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Preparing for 1,000 mile road rally in my 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook!!


JAS12

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Last year my sons and I participated in https://fortunatorally.com which is a “scavenger hunt style vintage car rally that gathers teams of automotive enthusiasts for some friendly competition to exercise their vehicles over a 1,000+ mile 3-day tour of New England states (and sometimes NY) during Mid-October each year.”  My youngest son am I finished 3rd in our 1964 Cadillac and my 17 year old and his friend finished 5th in their 1978 Mercedes 450SL.  This year we are taking the 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook and he is driving a 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood limo.

 

As we finalize our rally preparations and shake down of the 1951 Plymouth any advice as to what extra parts we should take?  I still have to finish connecting the aftermarket gauges and tach on the custom panel I built.  I removed the radio delete panel, purchased a radio / speaker panel and installed the garages.  Where the speak was I installed a https://carpuride.com 9” monitor so I have CarPlay, Navi, etc and put two buttons where the stereo knobs were. (see attached photos)  I need to install the chrome trim, replace the cracked passenger side window, replace the gas cap as it isn’t venting correctly, install a relay on the overdrive switch, connect the driving LED light bar to the switched I installed in place of the radio knobs and change the rear shocks.  

 

Any advice from you seasoned inline 6 Plymouth owners would be greatly appreciated.  

 

IMG_3815.jpeg

Edited by JAS12
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I did 500 miles participating in the P 15 Picnic in Sept. up in Cooperstown with my 52 Cranbrook. The only failure was the Chinese bluetooth amplifier that I use to play music through my phone. I did carry spare ignition parts, fuel filters, tools, flashlite, coolant, duct tape, etc.

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perhaps a floor jack and a good tire iron [ i carry the 4 way kind ].having triple A could be a better solution. a small amount of extra gas. that has come in handy for me.one quart of oil. start off with a new fan belt so you will not need an extra. just trying to keep the weight down.check oil in the diff and master  before you leave. i carry an airmoto which will fill a low tire pretty fast. could get you off the road or to a better place to change it. don't ignore the spare. should be a good tire with proper air and tread. straight water in the rad will help with engine temps..the timing can be set to help that too. a few years back i drove my 54 windsor[ flathead 265] on a 700 mile trip and it did just fine. i wish you the best of luck.there may be members of this forum that live along your route.they will help if the need arises.    dennis

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18 hours ago, spongebob said:

perhaps a floor jack and a good tire iron [ i carry the 4 way kind ].having triple A could be a better solution. a small amount of extra gas. that has come in handy for me.one quart of oil. start off with a new fan belt so you will not need an extra. just trying to keep the weight down.check oil in the diff and master  before you leave. i carry an airmoto which will fill a low tire pretty fast. could get you off the road or to a better place to change it. don't ignore the spare. should be a good tire with proper air and tread. straight water in the rad will help with engine temps..the timing can be set to help that too. a few years back i drove my 54 windsor[ flathead 265] on a 700 mile trip and it did just fine. i wish you the best of luck.there may be members of this forum that live along your route.they will help if the need arises.    dennis

tire plugs in your tool kit also. 50/50 c00lant is much more effective for cooling than just water.

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22 hours ago, 1949plymouthdeluxe said:

I can't imagine 1000 miles in my car. 3 speed manual and no way I would drive it 1000 miles on the freeway. Its generally good for 55MPH and that's pushing it. If I did something like this the route would have to be quieter 2 lane roads.

My 500 mile trip consisted of all 2 lane roads in upstate NY.

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35 minutes ago, DJK said:

tire plugs in your tool kit also. 50/50 c00lant is much more effective for cooling than just water.

Everything else being equal water has better thermal transfer characteristics than any mixture of coolant and water. We're coolant and that's mostly a misnomer shines is in Corrosion Prevention and not freezing as easily. Depending on the type of coolant it can run hotter without boiling over as well. But unless your car is on the edge of overheating with coolant running straight water is always a bad idea. At the temporary measure once you fix the leak to get you home sure to run it all the time that's a great way of asking for a lot of crud in your cooling system

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I live on the northeast side of Hartford, so not too far from your rally starting point. If you need any tools, garage space or possibly MOPAR specific parts while you're in the area, I'd be glad to lend a hand. Hopefully you won't have any issues but I'll PM my cell i# n case you do need something. Best of luck with the rally!

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I have a spare distributor all set up and ready to drop in.  Instead of chasing gremlins, you can save road side repairs and AAA truck haul. Don't know if it's been mentioned  but a couple feet of new fuel line and clamps, oh yeah that pesky 30 amp fuse on the headline switch.  Have about 40 years of rally experience but in time speed distance events in New England, PA, Jersey. New York.  These typically started 3 PM on Sat and finished 7am Sunday.  Then a 250 mile drive home.  Did a couple scavengers  style, didn't click with them.  Good luck.

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Thank you all for the suggestions and offered support.  We have changed lol the fluids, wires, plugs, coil, etc and now double checking the overdrive system.  We are also stocking up on spare parts too.  I had fix a flat BUT like the plug kit idea better!  Will keep you in the loop and send out our instagram account for anyone who wants to follow along.  

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Thursday night we did 120 miles no problems no issues.  Friday we did. About 150 miles in it started having some squealing noise issues.  I noticed that the driveshaft is rubbing on the tunnel. The bump stop is pretty much gone and when there's weight in the back of the car or shifted to the rear it rubs and squeals.   My co-pilot and I are hugging the dashboard when we go up hills or over bumps so it doesn't squeak.  But usually no noise on the highways or level roads. It doesn't squeal only when I'm going uphill or when I start from a standstill and put it under load the rear end goes down and it starts to rub and squeeze .
Any advice

Edited by JAS12
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Cull your stuff, redistribute load, add air shocks maybe?Y y   What condion are your springs shackles and bushings in?  The bump stop was probably due to knock off rather than fall off.

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Great news.  We made it!!!!! 1,300 miles, 7 states in 3 days. We removed the spare tire, all our luggage and put the seat up as much as we could and she didn’t rubs (as much).  The biggest thing was having a full tank of gas which dragged the rear end down so we just kept her with 1/2 a tank.   The gear oil leak seems to be coming from the Speedo cable area but regardless given that she ran amazingly and brought me back home I plan on removing and replacing the seals on everything that goes into the gearbox from the sensor, Speedo, to the solenoid, etc.   I am also going to order new springs and shocks as well.  Any advice as to the best place to source them?  And Thank You to everyone that helped us on this adventure. 

IMG_7714.jpeg

Edited by JAS12
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8 hours ago, JAS12 said:

Great news.  We made it!!!!! 1,300 miles, 7 states in 3 days. We removed the spare tire, all our luggage and put the seat up as much as we could and she didn’t rubs (as much).  The biggest thing was having a full tank of gas which dragged the rear end down so we just kept her with 1/2 a tank.   The gear oil leak seems to be coming from the Speedo cable area but regardless given that she ran amazingly and brought me back home I plan on removing and replacing the seals on everything that goes into the gearbox from the sensor, Speedo, to the solenoid, etc.   I am also going to order new springs and shocks as well.  Any advice as to the best place to source them?  And Thank You to everyone that helped us on this adventure. 

IMG_7714.jpeg

On my 52 Cranbrook, I used a Honda 9104-HB3-004 seal for the speedo pinion.

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