Projects 41 PLYMOUTH CHOP/BUILD, IN OVER MY HEAD

So here's the scoop. I bought this car about 5 years ago and it turned into the back burner car while i built my 61 belair, then 65 c10 and eventually my 53 chevy kustom. I figure its about time to shit or get off the pot so here we go. The 1941 plymouth you see here was originally started by someone who (Im assuming) didn't know what they were doing. (not even sure if i do). Luckily for me they had disassembled it nicely and had it dipped. Then they grafted a nova clip on it (kinda poorly if you ask me) and stopped there. From what i understand the project got traded a few times and eventually ended up in my hands. When i first got it, I chipped away here and there fixing the clip issues and boxing the frame while getting rid of the x frame section and welding in regular crossmembers. Then it sat while working on other cars. Since i moved into my new shop and out of the 2 car garage I started in, I've fixed the old owners motor mounts and rebuilt the top of the cross member. Ive made new mounts, installed the motor and built the 4 link. My first handful of posts here will be showing work up to this point. And soon enough ill be posting pictures in real time as i build this thing. Bear with me, cuz this build will take a while. Ill try to keep things updated as much as i can. Thanks for looking.

 

Heres a pic the day i got it home



And after i bolted some of it together for easier storage

 

Once i got it into the garage and prepped to pull the body off the frame


And with the help of a few friends here's the body off the frame. You can kind of see how they installed the clip. Sorry for the dark pictures. Its all i could find from so long ago.

 

Sorry again for the horrible pictures. But here's about the only pics i have from back then after cutting out the x. Building new crossmembers, fixing the clip, boxing the frame and adding the notches.

 

With the merging of your 'handle', and the pic of the Coupe in your shop, 'Taildragger' is sooo 'Apropos'!
Skirt it, raise it up just enough to roll, and get ready to 'Style'...
That could be one slick custom! Looks Sooo... 'slippery'!

 

I agree that would be an awesome custom!!

 

looking good! i love those coupes.

 

I like those cars, and you are on a good path. Good luck.

 

Nice work!

 

She going to be a kool lookin ride .Good luck with her.Bruce.

 

So, where i left off yesterday was about 4 years ago. Since then i've moved to a house with a actual shop and have been chugging away on other projects. About a month ago i started chipping away at more frame work on the 41 and solving some problems i created years ago before i knew better.

Heres a picture of it as i started tearing it down again. (the motor is just sitting on the crossmember. The previous owner welded the mounts in the wrong place.

 

After a few sawzall blades i finally realized the stacked plate the last guy welded on for the motor mount extensions wasn't going to come off easy. So, i decided it'd be easier to just rebuild the whole top of the crossmember.

Heres a couple pics of the old shit that was welded on



So, I cut out the top of the crossmember


Welded new pieces in


And smoothed it out. Here's a pic of the old piece i cut out and the new stuff welded in and cleaned up

 

Because of my steering box location, the side motor mounts didn't seem like a good option. So i made a front mount (i know i could have just bought one, but I'm a dummy and thought id make a custom one).

So heres the plate before welding it together


I don't really have any pictures in between. But heres a picture of the frame mounts i built.


And heres the plate i built with the motor mounts attached

 

And heres a pic with the motor in


So then i decided i needed the trans crossmember to be able to drop out. I added some bars to tie everything together and keep things from flexing at all even if the crossmember was unbolted. (also serving as a driveline hoop). Then I made a tab.


Welded it to the center of the crossmember i cut out


And bolted it all together

 

Finally I built the 4 link. Built all my bars. Plated the top and bottom of the frame where the bars mount. And tacked everything in. Here is where i am currently. This week I'm going to brace the body and start cutting out the old floors and building new ones. Heres a couple pics of the 4 link

 

Neat project, 41's are pretty ok.

 

Looking good talk about a low stance Jim

 

So, a couple nights ago i braced the body up and cut out the sections of the floor that were rusted out (I plan on replacing the middle section of floor too, but left it there temporarily for structural reasons while moving the body around the shop). Anyhow. Im going to build all new rockers, floors, braces and body mounts from scratch. So here's where the head scratching starts. Going to try to build a majority of the floor on the frame with the body off. Then cut everything off the bottom of the car and slide it over the new floors (hopefully effectively channeling it a inch or 2 in the process) and weld it up. Not sure how great of a plan this is but figured it'd be a test in my measuring and planning skills. Anyone with any advise on doing something like this. Please feel free to chime in. I plan to start after this weekend. Cheers.

 

Well for a guy that is in over his head you look like you are figuring it out just fine.

I am with @Atwater Mike here, you got the makin's of one smooth custom.

 

"In over my head" is how most of my projects start. This way you always learn something as you go along. Looks great and it sounds like you have what it takes to see this through. I like the new/improved cross members and motor mount.

 

Wow you got your work cut out for ya keep it up,,the frame I mean,,good job.

 

Not much to report lately. I worked a little more on the frame, then put it back together to store it for a while, while i worked on another project for myself and now I am currently building a 58 ford f100 for a friend. Back burner again. Anyhow heres a pic of it back together

 

And heres a question for you guys. I picked up these 41 Lincoln grilles at a swap meet. Im thinking about going in way over my head again and trying to fit them in my plymouth. What do yo think?


Also... any of you Lincoln guys know how to tell if these are original? They look like they were recast by someone. They seem real solid and decent. But the casting seems a little crude on the back. Ive seen some online that look like there is a part umber on the back. These don't have anything. Anyone know if there should be a part number? Or how crude the castings were back then? I picked them up pretty cheap which makes me think they're not o.g. Any info would help. Thank you

 

No news of this one ? ;-)

 

Yea man,,,, what's up?

I love the '41 plyms

 

Do it!

 

x2!

 

Alright. After building my 59 el camino. Finally back to this one. I will post more pictures on my lunch break at work later today. But here is a sneak peak of what happened last weekend

 

Nice! I like the idea of using those Lincoln grilles too, would be a neat touch that will leave some scratching their heads.

 

So here is where we started



And here is my cuts marked up