Projects 1948 Plymouth Coupe Custom build

Car looks great!

 

Been a while since a real update, spent most of last year working an average of 60 hours a week, so getting work done on the car has been slow going. I did manage to drive the Plymouth 1-2 days a week most of the year. That really got me thinking about all the work I need to get done on it!
First priority is getting this BW OD rebuilt and installed. Mid December I started my "One piece at a time" plan, and rebuilt the selector mechanism.
With some machine work and welding, I managed to take .015" of slop out of a couple places, and polished all of the rubbing surfaces. I also found earlier selector levers that are much shorter, hopefully they will work to reduce lever travel.
I have now started on the rest of the trans. It is a little slow, between only working on it during my lunch breaks, and tracking down the parts to switch to the stronger "strut" synchros.

Last week I got sick of the gas smell that has plagued the car for a couple months, so I swapped the leaky Carter Ball and Ball for the Carter WA-1 I rebuilt over a year ago. Went surprisingly well, and with a little tuning runs quite well. Seems much smoother than the previous carb, with less of a "wet sucking sound". While tuning, I noticed that it was producing fuel mist like a smoke machine, vs the slightly broken up drip of the B&B.
Only down side is that it doesnt seem to like cold starts, so yesterday I finally installed a choke cable. The B&B went 2 years of chokeless cold starts.
I think it could use a little more tuning, Idle is a little too rich, but leaned out it acts like it needs more accelerator pump.

I took a couple vacation days for my anniversary and birthday, so I finally took it to a tire shop and had the wheels balanced. All were a little bent, so we put the best on the front. 3 out of 4 were out of balance. Now no more vibration above 60.

This allowed me to hit a new top speed on the expressway: 86 mph. Power was -just- starting to break up, maybe a little valve float? Keep in mind this is with 3.9 rear gears and the standard 3 speed still. I do not understand why so many people think these cars can't run 65...I run 70 with traffic routinely, with power to spare.

Next up I am going to make a second try to get my dual point distributor installed, hopefully I can get a condenser to survive this time....​

 

Well, it is nearly time for me to wrap this thing up.
My wife and I have decided to make some big life changes: I have quit my job and we are selling everything and moving our two young boys and us to southeast Asia, for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately the Plymouth cannot come along, so I am going to tidy up all the loose ends I can, and get it sold.
Luckily, the area we are going has a big vintage car scene, and mechanics, paint and upholstery are affordable.
Unfortunately, it is a slim chance that the Plymouth replacement will be HAMB friendly.

SO! All that out of the way: What have I gotten done the last six months?
A few things.
I got the dual point distributor and Mallory "best" coil installed and working.

After some trouble with the battery, and a reckless 12v to 6v jumpstart or two, I installed a new, larger 6V battery, a NOS autolite solinoid, and a set of custom 00 gauge battery and starter cables. A new battery hold down, some stickers and some red paint has it looking right at home. It spins over faster than ever, so I am very pleased.


I swapped back on a fresh B&B carter, because I could not tune out the off idle stumble.
It had been built by a self proclaimed expert, but is a total mess.
So after a few months of poor running, leaking and being a jet too rich, I finally found the time to sit down the the 413s WA-1 again. Poking around I found that I had mistakenly put the accelerator check ball in the wrong spot (under the vacuum piston is NOT where it goes)
Unsurprisingly, the off idle stumble is gone, and am happy to be rid of the Ball & Ball once again.

I have been chasing a misfire since installing the B&B, I assumed that it was loading up the plugs, but after going back to the WA-1, the miss is still there, although better. I pulled and examined all the spark plugs, and found that 5 looked good (although a little rich) but one had a small crack in the insulator, right by the electrode. I believe this is grounding out under high load, causing the miss. This evening I will find a spare set of plugs for it to install.

 

Best of luck to you and your family on the major life change. Sorry the Plymouth has to go, but family first. If it ends up you can dip back into autos as a hobby later, perhaps you can post over it the OT section.

 

I hadn't seen the OT section, I will be sure to post some stuff there.
It seems that the housing market is dead for the year, we are going to survive here till spring and try again. Son in the meantime, it is back to working on the Plymouth. Besides, its my only car now!
Plugs fixed my misfire, and it has been running sweet ever since.
So naturally, I had to go and make it inoperable right away! Yesterday I started on installing the BW Overdrive I rebuilt last spring, and a fresh clutch.

I got the old transmission out with little fuss, other than I had to sacrifice a section of my exhaust that ran across the tail of the trans.

I will also be installing a fresh clutch linkage and less worn out shifter linkage.


Found why the transmission leaked from the front: whoever installed the trans last did not put the gasket between it and the bellhousing.
Today I am going to get the clutch out and maybe the flywheel. I am also going to replace the rear motor mounts and start cleaning and repairing all the wornout linkage bits.

 

Weld some header flanges on so you can drop that piece of ex pipe when needed.

 

Thats a great idea, but I think I am going to have to reroute that section anyway, it is almost up tight to the tailshaft of the stock 3spd, but the r10 OD has a fat ass.
I will see if I can manage flanges on the new section though

 

Best of luck on the move.
Bummer you can’t take the Plymouth with you.

 

I recently found a vlog of a british couple who drove across SE asia in their UK licenced van. I need to figure out if I could do something similar, I would LOVE to have the Plymouth as our Thailand roadrip car.
Anyway, I got the clutch and flywheel out today. They had 3 matching hot spots and oil on the hub of the disc, so that explains the chatter.
Do yall think this flywheel can be saved? The hot spots have some fissures, but it feels pretty flat still.

The second flywheel is off a 230, so the flange depth is around .065" too deep.
Should I go pull the flywheel that is on my spare engine and bring both to the machine shop?

 

Luckily, my spare came off easy, and was not cooked. Dropped it and my pressure plate off monday at the machine shop, they ground it and balance matched the PP to the wheel.
I found a 10" diaphragm clutch that is supposed to fit to upgrade from the stock 9" borg&beck. The FW is drilled for both sizes from the factory, but the bigger pattern uses 3/8 bolts instead of the 5/16" that the stock clutch uses. A set of ARP SBC bolts fit perfectly.
However, when I went to install it in the car, I found that the PP hits the bell, when the clutch disk is in place. Without it, it fits fine.
I am hoping to grind the 2 spots (clutch fork windows) enough to let me install it. Definitely frustrating, as no one mentioned this issue when I researched this clutch set up.

 

looks like 130-2201 is the ARP number, for the old eyes out there.
Sorry to hear it's going to take work to get things to fit.
Documenting this at least might help the next rodder to go down the path.

BTW, I've gone back and read the build. You've done the car proud! It's really nice and with all the small and large fixes you have done it is not just a looker but a driver!

 

I appreciate that. Sometimes it is easy to forget how much work we all put into these old things.
Yup, that is the correct number. Those are the 3/8" bolts for the big clutch, the small pattern uses 5/16 bolts. ARP should have something that would work for those too. 1" under head length is pretty much perfect.

I am going to tackle that bellhousing tomorrow, it is going to work, somehow!

 

The truck bells must have a touch more space in em or have the clutch fork windows laid out differently.

I was able to use my die grinder and a burr to cut the clearance I needed to install everything.

I forgot to take a victory picture with the transmission in.

I will get all the driveshaft, linkages and OD wiring harness installed tomorrow.

 

Got the car home Sunday, Tuesday took it for a quick drive after a little work and the condenser died. I suspect it had gotten wet when I topped up my radiator, since it is mounted on the outside of the distributor.
1 side of the road condenser instal later, and it is back to running great.
The OD wiring went OK, once I figured out that I had 2 switches with internal shorts. The kickdown switch, and the interrupter switch (may be mopar specific, but its a electrical cut off when trans is in reverse)
I found a NORS US made interupter, and replaced the kickdown with a dash mounted toggle switch, and now everything works like it should.
I am not sure if I was just not familiar with the 'feel' of the OD going in and out of freewheeling, but I felt like when freewheeling, (1st gear at 20mph, 2500rpm) when going from coasting back to the throttle it felt like it was slipping for just a split second. After some discussion with @Cosmo49, I was concerned that the springs of my freewheel sprocket were weak.
While researching, I found several people saying to avoid synthetic oils in the BW OD, because they will cause the balk ring to slip. I had used GM Synchromesh oil, which isnt labeled as synthetic, but every source I could find said that it is semi-synthetic.
I drained and refilled with "Ford Tractor transmission" 90w GL1, and the slipping seems to have stopped.
However I belive part of what I was feeling was just normal freewheeling operation. IE if I am coasting @20 mph, which should be 2500rpm, and I step on the throttle but only bring the revs up to 2000rpm, it will feel like it is adding nothing, like a clutch slipping. Once revs get to where they match the speed, it smoothly goes back to pulling.
Hopefully that is normal.

 

!!!!Synthetic is a hard NO!!!

 

Haven’t been on here in years, life got in the way. Nice car!
Hopping up a 49 Dodge B1b-108 (1/2 ton truck). Gave up fighting the stock 4.78:1 rear axle and truck 3 on the floor, top speed new was 53 or 54mph. Going with a Ford 7.5” 3.42s and drums, 5spd stick, 57 Fury 230 with some “massaging”.
Best wishes on your relocation.

 

Just took a quick speed read through this thread what a neat car. Would be amazing to see it cruising down the road in Thailand!

 

Some of the heaters on these cars had a separate blower motor for the defrost. That is why there is a separate switch labeled defrost.

What's the scoop on the DeSoto brake swap? I've never heard of that before. I'm assuming they are larger?

 

I am glad that was the only problem.
I found people warning about it, but no one actually describing the symptoms it causes.

Thanks, sounds like your truck will be a real runner! These old flatheads are great engines, but they sure can benefit from more gears!

I have more research to do, but I think that I am going to settle for a US road trip. The wife and I are talking about trying to get to Viva Las Vegas.

Legalities aside, there is a reason that SE Asia favors the (small) cars, and cab over vans and trucks. I am concerned that I lack the skills to navigate the Plymouth in Bangkok traffic. Actually, I am stressed about driving AT ALL in Bangkok, period. That shit is nuts.

The Desoto and Chrysler brakes are 12" Dodge has 11" and poor ol plymouths got economical 10" brakes.
I forget the exact year ranges for which are what, but any 51-54 Desoto would have the 12" brakes. You need the spindles and uprights as well. From there, everything just bolts in place of the same Plymouth bits. I believe this is true for the 11" Dodge stuff too.

 

Fair points there! Cross country to Vegas would be quite an adventure!

 

Piece of CAKE!

Ben

 

Just curious, but out of all of the places in the world, what is drawing you to Bangkok Thailand?

 

Dealing with kingpins is why you see adaptor kits....

 

The idea went pretty well with the wife, so the hard part is done!

It is pretty OT, So I will send you a PM.

 

Well, we are getting down to the end. We leave next sunday.

I still have a couple little things to button up, even though I have 1000 other things to be working on. I know some of the little stuff the next guy isnt even going to notice, but damnit i want it done.
I am really going to miss this car. The OD has been a great addition. I have found it really enjoyable in-town, as the freewheeling reduces clutch use, and in areas with block to block stopsigns, reduced shifting, since I can leave it in first, get up to speed, then coast (at idle) to the next stop sign. Being able to downshift into first is nice too.

 

As a true fan of all things "MOPAR" just curious what the back story on the very cool, unique, MOPAR 6 volt battery is?
Gotta love the wording on it, "normally needs water only"
That is a beautiful car as well!
Thanks from Dennis.

​

 

Here is a better picture of it.
It is just a plain ol' Napa battery, with a sticker and a little spray paint.
The Mopar sticker is from Ebay, it matches the logo cast into the '40s and '50s batteries depicted in mopar parts ads. The caps I popped off and hit with a couple coats of gloss red spray paint. I left the top barcode sticker for warranty purposes, but It would look better without it.
Modern batteries always look shitty to me. I would love a sticker that went on the top to make it look like a tar top....