Hey gang! I know this post is a little overdue... it's been crazy the past month. So without furthur adeu, the story of getting my car out here. Apparently my dad didn't have the easiest time getting the car out of the barn she'd been sitting in for the past year the night before the trailer was to show up. I'd never gotten to explain to him the little quirks of my car so I feel kinda responsible for all his troubles. Apparently the brake fluid went dry over the course of the year and my dad didn't think to check this before he got the car running.... so you can about imagine the panic when he was backing the car up and he discovers there's no brakes. Thank goodness the parking brake works well, but even still he smacked into a boat trailer that was parked behind the car. I'm glad the trunk was open to the only damage was to the trunklid and not the boat trailer! Then when he got the car heading out of the barn, he didn't know just how long the car was, and without decent lighting, it's pretty decieving so the tail end was smacked on the side of the barn as well.... the result, 2 broken tail lenses and a bent out bumper. The next morning my dad discovered the dry master cylinder so he filled that up and the brakes worked halfway decent thereafter. I guess things went pretty well that day getting the car on the trailer because when he called to tell me it left MN there weren't any more surprises. Check out the other cars on the trailer... the driver certainly picks some cool cars to haul. A week later I get a call from the driver saying he's in LA and I can come to get my car. When I get there I see a new dent and scratched paint on my roof. I guess somewhere's en route the driver was moving the cars around and when he went to set the back end down, the top end came up pretty quick smacking the roof on the support beams of the trailer. Once I got the car to my house I headed to Target to scavenge for new tail lenses. How do you suppose I'm to drive the car without lenses? I kinda like the look of the new lense... I might just go and mold some of my own in this shape so I don't have to keep the "made in china" on the bottom. Besides, the plastic is slightly transparent which is kinda weird. For now however, I'm gonna keep looking for a stock replacement.
So now that I've had the chance to let this all soak in, I've decided I hate the direction the car is headed. For starters, when I got the car, I never had a plan for the build. It was always just a "lets try this and that" as a learning experience. Great for then, not for now. I'm really digging on actually doing some things to make this car nice and hopefully one day, finished. Since there's now more dents to pull and the red paint from a few years back is screwed up, I'm planning on striping the car down completely and repainting it. I love the black and red, but I think it's time for a change. But since the roof line looks a little tall IMO, I'd like to chop it... 3" overall. The exhaust was always really hokey... flexpipe and a cherry bomb. So I'm converting it to true dual exhaust with functional lakes pipes and a pair of long smithy's for a nice growl. I'm still working out the other little details like the grill and interior. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress once I actually get to cutting and such. Here's a photoshopped version ala Abelugo of what I'm going for.
I dig that photoshop version. I'm scrapping a 59 two door Plymouth Savoy. Probably not a whole lot of things that are the same but... You need anything that may be the same?
Only thing that I can think that I would like is the front windshield... not that I'd know how to transport it out here though. I won't get to cutting anytime soon anyway... gotta get her registered in CA first. What type of seats would the plymouth have? I'm looking for a bench with swivel seats.
What happened to that goofy four door made into a pickup parts car you had? No good taillights or rear bumper in there? Sucks the car got so beat up on the trip over, did the transport guy pay out for messing up your roof? They should. Also, would like to hear how you plan to put functional lake pipes on with long smithy mufflers. I have yet to see anyone get lake pipes to work with mufflers.
The windshield in this one has no cracksor chips but is de-laminating and fogging pretty bad... The seats are a bench with a wider drivers side thane passenger side. They are full of rats and really down to the springs. The front seat is so rusty at the mounts that I just shoved it out the door. No tools required. After looking at your pics and this thing I have it looks like there are few things that would work.
I like the green a lot. Photchop looks good. Did you guys take the original picture? Or know where it came from? There's something in the background I'd really like to see more of...
Fidgiter, I took the pic and photshopped it, the chop needs more planning and probably about 2 extra windshields. If your going to ask about th green car in the back, I didn;t get shots of it, that was at the blesing of the cars this year.
hahaha! sounds a little like my seats. I'll hold out for one that swivels tho. If all else fails I'll just redo what I've got. Squablow, I've got pics of that old green mess somewhere. It had '57 taillights on it and one very pitted bumper. Regardless, I sold it as fast as I could after I pulled everything relavant off. That thing had a half drank bottle of vodka under the seat and mice living in every nook and cranny of it... almost made ya want to drink the leftover vodka.... Fidgiter, I think my girl friend took pics of the green car in the backround if that's what you're looking at. When she saw it her exact words were... "now THAT's a car I could have sex in."
Exactly.. the cost of swivels are rediculous right now. I'll spend a heck of alot less on the leather for the bench than just the cost of the swivel bench itself. Eric, she knows you... just doesn't know your car. She was in the backround when I drunk dialed you those couple of times from Wisconsin. Ok, I tried to draw a pic of the setup I'm going to use for the lake pipes, but I really suck at drawing on the computer. So, lets see if I make any sense here.... I'm going to have a small Y pipe put in on each side so one part goes to the lake pipe, one goes to the muffler that's out the back of the car. So the car can be quiet when I want using mufflers, and loud when I want by uncaping the pipes.
Mel, Here's a list of stuff I have. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126990 Let me know if any of it sparks interest and don't pay any attention to the dollar amounts... If you're gonna cut a windshield or two, this may be a good prospect.
Hi Mel... sure do miss you on the Middle Coast...! Your car will look great with the chop...! Do you think you'll have it done for the un-earthing...? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33526&&showall=1 http://www.forwardlook.net/19571958Plymouth/countdown.asp Hope to see you there...!
Rashy, is your '59 a hardtop or a sedan? Big difference. Mel, I saw the pics on the FL site, good to have you back around. Not to gloat but I just got a power swivel seat from carjock from a '60 for free. It needs to be recovered pretty bad but every piece of hardware is intact and perfectly functional...
Rashy, you have a PM. Just a bit jelous here.... I remember when I came across one for cheap in college but I had absolutely no money then to get it. Kinda wish I would've found a way to get the cash considering the current prices. I figure I could make one of the mechanical swivel seats if I ever got to see how they're put together. Can't be that hard. You know the ones... where if your door gets smacked it engages throwing you from the car Sounds like fun to me Wingnuts, probably won't make it to the unearthing... work keeps me really tied. Wasn't even able to take an extended weekend for Bonneville. But, I'm sure I'll run into you somewhere. If I can fly for the weekend, I can go
Shit folks. I meant Sedan, it's a two door post car. Er was anyway... I think I need just a few more things going on...
Mel- How ya doin? Be sure to PM me if you need any input on the top chop.....Ill help if I can....Kenny
Thanks Kenny. I can always use some pointers. I'll probably have another post going here once I get some serious measurements and brainstorming down before I get to it.
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