".........I ended up going with the original 58 front end, rebuilding it all and throwing on some Wilwoods all four corners........"

".........And I bet it will drive fine........."

For what it's worth I agree. I like the handling and feel of the original suspension on my 57 Plymouth. My only mods were Disc brake conversion and addition of a 57/8 Imperial sway bar. I've had a 57 Dodge and my current 57 Plymouth with stock suspensions and driven both cross country and both did very well at highway speeds +.

My only complaint was the steering....the power steering has no road feel, and with a heavy engine the manual steering can be a hand full at times.

Re reading my last sentence and thinking back , I just realized I didn't mind the manual steering in the Plymouth that much when I first built the car. Of course when I first built the car 12 years ago I didn't have carpal tunnel and arthritis in my right hand and wrist either. By the way I have shelved the idea of adapting a later steering gear to my 57 Plymouth....at least for now.



Did you settle on the 440 for power? There are a lot of choices but a 440 sure makes these old boats a fun car. I went back and re-read the thread to refresh my memory and must have missed your post on the original style motor mounts.

"......... the original style might worry me because my blandest small block is a healthy hydraulic roller 360. I would probably go up from there as far as power goes and not sure I trust the original style mounts........"

Building mounts from scratch using a more modern style motor mount might a bit easier than digging up the original style. Like I said I have an original pair of V8 frame mounts, and I think the rubber part of the mounts are still available new.


mount by M Patterson, on Flickr



You might have a problem finding the "cans" the mount slips into however, and they are different between the Poly/Hemi and 58 B motor.


can by M Patterson, on Flickr


FWIW from firsthand experience using the stock mounts and occasionally abusing them, they hold up fine.


This was the 440 backed with a pushbutton 65 727 in my old 57 Dodge.


440 by M Patterson, on Flickr


And this is the 354 backed by a 4 speed in my 57 Plymouth.

57 354 by M Patterson, on Flickr


Both sit on the original style mounts.