real good you've come A long way!! Mark M

[Dick Koch]

This is going to be a verbal update (no pitchuhs) my computer is on the fritz, somebody high jacked my email so it's in the shop. I'm using Yvonne's laptop.
DA, DAAAAAAAAAAAA, I have a runner and a stopper. Finally got the throttle linkage and shifter cable adjusted, it runs real good and quiet, LISTEN, Yvonne helped me bleed the brakes but they are still mushey. Took her for a spin around the neighborhood sans fenders, hood, grill and bumper but she's licensed and insured. At first drive wasn't shifting right but after a while that was OK. Still will not start at the ignition switch, I have to run a wire from the neutral starter switch post on the starter solenoid to ground. I have one of the old style solenoids with a starter button on it, works real good. I'm still not happy with the door alignment so am going to do that over, then finish putting her back together. I installed the front seat temperately so Yvonne would have a good perch to pump the brakes, I threw a quilt over the springs just like I did with my first car, never thought I would ever do that again albeit 61 years later. Won't be long now.
Dick.

[RICKYMOPAR]

Dick, My old Plymouth started key on and push the neutral button in, my 58 Dodge also. Just checking I still have the push button control box.