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180 to 190 is an ideal temperature for your engine to run at.

Responding to the earlier question regarding the square vs round headlights. All '39 Plyms originally had the square headlights. In '40 all vehicles went to sealed beams by Federal law, many people quickly availed themselves of the many conversion that were offered because the reflector type lights require a lot of maintenance, and at their best they leave much to be desired. My '39 had "Arrow", round sealed beam conversions.. Made the lights look very bug eyed due to the large bezels required to cover the square holes in the fenders. I went crazy looking for originale's head lights, gathered up a whole punch of parts only to find out that most of it was of no use to me because the head light assemblies left and right, early and late. One screw in the bezels vs two. Finally found a complete set on eBay, most likely had been removed when the car was near new in favor of a sealed beam conversion. The eBay headlights cost me several hundred dollars and were worth every penny. The '39 Plyms did not have an OD option, Chrysler and DeSoto had OD's. I have two friend that have OD's in their '39 Plym P8 conv cpes, both units are from DeSoto's.. The OD makes the '39's into a nice hiway cars because they overcome the very low rear gear ratio.

8-1-19: I'm still here fellas! Been super busy at work and with the sale of our home. The closing is over, now I should have more time to do the things I really want to do, like work on the Meadowbrook and the 48 B1D. Anyway, tonight was another driving lesson for my daughter. I worked the accelerator while she did the clutch pedal and shifted through the gears to get us going. Then she traveled about 40 to 45 miles an hour for about 8 Miles and then came to a stop on the side of the road, pushed in the clutch pedal, put the car in neutral, and pulled the ebrake. She's doing better each time. She doesn't want to drive any of our other cars. Just the Meadowbrook!

Recieved the new cables, as suggested. I ordered 1/0. I had no trouble starting the car with the small cables currently on the car but cruisin the coast is fast approaching and I'll be relying on this thing starting when heat soaked.....for days. Just a little feel good insurance.

what a bummer!!! I know a guy who was just in MN that drove. the same guy drives to CA in April. probably would have charged you just a little extra duck sausage for shipping.... guess there was no way to know..... probably worked out anyway ( Mike ditched us at the photo (for Mike ))

Hi I have not posted in a while (but I am back). I just got another Plymouth (project). 1939 P8 business coupe. The previous owner had it since 1971 but for the past 22 years it was in his basement. Rebecca

For the past few months as the '48 P15 has been returned to road duty after a five-year hibernation I've been working under the car. I'm one of the poor slobs that doesn't have a lift in the shop and I hate having my life dependent on somebody having a good day on a jack stand production line (even though I always leave the floor jack in place). Enough already....time to put something substantial under the car that I won't have to think about. Some quality time was spent this afternoon making 10" lengths of 4x4 treated pine out of longer lengths of 4x4 treated pine. They were stacked up semi-neatly and secured with scrap plywood and #7 coarse-thread drywall screws. I now have something to put under the P15 frame rails that can't be easily kicked out of place and won't tip over. Four courses of 4x4 yield a stand that is ~15" high which I what I've found works well with the floor jack I use. As you can tell, no effort was wasted on making these "shop stands" cabinet-quality......relied on the Gorilla method of construction......ugly but strong.......

I bought 2 of these about 8 months ago. Haven't gotten around to using them yet.

GREAT thread! I spent too much time reading all of it between last night and this morning ?. If you ever get up to Osakis you should stop for ice cream at the Tip Top. I get a few comments when I take my ‘52 Merc to town. Now I’m extra anxious to get my ‘49 Special Deluxe back! Changed the coil this morning while my mechanic is on vacation. Had to be content with smelling the interior of the car today instead of being able to drive it. You live in an area that is perfectly suited for drives in a classic car! SE MN IS beautiful. Looking forward to following this thread.

Hansen, I REALLY like your car! Walt

Everyone has one.

I have a pair of the banjo axle stands.

My Dad went into the auto salvage/repair business in '60 when he bought a business from an older guy who was retiring. One of the items included was a lot of good stand. Early Ford banjo axle housing with a notch cut in the top/outer end. Good steel, good solid base and really tall! Pulled a lot of transmissions and engines using those. Nice and high, easy to roll around on the creeper. Of course, it required a matching high lift floor jack to get them set in place. Sure wish I'd kept those when he retired in '90.

Really awesome the kids love the old Dodge... hope it stays in the family for generations to come.?

Love this photo! Reminds me of the days when I was learning to drive in our '56 Savoy.

Really fun thread! Going to go through it all as I have time. Driving these old cars is so much more enjoyable than anything "modern". Can't wait to get my '49 Plymouth back - hope it isn't too long. I'm in central MN if you're ever in the area.

your right, Good Call ED! I must be water logged from all the "Sprite"

I have a '39 4-door touring sedan. It's as original as I can keep it, including the drive train. All the numbers match -- it's the original 201. No overdrive. I got it for touring. It will cruise all day at 50 - 55 MPH. I have Coker radial 16/600s on it. It wandered a lot more with the bias plies. I believe that overdrive was an option in '39. It's an earlier BW that shorter. I've seen a couple of those for sale over the years for exorbitant prices. I've read that if you put a 1940s BW OD in you would need to modify the X-frame chassis member. The only issue I had with the column shift was I lost a bushing on the engine side of the firewall. Did a roadside fix and then found original replacements online. My '39 was in storage for about 13 years when I got it. Brakes were awful & the compression was low but even. A few hundred miles of driving brought the compress back up. Pete

http://fifthaveinternetgarage.com/overdrive_parts.php

May 16: On the way home from work. Been meaning to stop and take a pic by this sign. ?

May 15: Certainly not one of my better pictures, but today I replaced the battery cables and starter to relay cable with the big #0s. Man what a difference in how the car cranks over. About 50% faster, no kidding. I cleaned up all the connections as well. Can't believe I waited this long to get that done, but at least I got them changed out.

Mine did that too, until I put a new coil on it. All fixed.

Friday, May 11: A final black and white photo. At home unloading groceries and plants.

Here's the heat shield I finally got around to installing, if you want to even call it an install LOL. Its just a leftover piece of pre-formed aluminum from work that just so happened to fit perfectly in there without me having to modify it at all if you can believe it. It actually fits fairly tight, too. The only thing I did to it was put that aluminum block on top that has a recess underneath for the distributor vacuum advance line. I drilled some holes through and put a nut and bolt in each one to keep the heat shield in place just in case it might decide to work its way out from vibration, etc. It will stay attached to that hard line now, so I won't have to worry about it flying out and hitting the fan or something. Seems to work so far. I think it is helping with the fuel percolation, but I have other issues that are contributing to hard starting after letting the car sit for 5-10 minutes, like my crappy carb and my timing is off as well. The car seems to start a bit better now, though. Before the heat shield it would crank and crank and crank before starting again after that 5-10 "fuel burnoff" period.

Still waiting for you to venture a little further north!

All done....

I'd like to report this morning that the Penetrol is completely dry, but it looks like I just applied it. Has a nice wet sheen.

These cars were meant to drive and enjoy fellas, and I don't mean twice a year to some summer car shows. You ain't takin' it with ya, so drive it and be happy

Exercise your right's.

your's truly just snapped this one today...you've heard about it...Shel Silverstein wrote about it..and now...I know where it actually happened......

Another in the neighborhood

Chinese electronics safe to use... Chinese tool maybe not....

I figure I’ll be the only one who touches the car before it becomes a lawn ornament LOL