My 48 Plymouth Custom build
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Ok I’m a newbie to this site, but not knew to the car world. I was or guess I sort of still am a mechanic for 45 years mostly the mundane boring stuff but late ron a lot of work on older cars, Had a few Mercs back in the day when I had dark hair a waistline and money in my pocket but that was then and this is now. Been friends with Mark Wojcik for quite some time and have helped him on a few project and his work is beyond over the top and he’s been inspirational to say the least. So I was sitting home recovering from shoulder surgery and I was window shopping and came across the 48 Plymouth coupe. Â
The guy was asking way too much for it and I guess I may have been the only one crazy enough to go look at it., long story short picked it up for a few hundred bucks but she is in need of some work that for sure, whomever did the bodywork must have been a graduate of the Ray Charles school of autobody so media blast by my friend Mike down in Cherry Hill NJ is a given and I will have to undo 60% of what this other guy had done.Â
The build plan if a mid 50’s custom taildragger with a 2″ drop in the front 3″ drop in the rear using spindles and blocks old school and as close to period correct as possible with obvious exceptions for safety comfort, handling and dependability etc. My original plan was to drop the Chevy 350 4 bolt main in the stock chassis and upgrade the steering and rear axle and suspension with leftover parts from my 56 Nomad (still unfinished btw taking a break to build the 48)
Well after cutting away the pieces of bridge steel this yahoo used to make a radiator mount this is what I found.
So after doing some research on replacing the front cross member on the stock chassis and rebuilding the entire front end upgrading the steering to rack & pinion and changing the front shock position for a better ride a disc brake upgrade it was pretty much a no brainer that grafting a GM front clip was the answer, but and there is always a but the stock rear end it was apparent that it wouldn’t be the best choice to run it with the SBC so I was looking into putting in a rear from my 56 Nomad which is almost a bolt in swap then I figured why not go with the whole chassis form the S10 Mark had laying around. Now the S10 chassis isn’t the beefiest thing that ever came out of Detroit but by boxing the rails like I had done on my 32 Ford I know it will be plenty strong, besides its a cruiser not a muscle car so this brings me to the S10 frame modifications it’s 108″ and the wheelbase of the Plymouth is 117″ so I cut in almost dead centerÂ
I used a piece of box channel to bridge the 11″ gap, I made sure there is plenty of overlap on either side of the cut.
When you work alone you are forced to become inventive I  used a come along to pull the front section of the frame which is supported by 2×4 boxes that support the front rotors and rest of cheapo Harbor freight wheel dollies up front and some casters and box steel tubing from a body cart to just before the cut So the front half move pretty easily . You can make it out in the upper corner of the pic below
My plan is to drill a series of hole in the S10 chassis front and rear for plug welds but being as the box member is not exactly the same as the inner dimension of the S10 chassis I need to put a pice of 11 gage steel in as a filler once the front and rear are plug welded I plan on stitch welding the box to the S10 on the inside and then box the entire inside of the frame. There’s one problem and there always is I am not getting enough penetration with my 110volt mig, I made a few test welds this afternoon and I am not pleased  with them at all. Tomorrow I will play around with some wire changes and setting changes to see if it does the job if not it looks like I’ll be breaking out the old Miller stick welder or go out back and shake the money tree and buy an inverter welder.
Yes I have a Miller stick welder old but works great my electric service leaves something to be desired however utility company wouldn’t put a separate line in for my shop they said can’t have two services on one lot another money grab.
I would tend to agree with you bob that a 110 volt mig won’t do the job but I watched a few different video’s and a local guy weld 1/8″ with a 110 mig. Keep in mind the S10 frame is maybe 10 or 11 gage. If you can straighten a bent piece with a big adjustable wrench we’re not talking anything a 110 shouldn’t be able to handle. I am going to try upping the wire to .035 and crank the amps up all the way and do a few test welds. I did get some penetration welding two pieces of 11g together and no burn through which is what a stick welder tends to do. I always used to think thats what you wanted to accomplish but I learned from an old timer many years ago that not a good weld. I’ll post some pictures of my test welds tonight.
I have a Lincoln 135 amp wire feed 110 volt welder. You did’nt mention your welders amps. I use Intershield .035 and get great welds. I’ve used it since I took a welding class at a local high school. My instructor’s home welder was Lincoln 100 amp. I have gotten cold welds with Mig wire and gas but never with Intershield. I always got good penetration .It’s a smokey and not as clean of a weld but for 1/8 it should be your best bet. To me its a stick welder weld. I did all the welding on my Buick and other projects with good success. Please guys don’t beat me up on this, It’s just my 2 cents. Jack.
Haven’t been able to find out the amps on the mig but a welder friend of mine looked at it and said it had <b>penetration but not burn through… yes I know those are some nasty looking welds but I was having some issues with the Snap On mig  at the time which I have since straightened out</b>
A DECENT 110 volt welder should be capable. Just make sure you have clean metal, and good fit-up. About a gap of 1 wire size. For .030 wire, .030″ gap, etc.
I have used a Hobart 120 with .024 or .030″ wire for years, and done a fair amount of frame welding with it. That said, I much prefer the Miller 251 or TIG. The 220 volt machines just do a better and easier job of it. Practice, practice, practice, but I’m sure you know that.  🙂
Mitch
Well today was a parts run day so I didn’t work on the car, had to pick up wiring supplies to run the 240 volt line in the shop. So after a run down to my powder coater I came home to an early Christmas present…..
A pair of NOS fender skirts I picked up for $100 Â I was more than please
Nice score on the skirts !!
Did you split the S-10 chassis at the seam.? It looks like you just cut it in half.
Torchie
Nice score on the skirts !! Did you split the S-10 chassis at the seam.? It looks like you just cut it in half. Torchie
Pretty much right down the middle thus giving me the most overlap on both sides
Santa Claus came today in the big brown truck, scored these from a guy out in Ohio, going to put the small 3″ bullets in place of the centers on the front anyway. Hopefully I can pick up some wide whites out at Carlisle or Hersey coming up soon
 
Well I really wasn’t in the market for a tig but couldn’t pass this big boy up $300 and thanks to my friend Joe who delivered it in the rain…lol Now I have to sign up for welding night school classes lol. Also got the Miller thunderbolt up and running also. Been busy working in the shop so no new progress on the car
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