70DartMike
Active Member
Figured I'd start a thread on my '58 Plymouth Suburban wagon, it's a rare 2 door model.
I got the car from a friend, the first 2 pictures are how it sat for years. With it came a parts car, also a 2 door wagon, a '57 Dodge Custom Suburban, sitting in the same field.
The Plymouth had a 301, with a 3 speed Torqueflite, and about 5 different sets of holes in the roof from previous roof racks. The trunk was full of roofing nails, and the car had been painted with a brush at some point.
I was missing a lot of the Plymouth front sheet metal so I put a '57 Dodge one on, as it's what I had. The drivers side was extremely rusty, due to the angle it was sitting and all the moisture after snowmelt running to that side. It had absolutely zero drivers rocker, no floor pans. The drivers quarter flopped around when you'd close the door, and the window tracks were all rusted out. The body mounts were rotted, the rear tailgate rotted, etc etc. I did a ton of metal fab to get it to be somewhat solid again, and did a quick crappy paint job.
I'm not a body man by any means, or a painter, but I enjoy putting time in and saving these old things.
I wasn't sure where to go with drivetrain, at first I had put together a 383 for it and a cable shifted 727. But then I got a '58 Dodge Custom Royal for free, with a 354 Poly. Turns out the 354 was rebuilt, punched out .060" and the crank turned .010" under. It would turn halfway so I pulled it apart and confirmed, new Clevite bearings, lots of cross hatching in the cylinders. The pistons still had writing on them... The guy I got the car from had paperwork for the rebuild, it was done in the mid 90s.
The parts car is in primer, so my theory is they had the engine rebuilt, broke it in, and then started on the bodywork. Things happen, it sat for years, then I got it.
I just cleaned up the two cylinders, re gasketed it, and sprayed it silver. Plan is to get it back in the car with a cast iron Torqueflite over the next week or so here.
I got the car from a friend, the first 2 pictures are how it sat for years. With it came a parts car, also a 2 door wagon, a '57 Dodge Custom Suburban, sitting in the same field.
The Plymouth had a 301, with a 3 speed Torqueflite, and about 5 different sets of holes in the roof from previous roof racks. The trunk was full of roofing nails, and the car had been painted with a brush at some point.
I was missing a lot of the Plymouth front sheet metal so I put a '57 Dodge one on, as it's what I had. The drivers side was extremely rusty, due to the angle it was sitting and all the moisture after snowmelt running to that side. It had absolutely zero drivers rocker, no floor pans. The drivers quarter flopped around when you'd close the door, and the window tracks were all rusted out. The body mounts were rotted, the rear tailgate rotted, etc etc. I did a ton of metal fab to get it to be somewhat solid again, and did a quick crappy paint job.
I'm not a body man by any means, or a painter, but I enjoy putting time in and saving these old things.
I wasn't sure where to go with drivetrain, at first I had put together a 383 for it and a cable shifted 727. But then I got a '58 Dodge Custom Royal for free, with a 354 Poly. Turns out the 354 was rebuilt, punched out .060" and the crank turned .010" under. It would turn halfway so I pulled it apart and confirmed, new Clevite bearings, lots of cross hatching in the cylinders. The pistons still had writing on them... The guy I got the car from had paperwork for the rebuild, it was done in the mid 90s.
The parts car is in primer, so my theory is they had the engine rebuilt, broke it in, and then started on the bodywork. Things happen, it sat for years, then I got it.
I just cleaned up the two cylinders, re gasketed it, and sprayed it silver. Plan is to get it back in the car with a cast iron Torqueflite over the next week or so here.
