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1949 Busy Coupe Update


falconvan

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Sway bar install is very nice!

 

May I ask the sway bar Dia. and year of the Jeep??

 

Thanks,

 

DJ

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Thank you for that info. Falconvan,

 

DJ

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Got my sway bar brackets made and installed today. Just a few more things to do; I've got new leaf spring bushings to install, the trim needs to be put on the car, and I'm getting new tires and possibly some kind of hub caps. Still thinking that over; I don't want aftermarket wheels but some vintage hub caps might look good.Then we're good to go for some summer road trips!

Attached is my 1949 Plymouth with the original hubcaps.  When I switched to Chrysler 12" brakes I had to put on bigger rims. I had them blasted and powder coated red,  and then got a set of 1949-50 full sized vintage hubcaps for hubcaps.com

 

I did see them on ebay.com  but always seemed to have lots of dings etc.  I cant remember who recommended I try hubcaps.com 

but it was great advise.  It did take them a while to find a set and then restore them, but they were spectacular. They were not cheap, their pricing is online and here is a direct link to the Plymouth page is the hubcaps you are looking for are the ones of the time

period for a Plymouth.

 

http://www.hubcaps.org/plymouthpass.html

 

Here is the guy I was dealing with. 

 

Lorenzo Martinez
Hubcaps.com
800-826-5880
909- 597-2600

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Those look really nice, thanks for the pics. Your car looks great, too. I may have to go full size; I didnt realize it until I re-measured them last night but my front and rear rims are not the same. I got the rears off of a later model Crown Vic and they dont have tabs for dog dish caps. The fronts do, but they need an 11" cap. When I changed the rear end, the rims that were on the car would not go over the disc brake calipers so I had to get these. Not sure what the fronts came from, they have a Ford stamp on them and were on the car when I got it.

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To clear the calipers on my front disc brakes I used '56 Dodge truck 15" rims which are some 5" wide. I got an entire set from one truck. I like the 15" and the wider tires and I wouldn't have had to paint them, yet I DID. Well one can get away with a few mistakes I guess.

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Those look really nice, thanks for the pics. Your car looks great, too. I may have to go full size; I didnt realize it until I re-measured them last night but my front and rear rims are not the same. I got the rears off of a later model Crown Vic and they dont have tabs for dog dish caps. The fronts do, but they need an 11" cap. When I changed the rear end, the rims that were on the car would not go over the disc brake calipers so I had to get these. Not sure what the fronts came from, they have a Ford stamp on them and were on the car when I got it.

I am not sure what the pattern is or what your front or rear is.  I am sure it is back in your build notes here.  I know I have put on

12" brakes from a Chrysler,  so I had to change the rims to accommodate the brakes.   15" Chrysler rims. So I havethat is why I had to go from the small 1949 hubcaps to the large full size caps.  I do know I have seen guys take modern rims that didn't have tabs for hubcaps and got them to work. How I am not 100% sure although I expect someone on the forum might now how to get old school hubcaps to work on new style rims. Maybe there are clips you can weld on ?  Not sure..But the Plymouth Hubcaps would set off the look of your car if you can pull it off.

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I wrapped up several things over the last few days. It started out as changing out leaf spring bushings as they were shot and clunking pretty bad when you hit any kind of bump. I didn't realize it until I got going but the bumper had to come back off to get the spring shackles out. Then I realized that my fuel tank was leaking from an undetermined spot. So off came the tank and the bumper. After cleaning up the wet spot on the tank I found a couple of little pinholes. It looks like some rust pitting had started. Weird; only one small spot; the rest of the tank looked solid. So i rinsed the tank several times with hot water and Dawn and was able to weld the pinholes shut. Just for good measure I used some fiberglass mat and resin over the questionable area. Hopefully this will work long term; I did the same thing on an old fuel tank years ago and it held for several years. A new tank isn't in the budget right now. I also put the truck weatherstripping on. This all made a huge difference; it drives so much better with the front end adjusted, the sway bar, and the new spring bushings. Now for some new tires, the rest of the trim, and for now I decided to run a set of original 49 Plymouth full hubcaps. 

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I had a couple of small pinholes in the tank of my '49 as well but just went with the quick fix of using an epoxy. I'd like to build an aluminum tank for mine once I get my ac/dc tig - I just don't know how long it will take before I can afford it... Heck, I'm still trying to save up enough money to buy my replacement aluminum radiator at this point... Glad you're able to capitalize on this nice weather though!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

I've been driving the 49 a lot but truthfully haven't been really happy with it. Once the novelty of the SHO motor wore off I wished I had gone with a V8 like I originally planned. The 3.2 runs really good but 180 cubic inches is still only 180 cubic inches. I thought about just selling the car and ran it on Ebay a few times but only got a lot of trade and lowball offers. So I think I'm going to finish out the cruising season with it and put it back under the knife this winter. I picked up a 400 Mopar B block and am planning on doing a 451 inch stroker with it. That should increase the fun factor a bit.

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sorry to hear about that. I figured that would have ran pretty good since the weight of the cars are pretty close. I built a 400 stroker. They run well 400 block .030 over 440 crank and use chevy bb rod you'll get a 472. I have one in my wife's 66 charger. Six pack cam and 10.1 compression with Mopar aluminum heads and put out 513 horse.

Edited by 1FSTRYD
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I've been driving the 49 a lot but truthfully haven't been really happy with it. Once the novelty of the SHO motor wore off I wished I had gone with a V8 like I originally planned. The 3.2 runs really good but 180 cubic inches is still only 180 cubic inches. I thought about just selling the car and ran it on Ebay a few times but only got a lot of trade and lowball offers. So I think I'm going to finish out the cruising season with it and put it back under the knife this winter. I picked up a 400 Mopar B block and am planning on doing a 451 inch stroker with it. That should increase the fun factor a bit.

Isn't that a bummer,....sorta!  Neat project 'tho.  Take some solace in the fact that you learned something,.....maybe like "there's no substitute for cubic inches. :lol:  

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