Hot Rods 1938 Plymouth Sitting In Garage Since 1988

I say whatever you do you should do it with pops. He sounds real keen on the car from your description.

 

If that front end measurers out ok, reinforce it where it needs it, and slap the sheet metal on. That subframe worked just fine under whatever factory built car it came out of. With the fenders on it'll never show. After all, it is a hotrod. Why bother trying to 'restore' it. Just because that front end won't work here doesn't mean it won't work....

 

Thanks guys. I suppose the first thing to do is put the car back on the ground, mock up the hood and fenders, and see if the subframe is even in the right spot. And measure to see if it’s true, of course. Then decide how I want to proceed.

 

Good day in the garage. Just a couple of bolts in the fenders. Block of wood under the front. Looks like the sub frame is positioned alright at least.

Not sure why the a couple of the pics are loading turned. They were not taken that way.

 

Made me dizzy

 

Ha! Thank you. I don’t know why that happens. The pictures are normal on my phone.

 

OK, so I went back and looked at the way your subframe is attached to the original frame. Its not very pretty, but it won't fall off either. The clip is welded to the oem frame along the bottom edge for what looks like 10" or 12", maybe more. Then the top has a 1/4" plate welded to the top of the clip and to the inside of the oem frame for what looks to be 10" or 12" or maybe more. If those welds are good (I see no reason to doubt the welds at the top, your pictures don't show the bottom welds very well) I see very little reason to doubt the integrity of the attachment. Cap the ends and call it good. The body mount at the firewall has room for improvement, and you probably need to add body mounts near the frame splice.

The plates added for the engine mounts are creative, but if the material used is thick enough, and maybe has a little reinforcing under the plates, it should hold the weight and torque of the motor as long as its not killer HP or torque in a racing application. The plates are probably as strong as using 1/8" steel universal motor mounts extended that far in from the frame rails. Gene

 

Thank you for that. I took another long hard look at it this morning before I put it back on the floor.

I’m planning to cap the ends as you suggested. I’m also going to make a transmission crossmember tying into the original chassis X frame that’s been cut back to add the sub frame.

This means that I’ll have to cut the X frame back a little more, but not further than the X intersection.

Then, I’m going to continue the X from the new transmission crossmember into the subframe graft. I think that will tie it all together nicely.

I did put a floor Jack Under the foremost crossmember on the grafted subframe. There is no flex in the graft that way. Obviously, there’s no weight without an engine, transmission, etc., or dynamic force at play in that scenario. Still, a better sign than things moving…

The engine Mount plates are 3/8”, and I agree, very “creative”.

 

Pops looks like he is chomping at the bit to get started. Be a good son.

 

I might suggest that you tie the oem X into the added cap and clip, and leave the GM trans crossmember a separate piece. It would make any future transmission swaps easier, and tying the x into the trans crossmember would not add to the structure integrity of the frame.

Back in the old days I added an off topic box clip onto an off topic car on a local dirt track with much less attachment then your frame has. That poor car had an idiot driver that drove the car into the cement wall several times after the clip job. I had to change all the front suspension 3 times before he finally killed the box frame. That frame splice never shifted nor did it ever move. On the street, your splice will be fine, as long as those bottom welds are good. Gene

 

He was out in the garage with me for a few hours today. I charged his mobility scooter so he could move around in there on his own. He normally doesn’t like to use it, but he was all for it today.

He told me that he spent a lot of time thinking about that front end last night. So that settles it. I’ll be building this car.

 

Alright, well that’s encouraging. I suppose I could also plate over that bottom graft as well. Just to be sure. But the welds don’t look terrible.

First, I need to find a junk SBC & TH350 to see where everything falls. Back in the day, we had these just for mock up, but they’re long gone now.

 

put a 318 in it. they are cheap and everywhere. keep it all Chrysler.

 

I'm a Mopar guy, but I don't think anything is "cheap and everywhere" any more. A guy on a budget needs to use whatever he can find.
If the car will be mostly for cruising around, don't over look a V6 auto possibility. Most have more HP in stock form then the flathead 6 could have built into it.
The coupe in my avatar has a V6 5 speed. Gene

 

First, nice car.
Second, I agree with most of what @gene-koning says about the frame clip. It doesn't look too awful from what I can see. I certainly have seen much worse. I would check it for straightness and alignment and run it. After all, cutting it out just means you have to find some other kind of frame section to weld in. As for the plates welded to it for the motor mounds, I would be tempted to grind them off and start over. They look to be 3/8" or 1/2" steel. Plenty strong but ugly. There has to be a cleaner way to set the motor.
I would also be tempted to do something with the firewall. It looks well enough made, but is ugly to me.
What ever you do with it I will probably like it.

 

Hey thank you. My plan for this car is to leave the body exactly as it is. Budget “as found” kind of build.

I really like this car. I love that I got it out of deep storage and can get it back on the road.

That said, it’s not my dream car. It’s not what I would pick to do a really finished car with. I don’t want to take the time to undo what the previous builder did / started to do.

I’m going to treat it as a fun little project to get Dad out of the house, something to do over the Winter, cruise around town, local car show kind of thing.

I’ll find the next project. This one kind of found me.

I need to get back to work. I’m just sitting here staring again…

 

I also got a nice wall hanger in the deal. Half of the spare hood was pinstriped with flames at some pint.


And this sealed Quaker State oil can to go on my Quaker State oil stand.