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took the 51 on its first real cruise today


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Posted

yep drove her about 2 hours today, she runs surprisingly well, its the first flathead i drove any distance, she has more torque than i figured, even in 3rd gear going up steep hills i never had to downshift, i've got to get a set of resister plugs though, the motor buzz was drowning out my oldies tape, keeps great temp a constant 165 degrees, everything working good, blinkers, gauges and all that, only thing i dont like is my tires, the bias plys seem to grab every line in the road, i didn't have any problems with the old tires, so i know its the tires not the car, oh well, till i can afford some new radials these will have to do, took a short video tried to upload with dialup and it said 27 hours remaining when i started so i gave up

Posted

Congratulations! There's nothing like that first ride. Now you know why Walter P. was known for great engineering. Even at this age, these cars can still do what they were designed to do, and do it well!

Posted

good on you....there is no better feeling then cruising down the highway listening to the old flatty purr....I cruise at 55 - 60 in overdrive and it feels like it will go on for ever....

Posted
yep drove her about 2 hours today, she runs surprisingly well, its the first flathead i drove any distance, she has more torque than i figured, even in 3rd gear going up steep hills i never had to downshift, i've got to get a set of resister plugs though, the motor buzz was drowning out my oldies tape, keeps great temp a constant 165 degrees, everything working good, blinkers, gauges and all that, only thing i dont like is my tires, the bias plys seem to grab every line in the road, i didn't have any problems with the old tires, so i know its the tires not the car, oh well, till i can afford some new radials these will have to do, took a short video tried to upload with dialup and it said 27 hours remaining when i started so i gave up

If you have Windows Movie Maker,go and make the video smaller, then load to You Tube. Then just post the link, this isdoable even with dial up....

Posted

ok, took the hard drive out of my busted up laptop today and put it in another i bought for $25 at local computer repair place, so i go to mcdonalds and upload my video's again, heres a link to driving my 51, if it doesn't work go to youtube and put in " a short cruise in my 1951 plymouth belvedere" and it should come right up

Posted

Worked great , nice video!

First rides are never forgotten even if when things are not perfect, however your ride seems flawless!

Love the sound of the smittys. Got to get one. My car is to quiet! Single exhaust with split into two a rear. Must have a turbo(quiet) muffler, not noisy enough!;)

Thanks for the ride!:)

Doug

Posted

how awsome is tim, got my caps from him today, they need a good polish and repaint, but they make my car look 100% better, thanks again tim !!!!!!!!!! and i think he got them from the original owner of my 51, the centers are the same color that my car was before i blacked it

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Posted

Scotty...you only got them because I changed direction of my build..went with mag wheels..being a bit on the modified I figured they would fit the car a bit better..they set the car off...glad there is no ho red rims..be sure the cleats are tight fit to the rim..would hate for one of them babies to come off..give yu a spare for the spare tire in the trunk but the catch is you have to be here in October to pick it up in person...got-cha..

Posted
how awsome is tim, got my caps from him today, they need a good polish and repaint, but they make my car look 100% better, thanks again tim !!!!!!!!!! and i think he got them from the original owner of my 51, the centers are the same color that my car was before i blacked it

All 51-52 caps were that color in the middle regardless of the body color.

Posted

yeh thats her, shes on cl too, like i said earlier my goal was always a 39 ply bus coupe like dad used to race, and i have a chance to buy one now, but if the 51 doesn't reach $4500 (which it never will) i'm not selling it, thats what i need to pick up the 39, and if it does sell the hubcaps stay with me, there in no way part of the sale

Posted
All 51-52 caps were that color in the middle regardless of the body color.

they got alot darker over the years, i've seen the originals and they're red, these are purple like my car, although they don't look that dark the way the sun is hitting the car in the pic for some reason

Posted

Thanks for sharing you video. great be able to go for a ride with you while I am in the Catskills of NY and you are in Georgia. These old Flat head Plymouths were and are still great cars. Enjoy my friend, enjoy

Posted
Thanks for sharing you video. great be able to go for a ride with you while I am in the Catskills of NY and you are in Georgia. These old Flat head Plymouths were and are still great cars. Enjoy my friend' date=' enjoy[/quote']

no problem, only next time i'm going to have someone ride shotgun, or get a tripod for my camera, its a little challenging to steer and shift with your left hand while holding camera in right, especialy while my old bias plys are grabbing every crack and line in the road, ah who am i kidding i love a little adventure now and then :)

Posted

i should never say a word about anything to anyone, it gets me in trouble everytime, yesterday in a reply to tim in a pm, i mentioned thats i changed my plugs and points and the 51 was running better than my new car, so last night i went out cruisin with a couple guys from my club, and limped home with a blown head gasket, then i got up this morning and my caravan wouldn't start, turned out bad map sensor, luckily i had a spare, anyone know the torque specs of my headbolts off hand ? already ordered a new gasket

Posted

i dont have the book, i'll just do a search, compared to some of the new ford engines i've done at work, this flathead is a cake walk, and luckily one of the few things we have in this tiny town is an engine shop, so he can check my head, and shave it if it needs, maybe i'll have him do it anyway for a little more compression, if its original, it lasted 61 years, i think thats a pretty good run

Posted

got all bolts and wires marked and head completely apart all in 13 minutes a new personal best, now i only wish 3 things, 1 it was tuesday (when new head gasket supposed to be in), 2 that i had a cartridge filter and not the one piece, that i only found at andy's for $45, not wallet friendly at all, and 3 that this never happened and i was out cruising, in the pic it appears to be blown outer drivers side between 5 and 6, which is where it was blowing from, (head gasket uside down and backwards in pic) and i'm assuming by the complete lack of cylinder ridges, that the speedo is correct at 51,000 or the motors been rebuilt

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