Lindberg Dodge Chassis to Jo-Han '63 Plymouth

[Randytheroadrunner]

Well, I have the Jo-Han '63 Plymouth Fury, and I planned on putting the Lindberg Dodge/Plymouth Chassis under it. Oh Oh.... It seems the Lindberg Chassis is too long and the wheelbase is pretty far off in the front. The rear sizes up pretty good, but it looks like the floor pan is too long. The firewall base is too far forward, and the front wheels will be way out front. Seems there will be some cutting involved.

Has anyone else here attempted this swap? I did a '63 Dodge and it fit pretty good, but it looks like the Plymouth body is too short.

[Art Anderson]

I think there are dimensional inaccuracies with both cars, frankly.

Art

[SteveG]

I did a similar swap with a Johan 62 Plymouth years ago. If you study the photos below you can see where I made the cuts. You should be able to do something similar to make it work with the 63 Plymouth.

Here's how my attempt at Max Wedge 62 Fury came out, it wasn't that hard and I think the results were worth the effort.

You can see the rest of the photos here's ........http://public.fotki.com/SteveG26/62_plymouth_fury/

[Ace-Garageguy]

Steve...that '62 is a knockout. Please tell us how you got that realistic looking wiring harness on the firewall and inner fenders. It really adds immensely to the engine bay.

[Tom Geiger]

Great work Steve. That is the same spot that I shorten the AMT '71 Duster chassis to fit under early A bodies.

[Randytheroadrunner]

Steve, you made the cuts at the rear just in front of the spring mount?

[Danno]

Randy,

Check out the AMT 71 Dodge Charger kit. Very well detailed chassis, and the wheelbase is nearly spot-on for the "down-sized" 62-63 Dodges and Plymouths. I've used them on '62 Darts quite successfully . . . should work for the Plymouth, I would think.

[Randytheroadrunner]

Randy,

Check out the AMT 71 Dodge Charger kit. Very well detailed chassis, and the wheelbase is nearly spot-on for the "down-sized" 62-63 Dodges and Plymouths. I've used them on '62 Darts quite successfully . . . should work for the Plymouth, I would think.

I put the one I had under my AMT '74 Road Runner. I'll have to get the ruler out.

[Tom Geiger]

Steve, you made the cuts at the rear just in front of the spring mount?

I'm not Steve but here's where I cut the AMT '71 Duster chassis to use it on 60s A bodies... I think he did something similar, maybe not the same number of inches. I found the Duster chassis cut easy and went back well. There is no paint work done on this used sample chassis. I just pinned it back together inside the rails.

[SteveG]

Steve, you made the cuts at the rear just in front of the spring mount?

The first cut was made just past the rear edge of the passenger floor area. I trimmed off what was needed to correct the wheel base. Basically what Tom Geiger did with the Duster chassis. I also trimmed a little off the very front edge and trimmed a small section off the rear to bring the rear body crossmember forward. The gas tank area was cut out and filled in with sheet plastic. Then I trimmed and sectioned the gas tank and reinstalled after paint. I also took a little off the edges of both sides. I don't have Johan 63 Plymouth body handy to check it but I suspect you won't need to do as much as I did.

Steve...that '62 is a knockout. Please tell us how you got that realistic looking wiring harness on the firewall and inner fenders. It really adds immensely to the engine bay.

That's just paint detailing to the molded in harnesses. The Lindberg chassis and front inner sheet metal offers a lot of nice details, that's why I used it.

-Steve

Edited November 25, 2013 by SteveG

[Randytheroadrunner]

I did the mods this morning, and it worked great. Trimmed a little off the front also. I have it mocked up, and it looks really cool. Have to charge the camera battery so I can take a couple pics of it. I can see I'll have to trim a little off the rear to clear the rear bumper.

Thanks to everyone for the help, I really appreciate it. Maybe I'll do a build thread on this car.

[Randytheroadrunner]