I have a 57 dodge coronet v8 that I been kicking ideas around what to do with it. I thought about making a custom or a gasser out it. Does anybody have any pics of a 57 dodge or plymouth gasser? Sounds oddball to me be could be cool. I have a 331 hemi in a Desoto in Illinois sitting on my uncles farm since 1974. The body to the Desoto is unusable but I believe the engine is salvagable. I cant find shit to build up the 325 poly besides intakes, headers and regrind stock cams. My poly has a cracked timing gear. I`m really leaning on making it a gasser. I have cut a few 99-02 camaros in half and spliced them together, And a turd chevy colorado frame. I`m ditching the 325 for a 331 unless I can find some big cams and heads setups. It`s not as heavy of a car as I thought it was, Like 3500-3800 pounds. I also know of a 440 sitting in an old late 60`s RV. I`d rather stick with hemi since it`s my dream engine.
'58 Plymouth has been done, as has a '58 DeSoto. One was called Christine like the movie car, the other was called Claudia or something. They raced those when they were new, you might look through some of the old magazines for pictures of what that looked like.
I love those old Dodges. I have a picture of one from several years ago that my dad was trying to buy locally. White 2dr hdtp, had a McCulloch supercharger on it.
331 into a up-to-'57 V8 car will actually be easier than a 440, since the B/RB stuff mounts differently. RVs have some oddball stuff anyway, and make sure it's not a 413. None of these is a '57 Dodge, but maybe they will give you some ideas.
That custom is awsome. Are there any old larger cams out there for the early hemis? All I see is stock regrinds. Like Sig Ersons? I was told 331 cams will fit the 325 poly. If there is they must rare as hell. Either way custom or gasser I gotta pull this sleeping motor out since it`s been sitting for 27 years. I wanna stick a cam and intake and headers on it to start with. other than that it needs a steering and brakes rebuild. And probably a dual master cyl. This is kinda a side project from my pos 88 tbird, My tbird eats up all my money.
I friggen LOVE this one. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=442167&d=1210000906 P.S. Nutwagon, Go gasser with the Hemi.
Well if you're considering a custom instead of a drag car, take a look at these. http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/f...7195&start=1&highlight=cusrom&highlightmode=1 King Dick - that car is on the HAMB, owned by Animal. Here's a thread. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=205813&showall=1
There used to be a jade green one that ran around east of Cleveland, sat real high. I haven't seen it in a while, but with that mean looking front clip, it looks great as a gasser. I almost bought a 57 Plymouth that was a street/strip car a few years back. It ran a heavilly warmed up 392, hemi 4 speed, and was street legal with a full interior. The car ran in the 11's, the owner had raced it quite a bit. I wish i'd gotten it, you just don't see the big 50's Mopars too often. But , it shows that done right, your Dodge could run pretty respectable with an early mill. Good luck with it.
I like race cars, but I think these mid to late 50's Mopars look best as mild customs. Heres some pic's of my old 59 Plymouth mild custom. " 64 Dodge " now theres a good lookin race car. Gary
Your initial intro says that you have a 331 in a DeSoto....If it is a Chrysler then you need to determine which 331 as this will affect the parts availability...If it is a 330 DeSoto engine, then the parts supply is another story.....and the only cam that fits in a 315-325 is from a 315-325...All of the rebuild parts are available for the Early Hemi engines, but if you are on a budget, then get serious about a 413-440. The early Hemi engines will eat your lunch money for a long time to come.
another vote for kustom...i ve always thought of the mid to late sixty dogde as visually heavy....like they should be low i dont think it would look right up in the air
I think I may go with a custom. It is a 4 door. I had an idea to hard top it and suicide the rear doors and put 59 plymouth buckets. The car cam from huntington beach california originally. All the oil change stickers say hunting beach. Kinda cool to look for stuff like that. I believe it will fire up if I give it a tune up.
build a custom...............i dig the gassers and all but that car would not look right as a gasser plus it weighs way too much for all of that.
I agree. It`s not too heavy but big to the eye. Plus the wheel base is a little long for a gasser but would make a cool and much different gasser. I did see a 57 plymouth in OSR a while back that stuck in my head. It was white with a gold metal flaked top with an entirely chromed dash. I already have the small dress up stuff picked out like tri bar headlights and a moon eyes half sweep tach. and cool fiesta hub caps picked out, for once it fires up and gets road worthy. I might build a 55 Chevy panel wagon gasser later down the road instead of a dodge gasser. Thing about a custom is it`s hard on the wallet with 2 grand interiors and so on. Thanks for all the pics guys!
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