BobT-47P15

One time a few years ago my creative sister wanted to make me a unique birthday present to display in my car at shows. With a little photo editing she made this item which should be one of a kind. Yes...that's me and the car.

This picture shows the original radiator on the left and the new one after the pie cut of the neck. It was not a large piece of metal removed from the neck (in fact I wish it had been just a smidge bigger for more angle)...... 4 pound pressure cap from NAPA. They may likely have to order it but mine arrived the next day or two. One person in some shop told me it doesn't make all that much difference about which type paint you use (at least on the tank and sides) of a rad. I did leave the core original--no paint. Hope this helps some.

I would ask. The worst they can say is "no". You may have to remove the rad and take to them.

As I recall from previous discussions about jacks.....when the car was purchased new, the jack and lug wrench handle were contained in a cardboard box that simply laid in the trunk. There is no built in hook for the jack......you just have to find someplace to secure it. I think there is space enough for the jack to go behind the spare and the base can be tucked in beside the spare and secured to avoid rattles. Maybe a previous owner had the vinyl or leather pouch made to contain the jack base, handle and tire chock. What was in it when you got the car? As for those two L shaped rubber items with the V in one end.....I don't believe I have ever seen such a thing before. Where were they being used? Trouble with those original style jacks is -- they are rather sketchy if not on real level ground - car can lean enough to topple the jack sideways. Also have to use that wheel chock and/or make sure the transmission is engaged. On a fluid drive car, you don't have any braking value from the transmission. I have an original style jack and also have been carrying one of those small floor jacks. They are not quite large enough for some situations, but sometimes better than the original jack. It occurs to me that today's Triple A tow truck driver may be so young he has never dealt with our type of car....and may or may not have just the right equipment. Just like the Boy Scouts say...."Be Prepared".

I bought a Champion aluminum radiator at a reasonable price on eBay.......fit the space perfectly on my 47 Plymouth. However, I did not want the shiny aluminum sides and top tank. So I covered the honeycomb front & rear....then sprayed it with Krylon Maxx gloss black.... Like the look and it seems to work OK. As I recall, I am using a cap with 4 pounds of pressure (NAPA 703-1412) ($6.29) ....since these still are not a pressurized system. A cap with higher pressure came on the radiator....I think 14 or 16 pounds. You have to furnish your own overflow hose and clamps for it. I had a welder take a pie cut in the upper radiator hose neck to give it a downward angle.....to more closely resemble the original angle of the original radiator neck. Champion had a couple phone numbers: 714-987-2665 or 714-974-1650. Regular price at the time of my purchase in Aug of 2018 was $219.98 and it was on sale for $204.98 plus shipping of $29.95. Hope this info makes sense....

Has been quite a while, but I think I ran a length of plastic coated wire up through the steering gear box and steering column as a guide/puller for the horn wire. Just need to make the knot of the two wires small as possible. Horn wire is attached to that "T" piece in the center of the horn works inside the steering wheel. Just thought I would mention this process while on topic of the box. Someone once said that if grease is too thick in a steering box, the gears will eventually push it over to the sides....so I don't think a person should use the same grease used to lube your car. May be at least 2 cents.it's worth there, maybe. ?

Do you have a factory Parts Manual for your car? Any idea or guesses what the item may be called so you can try to locate one in that manual parts list in the back? Or---look at the exploded drawings of parts you suspect the fastener could go to....see if you can spot one.

I noticed that in several photos, 53 Plymouths appear to have two different styles of tail lights.....the one on the drivers side seems to have a larger bottom area with more chrome. Is the left one also a backup light? However, this one has two matching taillights. Is this a fancier model than the wagon? Or did the non matching ones both have a tail light replaced with one that was a bit different? Just another mystery of life. Those rear fender top trims appear to be correct for a 53. Your car is looking good.

Picture of tank on a 46-48 Plymouth P15. Don't have a pic of a later model.

Are those Oz cars same as U S made Plymouth P15....the serial number beginning with a letter on the driver's side of the block, and also stamped into the frame behind the left rear wheel about where the gas tank filler neck is located. I had to scrape on the frame in order to make the numbers show up.

WIRING DIAGRAM FOR A 47 PLYMOUTH p15 Very similar to one shown.

Nice find. It is worth a bunch to have a complete set of good stainless/chrome trim and correct wheel covers. When I bought my 47 Plymouth in 1973.....it did NOT have one single piece of trim. The good news was......back in the early to mid 70s, there were still many salvage yards with old Mopars that had most trim still intact. And it was not near so expensive as today. Even the seats are not real worn. Have fun and enjoy it.

Back in the 1970s I was able to buy and sell some 50's Mopars I found in people's back yard, driveway, etc. Some were missing keys...so I just took the lock (or sometimes the car) to a certain old time locksmith. He would bring out his little "gun" feeler gauge .... "shoot" the lock to determine position of the tumblers....and make me a new key that worked correctly every time. But, in later years they banned those "guns" as the thieves could also produce a new key so they could steal your car. I don't know if a person can find one of those "guns" now, or not. A few years ago, I took a nice trunk handle that had no key to a locksmith who claimed he could make me a new key----but he apparently was not as good as he let on. The lock just barely worked....was hard to turn.....and seems like he messed up something else as well. The good news is I didn't really need that handle so it's in some box of stuff in the garage. I later discovered I could buy a brand new ignition tumbler with working pentastar key at O'Reilly Automotive for a very reasonable price.......fits right into the ignition switch housing. Currently I do not have any door locks on my P15 convertible.....although I do have a couple sets of used locks with keys purchased at swap meets. I put chrome "plugs" in the holes in the door. I figure that if you lock a convertible...and someone wants in badly enough, they will simply slash your convertible top. So......I hope they try the door first...... All the above information probably will not solve anyone's problem.....but there used to be solutions years ago. Maybe some exist today if you check around. Bob.

Maybe. Can't tell by just looking. Perhaps someone else knows. Nice trim pieces on them.

Yes Tim........I also miss Don. We got to do some things together over the years, including participation in the P15-D24 "Great Race" in Tulsa in 2007. When I was growing up in Aurora, Missouri (a town of approx 5,000) back in the 1950s, we had a Western Auto store right next door to an Oklahoma Tire and Supply (which later became OTASCO). They carried a lot the same merchandise including car parts of various types. I remember buying from one of them a set of 4 "spinners" or "flippers" to bolt onto some wheel cover of your choice to fancy them up. I attached them to some 1957 Ford full wheel covers (14 inch)....painted over the Ford script in the middle with gold paint....and put them on the parents' 1960 Chevy station wagon, which came with the small "dog dish" caps. Looked pretty good, actually. Eventually, someone stole them. Guess they liked 'em too. I also added "portawalls" whitewalls and 59 Cadillac taillight lenses (which glued right over the short, pointed 60 Chevy lenses).

Hi Robin. I didn't realize there were that many varieties of those trims...but not surprised as there were all sorts of items from many suppliers in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Cool collection you have there. Another thing they made many varieties of was these "bug deflectors" that mounted on the hood. A few, like this one even had a working propeller. Several years ago Tim sent me this deflector with a chrome "naked lady" on it.

I have never seen a pair of skirts on a 40s thru mid 50s Plymouth that was not an "overlay" style. Not sure they ever made one that went inside the wheel opening. (Chevys had flush "inside" skirts beginning in 1949). I have 2 pairs of skirts that are overlays. I don't think they look bad....they look just fine for their time.

Do you have a battery specialty shop in your area? I went to one here in my town in Missouri.....for about $35 they made me new OO gauge cables and mounted the ends on them. Mine are all black....but they may have had red if requested. I have a battery cutoff switch mounted on the drivers' side firewall.....they made me an additional cable to connect to that. It occurs to me that a person could get some red and black paint and paint the end of the battery posts in the proper color for others not familiar with our battery connections.

Check your private messages for some info.

The lighter weight ones may be aftermarket not made from as heavy material as an original.

It is currently (1:28 am) 32 degrees with freezing rain here in Joplin (in s w MO). Some snow in the forecast for tomorrow. There will probably be some more good days yet......but not old car weather right now.

I suspect the housings for those two lights are metal. Make sure they are good and clean for best contact.

My skirts were purchased secondhand and missing mounting hardware, so I had to invent some attaching pieces. The skirts do not have much curvature to them, but fit my fender ok. I did go so far as to add two small sheet metal screws at the top edge to make sure they were secure in light of the missing attachment pieces. Painted heads of the screws to match car. I'm sure a few people may have noticed those screws, but no one ever actually commented on them. So....not exactly correct, but got the job done. And, as you can see in Robin's photo, he has added a cool '41 Buick trim piece. If your fenders indeed have too much "bulge" then you may need the service of a good body man to re-shape the skirts. There are numerous brands and styles of skirts---all were aftermarket far as I know. The majority seem to be the overlay style. Your fenders appear to be original and correct. Fender without skirt....

You're welcome Frank. Hope it helps.

Just looked on eBay and there were virtually none of what you want. Best advice I have is look at swap meets and salvage yards. I don't think those small caps were ever a high demand item so there are probably some lurking somewhere. Otherwise....some have opted to purchase newer style wheels that will accept the later model dog dish caps.