1956 Dodge Royal

My goal when I bought this wagon was to transform it into a solid and reliable long haul cruiser with a modern computer controlled engine and transmission, disc brakes, power steering, air conditioning etc etc . In short I wanted to build a 1956 Dodge Hemi Magnum.

The good news was that the wagon was mostly complete, a few pieces of stainless had gone missing over the years but luckily all the really rare pieces were still there.

The bad news was that the wagon had been stored since 1969 when it became stuck in the sand on a California beach with the tide coming in. The ocean flooded the car up to the top of the dash board. The engine was blown and filled with sea water as was the PowerFlite transmission.

I have a build blog set up at www.cmonroe.net if you want to review the work that has been done so far. After two years of work, I can say that I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have some rust damage to repair on the body and then it's down to getting the body panels straight and then paint, reassembly, glass and a new interior.