I am more than likley going to get this 38 Plymouth. I chose it because it has lots of room compared to the little 32 I used to have. I want it very vey drivable. So I am planning on doing a 5.7 HEMI for the looks and drivability. I want and a must have is air conditioning and confort.

So that said, and no real budget in mind what would you do. What suspension and what after market air, what wiring, what engine, ect. I really dont care about huge horse power, I have CUDAS for that and a 67 dart that will be very quick.

I want a car that I can drive across country if need be. A car that the wife will enjoy and drive as much as me.

HOW WOULD YOU BUILD IT AND WHAT COMPANIES WOULD USE USE????? GIVE ME SOME IDEAS.



LAWFISH

I would get a fatman frontend (mustang II style).with the 11" big brake setup, a 5.7 hemi with a 5 speed auto with a B body 8 3/4 rearend with 3.23 or 3.55 gears.
vintage air is a good unit but southern air makes some nice ones too.
the only issue is getting the wiring for the Hemi, I haven't done one yet and they look like they are expencive
, that should make a great daily driver or cross country car

I built a 37 dodge sedan for a friend years ago and I used the must II frontend and 8 3/4 rear and used a 360 2bbl/727 and that was a great cruiser car Ron....

Ron, Is a 8 4/4 rearend the same as a 9"?? LOL
Bryce

Ron is right about the front end and rear. I would disagree with him about the engine. I'd suggest a 5.2 Magnum which will make decent power, get good mileage and be quite a bit easier to swap electronics-wise.

R.

I would agree on the suspension mods for good driveability/comfort and lean towards the 5.2 Mag. engine with an OD trans for fuel economy. About the rear end.....there are a ton of 8 1/4-8 3/8 units out there that would make a killer set up for this type of car. As long as you are not pounding on it with a high HP power plant it would work just fine and be much cheaper than a 9" or an 8 3/4.
Just my worth.

the cars that I did, they fit right in, of course it would make a difference depending on what size tires you want to run. Ron...

Electronics are getting easier by the day on the new hemi's if you have an ECU and a wiring harness for the new hemi you can get it flashed and run a drive by wire and its not that tough. The 5.7's are still a little more expensive than the 5.2/5.9 but they are getting closer and closer by the day.

If I am buying it Dave, I would go with the Fatman frontend if I am fabbing it up (like I got with my 39 Plymouth and with what I am looking at for my 48 Panel) I am going Dakota.
If you change to the dakota and the 5.2/5.9 the motor mounts/geometry are already there you just need to see if you can get the engine placement to work with your firewall. I am using a 5.7L that I just picked up a couple weeks back but I haven't decided what to do about the electronics because I am leaning towards a 392 stroker kit, with 6.1 heads and would like to put a traditional looking intake and throttle body (XV has a nice one) on the car. The Tranny I have now is a 518 OD four speed but I am see if I can find a 5spd od auto for it. Electronics wise, I visited Speed and Performance in Mena, AR a month or so ago when I was down there for work and they know their stuff and have been some of the first to do these transplants. But at the same time, XV seems to be doing more with modified motors, while I have also seen a transplant of a 5.7 in a dakota where the guy did all the wiring himself combining harnesses from both the dakota and the 5.7 donor truck. I am not a wiring guru so this seemed daunting to me, so I will be buying a kit and I heard that there are a couple of guys that do most of these kits that the retailers are selling and you can buy straight from them.

Rear end wise I am either using a dakota 8 1/4 (which I will need to convert for the current six lug back to the five lug with axles etc) or I am thinking about a FORD 8.8 out of a Explorer or Mustang to get the 3.73 gears and rear disk brakes but I am also thinking an early 90's Grand Cherokee would have the same gears and disk brakes (may depend on what the yards have when I go look), either can be provisioned to give you an e-brake pretty easily. But I also need to figure out what width rear I want to end up running because there is a ton of room in those fenders so it may be possible to run 10" or 12" wides if I can find the right offset without narrowing the rear-end.

I am right behind/ahead of you with this same build Dave, I am dealing with a 39 Plymouth 4 dr but I want it to be a comfortable cruizer that I can take across country if the urge hits. I am lucky enough to already have the front clip done for me so that choice has been made but I am still working out the rest. I just want to be sure if necessary I can pull into just about any town and get the parts for the drive train if it brakes down.

Haven't the Durangos come with 5.7Ls for several years now? Get one of them and use the chassis and all the wiring is already there. Might be a problem with instruments unless you use the Durango IP.
Bryce

If you're concerned about mileage, I'd skip the Magnum 318 or 360 unless you're going with a well-tuned carb or aftermarket EFI.

How would this 38 Plymouth look in a plum crazy or maybe even a curious yellow???? any suggestions on a color.

Dave