A couple of developments to add to the 1956 Plymouth blog.
4BBL INTAKE? First, I sprung for a major purchase of a rare item — an original 4-barrel intake manifold from 1956 for a 277 cubic inch V-8. The intake is factory and cast iron, its no light weight, lol! The carb for the intake was originally a Carter WCFB carb. Rebuildable units are on eBay for $100 and up. I’m thinking more along the lines of a newer Carter AFB. The difference is the bolt pattern. The WCFB has a square bolt pattern, and is flows about 400 CFM.
A modern AFB or Edelbrock flows about the same. I’m not really looking for much beyond having a 4 barrel carb on it.
The intake is in great shape, though it was costly. The seller had it listed for about $650. I offered him $550, and he took it. There was a dual quad intake listed as welll, and it was a little more than $400. However, it looked rather rough. I had tried dual quads 40 years ago with my 55 Chevy, and never got them lined out. I decided I would have better luck with a single 4 barrel and trying to a dual quad setup again.
Tonight I located a seller — Speedway Parts — that sells a wide range of carb and tranny adapters. They list an aluminum adapter to make an AFB to a WCFB bolt pattern. The adapter also matches the bores from the AFB with the intake bores. Nice.
I don’t have a carb yet, but there’s time for that. I have bodywork and paint to complete first!
STEERING WHEEL? I was browsing eBay and found someone selling a 56 Plymouth steering wheel. The wheel is a little beaten up but has no cracks our major damage. The main reason I bought the wheel was because I may use the hub as an adapter so I can use a modern — and smaller — aftermarket steering wheel.
Unlike GM and Ford, who had standardized on the steering column spline that holds the steering wheel in place. Unfortunately, Chrysler did not join the standard, so for mid 50s and early 60s Chrysler products, modern aftermarket steering wheels won’t fit due to the differences in the spline count on the steeering column. Years ago, there were adapters available to mount aftermarket steering wheels, but that was many years ago. These days, guys simple replace the steering column with a modern one, but that has its share of modifications to make work.
Others have take the hub of an old steering wheel and used it to fashion an adapter to allow modern steering wheels to work. That seems like the best option for m because I want to have a smaller, aftermarket wheel. Again, that’s a future project.
COMING UP. Next in the garage I need to get back on trim removal. However, I have to go to Katie’s to help replace a tire on their lawnmower.