48hoopty Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 Well, I finally did it. I broke down and bought me a Mopar. Vintage 1948. Flat 6, 3 on the tree. Was told it was a 230, but figure it's a 218. People selling their cars never lie, right? So what's been done as faras I can tell; Converted to 12 volt, still has a generator. Ignition is still 6v. Converted to disc brakes on the front. New wire harness. Seats recovered no headliner. Door panels covereved with cloth. No insulation anywhere..gets nice and warm in Vegas. All seams welded and filled..and everything is black. Inside..outside..underneath..everything. Front shocks relocated. Issues; Vapor locks..maybe..might be a weak fuel pump or the carb needs rebuilt. Either way added an inline electric pump and cured my woes. Electrical. Not a big fan of having some 12 volt and some 6v stuff. So the to do list includes making it 12v thruout. Second electrical issue is the master power relay clicks when using brakes or turnsignals. So I need to whip out the multimeter and test for backfeed, interference etc. It's slow..I'm a big block chevy guy. Definitely won't be getting a speeding ticket in this car. Rear end swap is imminent.. The brakes. The pedal is a bit spongy, then yesterday while picking up a hot flight attendant at the airport, the pedal decided it didn't want to come all the way back up. So I used my toe to help it..need to put my face down there and look what the issue is. (By the way, the looks you get when you pull into a big international airport in an old car, then you have a hot babe stewardess hop in..priceless. Just thought I'd throw that in.) So. If you are still awake. I've been doing my homework. Looks like the Explorer rear with disc brakes is the way to go. Not interested in adding an overdrive unit. Looking for rear axle upgrade. Discs and of course gears etc. Master cylinder swap. Rack and pinion steering. Chase my gremlins. Insulate the interior. Find some sort of headliner. Make the shiny stuff shiny again. Rims and tires. Lower it. Mexican blankets for the seat since third degree burns on my ass are highly undesirable. Add mirrors, I'm not that interested in what's behind me but, ya know, there's that law thing. So hit me with the horror stories and fairy tales of what I'm looking to do with past experiences..I'm not new to having old stuff. Oldest I've owned is 29 Chevy pickup. 35 2 door master. Kinda glad not to have to deal with wood. Now..its time to go outside and play. As an aside. The 3mb pic limit should be fixed. Just saying. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librado65 Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 Good Lord by the way I read the title I was expecting perhaps a Plymouth that was showing her age but man oh man! That thing is beast! Like as if God needed to send one of the ancient Prophets to remind us some kind of prophecy! Lovely, amazing, cool looking car! I want one too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 (edited) don't drive it in the rain....! I think your idea to return the trim to brite metal is an excellent one....really will go far to define the lines of body and make it pop... Edited August 19, 2017 by Plymouthy Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 You could take that to Georgia or Kentucky and run hootch at night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knuckleharley Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 You asked about Gremlims,but I'm going to give you opinions. IF *I* owned that car and lived in Vegas,the first thing I would do would be to replace EVERYTHING in it associated with the word "brake" with brand new,not rebuilt,parts. The second thing would be to paint it white or a pale "something" that doesn't have the words "Dark" or "black" on the can. The third thing I would be to drop it off at an upholstery shop and have that black seat dyed white or a pale color that goes with the new pale color on the outside. Or just have it recovered in a lighter color with a material that breathes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 Wow! That is black. I like chrome trim. Good looking ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike36 Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 If you think that Plymouth is slow, take a drive in a '48 Chev. Oh! Wait a minute, not too many of them survived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 5 minutes ago, Mike36 said: If you think that Plymouth is slow, take a drive in a '48 Chev. Oh! Wait a minute, not too many of them survived. and if so, not with their original engine, somewhere here a friend gave ma an old car magazine from about 51/52 where the little 49 Plymouth 218 flat stomped a Pontiac straight 8 in about every aspect of the word....having driven a straight 8 Pontiac in the past in stock form......I can say this..they are ultra quiet and very smooth....a race car it was never intended to be.....guess the added cylinder was what aging does to whiskey stored in oaken barrels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike36 Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said: and if so, not with their original engine, somewhere here a friend gave ma an old car magazine from about 51/52 where the little 49 Plymouth 218 flat stomped a Pontiac straight 8 in about every aspect of the word....having driven a straight 8 Pontiac in the past in stock form......I can say this..they are ultra quiet and very smooth....a race car it was never intended to be.....guess the added cylinder was what aging does to whiskey stored in oaken barrels. I remember hearing those Pontiacs go up the street when I was a kid. Quiet and smooth. Also slow. Just now remembering how nearly every common brand of auto could be identified by the sound of the engine. This was back in the '50s, when I could still detect sound. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48hoopty Posted August 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 2 hours ago, knuckleharley said: You asked about Gremlims,but I'm going to give you opinions. IF *I* owned that car and lived in Vegas,the first thing I would do would be to replace EVERYTHING in it associated with the word "brake" with brand new,not rebuilt,parts. The second thing would be to paint it white or a pale "something" that doesn't have the words "Dark" or "black" on the can. The third thing I would be to drop it off at an upholstery shop and have that black seat dyed white or a pale color that goes with the new pale color on the outside. Or just have it recovered in a lighter color with a material that breathes. It's probably gonna stay black. The guy that painted it used a hot rod flatz on it. The texture is worse than Orange peel..more like Bedliner. Plan is block it smooth and cover with a flat clear. The roof will get a shiny coat of metal flake some other color than black. Pinstriping, white walls and lowered. That's about all for the outside. Making the stainless shiny again too. The seats are new recovered last winter, the tint is dark, but cruising around and looking good sure makes for wet pants..mexican blankets help. As for the brakes, has new shoes, drums and wheel cylinders in the back. The front is new disc conversion. The only old thing is the master cylinder. Might upgrade to a more available gm dual reservoir unit. With the Rear swap I'll get disc brakes. Car is a solid 8+ just needs minor crap..The T5 trans swap is a definite maybe. The engine and trans are fresh. Trans was rebuilt in Sept 2016 the engine in May of this year. I scored pretty well, just need to make it mine and attend to the minor crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48hoopty Posted August 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 1 hour ago, Mike36 said: If you think that Plymouth is slow, take a drive in a '48 Chev. Oh! Wait a minute, not too many of them survived. I actually did own one. A 48 stylemaster deluxe coupe..thing was a tank. Had a 216/3 spd. Went like hell though. Run all day 75 or 80 mph. Bone stock original except for the tires were radials. This is definitely slower but I'm old enough now I should slow down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike36 Posted August 19, 2017 Report Share Posted August 19, 2017 19 minutes ago, 48hoopty said: I actually did own one. A 48 stylemaster deluxe coupe..thing was a tank. Had a 216/3 spd. Went like hell though. Run all day 75 or 80 mph. Bone stock original except for the tires were radials. This is definitely slower but I'm old enough now I should slow down. I imagine those bicycle front wheel bearings were singing pretty good at 80. If it was faster than your Plymouth, there's something wrong with the Plymouth. Back in the day of stock car tracks being plentiful, many Plymouth and Dodges were run. I know that for a fact. Have a 217 Ply out of a old stock car in my shop now. I suppose somebody somewhere ran a 216 Chev, but I never heard of it. The Plymouth would outrun it, and last longer. Like your car, good luck with it. Lots of help on this forum, welcome aboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatie46 Posted August 20, 2017 Report Share Posted August 20, 2017 Congrads on your new purchase and welcome to the forum. Glad you posted pics of the car, disappointed there were no hot babe photos. Maybe you should call that car DARKNESS or something. The dark side of the force is probably jealous of that car. It does need some bright work brought back. I like the idea of adding a contrasting color to the top. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Elder Posted August 20, 2017 Report Share Posted August 20, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medium_jon Posted August 20, 2017 Report Share Posted August 20, 2017 That is quite the paint job @Frank Elder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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