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'55 Plaza Suburban arrives today
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-08-20 8:06 PM (#546614 - in reply to #545390)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
I was on vacation, then, the temps were just too hot to deal with it. Today, I finally touched it again. I plugged the MC and gave the pedal a push. It was a good firm pedal as it should have been. But, when I pushed hard, I heard a funny noise and the pedal slowly slipped to the floor. I got out another MC, bench bled it, installed it, and plugged it. The pedal is hard as a rock and doesn't sink at all. So, I hooked up the fronts and it's still good. Tomorrow, if it's not too hot, I'll cross my fingers and hook the rears back up.



(Plaza MC plugged.jpg)



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Attachments Plaza MC plugged.jpg (117KB - 452 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-08-24 8:44 PM (#546946 - in reply to #546614)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
Finally buttoned it up and gave it a brief road test today. The original drum brakes are sensitive to adjustment. I left them dragging very slightly and decided to let them wear in through short drives around the neighborhood. I tried the reverse bleeder on the passenger side with the rubber hose clamped off and the drum off. It pressurized the rear axle line and moved the pistons out on the wheel cylinder as it should have. After three or four times of letting the wheel cylinder pistons extend and retract, an air bubble made its way out. So, looks like I had a combination of a bad MC and a stubborn air bubble.



(phpTVkyq0PM.jpg)



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Attachments phpTVkyq0PM.jpg (107KB - 435 downloads)
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Old Ray
Posted 2017-08-24 10:17 PM (#546960 - in reply to #546946)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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Looks good, thanks for posting.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-08-27 3:23 PM (#547146 - in reply to #546960)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
Yesterday, I drove it out of the neighborhood to the gas station. I went over 25mph for the first time since I bought this thing. By the time I got it home, the right rear was smoking. So, I had those shoes adjusted too tight. This morning, I took just a hair of adjustment out of them and took it for another drive. All seems fine now. No more stink of burning friction material.
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Powerflite
Posted 2017-08-27 7:18 PM (#547157 - in reply to #547146)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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Congratulations. Always great to be driving them. I'm sure more work is still ahead, but now you can enjoy it more.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-02 4:55 PM (#547590 - in reply to #547157)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
One of the few things the seller stated in their ad for this car was that the floors were good. Not sure their idea of good floors and mine are the same. At least for the time being, I'm just sealing them up with POR-15 and fiberglass.




(Plaza front passenger floor pan.jpg)



(Plaza front passenger floor pan (2).jpg)



(Plaza front passenger floor pan (3).jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza front passenger floor pan.jpg (160KB - 439 downloads)
Attachments Plaza front passenger floor pan (2).jpg (143KB - 441 downloads)
Attachments Plaza front passenger floor pan (3).jpg (153KB - 438 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-07 8:35 AM (#547897 - in reply to #547590)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
The gas gauge isn't working. So, I pulled the sending unit and found the resistance was the same with the float up as with the float down. So, for the time being, I picked up an inexpensive gauge/sending unit and gauge pod to mount under the dash for the time being. I took the top off the OEM sender and took the aftermarket sender apart. I mounted the top of the OEM unit onto the aftermarket unit's guts.




(Plaza fuel sender.jpg)



(Plaza fuel sender (7).jpg)



(Plaza fuel sender (2).jpg)



(Plaza fuel sender (8).jpg)



(Plaza fuel sender (6).jpg)



(Plaza fuel sender (4).jpg)



(Plaza fuel sender (3).jpg)



(Plaza fuel sender (5).jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza fuel sender.jpg (100KB - 424 downloads)
Attachments Plaza fuel sender (7).jpg (107KB - 443 downloads)
Attachments Plaza fuel sender (2).jpg (80KB - 437 downloads)
Attachments Plaza fuel sender (8).jpg (109KB - 432 downloads)
Attachments Plaza fuel sender (6).jpg (98KB - 421 downloads)
Attachments Plaza fuel sender (4).jpg (102KB - 429 downloads)
Attachments Plaza fuel sender (3).jpg (171KB - 442 downloads)
Attachments Plaza fuel sender (5).jpg (150KB - 434 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-09-07 9:29 AM (#547903 - in reply to #547897)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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OH MY!! With all that rust on the OE sender body and the cork float, your gas tank has had a lot of water sitting in it. IF you haven't already, I think that you are going to have to pull the tank and get it cleaned and relined. You might want to source a better used tank because I can imagine that yours is going to have lots of pin holes, etc. at the water line.

Clever job on the aftermarket sender mod. There are NOS OE style senders on eBay if you look.

Good luck.



Edited by 56D500boy 2017-09-07 9:31 AM
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-07 12:12 PM (#547909 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Location: Frederick, MD
I've been watching Ebay, but, so far, I've only seen non-wagon senders. There was one that said it was for wagons, but it only had one terminal instead of the two on wagon senders. I have a sedan gauge and could get a non-wagon sender and switch gauges, but really don't feel like taking anything in the dash apart.
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Powerflite
Posted 2017-09-07 1:31 PM (#547914 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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There is this one. It says that it operates from 78-10 ohms. That is the same range as a newer '60's Mopar. If that is true, you could probably just get one for a '66 Coronet or a '67 Dart and modify it to work if you don't want to pay the high price.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-1956-PLYMOUTH-DODGE-BRAND-NEW-STATION-...
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-07 4:28 PM (#547923 - in reply to #547914)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
The wagon has a different shaped gas tank and, I believe, a longer arm on the sender. I could use one of those with my sedan gauge and switch the arm with the one I pulled out of my wagon's gas tank.

It took a few times putting the sender in and taking it out adjusting the length of the sender and the float arm, but I think I finally got it close enough. I took a quick trip to the gas station and was happy when the needle climbed up on full. The extra gauge is out of the way under the glove compartment over the hump. If I get ambitious, I might move it up into the gas gauge hole in the dash. I took the easy way out and wired the gauge light to the gauge power rather than screw around tapping into the light circuit. Unfortunately, my iPhone refused to focus on it when it was lit up.




(phpgnwLDoPM.jpg)



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Attachments phpgnwLDoPM.jpg (99KB - 420 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-09 9:40 AM (#548030 - in reply to #547923)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


Elite Veteran

Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
My lower tailgate has a lot of mud in it. I accidentally put a small dent in it while working on it and cracks spread. Yesterday, an NOS tailgate arrived from Bernbaum. It's in pretty good shape for over 60 years of shelf wear, just a couple of minor bends on the upper corners, some scratches from shipping, and some surface rust.




(Plaza tailgate.jpg)



(Plaza tailgate (2).jpg)



(Plaza tailgate (3).jpg)



(Plaza tailgate (4).jpg)



(Plaza tailgate (5).jpg)



(Plaza tailgate (6).jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza tailgate.jpg (78KB - 465 downloads)
Attachments Plaza tailgate (2).jpg (113KB - 431 downloads)
Attachments Plaza tailgate (3).jpg (46KB - 425 downloads)
Attachments Plaza tailgate (4).jpg (117KB - 421 downloads)
Attachments Plaza tailgate (5).jpg (96KB - 414 downloads)
Attachments Plaza tailgate (6).jpg (101KB - 417 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-11 3:32 PM (#548169 - in reply to #548030)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
The car tracked straight on the road, but the steering wheel was off by about 45 degrees. Because there's a master spline, I couldn't just yank the wheel and re-clock that. So, the good folks at the Ford dealership just down the road were kind enough to throw it on the alignment rack and set toe/center the steering wheel.



(Plaza alignment rack resized.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza alignment rack resized.jpg (90KB - 416 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-13 9:23 AM (#548272 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
After previously being unable to get much of the old differential lube out because it was like tar, I crawled under there yesterday to try it again. Having gotten a small amount of new gear lube in and driving it around a bit, the new lube did mix with the tar-like crap that was in there and thinned it enough that most of it flowed out the drain plug. So, after it stopped draining, I put some new lube in while the drain plug was open and that pushed more of the old crud out. After buttoning it up with new lube, I'll put some more miles on it and change it again to try and get rid of the rest of the old nasty lube. While under the car, I went ahead and drained and refilled the manual transmission. That lube flowed out fine, but was well past when it should have been changed. I'll change the transmission oil again before winter to try and get rid of the remnants of the old lube that was in there.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-18 7:47 PM (#548662 - in reply to #548272)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
When I finally drove at night, I realized the right headlight pointed down at the street. Today, I pulled the HL bezel to adjust the HL and realized that some previous owner had broken an adjuster tab and the tab that serves as the third mount for the trim ring. So, I got to pull the HL bucket, drill out the rivet heads and reattach the tabs so that the HL could be adjusted.




(Plaza HL bucket (2).jpg)



(Plaza HL bucket (5).jpg)



(Plaza HL bucket (6).jpg)



(Plaza HL bucket (3).jpg)



(Plaza HL bucket (4).jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza HL bucket (2).jpg (100KB - 395 downloads)
Attachments Plaza HL bucket (5).jpg (109KB - 427 downloads)
Attachments Plaza HL bucket (6).jpg (86KB - 435 downloads)
Attachments Plaza HL bucket (3).jpg (88KB - 397 downloads)
Attachments Plaza HL bucket (4).jpg (98KB - 418 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-25 2:15 PM (#549130 - in reply to #548662)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
My driver's side floor pans arrived today. After the heat breaks and when it's not raining, I'll take it to the body shop for an estimate because I've never learned to weld.



(Plaza floor pan patch panels.jpg)



(Plaza floor pan patch panels box.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza floor pan patch panels.jpg (118KB - 406 downloads)
Attachments Plaza floor pan patch panels box.jpg (112KB - 392 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-09-25 2:31 PM (#549135 - in reply to #549130)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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I bought the same panels for my 56 Dodge (just to have). Not sure if the company is the same or not. What I can tell you is that inspection panel still need a bunch of work before it will fit. That lip at the top needs to be bent over towards you and the kink in the middle needs to be bigger and softer (larger radius bend).

Yours:



Mine:

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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-25 4:21 PM (#549148 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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I'm not too worried about it. At least it's a good head start over the body shop having to start from scratch.

Today, I changed the differential lube again. It still came out thick and black. I may have to change it one more time before winter.
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-09-25 5:41 PM (#549152 - in reply to #549148)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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71charger_fan - 2017-09-25 4:21 PM
I'm not too worried about it. At least it's a good head start over the body shop having to start from scratch.
Today, I changed the differential lube again. It still came out thick and black. I may have to change it one more time before winter.


True dat.

What diff lube/oil are you using SAE 90? or ??

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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-09-25 9:49 PM (#549164 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
I've got 80w-90 and 75w-90 on the shelf. I generally use whichever is closest to hand. Today, I used up a bottle of the 75w-90.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-01 7:27 PM (#549556 - in reply to #549164)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Today, I pulled the front seat out so that I could finally dispose of what was left of the disgusting carpet that was in the car. I was happy to see that the floors under and behind the seat weren't too bad. A little POR-15 and fiberglass and they'll be fine. It's not worth replacing the pans for a few small holes.



(Plaza passenger floor.jpg)



(Plaza passenger floor (2).jpg)



(Plaza passenger floor (3).jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza passenger floor.jpg (160KB - 405 downloads)
Attachments Plaza passenger floor (2).jpg (129KB - 395 downloads)
Attachments Plaza passenger floor (3).jpg (127KB - 397 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-01 8:26 PM (#549563 - in reply to #549556)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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71charger_fan - 2017-10-01 7:27 PM Today, I pulled the front seat out so that I could finally dispose of what was left of the disgusting carpet that was in the car. I was happy to see that the floors under and behind the seat weren't too bad. A little POR-15 and fiberglass and they'll be fine. It's not worth replacing the pans for a few small holes.


Probably a stupid question but what holds the front seat in? 4 bolts (2 per side)? (I can see the holes - just want to confirm).

How difficult was it to get the seat out? I think that is going to be one of my winter (in the warm basement projects this winter).

I had two small holes in my front passenger foot well that I was able to patch with some wire mesh and Bondo Liquid Metal. (Then I sprayed over entire footwell with DupliColor bed liner (spray)).

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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-01 8:57 PM (#549568 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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The bottom seat cushion just lifted out which provided good access to the bolts on the inside. The sheet metal trim on the sides of the seat were easily removed with the seat cushion out which provided free access to the seat bolts on the outside.
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-01 9:39 PM (#549569 - in reply to #549568)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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71charger_fan - 2017-10-01 8:57 PM
The bottom seat cushion just lifted out which provided good access to the bolts on the inside. The sheet metal trim on the sides of the seat were easily removed with the seat cushion out which provided free access to the seat bolts on the outside.


Okay. Living and learning.

All I could find was this:




(55-56ManualSeatAdjustmentMechanism.jpg)



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Attachments 55-56ManualSeatAdjustmentMechanism.jpg (86KB - 392 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-02 2:36 PM (#549619 - in reply to #549569)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Here's the sheet metal trim I mentioned in case you weren't sure what I meant. I started replacing the hideous blue someone had painted it.




(phpZmZsGJAM.jpg)



(phpOoydjFAM.jpg)



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Attachments phpZmZsGJAM.jpg (193KB - 386 downloads)
Attachments phpOoydjFAM.jpg (136KB - 382 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-02 2:38 PM (#549620 - in reply to #549569)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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I shoved the front seat frame in the back of the wagon while I work on the floor, but I tried to get a couple of photos of the sections you pulled out of the parts book.




(php5JXqYEAM.jpg)



(phpun4zozAM.jpg)



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Attachments php5JXqYEAM.jpg (114KB - 375 downloads)
Attachments phpun4zozAM.jpg (106KB - 397 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-02 2:41 PM (#549621 - in reply to #549620)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
I put another coat of POR-15 down today with some more layers of fiberglass over the pinholes.




(phpb2yvCwPM.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments phpb2yvCwPM.jpg (133KB - 387 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-02 3:53 PM (#549623 - in reply to #549619)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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71charger_fan - 2017-10-02 2:36 PM
Here's the sheet metal trim I mentioned in case you weren't sure what I meant. I started replacing the hideous blue someone had painted it.


Umm...that "hideous" blue might be factory.

56 Dodge



Edited by 56D500boy 2017-10-02 3:57 PM
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-02 4:37 PM (#549624 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Mine have been repainted, but it might be close to a factory shade.
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-02 5:14 PM (#549625 - in reply to #549568)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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71charger_fan - 2017-10-01 8:57 PM The bottom seat cushion just lifted out which provided good access to the bolts on the inside. The sheet metal trim on the sides of the seat were easily removed with the seat cushion out which provided free access to the seat bolts on the outside.


Now that I knew what I was dealing with, I went out to the car and pulled up on a front corner of the front seat bottom. Came up. Okay. Go to the other side and put up that corner. OKAY THEN!! Pulled the seat bottom out.

Well I can tell you the previous (Canadian) owner who I bought it from did not do this because I have found a bunch of US$ (about 1.26 in) coins from the US owner he had bought it from (Annacortes, WA area). I found a few things that might allow me to track down the previous US owner just for fun.

Lots of junk too. All vacuumed up now.

I think that it might not be necessary to remove the metal seat side trim to access the hold-down bolts (seat slider to body).

I'll see how ambitious I get later (during the winter) when I start dealing with the seats.

Thanks for your hints and photos.

Progress. Gotta love it.

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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-02 7:03 PM (#549632 - in reply to #549625)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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56D500boy - 2017-10-02 5:14 PM
I think that it might not be necessary to remove the metal seat side trim to access the hold-down bolts (seat slider to body).
:)


I was just out there playing with the seat base/frame and found that I could remove the outermost two hold down bolts with a 1/2" box end wrench without removing the side panels. I removed and replaced all 8 bolts, 4 per side, adding never-sieze to the threads so when I do actually take the front seat out (to install carpet, etc.) there won't be issues.

Now back to what I started to do: right side rocker panel improvements.

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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-02 8:21 PM (#549639 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Whoever previously took my front seat out only put four of the bolts back in. So, I've scrounged four matching bolts from my hoard. Unfortunately, I have a broken bolt on the driver side to extract.

Edited by 71charger_fan 2017-10-02 8:22 PM
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-02 9:30 PM (#549644 - in reply to #549639)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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71charger_fan - 2017-10-02 8:21 PM Whoever previously took my front seat out only put four of the bolts back in. So, I've scrounged four matching bolts from my hoard. Unfortunately, I have a broken bolt on the driver side to extract.


Well that sucks. Use a bunch of penetrating oil (PB Blaster, etc) to help with the extraction. The captured nut on the bottom of the floor pan appears to be welded to the pan from below (that is a bit of guess because my undercarriage was undercoated at some point). You might be able to access the broken bit from below as well.

While I was cleaning up under that seat I found a Shell gas credit card receipt signed by maybe the last US owner with the license plate number shown below (when I first got the car). Unfortunately I can't read the date or the city name - but it might be Vancouver WA.

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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-03 3:37 PM (#549708 - in reply to #549644)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Location: Frederick, MD
I refinished the seat side trim to match the dash color scheme. I'll eventually redo the seats in a white/black combo.



(Plaza seat side panels.jpg)



(Plaza seat side panels (2).jpg)



(Plaza seat side panels (3).jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza seat side panels.jpg (100KB - 376 downloads)
Attachments Plaza seat side panels (2).jpg (125KB - 386 downloads)
Attachments Plaza seat side panels (3).jpg (104KB - 374 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-03 3:45 PM (#549709 - in reply to #549708)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


Elite Veteran

Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
I cleaned up the passenger floor under the back seat. While there was plenty of surface rust, there were no perforations. I suspect much of what corrosion there was was from rodent urine given the size of the mouse nests that were in that seat cushion. I just gave it a coat of POR-15 to seal it. Next, moving on to the driver's side rear.



(Plaza passenger floor rear.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza passenger floor rear.jpg (140KB - 378 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2017-10-03 7:47 PM (#549718 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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I painted the seat side trim on my '56 Plymouth exactly the same, except in (the original) blue & white instead of black and white.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-03 8:01 PM (#549721 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
Since I had some bleed under the tape, I'm thinking of going to the auto body supply, picking up some finelines tape, and masking off the grooves on the side trim and painting those silver.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-04 3:58 PM (#549764 - in reply to #549721)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
Today, I cleaned up the driver's side floor under the back seat. It was very solid back there. Lots of surface rust, but nothing deep. A good coat of POR-15 and I'll move on to the driver's side rear footwell.



(Plaza drivers rear floor.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza drivers rear floor.jpg (80KB - 384 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-10 3:24 PM (#550110 - in reply to #549764)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
Today, I cleaned up and coated the driver's side rear foot footwell. There were a lot of small rust holes in this area so I generously spread fiberglass cloth around to make sure I got them all.



(Plaza driver rear footwell.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza driver rear footwell.jpg (126KB - 374 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-13 8:22 PM (#550259 - in reply to #550110)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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I ran out of grey POR-15 and had to second coat the driver's side rear seat floor pan in black. So, I went ahead and third coated all three foot wells in black. I'll get the front seat back in tomorrow and probably roll over to a local cruise night (assuming it's not raining).



(Plaza floor pan.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza floor pan.jpg (133KB - 363 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-13 10:38 PM (#550265 - in reply to #550259)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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How long does POR15 take to dry/cure?

You know a lawn chair would fit in there right?

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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-14 9:23 PM (#550313 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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I'd say after a few hours it was good and dry. It has a weird chemistry in that it dries faster when it's humid. I laid pretty much all of this when it was very damp.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-17 2:18 PM (#550480 - in reply to #550313)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Location: Frederick, MD
Between Hershey and Ebay, I've accumulated a few emblems for an eventual repaint. Even though my car didn't have a Suburban emblem, I think I'll add one just so the Chevy folks can scratch their heads at cruise-ins.



(Plaza Emblems.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza Emblems.jpg (137KB - 360 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-17 2:20 PM (#550481 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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I gave up, at least for now, on the broken seat mounting bolt after snapping off a screw extractor in it. There were only four bolts holding it in when I bought it and now there are seven. I'm calling it good enough.
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Powerflite
Posted 2017-10-17 2:40 PM (#550483 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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If you want to remove it, weld a blob or a nut to the end of it. Then turn it out while it is still warm (but not red-hot). The welding will heat it up enough to dislodge the rust holding it in place and the blob or nut gives you something to grab onto. I have removed broken off exhaust studs in heads that have sat out in a field for 20 years using this method.
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-18 3:57 PM (#550555 - in reply to #550483)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Location: Frederick, MD
I'm working on assembling a front suspension rebuild kit without having to resort to any of the Chinese stuff being sold now.



(Plaza pin and bushing.jpg)



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Attachments Plaza pin and bushing.jpg (117KB - 353 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-18 8:24 PM (#550575 - in reply to #550555)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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After rewiring this 1955 Plymouth Plaza Suburban from 6V positive ground to 12V negative ground, I was still left with a 6V heater blower motor. Today, I switched that out using a 4 Seasons Unimotor. I should have measured how far off the mounting plate the fan sat as I had to install/remove/install a few times to get the fan set to the proper depth, but, other than that, it went pretty smoothly. The bushing supplied with the motor makes up for the shaft being too narrow for the hole in the fan. I had to file down one end of the bushing to get it to slip into the fan. I had to make the black lead positive and ground the red lead to get it to turn in the proper direction for the Plymouth.



(Plaza Blower Motor.jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (2).jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (7).jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (3).jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (4).jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (5).jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (6).jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (8).jpg)



(Plaza Blower Motor (9).jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza Blower Motor.jpg (105KB - 350 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (2).jpg (111KB - 370 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (7).jpg (85KB - 358 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (3).jpg (118KB - 357 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (4).jpg (119KB - 370 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (5).jpg (113KB - 369 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (6).jpg (86KB - 367 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (8).jpg (96KB - 363 downloads)
Attachments Plaza Blower Motor (9).jpg (76KB - 361 downloads)
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-19 8:25 PM (#550636 - in reply to #550575)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


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Posts: 667
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Today, I decided to try and figure out why my cowl vent won't open all the way. While poking around under the dash, I realized the bottom of the heater box was packed with dirt. The only way to get it out was to pull the heater box off the cowl. I still haven't gotten to the bottom of why the cowl vent won't open all the way.




(Plaza Cowl.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Plaza Cowl.jpg (143KB - 361 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2017-10-19 9:19 PM (#550641 - in reply to #550636)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today



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71charger_fan - 2017-10-19 8:25 PM Today, I decided to try and figure out why my cowl vent won't open all the way. While poking around under the dash, I realized the bottom of the heater box was packed with dirt. The only way to get it out was to pull the heater box off the cowl. I still haven't gotten to the bottom of why the cowl vent won't open all the way.


There might have been an easier way to get that dirt out but the heat box is off now. Now you get to rehab the motor, consider replacing the heater core, etc, etc, (the can of worms is open now).

As for the cowl vent lever, it will depend on which type you have (there are two types for 55-56 Dodge and Plymouths (and maybe Desotos and Chryslers).

This was why mine wouldn't open (totally rusted) (see link below photo):



REFERENCE: How to rehab a 56 Dodge Cowl Vent Lever:

http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=63613&...

Edited by 56D500boy 2017-10-19 9:22 PM
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71charger_fan
Posted 2017-10-19 10:47 PM (#550644 - in reply to #526294)
Subject: Re: '55 Plaza Suburban arrives today


Elite Veteran

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Location: Frederick, MD
That looks like the same mechanism that's in my car. It seems to work fine. It's the vent itself that seems to be jammed. I disconnected the linkage and can't pull the vent open.

I went ahead and pulled the heater box off to make sure I got all that dirt out of there and to ensure there were no rodent nests and associated feces hiding there.
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