Thread: 57 Plymouth

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That’s a sexy looking dashboard

With everything going on right now the class reunion is pretty much up in the air, but I am still planning a trip back to Illinois later this year.

The weather is getting warmer and my hand healed as much as it's going to get so I've been working on getting the PS conversion done on the 57.

The conversion kit was designed for stock motor 57/58 Dodge and Plymouths with an automatic ........the test mule for the original kit design was a Poly powered 57 Savoy (with automatic). As my car has a 4 speed I went into this expecting to have to make a few tweaks to the kit.

Getting the original gear and column out was pretty straight forward.......PIA but straight forward. Because of the design of the torsion bar suspension and size of the steering gear it's pretty much impossible to get the gear out thru the bottom of the car so the 57-61(?) Mopars have an access panel under the peddles that allows the removal of the column and gear as a unit thru the passenger compartment.

PS 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr

I also had to remove the clutch linkage and cross shaft but I kind of expected that.


The next step was test fitting the new steering gear. The instructions call for using the adapter plate on the outside of the frame rail to use as a template for drilling a 3rd hole in the frame for the adapter to bolt to. As my car is HEMI powered with a 4 speed there was some question if the kit would actually fit so I went straight to bolting the adapter plate to the steering gear and test fitting the unit using the 2 existing bolt holes. Naturally the gear HAS to go thru the access panel in the floor, then mounted from under the car

I was very happy to find out the new steering gear did fit. On the initial test fit the top of the new steering gear was a bit close to the bottom of the aluminum valve cover but the clearance was adequate.

PS 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr


The test fit went well enough that I was ready to move on to making the necessary changes to make it work with the clutch linkage.


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Because the steering conversion is really designed for cars with an automatic transmission were I running an automatic (or a hydraulic throw-out bearing) at this point I could have simply finished the installation. As I'm using original 1957 clutch linkage there were some changes I needed to make to the adapter plate, cross-shaft frame bracket and cross-shaft.

I pulled the steering gear back out and unbolted it from the adapter plate. Then I bolted just the plate back to the frame drilled the 3rd hole required to finish the adapter installation.

Then came the modifications I needed to make for the clutch linkage. The major issue with the adapter plate was it would not allow the cross shaft to fit. While the plate was bolted on I marked were I needed to make my notch for the cross-shaft.

The second item was the frame cross-shaft bracket attachment. The bracket is attached by 3 bolts....two that screw into captive nuts in frame and the third one was one of the original steering gear bolts. That original steering gear bolt is the one original mounting points the new steering conversion the kit doesn't use due to steering gear interference. The design of the bracket makes that bolt kind of critical to prevent the bracket from bending/breaking. Due to the location of the steering gear on the adapter plate I couldn't simply drill thru the adapter and use a long bolt (that would have been way to simple). I ended up marking where I needed to make the hole so when the plate was removed I could finish drilling and tapping the hole for a piece of all thread when I did the final installation.

Of course the cross-shaft bracket also interfered with the new 3rd bolt and washer used for adapter bracket which required grinding a clearance notch in it.

And then finally when doing the last test fit of the plate after making the modification I found out the cross-shaft grease zerk interfered with the adapter plate requiring it to be relocated about 1-1/2" closer to the engine.


PS 4 by M Patterson, on Flickr




In order to have access to the frame an make it easier to get to the cross-shaft bracket bolts I ended up trimming part of the inner fender out of the way.


PS 5 by M Patterson, on Flickr




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As the old saying goes, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it! Really first rate job!

"......As the old saying goes, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it!....."

Ain't that the truth Dave. Actually after the last year with the wrist surgery and getting the new house in and dealing with all the permit and inspection crap I am so glad to be back in the shop swinging a wrench.

Actually one of the best parts on this project was being able use the Hit and Miss powered line-shaft and post drill to cut the clearance notch for the cross-shaft.



Z 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr




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So with the modifications made to the adapter it was time actually install the steering gear. It should be smooth sailing. Yup that's when everything turned into a low grade of crap.

Once the new steering gear and adapter were actually installed what little clearance I had between the gear and valve cover had disappeared....... probably due to the test fitting being done using only 2 of the 4 bolts that mount the adapter plate. Anyway the gear was now rubbing against the lower edge of the valve cover (which protrudes at least a 1/4 " beyond the head) and also the valve cover bolt boss. After studying the clearance issue for a bit I pulled the aluminum valve cover off and set a stock valve cover on. It has all kinds of clearance so I had a decision to make......change over to stock covers (I have a pair of chrome reproduction covers I had set aside for the Poly/Hemi build I'm slowly working on) or try to grind some clearance into the aluminum covers.


Now I really really like the way the aluminum valve covers look on the 57 Plymouth. The down side to them is they can be a pain to keep clean and they are a huge PIA to take off (which I've had to do twice over the years). To get the aluminum covers off requires draining the coolant, pulling the master cylinder, pulling the heater blower and removing the heater box. On the stock style covers it's remove the 6 nuts and pull the covers (after removing the spark plugs and tubes).

Believe it or not I really had to think about what I wanted to do. In the end going to the stock covers on the 57 won out. So I will be playing swap the valve covers. The new chrome ones went on the 57, the aluminum ones will end up on the 37 Dodge truck and the chrome ones from the 37 will be set aside for the Poly/Hemi engine build I'm working on. At least I have all the stuff on hand to do it so I don't have to wait on parts.



PS 6 by M Patterson, on Flickr


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Chrysler used 2 different columns depending on whether the car had power or manual steering. The kit is based on using a stock PS column. If like me you were starting with a manual steering column the column is modified by cutting off the end of the column and replacing it with a tube extension pretty much duplicating the PS column.


PS 7 by M Patterson, on Flickr



The steering shaft is cut off the manual steering gear and the provided U-Joint is temporarily installed.

If I were starting with a PS car I wouldn't have to modify the column, but the steering shaft would be too short (the bottom shaft in the picture) and that would have to be extended with an extension provided in the kit.

With the column and shaft ready to test fit, the floor plate was bolted back into the car and the plate for the column seal and new seals were installed. The top two holes were drilled out and the sheet metal screws were replaced with bolts to hold on the new lower column support bracket.

PS 8 by M Patterson, on Flickr


The bracket could be installed a couple of ways depending on which lined up best with the steering gear.



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The next thing was installing the steering shaft (with the provided U Joint temporarily installed) on the steering gear and the column mast was installed over it and secured with the new column clamp. After taking a few more measurements the shaft was cut to final length and U Joint pinned (I also tack welded the joint to the shaft after one more test fit).


PS 9 by M Patterson, on Flickr



Before I did the final installation of the column and shaft I wanted to address the horn. On the manual steering cars Chrysler ran the horn wire from the horn button thru the steering shaft all the way out the end of the steering gear to the horn relay. The length of wire was long enough that as it twisted when the steering wheel was turned it did not create any issues. The power steering cars used a different horn setup but of course I don't have one of those.

Among the odds and ends I collected over the years was this collar with the copper ring. As I recall it was part of the turn signal cancelling mechanism used on 60-62 Chryslers with the Astro-Dome dash and dash mounted turn signals.


PS 10 by M Patterson, on Flickr



When I had the column installed to measure the steering shaft I marked a spot on the column housing there I could cut a hole that would be accessible but not noticeable when everything was installed.

With the column out so I could cut the steering shaft I also cut the hole in the column I would need.

I did the last test fit after cutting the shaft and pinning the U Joint to it (but before tack welding) and marked the shaft thru the access hole I had cut so I could properly place the collar on the shaft.

The collar is designed to allow a wire to be run up thru the steering shaft.

I drilled a hole in the column for a bolt and using insulating washers (from an alternator actually) attached the bolt to the column.

Then I made a wipe arm from a strip of springy copper which was attached to the stud and then a terminal to attach the original horn relay wire to (which had been relocated to inside the passenger compartment).


PS 11 by M Patterson, on Flickr




The wipe arm and terminal where then removed to prevent damage to the wipe arm when the column was slid over the steering shaft. They would have to be reinstalled after the column was in place for the last time.

Just to be on the safe side I also added a ground wire to the column to insure the the horn relay had a good ground path.


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With the steering installed the last thing to do was cover the hole I'd cut in the inner fender. I had access to a donor inner fender from a 57 Dodge and I figured I'd cut an oversize piece of it to make a removable access panel to cover that area. I had originally thought the inner fenders would have been identical but of course they are just slightly different. I'm not sure if the difference was because one was Dodge and the other Plymouth or if they used different inner fenders between PS and Manual steering cars. Anyway I welded the piece I cut out of the Plymouth inner fender to the piece from the Dodge, sprayed on some undercoating and bolted it together. It actually looks pretty decent (meaning unnoticeable....... especially with the tire back on LOL).


PS 12 by M Patterson, on Flickr




I've had a chance to put a few miles on my 57 since I complete the installation. In my opinion it was well worth the cost and work installing it. I've driven several Forward Look cars with factory power steering over the years the road feel of the new steering gear is far nicer than the original PS. Don't get me wrong it does not make the car feel like a sports car.......but it now has the feel of the later 60s era power steering cars.

That pretty much completes the list of stuff I wanted to do to the car before I drive it back to Illinois for my HS reunion........of course with all this virus stuff I suspect it will probably be postponed or cancelled. If it is I'll still probably make the trip back sometime this year anyway.




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That was not an easy project but it turned out nice. And I really like your car, the 50's boats were the best.

Yeah, I'm kind of partial to it.

This is one of those projects that you spend a bunch of money and time on and when you're done and stand back and look a the car it looks exactly the same as it did before you took the first wrench out of the tool box.

Driving it now sure makes the effort worthwhile though.



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Makes me wish I still had my 57 Desoto

Very nice work Mike! That sure wasn't an afternoon job now was it? I'm sure it will make the car more enjoyable for you to drive for many years to come now.

"...... I'm sure it will make the car more enjoyable for you to drive for many years to come now......."

Yeah I hope so Ryan. It may be a race now to see if I can get the 354 Poly/Hemi and 46RH built and into something while I'm still able to push a clutch pedal in



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Originally Posted by Mike P

"...... I'm sure it will make the car more enjoyable for you to drive for many years to come now......."

Yeah I hope so Ryan. It may be a race now to see if I can get the 354 Poly/Hemi and 46RH built and into something while I'm still able to push a clutch pedal in
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Here in NZ we have to take a Medical Examination every three years to retain your heavy goods vehicle licence, passenger licence (bus,) artic, heavy trailer etcetera etcetera.
The last time I went for my medical the doctor made me squat on my haunches and then stand up.
Which I did.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"To see if you had enough power in your legs to push in the clutch or stand on the brakes," was his reply.
Sheesh!
With power brakes and hydraulic clutches a six year old could depress a clutch or stop a truck!
But how can you explain that to the bureaucrats who write the rule-book?
Thank God I live in a 'Free' country...