1954 Plymouth Suburban Project

[Plymouthy Adams]

I do not know who is getting that sink Ed...they do not to my knowledge plan a drive by at my place...

[Young Ed]

I do not know who is getting that sink Ed...they do not to my knowledge plan a drive by at my place...

 

Don't spoil the surprise Tim....

[Plymouthy Adams]

surprise...not hard to do...as in..................I KNOW NOTHING  !!!!

[pflaming]

Can't sleep sometimes, so go shopping. Found this last night. Will call back to confirm that it's not sold, daughter's board and she's out of town. It's gonna look RAD on top of the Suburban, sure hope I get it. . 

 

 

p.s.  ". . . .I KNOW NOTHING  !!!!"  Never thought I'd hear Plymouthy post that statement! 

[pflaming]

My convertible needs the bumpers (-$600), the suburban could use the engine and tranny (-400), the suburban needs the front fenders and hood, either the vert or the suburban can use the rims. . . Question: Who will volunteer to inform my wife, maybe I can leave a nice pre-thanksgiving day car when I go meet up with Don.

 

I'm not selfish, I would only take the one with the hemi. Is that a good engine?

 

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/4054438298.html

[Desotodav]

You've got the MOPAR bug bad haven't you PP.

Wasn't it decided a while back that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission?

[Plymouthy Adams]

My convertible needs the bumpers (-$600), the suburban could use the engine and tranny (-400), the suburban needs the front fenders and hood, either the vert or the suburban can use the rims. . . Question: Who will volunteer to inform my wife, maybe I can leave a nice pre-thanksgiving day car when I go meet up with Don.

 

I'm not selfish, I would only take the one with the hemi. Is that a good engine?

 

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/4054438298.html

 

 

PP I got your phone number...better never leave it to where Mrs.  PP will answer the phone...ask permission...ask forgiveness...bah humbug...that is the sorriest excuse  I have ever heard of..if it's what you want..then get it..do they always call  home when they buy shoes? 

[pflaming]

On the suggestion of Ed I decided to start looking for '54 front fenders, hood, etc. Today I traded my '53 Plymouth fenders, hood, etc., and my '52 Dodge fenders and hood for the entire dog house from this car. The seller and I will swap later next week. Oh and I'm getting the bumpers also!

 

Parts are out there, just look when you don't need them, and pay what you want to pay or walk away. This front is the same color as what my suburban once was.

 

What a hobby. Now I don't have to negotiate with mums because no money was exchanged only a six pack of beer. I'm starting to trade Wisconsin style. Whoever said you can't "teach an old dog new tricks" was some smarty pants middle aged slacker.

 

Edited September 25, 2013 by pflaming

[murfman1967]

Did your pieces show up?  It looked like they were out for delivery yesterday.  Could you do me a favor and get a pic of the weatherstripping on the doors and tailgate on your car?  My dad disassembled them on mine, and I finally finished painting the jams and I'm not sure exactly where they go on the doors I think I got it but I'd like to make sure on the doors and obviously the channel on the body for the tailgate, but I'd like to see the tailgate top to bottom joint.

Edited September 29, 2013 by murfman1967

[pflaming]

10-4 on the weather stripping. 

 

I removed the consol and the carpeting from an  87 T-bird I have. I will cut out the entire front floor board, fit and weld it into the suburban, then the bucket seats will sit on their original mounts. So that is for Monday. I will cut it out with a sawzall and well it in.

Removing that consol and carpet was not an easy task, but it's done so what I have now is a nice clean floor to cut out.

[RobertKB]

Don't cut the supports when you cut out the floor in the '53. The Plymouth floor is spot welded to the supports as well as the rocker panels. It is not a straighforward follow the marks all the way around and you're done. I am doing the floors in my '51 right now and I am making sure I understand how everything was put together originally so there are fewer problems putting in the new floor. I don't know the condition of the floors in the Suburban but if they are decent, I would rather modify the T-Bird seat supports to fit as it would probably be less work in the long run.

[Plymouthy Adams]

laying in a floor from another car is quite involved process but one that is very rewarding if you are changing your interior layout completely.  In the making of my coupe I installed the firewall and floor of the donor to the coupe.  Including tunnel so to take advantage of the donor buckets, floor shift and factory console and shoulder harness/seatbelts.  Trimming the donor to where it would lay on the original floor ar as close to that spec as possible and then butt welding the two in place.  Many areas will never come close to flush so transition pieces will need be made to make the connection and make it fit and flow.  Cut and shape your connector metal till it will lay on the original floor and weld to the incoming donor pan..then cut the original floor and make the transition butt weld there..quick and easy.  Most of this was about he tunnel and when laying the seat cross support back into position.  This transfer also take into account items such as steering column position, seat height at front cushion, floor to steering wheel, firewall to front of seat farthest forward etc etc.  It is just no cut and place by any  means but a very rewarding and functional interior change is the result of all these careful measurements.  The full perimeter butt welds ad strength...cross supports modified for the new tunnel width and offset..Basically the modification got a modification on install.  Do take many measurements..put this all out on paper to ensure it fits before you do the cut..else you could quickly be up a creek without a paddle.

Edited September 29, 2013 by Plymouthy Adams

[DJ194950]

Is an 87 Bird year wheel drive??

Don't remember.

 

Go for it Paul!

 

Doug

[Young Ed]

Is an 87 Bird year wheel drive??

Don't remember.

 

Go for it Paul!

 

Doug

 

I believe back then the Tbird was based on the fox platform same as the mustang.

[pflaming]

Yes, it's a rear wheel drive. It was one of the best cars I've owned. With a 5.0 EFI engine and a sports suspension, it was a very nice car. When I parked it, it had 300,000 miles on it, it still passed smog, still had the original spark plugs and wires, original transmission but it was very tired.

 

Now it's going to be a donor car for things I need, starting with the floor board and the bucket seats. 

[pflaming]

Yesterday I cut out the floor pan from an 87 T-Bird I parked a few years ago. I trust this will work out because cutting out that pan was not an easy task. A unibody car has a lot of supports under the pan. From the top it looks easy but that's not the case. At 3:00 p.m. I had to leave so will take it out this morning, got some e-brake cables to unhook first.

 

Sidenote: The upper trim I bought from Murfman came today. I am very pleased and VERY THANKFUL.. The power and one of the many benefits of this form and its members.

 

Donor car: I could not or would not have cut that pan out without the use of a large forklift. 

 

 

The donor floor pan before 'surgery'. 

 

Edited October 1, 2013 by pflaming

[pflaming]

I just opened up the package of trim pieces that go below the windows on my suburban. WOW!  Murfmann did me a HUGE favor on these. They will shine up very nicely. There are a few little dings which will hardly be noticeable and will add character to the car. 

 

THANK YOU!!!!

[RobertKB]

You are a brave man! You couldn't pay me enough to work under a car supported by only a forklift! Too many things to go wrong IMHO. However, let us see the patch you cut out and also the cutting on the '53 when you get there. Interesting project.

[pflaming]

Robert, when i was in 13 - 19 years old, every spring it was my chore to change the oil up on the 40' windmill transmissions. You want t test your testosterone, try that!  10,000 # fork lift, 2,000 # car, so whats to fear?

 

Whatever, the floor is out. Here are some pictures of stage 1 (cut) and stage 2 (fit) I will use the carpet for my first pattern.  It is quite a task to get that floor out. The top looks easy but with the unibody construction, there is a lot of sub struture under neath and I dd not want to use a plasma cutter. I used a Sawzall. 

 

As you can see, I couldn't salvage as much of the front floor panels as I wanted because there is so much superstucture in that area: i.e., the channels that run to the front to the bumper. 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2013 by pflaming

[pflaming]

Pictures of the gate seals on the back of the suburban. This is per Murfman's request. I trust this is what you want. 

 

 

 

[Dave72dt]

It's not the capacity of the fork lift, it's the fact that it stays up depending on the quality of the seals in the lift ram, valve body and a single hydraulic hose.  There is NO mechanical safety lock on the hydraulic cylinder!  You're crawling under that car held up by what is basically a really big hydraulic jack. 

[murfman1967]

I've worked under the forks of my forklift as well, the chances of a hose bursting are about as good as me winning the lottery.  I will never ever work under a car on jackstands again, however.  8 years ago I was working under my Jeep fitting the exhaust and it was on 4 jackstands with all 4 wheels and tires off (good older Craftsman stands at that) when I was muscling the tailpipe the Jeep rocked forward and fell on me pinning me under it, somehow I managed the strength to lift it enough to squirm out from under it.  knocked the wind out of me and broke 3 ribs, but I was lucky.  2 weeks later I bought a Rotary 2 post lift.  I'll never lay on my back under the car in my garage again.

  I feel safer under a forklift than jack stands.

 

 

And thanks for the pics, I have some weatherstripping here that has a lip like the doors but is a little smaller I am going to try it.  What does the one on the bottom of the upper tailgate look like?  Thanks again  Murf

 

P.S. Are you going to go with the '54 front clip?

[pflaming]

Dave, you are absolutely correct, yet oft times we take calculated risks which we should not do. Thanks for the warning, nice to know someone cares.

 

I got the floor pan home and the trim pieces to the shop. I installed one trim piece and did a quick polish job, it looks absolutely fantastic.

 

There isn't much below the suburban pan, of course the drive train is out, so that is missing. The T-bird pan has a much larger tunnel so I will have to figure out what to do about that. I want to use the consol so I can't  reduce the size. The back side does not concern me but to blend in the front will be a bit of a challenge.

 

Rear quarter trim piece. 

 

 

T-bird pan just place into the car

 

 

Suburban floor removed. 

 

[pflaming]

1) will pick up the 54 dog house next week and will use that. It is the same tan color as the remainder of the car. It will be interesting to see how that all ties together. (2) When I put a car on jack stands, once on the stands i stand by the car and do all I can to rock it off those stands. That makes all the stands line up perpendicular to the floor. I had a similar experience using two bottle jacks. The truck came down, fortunately it had rims on and it just gave me a good SQUEEZE. 

[JerseyHarold]

I lay wheels on the ground under the four tires if I'm under a car on jack stands.