Monday night, June 28, 2021
The seller of the first fuel pump on eBay told me today that this pump should indeed fit. He noted that Plymouth used a wide range of vendors for fuel pumps, and that is true — some cars had fuel pumps with built-in sediment bowls, all different sizes and makes of pump. This one will work, he swears. So when I get a chance I plan to install this new one.
The second fuel pump I ordered on Amazon — at the behest of my local parts man — should arrive tomorrow. I plan to compare the two and then try the one that looks most likely to fit. Oddly enough, the Amazon website tells me that the pump I ordered won’t fit my Plymouth. If it won’t then I’ll go back and try the first one.
If neither of them will work, my plan is to install an electric fuel pump outside the gas tank. I HAVE to get my car running again.
Once I have it running again, I will again start her up with the radiator cap off and check for the thermostat to open and for hot coolant to circulate. If she still vapor locks, then I’ll take it out to A1A garage and let them check it. The problem may be the fact that not enough air is getting thru the radiator. The car didn’t have a fan shroud, and a couple of electric fans would help push air thru the radiator.
FINS, FINS, NO FINS. While many of the parts are interchangeable between the 1955 Plymouth and the 1956 Plymouth, one huge exterior difference was that for 1956, Plymouth added fins to the rear quarterpanels.
There were minor updates to the grill and front end, but the addition of fins are what makes the car standout. The Plymouth was completely restyled for 1957. Profile views of the 55 and 56 highlight how the fins really give the car the “Forward Look” that is pushed in the car’s advertising. The 1955 Plymouth, from the side, looks surprisingly like a 1955 Chevy with the straight quarterpanel profile. Many people mistake my 56 for a 1957 Chevy, though the big difference are that the 57 Chevy fins are much more pronounced than the fins on the 56 Plymouth. But Plymouth upped the ante in the “fin wars” with the 1957 Plymouth, with fins more pronounced than the the same year Chevrolet.
POWER STEERING? When I get the fuel issue straightened out on the Plymouth, I may consider buying a kit to add power steering. There are two ways to do this.
PUMP SYSTEM UNDER THE HOOD. They make a retrofit power steering system that in installed much like a factory system, with everything under the hood.
ELECTRIC ASSISTED POWER STERING. The second method is electric assisted power steering. With this system, an electric motor is inserted in the steering column You have to removed about 9 inches of steering column from under the dash and add the electric motor assembly. It works really well and is simpler to install than the pump system. But on most cars, there’s no real way to to hide the electric assist assembly. Its ugly as hell, to be honest. It runs the interior look no matter how you slice it.
The cost of either system is about the same. I would rather have the system under the hood. It’s really meant to be a do-it-yourself project, but I think I would prefer to have it installed. Well, that bridge is a ways away for me, I still have to get fuel flowing without vapor lock.
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