Well, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to find a site that is dedicated to station wagons. Most of my friends think I'm a bit odd because of the love I have for my old wagon (lovingly referred to by some as 'the other woman', lol). It's nice to know I'm not alone in my appreciation!
"sscooterr": I just found out that the Plymouth Caravelle is a Canadian model: (In Europe the Caravelle name is used for a VW factory camper Van) That's a good looking wagon !! < Click thumbnail .
to the wagon train, scoot. That wagon looks cherry! Your gramps took good care of that wagon for sure.
, do you have any idea just how RARE your Canadian Canadian Plymouth Caravelle wagon is? That looks very well taken care of, love the wood, paint, interiour colour combo. Up untill a couple of years ago there was a white on tan plain jane out here...I't long dissapeared. I always hoped to see a 4 sale sign in it. I owned a Caravelle 2 door T-Top for many years and many wagons but these are a plentifull as hens teeth. Nice car, again
Thanks for the welcomes! I've found out just how rare my Caravelle is lately...looking for parts is a bit of a trick. I've never managed to find a donor wagon but, have found a 4 door Diplomat and a 4 door Caravelle with the red interiors. I obtained a cruise control servo from the Diplomat and a driver's inside door handle from the Caravelle. I'd love to find a good parts car but, I think the chances are nil to none that I will. Locally I've seen two other Caravelle wagon's...one white with 'wood' grain...driven by a young fellow who has pimped it out. The other is a seriously rough and rusted dark green wagon who's driver looked quite envious when I pulled up beside him, hehe. Other than faded paint and faded and slightly peeling 'wood' grain on the sides she's pretty much rust free...just a hint of surface rust low on the body in a few places. In the next year or so I hope to get a new paint job complete with new 'wood' grain. Otherwise the only thing that's really been done to her lately is the retirement of the factory cassette player/radio...29 years is a good run in my books. Now if I can figure out some way to put a small sub-woofer in without cutting the car in any way I'd be happy...that's my next project. Any suggestions anyone has about this or anything else about this car will be appreciated!
Hopefully, you will find a way to install that woofer thing without damage to the car in any way. That car will be worth big money if left stock. And it is really nice in its stock form. You already know how difficult it is to find parts. If you start cutting holes in it the value on that car will drop substantially. I would keep the original radio too. In a dry safe place.
To help preserve your wood, check this out... http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9444 You mention your wood is peeling in some places... First "test" a small erea to make sure you are not going to make matters worse. Thompsons Water Seal is what I put on the tail gate of my 83 Cutlass. My tail gate wood was getting very brittle and seemed to be beyond help with the leather conditioner. I did'nt really have a choise, it was clear my tail gate wood was'nt going to make it to summer. With a sponge brush I aplied Thompsons and I lucked out. I dd'nt have chemical non-compatability problems and it saved my wood on the gate. Dull paint....Give the car a polish and then after every wash wipe it down with Pledge .it's amazing what a can of lemon fresh Pledge can do, no BS. My 83 had no shine perioud on the roof or hood when I bout it, my car shines now. And don't cut holes in the car
that is a nice wagon scoot, my buddy has a wagon like that but no exactly like it since i'm in the US. I am having the same issue of installing a Sub in mine without makin a mess of my interior. now idk exactly what level of bass your looking for but if your just looking for something that sounds natural and takes up hardly any room and minimal setup i suggest a Infinity Bass Link system. but there are tons more like it. just don't get a Bass Tube please. but heres a link to some good smaller subs that are easy to setup and install. http://www.crutchfield.com/g_51000/Powered-Subwoofers.html?tp=114 i just put 2 12inch Infinity Kappa Perfects with a 800watt Infinity amp. and a Infinity 4ch amp. if you have any other car audio install questions let me know, i did car audio installs at audio retailer here for 3 years and i'm MECP, Rockford Fosgate, Stinger, MTX, Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood authorized installer. you could actually keep the original head unit in it and add a Rockford Fosgate 3.sixty, it allows you to add amps to your system with your original radio. if you wanna play cd's or an Ipod you can get a FM Transmitter unit that hooks up to the audio source and transmits it in a FM signal to your radio.
Trust me, I would never dream of cutting holes in ANY vehicle, old or new! The factory cassette player (which no longer works unfortunately) / AM/FM radio (which was touchy but, still worked pretty good) was carefully boxed up and put into my storage room along with the factory speakers (which all work perfectly). Even though I have absolutely no intentions of ever parting with this car, I couldn't imagine throwing anything original away. I didn't get carried away with the stereo in the wagon...she deserves her dignity, lol...just a good Pioneer deck with iPod control, Clarion 2 way speakers in the dash and Pioneer 3 ways in the back gate. With such small speakers in the dash and not much of a bass chamber available in the back gate, the sound is good but, lacks some punch...and, I'm somewhat...ok, really spoiled with the stereo (which has been a labor of love) that I have in my little SUV: Pioneer Premier head-unit, Pioneer Premier mid's and tweets in the back doors, Focal 6x9's in the front doors, 2 - 12" Cerwin Vega Stealth subs (which are now about 15 years old and still thundering) in a ported box in the back, a 600 watt/4 channel Pioneer Premier amp powering the main drivers and a 400 watt bridged Clarion amp powering the subs...let's just say that my soon to be 29 year old brother (who is 11 years younger than me) is amazed that I still have perfect hearing! I'm certainly not expecting anything even remotely close to that kind of power or sound in the Caravelle. My favorite local car audio shop has suggested a small, self powered, under the seat sub-woofer unit which is about the size of a laptop...no thunder...just nice fill. A power wire and a wire to connect to the two RCA's from the deck is all it would need...no drilling, no holes...sounds good to me! So far as the peeling 'wood', thanks for the suggestions! My concern with anything I might try to make it look better/last longer is that it's not really wood at all but, instead wood grain look Mactac for lack of a better way to describe it. Since the paint is quite faded and in some places (the roof and spoiler in particular) have quite a bit of grey primer showing through due to what I believe would be sun damage, I think in the not so distant future I'll end up getting a new paint job and having the 'wood' work redone.
LOL...well...you are at the right place, dere! Give us a little info about yourself and what you like in the introduction section. We would all like to see your intro and discuss your likes and dislikes. Click on the link below. Introduce Yourself
Welcome, sscooterr..... Didn't know about the Canadian Plymouth Caravelle until now. The only Plymouth 'Caravelle' that I was aware of was a K-car derivative back about '86 or so.....sedan only. With your woodgrain sides, what you have (if in the U.S.) is basically a Dodge Diplomat. Nice wagon.....
Welcome to the forum Sscooter, (not to be confused with snooter!!). That is a nice looking wagon; it says in the garage that you're into it for $500. Is that right? You bought that beauty for only $500?!! What a steal. I can't believe it; you lucked out, my friend.
