My 1951 Plymouth Project // New Forum Member

[IIChileII]

Hey guys , my name is David. I live in the Bay Area, CA and just wanted to introduce myself and my car. I have a 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook 2 door coupe that I have been working on since 2019. It's an original Texas car that was shipped over here by the previous owner around the late 2000s and it sat in the previous owner's driveway for the next 10 years. I purchased it around May of 2019 and got her running in a day! She already had a 283 SBC and a 3 speed manual in her. The entire drivetrain was actually out of an early 60s nova. That was then. NOW, she is a totally different car. I ended up gutting the entire drivetrain and made a lot of modifications that I'm sure some of you will appreciate. The drivetrain is now updated. Still driven by a SBC but now it has a 350 4 bolt main, nice lumpy cam and worked up heads. I made the car an automatic, I personally like it better for cruising, but I did drive it to the good guys show with the 3 speed manual, and boy, was she roaring. Since she's an automatic now, I went with the floor shifter offered by Gennie Shifters. I'm actually hoping to get it in the mail today, so that's the next upgrade. The rear end is out of a 80's notchback Mustang and it's got 4.11 gears w/ posi. Fun stuff!! I'm sure most of you know the infamous front shock conversion on these platform cars. The original front shock were so damn short. so I bought some shock mounts from Jegs that were meant for a 1951 Ford and welded them to the frame. The shocks I'm running in the fronts now are actually rear shocks off of a 1987 C20 RWD. So they are MUCH bigger with a wide range of absorption. Someone who owned it previously also torched the front springs to achieve that lowered stance, but sacrificed hugely in the driveability department. so I replaced those old springs with new factory springs. She rides AMAZINGLY. like a boat. Now, since I did the SBC conversion the "right" way, the steering box was in the way of where the mount is suppose to go. So I did what any of us would do, and swapped in a Power Steering Rack and Pinion. I thought of doing a Camaro Sub-Frame Conversion, but after doing some research, it was easier to just fab up the mount and weld those in place. Now, in terms of the accessories, because the SBC is so close to the front frame (drivers side lower), it interferes with me putting the power steering pump on the 350 because it usually goes not the front lower drivers side. So again, I did what any of us would do, I decided to go with Electric Power Steering Conversion. And it really wasn't all that complicated. I went with the pump that was offered in 2008 - 2010 Volvo s60 (I think?) and custom made a bracket for it under the hood. then I ordered some nice p/s lines off summit that were the correct length and Voila! Less stress on the engine and I can turn my wheels with the engine off. Other than that, the car is otherwise stock. Exterior-wise, it's a normal Cranbrook, short of the flame job. I'm in the process of getting my interior redone. Oh, I also had to replace the floors and I didn't see any reproduction floors available for these, so I just made them and welded them in. It wasn't perfect by any means, but better than before. I'll try to post more pictures in the future but this is my car now. She's a little dusty from sitting. but I plan to driver her everyday this summer. Thanks for reading my post. Hope to meet some like minded folks. 

[Sam Buchanan]

 

Welcome to the group! Your car doesn't resemble my '48 P15 much but I appreciate the fabrication skills and problem solving required to mod it. Nice ride!

[IIChileII]

3 minutes ago, Sam Buchanan said:

 

Welcome to the group! Your car doesn't resemble my '48 P15 much but I appreciate the fabrication skills and problem solving required to mod it. Nice ride!

 

Thanks for the welcome Sam, look forward to seeing your car posts. 

[Jonathan]

Curious, could you let me know exactly what you used for an electric Power Steering Conversion? I am working on my car and there is a tremendous amount of slop in the steering box. I have adjusted it quite a bit, with no solution. I called a couple places and they said the worm gear is probably worn out, but it is impossible to find another except in a junkyard, and all my local junkyards have crushed the majority of these cars now. So, I am thinking of a power steering conversion but do not know where to begin. Everything else on my car is stock. Thanks.  

[IIChileII]

25 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Curious, could you let me know exactly what you used for an electric Power Steering Conversion? I am working on my car and there is a tremendous amount of slop in the steering box. I have adjusted it quite a bit, with no solution. I called a couple places and they said the worm gear is probably worn out, but it is impossible to find another except in a junkyard, and all my local junkyards have crushed the majority of these cars now. So, I am thinking of a power steering conversion but do not know where to begin. Everything else on my car is stock. Thanks.  

Yeah! so there's two different components that make up the actual movement of the steering (besides the steering column) , there's the driving force (which could be a power steering pump, an electric motor, etc) and there's the multiplier force (which could be a steering box or a rack n pinion). Generally the slop comes from the steering box. Now doing an electric conversion won't help much because the electric conversion still uses the multiplier that is on the vehicle, in your case, the steering box. In my case, I removed the steering box and did a rack conversion. In my opinion, this will solve the slop issue and may give you better turning ratios as well. Also you don't need to convert your vehicle to power steering at all. you could just get a manual rack and pinion and fab up some mounts for it. you may need to replace the column as a result though because I think these cars came with the column that was a one-piece unit that connected to the tie rods and such. but with some engineering, anything is possible. I hope that answered your question, there's a lot of option you can do, some may require more ingenuity than others. The simpliest would be to get your steering box restored or replaced. 

[DJ194950]

So now if I read right she drives good?

Fun to drive?

4:11 with a auto trans will tear up the 1/4 mile but mileage?   Is the automatic a overdrive type like a 700R-4/

 

Sounds like you jump in and get things done which I can really  appreciate the time in affort it takes as I sent many a hour in years past when I was still able on my 1950 Plymouth Surburban .

 

See my profile info on the left on this post to get some info on my car.

 

If I can some info/ inspiration when/ if needed let me know..

 

I like the Car!!

 

DJ

[IIChileII]

50 minutes ago, DJ194950 said:

So now if I read right she drives good?

Fun to drive?

4:11 with a auto trans will tear up the 1/4 mile but mileage?   Is the automatic a overdrive type like a 700R-4/

 

Sounds like you jump in and get things done which I can really  appreciate the time in affort it takes as I sent many a hour in years past when I was still able on my 1950 Plymouth Surburban .

 

See my profile info on the left on this post to get some info on my car.

 

If I can some info/ inspiration when/ if needed let me know..

 

I like the Car!!

 

DJ

Yeah she runs and drives. My most recent upgrade was getting the Gennie Shifter which i just got today. I also plan to remove the engine and paint the firewall / clean it up a bit.

 

Mileage absolutely sucks. And the trans im running is a th350. So being that it has such low gears, it does go thru the gears pretty fast and usually lingers at 3rd.. i do want an overdrive but that would mean new trans mount, converter, shorten the driveshaft, all in addition to the trans. It would be nice but id rather just enjoy her for now. 

 

I saw a 1953 plymouth suburban close to where i live a few months ago and really wanted to jump on it. But i couldnt start another project with already one in the works. Very cool car though.  Ill definitely check your profile and see your car. 

 

Im always looking for motivation and info in general with old hot rods and plymouths. Its awesome meeting you. Ill try and post more pics of the work ive done.

[D35 Torpedo]

8 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Curious, could you let me know exactly what you used for an electric Power Steering Conversion? I am working on my car and there is a tremendous amount of slop in the steering box. I have adjusted it quite a bit, with no solution. I called a couple places and they said the worm gear is probably worn out, but it is impossible to find another except in a junkyard, and all my local junkyards have crushed the majority of these cars now. So, I am thinking of a power steering conversion but do not know where to begin. Everything else on my car is stock. Thanks.  

It's more than likely the sector shaft not the worm.

 

10 hours ago, IIChileII said:

 

Hey David. Car must be a blast street light to street light. Welcome

[Adam H P15 D30]

14 hours ago, IIChileII said:

Yeah she runs and drives. My most recent upgrade was getting the Gennie Shifter which i just got today. I also plan to remove the engine and paint the firewall / clean it up a bit.

 

Mileage absolutely sucks. And the trans im running is a th350. So being that it has such low gears, it does go thru the gears pretty fast and usually lingers at 3rd.. i do want an overdrive but that would mean new trans mount, converter, shorten the driveshaft, all in addition to the trans. It would be nice but id rather just enjoy her for now. 

 

I saw a 1953 plymouth suburban close to where i live a few months ago and really wanted to jump on it. But i couldnt start another project with already one in the works. Very cool car though.  Ill definitely check your profile and see your car. 

 

Im always looking for motivation and info in general with old hot rods and plymouths. Its awesome meeting you. Ill try and post more pics of the work ive done.

A 2004R is the same length as a TH350 short tail shaft.  If you have a long tail shaft TH350, a 700 is really close.  Should save you in the driveshaft department.

[Jonathan]

On 3/14/2023 at 3:27 PM, IIChileII said:

Yeah! so there's two different components that make up the actual movement of the steering (besides the steering column) , there's the driving force (which could be a power steering pump, an electric motor, etc) and there's the multiplier force (which could be a steering box or a rack n pinion). Generally the slop comes from the steering box. Now doing an electric conversion won't help much because the electric conversion still uses the multiplier that is on the vehicle, in your case, the steering box. In my case, I removed the steering box and did a rack conversion. In my opinion, this will solve the slop issue and may give you better turning ratios as well. Also you don't need to convert your vehicle to power steering at all. you could just get a manual rack and pinion and fab up some mounts for it. you may need to replace the column as a result though because I think these cars came with the column that was a one-piece unit that connected to the tie rods and such. but with some engineering, anything is possible. I hope that answered your question, there's a lot of option you can do, some may require more ingenuity than others. The simpliest would be to get your steering box restored or replaced. 

Thanks for your reply. 

 

I took the steering box apart and the the worm gear is indeed worn out. So, it looks like I need to replace the steering gearbox. I am trying to build this vechicle such that my tiny wife can turn the steering wheel with ease. So, I am wondering that if I go power steering in the end, is there a way of putting a power steering pump on the original flatheat engine? I do not see how I can currently put a pump on the engine with no pulley available to tie into.  

[DonaldSmith]

I went through the power steering conversion.   I added a pulley for the pump.   It was a real learning experience.