440 '48 Plymouth Coupe

[racingsnake440]

Do yourself a favor and make a rear panel that's removeable for access to the bellhousing bolts!

Good idea, but actually there's plenty of room to reach the bolts behind the engine so it's not a problem leaving it one piece.

Joe, yeah I certainly think they suit the straight axle look, radiusing the rear arches completely changes their look too IMO.

Thanks for the comments.

[racingsnake440]

Bit more progress - engine and trans back out so I can finish weld all the front end, holes welded up in the firewall and gas pedal fitted.

[1946Austin]

Looking great! Fabricating is enjoyable, especially when you're tacking it all together. But once it's together and you're just doing finish welds it can get pretty boring for me. Just seems like the welding goes on forever!

[zombie289]

Looking good Knackas!

[racingsnake440]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, the fabrication stage is fun - my brake pedal and steering column should get here today so I can start getting them mocked up. After that, lots of welding!

[1946Austin]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, the fabrication stage is fun - my brake pedal and steering column should get here today so I can start getting them mocked up. After that, lots of welding!

What are you using for your steering column?

[racingsnake440]

I was going to use a 70s? Ford column I had but decided I didn't like the look of it and got a basic Speedway one instead. Looks like it should work out ok. Also mocked my steering arm up - looks like I might have some clearance issues.

[NightShifter]

That wagon of yours has a twin that just hit craigslist today: http://mohave.craigslist.org/cto/3707780719.html
Sorry for the distraction but I thought it might come in handy for parts.

[1946Austin]

As long as your drag link is bolted to the top of the arm it shouldn't have any clearance issues. It will move with the axle, so it wont ever get closer to the spring. I'm having trouble even finding a steering arm for the backing plate on my Econoline axle. The bolt spacing is 2.5" and nobody makes one that width. I'll probably have to fabricate one from scratch, or buy a wider spacing and relocate the tabs.

[racingsnake440]

That wagon of yours has a twin that just hit craigslist today: http://mohave.craigslist.org/cto/3707780719.html
Sorry for the distraction but I thought it might come in handy for parts.

That wagon did look just like mine tho possibly a bit straighter. Thanks for the heads up but I've got enough projects for now...

[racingsnake440]

As long as your drag link is bolted to the top of the arm it shouldn't have any clearance issues. It will move with the axle, so it wont ever get closer to the spring. I'm having trouble even finding a steering arm for the backing plate on my Econoline axle. The bolt spacing is 2.5" and nobody makes one that width. I'll probably have to fabricate one from scratch, or buy a wider spacing and relocate the tabs.

Wasn't a very good pic - the steering arm is actually below the spring. I thought about making a steering arm but since I've got Chevy spindles the Speedway ones were so cheap it wasn't worth messing with.

[racingsnake440]

I never finalized the spring mounts and wasn't really happy with the angle the springs were at. It also made clearance for a drag link a bit tight. As I picked up some springs with more arch and more leaves at a swapmeet recently I decided to flip the axle back on top of the springs and put a crossmember under the front rails to mount the springs to.

As I was changing springs I needed to move the mounts for the rear of the springs. Even in So Cal uncovered metal starts rusting pretty quickly so I had to do some clean up before rewelding the mounts. The front mounts are still just mocked up but the second pic should be a fairly accurate idea of final ride height - just slightly nose up.

[cantvalve16]

Sits great. Just up in the air enough to catch a glimpse of straight axle simplicity.

[1946Austin]

The stance looks great! Might want to move the front perch forward, as it's got quite an angle on it, and might get worse with engine weight.

[racingsnake440]

Yeah, the perch will be moved - it's just clamped on at the moment to mock it up. It'll be moved forwards and down to lift the car a bit more so that it should settle to about this ride height with the motor back in.