Projects 1938 plymouth coupe project

There were some mopar forged I beam axles.

not sure which years or dimensions

 

So im either going to make an attempt at a 2 link air ride or air over leaf in the rear. Anyone have any suggestions on either one? Motor will be stock, weekend cruiser to the local cars and coffee. This will be my first attempt at welding a rear suspension. Im leaning towards a 2 link I design myself ( with the hamb help).

 

Practice welding. A lot. If there’s a class for it close by, sign up. Explain to the instructor what your plans are. Skip the stick, straight to mig

but an air over head is simple. But don’t expect it to act like full bags or hydraulics.
My old boss had an air over leaf set up. Changed height a few inches. Mostly for overload when people set in the back seat.

 

Just saw this tube dropped axle on another thread. I thought it might help getting you a dropped axle.[/QUOTE]

 

Got the motor in from the 59 pickup and sticking with the trend I took it apart. Cylinders look decent. The pickup bellhousing didn't work so I got a 39 bellhousing off ebay. The pressure plate hits so im gonna need the correct one. I also need to find a transmission, that may slow me down.

 

Looks great.

if trans shopping, look for an OD version


https://p15-d24.com/blogs/entry/88-the-rough-field-spotters-guide-for-mopar-overdrives/

 

And there is this
https://www.5speedadapter.com/pricing.html

 

Thanks for the help so far Anthony. Much appreciated. I dont really have any " hot rod" friends so im relying heavily on the help here.

 

Those are good engines, but they are torque biased, not RPM. A step up from the stock 3 speed is going to make it much more modern road friendly. They also had the e brake on the back of the stock one.


You may end up swapping rear axle, too. More modern self energizing brakes, one piece axles, the e brake function, plus more gear ratio selection and easier to find parts.
I grabbed an 8.75 from a 68 Coronet, which are not as easy to find now, but didn't need to be shortened, just spring pads welded on. Those rear springs will work, but are narrower than later stuff.

 

As for the trans, stock was what would be called a mid mount, with the trans hanging off the back. I swapped to a V8 auto and had to fab a mount. It's pretty simple, the cross member that was from the trans, cut to fit between the X member with a plate welded to each side. Those bolt to the member.
This is a 40, so it does vary some.

 

Nice setup for the little 6

 

The local metal supply didnt have the size I wanted for my crossmember, so I made my own. Arc welded it with a root pass first.
Tried mig welding for the first time on my trailing arms

 

Anyone see anything wrong with this notch design? It will be made from 3 inch wide 3/16 flat stock. It will give me about a half of an inch clearance between the axle and notch if the frame was on the floor. The axle is 3 inches wide and the notch is 4 at the top. 110 degree angle.

 

Wire wheeled the frame. Going to paint it semi gloss black with rustoleum
Top and bottom

 

Getter did

 

If you add some radiuses you can save some welds


the rear of the frame will try to sag or pull when the inside plate is welded
Be careful how ya weld it
Save some welding for the top maybe for the last bit of welding

 

What are you using for axle locating, stock leafs? Arms tend to have an arc in the travel, so lowering will shorten the length. Make sure it's where you want it in the fender at ride height. It will be more obvious with the wheel/tire tucked up.
This pic from the first page looks good. just make sure you check this.

 

I took measurements at the stock height from the transmission crossmember to the drive shaft flange on the rear axle . Im keeping the same distance at my new lowered planned ride height. You think thats good enough?

 

Should be, but it's one of those things where if it's off, it will bug you.
You have solid before numbers so that's helpful.

EDIT: Went back and read through again. You are doing a great job and gettin' it done! Good to see. When painting the frame, there are some box sections that could use the wand style sealer or paint to coat inside. It's lasted this long, but a little extra effort will make it rust proof.
This is just an example. I'd look for other cheaper solutions.
https://www.tptools.com/TP-Tools-Rustproofing-Gun-with-Wands,8288.html

 

Primed and painted the frame. Upol brand.

Now comes the fun part of putting it back together.

 

Looking good, can hardly wait to see it coming together.

 

Should I put the body on the frame to do the c-notch ? Im thinking it will hold the frame in place and I will see exactly where to cut floor . Or am I worrying to much ?

 

Heat moves metal. It’s just fact.
We had chassis clamped to very heavy benches.
Still moved.
Won’t make a difference.
How you weld it does
Welding the inner c-notch last yields the most movement in my experience. Welding long continuous welds seems to move more.
The more experience chassis guys can chime in
I’ve had the best luck doing like 1 inch welds and moving around

 

Have had a '35 Plymouth coupe for 26 years. I dropped a SBF in it. Runs like a scalded dog.

 

I built this at a shop where I worked about 14-years-ago.
It lives in Germany now.

 

Got anymore info on that front end ?

 

Forbidden here.

PM me for details.

 

The painted frame looks great.

If you knew you were going to modify the frame, why did you paint it before you did the modifying?

Now you will need to grind off the new paint before you can weld to it, and then you will need to paint part of it again.

May I suggest that maybe you hold off repainting the frame until you are completely done with the modifications? That would include the modification for the front suspension, any motor mounts, a possible transmission mount or crossmember installation, possible brake & master cylinder mounting stuff, and the "C" notch.