Thread: 57 Plymouth

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Really like your year plymouth, what an awesome car. I vote auto, I'm tired of shifting in my old age, no more manuals for me. There's a stick in my v8 miata that I built some years ago but if I did it again, I don't know, I just might do an auto in that too.

"......but has it really been 10 years???!!!......"

Actually about 11 years now. I got it on the road around this time of year back in 06 and drove it to Tulsa to watch them did up the Belvedere in 07. Yeah, I remember debating a long while before I finally got the nerve to actually cut that big hole in the nice straight and only 57 hood I had.

Yeah I'm still up in the air about the trans swap. I still enjoy rowing thru the gears but then I drive the 37 and that 46RH is sure nice and actually has a bot better gear ratio splits



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If I were you, I'd have to say leave the 4 speed so you still have 1 ride with 3 pedals. I sure miss having a car hot rod with 3 pedals.

But, decide before January so I don't have to build a drive shaft twice.

".......If I were you, I'd have to say leave the 4 speed so you still have 1 ride with 3 pedals. I sure miss having a car hot rod with 3 pedals.

But, decide before January so I don't have to build a drive shaft twice......."


Ryan, I'm really in a quandary about which way I'm going to go right now.

I drove the 57 into town this morning and I do like the car as a 4 speed. As the majority of my driving is out on the highway the stiff clutch is not that big of an issue....... at least right now. I did spend some time studying the linkage today and think there might be something I can do with that which will lighten the pedal up a bit and shouldn't take too long to do. So for now the trans swap is kind of still in the contemplating stage.

BUT THE PLOT THICKENS

The steering box I picked up will probably be shipped out for rebuilding the beginning of next week. I'm still researching electric power steering for the car but have decided to wait until I have a chance to install the rebuilt box and test drive it before I make the final decision on whether I try to go that route or not. The one thing I have determined is that if I do go with the electric PS, I HAVE to lose the clutch pedal to make it fit.

Then there is what transmission to use. Like I said I'm really like the 46RH with the CompuShift controller ($). I'd have to redo the drive shaft, go with an auxilliary trans cooler and come up with shifter (none of which are a big deal but more $). The real problem will be the cross member. The 46RH moves the trans mount back a couple of inches which puts it in a real bad place for the cross member. The cross member itself cannot be moved as it is used to stiffen/reinforce the bosses the torsion bars and adjusters are in.

All that makes the small block 727 I have sitting in the shed start looking really good.....it's a bolt in. Of course using the non-overdrive 727 would require a rear end change to a set of gears that are more highway friendly than the 4.10s that are currently in it.

So basically I guess it boils down to getting the rebuilt steering gear in and playing with the clutch linkage before I make any "final" decisions.

If you really want to go with a stick in the 40, I can probably help you out with some of the pieces for you to build your own manual transmission adapter. Let me know in a PM.



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Too many choices is the problem I seem to put my self into too. On the 40, I think I'll leave it an auto so maybe, just maybe, if I ever get it drive able, the wife will drive it too.

“…..Too many choices is the problem I seem to put my self into too……”

My issue with the steering is too many problems and not enough solutions


I’ve got a thread going on over at the MOPAR site and we’ve been tire kicking the PS issue around a bit. The couple of guys over there who have firsthand experience with these cars have pretty much come up empty too. In the process of talking about the ideas we have all come up with the same things that not feasible. While talking though I hit on an idea that is at least worth exploring.

I’m wondering if I can’t adapt a 605 box much lower than the original steering gear. That would require cutting the steering column back into the passenger compartment and running an intermediate shaft to connect the box to the column. Cutting the column that far back is necessary to get the angles gentle enough for steering joints to work without binding.

Chances are this will end up with rest of the pile of discarded ideas. . I figured I’d at least look at it before I send out the original manual gear for a $300+ rebuild. IF I can make this work the cost would be about the same as just rebuilding the gear. It would also allow me to keep the 4 speed AND have PS .

Thanks Denny, That's neat! (makes picking out the difference too easy though . thanks for the offer on the avatar, but I kind of like the way it currently is.

On a side note, in reference to my post above and comment
"too many problems and not enough solutions."

While I was waiting for the shop to warm up enough to do some work on the Plymouth I decided to see what was available for PS pump brackets. I can't use what I built for the 37 Dodge as I'm running the long water pump on that and the short water pump on the 57 doesn't have boss the that pump pivots on. I went back and re-looked at the Hot Hemi Heads PS bracket and decided it liked it even less as it's designed for the smaller pump with a remote reservoir.

I finally found a bolt on bracket set that looks like just what I want and is set up for a standard GM style Saginaw pump. The bad news is I found it in the PAW Early Chrysler Hemi Catalog.....you know PAW who went out of business what 7 or 8 years ago.

Oh well at least if I go that route I have a couple of good pictures of the bracket so I don't have to design one, just built it.



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I as well found some parts I wanted to get for my hemi and then realized PAW made/sold them and then realized the search was still on. Haha

Yeah, I miss them,........ bought a lot of parts there over the years. There for a while they were selling the leftover early HEMI on Ebay. He still has an E Bay store, but it looks like he's down to rod and main bearing sets.

http://stores.ebay.com/early-hemi-engine-parts


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I’m gaining on the clutch. Extending the clutch fork made a big difference in the pedal effort required. I made a simple bolt on extension and it’s a lot closer to what it should be now. I’m still want to pull it back off one more time and add a second hole just a little father out and I think I’ll be happy with it.


I mentioned in the original post that I put the 57 together so I could drive it to Tulsa when the unearthed the 57 Belvedere in 2007. The thread I wrote on that trip is still here along with most of the pictures.

Tulsa Buried Car



Now that I’m working on the 57 again I’ve gone back and revisited some web sites I used when I built the car. I came across some information on the Belvederes’ current status.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/0...um/?refer=news

The car looks a lot better than it did when it came out of the hole, but like the article indicates all the metal is thin and pin holed (“It’s basically like papier mâché,”).

The museum where it’s to be located is only a couple of hour drive from where my High School reunion will be so if it’s still there I’ll probably take a drive and go see it.




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Once I had the clutch fork extension back off, I just decided to go ahead and build a new one with the hole out a little farther.

It turns out that all I needed to to make the clutch work like I wanted was building this. I can't get a decent picture of it installed because of the exhaust, torsion bars etc.

57 ext by M Patterson, on Flickr


Building it was simple, figuring out what what to build was what took a bit of time.

Changing to an automatic is not completely off the table depending on what I end up doing for power steering , but I figure I've probably bought my leg a few more years with the 4 speed. if I decide to keep it.

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Originally Posted by Mike P

Tulsa Buried Car



https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/0...um/?refer=news


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Thanks for the links Mike!
A little trip down memory lane.
Much appreciated.

Wow Mike Just read the entire buried car thread. Never heard about it until now. Just like Heraldo and his Vault. I guess they never thought to do what they do in New Orleans and make the Vaults above ground and water lines! I mean if your trying to preserve something that would seem to be a logical choice!
Still what a great idea and build up, unfortunate how the car corroded but still a cool thing to see done!

Steve there was a lot of speculation on what the car would look like when they opened the vault. Coming from the mid west where almost all the houses have basements, I wasn’t too hopeful. Ever seen a basement that didn’t leak at least once in a while?

Got to hand it to Tulsa though, they’ll try anything twice. In 1998 they decided to bury another one…..a prowler this time. It’s supposed to be dug up in 2048. This one is mostly above ground at least.

The Other Buried Plymouth: Tulsarama II - Old Cars Weekly


I won’t be around for that, but who knows, maybe Cade can take the old 57 to that.



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Much better plan!