Introduction & request for advice

[jeff0547]

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Jeff from Bradenton, FL and I'm a "Geezer". I'll be 65 in two months. I've been a "Car Guy" for my whole life but I'm not "brand-loyal". I have just received a 1952 Plymouth Suburban. I bought it from BurqueBulli (real name is Gilbert), on the HAMB. It starts, runs, drives and stops, but not well. Before I got it home, Gilbert re-built the carburetor and repaired/replaced the brakes. It is fed by a gas can in front of the radiator and an electric fuel pump. It still is 6 volt pos ground. In order to start it I have had to spray Starting Fluid (Ether) in the carburetor. It is also "Cosmetically Challenged". All right, it's UGLY. (see pics below)

Here's my question(s):

What the heck do I do first?

If I converted it to 12 volts Neg ground, might it start easier? Do I need to re-wire it at the same time? (I do intend to do this).

What do I do with/about the gas tank? It probably hasn't held fresh gas since Nixon resigned.

Do the hard gas lines get replaced, too?

I have lurked, searched and read a lot on this site. I have seen "Falcon Van" rebuild his 51 sedan and that's sorta what I would like to do with mine. I'm sure that I will have other questions in the near future but I need to get started, first. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. Know that I am very happy to have found this site.

Jeff

in West Central Florida

Couple-o-pics:

[Rusty O'Toole]

I like to get the engine running nice first. You don't need to change to 12 volts the 6 volt system is fine. It is easier to fix it than to change it over. It is possible to go over the points, plugs, valve adjust if necessary, adjust carburetor without buying any parts (unless they are defective). See how it runs and do a compression test. If it has good compression and good oil pressure and runs half decent great, if the motor needs an overhaul or replacement at least you haven't wasted money on new parts.

Drain the gas tank. If it smells like gas you are OK if it smells like old varnish (very stinky) the tank needs to be cleaned. It probably is rusty anyway. The bad gas will gum up your motor and ruin it so don't use the gas tank until you are sure it's ok.

Break it down into separate jobs, it will go easier. Motor, brakes, suspension, do the mechanical work first. Then body and paint. Upholstery last.

Resist the temptation to tear everything apart and do everything at once. Do one thing at a time and do the minimum to put it back in shape. Do not overmatch yourself if you can help it. It is less discouraging to complete one job and go on to the next.

[Barabbas]

Jeff, welcome to the Forum

I'll second everything Rusty Said plus-once you've checked the timing, points and carb, check the condition of battery cables and ground. I found on my 52 Cranbrook that getting 0 guage battery cables helped my starting greatly.

If your car has the 4 guage cables that are "normal" for 12 volt cars, it will have problems starting

[oldmopar]

Welcome to the forum, nice to see another suburban owner here. The 1st thing I would recommend is go to the link below it is part of this website and should be required reading for any old dodge or plymouth owner.

http://www40.addr.com/~merc583/mopar/framesets/techtipframeset.html

[Plymouthy Adams]

Hey Jeff...that car is a little afflicted but I think mine was in worse condition cosmetically..it is a challenge but not that hard to do..the floors, rocker and lower body metal is pretty much straight forward repairs if done in the correct order..hopefully your roof line was not shifted like mine was from a previous wreck..like to have never got that ironed out..look to see you on the Plymouth Suburban group of this forum..also there are a few pictures of various parts of my rebuild under my profile name...then ....albums....

Welcome..the ole 2 door wagons are sharp cars..not an item you seen daily on the average..

[DCurrent]

Welcome to the forum Jeff! I have only been a member for a short while and can tell you this is a great group. Lots of knowledge here. As others have explained already take it one step at a time. Get it running good first.

Darren

[oldodge41]

Welcome to the forum. Great car to start with. Don't get overwhelmed, one step at a time will get you there. Mine was worse to start with and we got it running so we could drive it first then looking decent and have been improving a little bit at a time as time and cash allow for over 20 years. Have fun!

[Chester Brzostowski]

Hi Jeff,

Nice car and you can honestly say it ran when parked. I can't add anything new except take plenty of pictures before you take it apart because it might be awhile before you get around to putting it back together.

Welcome, Chet...

[old rat 49]

Correct battery cables, check grounds, rebuild carb (easy), plugs, brakes and steering and drive it. Then start making it pretty. AND BAG AND TAG EVERYTHING you take off. Welcome and enjoy.

[Plymouthy Adams]

only thing to all to all that is a possible snap shot and short blurb written up on its removal precedure to aid in reassembly to be placed int he bag/box.....not everything is covered in the book..ask anyone for I am sure we have all experienced this to some degree..

[jeff0547]

Thanks all for the advice. I'm hoping to get some time next week to start on it. My boss has been a "slave driver" this week but, I'm married to her so I just have to grin and bear it.

The PO rebuilt the carburetor and installed new plugs B4 I got it. It really does run well, once you get it started. Next week, I'll get the battery fully charged, replace the ignition wires, check the points, install "0" guage battery cables and hopefully get it to start at will. My will, that is.

The tires on it are all different brands & sizes and are all re-treads and the treads are separting. I'm going to hit the junkyard Monday and see if I can score some fair tires for cheap money. The rims are 15". What size do you think would be good?

Also I'm going to look for a hood spring and a grill that will fit until I can get an "original" in good shape. I was thinking maybe a late model Dodge ram pick up grill. With a little cutting......well, maybe.... :confused:

Thanks again to all of you.

[Niel Hoback]

There should be plenty of 215/75R15 in the junk yard and they'll be a good size tire for you. 205/75R15 will work too.

[48P15Annie]

Hi Jeff! Welcome! Cool MoPar!

[BobT-47P15]

Hello Jeff. Welcome to the forum. Yep, that vehicle does have possibilities, depending upon what you like.

I went to the carnut.com site and snitched a few pictures to maybe give you some ideas.........

(click on the pictures to enlarge)

[norville]

Welcome to the forum, I say make it safe to drive and drive it as is. Enjoy it, don;t fall into the trap of pulling it apart (very tempting) and never getting to it. Like Rusty said , take little bites.

nice ride,

[chopt50wgn]

Welcome Jeff................I have a 50 Ply suburban and as always, everyone in here will point you in the right direction.

Do take the advice of doing one thing at a time, getting it done right, then move to the next.

Also glad to see another "old guy" like me in here...........old guys rule!!!!

[suntennis]

Nice to have another Suburban owner in the house. I also have a 52 Suburban that is done in the blue that your car was originally. For easier starting, you will want to keep the electric fuel pump in addition to getting larger battery cables.

[jeff0547]

Today I found my extra battery cables and installed 'em. These are not the permanent ones but they are better than what I had. Who knew that I would need a 19/32" wrench for the solenoid nut. I had forgotten that they even made such a thing.Surprizingly, I had one.

They didn't seem to have much effect on starting the engine. Tomorrow, I'll make sure that the battery is fully charged. My battery charger was broken, so I took it back to Harbor Freight and got a new one. Also the fan belt almost fell off, so I tightened it. It may not have been charging previously.

I'm still having to squirt gas into the carburetor to get it to start. Could there be a bad accelerator pump? I can't see gas squirting into the carburetor when I move the linkage. Once I get it started, it seems to run well. When I step down on the gas pedal it revs up just fine.

I only spent about 1 1/2 hours on it and discovered or rather "confirmed" that I need to re-wire the whole car.

First pic is my old cables & the next two are the "new" ones.

[Niel Hoback]

It looks to me like your "new" red negative cable is too small to do the job.

[Don Coatney]

Problem with the gasolene you get today is it tends to evaporate quickly and leave these vented B&B carburetors dry after just a short time. If my car sets for a week or so I have to crank it with the starter motor in several short bursts until the fuel pump re-supplies the carburetor with fuel. Once the carburetors are full it will start as soon as I push the button.

[jeff0547]

Problem with the gasolene you get today is it tends to evaporate quickly and leave these vented B&B carburetors dry after just a short time. If my car sets for a week or so I have to crank it with the starter motor in several short bursts until the fuel pump re-supplies the carburetor with fuel. Once the carburetors are full it will start as soon as I push the button.

Thanks Don. Even if I let it run for several minutes, shut it off and immediately try to re-start it, I still have to squirt gas in the carb. Also, I have an electric fuel pump plumbed to a gas-can about 3 feet from the carburetor.

[jeff0547]

It looks to me like your "new" red negative cable is too small to do the job.

Thanks Niel. I had always heard that the ground strap was the important one. I may have another clear one in my stash.I'll look today. This "ol boy" is too far gone to restore and so, I may just convert it over to 12 volts. But, before I do, I'm going to spend a little more time trying to get the 6 volt system fully operational.

[TodFitch]

Thanks Niel. I had always heard that the ground strap was the important one. I may have another clear one in my stash.I'll look today. This "ol boy" is too far gone to restore and so, I may just convert it over to 12 volts. But, before I do, I'm going to spend a little more time trying to get the 6 volt system fully operational.

A circuit is a full loop: Battery negative post to starter switch, starter switch to starter solenoid, starter solenoid to starter, starter to bell housing/engine/transmission, bell housing/engine/transmission to battery positive post. The current has to go through all those pieces and any place along the line a restriction will cause a problem. 6v uses twice the current for the same power so any restriction along the way causes more problems.

[faucet47custom]

The advice to itemize it is great advice, I jumped into a lot of different things on mine at once. I'll be reassembling the front clip this spring and finishing the brakes sometime soon. I've got to get the manifolds back on the engine, that I had running in 30 second intervals before taking it apart. It is a tad overwhelming but if I can get it some what road worthy, or neighborhood, I'll feel a lot better. It is a cool car, have fun with it.

[jeff0547]

A circuit is a full loop: Battery negative post to starter switch, starter switch to starter solenoid, starter solenoid to starter, starter to bell housing/engine/transmission, bell housing/engine/transmission to battery positive post. The current has to go through all those pieces and any place along the line a restriction will cause a problem. 6v uses twice the current for the same power so any restriction along the way causes more problems.

Thanks Tod. That makes sense. I guess that now I will have to check out the solenoid to starter wire, as well. Most of the original wiring is pretty degraded, so wish me good luck.

I appreciate the advice, but you guys are not making my life any easier. ha ha.