Customs 1959 Plymouth Black Plate Survivor

Well, I finally have my 1st true rust free floor pan car. I found it stashed in a shed where it was parked in 1990. The man I bought it from drove to CA in 1990 and drove it back to Tenn. He drove it around for less than a year and parked it. I pulled the mat and jute out to reveal solid floor and trunk pans. It had at least 2 maybe 3 owners in CA. I found these '63 black plates under the drivers seat. This car has 1 small problem. The motor is locked up. I've been soaking the cyls with MMO but its still tight as a drum. Its not a hot rod but I thought it deserved a place around its peers.

 

Wow. Well, Plymouth, 318, those aren't too hard to find if you can't free it up.

 

yes!!!

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That would be a great ride.

 

Get a lever bar onto the ring gear, work it back and forward.. It should let go with a bit of persuasion..

 

Lovin it!

 

Congrats, cool car!

 

There are lots of mopar engine options readily available . That's a great find!

 

You have a nice looking car. Congratulations.

I don't know much about Plymouths but a neighbor had one that was around a '57 and he replaced the motor. He had found that the newer 318 did not bolt up to the transmission, different bolt pattern. He ended up changing the transmission also.

Neal

 

I've read a bunch of the MMO threads and I'm trying to let it do its job. Patience Little Gr***hopper!!! It is a 318,PS,PB, torqueflite car. Even if I have to build it I feel really lucky. I pulled through Jack Daniels before heading back home and did a couple of photo ops before heading back to Arkansaw.

 

Just wonding where in t.n. did you find her? I am in east t.n. in Sevierville.Thanks Bruce.

 

Outside of Murfreesboro.

 

Sweet car! Good score

 

easy to swap in another mopar v-8 and modern trans, but hey, the wide block 318 will hold a set of hemi heads and blammo, homemade hemi !

 

No 318 or other A engine will "HOLD" any hemi head ever built, sorry.
Also be aware that in about 1963 the crankshaft flange on Mopar engines changed from an eight hole to a six hole pattern, limiting your options to the older style for a '59 Pilgrim.

 

You've got a winner there! The first car I drove on the highway was a 58 Dodge (in 1960) so I have a real affinity for Mopars of the 50's, especially a good looking hardtop.

 

Our Canadian 1959 Belveder had a 313.

 

Don't forget to take the valve covers off and oil the rockers and valves. Tap the end of the valve stem, or rocker, to be sure they are not frozen. A tap with a small hammer and they should bounce back, if they are "dead" the valve is seized. Do not turn the engine until you free it up or you can bend the pushrods.

If the engine is frozen and won't free up, you may have to take it out, hone the cylinders and install new rings. This is a lot easier and cheaper than replacing the whole engine.

An old badly worn engine has lots of room for rust and usually does not seize up. If the engine is stuck it is a sign it was tight and not badly worn when put away.

 

WOW, that's a helluva find—the '57-'59 Mopars were beautiful, but they were notorious rustbuckets; they were sloppily built of poor-quality materials. A lot of that sloppiness can be fixed with modern materials and rust-preventives, etc., but the hardest part is finding an unrusted car to start with, so good score.

Marvel Mystery Oil is not going to get you anywhere productive any time soon. You need heavy-duty big guns here; about the only liquid products I think would stand you a chance of freeing up the engine without tearing it down are Kroil (look it up online; made by Kano Labs) and Chrysler's own rust penetrant p/n 4318039AC (might've superseded to -AD, -AF, etc. by now). Neither of these is anything like Liquid Wrench or other greasy kidstuff; they both smell bizarre and have non-obvious chemistry, and I have seen them both work miracles.

Rusty O'Toole's comments are good advice about checking for stuck valves -- if you find stuck valves (and you probably will) you might get lucky with the rust penetrant…otherwise, off with its head(s)!

The 318 engine in a '59 is an A-block engine, not the same as the better-known '67-up LA-block 318. The bellhousing pattern is the same, and A- to LA-engine swaps are not difficult. However, the A-engine (also called "old style", "polyspherical", or "poly") is nifty and I certainly wouldn't go changing it to something else without a very good reason.

 

I had a second before i go back to work and I pulled the valve covers. The 1 and 2 pics are the drivers side. The 3rd pic is the p***enger side. The valve train in the 2nd pic has a lot of rust that has formed around the back rocker arm ***y. The p***enger side ***y has no rust. Not a good sign for the drivers side. Leads me to believe that there is water in the back cyl's on the drivers side. What do you guys and gal's think???

 

My bad. It was 1962 the crank changed from eight bolts to six. When the aluminum TF came along,

 

Can't wait to see her all cleaned up!

 

Dorsey-
Have you pulled the plugs and inspected them? If there was water in a cylinder, there will also be rust on the electrodes. If so, the pistons in those cylinders will be stuck badly.

---John

 

Great looking car, and a great score to find one so well preserved and not rusty, since as mentioned, they're notorious rust buckets. Glad to see it's in good hands and getting some justice! Hope the engine comes around.

 

Not necessarily.

 

Looking forward to photos of it after you give it a bath...

 

I'm ordering some Kroil to see if that will free up this motor.

 

Kroil is a VERY good penetrating oil. The rockers, and under the valve covers don't look too bad to me. It appears to be pretty clean, for it's age.

 

Here is a .pdf article I've been saving on penetrating oils. I can't vouch for any claims, but thought it was interesting...

 

MMO isn't going to fix this problem. I knew something wasn't good with NO movement after a few weeks of MMO. Time to pull a motor.