After sporadic stops and starts (no freaking pun intended!!) over a year, I took my Plymouth around the block. No, we were not towing it. Brakes are still squishy, and the water pump is shot, but all in all, this is a really really awesome day for me. I've had this dream since I was 13, and it's finally coming to fruition. I'm not looking for a pat on the back, but I just had to share this with some like-minded folks...I am so stoked!!!!!!! I found that driving around without a hood produces funny looks, and not having power steering is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I can't wait to cruise around, even if the car isn't all one color and people can read my to-do list written on the back door. Yup. I'm finally starting to feel like all the busted knuckles and cold days out in the shop were worth it.
Right on!! Doesn't get much better feeling than that... until ya make it out to the first cruise night, event or whatever.
Just remember, for the most part of the history of the automobile steering was done by arm and hand without assistance. Power steering really wasn't common across the automotive spectrum until the 70s, just like power brakes and power DISC brakes. One thing about early steering, have the box adjusted by the factory procedure, make sure the seals are good and the box is lubricated with the correct fluid or grease. Keep your front tires inflated to the correct PSI, alignment to proper specs, and you won't even have to worry about parallel parking.
Took my '55 Dodge on the road for the first time on Sunday. I had driven it around before, but never on the road, just in parking lots, in and out of the shop, and stuff like that. It looked nice but was never 100% functional until now. It's a good feeling, isn't it?
And keeping the front end greased on a regular basis seems to help ease the steering effort a bit too. Congrats on the first trip around the block under it's own power.
Better than sex. Congrats on your own success! The next step is to take everything out, hose out the mouse turds, install the dash and wiring. Then, registration and insurance!
That first drive is always awesome. Sometimes you feel beat up after working on a car but it's a good kind of beat up when your driving it. I cool hood ornament too!
Mice must love Mopars. On my first drive I had smoke coming out from under the dash, and it smelled awful. I'm fairly sure it was a mouse nest burning against the heater core. When I first got the car, I could only roll the driver's window down a couple inches before it stopped, the mouse nest in the door filled the door almost to the top. Your avatar picture is a DeSoto, what year is the Plymouth?
Great job. Keep up the good work. It's a great feeling of accomplishment isn't it? I had that feeling last year after making my car roadworthy. Just have to keep going. Have a vision of what you want the car to look like 'finished' and keep at it. Scott
Congratulations! It's just like heroin, you'll be chasing that feeling, trying to recapture it for the rest of you're life!
I understand exactly how it feels. Drove my Wildcat for the first time on Sunday. Need to rebuild the carb, fix some rust, and drive the shit out of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
next step should be replacing the water pump before the next ride, otherwise...well, you know what happens when they overheat. congrats indeed! great to have another Mopar on the road
you'll be smashin' bugs in no time folks at rebel wire did right by me when I replaced the harness great job.
Good for you. The steering may be helped by topping off the steering box with 90 wt. (It says what to use right on the box with cast in words.) I found my stock 50 Plymouth coupe box to be almost dry. I thought that the box seal was bad and it would probably leak out pretty fast, but the oil stayed in and no leaks. It improved the steering considerably as did a pair of new and properly inflated tires. Lubing the chassis probably helped, but more than likely you've done that. Anyhoo, the steering was easy to handle for (5'1") Sweetie, but she didn't like driving it cuz it didn't handle like her 88 Mustang GT. After she drove it to a car show for me, she got out and said, "That thing handles like the Mayflower in a following sea." Next plan was a bigger sway bar and making my own shock brackets so the top end of the shock is connected to the frame and not the upper A-arm, but never got around to doing it. Kinda wish I hadn't sold it. It was great for running around town and we weren't afraid to drive it quite a ways at times. The best was a 40 mile drive through a hard rain, cloudbursts and all. No wipers, but Rain-X did the trick. Wipers started working pretty good after shooting some silicon lube down the wiper motor vacuum hose into the wiper motor. Doing that every few months freed em up pretty good. Congrats on getting the car running, you're gonna have fun with it....
Thank you everyone for the tips and tricks! I'm so pleased to hear that others are getting this same satisfaction! It's springtime; the birds, the bees, the CARS! Congrats to you guys as well. My mice problem was different. The idiot who had the car before me left a bag of kitchen trash (aka mice buffet) in the back seat. The Desoto is a 54, no Hemi. Gonna drop a 318 from a 96 Dakota in there (carb intake for sure). Can't afford a Hemi, and the 230 is DONE! I did have a bird's nest in the seat of the Desoto. I can't decide which is worse, birds or mice, they're both dirty and poopy. Thank you again to everyone for all your help and support. I wish non-car people could understand this feeling. This is my first car, and it's been a bitch, but the bottom line is that now I can do drum brakes in no time at all. I've learned so much, and you all have been fabulous. From advice to just letting me vent when the bitch pissed me off. Happy cruising everyone!!!
Congrats on finally taking a cruise. Dont worry about the people starring they are jealous. Love how your keeping it traditional. I love going to car shows and talking to the old timers thinking your a punk until I pop the hood and they see the flatty. Lube the front and and good inflation on tires is key for manual steering.
It's a great feeling. I remember taking the '63 Electra out for the first time. It's awesome to take something in a state of disrepair and put it back on the road. Ah... makes me want to go do some wrenchin'. It'll be even better when I get the '57 Super out on the town. That's going to be a bad-ass cruiser.
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