Projects 1958 Plymouth Belvedere 2dr HT Build Thread

My brother had a '57 Belvedere 4 door HT with a '56 354 Hemi and three speed stick. Gold with a white stripe. Damn, I loved that car!

 

I love 59's, the were really the best of the 57-59 from a technical standpoint. Chrysler moved to a more modern HVAC in 59 too. Bigger blower, vac operation, the body quality was more sorted. 1960 chryslers/desotos/dodges really do it for me too. I want them all! lol My neighbor when i was growing up (in the 90's) had a 1960 desoto 2dr she bought new, it was perfect, white w/ red interior. We tried so hard to buy it but she didn't want to sell it and after she died the family was more concerned with extracting maximum bucks from it. I never saw the car again after 1996.

 

SWEET!!

The 392 swap into '57-59 Dodge/Plymouth cars has been covered a few times over on forwardlook.net. Here is probably one of the best with specifics: http://forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=24979

Looks like a nice solid start you have there. These '50s Mopars are a weird deal. Sometimes you come across a great stash of parts for nearly free because people have no idea what it is or how to sell it. And then sometimes you're looking for that one certain part and you have to give up an arm and a leg to get it.

I suggest hanging onto that Sportone trim... or sell it to finance the rest of the car!

 

Waste of a good Mopar! Those "Rare" 350's are around if you look, got one in the back yard!

 

...not so easy now that he has a shiverlay frame under it.... Just plain sad.

.

 

He I got a 62 chrysler wagon bb factory stick car,and for those in the know a noisy mopar starter will not fit it, has a delco........yes gm from.... mopar lots of weird stuff goin on back then I also heard that there were some gm,s with tf trans as the 400 was later a copy of a tf weird but true ..and I love my forward look cars I even have a 59 drag car , mopar power of course, big boat but a blast to drive from the back seat if I could figure out this pic thing on here I would put some up I,m sure its not too tough i,m just a old guy.......well its a mopar thing....later

 

I have never heard of a Torqueflite in a GM, and I highly doubt it. I have seen the guts of both, and a turbo 400 looks nothing like a torqueflite inside, so I kinda doubt GM "copied" it, probably stole some ideas like everyone does though.

The 66 Street Hemi 4 speeds used a direct drive starter as well - oddball piece it was.

 

Ford bought rights to use the TF design.

 

Made only 1 year, qualifies as rare in my book!

 

Getting down and dirty with the pressure blaster today, medium sand for the win on this step. Yes im avoiding the panels, im doing crevices and lips of panels. I forgot how much "fun" this was

 

True, however the guys car was a 59 so it would have had the 361, or even the 383. Not nearly as rare. Im not really a fan, clipping it is one thing, chevy motor in a mopar is another

 

Here is a 58 i did about 12 years ago, guy has owned it since 1964.

 

Arominus & Rodhotz. Yes car is a 59 but it came with a 350. Father-in-law bought it from original owner in 62. Car was sold from local Dodge dealership. Father-in-law had all documents to back it up. Owners of dealership,one brother ran parts department use to supply needed parts over the years for this car. When water pump went out and car over heated cracking one head (1973) Car was parked. I sold engine and trans to guy from San Francisco who was doing a 58 Dodge. My 39 Dodge was also sold new here from local dealership. I bought it from brother of original owner.

 

So, Riskybiz, there seems to be some confusion here about whether the 350 you used is the rare, one year Mopar engine or a 350 GM product. Which is it?
I personally like and prefer leaf spring cars, and torsion bar suspension.
I wouldn't put a four bar in anything, and yes, I know it is what racers (and bagged trucks, etc)use; I work on modern NHRA pro stock cars, so have been around 4 links for some time. I've never found a GM car I though rode worth a crap, and can't imagine putting any GM part on a Mopar of any vintage, and that includes GM water pumps on early hemi's. Note that I said "rode worth a crap", and that I did not impune the handling characteristics of the Corvette (but it would be hard for any car not to handle well with that low a CG).
I am not criticizing your choice, just throwing my .02 out there. '58 2 door Dodges are pretty dang rare, and from what you have described so far, you have a Dodge paint carrier on a GM platform, or am I missing something?
Please, I'm not being confrontational here, or at least not trying to be, so a simple answer and your perspective of what your decision making process was would be an interesting addition to the discussion. We also don't know what you had to work with to start, your time or budget constraints, etc. Thanks!

 

Storm king. The car came with a 350 mopar. Jr Bishop one of the brothers of Bishop Motors Dodge dealership (like many now closed) As I mentioned before used to supply parts for this car when father-in-law owned it. I forgot to mention that my 38 Plymouth was also sold from Bishop Motors. The guy I bought it from in 84 said he bought it off the used car lot in 64. But back to the 59. The brakes had frozen up from being parked so long. One of the rear leaf springs had three broken leafs and I couldn't find parts. So it was much easier to do a frame graft in front 4 link the rear add air bags frt & rear. Car now has 350/700 Chevy running gear. Yes to any Mopar purist may feel that what I did was wrong, But bottom line it's
my car. It's still on the road and not scraped out to make a bunch of new Toyota's.Oh by the way car now has a 3 inch chop.

 

rare but his. im a mopar or no car guy but hot rodding has its different avenues. everything can be changed and maybe one day it will be

 

I think a chopped 57 or 8 plymouth is a beautiful thing if done right.

 

They were not as popular back in the day. My first car not because I liked it but because my dad said this is what you want if you want to drive. I wanted to drive! I bought it sight unseen.

I came to like it and put a 383 in it with a TF. I later fell in love with a 4spd 63 Catalina. I couldn't find anybody with interest in it so I pulled the engine and trans and sent the rust free body off to the junk yard.

Is this a Savoy? I can't remember. I've been going to shows for 45 years and this picture is the only one that I have ever seen that is the exact car and color combination. I'm thinking it is like a Bel Air 2dr HT...not real popular. Lots of Belvedere's and Fury's but none like this one.

I still think that they have pretty lines but nobody agreed with me back then.

 

That is a savoy. I have almost the exact same car - color and everything, except mine is a 2dr sedan.

 

Yeah I've seen a few of them over the years. So there were 3 2dr HTs in 58...Fury, Belvedere and the Savoy No wonder I haven't seen many.



I never understood why Hotrod used a 2dr sedan when they recreated their 57 2drht.

 

THANK YOU!!!!!! Such an awesome car but people have CHRISTINED them to death.. ugh! This is one of my all-time favorite rides. Have fun with your project..

 

Very Nice! I'll be watching your progress. Here's a shot of my Savoy mordor sedan that I'll be picking up in a few weeks.



Was a VA car, stored in a basement for about twenty years then used for parts for a Christine movie car clone. Luckily most of the missing parts have been found including 2 Cali fenders, 4 bumper wings and a factory dual quad setup.

 

The first remake of the hot rod 57' plymouth was a sedan, because thats all the could find at the time. Apparently they now have a hardtop that has been built into the suddenly plymouth.

 

That's what I figured. They should have done it right the first time. I was fond of the original because it was right around the time that I had my 58. It just seemed such a shame for what I think of as an iconic hotrod. I'm looking forward to a real 2drht recreation.

 

Hmmm those "suddenly" pictures makes me want to run moons

 

Don't forget to put a hotter cam in your motor for the dual quads, if it was a factory 2bbl car it has a milder cam than the v-800 dual fury motor. I'm jealous of your fender find i really could use a drivers side one.

 

looks like a nice project... here's some colorful inspiration... i just like them in red and white, the movie just added the appeal to the public, but any 57/8 looks good in any color combo- a friend had his 57 fury painted brown to maych his new 72 caddy- back in 72... that even looked good, in a errily 70's sort-of way

 

Update: I got started on the hood today and i'm trying out a new (for me) method. Vinegar in a spray bottle and plastic wrap. I'm excited to see the results. Has it been a few days yet? Im going to take a wire brush to it in the morning and respray and keep it wet.

 

Looks good Aro!

 

Heh sooo i got side tracked on the hood and stopped partway, however i did get to move the car into the garage. So now i can do some real work on it.

Tomorrow im going to re-index the passenger side torsion bar as i messed that up when i replaced the lower a-arm that had its ball joint area torched off. Then push it outside the garage to start blasting the firewall! YEAH! Im excited! I also bought a 20x10 canopy to work under outside to keep that evil sun at bay!

(the car next to mine in the garage is my dads 1968 plymouth gtx convertible, another work in progress)