Technical New to the custom world, need help making car safe and cool

@young_gun2000, how is the Plymouth coming along?

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80 miles a day commute is too much to ask of a car that old. Buy a used Honda or Toyota and keep the Plymouth for a fun car, or if you don't have time and money to put into it, sell it.

You say you put oil down the cylinders and tried to turn it over and it is stuck. In that case you will need to take the head off. Be careful and don't damage the gasket, you may want to reuse it. See if the cylinders are rusty and the valves stuck. If you see rust all is not lost, it may still be possible to hone the cylinders, put in new rings and drive it. Was the car left sitting with the air cleaner off or spark plugs out? Those will cause the motor to rust up.

Brakes were state of the art for the day and will skid the tires if in good shape and set up right. But, they were precision built unlike the loose leaf brakes used on other cars. For them to work right the shoes must be arced to the drums if you put on new shoes, and the major adjustment must be done according to the book. Once they are set up they are powerful and controllable. After that you may need to do a minor adjustment once a year to take up wear.

Best suggestion is to get it running, go over it, change all lubricants and fluids, make sure brakes, steering, suspension, tires etc are in top shape. Only then start thinking of modifying.

And, don't kid yourself that it will stand up to an 80 mile a day commute. It would have done so in 1950 but that was a long time ago. You wouldn't expect Cher to jump up and do the boogaloo the way she did 50 years ago.

 

Cars, girls, school - pick 2.

 

I have forced stuck motors to turn over in the past. But don't even bother anymore. I would pull the head and determine are the pistons indeed stuck in their bores,if so pour in transmission fluid marvel mystery oil whatever loosing you choose. I would then put oily grease rags as far down in the bores as I could and remove as much rust corrosion etc. As I could from the bores as I could with wet dry paper and trans fluid. I would put in a dual circuit master cylinder andd 3 point harnesses if there anything to mount a shoulder harness too. I've made tons of disc brake kits for my junk over the years it's really not hard. But just using the best shoes you can find and doing a good brake job would probably be acceptable. If you want to go disc I can tell you how. Just P. M. Me.

 

Best advise has already been given..buy cheap late model commuter car.
Keep your old family heirloom of a car, and work on it at your leisure when time and money allows, and respect it for what it is..a second/hobby car.

 

If you are really into it, go for it. I have a '66 Mercury that is going to be my daily starting this spring, but I will admit to having some backup junk also.

 

We all love old cars but this is likely true. We forget that "back in the day" you could buy 5 year old cars for a couple hundred dollars. Many do not mind the upkeep but it would require a good bit of upkeep.

I'm sure there are kids on here that enjoyed helping but it always made me mad having to stop what I was doing as a kid and pump the brakes for my dad as he adjusted them.

Luckily there were fewer cars on the road when we learned as stupid teens what happens when drum brakes fade.

 

It's going good. I got the motor freed up and purring. I'm in the process of converting the car to 12 volt and putting on disc brakes and seat belts. I have a Hemi and push-button automatic out of a Desoto that I'm considering putting into it

 

Save the Hemi for another day. You put that thing in and you just opened a whole new big can of worms. KISS for a daily driver. You'll have enough fun just keeping that on the road.

 

1950 Plymouth was made to fit a six cylinder only. When they went to V8s a few years later they made major changes to the chassis, moved the steering over about 6 inches to get it to fit. That makes your car a tough one to put a V8 in of any kind, especially the very wide hemi. You would be better off to use that engine in a slightly later car or even better a roadster or coupe with open engine compartment to show it off.

 

They won’t give you the money unless you show up for work, so, that is the first problem you have to solve. I do suggest you purchase another beater. Once the Plymouth is road worthy and reliable then switch to driving it every day. That is what I did with the 53 ford Victoria I bought when I first became an engineer making decent money. After two months of reliable daily driving I had to take a trip to Chicago with another engineer. His daily driver, though newer was on its last legs so we took the ford. Six hours up, no problem. Next day going to the meeting, the water pump went out on the flathead V8. We were expected to be back in Cincinnati the next day for work. My boss, a great car guy himself, tried to locate parts and a shop to repair the ford in Chicago with no luck. So we went to the grocery store and bought 6 gallons of water, removed both thermostats and left the radiator cap loose so it wouldn’t hold pressure. The other engineer was mad at me for jeopardizing his job but we made it back the 300 miles back stopping every 50 miles to top up the radiator.

Needless to say, I was happy to still have the other beater to drive the next day. It took a few weeks to order parts, replace both water pumps and bring the ford back into daily service. It did require I drive in the slow lane every day on the highway, never exceeding 60 miles per hour or so. Eventually I did get rid of the daily backup but it broke my heart to drive the ford in the snow,salt and rain we get here in Ohio.

If I had not gone down the vintage path, I would not have this story and many others. Nowadays though, both my vintage convertibles stay indoors in bad weather and my son will not give permission for the grandsons to go for a ride as he is concerned for their safety without shoulder belts, airbags and modern safety features, now ages three and six. So, granny and me enjoy them ourselves.

Good luck and loads of fun and memories to you and the future bride.

 

If you have an old car for a DD, you have to think on your feet when something breaks while on the road. Carry a little this and that and bank on you will not have what you need when something goes blooey. Carry points and a condenser, ballast resistor, a coil is not a bad idea, gas filter, belts & hoses, a good spare, possibly an air tank and plug kit. I carry a full size 75 pound floor jack and old Sears lug wrench. A light is always good, so is something to lay down on. I like to have a piece of 3/4" plywood in case you have to jack the car up and the ground is muddy. Get to know where auto parts stores are, the local towing companies and as a last resort a taxi service.