Features The 1955-1956 Plymouth and Dodge Thread

New to the mopar stuff ... here's my newest effort Just got it runnin' good sounds great and runs out pretty well. 270 poly Red Ram auto

 

Cool,, I think the 383s are a good engine.. but the 727 tranny is a tight squeeze.. I was going to install that combo into the 55.. that would of meant cutting the hump.. and moving it up wards.. quite a bit..

 

Heavy-Good looking car you got there!

 

I love '55 '56 Belvedere's but they are just scarce as hen's teeth. A buddy of mine back in about '59 or '60 put a hemi out of his '51 or '52 Imperial,after he rolled it, into his '55 Belvedere convertible and if that dweeb can do it a monkey can do it. At Turkey Run, with nearly 5,000 cars I don't remember ever seeing one. I had the only '56 Ford Customline Victoria there.

 

Anyone looking for a similar project? I have a 55 Savoy 2 door sedan with the Belvedere style side trim. 6 cyl, 3 speed. Engine stuck, some lower rust, very complete. $600. I also have a 56 Plymouth 2 door wagon, missing dash insert/gauges and upper half of tail gate. V8, stuck, automatic. Lower rust. $1,000. Located in northeast South Dakota. Email to rpaulson@dailypost.com.

http://lakecityclassics.com/node/4

http://lakecityclassics.com/node/4

 

Found this one today that I'm working a deal on. 1955 Lancer, Poly engine (don't know the displacement), fluid drive, 4-door, nice body, chrome and glass. I'll let you know what happens!

 

Here's ours.

Recent brake job, new wiring, and lowered the rear. Next is lowering the front and upholstery.

270 Poly w/ auto. P/S, P/B

 

wow some more sweet ones! highpockets i need to contact you about some parts are you still parting out that 56 four door belvedere?

 

That should be a 270 inch engine and a Powerflite, not a Fluid Drive. Good luck with it.

I've always been impressed by how well the chrome held up on these 55-56 Dodges, even when the cars have been outside a long time it seems like the chrome is good.

 

Rick, I may have some not-so great pics....I cut the front half off of a '78 New Yorker frame, cut the front half (almost) off of the '56 frame, rolled the N.Y.er frame under the '56 with the engine and trans mounted. I just cut anything that got in the way out until the wheelbase was right, then welded everything up nice and solid. The NYer frame slid down the outside of the '56 frame pretty closely....worked pretty damned well.
I'll look for some pics. How's everything up North?

 

My baby is home! Went up to SW Missouri to pick it up from fellow HAMBer Larry, who painted it and did some great bodywork on the wagon for me!

AFTER:



BEFORE:

 

wow patrick that's a nice job he did! is that a single stage paint job? did you do most of the prepwork?

 

I didn't do much of any prep, other than remove most of the trim and trailer it up to Larry (46chevy on the HAMB). He provided some great references beforehand, and he did an amazing job on the car! What is not evident in the "before" pics is the amount of metalwork that was needed, especially on the right quarter, door jamb and rocker sill. Plus, when I got the car, the roof guttering had been shaved by a PO at one time. That really looked like crap! Larry formed up a custom gutter replacement that looks friggin' awesome!

It's a flattened single stage green (three coats) and three coats of epoxy white primer/sealer. Looks great! I'm diggin' it!

Now, for the 440!

 

Patrick... its Looking good..

 

yeah that wagon looks slick

 

Real cool! I like it!

 

wow that is a really awesome photo Al! that 55 is nice...what's the spec's on it?

 

Hey thanks Slick Steve.

 

That yellow wagon is purdy!

 

does anyone know if rear leaf spring shackles from a 1964-74 Plymouth will work for a 1956 plymouth? they seem to be the same but i'm not sure...and my stock ones are bent real good...... and theres some nice ones on ebay right now for only 23$ including bushings!

 

That wagon belongs to my oldest friend, known as "Worm". He restored it to pretty much stock condition. He did add a few neat accessories, like a 45 spring loaded record player and one of those rectangular steering wheels from a '60 Plymouth. Howdy Doody also goes along for the ride.

The '34 Coupe is also his. He bought it in 1961, and it was his first car.

 

Well I've been doing alot work on my 56 Belvedere lately..here's some updated pics. Here's a list of some of the stuff I've done to it over the last couple weeks...

New distributor with rubber vacuum line instead of plastic (the autolite was worn out.)

Coil

Plug wires, the Mopar Performance ones died on me only after 4 months.

Edelbrock 4 bbl 1406 on a Edelbrock DP4B intake. the 2 bbl stromberg finally choked and couldn't be revived. ( any tuning tips? it doesnt have as much oomph as it did with the 2 barrel!)

Fixed my exhaust leak on the passenger side

adjusted E brake so it actually doesnt move on a slanted grade when parking.

Valve cover gaskets were desperately needed as well.

Also added a PCV Kit and got rid of the road draft tube (yes it still had one!)



Here is some updated pictures of what it looks like now, Any comments? I had an edelbrock fuel pump on it to go with the carb, but it liked to flood the motor really easy, like after about the 3rd crank..so i switched back to the stock pump. And I dont know if you guys know this but Edelbrock is doing a promotion right now till end of April if you buy a carb you get a free air cleaner setup! I chose the black one i thought it went with the car better. I ordered from summit and they sent it with my order instead of waiting 4-6 weeks from edelbrock.

 

and here's a picture of my car in my gravel driveway, This house is out of the 1940's so i figured it looked neat in sepia tone.

 

This is a not so good picture of my 1956 Suburban. I am glad to see a thread dedicated to these cars. Does anyone have a set of back up light housings?

Thanks!

 

Mr. Belvedere 2 - What big block Mopar are you running? Did you have to cut or alter the trans tunnel? What trans crossmember did you use - a modded stocker or a custom-fabbed one?

 

Mr. Belvedere,, what type of tranny is behind the 383? Dang..It looks good though..

 

I like the gold - just as the late '50s Mopar big blocks were! That looks great under there - I can get a good idea how mine will look when it's installed.

Looks like my 440 might have a valve cover clearance issue with the heater!

 

Patrick.. I think the engine will clear.. I did measuring on mine .. it wasnt to bad.. its the top hump on the 727 tranny that was causing the issues.. The engine in Mr Belvederes looks like a early 361 or 383.. with the early tranny.. it fits to well.

 

Patrick- I am running a 1960 361 mated to a 1959 Powerflite. I bought the car like it is so i didnt do the mounts, I am going to re-do them though because right now they are solid-type mounts the PO fabbed up to make it work. the Trans mount is a stock mount it looks like.I looked into it and it looks like some early hemi mounts from Hot Heads will work just fine. Future plans call for a 440 stroker and a 3 or 4 speed 727 with the adapter kit from Imperial Services so I can keep my push buttons. I am told on the forwardlook.net forum that you don't have to modify the trans tunnel.

The valve cover clearance is a tight fit but it works, you just have to take the cover off and put it on a special way, but it works. I found this out when i had to re-do the valve cover gaskets.