Projects Project Alter-K-Tion II (1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe)

Alright, me and the wifey decided to buy a chopped 50 Plymouth on Mon, brought it home yesterday, and started work on it tonight. The plan is to clean the roof up, body wise, and paint the roof (stainless trim up) gloss white and leave the lower portion of the body the distressed baby blue that it is. We are currently collecting parts and trying to figure out a drivetrain. Any ideas? Today wasn't too exciting, stripped the front clip off the car and I dollied out a couple of creases and dents on the roof.

This is how it came home to us:







Pics from tonights work..... wa-hoo:







Anyone need any flathead parts? Or a block? Junk to me...

 

So what are your plans for drivetrain?

 

how about souping the original six

 

Anyone know of a new front clip I can put on this frame? A-arms, disc brakes, rack and pinion, air bags..... etc.....????

 

The stock suspension works pretty well, if you ask me.

It needs a stiffer anti-sway bar, I have used the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee bar as a retrofit. The upper shock mounts relocated to the frame. Look and you will see why.

A 6" air bag will fit with trimming of the pocket area.

Scarebird Classic brakes sells the brackets to mount discs. Off the shelf parts do the rest.

Fatman Fabrications makes brackets to put a late-model GM power rack in it.

 

We're thinking maybe a 5.7L Hemi and a six speed.....

 

Does anyone make dropped spindles? I want the frame to touch the ground when it's aired out. I don't think I can do that with all the stock stuff.

 

In this case, they are called uprights, rather than spindles. Fatman Fabrications has those too. They give a 3" drop. They require you to mod the steering arms, but that is not terribly hard.

 

I'll bet Olddaddy on here wants your manifolds. He splits them to make duals

 

You sure you on the right site? Might want to check.

 

as said keep the front suspension. i have a 350/350 in my car and it goes down the road great but if i were to do it again i would have went with a mopar motor check out shadowcustoms he has a 318 i think and it is a way better fit. and how about some clr on the lower body. i am not much for the faded paint look but clr works wonders and it will look way better.btw my car is a 51 plymouth so they are similiar.

 

Oh yeah, it'll get cleaned well and then cleared.

 

So my thoughts are as is:

Fatman Fab 3" Drop Uprights
Cavalier Power Steering Rack & Pinion
RustyHope.com Disc Brake Kit? Or other?

I read the whole Wiki article but that is towards the Oldsmobile and Pontiac mostly, so I'm a little confused, do I still do all the same stuff on the Plymouth? Do I need to convert to ball joint A-arms? If so what do I do? Do I use the 58 Olds arms?

So lost, sorry guys.....

 

What wiki article?

No ball joints required, or parts from other makes. Your list looks good. You can run lowering blocks in the rear for now, until you go to air.

 

Wiki Article: http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/37_-_57_Buick_Olds_Pont_suspension_upgrade

 

If the drop spindles are made for your car you shouldn't have to change anything else. The wiki you linked is going over mods for the BOP cars specifically and none of that would apply to your plymouth

As long as the car stays all mopar you can put whatever motor in it and it will be cool. The 5.7/6-speed will be quick, but definately will cost you. You could also run a magnum 360 with an intake, cam and headers and do pretty well for a bit less. You could get a 5 speed ax15 out of a v8 2wd truck for it as well.

Nice score!

 

The BOP's aren't too far off from the Plymouth. The reason I'm looking at ball joints is for correcting the caster angle for today's roads and speeds.

 

Absolutely NOT necessary. Don't over-think this, you'll just end up spending a ton of unnecessary money.

I have two very satisfied customers who drive these daily, with the above mods (one still with manual steering), and both regularly see 100mph. I have a third very satisfied customer that just sees 75mph, as he still has the stock 6. Stock alignment, and not a ball-joint to be found.

The only thing added to improve handling was a 1" anti-sway bar, with poly bushings, and the shock relocation, in the front of each.

 

Huh, where did you get the 1" sway bar? I might be interested in that....

 

I like the one that comes stock on a 1996 Jeep Grand Cheerokee, along with Energy Suspension mounts, and the shortest end links they make. Drilling 4 holes as far forward on the frame as possible gets it hung. Two tabs, 1/4" thick, one on each control arm, gets it hooked up.

 

YO, "gimpyshotrods"...any pictures available on the anti-sway bar installation? Also, what are your recommendations on front shock re-mounts? Any detailed explanations on both these mods appreciated.

 

Read this on the front shock relocation: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215548

 

That's the one. As it has been said, it makes a drastic difference in handling.

I will post the ant-sway bar pictures when I get back to work on Monday.

If you look here (not my photo), you can see the bar, and where it would mount on the control arm. Note: in this picture, the end link is NOT in the mounting tab.

 

A little more work accomplished. Got the front sheetmetal removed and ready for powder coating. Also got the dash painted and started assembling, also toyed with a gauge to figure out how to paint it.

 

I could not find the original pictures, but, as luck would have it, one of the 1949 Special Deluxe's I care for came in for an exhaust leak.

Show here is a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee anti-sway bar, mounted upside-down. This one uses the OEM pillow blocks, and the end links are Energy Suspension (shortest, or second shortest ones they make).

 

Little more progress. I got the frame cleaned up a little bit, made all the bag mounts. I made the spacers tall, once I get the thing on the ground and pull exact measurements I'll cut the sleeves to the correct height.











I also rewelded the upper a-arms and ground down the center weld, really bugged me.

 

This is just the post I needed, I'm in the planning stages of bagging my 51 Plymouth. What bags are you using and can you lay frame without the raised uprights? Looking good so far, I love the blue patina.

 

I am running Firestone 2500#'s. You can not lay frame without the uprights. The plan I have is straight plate the lower a-arm as pictured, make the upper bag buckets 1.5" tall, 3" lowered uprights, and you'll still be about an inch off the ground. And you need to do a c-notch in the rear, 2"-4"..... haven't gotten that far yet.

 

Thanks for the info. Like i said, I'm still in the planning stages right now but I really like how that setup looks, maybe I could z the frame and get the drop I want without the uprights. Either way, its good to see someone else thinking similar to me!

 

Well depending how long you want to wait I may be able to cut and sell another kit. All parts are cut on a CNC plasma, I have all the files saved and all I'd have to do is figure out the front shock mounts/brackets once I get the dropped uprights in.