Projects Her 48 Fleetline.

We traded a 72 Plymouth Scamp to a buddy of mine that was getting back into A bodies (Im a regular over on www.forabodiesonly.com ). The Scamp was a 3 1/2 year "restoration" that I just got bored with. My friend hadent done anything to the 48 for about a year so we did a strait trade. We kept the slant six from the Scamp and I gave him a 400 mopar with the Scamp.
As much as I love A body mopars when your building a 72 Scamp your kinda stuck building a 72 Scamp and lets face it a Merc grill shell and 59 Caddy tail lights just wouldn't look right in a 72 Scamp. I used to work in a rod shop and grew up working on old stuff.
The 48 has a bolt in (soon to be welded in) Hub to hub R&B kit in it along with a 10 bolt rear that may get swaped for a 8 3/4 mopar rear. This will be my better halfs daily driver when it is on the road so it is getting a beefed up 225 slant six and a A500 mopar auto OD ******. Exhaust is just a set of used Clifford headers into a pair of flowmasters and will dump out infront of the rear wheels from a pair of ....NOS Challenger T/A -AAR Cuda tips hehehehe to hell with the purists!!!






Bye bye dime a dozen 350/350


Hello slant six!

 

The slant fits way better than I would have thought and I can get away with useing the stock 73 and up spool mounts from an Abody. I just have to fab up some frame mounts and mess with the ****** mount.








I decided to s**** the fan due to the lack of "wiggle room" we will just used a good electric unit infront of the raidiator.

 

I started messing with the dash and we decided to go with the custom guage insert that Gary (the P.O.) made. I welded it in and had to cut about 1/2 an inch off the trim peice that goes on the driver side of the dash. The whole thing will go back to red after I rework the factory radio hole so we can put in the modern CD player.
Im going to use some older SW or Sun guages for the small ones and a VW speedo and to replace the factory clock Nikki has a wind up clock with an evil looking cat that she wants to put in there..."Yes babe, you can have the kitty clock because the ***le is in your name"

 

I love Craigslist!!! I found a guy that was parting out a 56 Caddy sooooo.....







I didn't think that the contours would work out as well as they do. That saves me from a bunch of cutting. It looks like I will have to narrow it a few inches in the center and chop up the fenders to set it back into the front end and then just fab up some bumper brackets.

Now what the hell am I ganna do for the rear? Anyone have some pics of a 40's stinkbug car with fins of some sort?

 

Wow... you just gotta love 47 chevy's.... they are usually overlooked!

Keep us posted on the caddy bumper... I'm not sure yet?

 

I dig the older mopars but i'd say ya made a good trade. That side profile got me thinkin' that cruisin in your 48 will be a lot more fun then riding around in a scamp. The 48 looks pretty damn cool without any bumpers. She should be a real gas sipper with the slant six too.

 

I like that!!! I have a '48 Aerosedan that I'm likely going with a '69 440 Mopar engine in it, and a '48 coupe that is getting a 250 Chevy engine and 700R4.

Looks great!

 

I did the same thing with the gauges in my coupe.

 

Those cars have nice lines, but the Cadillac bumper doesn't suit the car. I'd leave the grille and fenders alone and make some nerf bars.

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

I thought about going with the stock grill and no bumpers then the stock potmetal grill and nerf bars but I kinda think that would be like keeping the 350/350 in it. Hell Im putting a 52 Packard grill between the stock headlight buckets in my 53 Merc pick up. We don't want to build a cookie cutter car and she likes the Caddy bumper and seeing as how it's her car, whatever makes her happy!

 

Cool Fleetline, but I would have to agree with keeping the stock grill. It was one of Chevy's best looking cars; from the body to the grill and bumpers.
But that's just my two cents.
Your car, do what you please with her. Interested to see what it will look like when its done. Keep us posted.

 

That car looks good. My wife has a 48 pontiac and I have a 57 cadillac bumper that I have been tossing around the idea of putting on there. If you go with the caddy bumper you ought to try and find a set of 55' oldsmobile headlight rings to put on there to. Give it that mean I'm gonna eat you look. Wish my wifes car had as nice a body as yours is.

 

That is cool.

Small world. For nearly a year I used the same avatar and my name is Frank.

 

My dogs name is Frankenstein but we call him Frank or Frankenmutt (even tho he's not a mutt, Blue Heeler), my grampas name was Frank and I like to build Frankencars.
That pic of Nanook with all 4 in the air has been one of my faves since I was a little kid.

 

nice to see that slant 6 going in that chevy! that scamp was belly ****on as that 350/350 combo you took out,great trade! keep us posted on the front end treatment it's gonna be killer. nothing like a fresh idea thanks!

 

Why are you trying to turn chevy into a Mopar? you should have just kept the Scamp

 

Try 70s mercedes headlights sunk way back with a bit of a hood over the top of the headlight.

 

I know Im a new guy on the forum and it more than likely wont make me any friends but that has to be the friggin dumbest comment I have ever heard comming from someone that is on a message board for building custom cars.
That is the whole point of building a custom car changing parts! Why would anyone try to make a chevy out of a ford by dropping a 350 in it?What should I have used a flathead?...I just sold the one I had and we didn't want one, a 350/350?...Wow never seen that done before. Im going with the slant because it is a good running motor, it was in the shop, Nikki wanted it and it is her car, It's not a chevy motor, we like mopar motors and because I can!
It is hard to tell when it's in type if someone is beeing sarcastic so if you were just ignore the rant.

55dude, thanks for the nice words and you bet I will have a ****load of pics comming.

 

those headlights need to be frenched bad!!!! but I love the car, got any plans for paint or keeping the yellow?

 

Right now it is in yellow John Deere primer but later she wants it to be a real dark cherry. I agree, we need to do something with the headlights they are friggin ugly! Im still trying to decide what to do with them along with the rear. It will need something to ballance out the front.

 

Same question applies when you put a SBC in something that's not a Chevy! He stated he wanted an economical driver, he had the 225 in the shop, and a 350/350 install is soooo original-thinking, you know! That's why I'm doing the 440 install in my Aerosedan soon!

Frankenstein, nice build! Mine is not nearly as close to moving as yours - it's just a roller for a few more weeks, then I'm having the mounts and trans crossover built and welded in (my welding skills are not good!). I'll get the engine and trans stuck in, then steering column, then it's on to body work! Yee-ha!

I was thinking late '90s Chrysler Dark Cherry for mine, with a dark silver somewhere in there. Interior is a loonnng way off!

 

Way to go with the slant 6. I had one in a Valiant that I drove to college. I couldn't kill it and I tried. I've always wanted to do a project with another one. It's especially cool as your replacing a 6 with a 6. In my opinion one of the sweetest sounds is a dual exhaust 6 with split manifold and two gl***pasks.
Keep us posted on the progress.

Frank

 

I personaly like to keep Chevys with Chevys, Mopar with Mopar, and so on. But, I can appreciate a change in motors to do something different. What I can't appreciate is saying the head lights are "ugly", because there not!

I just feel I needed to opine.

 

i like it !! you do nice work thanks for sharing the build pictures , great cruiser

 

While that wasn't the wittiest comment I ever heard, certainly wasn't the dumbest. And you need a HUGE at***ude correction, building custom cars is not about changing parts, it's about improving the car. Just like some of us would say putting a chevy in a dodge isn't improving the dodge, expect it to go the other way sometimes. Good luck with the project, it's got a lot of potential.

 

Just a few more mock up pics. Exactly 5 inches out of the center will even everything up.

 

I think that bumper will look great! Nice project...

 

A front bumper flipped upside down on the rear works real well. Unless you like keeping the big platform out back. Dig your project.......

 

looking good dude! that bumper will work great. keep the pic's coming.

 

Ohhhho Im goin to hell for this mwuahahahahahahahaha!!! It WAS a damn good chebby fender hahahaha!
Im going to bend up an L bracket to get welded inside the bottom of the fender so I can bolt the dagmars to the fender. My goal is to have it so the whole bumper can be unbolted when it's done and it wont hang down any lower than the stock fenders did.

Even Frankenmutt was wonderring why the hell Im cuttin up a perfectly good fender.



Just needs a fill peice.




Should I make a fill peice to go behind the end of the bumper or open the wheelwell up to meet with the bumper? I can't decide.

Now to go chop off the otherside!