Aussie P15 just a little different!

[Lee Exline]

I was hunting goodies on Ebay OZ when I found this

The trunk on the Australian built P15 looks a little different than American made versions.

Mirrored dash?

Here is the auction if you want to see more

[PatS....]

So, if a guy bought an Aussie dash, and an Aussie steering box, he could make an RHD Plymouth?

Would our pedals and MC work or would you need those as well?

Is the gas pedal on an RHD on the right or left of the pedals?

[Lee Exline]

So, if a guy bought an Aussie dash, and an Aussie steering box, he could make an RHD Plymouth?

Would our pedals and MC work or would you need those as well?

Is the gas pedal on an RHD on the right or left of the pedals?

Pedal configuration is the same as in the states, the shifter is on the left side instead of right. On my 56 the pedals are different but I think they are the same on the earlier versions?

You would need shifter linkage, steering box, dash, frame mount for pedals If not whole frame to get hte steering mount? I think you would be better off geting the whole car, If not from Australia then fom south America? Argentina?

Driving a RHD car here is a lot of fun! really confuses people!

[PatS....]

Forgot about the shifter linkage. That might be a bear.

[Don Coatney]

So, if a guy bought an Aussie dash, and an Aussie steering box, he could make an RHD Plymouth?

Would our pedals and MC work or would you need those as well?

Is the gas pedal on an RHD on the right or left of the pedals?

Pictured is the African Queen. Hard to tell where the pedal placement is but the gearshift is on the wrong side of the wheel.

[PatS....]

I recall as a kid, the Hart wrestling family had a 1954 Roll Royce RHD that had the gearshift on the floor on the right hand side between the seat and the door. I never saw it run, and never considered the shift linkage until now.

I think it would be a nightmare.

[Lee Exline]

I believe that the African assembled cars where made fro CKD componants that were shipped from the states or england. The Aussie bodies were made in Australia with dies that often carried over many years after they left production here. That is why the OZ P15 has a sloped back like the earlier cars.

[martybose]

it's interesting that while they moved the instruments to the right side for the right hand drive cars, they didn't change the radio location; it's still on the left side of the center panel, with the clock and ash tray still on the right.

Marty

[RHDSP15C]

The Australian production cars were made from Richards own dies. The process at that time set out by the Federal government was that they were allowed to import ONE car to copy. There were no restrictions on the importing of chassis and running gear. Richards tool and die did not work from drawings from the Chrysler Corp, they made the dies to copy the sample car. After this was done the sample car was the ceremoniously dumped in the Port river under government supersion, the seawater rapidly consumed the sample. Richards figured they had poetic license and changed anything they wanted to suit themselves. The 46 cars were made from the tooling of the 40-42 models with the doors changed with the deletion of the running boards. The 40 series doors were reworked 38 doors. At a glance the cars look similar but I have found there are hardly any interchangeable body parts and due to the terrible roads the door hardware had to be beefed up.In those days if you bought one of these cars the first thing was to get the underside "underkoted" otherwise the fenders would be soon dented. I have also seen many cars fitted with a shield to prevent the inside of the back bumper being sandblasted. The water pump couldn't stand the heat so it was replaced with a thing that looks like a turbine, the rear main bearing oil seal was also changed. The heat shield on the fuel pump had to be changed to stop vapor lock due to the lack of airflow over #1 exhaust. None of the cars were fitted with heaters - they were un heard of - but a lot was done to get more air

throught the windows by making the vents into a reverse scoop.

Then sadly for Richards it was over and the plant was in Chrysler's hands.

Mitsubishi was next and now they are sick.

Where do we go from here ?

[UKPlymouth]

The pedals are 'normal' with clutch to left, brake centre and gas on the right.

The clutch linkage is a little complicated as it has get across to the other side of the gearbox. My car came from South Africa and is in amazing condition - there is no rust. I wanted a RHD car - don't really know why, I don't overtake much! My car had no clock, no radio and no heater. I now have a clock, two radios (to make one good one) and I am re-building a type 36 heater.

While I'm here, I have a leaking core plug opposite NO 6 plug in the picture. What is it made of? Or even better - where can I get one?