1951 Plymouth Suburban project

[lilduec]

So my Dad and I knew where this 51 Plymouth suburban was and who the latest owner was. We talked about seeing if he would sell it for probably a year. We know the past three owners of the car with the first being the one that did all the body work on it. The second owner had it and was fixing it up when he traded the latest owner for a 41 Chevy coupe. The latest owner didnt do much with it and it sat it his barn for about 6 plus years. We finally found out that he would be willing to sell it and went and yanked it out (literaly had to yank it out with my truck because all the wheels were locked up) of his barn in December 2013. my plans were to do an explorer rear end swap with 3" lowering blocks, fatman front dropped uprights, scarebird disc brake kit, S10 5-speed, and a new master cylinder. I want to go for a mild kustom look, nothing crazy so I decided with Diamondback wide white walls with Lancer flipper style hubcaps. Probably gonna do a gloss white roof, not sure on the main color or interior color but I'm leaning toward Hot Rod Flatz Daytona Blue Pearl and a tan interior with some pinstriping. I also wanna do some louvers in the hood. Gonnd keep the flathead 6 in it because its just cool, and eventually put A/C in it. Its been almost 6 months to the day when we first brought the Suburban home and I took it for its first drive last night. I only went one block but I just had to put the wheels/hubcaps and tires on it to see how it looked and drove. Still got a few things to finish up but I plan on driving this to the Fathers Day car show in Highland Illinois next Sunday. Enjoy the pics!

 

This is how it looked probably 6-7 years ago when the trade happened.

 

 

 

And this is how we found the wagon in the barn in December.

 

 

 

 

 

[lilduec]

First time its seen daylight in quite a while!

 

 

On the trailer headin to its new home!

 

 

In the shop!

 

[lilduec]

Whats nice is over the years the previous owners have bought lots of parts and pieces. We have all the chrome trim, knobs, handles, lights, hubcaps, steering wheel horn buttons, and theres even a box with original brake pads!

 

 

Off to the junkyard we go! This looks like a good one to rob the rear end out of.

 

 

1996 Ford Explorer XLT 172,000 miles on it

 

[lilduec]

Stock rear end out.

 

 

 

New rear end in with lowering blocks! Pretty dang easy swap!! I'm even reusing the stock emergency brake cable!!

 

[lilduec]

Rolled it out to see how the rear end looks lowered.

 

 

Back to the junkyard. Found only one S10 there with the T5 that would work. Its electronic but oh well I'm gonna retrofit a speedo gauge into the stock dash.

 

 

Found a buddy local that was selling all his 218 stuff including the adapter plate for the T5.

 

[lilduec]

Put the trans in to get an idea on how big to cut the floor.

 

 

Started working on the master cylinder setup. Cut all the old junk out. I had a pedal assembly I was gonna use on my 32 Ford Coupe, but I found out it will work for this project right now. Started cutting on it and making it fit.

 

 

Gave up on the master cylinder for a bit because I was having issues lining it all up. So I started on the front end.

 

[lilduec]

Got my son out there to help me. What a good helper! He's super excited to ride in the wagon with Daddy and Grandpa!

 

 

Swapped out for the fatman uprights.

 

 

[lilduec]

Decided to take the front bumper guards off. Looks much better I think. Did the same for the rear bumper.

 

 

[lilduec]

Did a quick little nose job! Still have to mud it.

 

 

[lilduec]

Had to do something with the exhaust since it was laying on the rear end at ride height. So I just used some of the old tubing and routed it in front of the rear tire for now. Eventually I want split manifolds and duals out the back.

 

 

Used the stock S10 driveshaft when we bought the T5 and had it cut with a new end on it to match the Explorer rear end. Kinda hard to see. Also got the brake pedal assembly, and trans all mounted in for the final time.

 

 

Please be gentle on my brake lines, I'm definately no good at making them nice. Well they were nice at first but then when they wouldnt line up they turned out this way lol.

 

[lilduec]

Got the front end somewhat together. Rolled it out to see how it looks.

 

 

 

[lilduec]

I was having issues with the front end not going all the way down or any travel. I couldnt figure out what it was until I was pushing on it and the travel stopped all together. Found out that the upper nut on the uprights was stuck on the upper A arm. I'm dumb and installed the bolt the wrong way. So if you ever install these the bolt goes from the inside of the car to where the nut is facing out! I literally had to hammer and chisel the nut out because it was stuck. A little grinding on the A arm and everything is good now with normal travel.

 

 

Ordered the tires from Diamondback. 205/70R15's I think.

 

[lilduec]

Got the wheels/tires mounted and put some Lancer hubcaps from Speedway motors. I love the look! So thats it for now, gotta do some wiring on it and sheet metal work on the floor where the trans and master cylinder is before its really road worthy, but its super close! I'll take more pictures of the front end brakes and shock mounts and also the rear shock mounts when I get a chance.

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2014 by lilduec

[chopt50wgn]

Very cool !!!...............like the look and the fact you are sticking with one theme. You see so many older cars today at shows that are a "catalog" car.

[1FSTRYD]

That is very cool. I love these earlier wagons over my 54

[pflaming]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the 49-52's do have a different look than the 53-54's. I't's interesing how many suburbans have suddenly shown up on this forum. I have a 53 and a 54. Will get back to the '54 late july..

The coerced shop replacement program really set me back.

[ChrisRice]

Welcome to the suburban club

[Don Colliau]

Have you cut one coil out of the front springs?

[pflaming]

That paint will really shine up nice. Impossible to better original paint.  Sure would like to have your lift. 

[lilduec]

@DonColliau, I didn't cut the coils but from what other guys have said they were probably cut one coil at some point. The only thing I did was put on the lowered Fatman Uprights.

 

@pflaming, yeah that was a EXTREMELY generous gift from my Dad for a house warming present. He told me "It took me 40 years to get my equipment and I don't want you to have wait that long." He's never bought anything like that for me in my life, its always been "you want a car and insurance? Get a job and you have to earn it!" He's 66 now and I'm 35. We bought that lift from a place in Indianapolis called Greg Smith Equipment with a nice showroom and everything. My lift when we got it was I think around $1600. And let me tell ya, its soooooooooo worth it. I have had this wagon up and down probably over 100 times over the past few months. I feel very fortunate!!!

[Don Colliau]

 Thanks for the reply. I put the Fatman uprights on mine too. I just need to get it off the drive on hoist and see how it sits. Then maybe cut a coil. Should add the hood too so it has more weight on it. I should post some pictures here on the forum  but I have been battling covered up rust issues and poor body work on mine. I would like something better to show the people here.  Getting close to that.

[pflaming]

Hey Don, the forum appreciates the 'after' pics a whole lot more after they have seen the 'before' pictures before . 

[mrwrstory]

@DonColliau, I didn't cut the coils but from what other guys have said they were probably cut one coil at some point. The only thing I did was put on the lowered Fatman Uprights.

 

 

I'd suggest getting all the sheet metal on and then driving the car before cutting any coils.  Lowered cars (I love'm a lot) have driving idiosyncrasies and if you have not experienced one, "you should" in order to understand the compromises.  If you have old stock springs they have likely sagged a bunch and are somewhat softer than new.   Even without cutting coils you may experience "bottoming out".  

Alternatively, If you have new springs, give'm a chance to settle before taking the torch to them.

All that said, the first iteration of my P-15 had dropped Fatman uprights and something like 1 1/2 coils removed from the stock springs.  I had to be careful entering driveways (diagonally), crawling over speed bumps and the suspension bottoming on highway transitions,....and I loved the look.  It was a choice of aesthetics (my aesthetics) over practicality and I never wished I hadn't made the mods.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!  Anxious to see the results    

[lilduec]

So I noticed yesterday when I had the car up in the air that the front tires are rubbing the tie rod ends. The front wheels are I think 15x6 and the rears are 15x7 or something like that. The only reason the fronts are skinny and rears are wider? Well thats what we had laying around. So I'm thinking that the offset is whats causing the problem so I am going to swap the fronts to the rear and vise versa to see if that fixes it. If not I have another set of steel wheels I will have to clean up, paint and have the tires swapped over. Sucks but all part of building a new hot rod, just workin out the bugs.

I got the tailights mounts drilled and mounted them yesterday along with running wires and getting the turn signals working. I also went and got everything legal with license plates, and insurance yesterday. I'm planning on driving this to the Fathers Day car show with my girlfriend and son on Sunday following my Dad and Mom in his 48 Chevy truck, so still got some things to do:

• Bleed the brakes and figure out the proportioning better
• Wire up the brake pressure switch
• Do some sheet metal work in the floor where the new master cyliner is and trans tunnel
• Headlights and running lights (if I get time but not needed for Sunday)
• Figure out the wheel issue.
• Do a nice shakedown run.

I think I will be ok and be able to make it to the show, but its definately crunch time. I'll even drive the dang thing with no trans tunnel for the day I dont care, its just this dang thing called "WORK" that gets in the way of my time!

[lilduec]

Well yesterday was the day. I worked alot on Friday and Saturday doing wiring, working the front wheel issue, did some sheet metal work in the floor for the trans tunnel and taking it for a couple of short drives. I wanted to be able to take my family in the wagon and follow my Dad to the Fathers Day show we always go to and we made it! Car runs wonderful. The only issue I have now is the rear end and driveshaft is rubbing the body when I hit some good bumps. So I may either put in 2" blocks to see how that does or just cut a bigger tunnel and get if over with. Other than that just some small issues like little drips of brake fluid, oil pan and valve covers needs to be tightened up and probably gonna have to get some narrower spacers up front. Speaking of the spacers, I ended up borrowing some 1 1/2" wheel adapters up front to clear the tie rods. I think I'm gonna need probably 1" so the tires dont rub so much at full turns. But no rubbing or any issues up front when we're just driving down the road though, just mainly in parking lots. The car rides great too other than the loud chainsaw grinding noise when we hit bumps haha. Here's a couple pics.

 

Not too bad sheet metal work for just using a hammer, vise, and an old oil drum to bend it all up.

 

 

 

Made it to the show! The black 48 truck next to me is my Dads.