Projects 47 Plymouth Coupe Project

[n847]

The car show was a good time...I didn't win the R@! R#) trophy...and in no way is that a bad thing! The car was running at 180 degrees so I'm ok with that but something still isn't right in the carb!

And for the record I can't even hear the stereo when I'm cruising down the road!

[n847]

I have been wanting to mount my bupers for a while now, and I had kicked around the idea of a tube bumper on the rear, and some type of nerf bars on the front. I got some 3" tubing and mocked up the rear and it looked like shit! The hump on the back of the car makes the end of the bumpers stick out way to far. So I started fabbing some brackets for mounting the rear bumper. I was getting no where fast last night so I decided to waste some time on something worthless! I laid a little design on my trunk and my striping skills are still not nearly good enough to be on a car but WTF it's fun!

[plumbid]

Just read / found your build thread (what a jerk I am, the guy that iquires about my build deserves better). To me, this is what it's all about. A family man that isn't trying to sell me something. Just someone who's got a passion for old cars. The exchange between you and Joel Torres regarding the radio purchase was great. Your kids, your nuts (farmer12 engine), CCR, having no one to help (at the drop of a hat) your "posts" with no responses......Oh yea, the car looks great - as is.

[n847]

Hey thanks man...Its no sweat...I can't expect too much there's so many quality builds on here, this just keeps me honest and on track! If I put it out there in print everybody can see! Joel really hooked me up with that radio. Theres some good guys on here Its a wealth of knowledge, your build is bad ass, I'd like to do a gasser at some point, and I'm teatering between an vintage drag style and a salt flat feel. I know there wern't a ton of late 40's coupes on the salt but I'd like to play what if!

[n847]

Hit up the Springfield swap meet today and got some good scores. I got an old Superior 500 steering wheel for a buck, the black grip is a worn, but I like it for now. Steering wheels are like jewelery for a woman! I'd like to have another one for every month of the cruising season! I scored an old set of Lakewood traction bars for 5 bucks. I want to run a set of ladder bars but can't afford em just yet, and every time I punch it the pinion is tapping the floor pan. The snubber is on the last adjustment hole back and I'm gonna need to move it foreward to get it up closer to the spring eye so I'm not warping the springs even worse. I'll try to find a bump stop at the local parts stores tomorrow, and if nothing else I'll order something. I got a 7 blade mechanical fan for 5 bucks, and some other little odds n ends, including an after market turn signal switch. Of course I realized after I got home I forgot to get some kind of signals to mount on the front. As usual I remembered several items I forgot after I got home so I might be making a return run on Sunday!
Before

After


Traction bars look a little dated but you can't really see em till you get far away and I needed to do something!

Doesn't look too bad from the back! You can see my new bumper and shotty pin stripe work!

I'm gonna need a photo chop with the rear wheel wells radiused, I'm thinking that will be happening sooner than later!

[EnragedHawk]

Looks good man!

[n847]

Thanks Hawk!

[OahuEli]

Originally Posted by n847

...I'm gonna need a photo chop with the rear wheel wells radiused, I'm thinking that will be happening sooner than later!

Here's a quickie photoshop to help with your fenderwell radius ideas. Didn't have any steels of the right angle so I used these mags, hope it helps. Eli

[n847]

Awesome Eli...That helps a ton! Thanks!

[OahuEli]

Originally Posted by n847

Awesome Eli...That helps a ton! Thanks!

Any time, I've been following this thread from the start and its cool you've been able to get it on the road so quickly. If you'd like any more photoshop work just let me know.

[killerbunny]

Great looking car you have n847

[n847]

Thanks killerb!
Eli I'll def. give you a shout when I get a little more done, like the hood!

[n847]

I took the car out and ran the crap out of it taking my brother for a drive, when I got back I noticed the passenger side Lakewood bar had a gap between the snubber and the spring. I grabbed the bar and could move it around with my hand, I don't think the nuts backed off I'm wondering if I didn't install them properly the instal instructions on the Jegs website say under no circumstances should the snubber end of the bars be pointing down but as you can see in the picture they are. Should I just shim the crap out of the back U bolt on each bar? Something just isn't right! I had the bar as far foreward as it would go but the snubber needs to be moved foreward to the last adjustment point to get closer to the spring eye. I know its doing something different because all the paint on the spring wrapping is cracking off, and its been on there for a while. It is however keeping the pinion from smacking the floor!

[n847]

Took my daughter for her first ride in the hot rod today! Don't worry I wasn't running the crap out of it while she was in there!

[n847]

Took the radiator loose, pullled the upper hose, added a 180 degree Mr. Gasket thermostat, swapped out the ugly alternator bracket for an equaly ugly alternator bracket (I didn't like how the old one bolted to the thermostat housing), and attempted to install the 7 blade GM fan I bought at the swap meet. The fan was way too large (about 18-19") and it hits my lower radiator hose. So for now I taped off my old flex fan, and shot it in semi gloss black. So I'm back in the fan market! Did I mention I hate flex fans! I started taking some dimensions for a fan shroud. Now all I have to do is get my brother to weld it up for me! I also went back under the rear end, tightened and adjusted the traction bars again. I'm not sure if I didn't set them up tight enough or if they came loose? I also got the battery kill switch wired up. Its been a productive start to the week, I was planning on having the car on the stands for a couple weeks to get some odds n ends taken care of but its hard not to just throw the fan back on and go for a drive! I'm gonna look at the transmission tomorrow and see if I can find where its leaking from. I think its the pan and the front main seal so I'm sure that will keep me down for a few days if I decide to fix the main seal!

[n847]

forgot the pics...
New alternator bracket!

Got that thermostat, time to settle that age old debate!

[48plysled]

Nice work n847 the car is really coming along. I'm building a 48 plymouth coupe special deluxe, that I'm goin for the taildragger style. check out my thread.

[n847]

I haven't found a suitable fan yet and I'm ready to drive the car again so I shot the middle of the fan in semi-gloss black and stuck it back on. I'm gonna keep looking for the right fan. I did find a guy with a bunch of 4 blade fans I can have, but I'm just not sure that they will cool as good as the flex fan so for now thats what I'm gonna stick with!
I also added on a couple of 12v accessory outlets under the dash for GPS and possibly a fan for road trips, not to mention charging the MP3 or cell phone!


The 12v accessory outlets were 6 dollar pieces from Meijer!


Got the kill switch wired up last week I'm going to have to build a box around it to protect the passengers toes! You can also see my ghetto ass coil mounting plate. Its the liscense plate from my first car. Don't worry things like this will all be replaced someday when the car fully torn down and built the right way!

[n847]

Spent this evening getting the aftermarket turn signal switch wired up...Talk about a pain in the ass...Primarily due to my inability to understand the wiring diagrams I was looking at. So I think I've got it figured out now, I'll try to mount it tomorrow and then run the wires again and see if it still works???
I got some dimensions for the front bumper brackets today and I'm hoping to get those fabbed up this week. I'm using trailer marker lights for front turn signals (so no running lights) at this point, and I have them mounted to the hood hinge mounting points till I get the bumper on there and find a better place to put them. At some point when I re-work the front end sheet metal I'll mount a good set under the head lights, possibly a set of stock housings that I found pieces of in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket of parts last week. Any way big step toward getting street legal, and more importantly safer.

[farmer12]

Great progress as usual!