leadheavy52

Here is a ‘49 Dodge 4-speed truck trans in a ‘52 Plymouth. I bought the car like this and have since replaced the bellhousing and will be swapping to a ‘52 OD trans soon. You can see how much cutting has to be done to the floor to get everything to clear. In addition, the truck starter has to be used and it is about 15% larger than the car version and makes a nightmare of rerouting the oil lines to the filter (if equipped). Lastly, the trans isn’t synchronized, so double clutching, or grinding are about your only options. I am with this group in identifying and easier to install transmission.

They’re not mounted yet and still looking for a good deal on 6.00 x 18 tires. But they’re going to look sweet mounted up! After looking at pictures of some of the other wheels here, perhaps I ought to pick up a different set for a different look.

Here’s mine coming along slowly. Brakes are rebuilt, shift linkage has been installed, bellhousing has been swapped over, and trans to go in next. Hoping to drive it for the first time next spring.

I followed their race from start to finish and they made a heck of a showing. I can say that with the exception of the more-developed areas, none of their trek looked easy. I am glad to see that their choice of Chrysler 6's famous reliability showed out. After watching their adventure, it has my boys and I curious about someday building our own P to P racer and attempting the long and oft difficult feat of simply finishing this endurance race. -Austin

Sam, you’re the man! I will give this a go this weekend.

Thanks, dpollo. Found this photo. I can easily recreate this, but how does this set the gap between the drum wall and shoe? I’ll respond to his thread for more info.

Got her all done! Took some turning of the bolt whale whacking a not spun onto a few threads on the back. Got it out and all the new hardware back on. A little steel wool on the shaft of the bolt and some used motor oil made it a breeze to get back in the hole. Now the dreaded task of adjustment after replacing all the other three wheels and a good brake bleed. Thanks for the help!

Thank you! I assumed it might be stuck from time and sitting. I didn’t want to go wailing on it with a hammer, but that might be the trick. I’ll see if I can turn the adjusting bolt from the front while smacking it from the back, with the castellated but reversed to not damage any threads.

I am about to lose my mind trying to get this lower wheel cylinder off the front of my ‘52 Suburban. I have loosened every nut I can think of to get this damn thing to even budge. What am I missing? I have looked the FSM over and it does not indicate much of anything. Thank you in advance. - Austin

Following.

Looking good! I love the two-tone dash colors. I agree with Plymouthy, two-tone the wheel to match. It would look super slick.

Thank you! I will give this a go tomorrow. Bummer to have to remove the MC, but it’s likely due for a rebuild anyways.

Does anyone have any insight into how I would go about removing the clutch pedal on my 1952 Suburban? I have unbolted the plate that holds the pedal assembly to the outer side of the frame and can slide it out a bit, but what stops is it the linkage hangar on the inner side of the frame. I have attached a picture where it is circled in red. I checked to see if there is a clip there that prevents it from coming off, but could not locate one in the years of road grime. I could probably get a better look at it if I removed the MC, but do not want to go that route until it become dire. I do have the FSM and could not find my answer there. Thanks, Austin

This little thing ways a ton! Gotta figure out how to remove the tailpiece so I can use it with the OD trans. I know I will need to shorten my driveshaft (actually, the driveshaft that came on the vehicle, most likely from the '49 Dodge truck), but I don't know by how much yet. Fingers crossed this all goes back together as smoothly as it's come apart. -Austin

And the old 4-speed truck transmission is out! DJ, I first removed the rear motor mount rubber, but it was not enough to clear the floor with the brake band on the transmission still. Easy, remove the brake band. No go! After removing all of the tensioning hardware, I was still unable to get it to budge, then realizing that even if I did, I would not have the clearance needed to get it free from the trans anyways. So, Plan B. I removed 7" of tunnel behind the transmission to get it to clear. Cut right up to the edge of the floor brace so welding the piece back in will be easy. I have to do a bit of floor replacement anyways, so it won't be much of a hassle on top of that. Long and short of it; the transmission is out.

Managed to pull some parts off the Cranbrook to swap over to the Suburban. The nice thing about having a good solid parts car is it’s like finding one st the junkyard that no one else has access too. For reference too, especially for non-factory modifications, it can’t be beat. Today, I brought home: - Oil filter housing with hard lines (my existing one has rubber lines that are all shot to hell) - center grille (my existing one is crooked and dented. This one is nice and straight) - Plymouth hood script (much better condition than mine) -fuel filter (mind never had one installed) - front valance panel support (mind has gone awol somewhere in its history) - front fender trim pieces (a little straightening and they’ll be good as new) - twin-tone horn (to turn mine into twin-tone too!) Ill be back next week for some of the interior hits as well as prep for removing the floor. My three-legged dog is wondering why I have spent so much time in the garage lately. -Austin

Excellent idea! Thanks for sharing! I will be tackling my brakes very soon. -Austin

It’s a club coupe. Measured the Suburban at 41” and the Cranbrook at 40.5”. Close enough for me.

What’s the best way to remove the rubber door sill mats in a ‘51 Cranbrook without destroying them? They are both in very good condition and I would like to transfer them to my ‘52 Suburban. Thanks in advance! -Austin

Thanks for the advice on the rear cushions! I wasn't sure how to approach sliding the transmission back enough to clear the clutch, but that may give me enough room. I have a spare bell housing for a standard 3-speed from a '51 Cranbrook so hopefully that is what I will need to mate the trans to my engine. I am definitely leaving the top on to get that sucker out of there. I could use all the grip I can get. -Austin

Finally had a good day to spend some time on old Betty Blue (I guess she named herself?). I even got my kids to help out. They're 7 and 10 and enjoy doing little bits of work here and there. My oldest got to use the impact wrench on the fuel tank strap bolts while I held the metal strap with a pair of pliers. He dug that. Anyways, I was able to drop the gas tank, then proceed to clean a giant pack-rat nest from inside. I had to stop midway through and clean out all the crap (literally) from the shopvac. I am excited though that the tank isn't beaten up or rusty. I should be able to get it back to gold with little effort. Anyone have any luck with the Eastwood products they sell for restoring gas tanks? I was happy to see that the spare tire well wasn't rust either, although all of the black rubber "caulk" is practically worthless after all of these years. I will need to go through the whole body to replace as much of this as I can. on my list was to drop the driveshaft in preparation to replace the old 4-speed truck transmission with a '52 overdrive unit. The driveshaft came off easily enough from the rear, and slid off the yoke at the front. I tried at first to remove it by removing the 4 nuts and bolts from the handbrake portion of the truck transmission, but it did not budge. Is the large nut with the cotter pin in the middle of the tailpiece the nut I should remove? I didn't want to work it too much under the car as I can focus better on it when the transmission is dropped and out of the car. My next project will be to drop the transmission and replace the floorboards, transmission tunnel and supports with that of a donor car. I should be able to also replace the inspection panel under the driver's feet as well. I have all the necessary shift linkage, shift arm and hardware as well. I am taking many pictures and documenting things as I go, but I am committed to finishing this project, one bolt at a time. There is very little body work to do (fortunately), but lots of stuff to remove and clean/paint/replace. I am hoping that by the end of the summer, I will have the chassis ready to roll and the body soon to follow. I appreciate all of the information and inspiration I have received from this site. I will undoubtedly have many more questions as we go along. -Austin

Reminds me of the days when you could order a bunch of stuff like this from the J.C. Whitney catalog. Oh the cool stuff they would have in there.

Thanks for the input. I do plan on keeping the wheels and after the insight here, will most likely keep the 4.78s. I’d like to be able to swing 65-70 on somewhat hilly highways (New Mexico). If I need to, I can always drop the Cranbrook rear in if I need a little extra gear. Thanks! -Austin

I have all the bits and pieces to install my OD trans (R10-G1) and will be doing so in the next week or so. I did some research (fortunately) and it states that the Suburban, when ordered with the 18" wheels, would be geared at 4.78:1. Yikes! I have verified that mine was indeed ordered this way from the factory and would assume that the information from the '52 model section of Allpar (included a screenshot from their site) would be correct in the ratio. If I install my OD trans, would most of the OD feature be negated by such a low rear gearing? I do have a '51 Cranbrook parts car that I can pull the rear axle if need be. It has the 6.70 x 15 tires. If I used this rear end, would they be the 3.93:1 or the 3.73:1 gears? I haven't done the "rotate the yoke" bit yet to count. Wanted to check here for the gurus' feedback first.

Well, the work on the Suburban continues, though slowly. My garage gets too cold to do much. I have spent my time doing rust repairs, cleaning and cataloging parts. I have a lead on some tail lights that will hopefully be here soon. I also just picked up a ‘51 Cranbrook that I will use for parts (floors, transmission tunnel, shifter handle/arm/linkage, driveshaft, bell housing, and other important bits). This will greatly expedite the search for al of these parts individually. On a side note: I did verify that my ‘52 was ordered with the high-clearance package 6.00 x 18 wheels. Only one I have still to ever see. In review of the owners manual that came with the ‘51 Cranbrook, I ran across this tidbit of information on page 28 when discussing the suburban. Pretty interesting and confirms my plans for the car. I’ll keep updating with more as the weather warms up and allows more time in the garage. Cheers! -Austin