Picked up my old mans 48 plymouth deluxe, and started getting it down! It had no motor or trans... I been picking up motor and trannys for real cheap...patience.
BCC offers a great welding course,at least they used to.I took it and learned a lot from it.if you want to see what your car would look like chopped check this out. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=307886&highlight=unorthodox
rustychrome: that chop looks sick! i love how the coupe version looks chopped. rodknocker: i was actually thinking about taking that welding course at bcc next semester. im doing dual enrollment in high school right now so i get 3 bcc classes to take. some of my friends are already in that class. i love how the 4d sedan looks chopped. it looks so beast.
ive been really busy with school and stuff lately but ive been getting some progress coming. I got the new frame under the car and im making the body mounts. i got the old floor cut out and the floor structure is around 50% done. for the rockers i used 2x3 angle iron and 3/4" box for the step up piece and im doing about a 5" body drop. ill post pics soon
My welds did improve a bunch from just repeated practice and i got a auto darkening helmet! I made the floor structure out of 3/4" box tubing and now im tackling the driveshaft hump. first pic is the floor structure is just the inside of the car second pic shows the 4"(?) body drop i did and how I made the rockers. they are made from 2x3x3/16" thick angle iron with 3/4" box welded on top of it. third pic is of the hammer and dolly set i got for christmas from harbor freight showing that this product contains lead!! yay
Looking good nice project. I have been working on a 51 plymouth for about 10 years. This thread makes me want to get my S**t together on mine.
yeah thats how i was with someone elses build thread. u just watch their progress and then that gives u some motivation to get some progress.haha
How can you stay in school with a project like that? What kind of welding are you doing for the frame?
im using a lincoln weldpak100 with flux core wire. it can weld up to 1/4" thick so it should be good. it a lot of work to do school and this project and working on becoming a pro skateboarder.
alright ive been getting a lot done in the past few days with a lot of help from my dad. i got the s10 frame back on the ground and 4 body mounts are made. i am going to make another 6. the front mounts that i made are modified s10 bed mounts with the factory mount on the body and the back ones that i made are from 3"x3/16" flat stock. another good thing about the s10 frame is that its 1" longer than stock so it centers the wheel in the rear fender. the roof at ride height is about 5'6"
alright my neighbor offered me a 350/350 if i pull it from his wrecked 63 impala so i pulled the plugs and sprayed pb blaster in all the spark plug holes and got it to turn over and got that then i started pulling it out. im probably gonna end up using it for temporary to get my car moving then switch it to a mopar engine later with a turbo 350 trans to mopar bell housing. the motor is ready to pull now though so ill have that out by tomorrow or the next day depending on the temperature here. also the good thing about the 350 is that it will be a direct fit to the S10 frame
Is it still going to be cheaper by the time you fabricate all new body mounts and cut out half the rear floor to make it fit the frame, make all new radiator support mounts, and alter both ends of the frame or the grilles/bumpers so everything fits? Plus alter the wheelbase of the frame so it's the same as the car? That's a hell of a lot of welding rod and a hell of a lot of time. nevermind, I see you're already in the middle of it.
actually yeah so far half the body mounts are done and that was free minus a little welding wire. the wheelbase is just slightly longer so it fits better than the stock frame so no cutting there. i already made a new floor structure which i would have had to do anyways and now im going into the trunk area floor structure which needed to be done badly. i was going to get rid of the stock radiator anyways so i would have needed new mounts on that and both end of the frame just got cut straight off.
i didnt want to chop mine for now but possibly later. mine is all shaved too. what kind of tail lights does ur 47 have? they look pretty good
ok,i've read the whole post an wanted to say that I have almost the same exact project.Last year while playing on craigslist I came across a 48 Plymouth 4 door for $2000.After some negotiation I bought the car for $800 and a rusted out Dakota.The man was doing a full frame off restoration on it,it has the original 48 frame outfitted with an s-10 front end and rear end,a 350 chevy V-8 and 350 trans. The frame ,drive train,suspension,and brakes are all complete.He dropped the body back on the frame and started to do the body work when he went bankrupt.Nice to get a project 1/2 way done.He started to weld the front fenders and hood for a flip forward front end but it weighs a ton.Im trying to find any fiberglass 1 piece front end that will fit on this car.Anybody that can help me with that will probalbly same me a ton of money.Any suggestions?
Idk if theres a fiberglass one piece front end but if u find one let me know. Btw oddrod all the p15 front ends are the same for all body styles so it could be a possibility that someone makes one
Do somthun even if its wrong. Just dont be afraid to do it over. You can talk about doin something until your as old as the rest of us and never get anything done. If the s10 frame is a bad idea you will know later but you will be a better welder. A lot of really nice cars have something that didn't work' just dont be afraid to do it over just because its too hard or you dont want to admitt you were wrong. Learn from every thing you do, thats what lifes about but be careful cause some of the most forward thinkin builders are no longer with cause they went a little too far.
alright i got the body attached to the frame on four body mounts for now and got it rolled out of the garage. the trans hump and the structure at the front of the floor is almost fully complete. i got the motor mounts built but i didnt take a pic of those yet and the trans im making a new trans crossmember because i moved the motor back 3" from the stock s10 mounts. also my neighbor gave me a 1 piece driveshaft and it fit perfectly! so i put the yoke and u joint from the s10 driveshafts on it.
nice work 6berry i wish you where my lil brother as far as a fiberglass one piece nose there is a company that makes the fenders and hood (separate) in fiber i guess you could attach them together i built a one piece nose car before to much trouble to get it stable (road vibrations and all ) it really works for dragsters cause they only go down one road not a highway
hey joel do u remember the website for the company that makes those? my dad used to have a 71 chevelle with a one piece front and it was wobbly until he built a structure for the inside then it was solid.
i know someone from the p15-d24.com forum can chime in on the info or you can check the vendors page from that web site and find them from there i dont remember it
You're off to good start! I've had my 48 Plymouth since I was 15, (it was only a 36 year old car at the time, though) but haven't started on it yet..... It's probably a good thing I didn't, or it would have been done up in some hideous 80's pastel paint job. Anyway, eventually I'm going to chop it and go for an early style custom/ tail-dragger, skirts, etc.... with 331 Hemi power.
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