1950 Plymouth Suburban chassis question

[Collins1]

Hello, my name is Bryan and I purchased a 1950 Plymouth Suburban that I'm interested in putting a Chrysler 318 in.

 

I wanted to purchase an engine kit from Butches Cool Stuff to do this but he wasn't sure if the suburban chassis are the same as the other Plymouth cars of this era.

 

I want to keep the chassis as close to stock as possible and would like to know if the 1950 Suburban chassis are the same as any other chassis used in Plymouth cars.

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Than you

[Plymouthy Adams]

the dimension of the chassis are in the book.....as for the difference, not to worry about the engine compartment the frame difference is in the length behind the cowl to the rear as the Suburban is on the 111 inch Concorde chassis.   

Edited March 28, 2018 by Plymouthy Adams

[dpollo]

From the engine rear cross member to the front of the car the dimensions are the same  as other body styles.

 

[Collins1]

3 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

the dimension of the chassis are in the book.....as for the difference, not to worry about the engine compartment the frame difference is in the length behind the cowl to the rear as the Suburban is on the 111 inch Concorde chassis.   

Awesome...so this engine retrofit kit should work..I appreciate your reply. Thank you.

[Collins1]

1 hour ago, dpollo said:

From the engine rear cross member to the front of the car the dimensions are the same  as other body styles.

 

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm sure I'll have many more questions as I start getting into this thing.

[Young Ed]

3 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

the dimension of the chassis are in the book.....as for the difference, not to worry about the engine compartment the frame difference is in the length behind the cowl to the rear as the Suburban is on the 111 inch Concorde chassis.   

doesn't change the answer to the original poster but 1950 was the last year of the woodie station wagon. The steel wagon was on the short chassis and I believe the woodie was on the longer one. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

13 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

doesn't change the answer to the original poster but 1950 was the last year of the woodie station wagon. The steel wagon was on the short chassis and I believe the woodie was on the longer one. 

I agree Ed....however, been my experience if a man happens to have a woodie wagon he is sure to mention it in the thread...but then maybe not...so GOOD POINT!

[dpollo]

11 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I agree Ed....however, been my experience if a man happens to have a woodie wagon he is sure to mention it in the thread...but then maybe not...so GOOD POINT!

You are correct  .  Remember the guy who wanted to know about  a missing door check.  His was a woodie  but that did not become apparent until he got a bit short with me when I suggested he look in the bottom of the door.  I wonder if he ever found an answer.

[Plymouthy Adams]

56 minutes ago, dpollo said:

You are correct  .  Remember the guy who wanted to know about  a missing door check.  His was a woodie  but that did not become apparent until he got a bit short with me when I suggested he look in the bottom of the door.  I wonder if he ever found an answer.

 

who knows, why it is so important to relate the facts pertaining to your vehicle when posing questions at large...

[Young Ed]

anyone know the naming convention when the had both wagons? were both suburbans?

[Plymouthy Adams]

I do not recall the Plymouth wood body going by the name Suburban.

[Young Ed]

just looked up a brochure. The metal one was the all metal deluxe suburban. The woodie special deluxe station wagon. 

[JSabah]

On 3/28/2018 at 2:12 PM, dpollo said:

You are correct  .  Remember the guy who wanted to know about  a missing door check.  His was a woodie  but that did not become apparent until he got a bit short with me when I suggested he look in the bottom of the door.  I wonder if he ever found an answer.

That would be me and if I was short, my apologies.  I had written that I was completing the woodwork but didn't realize that other steel bodied cars may also have woodwork (so I mistakenly thought it was obvious) ... In any case, It was not at the bottom of the door and I'm still looking for the correct rear door check strap for my 1949 Plymouth Woodie ... any help would be appreciated.  Josh

Edited April 18, 2018 by JSabah
pictures added

[dpollo]

Sorry if I got crossways, Josh , not  all forum members are old and grumpy like me.  I did take the time to look in the parts book for 50 but it seems that the Special Deluxe wood body had a catalog all on its own.   These bodies were built by outside manufacturers so it is possible that the door checks were the same as other wood bodied units.  ( like Ford)

[DJ194950]

On 4/17/2018 at 5:50 PM, JSabah said:

That would be me and if I was short, my apologies.  I had written that I was completing the woodwork but didn't realize that other steel bodied cars may also have woodwork (so I mistakenly thought it was obvious) ... In any case, It was not at the bottom of the door and I'm still looking for the correct rear door check strap for my 1949 Plymouth Woodie ... any help would be appreciated.  Josh

 

the correct part# for the wood "station wagon" door checks are 1246702 for the front doors  and 1256576 for rear doors and I have a copied piece of paper that looks to be a original factory parts book correction that states the 1246702 was for all 1949 for all p-17 and p-18 - that was wrong # for all - except the station wagon which is the correct#.

The other body styles used part # 1244142 for the front doors only.

Any other parts #,s needed I can look for you as I received the Wood wagon body parts manual for P-18's when I purchased a original 1949 parts  book some years back.

 

Hope that is some help,

DJ

 

 

[chopt50wgn]

I have the all steel 50 Ply wagon and my door checks have a thick rubber bushing that is connected to the arm.The bushing bumps up against a hole in the jamb that stops the door from opening too wide. Mine do not have that slotted piece that the flat arm slides in. But it works and I guess that's what counts.

[JSabah]

4 hours ago, DJ194950 said:

 

the correct part# for the wood "station wagon" door checks are 1246702 for the front doors  and 1256576 for rear doors and I have a copied piece of paper that looks to be a original factory parts book correction that states the 1246702 was for all 1949 for all p-17 and p-18 - that was wrong # for all - except the station wagon which is the correct#.

The other body styles used part # 1244142 for the front doors only.

Any other parts #,s needed I can look for you as I received the Wood wagon body parts manual for P-18's when I purchased a original 1949 parts  book some years back.

 

Hope that is some help,

DJ

 

 

Thanks DJ!  I've been swamped today but did a quick google search on the rear door part number (with "Plymouth", "mopar", "Chrysler", and "dodge" ... no luck.  Any idea who may have them or a picture of it?  Thanks for the great start to the hunt,  Joah

[JSabah]

2 hours ago, chopt50wgn said:

I have the all steel 50 Ply wagon and my door checks have a thick rubber bushing that is connected to the arm.The bushing bumps up against a hole in the jamb that stops the door from opening too wide. Mine do not have that slotted piece that the flat arm slides in. But it works and I guess that's what counts.

Mine has a round rubber bumper and metal washer as well.  I can find those, so I did not include it in my pics....just having trouble finding the straps and end pieces.  Josh

[DJ194950]

I will copy the page from the part book tomorrow and post which has the various #'s for all the door check parts, have to go for now and it will most likely take some time as computers stuff is still mostly foreign to me! 

[DJ194950]

18 hours ago, DJ194950 said:

I will copy the page from the part book tomorrow and post which has the various #'s for all the door check parts, have to go for now and it will most likely take some time as computers stuff is still mostly foreign to me! 

 

JSabah  -

 

Here is the pages copied as promised.

 

 

 

DJ

[chopt50wgn]

I forgot to say that when I got this car I did not have any door checks. I found a member here on this site who had an extra one from a car. So I bought the one from him and just made a new one from 1/8" metal. The only thing you have to be aware of is the dog leg in either of them. The dog leg bend is different from one side to the other.

I have no doubt that if you can find what you are looking for, you should be able to make one.

[JOHN EDGE]

Just want to suggest to collin1 to think about the engine swap and maybe consider keeping that oldie but goodie flathead six. I considered converting my suburban to a v8 for almost a year but then I went the upgrade route on the flathead six and I couldn't be. Happier. This wagon has gotten more attention and awards and I believe much of it relates to the engine and its upgrades. Everyone is surprised when I open the hood and its performance level. Everyone expects a v8 conversion these days and don garlits told me when he picked my suburban as the best vintage mopar at his annual mopar meet at his Ocala shop the engine was reason. Just my thoughts. Good luck either way. Love hearing there's another Plymouth suburban out there

[JOHN EDGE]

[JSabah]

I’m deep in the middle of a restoration of my ‘49 Plymouth Woody and was considering an engine swap. Big American cars are new to me (from a restoration point) and while I like to keep my cars original, was thinking of an engine swap. I’d be very interested to know what needs or should be done to upgrade my flathead six. Thanks

[Plymouthy Adams]

1 hour ago, JSabah said:

I’m deep in the middle of a restoration of my ‘49 Plymouth Woody and was considering an engine swap. Big American cars are new to me (from a restoration point) and while I like to keep my cars original, was thinking of an engine swap. I’d be very interested to know what needs or should be done to upgrade my flathead six. Thanks

that depends mainly on your driving needs and or performance desires....or maybe even the ooh-aah effect you wish to garner when showing....you need to provide a bit more info on your wants to get an answer closely tailored to the build step to obtain

Edited April 24, 2018 by Plymouthy Adams