63 Plymouth

Finally started pulling my 63 plymoth apart. Bought it when I was 18 from a lady who lived a short drive from the local junkyard I worked at. A coworker at the time was going to buy it but his corvette broke down and told me about it. Original poly 318 with pushbutton automatic transmission. Its a 4dr but it was cheap and solid. According to the shop manual the car should have a 2.76 rear end gear end it unless someone wanted a another ratio upon request. Pulled the radiator, water pump pulley and fan, grille and front bumper. I have a 68 383 that was purchased a couple of years after the 63 plymouth. Been thinking about rebuilding it and increasing the performance. I'd think it would get pretty decent fuel mileage with the stock 318 and high rear end gear. For now I'm just going to pull the engine and see how everything looks. Found some drop spindles but you need to use disc brakes with them.

You don't see them anymore

A buddy of mine used to have an old push button Plymouth. Nice project.

Reb Stew wrote:You don't see them anymore

That's the problem.

I can buy a complete disc brake kit from classicperform for $600. This includes the booster/ master cylinder. I found another company that will sell a kit with 2 inch drop spindles for $620 but no booster/ master cylinder. I may just run the stock brakes for right now. Need to see what the engine is going to cost in parts to get it back up and going.

I just went through the stock brakes on my '58 Plymouth last spring. I too would like to convert to disc eventually, but the funds aren't there yet. Actually with some honed wheel cylinders and some proper adjustment they stop the big ol' boat surprisingly well. I can certainly live with them!

drums work well if adjusted right....

Yeah, they work ok but if you're in rush hour traffic every day following all the newer cars with four wheel disc brakes that might not be enough. Also, those old drum brakes can get your attention when they get wet in a heavy rain. I know, I've been driving that old Ford with drum brakes for quite a while. I have the spindles to go to disc brakes and hopefully I'll get there this summer. I need the steering box rebuilt first. Junky, where'd you send your steering from that old Comet? If I remember right you had that rebuilt.

I was really only looking to lower the car some with 2 inch drop spindles. They are only set up for disc brakes.

I can't remember the name of the company on the steering column but Falconwagon62 hooked me up with them. I'll do some searching tonight and see.

Very cool! My parents had a black/red '62 Polara and the early to mid 1960s Mopars hold a special interest for me. Nice to see this one being saved.

Later,

Lee

Finished pulling the engine and trans today. Found a cool little paint quality control stamp of approval in the engine bay.

What happened to car today. Look at those valve covers. Even they were stylish back then..

Reb Stew wrote:What happened to car today. Look at those valve covers. Even they were stylish back then..

Agreed...styling left the engine bays long ago. Sucks.

Later,

Lee

Finished tearing the engine completely apart. Knocked the freeze plugs out only to find the block filled up pretty good with stop leak. The radiator core was bad and both tanks had cracks.

Will the block come clean if you have it hot tanked?  Joe Amato had a sponsor at one time that had block pressure cleaners but forget who it was.  It was back when I had my old white wagon.  The original motor on that thing was full of rust that kept clogging the radiator.

I'll take a pressure hose to it. Thats what I had to do on my 56 Cadillac engine. Knew this would be a mess, so I made sure to pull it apart in a certain area.