The new Dodge Sedanca is really starting to take shape now. We were fortunate in being given a set and a half of 1929 Dodge guards which will now match the sedanca very nicely with our original 1929 Dodge Limousine.

The front guards had to be extended to accommodate the longer bonnet of the sedanca and the rear guards had to be widened slightly to fit the sedanca style body but Bill in his usual fashion had it done in a trice.

The rear cabin section took the most planning but was made a little easier when we decided to use the roof section from a wrecked Holden “Jackaroo”. Having made all sorts of measurements, it was off to the wreckers yard to find a suitable turret section. The Jackaroo fitted the bill almost perfectly. I learnt a valuable lesson that day, in fact two valuable lessons. The first is that you should always buy the best equipment you can afford. I had purchased a “6 pack” of hack saw blades from a well known hardware chain and thought that they would do the job but half an hour later and 6 blunted and broken blades later it was off the engineering supplies for some replacements. Armed with 6 new good quality German blades, it was back to the wreckers. Fifteen minutes later and with the first of the new blades still as straight and sharp as when we had begun, the roof section was free.

Now to the second lesson. This year I will be sixty-three years of age and last week Bill turned seventy. It is amazing that as we grow a little older, we still think we are as fit and flexible as we were in our younger days. So, as we lifted the roof section into the air to remove it from the vehicle, Bill’s shoulder locked into place and my  right elbow suddenly decided that discretion was the better part of valor. At this point we both began to laugh which is not the recommended thing to do in such a situation. Fortunately there was another vehicle along side the Jackaroo so with great hilarity and much pain we were able to ‘flip’ the roof section onto the turret of the neighbouring car.

Back at the workshop we began the frame the rear cabin using 50 x 25mm rectangular section tube. We chose to use the tube as we needed strong anchor points for the door hinges and locks.

Little by little the doors were ‘skinned’ and fitted and the rear quarter panels manufactured. This of course included making up the inner guards. Having the original 1929 Dodge as a guide has been a great help but the New Sedanca will still have a character all of its own.