blucarsdn

I might have used the wrong term when I said " Quick easy solution", it is very apparent that the person that did the T-5 conversion did not really think the whole process out, he had to use a new/altered drive line, and most likely never gave the rear end ratio a thought. When I was in the process of building my '39 Plym conv I knew I was going to use a V8 engine, auto trans, disk brakes, therefore I changed the front suspension to a unit that was built for that purpose. I changed the rear end to a later model that had larger brakes, internal parking brakes and modern rear springs/shackles to eliminate axle wrap. I'm using the same thinking for my '38 Buick with the T-5 conversion. I try to live by one of the basic rules my father taught me.. "Don't let the directions on the can out smart you, and if you can't find time to do the job right, when are you going to find time to re do it". Wm

Scrolling through the many comments with solutions to the parking brake issue I did not note any comments about changing the rear end in the vehicle to one with internal parking brake. Most people that I know are unaware of changing the rear axle when converting a vehicle to an OD trans.. Historically a vehicle that comes from the factory with an OD trans will have a gear ratio that is several ranges lower than the standard ratio. IE a 59 Ford F100 with have a standard ratio of 3.73, an OD trans will have 3.89. I am going through a project to put a T-5 trans in my '38 Buick Special w/3spd and 4.40 gears. The T-5 will work well with 4.40, but it will work better with 4.10, therefore I have to change the rear end to a later model that can be re-geared to 4.10. My brother made this mistake on his '54 Chevy that he put a 200R4 trans in with the stock 3.71 axle. The car would not run in OD in town, only D, on the highway he could run in OD if he kept the speed above 65/70. The quick easy solution to the problem of no parking brake is to use a rear end with internal parking brake hooking up the new brake cables to the cars existing parking brake cable. Wm

I am not to sure how other models of cars handled the seating arrangements in their rumble seat equipped cars, I do know that the '39 Plymouth convertible coupes had a 'toe-board' foot rest that was on an angle adjacent to the floor of the rumble area and the front passenger seat back. The toe board acted just like the floor boards in the general passenger area, providing firm footing for the passenger to brace themselves against. Since all of the '37-39 DPCD open vehicles were basically the same vehicle. I would assume that they all had the toe-board feature. Wm.

Bogart used the '38 Plym coupe in several films, one of his films of that era was a 39 Plym conv coupe that was shown being driven by a young woman in a driving rain storm. Ya know if you are going to restore your '38 into an image of Bogarts you have to include the tricky fold down gun keep in the bottom of the dash under the glove box. Wm

The '39-41 DPCD radios were all the same, only difference was the face plate.. Speakers were part of the radio,

I really wonder if there is any advantage (s) to converting a vintage vehicle brake system to disk brakes in lieu of a properly maintained drum brake system? I have two vehicles, a '37 GMC 1/2 ton and my '39 Plym conv coupe. In both cases the brake conversions were done as part of a total upgrade to the vehicle suspension, power-train and engine. I converted my 37 GMC to a large late model 150 hp 6 cylinder with a automatic trans, rack/pinion steering was a must. My '39 Plym conv was a Montana car that had been pounded across rural gravel roads, the frame and front cross member that broken and been repaired twice. I wanted a safe reliable highway car that could cruise at modern speeds, so I did a Rest-O-Mod on the car adding power rack-pinion steering, disk brakes, AC, Cruise, PW's etc. I recently purchased a '53 Olds Super 88, an unmolested car that needs a lot of TLC. The '53 Olds super 88's were very fast reliable vehicles. I had one from 1954-58, that is why I bought the '53 i have now. We just finished doing a complete brake job, new stock cooling system. The only deviation from stock was the addition of an HEI ignition. The Oldsmobiles of the '50's were well engineered, reliable cars, they would run all day long at 90 plus with no problems. If it ain't broke don't fix it. The people that I have known that attempted to convert their brakes to disk, started off a whole chain of events that resulted in a vehicle that was unreliable and unsafe. Wm

As I stated in my earlier contribution, the Pertonix Ignitor II is the way to go.. I talked to Pertornix and the Tech at Summit Racing, I bought the Pertronix from Summit. I changed everything on my Olds ignition, Flame Thrower coil and 7mm Pertronix Flame Thrower wires. According to Pertonix the conversion makes the stock distributor into a HEI system. Pertonix makes the Ignitor II in 4, 6 and 8 cylinder versions.

My comment about 'points' might be a little off topic, however, I throw them out anyway. I gave up on points, etc.,type ignitions over twenty-five years ago. I have tried many electronic conversions to a stock ignition many times, never had a bad, adverse experience, I learned a long time ago to follow the directions in lieu of trying to reinvent the wheel. I recently purchased a 1953 Oldsmobile Super 88. The car is a dead stock 77.k mile 303 V8 that needs a lot of help to correct what I call 'deferred maintenance', cooling system, brakes, and complete tune up. There was noting about the ignition that was right, wrong plugs, bad wiring and a screwed up carb. The carb, a four barrel had many parts within that were not correct. The points in the distributor were burnt and the rotor was missing the contact end. I did some checking around for availability of Pertronics components finding out that Pertronics now makes a conversion, 'Ignitor II' for stock ignitions which turns the stock ignition into an HEI unit. I ordered the Pertronix from Summit. The engine really runs nice and smooth now with instant acceration . Wm.

For the most part it is quite simple to install a long block 251 CID engine in a vehicle that came with a 218 CID. Many of the early Dodge'/Plym frames were drilled for the 25" engine by the factory because it was quite common for the smaller Plym/Dodge chassis to be sold as Chrysler/DeSoto in foreign country's. I put a Chrysler Spitefire into a 48 Dodge I have, just required moving the radiator to the front of the core support. I did not have a trans issue because the Dodge came with the Fluid Drive which the Spitfire had so i used the Chrysler trans. OK, having said the above, you might want to consider having the 218 rebuilt. Rebuilding the 218 lets you start all over again with everything new and stock in lieu of installing a used engine with doubtful history. wm.

I am not an authority on the DPCD 25" long block engines, almost enough knowledge to be dangerous. I do know that Chrysler installed the 25" engines in Plymouth/Dodges in Canada, Europe and Australia, badging then as Chrysler's or DeSoto's. During the '40's Chrysler drilled the frames to accommodate the 25" engine, the radiator had to be moved to the front of the core support. That is how I put the '48 DeSoto Spitfire engine in my 48 Dodge. During the 1940's/50's it was very common to see the 25" engine in a Plymouth/Dodge, put there by the owners that wanted more power and speed to keep up with the Chevy's and Fords. A friend of mine had a '39 Dodge 2dr that his parents gave him to drive to school. Terrible looking car!. Wayne put a Chrysler 25" Spitfire with three carbs and home made headers in the car. That Dodge surprised a lot of people, it was very fast. Wm.

It has always been my understanding that the Chrysler/DeSoto engines are 'long blocks', 25" in lieu of the short block Plym/Dodge engines. I have a '48 Dodge that I put a Chrysler SpitFire engine in from a '48 DeSoto. Wm.

I have a good friend/neighbor that works on old radio's on a regular basis, he has serviced/repaired several for me. I became aware several years ago that vintage radio's need a lot of help if they are to be used on a regular basis. When I was in the process of rebuilding my '39 Plym conv coupe I came upon a complete '39 radio that appeared to be NOS. I gave the radio to my friend, he opened it up and got very excited, it appeared to be new inside. my friend checked the radio out before he hooked it up to power. When the radio was hooked up, to our surprise it played beautifully. Within a few minutes it quit. It took my friend days to find out what the problem was, turned out that when the radio was assembled in 1939 a tube pin connector had been damaged which prevented it from making a good contact. A simple repair to the socket. I found out a long time ago that NOS does not mean the part is good, many have a problem that may not have appeared until the part was put into service, most likely my radio fit into that category. Wm

I try to live by a rule that my father taught me over fifty years ago. "Don't Let The Directions On The Can Outsmart You".. Detergent oil is one of the best inventions the engineers ever came up with for the internal combustion engines, along with thermostats and glycol bases coolants. However, if the engine is not designed for detergent oil, ie; old engines with soft metal and babbit bearings. Many years ago I had an employee that drove one of our company cars, a '79 GMC El Camino V8. Jim drove the car very day like it was his own, taking it home. When the vehicle was due for service he would have the warehouse man sign him out five quarts of 20/50 GTX Castorl and a filter. Jim would take the oil, filter home with him and have a local service station service the vehicle. He would turn in the service ticket to the office for proof that the vehicle had been serviced. When the vehicle had about 70k on it the engine seized up, the vehicle was towed to our normal repair shop. I received a call from the shop owner, he wanted me to stop by the shop. When I got to the shop I was taken into the shop area, where I was shown the engine out of the vehicle, the engine was a filthy black mess inside of the block, everything was plugged up with sludge. We called the oil dealer that we bought our oil from.. To make a long story short, the oil in the engine was not GTX 20/50 it was a cheap non-detergent oil. The employee confessed that he thought that the 20/50 GTX oil was to good for a company car so he bought non-detergent oil from a parts store to use in the GMC, using the GTX in his personal car. We had a new engine put in the GMC and I fired the employee. The moral of the story is, use the oil that the manufacture recommends for the engine, if the engine is a vintage engine that has been rebuilt to modern standards, use modern fluids in it, oil, coolant, etc. wm.

There is a lot of hype on all of the vintage car forums about using "JD cornhead grease" in steering gears. I for one don't think much of the idea. I have used STP/Motor honey in many vintage steering gear boxes with great results. I place the STP container out in the sun for awhile, insert a small funnel into the fill opening of the gear box and slowly pore the STP into the box, leaving a little room for expansion. A lot of people have been talking up the Penrite lube in vintage steering gears. The Penrite reputedly is not effected by cold weather and stays fluid. Many old car parts dealers stock Penrite, Bob's Buick in Atascadero, CA is one source. Wm.

I have had very little experience with a '40 Plymouth, however, I can clearly recall a '40 Plym that my girl friends dad had in 1950. The '40 had 16" wheels. I know this to be a fact because the owner of the '40 Plym bought a new '50 Chevy, he traded the '40 Plym in on the Chevy, the Plym had new tires so Mr Verran gave me the new tires off of the Plym to use on my '41 Chevy. Wm.