Robert Horne

12 hours ago, '41 Fat Bottom Girl said:

I will be rebuilding my 218 Flattie 6 soon on my D19 coupe and would like to be able to cruise at 70 mph to be kind to the mill. I would like to keep my 3 speed original tranny. I went through it and the clutch about 15 years ago and it is in great shape and has had low miles since. Was hoping someone might have done a similar swap out on a rear end and could give me a recommendation of what rear end to look for. I don't mind losing a bit on the low end, as first is a really low gear anyway. I hope to have a minimum of retrofit, maybe fabbing and welding new mounting plates to mate up to the leaf springs, and the drive shaft mod for the U joint.

Would like to keep my wheel bolt pattern too if I can.

Do you think I can find a rear end out there that will do that for me?

Thanx, fellas!

I went through three 3 speed trans before I gave up on stock transmissions.     First went on all three of them.    With a stock 3.9 rear,  highway speed was a no no.    

The 3.9 rear with my 5 speed install, still was too low of a setup.

My 3.7 rear with my 5 speed install, is still a little low even in hilly country of Virginia, but does good on the top end.

Next, 3.5 rear with my 5 speed, see how that feels...........

11 hours ago, Davknz said:

So recently purchased 51 coronet bit of a turd however motor is pretty dialed in as in fires right up any was looking for an inexpensive rear axle swap , one that maintains 5x4.5 bolt pattern and is pretty much plug and play (if possible) I had a heck of a time with rear drums and they are  a bit pricey was looking for something alittle easier to source parts for . I’m building a bomb (lowrider) so not really worried about  keeping it original. Thanks in advance 

Several people have installed the Ford Explorer rearends.    I believe the 95 & up have the disc setup, and you can get different gear options.

Another option would be the Jeep Cherokee XJ rearends.     I have one with a 3.55, 1998 with drums, I hope to install to replace my Ranger rear 3.73 gear.

The Ranger has a narrow rear if you were to go with wider wheels.   A lot easier to replace parts on any of these options, than remaining stock, or  40 year old parts..

6 hours ago, Ranger said:

This brake drum appears to have the rivets ground off. What’s the purpose of this? Is it to allow newer rims to set flat against the drum. I’ve been wondering about this for some time as I intend to mount newer wheels on my 36 Plymouth.

If you ground off the rivets, the drum can be separated from the hub.      Makes it easier to remove the drums....

5 hours ago, SteveR said:

Yesterday as I was driving I heard a loud bang from the rear of my car. Upon inspection I found the lest rear brake drum had separated from the hub. Can this be repaired or welded or is replacement required? I see the cost of a new Drum is around $350. Is there an alternative?

What is the cost of a used drum near you?     You could use front or rear drums...

17 hours ago, sser2 said:

 

 

With 20-25% more power, 3.4 ratio rear axle will allow cruising at 60-65 mph at comfortable engine rpm. As to transmission, flathead six and 3 speed transmission is a match made in heaven.

I had 3 different 3 speeds transmission in my 38 Coupe, all had problems with 1st gear from years of use.      I wish you could drive my 38 Coupe now with the 5 speed transmission, a great improvement, even with a 82hp engine...

You could remove one leaf on the high side.      I believe I added a Jeep spring on my Coupe's weak side...

12 hours ago, cturboaddict said:

Getting real close to pulling the body off of the frame on my 37 Plymouth resto. 
Anyone have a great guess as to what the body weighs only? No doors/no glass/no front end. Just the cab and trunk?

Curious how big of a task I need to treat this as. (I don't have a lift)

I had my 38 Coupe body hanging on the garage rafters for a couple of years...

Not very heavy, like one would think.

Makes it great for paint work..

Is the Explorer rear a good fit for your 37?        My Ranger rear in my 38 Coupe was not wide enough, so I added spacers.  Made a ok fit with 235 tires, but 225 tires would be better....

I had a similar situation with my 38 Coupe.      I added an extra leaf to one side.     Has been good the past few years...

11 hours ago, Jakub said:

Maybe try shipping it for re - chroming to a "cheaper" country? I don't know what are the prices of chrome restoration in US, but in Poland, in the best-in-country chrome shop I paid eq of ~~ 400$ for Packard hood ornament. So, maybe try looking for chrome shop in Mexico, or even ship it to Europe?

That's the website of company mentioned above: http://www.tecechromowanie.pl/7/home

"cheaper' country....I never thought of that.    I could get my wife to check chroming in China when she goes for a visit.     I have a couple of small items she could take with her for a test if it could be done there.    She brought home axle seals for me from there,  since Napa was out of stock, and the "made in USA" parts come from China anyway.....

I am starting on my 56 engine/TK 5 speed/37 Coupe project.     I should start another thread, I guess.      I used the 56 for test fitting my last project.

The most tricky part was  boring the trans cover (yellow) to fit into one of my 36/37/38 bell housings, and finding a pilot bearing.

I got lucky and found I could press two pilot bearings together to fit the TK 5 speed to the 218....

12 hours ago, Jj1981 said:

Did u have to have an adapter to mate up the transmission 

No adapter needed.     Had the trans front cover shaved to fit the approx. 5 inch hole in bell house.

"That forward plate",,,,is solid.    The shifter in the rear, is the way it was designed for the 1983 to 1987 TKO 5 speeds...

I bought my headliner for my 38 Coupe from Kmart.     It is a large blanket.    These are two layers sewn together, with the rows about 3 inchs apart.

I stretched it a little each day and clamped until it was very tight before attaching it.       It still looks great.

On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 4:19 PM, wayfarer said:

If what you want is simply a 5th gear then look at  Robert Horne's swap. Perhaps there is a similar gearbox in your boneyard that could be used in similar fashion and not involve alot of shipping costs.

 

My TKO 5 speed is still working very good.     I see many people are concerned about the shifter being in the rear section of the trans.     I little modification of the shifter makes for a good fit with my bench seat...

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 9:44 PM, CreepShowCustom said:

So I’m body off the frame at this point on my 50 Deluxe. I’m swapping out the rear end with disk and would like to do the front. I know there’s a ton of kits out there but I do all my own fabrication. I’m a junk yard dog in a sense.

does anyone know what hub or rotor hub is used on the stock spindle. Any help would be great thx. 

What rearend are you using for you swap out?     I installed a Ranger rear 3.73.       It works great with drum brakes, but the rear is too narrow, so had to use a spacer, and 3.73 is a little low for 1st gear.     I have a Jeep XJ 3.55  drum brake 1998 I hope to swap too.....

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 11:15 AM, CreepShowCustom said:

Thx for the feedback. I’m not using a kit. I’m making everything from scratch my only hickup is the hub/rotor

I did a little research a few years ago.   My notes have using my stock Plymouth hub, and a Explore rotor, I think around a 2000 model, $29.

I do not know if the front or rear rotor was in my research.

I have a diagram of a caliper bracket, to use a Explore caliper also.    I never did complete this setup, so I do not know if anything is correct.

89 Dakota looked to be a possible fit also.

On my 38 Coupe, I use a 12 volt starter and generator from a 56 Dodge.   The heater is 6 volt, with a 12 to 6 ceramic type of reducer.    I ran my fuel gauge with the heater reducer also.

That is a very nice 36....   My Uncle had a 36 for over 40 years.    The USA 36 has  a different windshield, sharp corner at the bottom.

After using 3 stock transmissions in my 38, I went with a Ford Ranger truck 5 speed, ( TKO ) , rearend, and a Ford driveshaft, to make

the 38 more driveable, glad I did.     The Ford rearend park brake attached to the Plymouth cables very easy.....

On my TK5 Ranger 5 speed install, with a 37 Chrysler engine, I had a 10" set up.

My 38 Plymouth had a 9" set up.

My 56 Dodge engine has the 10" set up.

As best as I can remember, maybe best to measure your parts before buying new parts.....

My 38 Coupe has a shelf unit right of the spare tire area.     The shelf unit had snaps  to hold a cover to it.

I did not see any snaps near the spare tire area.....

On my 48 Dodge, I used a Mustang II MC attached to the original MC with a bracket attached .

Used a long push rod through the original MC..

I had problems with someone trying to take my 70 Mustang, that I only drove on the weekends.       The ignition switch was found on the floor often.

The car could not be started, since I kept the car's  battery behind the seat of my work truck.     I kept the radio knobs off,  so no one would take the radio also.

This worked several years, until I sold the car...... 

These pumps are available on ebay for about $30 or $40, for a 56.      My 56 has one like the one with the glass fuel filter....

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 3:52 PM, 38plymouth said:

I went through this a year or 2 ago with my 38 4 door. I got mine from napa and used the original shock dimensions and found an almost perfect fit. They work great so far. I looked and cant find the thread I had on here with the part number. Maybe someone smarter than me can find the old thread, it seems like anything older than a year is gone.

 

Edit.....I found it, napa part # 94050, from a 1985 ram charger. I had to use the stock bushings and cut the new bushings out.

On my 38 Coupe shocks, I used Monroes , mid 80s mid size dodge car.....