'59 Plymouth Forum

Greetings all,

Three years after selling everything for a move, I started jones'n for a new project. As one of the first things I did after my arrival was join a local Mopar club, a Mopar seemed in order.

The search had been not been to successful when I heard about a running 300L at a scrapyard. The 300 was a looser, but as we were leaving the guy said "If your interested in old Mopars I got '58 Plymouth in back by the shop".

It turned out to be a '59 Belvedere, 4dr, 318-4, PS, PB, Torqueflite. A battery, some gas and $1500 later in was parked at my house. That was two weeks ago today.

She aint pretty, and has a long road ahead, but I got her more for the road then the destination. I'm hoping to have it driving reliably before winter sets in (No pressure).

I look forward to all you advised as the site has already been an inspiration.

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Boise, ID

Well, well! We're practically neighbors! Faulkner hails from Boise, Idaho too. I've even been there, to meet the son of the original owner. You can read all about it here:

https://59plymouth.net/faulkner/index.html

Welcome aboard, send pix when you can!

Dan

welcome! i know the feeling of deadlines, bought batmobile (59 savoy 4 door sedan I-6/ 3-tree) over 4 years ago and seems everytime i try to set a deadline, i end up breaking it. such as life i guess. mine ain't no resto or even a clean survivor, but i hope to be driving her just as soon as i get a tank from john. i've got the car in the shop and the ramps lined up behind her, ready to drive up on them and yank out the leaky tank and install hopefully a trouble/ leak free one. speaking of which i will tank pics of both batmobile and my shop once the tank is installed.

kinda off topic, but i got tired of looking at the rusted underside of the roof and cleaned off all the stuck goop and insulation, and wire wheeled the loose rust (enjoyed that process, my shirt acted like a funnel), and sprayed 3m rubberized undercoating (paintable). i then put a couple of coats of rattle-can gloss white over that. so hopefully i have halted the rusting process there, and got it looking somewhat presentable enough, for the moment anyways. all the bows i took steel wool to and sprayed cold gavanizing compound on them, and laid them to the side. it won't win any awards, but it'll get me by for a lil while. will try to take pics of that also.
anyways, welcome again, hope u like it here, i know i sure do enjoy it. --jeremy

" all you advised"?

How about "all your advise", serves me right for posting as I'm on my way out the door. Which I'm doing again. On my way to the bi-annual Firebird (Raceway) swap meet. It's not very big, but its what we have in these parts. Besides, it doesn't have to be big, it just has to have something I want (and thats not hard). Like a kid in a candy store.

Then I'm off to pull some power wing windows from a '62 Imp. parts cars. Not for my little black Bel., but now that I think about it, I wonder how hard of a conversion that would be. Too many other priorities, every time I look at this car I find something else it needs.

Of which, I have several questions, many of which will be associated with pictures. Something I hope to have ready this weekend as well.

The swap meet was cold and windy, but not what you would call a loss. I picked up 3 '57 wheel-covers for $10 (one is dinged), to match my 3 '59's. At least they are much closer then whatever those things I have on the passenger side are.

I also came across two leads for swivel seats. One of which lead to the prettiest '59 Coronet I've ever seen (which he says he may sell come spring).

When I got the Bel, it ran, but when you tried to accelerate, it would stutter, and try really hard to die. My first thought was accelerator pump, so I put a kit in it, to no avail. So I adjusted, and played with timing and tinkered and swore, and have finally come to the conclusion I have burnt or sticking valves.

Based on the quotes I've gotten from local shops, you would think this was a multi-valve engine. Which has me asking the question, should I be concerned enough about keeping it stock to put big$ into the 318-4, or should I start thinking about a 413?

Have you checked points, condeseor, plugs, wires,?
have you checked the timming chain for excessive play?
Have you run a compression test?
Is there old gas or sludge clogging fuel lines?
Is the fuel pump weak.
The rubber in the fuel line may have pin holes in it and sucking air, maybe they are deteriorating from the inside and are sucking closed..
did you give it an oil change ?
My first suggestion would be give it an oil change and add a pint of Marvel Mystery oil.. Let it set and do some running it may take a dozen times of starting it and letting it run for period of time before it starts to help.. This car set awhile so it will take some time for the stickness/crud to disolve.. I have also seen surface rust on the valve seats, this make for a sad sounding engine until they clean themselfs off.. I drag alot of these old 50's-60's cars in that haven't run in 20 years or longer.. 50% end up being decent, just don't rush em..
Check everything, you really have no idea why the car was parked or who worked on it last or even if they new what they were doing..
If you are lucky when you buy an old car you get a half honest seller.
We all read the great line," Ran & drove great when parked " (40 years ago) as you stare at a carburetor that is full of pine needles, mouse turds and seat stuffing ... My favorite respone to that line is, "If it ran so damned good, why was it parked?

lol to the reason that it was parked! (so true)
i bet it is, something minor. i would do a tune up to the distibutor. - i do not know how the v-8 carb is set up, but there is an adjustment to the carter on the sixs (specs r in the plymouth repair manuals). do not give up on that little 318 yet, they r tough engines, just fresh oil, and run her a while.
my 'ol flathead six smoked to beat all heck when i fired her up, but as the rings re-broke in, it smokes just a little bit now.
hopefully u just need some tuning and some patience.
keep us posted --j

The points, condenser, plugs and wires are new. The tank was drained when it was brought in buy the towing co, to keep it salvageable, so the gas is fresh. The fuel filter is new, and it's getting plenty of fuel.

I have not done a compression test, however, I am getting blowback through the carb. It doesn't appear to be a timing issue, suggesting valves. As the oil pressure is weak, and the car sat for a couple of years, sticky valves seem likely. Although I've heard the Poly engines have a tendency to burn valves, particularly when run on unleaded, so who know.

I have not changed the oil although it clearly needs it. Perhaps "clearly" is not the correct word, from the looks of it, if it were any older it would be a sauropod. To be honest, I haven't even looked to see how easily available these cylinder type oil filters are. I've instead been looking for a reasonable deal on a big block.

Are you referring to the B engine faimly, 361, late 383, 400 or the RB faimly of early 383, 413, 426, 440. ?
Both are going to open up a whole new can of worms if you are planning on keeping the push button shifter or the drum style parking brake assy.
Your first challange is finding a crankshaft that will work in the engine family you are using, only 61 and earlier will work with the push buttons.
On the 440 I am putting in mine I am using a 62 trans, it is the only year that will work as a direct bolt in 63 latter you will need to start modifing tailshafts and parking brake cables and levers ..

Yeah, the '62 transmission is the way to go. I have one lined up for the likely hood that I end up with a more modern engine. RB would be my first choice, but I have all winter to see what I can come across. Lots of advantages to this kind of upgrade. Parts, unleaded gas, and you don't get that eye twitch from the tech at the transmission shop when you say "Cast iron torgueflite".

I know a gentleman that has a '62 413 with transmission sitting in his shop, but he hasn't decided if he is willing to give it up. So in the mean time, I'm following a lead on a 383.

Either way, I will be most interesting in your progress and how the application works for you.

I really haven't had the time yet to get crazy into this change over. Mine had a dead 400 sitting in it when I bought it. Even with the smaller B block using the Direct Connection valve covers it was so tight to the heater box that the rear most bolts were left out of the covers..
I'm betting if I'm going to use them on the 440 there is going to be heater box mods to be made or a bigger PIA of shifting the motor for clearence. Even if I use the lower factory covers it may still pose the same issue with the 440 and the B block wouldn't be much, if any easier on the rear bolt, now we know why ma Mopar used 4 bolt valve covers in this era!
I'm running a year and a half behind on working on my 59, I ended up doing a restore on the 60 Dodge Matador that I bought with the intent of using the driveline from.. Hopefully I will finish the Dodge in the spring!??

By some stupid twist of fate, I bought a 62 Newport of ebay for $99.00 about 6 weeks before I found my 59 and by an even more bizarre twist, I had the trans sold and the deal fell thru.. (for once things worked out for the better!)

If you get into yours before I do mine keep us posted and good luck on that 62 trans!

Cruised over to Mountain Home last weekend to check out the vintage scrap yard I'd heard so much about. www.jimsvintageautomotive.com (The site doesn't do the place justice).

There were a fair number of forward look cars, mostly Desoto & Chrysler, but they did have a '59 Fury 2dr hardtop. He said its been there more then 20 years, and based on what parts are left, I believe it (He doesn't crush anything). The sad part is, whats left of it has less rust then my car, and my was a daily driver as recently as 10 years ago.

The valance and front fenders were gone (sold), as well as virtually all the trim, most of the interior, all the glass, drivers door, and trunk lid. I still did an inventory of what I couldn't just take off my 4dr Bel., in the end, I desided it would be a project of its own, and not one I'm willing to take on. At least not this year.

To say he doesn't give anything away, is an understatement, but boy he has alot there. I wandered around the place for more then 2 hours, and needless to say, there are a couple things I'll be going back for come spring.

I remember buying some parts from Jim there about 25 years ago for a car I was restoring. He was fair on the pricing, and friendly as well. ---John

I thought he had sold out all at auction and closed down. Must be thinking of another yard up that way (Indian Valley?)