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My very good friend and road trip partner Jerry has just joined the Mopar gang with purchase of this 1950 Plymouth from an aging local club member. It's probably the sweetest-running and smoothest-driving car of that vintage I have ever experienced. Original engine and radio, overdrive, first rate steering and brakes, very nice recent interior and woodgrain. Previous owner drove it to Virginia and back a few years (and only a few miles) ago. Of course it hasn't near the patina of my D25...

I went through this on my B4B when I found the rims were rusted beyond safe levels inside the "barrels." Since I wanted the stock height the 6.50 x 16" tires provided, AND I wanted my original hub caps, I looked for a good set of stock rims and was unable to find them. I finally decided that I would run radials, and I contacted "The Wheelsmith" to remove the centers from my old rims and insert them in new barrels. After I spoke with them, I sent my old rims and they told me the original rims had a 3 3/8 " back space ---- the min back space they could get without reversing the outer is 4.0" -- this will leave 3" to the outside. The original has about 2.125" to the outside, The 4" is 5/8" greater than org. wheel. I had them do this and powdercoat 4 rims - roughly $800 to ship the rims to them, have them do the work, them ship them back. Took about 2 weeks. When looking for tires, I wanted a radial as close as I could get to the original tire and I found the following comparisons: Tire size: 6.50-16 Height: 29.30” Width: 6.80” 215-75-16 28.70 8.46 225-75-16 29.29 8.86 I cant remember which one I went with that was close to my 6.5 x 16" farm truck tire. Regardless, they are about 2" wider and the same height. Have not had any rubbing issues that I know of. The Wheelsmith work looks great! I would definitely use them again. Hope this helps.

Another shot..

Hi Gang, Well tonight I'm feeling pretty happy. Thanks to Dave & Merle I was able to get the paint mixed, and yesterday I tried my hand at painting Here's a before & after shot. Next I'll be mounting the tires - after I get a few to fit - and putting the wheels on so I can roll old Lumpy in & out of the garage. Want to get the engine cleaned off and sitting on the frame soon! - Jeff

I have been blessed for close to 40 years, with the last 28 years of also having the Plymouth. The poor woman is now on oxygen 24-7 so there is no more old cafr activities for her and I basically do all the dishes and housework now, but I have no complaints as far as the house work is concerned, she would always drop what she was doing to come help me

I agree with Jeff but also want to add your mate has to show interest and enjoy going for rides and car shows with you. Then when your wife shows interest in another Dodge you can buy it and just say " But, I bought for your Dear"

Tried to attach this as a second photo to the original post, but no luck until now.

She made it all the way to Vegas and back for Viva Las Vegas. A little over 400 miles total and ran like a champ. Pulled all the grades at 60 and had plenty of pedal to go. The 3.73's seem to work well and I am looking forward to installing the R10 Overdrive for more highway use. She was the only Dodge of that era at the show... Out of around 800+ cars, thats a great deal! Great car show, plenty of pinup girls and headliners of Dick Dale and Brian Setzer! One great show overall! Even got a little love from some of the models walking around shooting photos with the rides!

VINTAGEPIC: big Pilot-House in The Big Apple

VINTAGEPIC: big Pilot-House at the service station

I think I have been working on this heater for nearly 5 years-it was the first thing I took out of Dolly when I started working on her! I am getting close to having it completed. I found a new 6V heater motor. It is a bit smaller in diameter than the original, if you look close at the photos I made some shims and it seems to work well. I fired it up this weekend and it runs well, the rheostat switch works well too. The only issue is the fan blades got out of alignment so it vibrates a bit. I might have bent them when I took off the fan. I hope I can get it a bit smoother. I found two companies to work on the heater radiator, one is on the east coast and they fix the old one. I found a guy in CA that completely makes a new one following the old design. He is expensive (almost twice as much as the other guy) but might be the better route. The heater case had a lot of rust on the inside and it took a lot to clean it. I use my little sand blaster and glass beads. Plus lots of elbow grease. I can't believe I am this close. An exciting side note to the heater work this weekend is I think I found my electrical problem. As some of you might remember I have been having trouble getting the truck to charge correctly, turning on headlights caused the truck to stop charging, and intermittently it would stop charging. When I hooked up the heater this weekend I used the screw I have as a ground for the voltmeter gauge I installed in the truck as a ground for the heater. The heater was working fine, then the heater stopped running and I noticed the truck wasn't charging, and the volt meter dropped to below 6, I took one of my wires from the ground screw for the volt meter to the frame and the truck started charging and the volt meter read above 6 volts. I checked the screw and it was quite loose, so I cleaned it, tightened it and all seems well, the heater worked, the truck was charging, the voltmeter was reading correctly, I can turn the lights on and off and the charging works correctly. I hope that little ground issue was the problem.

Ok............ I can finally say the car is basically done. The 2 colors are on and we just put a gallon and a half of clear on. Tomorrow we start colors sanding and buffing. By the end of the week start putting it back together. The pics don't really do the turquoise metallic any justice but what can you do .

I got the inverter to work (see previous thread) and I wanted to report the results: PROS: 1. Excellent performance/Excellent sound!! 2. Volume level is generous (there is a limit) 3. No longer need to charge and place battery pack in trunk 4. My original Mopar 802 still works great and it's fun to just listen to that on occasion when they're having a jazz/swing night on one of the few remaining AM stations. 5. It was only $59 6. It was simple to install in spite of my unique problem created by my setup. Most people would not have any issues at all. CONS: 1. Although volume level is generous, if I too push it really hard (hey, I get a little crazy now and then) it will cut out intermitantly (but that's cranking it pretty loud) 2. Cannot run laptop, cell phone, and I-Pod off power source. However, because I left the multi-plug setup intact, I can still throw a battery pack in the trunk and do any of those things. 3. I know there was a third con, but I just can't think of it right now. Must not have been that bad. LOL! Hope that helps anyone considering this type of setup. David

Gee, all ya got out of me was a lousy hotdog. I didn't know you were a wine and cheese kinda guy, Paul. Did you get any pics of Bob's woody?

A good photo especially with the Chrysler Building in the background (on the right with its top cropped out) Out of the way, Merc! GM "old look" busses too.

Special Deluxe, made in Canada, Model P20C, 25" block Here is a shot of the dash...

Drain the oil and stick your finger into the drain hole and feel the bottom of the pan. If there's a thick layer of sludge don't use the detergent oil.

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect........why would you want to disturb one of the last domains we have? We've been happily married 38 years and I love my wife. One of her attractive features is that she is smart enough to allow me some space of my own. Would have never worked peacefully this long the other way.......Just sayin' Jeff

What size battery cables are onthe car? which wire on the coil goes to the distributor? When the engine is running does the amp gauge show a positive charge? From the factory the 6V system is wired for positive ground. most people, not nowing any better, just assume based on modern vehicles that all vehicles have been negative ground. Being that most folks think this way they often put the battery in the way they are used to ir negative ground. The car will still run, the lights will work and the starter will work because they are notsensitive to ground. But the coil should be wired to reflect the way the battery is installed. Many thime the car will run fine through all driving conditions, but some may break down at higher RPM's and some will tend to burn out ignitionpoints then run rough because of that. The is why I mentioned checking how the coil wires are attached.

Congratulations, My favourite car has always been the 50 Plymouth (or like Neil, a D36 Dodge) My current 50 P20 came out of California so it has the 23 inch engine and Overdrive has been installed, I have owned it for almost 25 years. I have never been without one for over 50 years now.I drove my first one 120 000 miles over what it had when I got it. Never tired of driving it. note to Neil, just what do you need to know about the D36 ?

Their out there for sure..... Probably using craigslist would be a good start to find some great wencher women mates.

awesome trip, great show and fantastic pic. Great job on your truck.

You will not marry until you find someone that understands the feeling without being married.

Nice Job on the install Tony, Now a days those 12 V power ports are so useful and needed.

David Maxwell raised the bar for most all P-15 upgrades and restorations. Have not heard from him in several years but glad you brought this thread back to the top.

I thought it would be okay to add to David's thread. I had been wanting to add the 6-12 volt for charging my Iphone when needed or when using it for GPS or traffic navigation with the WAZE app. In my searches for solutions I found Tod Fitch's page on one he built. I PM'd him about it and he was kind enough to tell me about his experiences and recommended the Custom Autosound one that is available from a number of sources. So, I went that route and am posting photos of how I mounted it in my '52 Plymouth. I didn't want to drill holes for the accessory plug (Walmart $5) on my dash, so I used a couple of "L" brackets and the mounting points for the heater control panel. It has only been a couple of weeks but so far so good. Tony

I have now gotten over 40 complaints on this thread not being about "our" trucks or a build. This thread is now locked. With in the first 2 posts in this thread it wasn't about "our" trucks and doesn't need to be, so if you can't read the thread and understand it's intentions, no one gets to play. THIS IS NOT OT INFORMATION. This thread IMO has been being filled right. You got a problem with this thread quit reading it.

VINTAGEPIC: pretzel boy over yonder

I just recently removed mine and hung it vertically suspended by one of the cable ends..made a heavly paper funnel and taped this around the cable housing end and then filled with oil and let gravity do its thing...my cable now is slipperly as when new..before..very erratic with lots of drag..