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Member
Posts: 17
| Saw this neglected 56 savoy and knew it was my girl. Gonna do the rat rod thing. Getting her on the road first then will get to work on the body. She needs a lot of love. However, as a hard luck case myself, this car just fit me. Will be digging through forums for answers to the usual questions. Questions such as where everyone gets patch panels, a gas tank, disk conversion stuff, wiring harnesses etc. if any of you have some beginning wisdom I'd love to hear it. Restored many cars, but this is my first 50s project.
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9681
    
Location: So. Cal | The '56 is an awesome car. I really like driving mine. You picked a good one.
If you save your pictures in .jpg format instead of .jpeg, they will post directly to the screen.
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Expert
Posts: 2636
Location: Minor Hill, TN | try these folks you got nothing to lose
http://www.blackcar-llc.com/body_panels.htm |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1102
Location: Hayward, Calif | If you don't have a wire feed welder, get one and learn how to use it. It will be worth it's weight in Gold. Get a sheet of 18 ga sheet metal ( non galvanized ) find a local Fab shop and have him bend and shape whatever pieces you need. You will be much happier with the results. Jerry |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1172
Location: Georgia | Looks like a great project Vince.
Welcome to the forum!
Pete |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 792
Location: Buena Park, CA | Patch panels are tough but the Black Car LLC is your best bet for new panels along with ebay. Auto dismantlers are another good source, like our own Big M. Where are you located, I have a '56 Savoy parts car here in Southern California. Disc conversions are made by several companies including Rusty Hope, ECI, and AAJ. I will be using a generic Rebel Wire 9+3 harness in my '56 Plymouth, but original harnesses are available from Rhode Island Wire and YNZ Yesterdays. As for the gas tank, there are no reproductions, so you either need to find a good used one, repair your existing tank, or modify a tank to work. Check with member "Gary S", I know he used an off the shelf reproduction tank for a later Mopar in his '56 Plymouth.
-Dave |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9681
Location: So. Cal | I would be interested in knowing the newer tank application too because I am thinking of creating a fuel injection tank and I don't want to cut up my original just yet - if ever. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 792
Location: Buena Park, CA | Nathan . . . I was able to hunt down Gary Sand's blog and it looks like he is using a '64 B-Body tank and modifying the filler neck. Maybe he can chime in. Here is a link to his blog: https://56plymouth.blogspot.com/search?q=gas+tank
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9681
Location: So. Cal | Thanks for the link David! Looks like it should work. |
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Member
Posts: 17
| Love all the responses. Thanks, guys. Can't wait to get started on this girl. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 8443
Location: Perth Australia | Best skill will be metal shaping
Under all the pink will be chicken wire and scrunched up paper
Get what sections you can find but dont think you have to use ALL of the piece, trim them to the smallest possible, some of the repair sections can best be described as a reasonable resemblance of what you need and sometimes need a little caressing to make fit.
Here are a couple of "build" threads to hopefully inspire you along (ones mine)
http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=38117&...
http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=31027&...
Enjoy the ride, mopars arnt chevies, so some stuff will require searching daily waiting for a part to pop up and snapping it up 
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1120
Location: Brisbane, Australia | WELCOME ABOARD
MICK KNOWS HIS STUFF
THESE CARS ARE A BIT LIKE GRANDAD'S AKE- 3 NEW HEADS AND FOR HANDLES!
SOME TIMES YOU DONT KNOW WHAT TO KEEP AND WHAT TO THROW AWAY |
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Member
Posts: 17
| Thanks again to all. Ok. Here's my priority list with the car. First focus is getting it on the road. Body work will come next. I'll admit I enjoy the rat rod culture and will possibly leave it as-is for some time. I respect what this car has gone through and every mark tells a story. As a banged up vet myself, I respect scars lol. I'll make a lot of you angry, but I'm not gonna stay mopar purist on this car. It's not a cuda, challenger, super bee, or the like that will return on the investment in restoring it. I'm a numbers guy. I love restoring cars, but it needs to be financially viable as well. For this girl, I'm gonna focus on the fun of getting it back on the road and putting my hours behind the wheel instead. It's a 4 door and let's face it, 4 doors are only cool to a small group of us. That being said, spending 350 for a floor pan and paying 200 to have it shipped from arizona just isn't in the cards for me. I can do a lot of the metal work, but the focus will be on making it structurally sound and presentable. Come winter, I will be selling the entire running drive train to replace with a more modern drive train. Once I have a good look, I'll let you know exactly what v8 it has unless you already know. It starts and runs, and at least the gears work on the transmission. Once I fix the brakes, i'll get the car up to speed and we'll see how well the tranny shifts. It got on and off the trailer just fine...that's all i know for now lol. By the way, I used to do sign work and I intend to vinyl wrap the car once the body work has hit the "good enough" level. I will be showing you guys the process and I ask you to keep an open mind about it. Vinyl is easy to apply, easy to remove and it PROTECTS the finish. So those of you who have put tons of time and money into your cherry restorations might some day step back and say "maybe i'll make it red this year". People are buying 100k supercars and vinyl wrapping them fresh out of the dealership to preserve the finish. Imagine selling a vintage ferrari with not so much as a swirl mark on the factory paint. I'll keep you guys posted. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9681
Location: So. Cal | I didn't keep mine stock either. I put in a 331 hemi with a 700R4 overdrive, and B-body 8 3/4 rear. It's gonna be fuel injected if the FITech system ever arrives.
http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=57904
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Member
Posts: 17
| So I did some measurements regarding seat interchange. The width of my bench seat on my 56 Savoy is the exact same width of the seats in my 06 ford super duty truck, which have integrated seat belts and a center console. Within the next week or so, I'm gonna yank my truck seats and lay them in the savoy to see how they fit. They may be too tall, who knows. I'm trying to find seats with the integrated seat belts like the sebring seats some of you are using, but I have a family of 6 and can't lose that center seat up front. I'll keep you posted. |
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New member, new project
