The Redstoration

Howdy, and welcome to our adventure with Red, our 1946 Plymouth Special DeLuxe. As we work on this driver I will post entries detailing various steps along the way. I want to be able to remember that we are getting somewhere on this project, and perhaps offer a little insight to the beginner car builder, answering the questions that are often overlooked as too basic on car forums. Please enjoy and feel free to comment or ask questions.

Monday, June 14, 2010

I'm So Tired...

Although there were four circular rubber things mounted on the car, they were only technically tires. The PO had been upfront about their condition... if not the price of replacements. They were of the bias-ply variety, manufactured sometime in the late Cretaceous Period and vulcanized in Pompeii, and had more cracks in them than George Clooney's straight-guy facade. So we decided that new tires would be at the top of our road worthiness list.

There are a few things to consider about new treads before tire shopping, or even car shopping for that matter. The first issue is availability. This is going to be based primarily upon tire size and popularity. If your car requires a fairly common tire size, such as P205/70R14, you will have little difficulty finding tires and can likely pick some up for less than $70 a piece. If, however, your car takes an odd sized passenger tire - such as P205/70R16 - the price could run substantially higher.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

The New Arrival

Introducing "Red," our 1946 Plymouth Special DeLuxe 4-door. We purchased the car in April 2010 for two primary reasons:
1. To use in conjunction with Benita's photography business
2. To keep me off the streets and out of the house
Thus far I have spent more time under the hood than behind the wheel, and we have yet to use the car for weddings or the like. But that is coming soon.

In actuality, the car was in very good shape to start with... for a car that is 64 years old. We've already racked up one 1st Place Trophy in a local car show (for only best in class), and had a lot of fun as a family getting the car and display ready for the competition.

Through this blog I hope to document the work we put into the car. This is to keep me motivated when I get frustrated, perhaps give some tips and advice to anyone else looking to travel down the same path, and to showcase the incredible work Benita does with the car in her photography business. Please check out her websites; they are listed to the right, or you can get there by following these links: A Sweet Life Studio, Lipstick Legends.