41 Plymouth SB Mopar Engine Swap

No worries man, I just used the same tool to take the rest of the "floor" and bottom 1 foot of the car off the frame I have. It was more rust than steel. Get your stuff done and let me know, I am not rushing you. It looks like it is going to be really heavy, but then again it doesn't look like you cut a lot off the frame either.

Oh and post more progress on this thing, this I am rushing you on

 

rock,

Great work on the fatman stub...I've been debating this for several years and have watched the price on the frame piece go up in the meantime. Maybe I need to stop debating.

If you don't mind i'm gonna take you back several dozen posts to the pics of your dash. I can't help but notice how pristine your floor pans are in those pics. Did you fab them yourself or were you fortunate to get a car with great pans from the get go. I'm looking to do my floors now and would love them to have the pull out function that the original car had but I'm struggling to find a supplier. Any help is appreciated.

 

I had decent floor pans. I had to refabricate the entire area where the seats mount and patch a couple of places. I fabbed all that myself. The removable portion only had to have one corner replaced. Also, I used a wooden mallet with round nose to reshape the transmission area. Hope that helps.

 

Rock nice work.
You won't regret the front end swap.
41plym

 

Thanks. I'm sure I won't. I just wish I had done it from the start. It is so much neater looking and more room to work, too.

I'm going to get the steering doped out today and then get the exhaust worked out next weekend. I had already made some really nice exhausts. Fortunately I only have to fab up the sections from the headers to the muffler.

 

Remade my steering column for the 3rd time. Don't ask. Anyway, here is the final iteration. 1 1/2" exhaust tubing from NAPA, spliced old shaft/new shaft, Limeworks horn adapter, custom made bronze bushing support for the steering wheel end and ball bearing from Tractor Supply for the other end.

Insert custom bushing support and plug weld it from underneath. The rest is self explanatory or you can look back in the thread and see more details on the bearing end.

Everything is tacked in place and I've ordered the shafts, etc. from Borgeson to finish it up next weekend. I'm planning to use a flexible grommet around the shaft through the firewall. I still have to enlarge that hole.

 

Finished up the steering linkage. Is it just me or does this take an inordinate amount of time to get right? Anyway, it's right. No binding and smooth as can be.

 

Looks good rock! Those angles can be a mess for the steering linkage. It looks like you got it figured out.

 

Thanks, Scott. This weekend will be the exhaust pipes from the new headers to the muffler. All else remains the same. Have to practice my TIG Skills a little before zipping them up.

 

looking forward to the progress. I need to figure out how you are going to run your exhaust so I can steal your ideas

 

Somewhere around page 16 is the start of the fabrication of the exhaust system. I'm just reconnecting to all of that. I ran the pipes through the frame, moved the gas tank, and made the system symmetrical.

 

Refabricated the exhaust today. This is not for the impatient person. It really takes time and patience to get it conceptualized, measured, tacked, welded, etc., especially when you are routing it through the frame.

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. It damn sure won't be dragging the ground.

 

Once again, great work Rock! You make it look so easy.

 

comming along nicely,,,,QUESTION, looking at when you did the stub install,,when you did the re cut, was that close to or not close to the fat man deminsions? ? thanks

 

I cut the frame one inch shorter than the Fatman dimensions. I think you should observe your front wheel position and decide if you like it or not before you cut the frame. If you like it, the suggested dimension will be about right. (Make sure to check it with the wheels pointed straight forward.). If not, you may need to make some adjustments.

Regardless, I think I would cut it as prescribed, tack it in place and check it first. You know all these cars weren't built to exacting tolerances.

 

thanks,,,

 

Wow...Rock! How have I missed this? I didn't even know you were doing this swap! Looks great. I'm gonna go back and do some reading now.

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Got the emergency brake cables installed and got the entire body re assembled, only to learn that I'm over my head trying to straighten the fenders to the standard I want them. I will finish my punch list of things I can do, disassemble the front end again, remove the engine/tranny, paint the front suspension frame and re assemble. Then, I will give it to a pro to complete the body work and paint.

Hope I will get that done by end of the year. December is a really busy time for me at work, so it might not happen that quickly. Also, have to find a paint and body man worthy of the job.

 

I had some issues with the height of the engine and I need to lower it 1/2". I really didn't want to cut the mounts that I had welded to the frame, so I figured out how to lower the engine mounts to get that 1/2". I'm going to also have to take a 1/2" out of the crossmember when I get the engine out again. No big deal but a pain in the ass.

Here is a before and after picture of the mounts.

 

This weekend, I worked on the front bumper. You wouldn't think it would take most of two days to get it all right but it did. The bumper is the one that was on it when I got it but I think it's from a Dodge or maybe Desoto. I like the way it looks with the pointy front end.

The original mounts had it sticking about 7" out from the point. Now its about 3". I also welded all the bolts into the bumper to smooth it out.

 

Looking good Rock! Time wise, nothing surprises me anymore. The hours just seem to vanish somehow.

 

Yes they do. What do you think of the bumper?

 

I have the same front bumper,but not nearly as goood of condition as yours,,and plan to do the same thing, its a 1940 chrysler/desoto bumper looks good

 

Bumper looks great

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I finished welding the studs into the rear bumper this morning and installed the mounting points for my 3 point seat belts. Plus I made a spare tire tie down. I am tired.

 

Rock the bumper looks great. Nice work and keep it up..Lookin gr8..Nice work on the steering and frame stub

 

Spent most of the Holiday shop time smoothing dents, lumps, etc. Not too exciting and damned hard to photograph.

Mover my rear axle back to center the rear wheels up better. Wouldn't you know it, now I have to modify the exhaust.

 

thats why hot rods are never done,,,,move this ,,bump that,, now this,, ,,,

 

That sucks. Maybe a torch and hammer could get the extra clearance you need.

Sounds like you're getting closer to getting it over to a paint shop. Think you'll be driving this car in 2014?

 

Dan, you know damn well I'm not going to "torch and hammer" that. I'll cut it apart and weld it back up right.

Hopefully 2014, but I'm in no hurry.