Thought I'd start a thread on my PT50. This is a family owned vehicle. Will try and post some chronological pics. Feel free to ask questions or make comments.
Has it been in your family? Looks like a great project. Posted while on the run with Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The truck was handed down to me with the bed completely dismantled. She's solid now but the tailgate has a long way to go. The original straight 6 and 3 speed still get you down the road; though it didn't run at first. All brake components, fuel tank and carb got her on the road.
Yes, it has; my father got it from an Uncle I never met, he had it for 30+ years before I got it. My son is 7 now, he claims this over the 70 Chevelle I restored............go figure.
The last pic is of last night. I removed the hood/fenders to get at the grille assy. I now have a 318/727 combo from a 73 Cuda to stuff in there.
Been busy ...........front clip off, motor/trans pulled, stuffed 318/727 in, made mounts, removed unneeded old mounts, cleaning frame for POR15. Cab will come of next, new wood mounts to go in..........more to come.
The new tranny mount is just flat plate to cut to fit, partial of an old motor mount for rubber and a tab welded to original tranny cross member. All fits well. Motor mounts were some misc laying around, cut to fit; boxed frame with 1/4" plate and welded mounts to them. It SHOULD hold just fine!
My first vehicle was a '38 Ply PT-57 pu. That was 1975. You are bringing back memories.. I applaud your 318/ 727 combo. The truck and especially the grille look very straight. One thing to watch closely on these trucks is that the frames like to crack in the front part of the frame in the front spring area. I've seen it multiple times. Good luck and I'll be watching your progress. Thanks, Don
I appreciate the heads-up on the frame. I will give it a close inspection while in bare metal. That thing worked hard at some point in its life; the frame side eyelets for the shackles were ob-longed badly, the bolts nearly worn into! Those were REAL FUN getting out, finding new, and repairing the mounts. That was just the rear...........I cringe at tearing the front apart, but it will get done. There is a guy local here, has a 38, he wedged a 331 in it. I was gonna do the same thing, but the fender aprons had to go and fenders notched about 2" on each side. I was NOT going to cut on my truck, hence the 318. I have my dads car now, P4, he stuffed a 440/727 into it; its next in line. Cheers!
Cab raised to pull splash aprons and running boards.......slowly cleaning frame to bare metal as I go.........the old wooden front mounts were not bad on the drivers side; pass side was mostly dust!
Certainly a nice project, the 318/727 combo is a good choice indeed. Looking forward to see how this one turns out.
Started cleaning the 318 for paint. Decided to alter the oil pan to make room for the tie rod, opposed to altering the steering. Cut the pan to clean, had to shorten the oil pick-up tube to clear the 'notch'. All welded in, both sides, no leaks! Just one step closer to stabbing it in the frame..........
Hey, Kansas, that truck will look as neat if not better than a Ford or Chevy of '37, AND it will be unique. I don't think I've seen one on the street.
Very nice truck,,good looking stance even without the load of wood in the bed. Are you keeping all the suspension/steering stock?
Cool project! Even though the 318 isn't a pavement ripping beast, I'd recommend boxing the frame between the firewall and the front x member. You don't need it twisting on you.
What are you planing to do with the brakes? I am running '34 ply spindles and '34 ply rear axle on my 27 T. I got tired of messing with those old style brakes and recently upgraded to '65 Chevy truck brakes that I had laying around (because I upgraded my '65 Chevy truck to '89 Suburban front clip and rear axle) Not a bolt on affair as you can imagine. I cut out the center of the backing plates from the Ply and the Chev then welded the outer portion of the Chev to the inner portion of the Ply. Built up a flange on the outside of the hubs and machined it down so the larger hole in the Chev drum would be centered on the hub. Drilled the Chev drum with the 5-bolt Ply pattern. Did the same in the rear. Alot of work but it stops on a dime with those Bendix style brakes. I can provide more info, ie do's and dont's, if you're interested let me know. If you are going to run the stock rear end, there is a special puller tool you need to remove the brake drum and hub assembly. May want to consider some sort of wheel retainer clips in case you break an axle at or near the wheel bearing. I've seen these for sale for Fords not sure how well they work. Of course if you keep your foot out of it that axle should work just fine. Drive shaft - the 4-bolt flange for the drive shaft, on the axle pinion, is a standard size, at least it was on my '34, I'm sure its the same for your '37, any drive shaft shop can get the part to go from the flange to a modern style U-joint for the rear of the shaft. For parts I use Andy Bernbaum and Hagen's Hiway auto parts. Kipp
sweet truck, great motor and transmission, all Mopar, all good. The only thing I would do is add to the rear of the sump to make up for lost volume from the huge notch you put in there, or just go get a truck pan and pickup - very easy to come by
So far the front end is staying stock, though i'd like some disc brakes up front. I have searched and searched for a "bolt on" kit, no luck. I have visions of changing the spindles to Ford somehow and doing a disc that route.........The rear end will stay stock too, unless it becomes problematic with the new power train. Thanks for asking! And thanks to all for their input!
That does sound like a lot of work! lol I have had this truck long enough to have rebuilt the stock brakes twice. I really don't have any "trouble" with them, didn't seem any more bothersome than any other rebuild. Having said that, honing the original wheel cylinders provided nothing but leaks. Putting new ones in stopped that........ Thanks for all the input/ideas, will have to mull some things over.
So you did the search for disc brakes? I did, too. I suspect one of Scarebird's kits would work with monor modifications... Early 80s Toronado, Riviera and Eldorado had rear disc brakes. You remove the brackets and modify to your spindle pattern. You remove drum from hub. Find correct halo style disc. It's an fwd gm, I think. Have original hub machined to accept disc. This is how it was done before conversion kits. I'm going to try it.
I put '34 ply pass car spindles on a '48 ford axle. Not sure if the '34 ply spindles are the same as your '37 PU. At any rate, the ply kingpins are ~.030 smaller than the Ford's, the tapper on the ply tie rods are ~1/16" larger in diameter than the Ford's and the king pin inclination angle is different, the Ford is greater than the ply. But, good news, the king pin boss on the axle is the same height and the king pin lengths are about the same. It's not a hard swap, you'll have to bore the axle king pin boss to fit the Ford pin, may have to regrind the notch where the king pin retaining bolt latches onto the king pin. Bore out the tie rod holes in the steering arms with a 7 degree taper (Speedway sells them) to fit the ply tie rod and heat and bend the axles to correct the caster. (I assembled the spindles to the axle bolted the wheels on and used a torch, some heavy duty ratchet straps and a carpenter's level to bend the axle and set the caster, primitive but works great) Provided the '37 is the same as my '34 spindles, I would say that's probably the easiest way to get readily available brake parts of any variety. Good idea! Kipp
Pretty cool,the Plymouth trucks are kinda rear around this area. I will be following along with the build. HRP
I bought a bolt on front disk brake kit for my '36 Dodge pickup from PlyDo about 15 years ago. You probably have the same spindles. It uses 2nd gen Camaro rotors and calipers. It worked great back when the truck was stock, with the stock master cylinder and artillery wheels. I upgraded to a dual manual master cylinder when I Hot rodded the truck 4 years ago, brakes are great. I would think someone still makes this brake kit, it is just an inner bearing adapter on the spindle, and a caliper bracket.
Good info! The inner bearing is exactly the issue I am having. None of the kits I have found have the adapter. The rest of the kit is common stuff. I will research some more, but if you find any info on yours please post. Thank you!
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