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White 1958 Coronet Lancer
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LD3 Greg
Posted 2019-07-13 11:22 AM (#584765 - in reply to #584762)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer


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Powerflite - 2019-07-13 11:10 AM

I hear you. I sometimes wonder how much longer I am going to last. But working on cars does give me exercise, so for the time being, it's good for me, healthwise.... except last week when a blob of welding spatter landed on my wedding ring and stuck there. Burned my finger pretty good. Gold transfers heat quite well and I can prove it. :laugh:


Yes. A very sore,circular blister all around the finger!! Then, can you get the ring off?!

Greg
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-08-12 2:02 AM (#585890 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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I wasn't able to get my ring off until it healed But it's better now, so no biggie.

I took the family camping at lake Tahoe in the Coronet this week. We over-loaded the car quite a bit with all the gear for 6 people on a 5 day trip, but it did OK once I got the carb working well - 1 day before we left. Time to upgrade the rear springs before we do this again.... Six people on an 8 hour drive is a little tight, but not bad, and our new air conditioner made the trip through the Mohave desert quite bearable. On the way, we traveled on the Eastern side of the Sierra mountains and stopped in Bishop. I wish Neil was still alive....I would have liked to pay him a visit and see Horrie. But I like to think of him smiling as another Coronet rumbled through his hometown. Then we stopped at Mono lake an met a nice family from the Netherlands on vacation. The father couldn't help himself and sat in my car and honked the horn a couple times. I think he liked it. Overall, people seemed to be more fascinated with the air conditioner than with the car.

Edited by Powerflite 2019-08-12 4:29 PM




(Coronet Bishop CA.jpg)



(MonoLake.jpg)



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Attachments Coronet Bishop CA.jpg (179KB - 354 downloads)
Attachments MonoLake.jpg (217KB - 325 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-08-12 2:27 AM (#585893 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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After that, we stopped into the Bodie ghost town. But on the way, I accidentally hit the neutral button while going 40mph in 2nd gear instead of going to drive, and the trans started making a loud clanging sound that was synchronized with the engine speed. It wouldn't go away until I shut the motor off and restarted the car. Then it was quiet again. Any idea what that was?? Scared the crap out of me doing stuff like that in the middle of nowhere, but it seemed to work fine once it restarted. I'm just glad I didn't accidentally hit reverse instead!

Bodie was REALLY cool. My kids loved it. It was an old mining town that was abandoned in the 30's and everyone just left everything there; so all the houses, church, morgue, factory, schoolhouse, store etc still have a lot of the stuff still in them as they were many years ago. It's like stepping back in time. Really cool. It also had a gradual decline before it was abandoned, so many of the things are from an even earlier time. My kids wanted to see what it would be like to be Hansel and Gretel in the steam engine.



(Bodie Steam Engine Boiler.jpg)



(Bodie Steam Engine.jpg)



(Bodie Mechanic.jpg)



(Bodie School.jpg)



(Bodie Heavy Wagon.jpg)



(Bodie Chitty Car.jpg)



(Bodie Marble Gravestone.jpg)



(Bodie Truck and Cart.jpg)



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Attachments Bodie Steam Engine Boiler.jpg (260KB - 328 downloads)
Attachments Bodie Steam Engine.jpg (148KB - 308 downloads)
Attachments Bodie Mechanic.jpg (150KB - 316 downloads)
Attachments Bodie School.jpg (135KB - 314 downloads)
Attachments Bodie Heavy Wagon.jpg (171KB - 294 downloads)
Attachments Bodie Chitty Car.jpg (239KB - 313 downloads)
Attachments Bodie Marble Gravestone.jpg (214KB - 321 downloads)
Attachments Bodie Truck and Cart.jpg (180KB - 304 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-08-12 2:42 AM (#585894 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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Had a lot of fun in Tahoe, camping with extended family, went hiking a lot, swam in the lakes of course, and attended the Gatsby festival held there, which is centered on all things from the 20's. That was a really fun festival with a jazz band, costumes, old clothing for sale, games, cars, a blacksmith, and a bunch of 20's related activities. Really neat event. We got a demo of an old pump engine that ran with about 10 cycles before it blew the exhaust and intake valve (powered by vacuum) to turn another 10 cycles. Really fun to watch it run. We will probably go back to attend this event again in the future, but maybe even dress up for it next time. The A/C didn't seem to be as cool on the way back as it was on the way up, but it did keep us from melting and there was a noticeably uncomfortable rise in temperature as you came to a stop.



(Coronet Tahoe Climb.jpg)



(Coronet Tahoe Drive.jpg)



(Coronet Tahoe.jpg)



(Gatsby Festival Attendees.jpg)



(Gatsby Festival Pump Engine.jpg)



(Gatsby Festival Hoops.jpg)



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Attachments Coronet Tahoe Climb.jpg (72KB - 305 downloads)
Attachments Coronet Tahoe Drive.jpg (85KB - 313 downloads)
Attachments Coronet Tahoe.jpg (253KB - 312 downloads)
Attachments Gatsby Festival Attendees.jpg (267KB - 297 downloads)
Attachments Gatsby Festival Pump Engine.jpg (264KB - 323 downloads)
Attachments Gatsby Festival Hoops.jpg (225KB - 300 downloads)
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uncltank
Posted 2019-08-12 3:07 PM (#585913 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer


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Looks like a great time was had by all... As for the sound you heard after hitting neutral button, check the vacuum safety switch for the starter. I had this happen on my first '57 Dodge. Hope that helps...
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-08-12 5:26 PM (#585919 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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I know my vacuum switch works very well, but your suggestion makes a lot of sense. Thanks. During the time that I accidentally hit the neutral button, I was pushing the car pretty hard up a long, steep hill so I suspect that there was little vacuum available and that's likely why the starter might have engaged at that time. It's odd though because it didn't make any kind of grinding noise, just a strange clanking sound. But that's gotta be what happened. I'm glad the starter still worked well afterward.
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2019-08-12 11:16 PM (#585940 - in reply to #585919)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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Fantastic, Nathan!  I have heard that the TorqueFlite and PowerFlite were designed so that if the driver accidentally depressed the R button over 15 or 20 mph, it just goes into neutral.  Who wants to test that out though!  The trip looks like oodles of fun.  I am amazed that someone hasn't hauled all of easy-to-pick-up stuff out of the ghost town!  The picture of the steam engine reminds me of the Robert W. Service poem: the Creamation of Sam McGee!   "And there sat Sam looking cool and calm in the heart of the furnace roar..."  The kids look like they had a great time.  1958 Dodges rule!  Family vacations rule!



Edited by Lancer Mike 2019-08-12 11:17 PM
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-08-13 1:05 AM (#585944 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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Yeah, I remember that now. A good safety feature that I don't want to try out either. A bunch of rangers live in the ghost town to keep an eye on everything and a lot of the stuff is locked up so you have to look at it through glass windows. They didn't used to do that until stuff started going missing.... The ghost town and Gatsby festival were definitely highlights of the trip. I recommend them to anyone interested in going.
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-09-27 8:31 AM (#588027 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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This car has been really useful to me. I took the Coronet to camping at the beach and the Buelton vintage trailer show, and have been using it as a daily commuter as well because my dedicated commute car died. Wednesday, on the way home, it started to run really rough with an obvious misfire. I found that the spark plug wires had fallen down onto the exhaust manifold, melted and caused them to short out. While I was there, I pulled all the wires and checked for how each cylinder was running. To my surprise, I found that one spark plug was moving around while the motor was running. Turns out nearly all the spark plugs were loose. How did that happen? They all have the little washer on them that should seat them well. I don't know if I didn't tighten them enough or what the cause was. Tying up the wires and tightening the plugs made it run much better again.
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Powerflite
Posted 2020-02-16 2:09 AM (#594356 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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I wanted to remove the heat riser and convert the car to dual exhaust to allow my Coronet to breath better. The original pipes are 1 7/8" OD. That's the same as what is used on each port of the 392 hemi header. Add to that the crappy single exhaust junction and a stuck heat riser, and I have a very poorly breathing motor. I purchased a set of stainless 2.5" tailpipes for a '57 Chevy to use on the car because they are super cheap compared to buying this stuff for anything else. To use them on the Dodge, I had to lengthen them as expected, and add a small section of pipe in at the center of the bend over the axle. I'm not sure if this modification is necessary because of the differences between Dodge and Chevy, or if it is just due to my own expectations of how it should fit. I had to make it a shallow "S" bend, because I didn't cut it at the very center. You should be able to just add a straight pipe if you cut it right at the center of the bend to make it easier.

I also flattened the ends of the pipes to allow them to sit further into the exhaust deflectors mounted on the bumper. This gets the exhaust flowing more evenly out the deflector, helps the flow through it by not being blocked by the deflector, and keeps the exhaust from coming back through the trunk and up onto the bumper because you can extend it further out toward the exit. I am thinking of adding a small section of silicone hose over the end of it to sit up against the deflector so it doesn't rattle on it. Next, I'll start to modify the head pipes to use a 2" OD pipe (what I have available that is close to the original) as soon as possible after exiting the manifolds, before transitioning to 2.25", and then to the 2.5" size in the rest of the system.

Edited by Powerflite 2020-02-16 11:38 AM




(58Coronet Tailpipe.jpg)



(58Coronet Flattened Exit Pipe.jpg)



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Attachments 58Coronet Tailpipe.jpg (100KB - 273 downloads)
Attachments 58Coronet Flattened Exit Pipe.jpg (91KB - 287 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2020-02-17 4:58 PM (#594424 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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I measured the exhaust manifold outlet and found it was 1.75", which is about 0.1" bigger than the inside of the original pipe. So I decided to cut & grind it out of the original flange and butt weld the larger 2" pipe to the flange. Now the pipe is about 0.1" larger than the manifold outlet, and the flange is slightly larger still. That should provide a good improvement to the flow.



(58Coronet Head Pipe.jpg)



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Attachments 58Coronet Head Pipe.jpg (182KB - 254 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2020-02-19 6:56 PM (#594532 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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I finished the headpipes and connectors to the mufflers today. The picture is of the left side only. I am using stainless mufflers from a 2008-2009 Chevy Equinox because they happen to be the same size and configuration that I needed. They weren't much cheaper than aftermarket muffers, but they supposedly came with quite a bit of nice mandrel-bent stainless pipe attached to it. I don't have a lot of pre-bent stainless pipe, and it is expensive to purchase so I thought it was a good deal. Wrong. On the actual muffler you get, the pipes aren't stainless as advertised, and they aren't mandrel bent. They are some cheap aluminized steel pipes with those horrible crunched ribs in them, despite what the picture shows. I won't buy them again, but they should work well, nevertheless, with those things cut off.

I welded some ball & socket connectors on the back ends of the mufflers to make them easy to install and remove. The section from the mufflers forward will likely be replaced at some point if I ever get around to installing a 354 hemi into this car, as I have planned. But that won't happen as long as this motor continues to work so these will be put into use for quite a while. So I didn't bother to make this section with nice 2.5" stainless. I just used the decent sections from the left over steel pipes from what I had removed from my '56 Savoy exhaust. On the small headpipe, you can see the 2 sections that transition from 2" to 2.25" and finally to 2.5" pipe. Also, I found that I was mistaken previously. I stated that the original pipe was 1 7/8" OD, but actually they look to be 1.75" OD instead. The 2" OD pipe still seems small, but they are significantly bigger than the originals.

Edited by Powerflite 2020-02-19 11:19 PM




(58Coronet Left Muffler Forward.jpg)



(2008 Chevy Equinox Muffler.jpg)



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Attachments 58Coronet Left Muffler Forward.jpg (246KB - 292 downloads)
Attachments 2008 Chevy Equinox Muffler.jpg (39KB - 271 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2020-02-21 7:41 PM (#594644 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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I finished the exhaust on the Coronet, and after I started the motor to check it out, I noticed the radiator starting to leak. I must have put more stress on the trans lines to cause one line connection to sprout a leak. So I pulled the radiator and was able to solder it up myself. I first cleaned it really well, wrapped some standard lead-tin solder with rosen flux core around the joint and applied heat from an oxy-acetylene torch at very low heat. Despite this, it didn't completely seal or wet on the joint. So I applied some solder with acid flux built inside it. That did the trick nicely. Everywhere I applied the solder with the acid flux core, it bubbled and wetted very well. I put the radiator back in only to find that now the lower hose mount was leaking! So I took it back out and soldered that one up too. The original joints weren't soldered, but appear to have just been pressed together. I would have soldered the other trans line as well at this point, but it had already been repaired before I got the car, and looked good. So now it works great again without leaks and the car runs quite a bit better with the more free flowing exhaust.

The rear exhaust goes to the deflectors on the rear bumper, but they are positioned right on top of the frame. That makes it tough to use a standard exhaust hanger to hold it in place. I guess the originals were to the side of the frame and angled back in to the deflector with an "S" bend. I didn't want to go to that trouble so I just made them straight. I put a rubber strap between the frame and exhaust pipe and used a hose clamp to snug it all together. We'll see how well that works over time, but I think it'll be OK as long as the hose clamp doesn't break. I'm going to put a 2.5" ID silicone hose for a turbo inlet on the end of the pipe to prevent the pipe from bouncing on the deflector, but I haven't received them yet. I'll try them out when they get here.

Edited by Powerflite 2020-02-21 7:44 PM




(58Coronet Rear Exhaust.jpg)



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Attachments 58Coronet Rear Exhaust.jpg (169KB - 283 downloads)
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22mafeja
Posted 2020-02-22 2:45 AM (#594659 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: RE: White 1958 Coronet Lancer


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Well the radiator wandering leak story have I also experienced. It is hard to get a 60+ years old radiator to keep the fluids where they belong (can also be the case for a 60+ restorer...)
It was a big step for me to put an aluminium radiator on my 58 firedome and at first it hurt some but it feels ok now.
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Powerflite
Posted 2020-02-22 1:42 PM (#594684 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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At least you put the aluminum radiator with the rounded top & painted it black so it doesn't look out of place. If I were to replace my radiator with an aluminum one, I would do it exactly the same way you did. But I can deal with leaking tank connections. It's just when the core starts to self destruct that I have to give up.
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Powerflite
Posted 2023-01-04 2:37 PM (#626734 - in reply to #520945)
Subject: Re: White 1958 Coronet Lancer



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I love the cartoons in the car manuals. Enjoy your new '58 Dodge! I had to add the lancer emblem in the back because it was missing from the picture.



(58 Coronet Purchase.jpg)



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Attachments 58 Coronet Purchase.jpg (185KB - 61 downloads)
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