1952 Plymouth suburban wagon - what mopar drivetrain could we swap in?

- we just got hold of a nice rolling body and frame plymouth wagon - looks like this bodyshape:
http://www.carnut.com/cgi-bin/03/mopar.pl?/show/03/okc/nat0443.jpg
but ours is a 60's custom we think, been shaved.

Question: anyone know of a mopar wagon/full size that we could buy to swap the engine and drivetrain from for this? Would like to keep it all mopar if poss but if anyone has any good ideas on an engine and drivetrain combo that works well in these that would be excellent.

Also looking for a non rusty front bumper - is there an interchange from another model that would work?

Cheers.

ps also looking for '50 studebaker starlite coupe front wings, just thought I'd slip that in...

 

Dodge Red Ram hemi....plus a 833OD 4 speed.

 

my nephew dropped a 318 Mopar in with no sweat in his 49 Dodge, 50 Ply wagon and 52 Ply. he had to notch the steering coulmn (not the shaft) to fit the exhaust manifolds. went right in. i think they sell brakets for them. not sure what tranny he used though.

 

- that might get a bit spendy, plus we were thinking more along the lines of a cruising motor from the 70's - you got me intrigued tho, are Dodge Red Ram hemi's hard to find and $$$ish?
http://www.webrodder.com/index.php?search=hemi&page=showStories&CID=15
makes a strong case for them...plus it looks awesome...

 

What Ever You Do ....don't Put A S10 Clip And A Big Block Mopar In It.....unless Ya Set The Motor Back A Bunch .....haha A Buddy Has A 53 Sub With This Setup......obviously The Guy That Did The Swap Didn't Believe In Thinking Things Out Ahead Of Time......way Butched Up....brandon

 

I got a nice 360 (E58 Cop) motor and trans for sale, if you're around the Detroit area...

Otherwise I agree, go early Hemi. The wow factor is reason enough.

Jay

 

Early Hemi...Late Hemi...Little Hemi...Big Hemi...273/318/360/400/413/426/440.....that'll give ya somethin' to think on...

 

I don't see why with a little inner fender work, ANY Mopar motor wouldn't fit.

Got a tourch and a welder, and I know how to use both. I can put anything anywhere in that car. Gene

 

You can put anything from a slant 6 to a 440 in the 51-52 frame. Planning will keep the BFH in the tool box but a firewall mod may be necessary. If I remember right, my 51 axle width to mounting surfaces is 59-3/4". Find a 69-74 Mopar B or C body parts car.(easier said than done where I live.) They have the 8-3/4" 489 axles with 1-7/8" tapered stem pinion(stronger). Lots of gear ratios from 2.76 thru 5.57 and limited slips from factory. These have removable carriers like Ford 9".

Your Burb has limited rear fender clearance so you have to look for a rear with mounting surfaces very close to stock. The B body cars from 62-70 have track of 59.2" and perch cl of 44.0". But you can reweld to match the 52 if necessary. The wider you go the more limited you are on tire/wheel choices.

I have a Ford 8" for my 51 that matches the stock width to within 1/8" on each side. (67 Cougar with same mopar bolt pattern) and that makes it real easy to install. Thats why I chose it over a Mopar axle. I'm still limited to a 6" wide rear wheel.

Verify your mounting surface distance and look at all Mopar V-8 cars as potential donars but stay away from the small 7-1/4" mopar rear end in the A body cars.

Don

 

- just found a free (!) 88 dodge diplomat last night with the 318 roller motor/360 heads, ex squad car. Would that entire drivetrain go under the Plymouth do you know?

Thanks for all the good info everyone! One other thing, was just looking for die form pressed steel floorpans for the front to avoid the flintstones look we currently have - anyone know of generic pans that have strengthening panels pressed in we could cut to fit, or what's a good junkyard floorpan sawzall excursion?

Cheers

 

These guys in Conneticut have floor pans done for yer car: Floors-N-More 860-829-2076 cell # 860-655-6966 They also have alot of patch panels too. It depends on where ya live on the shipping costs, that I do not know. They can tell ya when ya give them a call. Let me know if this helps ya out. I have a '53 Wagon myself. They have the floors and other panel pieces for mine and yers too. KNUX!

 

I just saw the pic of yer wagon. It looks like it is in very good shape exterior wise. Hell, better than mine. I got alot of rust to deal with. Drop a small '50's hemi in it. That would give it some good power and be nostolgic too. KNUX!

 

My engine builder will do a 241 Red Ram for $3000 outright, with a complete rebuild last I checked. I see them around as core engines for under $500 all the time. Try to get a complete engine or car as the ancilliary components are hard to find.

Putting a late model trans is a $325-575 (depending on which kit you get) deal on one of these motors, and the early 241/270s don't have side motor mounts.

 

Probably put about any MOPAR mill you want in it.

A small block will do good unless you're after brute strength, then I'm going to suggest that you look for a big block 383-440 and anywhere in between. You'll get more bang for the buck if you go that route.

Look for a mid to late '60s through about mid '70s wagon if you must have a wagon for a drive train. '69 earlier is you best bet for a performance type Big Block but you won't have hard valve seats unless you go with a newer mill.

 

PM hamb'r WEEDS- he has just built one and could tell you how it all works and fits- tell hiom I told you.....then he can bitch ME out!

 

The Diplomat would have the 8-1/4" rear end making the track width 58.5". Your 52 has a rear track width of 58-7/16". Measure its width from mounting surfaces and compare it to your stock unit. The cop cars came with big HD 11" drum brakes on the back. The trans should be the 904/988/999 torqueflite.

If the width is right it will work, but you may have work with wheel offset on the rear and be limited on tire size.

This is a pic of a 205/75/15 tire to a 5.5" rim mounted on stock axle of my 51 Ply. Not much room to go bigger. Its one of my car trailer tires I used to trial fit. The only other way to go is 14" rims but may not fit with the big 11" cop drums?

 

Sorry- I missed the MOPAR in your drivetrain post title!

 

Thanks - this is very useful, just waiting to see if i got the free Diplomat, serendipity if I did...may go with a bigger motor than 318, tempted by the early hemi idea if they are as 'not expensive' as people are saying here...

 

That free 318 sounds like a winner, use the trans, rearend, and anything else you can use off of it. If it's an old squad car, it might have the cool cop car wheels on it too, you could use those. In the book Tex Smith's how to build hot rod chassis, they have a good tech article about swapping the front frame stub from one of those cars into a similar 50's Mopar. You could use so much of that donor car, and it would make plenty of power for cruising. Early Hemi's are cool too, but I like free shit better than anything I have to pay for.

 

I have a '50 ply suburban. I put a firebird subframe with a sbc 307 in it mainly because thats what I had to work with. The front bumpers will fit that era '49-52. I'm running the '49 bumpers on mine and the front is a direct bolt on. The rear bumper on the suburban will only fit your suburbans without modifying. I have both front and rear stock '50 suburban bumpers if your interested in buying them. Jerry

 

with good chrome? I have them but front is rusty...

 

Previous owner has painted them black so I would imagine the chrome is shit.

 

it's that problem again...
thanks anyway

 

Here's some pix of a dry run i did with the 318 im putting in my '50 business coupe. Seems like it should fit fine with some firewall and inner fender work. The exhaust curves around the collumn about perfectly. The Tex Smith book about updating Mopars is real handy. pick it up if you havent already. Also i put a Ford 9" from a '63 or '64 Thunderbird under the back end and the fender clearance and spring perches lined up perfectly!
Good Luck
Kooter

 

For some inspiration: Car Craft, April 1956

The cover car is George Cerny's 1950 Plymouth Wagon. It was chopped with a Merc grille shell and a 1954 Pontiac grille. Dodge Lancer trim and hubcaps. Color was a wild metallic purple and pale yellow.

Motivation by early multi-carb Cadillac V8 ans= '37 LaSalle trans.

Ooooh Baby!

 

" The Tex Smith book about updating Mopars is real handy. pick it up if you havent already"

I got this paper back book a few years back off Amazon.com and it is a great help for mopar car guys. I paid $13.92 for it new. When published it sold for $19.95.

I recently checked availability of the book for a friend and found two copies on Amazon.com. Amazingly, the price was $95.00! He decided he didn't need it. I just checked again and the price is $95.00. I thought the price of gas was getting out of hand.

 

DON'T use the Diplomat front. It's too wide and will push the tires out too far in the front. Narrower than stock rears usually work well in these cars. the stock rear pushes the wheels out alot. My Wayfarer stock rear outside to outside was 60 7/8" A Ford Granada 8" is 57 3/4" and centers the wheels almost perfectly in the hole.

 

my 52 wgn has 71 nova sub-frame, w/ 350/turbo 350,fits nicely, drives nice w/ disk brakes, pwr steering.

 

tnerb - Is this what you looked like when you dug up this thread?

 

tnerb, you're doing what every fng should do. read archives, but you might want to check the dates before you post (or not) I'm in Oregon City and have a 52 Wagon also. PM me if you want to compare notes
Jim