47 Plymouth sedan

Someone from my other thread asked if I would do a build thread on my 47 Plymouth, so here goes. I bought it in Tennessee about a year ago. Since then I've stripped it down, and had the frame blasted. The front suspension has been lowered 3" with Fatman's dropped spindles, disc brakes, a power rack-n-pinion, and relocated shocks. The rearend is a Chrysler 8.25 from a Dodge Dakota with a 3.55 gear set added. The rear springs were rearched to lower it 2". The motor/trans in a 5.3 Vortec/4L60E from a 2002 Suburban. I had the body media blasted and sprayed it with etching primer. there's not a lot of rust to fix; just rockers and a few small spots in the floor and trunk. This is where I ran out of cash and started the rat rod with hopes of using it to make some money to keep going. But I kind of like the way the rat is turning out so it may stay around a while. Maybe I can start a third project to make money to finish the Plymouth! Anyway, here's some pics...it'll see the road eventually; one way or another.

A few more....

And a few more.....

Last ones......

A lot of hard work

Looks great and should be a fun rod to drive.

falconvan said:

Someone from my other thread asked if I would do a build thread on my 47 Plymouth,

Click to expand...

That'd be me,,,,, Nice start on the sedan. I have a 47 Coupe. What is the width on the Dakota rear. (flange to flange) I'm looking to change mine out but need to get the right width so I don't have the same problem as I have now. (tires rubbing the frame)

I dont remember the measurement but i do know the Dakota rear was the exact same; just had to move the mounting pads. The drums are a few inches thicker but I think backspacing will solve that. Same bolt pattern on the wheels, too.

Thanks for the info. What year Dakota did the rear come out of ?

1987 6 cylinder standard cab. One note is that ring and pinion sets were a bit more expensive for the 8.25 than for other rearends. About $75 more on the average..

I was looking through my profile and forgot that I had started this thread. A lot has changed in two years so I thought I'd update it. I was just starting on the bodywork on this when a guy I go to church with was asking about my old Plymouth project. It turns out that he had a 48 Plymouth 2 dr coupe he had in his garage for the last 15 years. It was his first car when he was 16, he drove it for many years and then took it apart 15 years ago to restore it but never went any further. After we talked a while he said, "I'm never going to finish it, and I'd love to see someone get it back on the road. I'd like you to have it if you want it." I couldn't believe it; what a nice old dude. The best part was that the chassis was identical so to make a long story short I brought it home, pulled the body off the chassis, had it media blasted and picked up right where I left off. I've been doing a lot of patching for the last year and a half, plus went through the motor adding a bigger cam, headers, and putting on one of Edelbrock's carb conversion kits to get rid of the fuel injection. I'm just getting back to work on it after a short hiatus. I just had a 700 R4 rebuilt for it and after talking to a chassis shop, have decided to redo the rack and pinion setup with one of Fatman's Cavalier rack kits. Here's a bunch of picture updates; starting with the body. Another plus was the car needed a floor and the floor was exactly the same in the 4 dr sedan body so I cut it out and dropped it in in one piece.

Here's some of the floor surgery...

Rocker rebuild; this is before the floor

Checking door gaps.....

More floor and some panel patching....

A few shots of motor rebuild and the trans; and that's about where I'm at now. Hopefully I'll get back on the chassis in the next few weeks and get the steering redone, drivetrain mounted, and brake & fuel plumbed. Then it's back to the bodywork.

Haven't updated this thread in lets see.......7 years? Believe it or not, I still have the car and its still not done. But it has moved along quite a bit.

nice

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Later

Hey! some things just take longer than others
It looks very nice [cl

Thanks; I'm on a mission to have it on the road this spring.

I like that car.