Hello Mario and other list members,
When we bought our 1955 Plymouth, we own her since the summer of 1984
, I was 25 years old.
Looking at the original brochures of the car I
noticed too that the Belvie needed some “backlift”.
So first thing I did ,I ordered some especially made “Koni”
shocks for front and rear ,in the 80s in the Netherlands Older car parts where
not available as they are these days. The result was satisfying ,the car drove
as new and as smooth as can be, like if the car wasn’t touching the road.
In 1985 we, Miriam and me, made holiday plans
,and decided to visit some friends in Italy with the Belvedere.
Since we would be bringing our wind surfboard, tent
and other stuff ,the car would be quite heavily loaded .
So I decided to look at the possibilities to have the
rear springs replaced, or look at other options.
After some phone calls, the Netherlands isn’t that
big , I found a company near Rotterdam who offered me to take off the rear springs
in there workshop and they would “respring” every blade.
When that was done they would make a new spring blade
as an extra helper .
At the end of the day when the springs were replaced,
she was standing proud with a “ thank you” on her grill. Now
after almost 20 years there is no difference in as it was at that day. The
holiday in Italy
was great and Belvie impressed a lot of Italians who only wanted to now, how
many cylinders and what is the fuel consumption.
After that we made many holiday trips with the car among
them a trip for over 3500
miles in the summer of 1987 to the North Cape, the most
Northern part of Europe ,we wrote an article
in the Plymouth Bulletin some years later.
Mario , my advise would be if new or NOS springs are
available where you live and the price is right go for that, but the way I did
it is a good way too.
Its all about the money, if you or other list members
are interested in some pictures about the process concerning the spring I could
make some scans and send them to you .
With kind regards to all, Dirk Brandwijk, Netherlands.
Van:
Forward Look Mopar Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@LISTS.PSU.EDU] Namens Mario Henry
Verzonden: woensdag 23 februari
2005 0:46
Aan: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Onderwerp: [FWDLK] working on her
rear end
I realize that I may be a little early for most of you. You
see my car is a 55 Plymouth Belvedere, therefore I get to party with her on
being 50 years old. The list has more 56, 57, 58 , and 59 than 55's. What a
trip. I have owned her since 1982. I was 20 years old at the time and everyone
thought that I was crazy for liking such a car. Whenever I see old friends from
the past, they look at my car and change their mind. This brings me to my
question. Sad to say but after 50 years her rear end is starting to hangs a
little low. I tried to do a little face (rear) lift with new shocks, but alas
that didn't work very good. I have heard of taking the springs off and having a
spring guy use a torch and shape them back to original. Is this feasible or do
you just buy new springs and get back to cruising. The list may enjoy the
replies , so reply to the list please.
P.S. Can Dieter on the list email me about a bumper you had
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