1930 Plymouth boat-tail speedster

I have had thoughts of building one of these since I went to the Pittsburg Vintage race last year. Very cool.

fanfoy said:The frame is upside down in the above pick. Mopar used a special mounting method for the engine. The engine/trans combo has it's mount on the bellhousing in the rear, and the other mount is high up in front of the engine so that the engine is supported along its centerline. They called it "Floating Power".

"Floating Power" also referred to the first use of rubber engine mounts on a large scale. Most cars had metal-to-metal mounts. Yet another Chrysler innovation.

Any updates?

I'll post some pictures this weekend, but yes. Fabricated the front engine mounts. The engine block is assembled, and installed in the car. Also purchased a SC14 supercharger. Trying to figure out how to mount it. Trying to figure out what to do about the transmission, because I can't use the regular universal/Hurst shifter for my transmission, so I guess I'll have to fabricate a remote shifter. Also started to rebuilt the various accessories (water and fuel pump, etc...)

So like I said, here are a few pictures.

The engine in the frame. The supercharger has to go on the driver side of the engine (were the engine support has a notch). So after a few suggestions from the hive, I ordered a VW type 1 alternator that I will mount in the original location, and I will use a pulley from the back of it to drive the SC. I chose this because it looks vintagey enough, and uses the same shaft diameter front and back, so all I needed to do was order two pulleys.

I also didn't want to change the main pulley, because the front lip seal runs on it, so it can't be changed easily. You can see the little groove that was formed from the lip seal. That will have to get fixed if I don't want a leaker.

The other problem that I have is to shift my transmission. The Mopar transmission doesn't shift like the usual saginaw/gm/top-loader, etc... On those, there are two input shafts on the side. One that controls the 1-2 shift and the other that control the 3-R E36 M3. On my transmission, one input shaft controls the forward movement of the shifter (going from 1-2 or from 3-R) while the other controls the input across the gate (aligned with the 1-2 shift or the 3-R shift). Anyways, that means the little Hurst shifter I got won't work.

And since I was bored, I modified my grill shell. It still needs some finishing, but I think it will be a nice look. It's more v-shaped, and better looking in real life than it looks in the picture.

If I ever do something like this again, I'll definitly start with a Ford, because the Mopar stuff has no aftermarket support and it's kinda hard to find info, which slows down progress.

fanfoy wrote: If I ever do something like this again, I'll definitly start with a Ford, because the Mopar stuff has no aftermarket support and it's kinda hard to find info, which slows down progress.

This type of thinking is why everybody builds a Ford, with a small block Chevy.

So after a divorce, a mild depression, two moves, a new house with a great garage and more than a year later, I finally have the motivation to get back on this project.

This is a very little update, but still...

First order of business was repairing the damage that the two moves did on the underslung structure. The frame was dropped on the trailer and bent the two middle members.

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So, I straightened them and welded the upper bars that the floor will bolt on to. Speaking of which, I decided to really keep it old school and put a plywood floor on. I normally wouldn't do that, but since I plan on installing an aluminum under belly, the plywood won't see the road, so I am good with that.

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The first new thing I did was make the mount for that radiator grill shell that I modified. Sorry for the incredibly bad picture.

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I am not happy with it because I think it's sitting too high. So I'll be cutting the shell to lower it about 2".

Also, as you can see in the first picture, I am still undecided about which transmission to use between the top of side shifter.

I am also mulling over whether to change the rear leaf springs to outboard or keep them under the frame rail.

Sorry to hear about the bumps in the road, but very glad to see this car again. If you were 1500 miles closer I'd be over there to help.

I love when these dead threads come back.

Just as I was FINALLY getting over my lust for a prewar race car, this comes back.

Glad to see it.

Wow, this will be spectacular!

Fanfoy, you flung out the link, now I dredging this back up.

Any updates?

This will be a post-mortem post:

This project is officially dead. After not touching it in more than a year, and realizing that my life isn't going to change for the next 5-10 years, I decided to sell the frame and both axles just before Xmas.

I just wasn't happy with how it was progressing. The frame needed too much work for what I had in mind and the axles needed some more work. If I every attempt this again, I will start with Ford based axles and make a custom frame to the dimensions I want.

I still have a bunch of parts (engine, transmission, radiator, grill, etc) that might be used in a that next attempt.

RIP

dang - sorry to see it go. I was just thinking this morning about building one this morning, so when I saw this thread pop up I was like WOW!