Just brought home this 55 Plymouth. Lots of questions/ first vintage car!

Hey guys just picked up this 55 Plymouth plaza four door. Most likely it came from a regular on these board as when I met him for the first time to see the car he was wearing a jalopy journal T.*

I don't know much about the car except that it's a 55 plaza which has had most of its body issues taken care of. All the panels are solid. Very little rust on her anywhere. The floors are solid but lookin alittle crusty. Nothing a sand blaster and some undercoat can't fix though.*

As purchased:
Louvered hood*
Older ford 302 and AOD ******
Dual gl*** packs
Newer bench seats*
12v conversion*
Disk brake swap
Offenhouser intake*
Holley carb*
Pro comp rockers*
Some aftermarket mechanical gauges*

Only having a few issues with her which is what brings me here to you fine men. I've only so far messed with 60's and 70's pickups and a few engine swaps. Nothing of this suspension era. Thus, my questions are all suspension and steering related primarily.*

When driving she feels incredibly loose in the steering wheel. Also, she try's to wander around the road. She still tracks straight, just wanders randomly. I seem to be doing a lot of work to keep her in a straight line if that makes sense.*

It appears as if the front springs were clipped at one time as there are now helpers in the front coils, might this be the issue?*

I want to lower the rear, what do you gentleman suggest? Blocks? Would 3" be too low in the rear for a plaza? Infant find any info on lowering a plaza. No surprise there.*

The cable for the cowl air induction has snapped and I have no idea where it has gone. Does anyone happen to know the path which the cable follows?*

This is embarr***ing, but this is my first AOD trans. Any tips for its use or to maximize its service life?*

Any ideas as to what to fill the grille gap with?*

That's about it for now. So far I'm loving this thing and have replaced a few normal wear items and the fluids. Nothing like wrench time with the dog after a days work to relax you!*

How I bought her:*










Thanks guys!*

 

First make sure you have unmolested springs up front...check the steering box for wear and adjust as needed...check all front end parts for wear...tie rod ends especially...get a proper wheel alignment...good tires and shocks...no reason to handle poorly if you do your homework...Put a stock grille into the front cavity...that's the only part that looks right.....Nice car...There's plenty to keep you busy for a while....Best way to lower the rear is blocks...keep it level...tail draggers handle like ****.

 

Agreed the stock grille looks pretty good. Cowl vent hook up is mechanical. Should be a lever under the center of the dash that goes left to right, connected to a rod that opens and closes the cowl vent. A bit of Fiddle to get working if someone has removed some parts.

 

I have a service manual for that car, let me know if you want some pictures taken of any diagrams or whatnot.

 

^ that would be excellent! Specifically the front end suspension. Thank you sir!

And yes, it appears as if the front springs have helper nut things In between coils. I can't tell if they were cut or are just weak. Will either condition cause this issue?

How does one go about adjusting the steering box? Are they rebuildable? Is this something I can do in my shop or will it need to be taken to a pro? Any adjustment walk throughs?

I've been trying to find the front shocks for sale but can't seem to locate them. The fears can be readily gotten at my local autozone but the fronts are pretty hard to get it seems.

Would the tie rods or any of the front suspension have been changed with the disc swap?

I'll be at the junkyard tomorrow looking for a grille definitely.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

What direction are you going with this car? Ive seen the grill bar on EBAY but I hope you can find one elsewhere. Here`s a great vendor http://www.oldmoparts.com/welcome.htm in M***achusetts . Good luck <O</O

 

Try comparing your front shocks to this data and you might be able to find a suitable replacement.
http://www.monroe.com/***ets/downloads/english/08_MountingLengthSheet.pdf

 

Direction? Basically just lower her, flat black, and some garage interior work. Nothing special. Not looking to restore her or take her to shows. Just want a weekend cruiser that tracks straight. Im not fancy at all

Ill pull a front shock and take it with me to the parts store. Good idea. Thanks!

 

www.kanter.com Front end rebuild parts.

 

Inspect the front suspension and steering for wear. Replace worn parts. Don't forget new shocks all around. Get an alignment. You will be surprised how nice it steers and how easy when set up right. If you have radials give them 32 pounds of air.

If you need to adjust the steering box get the factory manual and follow it exactly. Do not go getting ideas of your own. If you do it wrong you can take out the play but the box will wear out in a month.

I think Fatman makes dropped spindle supports.

 

Check out www.forwardlook.net A lot of knowledge there.

 

On Plyms a few years newer(not sure about your year, info may be on the FW Forum) KYB KG4507 will work great with just a narrowing of the botton mounting bar, made for mid-late 60s Plym that had a wider front shock mount. KYB KG5511 are probably a bolt in.

 

Thanks guys! I'll follow your suggestions.

From what I can find, in 57 the front ends recieved the torsion bar and that's when Plymouth switched to a different front shock. That's about the extent of what I can find. I'll need to pull a shock off and head over to the parts store and start cross referencing.

I was having trouble getting a front shock out this am, are there any special steps/ tools needed besides a 9/16 socket?

Up front are spring helpers. Can't tell if this is due to an overly aggressive spring cut or if the springs simply sagged that much. Is it safe running old sagged springs or sourcing healthy springs and snipping a coil off them. Is there any safety difference?

Thanks!

 

New springs are better. When you are checking for front end looseness don't overlook the steering box mounting bolts. Also idler arm mount and pivot bearing. Some cars had the steering box mounted on rubber bushings, don't know if Plym did this but worth a look.

If you fix the front end to original specs and get it aligned you will be pleased with the ride, handling and steering. For sharper, easier steering add a steering damper and cut down the caster.

 

Any recommendations on a service manual for a car of this age? What am I checking on the arm and steering box? Just that everything is torqued down to spec and all rubber isn't totally disintegrated?

 

1) Jack up car and put on jack stands. Make sure it is secure.

2) Slide a 2X4 under the tire, pry up, and try to move the tire from side to side. It should not move. Have a friend watch the suspension (control arms, spindles, spindle supports) from underneath to identify loose joints, the ones with play in them.

3) Slide underneath and shake hands with all the tie rod ends. See if they are loose. If it has an idler arm check that too. See if its bearings are tight.

4) Have your helper turn the steering wheel back and forth, back and forth. Look for play or movement in the steering box, tie rods, etc.

5) Take a wrench and tighten up steering box mount bolts and idler arm mount bolts if any. Generally check for loose bolts.

By now you should know if you have any loose or worn out parts. If you do, replace them.

With everything new and tight, adjust the steering box CAREFULLY according to the factory repair manual. This needs to be done with an inch pound torque wrench and with the steering disconnected.

Put on new shocks all the way around.

Replace rear spring shackle rubbers if they are worn or beat up.

Take the car to the best alignment shop in town and have an alignment done. Drive home proudly enjoying the feeling of driving a brand new 1955 car (at least as far as the steering and suspension goes).

 

The factory made an excellent manual which they supplied to dealer's service departments. They printed thousands of them and a lot of them are still around. You can buy them from flea market vendors and on Ebay, around $50 bucks. There are also reprints which are not as complete but sell for $20 bucks.

Money well spent for any car. Will save you money and h***les on every job you tackle.

 

sounds like u have bias belted tires. start with the simple things

 

These guys have on on CD http://www.faxonautoliterature.com/1955-1956-Plymouth-Repair-Shop-Manual-on-CD-P13426.aspx

I have one for my Buick and the images are clear and can be blown up to print. Actually with better clarity than I have been able to get using a photocopier on the printed manual. I then use the printed copies to scribble on and get all greasy with no worries about damaging an original manual.
As was stated earlier, the original manuals are excellent.

 

Thought you might like to see what a lowered one looks like. 2" blocks in rear and 2" reset coils in front.

 

Look back on this thread, Girchy-Girchy has a manual. Definately got play in that frontend. When you jack up the car, put the jackstands right under the lower A arm between shock mount and ball joint. That will preload the suspension to check ball joint wear.

 

Rockabillyb***man. NICE RIDE. Had a more door in 1961. 273V8, 3 spd/OD.

 

Put the jack stands under the frame not the suspension arms. You won't be able to check ball joints anyway because a 55 Plym doesn't have any (joke). The suspension needs to be free to move, including the inner control arm bushings.

 

A Ford powered 4dr Mopar. Thats cool and different. Love it!

 

Thanks a ton guys! Can't describe how helpful you gentleman have been! Awesome pictures!

Some updates:
I lifted up the front end and supported the frame rails. Removed the tires and grabbed the rotors on both sides and shook pretty firmly. Zero movement at all. It actually all feels pretty tight. While it was up in the air the tail of the AOD began to drip type F on my floor. I suppose I'll be replacing the seal back there too.

In addition, while it was jacked up I thought it would be a good time to replace the oil. The drainage plug is odd. It has a second smaller plug in the center of it. I removed the smaller plug and the drain hole was full of sludge! I pulled the larger plug and removed the old oil which was pretty dirty. I figure this sludge is to be expected and that I might as well drop the pan, clean the sludge, and install a high volume oil pump at the same time. That's when I realized that because this is a 302 shoehorned into a Plymouth the oil pan is over the front crossmember. Looks like I'll be removing the motor this winter to swap my pump. I've been monitoring the oil pressure for the last couple days and I'm consistently at 20psi during idle and 30psi at speed. Which from what I gather is within spec for a old 302. The oil filter looked clean so I do not anticipate and issues running here until oct when I can start replacing seals and parts.

I was able to pull four spring helpers out of the front and lower the car back down to ground. Doesn't seem too low to me. It's not on bump stops. Sadly, I wasn't able to take it for a ride due to not having the proper size oil filter because the one I bought is too tall for the tight engine bay with huge 302 in it.

Thoughts?

 

Hi volume oil pumps are unnessesary on Fords, plus they tend to cause the pump shaft to twist off, stay with std volume. I recomend Wix filters. I'l use fram numbers for this comment...If the standard PH-8A(Wix # is 51515) won't fit try the PH-43(standard Mopar V8), the next shorter one is the PH-16 used on 351W Police Interceptors with oil coolers. If that won't fit Wix 51335 is about 2" long. Heard the 51311 is somewhat longer but haven't confirmed.

 

Stuka you can't check suspension that way. Put the wheel back on and do the way I told you.

Don't take the pan off. Change the oil and filter and drive it. Do another oil and filter
change in 1000 miles then go to the regular change interval. That will get rid of most of the sludge, the engine will be fine. Sludge settled to the bottom of the pan is normal if the car has been sitting. You don't need an oil pump the one you have is doing its job.

 

^^^^ x2 Don't make more work for yourself. Change the oil/filter and check the front suspension, and drive it for a while. Then you will find out all of the gremlins your primary check missed. High volume pumps on stock/nearly stock ford engines can tend to pump all of the oil to the top of the engine, if you get on it at a stop light etc., and starve the low end with a stock oil pan.

 

Awesome tips guys! Went to the store lastnight and picked up a wix for an interceptor and it fit right on. Looks like it was the same size as the old filter I chucked.

I come from a world of small turbos on foreign cars and I know that sludge is bad bad news. If you guys tell me that I have nothing to worry about then I believe you. I also put the wheels back on and gave them a firm check for play, nothing. Same result, very little wobble horizontal or vertical. Is it possible my gear box just needs some adjustments? I'm not sure what the previous owner replaced when he swapped the car to disc brakes and I haven't been able to reach him in to ask.

Is the rear seal on these AODs that hard to replace? That might be up next on the list if it keeps leaking while the car is back down on the ground.

I guess this is all to be expected with a car 57 years old. Truth is, I'm loving it!

 

Sludge is hard to speculate on. If if is soft & pliable to some extent it probably won't hurt anything & eventually would go away with oil changes. If it looks like asphault then you have to be carefull. Diesel oil (highly detergent) or engine flush could losen it up & large glops of it could clog up your oil pump pick up. How does it look under the valve covers?