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Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"
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JT Newman
Posted 2018-04-16 7:23 AM (#561708)
Subject: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



Regular

Posts: 95
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Location: Espoo, Finland
For some reason I haven’t started a topic about my current car, so I’m doing it now.
Plymouth Belvedere 2D HT 1958.



This is my second -58 ever and the only one right now. I bought her in 2010 from UK where it was converted into “the car from that horror movie”.
It had -67 383 +727 from a -67 car and a -55 Cadillac rear axle. Transmission was used from a manual trans lever but it still had PowerFlite push buttons also.
First 4 summers went just cruising around (well, hood opened when driving but that is an old news already), but in 2014 oil consumption went quite bad. When it also failed annual inspection due to front brakes it was a time to start some kind of overhauling.

I made a deal with 318 poly, PowerFlite trans and an original 8 ¾ rear end with a fellow enthusiast and we swapped everything couple of years ago.
The car was without any power steering thingies. I managed to find bellow-type power brake unit and a steering column with power steering gear from a -58 Dodge.
I got a 2x4 intake manifold, so next thing was to think about possible ways to mix fuel and air. I decided to do things a bit different way and I bought 2x TBI units from 80’s Chebbys. Distributor might be MSD Ready-to-Run, so Megasquirt can control everything. I’ll do this just for fun and for easy starts, not for power gains or better mileage.

318 Poly is now stripped down. Cylinders are OK, .030 oversize, slight honing might be enough. Cylinder heads are in machine shop right now: new valves, valve guides and exhaust valve seats. After that I can run it with RE85 ethanol, of course a flex fuel sensor is needed. New bearings and piston rings are a must, let’s just see how much work crankshaft needs.
Gary Pavlovich will provide a better camshaft. My intention was NOT to do any mods, but then…why not?

PowerFlite then: I’ll try to do major overhaul by myself. It has sat couple of years, so better to be safe than sorry.

Rear axle needs new bearings and a fresh coat of paint.

Floors are rust free, but patched so badly, that it is better to do them again. Some of the stiffeners/brackets are missing completely so floor integrity is compromised.

Front brakes need overhauling. I could fix them with new shoes and return springs but the last inspection showed loss of braking power on right front. Proper cleaning, new hoses and cylinders might do the trick, because I’m not ready to go to disc brakes yet. I’ll update into dual master however.

TBI needs new fuel lines. The original will serve as a return line.

Wiring harness has seen better days. I'll try to make new one from scratch.

My intention was to get everything running until August 2018 but we’ll see. Either time or money will run out before that ??



More to come.




Edited by JT Newman 2018-04-16 7:33 AM




(wiJc9Hh - Imgur.jpg)



(J4zyO6i - Imgur.jpg)



(MWUM3h7 - Imgur.jpg)



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Attachments wiJc9Hh - Imgur.jpg (271KB - 236 downloads)
Attachments J4zyO6i - Imgur.jpg (434KB - 238 downloads)
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60 Imp
Posted 2018-04-16 9:22 AM (#561717 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: RE: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"


2000100050025
Location: North Australia
Nice one JT. Looks like a fun car! Did you consider a torqueflite?

Steve.
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1961plymouthfury
Posted 2018-04-16 12:26 PM (#561726 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: Re: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"


Expert

Posts: 2631
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Location: Minor Hill, TN
There are times I wish I grabbed a 1958 plymouth instead of a 1961 plymouth, Nice car though.
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JT Newman
Posted 2018-04-17 1:00 AM (#561766 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: Re: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



Regular

Posts: 95
252525
Location: Espoo, Finland
I did consider TorqueFlite, but PowerFlite was immediately available. It was a lazy / poor /practical man's choice. TorqueFlites aren't growing on trees here and at that point I didn't want to spend any extra, even though overhauling both transmissions costs about the same. But maybe in the future?
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2018-04-17 12:36 PM (#561786 - in reply to #561766)
Subject: Re: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



5000200020005001002525
Location: The Mile High City

Awesome, JT!  Looks really cool.

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Adventurer 60
Posted 2018-04-17 2:57 PM (#561790 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: Re: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



Elite Veteran

Posts: 827
50010010010025
Location: tailFinland
Nice Belve Jari. I think I saw it in Forssa few years ago. Il looked awsome!
I got 12" front brakes if you like to update
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JT Newman
Posted 2018-04-25 2:21 AM (#562243 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: RE: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



Regular

Posts: 95
252525
Location: Espoo, Finland
New camshaft arrived last week with a new set of stiffer springs. Now I'm just waiting info from machine shop about cylinder heads and crankshaft. Those should be ready on this friday. Costs will be enormous.

So, nothing more to tell, but here is a picture of new cam



(nokka.jpg)



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Attachments nokka.jpg (90KB - 248 downloads)
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JT Newman
Posted 2018-06-01 8:09 AM (#564360 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: RE: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



Regular

Posts: 95
252525
Location: Espoo, Finland
How slow can you go...

Anyway, I finally got my heads and crankshaft from machine shop.
New valve seats, valve guides, glass bead blasting, head straightening, removing one broken bolt and crankshaft grinding/polishing.
A hefty 1,2k€, cheap as hell

More to come.



(kannet.jpg)



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Attachments kannet.jpg (160KB - 243 downloads)
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JT Newman
Posted 2018-09-17 6:50 AM (#570235 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: Re: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



Regular

Posts: 95
252525
Location: Espoo, Finland
So far:

The block was already .060 oversize, not .030 as mentioned (and measured) before.
So, I contacted three different piston manufacturers and finally chose one of them to provide .090 oversize pistons with slightly higher compression ratio, 9.5:1.
A bit more waiting, but winter is long.
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JT Newman
Posted 2019-07-01 3:47 AM (#584279 - in reply to #561708)
Subject: RE: Plymouth Belvedere 1958 2D HT "clone"



Regular

Posts: 95
252525
Location: Espoo, Finland
2019 is the new 2018.
Triple the budget, double the time or was it vice versa?
Anyway, something has happened. I managed to overhaul PowerFlite. Read: "I managed to put it together but I don't know whether it is going to run or not".
318 is mainly ready with new .060 pistons from Ross Pistons and new Schneider cam.
I grinded 2x4 intake to accommodate adapters for TBI units. The picture has been taken when grinding was ongoing, so final form is much smoother.
Wiring has been replaced with EZ Wiring set.
Power Steering unit has been overhauled.
Powermaster PowerGen is chosen to generate electricity.
Megasquirt II -based ATEcu unit will be controlling injection and ignition.
MSD Ready-to-Run will act as a distributor.

And some pics, of course.

Edited by JT Newman 2019-07-01 3:58 AM




(adapters.jpg)



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Attachments adapters.jpg (430KB - 178 downloads)
Attachments 318_1.jpg (323KB - 183 downloads)
Attachments brakes.jpg (390KB - 181 downloads)
Attachments ez_1.jpg (324KB - 171 downloads)
Attachments ez_2.jpg (384KB - 181 downloads)
Attachments powergen.jpg (290KB - 167 downloads)
Attachments pf_1.jpg (293KB - 175 downloads)
Attachments pf_2.jpg (410KB - 190 downloads)
Attachments 2x4_1.jpg (261KB - 170 downloads)
Attachments 318_2.jpg (322KB - 174 downloads)
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