Robin (UK)

Hi Don,

Here's an original promo picture and a great photo from 'back in the day', both showing smooth beauty rings.

The ones I have on my Plymouth are similar so I've attached positive proof that they made my car go faster!!!

They are widely available for 15" or 16" wheels, so worth shopping around for the best price.
Here are some currently listed on eBay...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-Smooth-Chrome-Stainless-SS-Hot-Rod-Style-Trim-Beauty-Wheel-Rings-Vintage-/121786773433?hash=item1c5b0eafb9:g:1PYAAMXQyY1TTVv-&vxp=mtr

or with ribs...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Steel-Wheel-Rings-Beauty-Rings-New-15-/360308160119

Another great outcome is the fact that several owners we didn't know have been in touch about their cars.

Amongst others, we've discovered another Plymouth convertible and two DeSoto business coupes - one owned by Dave, who signed up to this Forum yesterday, on our recommendation.

Thanks Greg.
Public reaction was superb. It's rare to see one American classic car on the road, so when we cruised out, passing cars were honking their horns and people were waving.
The Welsh group travelled furthest - about 170 miles each way.
And most of the people who brought cars wear vintage daily so, yes, the group were generally dressed in period.

Welcome, Dave.
Glad you made it onto here.
As I said, this is THE place for great advice, encouragement and all you'll need to keep you going on your restoration.

Looking forward to seeing your DeSoto.

Here's a short report I've just posted on facebook.

The P-15 Picnic was great.
A big THANK YOU to all of you who came along, with or without your cars.
The line-up of 8 Plymouths, 2 Chryslers and a Dodge was fantastic.
First to arrive on Saturday were Chris & Rebecca (with Archie and Percy), John & Traci, and Robin, who had travelled in convoy from Hemel Hempstead with two Plymouth Convertibles and a Chrysler Business Coupe.
Next came Dean & Joyce in their Plymouth Sedan and William with his Chrysler Club Coupe, who'd driven together from Bishops Stortford.
Then the Welsh contingent arrived... Phil, Inga, Bryn and Trish, four up in a Plymouth Club Coupe, all the way from just north of Cardiff!
Completing the Saturday arrivals were Tony & Dawna with their Plymouth Business Coupe.
Before heading out for afternoon tea, there was time to watch in admiration as an array of vintage aircraft departed from a 'fly-in' at the Aerodrome.
The list of aircraft included a Spitfire, Texans, Yaks, a Beech Staggerwing, Jet Provost and many more.
7 cars headed out for tea at The Blitz Tea Rooms and we took the opportunity to get some memorable pictures before returning to the aerodrome where we all enjoyed dinner and an evening in the bar.
Sunday was the day of the main event and saw more arrivals...
David's Dodge Business Coupe, Ian and Bob with their Plymouth Club Coupes, and Steve with his newly acquired Plymouth Business Coupe.
There were also about a dozen 'guest' cars swelling the ranks, including a stunning '56 Chrysler, a beautiful '47 Nash, a superb '37 Plymouth and a freshly restored '38 Chrysler convertible which made its maiden road trip from Yorkshire to Sywell.
And about 20 HRG sports cars dropped in on their 80th anniversary tour, One of those was a 1941 LeMans class winner, so it was great to see those cars, too.
At 1.00pm we were treated to a highly entertaining and informative guided tour of Sywell Aviation Museum and then cars began to depart.
A final treat for those who stayed late was the magnificent sight of a Vampire Jet taking off, displaying over the airfield and landing.
It couldn't have been better.
Everyone's talking about 'next time' so we're bound to be holding another P-15 Picnic in 2016.
Watch this space for news.
And we'll be posting more pictures from the weekend, soon.

 

That's great.

Shame you couldn't hit the UK, too.
Maybe next time?

Thanks for all the good wishes.

There will be 7 of 'our' cars and a '37 Plymouth coupe arriving on the Saturday.

During the day there will be a 'fly-in' of historic aircraft, including Harvards, Beech 18s, Tiger Moths, a Spitfire and a lot more.

In the afternoon we're going to take a drive out to a tea room, for a typically British Afternoon Tea, then back to the aerodrome for dinner in the original 1930s clubhouse restaurant.

Sunday will be the main event.

Cars will arrive from 10am.

We have been offered an exclusive guided tour of the Aviation Museum and one of the car owners, who is a DJ, will be bringing a record player and some of his collection of 78s, to keep us all entertained.

Our cars' 70th anniversary meeting will coincide with the 80th anniversary of the HRG Sports Car and their club will be joining us for a couple of hours, so it'll be good to see them there, too.
Attached pictures of the cars due to arrive on Saturday.

We'll definitely share some pictures of the event after next weekend.

I haven't seen that, Andy.
I'm gonna have to find a copy, now.
Thanks for letting me know.

We're starting to build a core community for 46-48 Chrysler Corporation cars over here in the UK and we thought some of you guys may want to see what we're up to.

We have a facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/4648PDDCUK

And Dean, Chris and I are organising the first-ever UK meeting next weekend... The P-15 Picnic.

Interest has been strong so we hope to see at least 20 cars lined up. We're really looking forward to it.

Here are some P15s in action...

Hoping to see as many cars as possible at this...

Fantastic.
Looks better than ever, Bob.
Thanks for sharing.

Yes.

Definitely sounds like a poor ground.

Let's see how many of these magnificent machines we can get to the first-ever UK meet.

facebook event page here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/783302378429909/

Hi John,

Simon needed (hard to find) rear drums for his 50 Dodge Wayfarer coupe recently and did a lot of research to find parts.
So he will probably have some contacts for front and rear drums.
He's on here as SimonTiki and on FB as Simon Leighton.

He's in Andover, so local to you.
Good luck.
R.

I made a 466 mile round trip with my son, yesterday, to see the original 1925 Bluebird land speed record car return to Pendine Sands on the 90th anniversary of Malcolm Campbell being the first man to top 150mph.
Bluebird was driven by Malcolm Campbell's grandson.

The awesome Napier Railton also made an appearance.

It was just a shame that another record breaker - Babs (The Higham Special), which is housed in the museum by the beach, wasn't taken out to meet its nemesis on the sand.
 

Here are links to some original movie footage:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/a-mile-in-a-1-3-of-a-minute/query/Malcolm

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/brooklands-500

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/mr-parry-thomas

And some old and new pictures...

I have an OD, Marty.

And have tried exactly that on a few of my runs.

But I have fast second ratio, so the split is not quite where it would work to best effect... so I just ran out of track.

I believe the Sands deal is a top speed through a measured area after a measured run up, not a drag race.  The Race of Gentlemen in New Jersey is a two lane 1/8th mile acceleration contest.  I would think the sand is probably 3 to 5 mph slower than the same length of a paved surface.  

Yes, it's a speed trial.

Half mile run up. Timed through 1/16th mile.

Having now made 9 runs at Pendine I can vouch for the fact that the sand costs a lot of speed.

But it's not only the resistance the sand offers against top speed that's the problem. In lower gears it's very hard to get the speeds up high enough to make the most of the power band after shifting up. There's a gap between maximum speed in 2nd and optimum speed for shifting into 3rd.

Although this year's run on Saturday (in the video) was my best so far, I could feel the car bogging down after shifting into top.

On the road, that's no problem.

I was still accelerating coming out of the time traps, so it's now a case of trying to find that acceleration earlier, to see if I can break the 80mph barrier.

Welcome aboard, Steve.

Look forward to hearing more news and seeing pictures.

That's awesome thanks for sharing!

Can you give some details about the upgrades you've done to your engine?

-Chris

Hi Chris,

I'm running a Dodge 230 with Fenton head, Sharp intake with dual Carter carbs and Fenton headers through twin pipes.

This year (for the first time) the exhausts were uncapped under the car.

The sand is a huge limiting factor, so I ran with high tire pressures (benefitting from the advice and experience of some of the other racers).

My cam is standard.

Dean's car runs a freshly built 218 with an Edgy head, Edmunds intake, Langdons headers and a fast road cam.

We haven't yet got the full results list from this year, but last year we beat all three 235 powered Chevs and four out of six V8 flathead powered Fords.
The Plymouths are doing well and it was noticeable that there was a lot more interest in our cars this weekend.

I want be able to drive home, Don.

If I got a powershift wrong I'd be worried that some of the engine's moving parts would be making a break for freedom!

I've just got home from the 3rd annual VHRA Amateur Hot Rod Races at Pendine Sands.
Congratulations to Deano, who set a new class record of 80.09mph on Sunday, in his 2-door sedan - the first 6-cylinder powered full-bodied car to break the 80mph barrier.
My convertible managed 77.98mph on Saturday, holding the record for a full 24 hours!
It was an amazing weekend.
Here's your chance to take a 'high speed' ride in a P15 convertible...

The new drums that are available are front only and Simon hasn't yet been able to find any good used drums.
As you say, they must be out there, but the search goes on...

My Westach was about $140 for the tach itself, plus less than $20 for the bullet mount.
I can't remember how much the stainless bezel was, but I'm guessing also less than $20.

You can check it all out at www.westach.com