Vote for The Forward Look Network on the Mopar Top 100 Sites |
From: Wes
Email: [email protected]
Remote Name: 24.93.126.66
Date: July 15, 2003
Hi everyone. My 57 Belvedere has been sitting in storage now for almost five years and I need to get motivated and get it finished and on the road. The last show it was at was Carlisle in 1998. It is a Fury colored 4 door hardtop with carnival red roof and sweep spear. It was a nice looking car with decent paint and original interior and original drive train. The 700 mile round trip to Carlisle really got some of the old gaskets leaking, especially the torqueflites front seal. Also there was some bondo repair on the lower 1/4s that was starting to fall apart. That fall, I decided to have this bondo tore out and I had it repaired with patch panels and NORS rockers. I also had the floors and trunk rust fixed. So that stuff is done. But I got sidetracked with work around the house and other regular life things so shes just been on the backburner. If I don't get back on it, I may never do it so I figure some encouragement from a few of you may help. Now I need to pull the tranny and get that fixed along with the hand brake, it most likely needs new brake shoes. I have a tranny shop that knows mopars and said they would rebuild it. My question is, finally, should I pull it myself or let them do it? The shop manual says to pull the tranny separate from the converter housing and use "guide studs" to prevent damage to the front pump. Does anyone have any experience with this? These cast irons weigh a ton, I am inclined to let them do it. What do you guys think? What about the E brake drum. What do you use to pull it? Are pads for that availible or do I need to have mine relined. I am also considering painting just the repaired areas on the body since they are separated by the sweepspear trim from the rest of the body. Carlisle was awesome this year, its the best for Forward look cars! Any advice is appreciated, shes too pretty to stay in storage any longer! Thanks, Wes