440 '48 Plymouth Coupe

[racingsnake440]

Craigslist strikes again! While browsing cars for sale I found a ’48 Plymouth coupe and thought it would make a good home for a spare 440 I had. A quick inspection by flashlight showed it to be pretty rough and missing quite a few pieces, but reasonably solid and most of the missing stuff I wasn’t planning on using anyway – bumpers, interior etc.
Here’s a couple of pics of it after dragging it home.

[racingsnake440]

A couple more pics after giving it a quick clean, clearing out all the trash and trying some Econoline buckets for size.

[racingsnake440]

My plan is to build a late '60s gasser/street freak style hot rod similar to this one I used to have except running a 440 instead of the 327 I had in the last one.

[racingsnake440]

First things first, the stock running gear had to go. Pulling the front clip made access much easier and only resulted in one snapped bolt.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm a bastard, I already know this, so it's without any conscience I suggest sectioning the car - take the metal out between the belt-line molding and the top of the fenders.... would give it a nice, sleek look

That said, what an excellent project - do keep updating on it

[Scott Liggett]

Nice project, Nik. I have a soft spot for those bulgy post war cars. I see you still got your wagon.

[milner351]

COOL. Looking at that front end I understand why so many guys swap out to nova or camaro front sub frames, or put a mustang 2 in.

Are you going to straight axle the front end?

[racingsnake440]

No sectioning for this one, they do look a bit heavy at the back end but radiusing the rear arches makes a big difference.

Yeah, I still have the wagon, it's patiently waiting for a new motor and trans at the moment.

The front suspension is actually pretty decent on these cars but the steering box does get in the way when swapping a V8 in. This one's getting a straight axle though anyway.

[1946Austin]

I'm officially subscribed to any straight axle gasser build! Can't wait to see how this one goes!

[mrocketscience]

Oh Yeah! New project Thats going to look really cool, can't wait to see progress. A friend of mine just got one of these a couple of weeks ago.

[1badmonkey]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
that looks like a kick ass neighborhood

[racingsnake440]

Thanks for the comments guys!

1946Austin - I love your car! Your build thread encouraged me to get round to starting this one. My build plan is similar to how you built yours - keep it simple and get it driving, then go back through it to get teh cosmetics how I want them.

mrocketscience - your buddy's Plymouth looks cool, any details on running gear etc?

[Huskinhano]

Nice car! When I was little, like 4 years old, my folks had a 47 4 door brown Dodge. Still remember that car to this day. It was that car, my dad changing the oil and fixing flats on the inner tubes (remember them?) that got me started on cars. Next car when I was 5 was a 55 Desoto with the Firedome hemi that we had for a couple years. Dad went down hill from there, ordering a new 63 stripped down Rambler Classic 550.

[racingsnake440]

That '55 De Soto sounds cool - any pics?

Back to the Plymouth, I've never really liked the rear wheel arches and with bigger tires going on it's time to cut them out! Before and after pics - what you can't see is that there's now a Dodge Polara 8.75" rear end hanging under there. Haven't welded spring perches yet as I need to set pinion angle etc.

Will probably need to cut a bit more out to allow for suspension travel but at least I can roll it around for now.

[cantvalve16]

That looks great and adds a grip of attitude to the car. Way to go! Applause!