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1956 Plymouth Suburban custom!! New toy


Lakermatt

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Hey all. Just got back from a 900 mile trip to pick up a 1956 custom suburban! Bought it for 1000 bucks. When I get there, the guy says.. Hey man do you want a 56 savoy for free? I say HELL yeah!! So we loaded the burn, drive home and dropped her off and went and picked up the savoy. Wow... What a trip... Pictures to follow

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Ford 8.8 or 9 inch, Chrysler 8.75 or 9.25, Dana 44 or 60 (5 lug out of a BB Charger or such would be perfect but very expensive), complete front/rear swap out of a C4 or C5 Corvette...

 

Class C (van based) or Class A (D600 based) motorhome? The heads, water pump and a bunch of other parts in the A types tend to be -3 Industrial engines. Which is why my 413/727 is still in my motorhome, 440 parts are hard enough to find these days without going broke, never mind the early BBs.

 

Should be a neat project. How bad is the Savoy? I've got a 230/3spd out of a 56 or 57 just sitting here waiting to be redone for my 49 truck (engine only, keeping the truck 3 speed top loader). Trans/bellhousing/starter is yours if you need it and want to come get it...

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You cut up 4 doors, 2 door wagons are too hard to find. There's a 49-51 Mercury sedan around here that got Ranchero-fied decades ago and never finished. I'm trying to find it again to drag it home and finish it. I THINK it will fit on my 114" 2.3L 5 spd chassis... Customs don't need fancy engines, just reliable.

 

And unless you haul around a passel of rugrats, sedans are just sheet metal donors around my area. Literally can't GIVE them away.

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Yeah, the motorhome is a class "A" motorhome. I have been doing some research, and I am seeing that the motor won't work unless you do a bunch of swapping... Heads, brackets, etc...

There is nothing 'wrong' with the truck engine, if you keep it as a truck engine. You will not find a more durable package!

If you need a hot-rod engine then a basic 400 or 440 is more than adequate as a starting point.

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So it will work putting the 440 into my wagon? We are going to pull it this weekend. Cross my fingers it goes well! I was going to put a 350 in there, but chose to stick with all mopar....

 

Find a plymouth 350 that'd be a fun transplant and keep them guessing.

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It will work, but you're going to need to beef up under the car even more than you would for a standard big block. And always order medium duty truck or motorhome replacement parts, which are a LOT more expensive than standard parts if you need something other than belts and tune up bits. A minor freshening up of the 413-3 in mine was over $4K in 1999/2000... better than the air over hydraulic to straight hydraulic brake conversion, but not by much...

 

Industrial and medium/heavy truck engines will have the displacement and -3 cast into the block.

 

Also, the TRUCK (2 ton and up) engines are cammed for torque, you'll rip a car or light truck rear end apart. If you plan to run a real RV/truck cam (not the mild so called RV cams from the parts house) you'll want a Dana 70 or 80, GM 14 bolt, Ford 10.25 or 10.5 inch rear axle, and they are 8 lug stock. The rear axle in my motorhome is a giant round unit that looks like it should be under a Peterbilt.

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My wife has said many times.............it's a good thing we aren't rich or the driveway and shop would be filled with station wagons. Love those old wagons and like everyone said, the 2 drs are very cool.

 Mine is close to being started as the wiring is getting close to end.

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.

Also, the TRUCK (2 ton and up) engines are cammed for torque, you'll rip a car or light truck rear end apart. If you plan to run a real RV/truck cam (not the mild so called RV cams from the parts house) you'll want a Dana 70 or 80, GM 14 bolt, Ford 10.25 or 10.5 inch rear axle, and they are 8 lug stock. The rear axle in my motorhome is a giant round unit that looks like it should be under a Peterbilt.

 

I agree that the 413 truck engine is cammed for increased low end torque, most trucks are including the lowly 318 with truck application such as a w series that also has other significant internal upgrades.. but it is not gong to rip the rear end out of a car or light truck application...remember it is the light car 8 3/4 that the monster HP blocks are running street and track....HOWEVER to the end of which you are referring I will state that a light truck or car rear gear will never be the gear of choice for the size chassis and weight you are proppelling from stop to speed and on hills with that 413 in a motor home...

 

second: there is another Mopar 413 of such high torque that this is a true statement..that is the big flathead 6 413 truck engine of yesteryear...

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