looking at a 1956 Dodge Coronet,

[desoto1939]

I am looking at maybe purchasing a 1956 Dodge Coronet Coupe with the V8 engine.  The car is yellow and white combination. Interior is very good. overall body condition is very good no cancer from the pictures. Chrome looks great and would make a great diver car and also being 12 volts.

 

What are some of the areas that i should be concerned about, Trans, rear, engine, etc.

 

Looking for input prior to making an offer or even considering the car.  Thanks for any input.

 

Rich hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[Plymouthy Adams]

it seems to have piqued your interest, go for it,,,,most that can go wrong is you tire of it and pass it forward.  You only get one bite at the apple....good luck

[Doug&Deb]

I’m not aware of any mechanical issues with them. Just check for rot in the usual areas. I’ll have to get used to you having such a new-fangled car. 

[Young Ed]

If it's an automatic make sure the parking brake works. They don't have park in the transmission. Beyond that it's the usual rockers quarters etc for rust. Also which v8? The hemi would be expensive to rebuild if it's not a runner.

[Bob Riding]

If it's the flat 6, it would be the most hp motor that Chrysler made before production stopped in '59 - 131, or 132 hp

[desoto1939]

I am looking at maybe purchasing a 1956 Dodge Coronet Coupe with the V8 engine.  The car is yellow and white combination. Interior is very good. overall body condition is very good no cancer from the pictures. Chrome looks great and would make a great diver car and also being 12 volts.

 

What are some of the areas that i should be concerned about, Trans, rear, engine, etc.

 

Looking for input prior to making an offer or even considering the car.  Thanks for any input.

 

Rich hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[kencombs]

I drove my Dad's 54 as my 'date' car in high school.  My old chevy wasn't nice enough for my girl friends.   Assuming yours is a Powerflite, it is the same  chassis and mechanically similar except his had the 241cu hemi, the 56 is probably be a 270 A series which is a great engine. There where other engine options but most were not often found in the Coronet line.

 

edit to add:   being 16 at the time and a budding hot rodder, I can attest that there are no weaknesses in the running gear.   Just about unbreakable, even to a teen boy.

Edited Tuesday at 04:35 PM by kencombs

[Sam Buchanan]

Rich, you might find this thread to be useful:

 

https://p15-d24.com/topic/62606-looking-at-a-1956-dodge-coronet/

 

😄

[Los_Control]

On another forum a couple weeks ago A guy was looking at a 1955 Chrysler. It had the poly V8 ... is that the 270?

 

No idea how long it has been parked ....

The owners bought a new car and this one was parked in the garage and never moved again .... they say mom would go out and start it once in awhile.

The son would turn the engine over by hand using the belts ... now it does not want to turn using the belts .... is it really stuck?

 

He went out to look at it and said it was rougher then he wanted ... interior was fair, he found small amounts of rust in the rockers and rear quarters ... he passed on it.

They were only asking $1500 for it. .... I thought it would make a nice cruiser

 

The poly is a good engine. .... wonder what people think about the transmission?

He was worried about the E-brake being stuck, without a parking brake the e-brake would be applied since parked.

It has the 12" drums which might be a problem to locate if needed.

I only assume it has cloth wires in 1955 ... I dunno if it is 6V or 12V.

Curved glass and patch panels would be hard or impossible to find.

I think they would be a great car if in good condition.

[Young Ed]

One of my to-do items is figure out how to fix the parking brake on Dad's old 55 Chrysler. His is the New Yorker deluxe with the 332 hemi! 

[andyd]

Ed, AFAIK the parking or emergency brake by then should be the internal expanding style which is basically what they had up to the end of that transmission fitted brake.......if it is then you undo the slip joint four bolts onto the brake drum, then using a large pry bar or large screw driver place it between the 4 studs allowing space for a large socket on another pry bar to undo the center nut, then remove the brake drum(having made sure the brake is now "off")..........then you can disassemble the brake parts....there should be a large flat spring steel thing that locks into the centre of the assembly with "arms" that go either side of the assembly to hold the brake shoes.......take this spring thing off and undo the cable adjuster and thats about it.......get the shoes relined and reassemble.............take note of the way the cable adjuster is installed so that the adjusting rachet can be accessed thru the brake backing plate hole........I hope this makes sense........lol...........this is the procedure I've used over the past 50 yrs......lol........andyd   

Edited Wednesday at 02:48 AM by andyd
more info.

[andyd]

Rich, I'm not sure whether the V8 came with a manual trans, however assuming its an auto it will be the Powerflite 2 speed auto, these had the park or emergency brake mounted on the end of the transmission, no "Park" was in the trans......overall suspension should be very similar to what was used in previous mopars tho' I think the front shocks are mounted between the coil springs not separately like up to the early 50's........there were 2 versions of the 270 engine used.......a Red Ram polysphere 270 cube with a 2 barrel Carter and a Super Red Ram Hemi headed 270 cube with a choice of either the 2 barrel Carter or a 4 barrel Carter............sounds like a nice car.......andyd