1958 Plymouth Plaza. Flathead 6 California Find! Car Show and Walkaround. Brake Work. MoPar

I bought this '58 Plymouth Plaza near Eureka, California. I had initially planned on driving the car home, but the car gods deemed it not worthy. The car ran and drove well after some work... but the brakes had been monkeyed with in the past. The drums had been damaged beyond repair. I could potentially have found good drums... but with me running out of time I had to elect to have the car transported home since I had the opportunity to.
This car is an interesting one. It's the cheapest model offered by Plymouth in 1958 but has a lot of options not really seen on Plaza models. The most interesting option is power steering on a flathead 6 engine. I haven't seen another one like that!
This video shows some of the work trying to get the car ready for the 3000 mile trip home. I wasn't getting a lot of footage as I was busting it trying to get the car road ready. I am bummed I couldn't drive the car home. Ya win some and ya lose some!
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction - Car Walkaround
16:59 - Working on the Car
21:15 - Brake inspection
22:39 - Bearings
27:39 - Removing Wheel Cylinders
34:54 - New Brakes
35:14 - Bleeding Brakes
36:20 - Headlight Shopping
39:08 - Overview
43:50 - First Drive
44:19 - Rolling to Zero Miles
45:12 - Plans to get Home
47:13 - Loaded Up
47:38 - Trip Home
47:55 - Here in North Carolina
48:50 - End Screen

[@rickloera9468]

I am super impressed with you. Young guy who loves these old Mopars. You definitely know your stuff, too. In your video, drive a 63 to get a 63 Newport I mentioned that a cople of years ago my son and I went to Burney California to pick up my 1985 Thunderbird and drive it 418 miles home. This is a super coincidence. I recognize the shop you are at. My son and I on the way home.stopped at Big M Automotive and toured the wrecking yard when we were coming back home in my Thunderbird. John Fowlie and his wife are super cool people. I met him several years ago at Hot August Nights in Reno, Nevada. Keep bringing these great videos. I look forward to each and every one.

[@lukesm5747]

Beautiful car.Some of Virgils finest work right there!

[@danielthoman7324]

You are the coolest cat of them all. You pick out the kind of Cars that I would pick out.

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

I love the oddball cars as well as the plain cars most people actually owned!

[@kidguzzi_chrisgalardi]

Great looking car. That blue paint really popped in the shop at night time.

[@ReaperRestorations]

looks so similar to my '56 Savoy. i love the Forward Look cars

[@explorewithbarryandlagniap7744]

If I could go back in time, I would order a plaza 4 door sedan like this one, the same color with a 230 six-cylinder engine, but with the 3-speed cast iron torque flite Trany, the bellows power brake booster and maybe a radio. Thanks for the video. 👍👍

[@johnmccann3964]

Awesome find! Enjoyed the video

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

It’s a cool one. More videos on this car coming in the future. Stay tuned!

[@TheFinFarm]

Great video, Austin! Brought me memories of doing the same thing to the Fury so we could hit Viva Las Vegas and cannonball home. 🤪

[@cudafry1967]

Love it, any 57-59 are my new favorite vehicle. We are fortunate enough to have a 58 Coronet and I don't know why we didn't seek out one sooner.

[@oldyellow8120]

Sorry you weren't able to drive it back home. In 2012, I bought a '78 Dodge Aspen wagon with only 27,000 original miles on it in Pueblo CO. It's a 225 Slant Super Six with the A833 "overdrive" four speed. My friend and I flew out to get it and drove it back home to Pennsylvania after putting a battery and new front brakes on it. It had been sitting for a while, but by the time we got into Nebraska, it smoothed out and made it home with no real issues. I still own it and I still love it! Good luck with your '58 - its a beautiful survivor!

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

I’ve driven many cars from the west coast back home to NC and always made it. Normally that’s how I’d work out the issues! This car just had several surprises that required extra time that I did not have. I had an Aspen wagon with the A833 four speed but it was in need of serious help. Sold it as a parts car. But it would be cool to find another.

[@joes3485]

One of the issues with the "Total Contact Brakes" on these cars is that the replacement brake shoes are made with extra thick linings. It was up to the installing mechanic to measure the inside diameter of the mating brake drum and grind down the replacement shoes to "fit" the drums allowing for some gap between the shoes and the ID of the mating drum when not applying the brakes. This meant the shop had to have brake shoe grinding equipment on hand. Most of that type of equipment was outlawed due to the asbestos dust that was generated. About the only shops that may still have such equipment would be those that service farm tractors and perhaps some commercial large trucks.

[@jamespn]

Powerflite auto, power steering, heater and defroster, a lot of options for a Plaza. Didn’t realize even the Plaza had nice chrome trim.

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

That side trim was optional. It could be a slab side!

[@exploringhistory5796]

Really nice Plymouth. You’re lucky to have found one in such solid shape. Good luck with it!

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

Thanks! It’s hard to find these cars in good shape these days.

[@JubileeValence]

This was in my sidebar. Definition: Instant subscribe! Pop'Z had the Savoy back in the early 60s before rolling with corporate Ford from then on... It was a built 'sleeper'...it ran coast to coast and had the unique capability of passing anything on the road...every time... Looking forward to more presentations! Cheers!

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

Thanks! Stay tuned for more content!

[@OnkelPHMagee]

Headlight shopping-back when a sealed beam was a sealed beam.

[@davidjustice5805]

I wish to God I had the health. and the money to do what you were doing I've always dreamed of driving a classic car down route 66

[@GalaxieMarauder]

Plaza bottom.of the Plymouth trim.line. I love the Furys though

[@oliverw3646]

That flathead 6 sounds like it is brand new.

[@agviator]

Wild

[@joemazzola7387]

Be. Careful Christine also went to all 0z Hard to believe how they don't rust in California

[@1FeistyKitty]

it says power steering on the steering wheel in case you forget

[@1FeistyKitty]

u gota put the exhaust out the center port where that light was

[@olikat8]

About 10 days ago, I was at a friend's ranch on the West Coast getting an '88 Gran Fury AHB,which hadn't run in years, up & running. Got it up & running about 3 hours later, first 10 minutes were not great. It then smoothed out and started running really well. Washington State you can buy 3-day transit permits, no need to fully register only to do again once in NC

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

You can also get a one way trip permit from California which I’ve done in the past. But the costs of titling the car in NC is about the same. This way I get a CA title in my name should I decide to sell the car. NC requires out of state cars to be inspected and you can be waiting a year or more to get a title back. Real pain in the rear!

[@olikat8]

@@ObsoleteAutomotive I just did my '69 Swinger @ the license department in Carrboro and will be doing the GF there probably in November. One was a lost title in Texas, the original owner misplaced decades ago. The GF paperwork was lost in Washington...used a connection to get titles in Tennessee.

[@danielulz1640]

I may be mistaken, but I think that carpeting was an available option. You could call her Bluebell! I think that the variable speed indicates vacuum wipers.

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

Carpet was only available on the Belvedere and Fury. Plazas all had black rubber flooring and Savoys had color keyed rubber flooring.

[@danielulz1640]

​@@ObsoleteAutomotivewell, OK then. Thanks for the clarification. I still enjoyed the video even though you were not able to drive it back home.

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

@@danielulz1640 I’ll have to make up for it by taking the car on a long trip someplace once I get it all sorted out!

[@danielulz1640]

@@ObsoleteAutomotive that would be neat. Better safe than sorry. I so much enjoyed your cross country adventures with the 62 Plymouth. Looking forward to your next video, whatever it might be.

[@bill90405]

No vacuum wipers on plymouth after about 1949. They are variable speed electric

[@vincentconsolo5782]

Why dodnt you convert to 12V LED headlights !? 🙂

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

Don’t need LEDs. And the ones from the junkyard were ripe for the pickin.

[@davidjustice5805]

Is that the one you had to keep stopping and putting rear end grease in

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

That was my 1961 Plymouth wagon.

[@davidjustice5805]

@@ObsoleteAutomotive okay

[@user-57Plodge]

Cool survivor, I suspect the power steer is retro fitted (green wheel ?)

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

It’s factory. The wheel was originally blue but when they degrade with age the plastic turns a green color.

[@user-57Plodge]

The more I look the more factory it looks 👍,a rare car indeed.

[@jimsharp5044]

On these older vehicles you buy. Do you ever use rain-x on the windows in case the wipers don’t work.

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

I just make sure the wipers work!

[@jimsharp5044]

@@ObsoleteAutomotive and if they don’t?

[@ObsoleteAutomotive]

@@jimsharp5044 I fix them?