Jeff Hyatt – Owner – DeeAnn Donovan Photography
Putnam County, New York
You see lots of Fords turned into street rods and the hobby is full of them. Maybe that’s why I love the old Plymouths you just don’t see that many as they are rare. These early Plymouths, 1932, were the first to have hydraulic brakes on all four wheels.
Growing up my father always loved vintage cars and that lead to me and my brothers driving cars were from the 1930’s. My first car at the age of 16 was a 1933 Plymouth coupe, then a 1939 Chevy that I still have.
Back in 2014, I was scrolling Craigslist and found a 1932 Plymouth Pb sedan in Clifton Park, New York. It’s about 168-mile drive from Clifton Park to my house in Putnam County, New York so I took a ride. I looked it over and I suspected it was covered in dust, no interior but all the seat springs were there, and the front seat pan was pretty solid overall. I figured it was doable so I struck a deal and winched it up on the trailer and headed home and began asking myself, “What should I do with it?”
The fun began once I had it stripped down and sandblasted the frame. Next, I stripped the body to bare metal and the body and paintwork was handled by Joes One Stop Shop. The frame I took home because I had a Cummins 4BT turbocharged diesel engine with real low hours. It still had the original paint on the exhaust manifold. I mocked it up within the framerails and made my own engine and transmission mounts and bolted everything in place.
The transmission is a Tremec five-speed that a friend of mine rounded up for me. It was a Mustang that he owned and it caught fire so I was able to purchase it for a good price. I also installed a Ford 9-inch limited-slip rearend with 3.50 gears. The rearend came out of a 1972 Ford Torino Grand Sport that I saved from a rusted-out car.
Once I had everything mocked up it was back to Joes One Stop for paint. Once painted I brought it home and assembled all of the parts and handled the wiring myself. I also installed the Vintage Air A/C and a removable top insert, gauges include a tach, pyrometer, and a boost gauge, plus it also features an Alpine sound system. I modified the injection pump and enlarged the injectors which has made this street rod a blast to drive. I get many compliments wherever I drive it. MR
