Projects I know you guys may hate this Idea but????

I been having a crazy Idea, I ran across a 51 plymouth ( rough rat rod material) CHEAP! any way was thinking of taking a front clip off a 1990's buick park ave with 3800 v6 "I KNOW IT'S FWD!" and grafting on the front of the plymouth making it fwd. Has any one seen anything like this done?? I know this is not what most of you are after, But I thought it would make a cool cheap custom. I would not cut up a car like this if it was nice. I figured it would give me all the suspension,brakes, steering. etc

 

Oh god NOOOOOoooooooo You said RAT ROD!!!! Run!!! Don't do it!!!!!

If you have the parts and time then make it work just take alot of pics. We did a 40 Ford panel for a guy in a wheelchair and used a caddy bigblock front wheel drive set up because we had to lower the rear floor so he could get his wheelchair in and out so there was no room for a driveshaft. It worked great and got alot of looks.

I say do it and save a rusty old car from the scrap pile.

 

Just trade the Park avenue for an older Caprice, Fifth Avenue, Crown Vic, Malibu or something like that (Most "people" would gladly trade a RWD full size car for a 90's FWD compact), and you may even get some money back on the deal. Saw off everything except the floorpan and firewall, and graft on your Plymouth's sheetmetal to this floorpan. It'd be much easier and probably more satisfying in the long run.

I did this with my '54 ford truck an an S-10 chassis. It requires some pretty good welding and fabrication skill however.

 

I would say do it,
a 51 with 90's power could be a good daily driver.

Ok it's not the way most folk on here would think,
but I can see that the plan has some merit.

 

"Dare to be different!" I say go for it! It's just tin, and it's yours. Save a lot of driveline mismatch problems, too. Slam it to the dirt, with the rear axle from the Buick, and flatten out the floor. Cool!

 

GO fer it. Figure if its just sitting somewhere rusting at least you working on it is a step ahead. The FWD idea is whack, but whatever, give it a go.

 

No I've been pretty lucky so far. Please don't ruin my luck! Just because it's cheap and you are able to do something does NOT mean you should try it.

That's what the guys said in 1952..."It's just an old 3W Ford coupe. Weld the doors up and let's go racing. Nobody want's this rough piece!"

There is no way in hell that you can make that look attractive. I'd rather see the car parted out to save other cars than made into an abortion. JMHO

 

There must be something better you can spend your time and money on. File this idea under S.T.U.P.I.D.

 

Dude, cheap Chysler 5th Ave's with running 318 / autos are out there for a dime a dozen, seriously. A buddy of mine just bought one, running, driving, and stopping for 300 bones. You could junk the fucking thing out for 200 after raping it for parts, and have 100 into the entire drivetrain.

Why go through the hassle of a FWD conversion?

 

Go ahead and build it, then let us hate it. And QUIT using the term rat rod to describe anything in primer or not built by Foose. Gee whiz some of you either don't learn well, or don't read before you post. If you really like to build rat rods...find another forum.

dj

 

So, I guess that no one would like my idea of a solar powered shoebox.

 

Something tells me the track width of the FWD setup is going to be wider than the fenders on the 51.

Tires sticking out the sides of the front always look kinda cobby.

 

you might want to try that somewhere else then in mo. one burn out and you'd be done for the winter.

 

Does anyone live close enough do give him a junk punch? Death to all front wheel drive cars!!!!!!

 

Well said......

 

(not comparing this piece of art to the car under discussion BUT, I make my point)

 

Now wait guys. How many projects have we done that we couldn't be talked out of only to find that it was the stupidest thing we ever did!?!
Think of the learning experience! Think of all the other projects that rust head will dream up and think, "no,I made this mistake once, won't do it again."
I believe that there is no better teacher than failure.

 

My '47 Plymouth is now sitting on a '74 Monte Carlo chassis. Since I went into this project knowing almost nothing, I'm happy to share what I've learned.

Fit:
If you have garage space for both of them, you could do a quick mock up by pulling the front clips and setting the Plymouth clip on the Buick. That would give you an idea of how everything will fit, what will need to be cut, whether or not the wheels will fit inside the fenders, etc. The firewall may need to be cut out or changed. You'll probably need to use the assembly that holds the pedals and steering column to keep everything aligned. Measure both steering columns to make sure the new wheel will be in the right place.

Brakes:
The Buick probably has anti lock brakes. I'm not sure how the Plymouth rear brakes will work, so you might want to plan on replacing them. Will the Buick axle fit?

Fuel:
The Buick is probably injected, and I suspect has a fuel pump in the tank. You'll probably have an interesting job either making the pump fit in the Plymouth tank or the Buick tank work in the Plymouth. A fuel cell might be a better option.

While the hacker in me thinks making the air bag sensors work on the Plymouth would be awesome, your probably better off replacing the steering wheel.

I won't say not to do it, because if people had told me that I wouldn't be driving *MY* car out of the shop later this week. There is a lot involved, and if I knew then what I know now, I would have done quite a few things differently.

 

SORRY! Didn't know " rat rod" was not allowed! I knew I'd get a lot of flack for this one, hence the title of the post. I don't have my mind set on this idea, and haven't taken measurments yet. Just wondering if any one had info on a simular set up. Remember the buicks had a supercharged 3800. I didn't expect to sell any one on this Idea. LOL! At least there weren't any death threats!

 

Not only is it a bad idea, the amount of work involved will most likely end in it never being done or done poorly. BedPimp detailed just some of the issues you will run into.
You'd be much better off with a RWD donor car.

 

My biggest issue is that the arrangement of all the parts will screw up more visual aspects than you might think. All the early-50s car to FWD conversions I've seen have had one of the following:

1) Move the front wheels (and wheel openings) rearward

2) Extend the front sheet metal in front of the front wheel opening.

Compare the distance from the front axle centerline to the front of the radiator on both cars and you'll see what I mean.

Either way, it will look like the car had a massive panic stop and the body shifted forward on the frame.

Now, if there was a RWD tranny that could be mated to the supercharged 3800.....

 

Get a 77-87 K frame, figure in resale when you get tired of it.<p>And they hate my threads?

 

Front wheel drive cars suck to drive and to work on. Rods are supposed to be fun, you're starting one with 2 strikes against it already. Now, add the fact that you keep calling it a Rat, and that tells me you don't plan to put a lot of effort into it, and I'd say that's strike 3.

 

Off Topic.

Not Traditional.

Etc...