chopt50wgn

man.....do love that color...............great job...............it just goes to show that a paint job is 95% preparation.........

Here's some pics of my 360A motor in my 50 Plymouth wagon. I had my buddy at D&W powdercoating do my valve covers, air cleaner and battery cover in a chrome powder with a satin clear. It matches how I did the interior parts and I like that look of plain aluminum without the hassle of having to polish everything.

I was pondering using one of the new EFI type systems on my 50 Ply wagon. Then I sat down on figured out..............need a return line in the tank....have to run either an inline pump or put a pump in the tank.......put O2 sensors in exhaust ........make room under hood and under dash for computer and wires.....and last but not least, spend upwards of $2200 for a complete kit. Now after sitting and asking myself............"this is not a daily driver and although it would be a great upgrade, is it worth it if I don't drive it everyday? I figured a new 600 Holley is $350 and if I ever have a problem on the road, I can fix it. So I will sacrifice better mileage and cold starts for piece of mind and more money for other stuff I will need.

I've run MSD 6A boxes in both of my cars. I don't think any of them were made for positive grounds. You may be asking for lots of smoke and possibly fire if you do this. I would talk with MSD before you try this.

A good friend of mine and I painted my wagon in my shop over last winter. We started taking it apart the first week of December and worked on it every Friday(I work part-time and am off every Fri.) and my buddy Grant is retired. And then we painted it in mid April as the weather broke and did not have to run the heat in the shop except to help dry coats between. We put about 250 hours in just getting it ready, blocking, sanding, filler primer and more blocking. The colors ,the off white and turquoise are exact matches for 60 Plymouth paint chips. I used Dupont filler primer and Dupont colors. The cost of the colors was $100 a quart and we used 3 quarts for the roof and 6 quarts of turquoise. Now take into consideration that we had to also get the activator for the paint as well as the primer and the clear was $400 for 2 gallons. We didn't quite use all the clear. I figured I spent about $3000 just for material. I took it up to a good friend of mine who has a custom paint shop here in town. He does high dollar custom paint jobs. I asked him what it would have cost to have it done at his place, he said multiply how many hours you have in by $75 an hour. Most non-car people have no idea what goes into a paint job. It's not just about the paint but the preparation. Of the 300 hours we have in this, about 250 are just body prep. The other 50 is paint and then color sanding and buffing. It is a laboring job to do a nice job but it does pay off in the end and this is my last one.

You want to use a zinc anode not magnesium. Magnesium will be used up much faster than zinc because its harder.

Using the old stand by green/yellow antifreeze is the way to go. The newer "high mileage" coolants do not work as well in older vehicles and although they say they go 150K miles, they really don't. All antifreeze should be drained and flushed about every 2-3 years to keep the system running properly. If you are worried about electrolysis, you can always get a cap that has a sacrificial anode built into the bottom of the cap which the electrolysis will attack before anything else.

I used SMS to purchase my headliner for my 50 Ply. wagon. When I called them, I talked to a person who was very helpful. He asked what material and color was I looking for. I told him I wanted to have my headliner made in the same vinyl my seats were done in. He asked if I could send him a picture of the vinyl. I told him I could send him a swatch of it. So I sent them a piece of the vinyl. They got it and called me back and said not a problem to match. Three weeks later I got it . And I had my upholstery guy put it in and it fit like a glove. So I guess I am saying that my experience with SMS was a good one and I always called if I had a question and had always talked to a person , emails can get over looked.

I took my grille to a buddy who does polishing. He told me that to do a good job it should be taken apart. I told him it was spot welded together and said to just take out the dings and ents, which he did. Then he scotchbrited the whole thing and I liked how it looked and even matched the bumper to the grille. This is my 50 Plymouth wagon.

I had my whole dash powdered. I should say the gauge panel, radio panel and bottom chrome pieces done in Almost Chrome with a satin clear to bring down the shine.

Back a few years ago, I asked if anyone here knew where I could get a headliner for my wagon. I got a couple responses and the company I went with was SMS Fabrics. They are located in Oregon , if I remember correctly. But anyway, I called them and they have original patterns for the wagons. I wanted a vinyl type fabric to match my interior and they matched it up perfectly. if you Google their name ,no doubt you can find them.

here's mine.....a 50 Plymouth Suburban 2 dr. wagon..........I know there are many purists on this site and I am grateful to every one of them who helped me with answers over the years. But my wagon has had some changes. It has an independent rear with a tubular A-arm front w/mustang 2 dropped spindles.It has also been chopped 4 inches. And a 360LA motor w/727 trans

In reply to what the rest of the car is..........the chassis is a Fatman front end stub with MS2 dropped spindles, power R&P steering, sway bar and QA-1 coilovers. The rear has a Heidts independent rear with inboard disc brakes and coilovers. The brakes are Wilwood on all 4 wheels. Motor is a 1975 360 A motor with a 727 trans. Headlights are frenched and I added a custom pan on the back and frenched the license plate. I did have pics of the chassis on my computer after I had the chassis done but it crashed and I lost them and stupid me didn't save them to a thumb drive.

Tod.............I refer to "old school striping" from the works of Big Daddy Ed Roth and Von Dutch who was the father of pinstriping back in the 50's. If you look up Von Dutch or Roth ,you will see that the present day striping like mine came from that era.......therefore, old school.

I should have been a little more specific..............the paint job took 6 months..........the rest of the car was 7 years in the making.

Well, finally after 6 months of blood ,sweat and money, my buddy Grant and I finally got the car done. Lots of block sanding and did the final buffing with 1000, then 1500, then 2000, then the buffing. Who says hard work doesn't pay off? My buddy Angelo came down and put the pinstriping on. Did an aqua between the 2 colors as well as the old school stuff on the hood, tailgate and headlight eyebrows. Took it for a cruise to the local speed shop and just out cruising in general.

like Shel said..............as you remove the "stays" which are the metal rods, make sure you number them from front to back or vice versa. Use a piece of tape and as you take them out number them with a magic marker too so it doesn't fade. If you take it somewhere or do it yourself, you will be glad you marked the stays. FYI............go to SMS fabrics website. They have headliners for lots of old Mopars. I had one made for my 50 Ply. wagon and it fit perfectly. But I did have the guy who did my interior put it in.

I was always told......if you don't have anything nice to say, keep your mouth shut............but in this case I must speak up.......I know there are car guys using the Champion rads with no problems but I say so far they have been lucky. They are cheap for a reason.......the cores are made in China and I have talked with a few customers who have had lots of problems with them. I'm just putting this out there and not telling anyone what to do. I have always found that when it comes to "cheap" aluminum radiators, you can bet they are "offshore made" . just my .02