Features The 1955-1956 Plymouth and Dodge Thread

Well, the photo did not upload...let's try that again...

 

Saw your car in person at Santa Maria in 2010...I had the gray and blue 1949 International up the row from you...nice work on your Plymouth...

 

hey all, couple things, my 56 poly8 pickup started making a ticking noise -sounds like its needing some valve love. hopefully nothing an adjustment wont fix but... so who knows what the inlet/exhaust clearances are supposed to be. I'm not sure if its the 241 or 270 and i'm not sure how to find out by the motor numbers. the other thing is someone tried to steal the dodge emblem off the front of the pickup. busted off the DO and just left the DGE anyone have one they could part with for a fair price?
thanks for the help, I appreciate it!

 

Howdy again. It has been a while since I have been on here. I had a 56 Plymouth Belvedere 2dr hardtop project a couple years back. Unfortunately, I had to sell the car. I have regretted it everyday since, not that I had much of a choice. Well, my love for these cars hasn't faded. I just sent off a down stroke on a car I hope to be able to pick up in a couple weeks. It is a 1956 Plymouth Plaza 2dr Business Coupe V8 Push button car. I am thinking they didn't make too many of these cars. The fella I am getting the car from aquired it from the original owners daughter. The car came out of Grand Forks ND , and has been in storage mainly since sometime in the 70's. The fella I am getting it from drove it into his pole shed approx 6 years ago. I can't wait to go get it, and comb over every square inch of it. After it's home I'll post some pics.

I can't believe this thread is still going, by the way. I posted on it a couple years back when I had my 2dr hdtp.

 

Plan to go get the 56 Plaza tomorrow. Hope it all works out okay....

 

Did you pick it up?

 

Yeah, I did. I need to get some pics on here. I just have a couple of when I got it up on the trailer. I try to get to it tomorow, or Saturday. I'm pretty excited about it. I pulled the plugs, and fogged the engine. I got her barred over yesterday. I just want to drain the fuel system, rebuild the carb, slap some new plugs in, change the oil, and try to pop her off. It appears to have the original spark plug wires. Should I change those out? It needs a battery, and I am going to replace all the batt cables, to make sure it has a good charge and ground. It is going to be a very busy weekend. I want to have this car ready and road tested to drive 70+ miles to the back to the 50's car show at the MN state fair grounds June 23rd. She is going to need tires, exhaust, who knows what electrical, trans service, belts, hoses, brake work, coolant flush, diff fluid, etc... A lot of work indeed!

Also, does anyone know, does a 820-15 bias ply tire, like the firestone fit well in the rear wheel well? I was thinking 775-15's in front, and 820-15's in the rear. Blackwalls for me...By the way, does anybody know a more economical 15" blackwall bias ply option than Coker? I just have a hard time spending almost $200 a tire. Thanks, and I will add photos soon.

 

Here is a couple pics of when I got the Plaza drug out of it's barn. That's the guy I got it from in one of the pics. Upon really looking over the car, it was hit hard in front at some point in time. The whole front clip is going to need some attention. Oh well, they can't all be creampuffs!

 

Ya need to post that on the FL site. That should be great ride, Congrats!!!

 

Thanks! What is the FL site?

 

Forward look site?

 

Google "The Forward Look Network" and come join us!!!

 

A Plaza 2-door sedan with a V8 and PowerFlite is certainly not a common combination, but then North Dakota farmers were known for ordering uncommon combinations. I worked for a Minot Chrysler dealer in '64, and we special ordered a New Yorker 4-door hardtop with a 3-speed manual transmission on the floor for one old guy who didn't trust automatics.

 

does anybody have pics of there dash with modern gauges. my speedo works ok all other gauges are fried i would like to leave the stock look because the stock look is very cool any help would be great these cars have so much personality i dont want to get away from that

 

i forgot i have a 55 4door wagon (suburban)

 

rear wheel wells are pretty tight but i did stuff 245/45/17 under mine

 

Like you, I want a stock look with modern gauges, but I haven't got to that point yet. Fortunately, the sizes are the same, so the challenge will be to find a way to install the stock bezels on aftermarket gauges. In my case, I also want to replace the speedometer, but will need a custom size to do so.

I hope to find a gauge manufacturer that is willing to sell me the guts from one of their speedometers, and also make a custom-sized face so I can install it in my own housing. I know there would be no warranty, even if they would sell one. New Vintage USA did design a custom face for a speedometer for my '64 Valiant, but it's smaller than the one in my '56.

I also had to design a custom dash bezel to mount the gauges in my Valiant, and it has been a challenge, but I'm almost there. It will be a good practice run for my Belvedere.

 

its going to be a challenge for sure. Ive torn up two old gauges so far trying to get it to look right. If I come up with something Ill let you know and post some pics

 

Yeah, it would be neat to know just what some peoples reasoning is when they ordered their vehicles. This Plaza I just picked up is radio delete, manual everything, and has zero armrests. None. But the guy who ordered the car had to have the V8 Powerflite. It had a hitch mounted on it too! I wonder what he was pulling around. Weird...

 

my 2door 56 savoy has the 277/powerflite combo

 

As long as we are talking about gauges...I wonder if the stock plastic gauge bezels can have the chrome finish replaced? It's a different type of plastic than the ABS used on later model cars, and it looks like they used a different method to apply it.

Replacements could be machined from a block of ABS, but I'd like to keep the original look for them also.

 

never thought about that, sounds interesting.i put gauges in the original housing but the center of the gauge cluster gets in the way,i might check on having some redone

 

OK, mine is NOT a Plymouth or a Dodge. Sorry. But it is Mopar from 1955. My more door DeSoto came with no heater, no AC, no power steering or brakes and a radio delete plate. But it had the hemi, which may have been the only choice, I'm not sure about that.

Also, if anone is interested, I installed the front suspension (and rear) from a 75 Cordoba under my 55 ChrySoto 2 door (it is a Chrysler/DeSoto morph registered as a DeSoto.) I have a couple of pics if anyone want to see them. It's pretty cool cause now I've got power steering, disc brakes and adjustable torsion bar suspension. I'm also dropping in a 90 318 fuel injected engine with a 518 overdrive tranny. I'm planning to drive the wheels off this thing once it finally gets done.

 

I picked up a 55 Savoy and it is missing some trim, Does anyone have he chrome for the front of the hood lip?

 

Here is how the New Vintage gauges look when mounted to the back of the reworked stock bezel of my '64 Valiant.



I'm not real happy with the setup, but it's the best I could do with that particular gauge. When I do my '56, I'm going to conduct more research on various brands of gauges to see it something else fits a little better, but I don't know if anyone else will do custom faces.

 

what's the brand of gauges that looks cool

 

They are from New Vintage USA. They offer several styles that are similar to original mfg designs, plus they will do custom designs, and they are made in Michigan. I had extremely fast, personal service. WhenI emailed them with questions, they responded within a couple of hours every time, and their prices were competitive with any good quality gauge manufacturer.
http://www.newvintageusa.com/1969.html

 

hey I would be intested in seeing pic. of your car. I'm a MoPar nut and the Fins of these cars are just so cool to me, I guess that 55 to 61 s are the best years to me. I have a More door 56 DeSoto that I plan on customizing. My 56 Dodge is a 2 door H.T. I'm wanting to upgrade the 270 engine with a 383 out of a 64 sport Fury. I got the dropped uprights from Fat mans last week and need to dig in and install them now.

 

Looking for a in dash shifter assembly for a powerflite

 

Regarding the posts on gauges, these are pictures of the approach I took to gauges in my 55 Plymouth Suburban. I realize that my approach is different from using the stock gauge layout but the fit of the speedometer may be of interest. The gauges are from Classic Instruments. The speedometer/tach combination fits using the stock speedometer bezel between the gauge and the dash. As you can see, I made my own guage panel for the remaining gauges. Two of the stock gauge openings became my A/C vents; the other two were filled in. My CD player/radio and A/C controls reside in the glove box. I have used Classic Instruments in several projects and have been pleased. You may want to check them out for retrofitting your stock gauges as I believe they offer this service. I am not much of a photographer so the pictures may not be too clear but at least you can get the idea. lc