Introduction

[Craigdodge]

G'day.

I found your site just now so I thought I would slip in while no one is looking.

I have this 1955 D49 Aussie built Kingsway in pretty good nic, not the hemi only a flat six.

Im not going to mod it to much just tyres and rims and set her low. so any suggestions on wheel and tyre widths would be appreciated.

Cheers

[casper50]

Nice condition and I like the colors as well.  Welcome.

[Andydodge]

When I had the 41 Plymouth Coupe I put 2" blocks on the rear springs and cut one coil from the front..........I then installed 15x6 and 15x 7 Wheel Vintique Chrome smoothies with the standard offset and 195/75x 15 and 235/75x15 Coker Classic Whitewall radials front & rear.......there was no clearance issues inner or outer, front or rear and the radials improved the general ride, steering and driveability ..............depending on the actual clearance then what I ran may or may not fit............lol...........and I have 14x6 and 15x10 wheels on the 1940 Dodge as shown, tho the rear fenders have 2" welded into them for clearance.......lol.........anyway Welcome Aboard........where are you?........I'm in Grafton, have had the Dodge since 1971, built it as a hotrod in 1973 and am available on 02 66435260 or scaleautomobilia@hotkey.net.au if you need info etc............regards, Andy Douglas    

[Craigdodge]

Cheers guys, im in Bunbury Western Australia, Coup looks mint Andy the 55 needs a bit of an adjustment in the looks department but it runs like a top

[Andydodge]

Craig.........the car looks to be in real nice condition.........especially like the Pearled steering wheel.....was that done by Pearlcraft?...........the colour choices are quite nice, was it an original maroon colour or has it been redone?.........BTW are those black spark plug cap things made of a plastic or Bakerlite material?....they look just like the ones that were on my 1940 Dodge sedan when I got it.......have never seen another set since then...........lol............what engine is in the car?.....23 or 25inch?.............andyd   

[Don Coatney]

Car looks great with the existing tires, rims, and ride height. What do you expect to gain by "setting her low"?

[bigdaisy19k]

46 minutes ago, Don Coatney said:

Car looks great with the existing tires, rims, and ride height. What do you expect to gain by "setting her low"?

 

Resisting the urge to make a street cred joke here, I would say it's a looks preference.  I can't think of a performance gain, I mean just looking at the nice work in the photos, I'm willing to bet those are new springs front and rear.  

[kbuhagiar]

9 hours ago, Craigdodge said:

G'day.

I found your site just now so I thought I would slip in while no one is looking.

I have this 1955 D49 Aussie built Kingsway in pretty good nic, not the hemi only a flat six.

Im not going to mod it to much just tyres and rims and set her low. so any suggestions on wheel and tyre widths would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

Craigdodge,

 

Beautiful car! Welcome to the forum.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Sharp looking car, and I know many have plans to change even new off the floor models when they take ownership, could be the need to follow the current trend in customizing to fit in with the crowd or car club they are associated.   Many think the Plain Jane wrappers are well,  just that, Plain Jane...kind like the HD crowd where it is not necessarily a motorcycle you buying, its the cult they seeking...I see that the few commenting are saying that the looks of the car is original and should stay that way.   Express yourself as you see fit.

[BobT-47P15]

Nice looking car.  Interesting how cars built in other countries are similar to but different from vehicles made

in the USA.  This one is a 1955 model, but it generally resembles a 1954 Plymouth here.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plymouth_Belvedere_Wasen.jpg   Link to a pic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Craigdodge]

11 hours ago, Don Coatney said:

Car looks great with the existing tires, rims, and ride height. What do you expect to gain by "setting her low"?

I like a lower looking car and chrome rims with a wider whitewall, its just my personal choice Don.

[Craigdodge]

10 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

Sharp looking car, and I know many have plans to change even new off the floor models when they take ownership, could be the need to follow the current trend in customizing to fit in with the crowd or car club they are associated.   Many think the Plain Jane wrappers are well,  just that, Plain Jane...kind like the HD crowd where it is not necessarily a motorcycle you buying, its the cult they seeking...I see that the few commenting are saying that the looks of the car is original and should stay that way.   Express yourself as you see fit.

Exactly mate, I have no crowd to fit into,  I have restored a 69 roadrunner, 73 challenger, 65 satellite, 63 and 66 Nova,70 Camaro ss, 66 Parisian, just to name a few American cars and at least 30 Aussie classics, I know what I like and I just do it regardless what anyone thinks

[Andydodge]

Bob...........from what I've seen & read over the past 40 odd years the 1955/56 Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth that were sold here in Oz in 1955 & 1956 were the 1954 Plymouths with minor changes, all were 6 cylinder with the standard 3 speed, O verdrive and Powerflites as gearbox choices and as far as I can tell both 23 and 25" engines installed depending on the gearbox choice.........however there were a number of 1955/56 US or Canadian sourced Plymouth Belvederes imported with the 240/260? Poly V8.....a mate had 2 of these, both 4dr sedans in the 1980's, and they were the proper US cars, nothing like the Oz versions.............we then had the Oz Chrysler Royals introduced in 1957 using the 1954 Plymouth body shell with 1955 US Plymouth front & rear fenders and Oz designed grille, these Oz Chrysler Royals continued with grille, tailight & side trim changes thru to 1962.......trust this helps to add to the Oz confusion.......lol...........andyd ...........   

[Craigdodge]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 6:15 PM, Andydodge said:

Craig.........the car looks to be in real nice condition.........especially like the Pearled steering wheel.....was that done by Pearlcraft?...........the colour choices are quite nice, was it an original maroon colour or has it been redone?.........BTW are those black spark plug cap things made of a plastic or Bakerlite material?....they look just like the ones that were on my 1940 Dodge sedan when I got it.......have never seen another set since then...........lol............what engine is in the car?.....23 or 25inch?.............andyd   

Mate the car is pretty much as the ol fella restored it ( purchased from deceased estate) so I couldn't get a lot of info on the history Bakerlite caps, and how do I tell the 23" from a 25" donk. Colour same I don't know if its the original. I will look into it, its a 20 year old resto in near mint condition.

[Craigdodge]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 12:15 PM, casper50 said:

Nice condition and I like the colors as well.  Welcome.

Cheers mate.

[Craigdodge]

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 12:12 AM, BobT-47P15 said:

Nice looking car.  Interesting how cars built in other countries are similar to but different from vehicles made

in the USA.  This one is a 1955 model, but it generally resembles a 1954 Plymouth here.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plymouth_Belvedere_Wasen.jpg   Link to a pic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Bob

[Plymouthy Adams]

9 minutes ago, Craigdodge said:

Mate the car is pretty much as the ol fella restored it ( purchased from deceased estate) so I couldn't get a lot of info on the history Bakerlite caps, and how do I tell the 23" from a 25" donk. Colour same I don't know if its the original. I will look into it, its a 20 year old resto in near mint condition.

measure the  head of the donk.....23 verse 25

[Craigdodge]

4 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

measure the  head of the donk.....23 verse 25

Cheers mate im on it. So whats the better engine of the 2?

Edited May 14, 2019 by Craigdodge

[Plymouthy Adams]

I will go as far to say that if running, one is as good as the other....

[Craigdodge]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 9:31 PM, bigdaisy19k said:

 

Resisting the urge to make a street cred joke here, I would say it's a looks preference.  I can't think of a performance gain, I mean just looking at the nice work in the photos, I'm willing to bet those are new springs front and rear.  

Springs were done 20 years ago as was the entire resto, and yep looks preference as these need all the help they can get

[Andydodge]

Craig.....sent you an email reply to yours but just measure the length of the cylinder head..........23 &1/2" (I think it is) is the 23" Dodge/Plymouth family engine......25 inch long cylinder head is the DeSoto/Chrysler based engine family........and each family of engines has their own specific capacity and bore & strokes...............in the US built cars this deliniation was accurate but in Canadian built cars they all had the 25" engine and here in Oz we got BOTH engines sometimes in the SAME year depending on the gearbox chosen, which is why its VERY important to identify exactly what you have as assuming that you have one and not the other may not be a wise assumption.............lol......................and ALL OZ mopars, Dodge, DeSoto, Plymouth 1955/56 and Chrysler Royals 1957 to 1962 are based on the 1954 Plymouth body and chassis.............we did get US Sourced 1957 Dodge, Plymouth DeSotos in both 4dr sedans and 4dr Hardtops but these were an imported ex US car and are a separate animal to the Oz made Chrysler Royals........andyd      

[Don Coatney]

On 5/13/2019 at 8:01 PM, Craigdodge said:

I like a lower looking car and chrome rims with a wider whitewall, its just my personal choice Don.

 

Don't get me wrong. Your car, your choice. I agree with the chrome rims. I am not a fan of lowering.  

 

[Craigdodge]

15 hours ago, Don Coatney said:

 

Don't get me wrong. Your car, your choice. I agree with the chrome rims. I am not a fan of lowering.  

 

No worries Don I will look at it once I pick tyre height and such, I know the purists like the stock untouched appearance I on the other hand like it as stock looking but with a subtle change of appearance, it will handle the same. Nice 48 by the way mate would look good lowered  (joke old son).

[Andydodge]

Craig.....I have the Gavin Farmer book, "Great Ideas In Motion" published 2010 which covers Oz mopar 1946-1981 as well as a few other publications including the 1946-53 Workshop manual and 1954 Supplement together with both the 1957 AP1 Chrysler Royal and 1960 AP3 Chrysler Royal workshop manuals and from going thru the lot this may or may not help.........lol.........the production figures for Dodge are as follows

 

D49S           1954          1955           1956

/1                  7                 10

/2                 1705           1318           833

/3                 223             586              277

/4                 91                941             654

Farmers book also mentioned that the D49 which was introduced in 1953 and continued up until the introduction of the 1957 Chrysler Royal had very few indentifiable styling changes, the main two appear to have been the deletion of the side trim or moldings thru the doors from 1955 and the adoption  of chromed hooded headlight surrounds from 1956. As your car does have the moldings thru the doors it may have been a 1953 or 1954 built car however not sold  new till 1955, but thats just a guess on my part............the other thing I mentioned regarding the engine choices and the confusion is borne out by the 1954 Chrysler Australia Workshop Manual Supplement which lists the 3 engines available as follows.......

 

D49 1/2           230.2 engine( with engine numbers after 243,000.......which would be the 23" Dodge/Plymouth engine)

D49 1/2           228.1 engine (with engine numbers suffixed "C"...........which would be the 25" DeSoto/Chrysler engine)

D49 3/4           250.6 engine (with engine numbers prefixed "Kew"......which would be the 25" DeSoto/ Chrysler engine)

 

I have not seen a 1955 or 1956 Australian Chrysler /Mopar/Dodge/DeSoto or Plymouth Workshop Manual, nor have I seen one listed but they/it may exist and have different info....did your car come with a workshop manual or owners manual?     

 

It appears also that over over the 4 years that this series was in production a couple of other changes appeared.........pedals went from being floor/chassis mounted to being pendant or firewall mounted, also changes to whether it had a mechanical clutch to a hydraulic clutch as well as the introduction of a Oz made gearbox with selectors on the Oz drivers side of the gearbox and possibily the introduction of the parking brake on the rear brake drums tho' that may have come in only on the 1957 Royal with the 3 speed manual gearbox................anyway I hope this helps.............or confuses...........lol.............andyd

          

Edited May 16, 2019 by Andydodge
more info

[tub1]

hello craig, dam nice car you have there mate I look forward to seeing a picture when you have made it yours take your time and enjoy that car for your self scott