hey guys, i could use some help. im a young pup (22) and have a dodge meadowbrook available to me. im looking for roughly what year it is, im thinking its either a '53 or a '54, but if anybody can tell thatd be greatly appreciated as well as any advice, warnings, precautions, or just over all info. i wont be working on it just yet as i need a place to do the work as well as the funds but im making plans for it. i already work in a body shop and believe that i could do majority of the work myself

if you posted a pic of it it doesnt show on my end,,

got a red x no pic

Since you are a body guy, I assume nice sheetmetal is in store, along with nice paint.
What are your plans from there?

Good score!

These are a good entry-level old car; you get the old car charm, but they're reliable enough (if in good condition) to use as a daily driver. I ran a '49 Plymouth for several years in the late '90's thru mid-2001.

Brakes: you will have a fairly expensive (~$200) master cylinder, and six wheel cylinders (IIRC it's the front that uses double-leading shoes w/ 'half' cylinders... get 'em apart and you'll see what I mean). The brakes require careful adjustment, but work pretty well.

If you feel you need to have disk brakes, I think scarebird has a kit which will bolt on to your spindles. Once Matt gets a certain Alfa Romeo out of his bay, I'm going to take my pickup ('54 1/2T) over there for him to look at.

Also, the rear hubs use a key and fit on a tapered end on the axle. It requires a fairly deep puller to get it apart (the end of the tapered axle is pretty long).

Your car should probably have a flathead six. These engines are pretty durable, and TONS of 'em were put in boats, forklifts, airport tugs, etc. NAPA will have service parts for tune ups, water pumps, etc.

Robert's, Andy Bernbaum, and rockauto.com will probably have some parts to help keep 'er on the road.

If the suspension is in decent shape, a set of gas shocks and radial tires will make it handle pretty darn well. Good enough I wouldn't bother thinking about a frame clip swap. These used a similar "SLA" geometry to a 4th gen Camaro - tall spindle, short upper arm and long lower control arm.

There's a corner coming off of a freeway off-ramp I used to blast around every morning in my old Plymouth... lots of body roll, but nobody ever hung with me thru that corner.

Don't put big, fat tires up front, as it wears out the kingpin bushings prematurely.

Your car probably has a very short front shock absorber; there's a kit which welds a new bracket on the frame to take a longer shock, but I wouldn't bother with it. There are a million part numbers for shocks and you should be able to find something that just bolts in (I used ones taken off the front of my buddy's '66 Chev 98" wheelbase van on my '49 Plymouth - probably same as for your car). Somebody who's in a parts store or suspension shop should be able to advise you further.

Feel free to PM me or ping the email in my sig if you have any ???'s.

-Bill

I agree, except the shock part. The OE setup has the shock connected to the upper arm and the lower arm. almost everyone has said that moving the upper connection to the frame results in better damping.
I haven't driven one in back-to-back tests, but my 47 doesn't inspire sporty driving (nor was it built to!)

hey thanks for all the input guys. right now my plans for it are to fix up all the sheet metal, theres a few minor dents and dings here and there that will be easy to fix and then there is rust on both lower quarters that will need to be addressed. i intend to use the same paint they used back then and am thinking of keeping the two tone look with the ivory paint top and a dominion blue for the rest. as this car will be one that i would like to hang on to rather than just build it and sell it like some do i will build it my way so am planning on an engine/trans swap. possibly a 383/turbo 727 combo. the rest of the car will be stock. i will probably leave the interior stock except for possibly the front seats and also add a stereo and some speakers but nothing crazy, i want it to rumble and bumble or atleast have a nice even deep tone, not a loud bump and thud of speakers. im uploading another pic of it and hopefully this time it works

still no pic this way....Anyway you may run into issues throwing a BB in there. Im stuffing a 318 in a 42 and all that i have researched says that SB's drop in with minor fitment. If the Flat 6 is in running condition I would stay that route till you get all the peices together...IE motor, Trans, rear end, and all the associated updates those will need. Dont forget that you need to be able to stop if you are trying to get there faster.....Heres a site, not mine
web page

thanks for the web site and the heads up. i dont have any plans set in stone on the car right now. im waiting till i get a place to work on it and the money as well. im guessing that my photos are too big of a file size but i do have some pics up on jalopyjournal if anybody wants to check them out

I would help if you put your user name, or a link to see them. I tried to search, gave up and just happened to stumble on the post.

Is this it?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=403174

you hit the nail on the head there. thats me and my thread. and thanks for any help you can offer