Andydodge

My 1st effort in removing a mopar 6 was when working on my 1940 Dodge coupe..........I was 16..........no shop manual but a handful of tools, dirt floored carport and a bright eyed, bushy tailed attitude............it went like this............ .........I had the car up on secured wooden blocks so firstly undid the rear 4 bolts on the driveshaft/diff flange.........the rear flange came undone easily so it was a good start............went to the front flange......undid those 4 nuts....flange was also inset into the brake drum......pulled the driveshaft but the flange was halfcocked on the 4 bolts.....................couldn't move the shaft...........O/k.............so I undid the 4 bolts holding the gearbox to the bellhousing(had already undone the various shifter linkages, handbrake cable & speedo cable).........with the 4 bolts undone I pulled the gearbox back......yes with the driveshaft hanging in the breeze..........guess what......the gearbox input shaft was halfcocked & stuck on the clutch/pressure plate inside the bellhousing..............O/K......so I moved to the front........got the big 3" water pipe gas welded gantry my brother & I had made up from ex fence posts and positioned it in the front over the engine.........undone the bellhousing side bolts, front engine mount plate and using the 1/2 ton block & tackle that our father had bought for just this occaision I proceeded to remove the engine, bellhousing, gearbox and driveshaft as one LONG sausage..........after said removal and with the "sausage" lying in front of the now engineless car it was quite easy to wiggle each piece of the sausage and it all came apart.............. ..................now you may ask what happened to that engine/trans etc?............well after I decided I was going to be a hotrodder and didn't know anyone who may have wanted the stock engine etc.......we, my brother & I dug a hole and pushed said article into said hole....................however that was not the end of it..............said hole also had a 24 stud Ford Flathead engine which my younger brother had decided he wasn't going to use in the 35 Ford Coupe he had..............3 or 4 years later we both got our comeupence when after pleading with our parents to let their 2 car mad sons build a proper garage we gained the permission & started to dig the foundations of the 30 x 20 garage........... ...........you'll never guess what we found when digging the foundations........lol..........do you want to try?..........o/k so it wasn't that hard to guess.......lol...........have you ever had to did a much DEEPER HOLE beside a pair of old oily engines then roll them into said deeper hole?..........ah the joys of being bright eyed & bushy tailed........50 yrs later I still remember the fun...........Andy Douglas

Just to add something that hasn't been mentioned in this discussion............the twin intakes for the 23" Dodge & Plymouth engines makes sense to me as I'm a hotrodder however the question was whether a twin/triple intake for the 25" DeSoto/Chrysler engine was being planned..........here in Oztralia the 25" engine was much more common from WW2 onwards than the 23" Dodge/Plymouth engine.......both were available, sometimes in the same year in the same model mopar however the 25" engine is still the most numerous being used up until 1962 in Oz Chrysler cars and from what I've learnt its also the case in Canada from the late 30's to the late 50's that the 25" engine was the standard installation..............both these situations would lead me to think that a 25" twin intake would be more popular than just to satisfy the American DeSoto/Chrysler fans which I think would have a limited market....here in Oz and possibly Canada there maybe exists a ready untapped market.............Andy Douglas

I just did a US ebay search under "1940 Mopar Sway Bar Link" and a couple of listings came up.......they show a pair of original NOS links at about $90 the pair which i suppose is not too bad.........the rubber bushings should be relatively easy to get..........measure the sway bar diameter and using the bracket take the measurement and bracket to a parts shop and you should be able to get a replacement rubber bush or one made from the harder plastic or "nylothane" crap that is now more likely.......its that "blue" coloured one in my pic.........also I don't use the stock bracket any more either due to the larger diameter of the sway bar which meant I had to use a different from stock way to attach the vertical links which in my case I used the large heim joints and a custom made right/left hand threaded hex bar adjuster...........but you should be able to get the rubber bush ..............andyd

Shaman..........my Oz 1940 Dodge is essentially a 1940 plymouth but as far as I know both the front ends of the Dodge & Plymouth are essentially the same.........exactly which bushing are you referring to?....the original sway bar goes thru a bracket with rubber bushings mounted on top of the front of the frame..........the end of the sway bar inserts into a rubber encased steel "tube" that has a small bracket inserted into the bottom of the steel/rubber link and bolts onto the front of the lower shock mount which goes thru the vertical link or spindle............undo the nut at the front of the lower shock mount which lets the link be loose, most of the upper link attachment points where the end of the sway bar inserts I've seen are extremely worn & loose allowing the upper end of the vertical link to just about fall off.............then undo the bolts & nuts holding the sway bar brackets to the frame, the rubber bushes/blocks usually have either a cut to allow them to be pushed over the bar or if no cut then they would have to be slid along the sway bar before the vertical link is attached.............. ..........heres a pic of my 1940 Dodge......I have a custom made 1" thick chrome plated sway bar, adjustable Heim Joint vertical links and a custom made lower shock mount pin, mid 50's Ford coil springs also 11" vented Oz PBR disc brakes, 9" narrowed Austin 1800 rack & pinion........318 poly, etc.........lol.............regards, Andy Douglas

I've pulled a few Oz 1940 Dodges apart over the years and have never seen studs/nuts used on the radiator support frame like you show.....all have been 3/8 UNF/9/16th AF bolts so I'd replace these with bolts, from memory about 1" long...........can't help re the head bolt info as I sold the 41 plymouth a few years ago...........andyd

Regarding those two bearings............here in Oz the Oz Valiants used a nylon version of those split bearings which were identical in size, shape etc and I would have thought originated in the USA in your 1960's manual trans cars........andyd

My 1940 Dodge has used the stock gauges with the 12 volt/318 V8 since 1973......both the oil & temp gauges are connected to the V8, the amp gauge as mentioned just reads amps even tho it has an alternator wired into it and the fuel gauge has a standard voltage drop or resister wired into its power circuit and still has the 1940 Dodge(Plymouth) fuel tank and sender unit...........and the car being 12 volt is negative earth, has been since 1973 ...........admittedly I have rewired everything and there is no original wire or circuit left that hasn't been replaced..........andyd

Marc....in your pic of plate 6-3 it shows what looks like a small piece of flat "SPRING" steel plate, # 6-52-5, this bolts onto the bellhousing, then bracket 6-53-5 bolts onto it and the shaft 6-52-1 slips into the two piece "bearings" # 6-52-11 which then fit around the "ball" on bracket # 6-53-5...............bracket 6-53-8 is on the opposite end of the shaft # 6-52-1 and attaches onto the frame and allows the clutch linkage to pivot ............dunno if this helps........BTW is it the clutch linkage that is the problem or the shifter linkage?..............andyd

Old Guy.........you mention the guages and the 6-12 volt conversion..... the temp and oil gauges are mechanical, the amp gauge reads amps, and doesn't mind 6 or 12 volts........and the fuel gauge should only need a voltage resister to drop the 12 volts down before the gauge and should be o/k although the sender unit in the tank can be responsible for a lot of issues there......the globes throughout will need to be 12 volts and thats about it...........I can't help re the heater tho'.........lol.............andyd

Aaron...best thing that I can suggest is to make a list of what parts you need then try to work out what cars have these parts, ie, your front & rear fenders, hood headlights and tailights are all 1940 USA Plymouth, however the Canadian 1940 Dodge as yours is also uses these parts...........things like most if not all the steering & suspension parts should be the same between 1940 Dodge & Plymouth and even some later parts will interchange........I've just imported a pair of reproduction 1940/41 Plymouth running boards which will fit my 1940 Oz Dodge as it has the same wheelbase as the USA 1940/41 Plymouth.......so make a list of what you need or would like and we'll see what we can suggest........also keep checking ebay............I do a search thru US ebay under 1940 Dodge every couple of weeks just to see whats available.........mostly not much or a heap of late model SUV crap that somehow gets listed under 1940 Dodge but occasionally I have a win................ ....................about 2 years ago I saw a listing for a 1940 Dodge Grille Crankhole Cover.......my car never came with its crank hole cover, in fact I had never seen one nor even knew that one existed till this particular one was listed on USA ebay............it was about $30 but with shipping that doubled and I was a little short of funds at that time........so I let it go...........anyway a few weeks later the damn thing is on ebay again........funds had improved, I bought it, think it ended up costing about $40-50 US and with postage to Oz it ended up being about $120.00Australian......BUT it is in perfect condition, fitted perfectly and is the ONLY one I know of here in Oz.......lol...........I also drilled a little hole in the rear of it and attached a piece of wire that goes to a hidden bolt.......even if it comes loose its not going anywhere............so my 1940 Dodge is a little more complete........lol...........so make a list and you never know where or when things may turn up............andyd

Scott......I like the engine,brakes & steering swap, just would hope that you treat the old girl to a nice set of clothes, it doesn't have to be a show winning paint job but a nice tidy up so that she feels loved...........lol.............you can guess I'm not a crap rod fan but do appreciate the mechanical upgrades.........but your car so its all good......lol...........andyd

Aaron.......when I was getting stuck into my car in the early/mid 70's I bought another 3 1940 Oz dodges for parts and while they were all bog stock, one of them had these twin bumperettes made out of the original one piece bumper and it had a recessed number plate between the bumpers.......I didn't do the recessed plate thing but decided that the twin bumpers with the dual exhaust would look o/k so I used those bumpers....I still have a spare one piece bumper if ever I decide to change it ........as for my knowledge of the little details................lol..............I've had this car since september 1971 when i bought it originally to be a spare parts car as I had a 1940 Oz Dodge Coupe...see attached pic which is of MY 1940 Dodge Coupe taken before I bought it in 1970, I was 16 and as 16yr olds do I pulled it apart and realised I needed a few parts..........I bought the 4dr sedan 18months later but as I paid only $15 but it had 6 weeks rego, was complete down to the owners and workshop manual and hubcaps I decided to restore it but then decided to hot rod it & installed the 318 Poly etc ........ ..........you ask about the "attention to detail".........when I first built the car you couldn't get 1/4 vent window rubber seals so I modified VW Beetle ones...they worked o/k for years but in the late 1990's I found that Andy Bernbaums had the correct 1940 Plymouth 1/4 vent rubbers so I ordered a pair...........they arrived promptly and it wasn't till I had them and compared them to my cars 1/4 vent pivots that I realised that the Oz cars 1/4 vents actually "pivot" in a different spot to the USA cars.........mine pivot at an angle whereas the US ones pivot vertically so the holes in the rubber were in a different spot.........I couldn't bring myself to cut up these nice new 1/4 vent rubbers so they sat on the shelf for a few years.........until when I bought the 1941 Plymouth Coupe in 2007 I found it needed 1/4 vent rubbers..............lol...........after getting these rubbers I studied more closely the pics I had of US cars and the doors are different........the most obvious thing being internal door hinges whereas the Oz cars use external door hinges............so yep there are lots of little differences between the cars...........regards, andyd

Old Guy.....thats a nice clean 4dr Sedan, for years 4drs never got the kudos they deserved, as an owner of a 4dr for 50 yrs this past month I felt like I was fighting a loosing battle till I found this Forum..................its nice to see fellow Mopar Cars and Owners especially 4drs........... so my regards from Oz........Andy Douglas

Is there one hole or two?..........if two then they are probably for use with a crank pulley puller.........andyd

The thing in the centre of the rear axle with 10-12 nuts holding it in a circular fashion onto the rear axle is the "hogs head, third member, differential, pumpkin, crown wheel & pinion carrier" and various other names BUT will NEVER come away from the stamped rear axle unless and until the wheels, brake drums and rear axles are pulled out at least 4-5 inches from each side so that they, the axles clear the internal splines and sun gears inside the crown wheel carrier.........the axles sit into these internal splines will not allow the crown and pinion carrier to move.............it IS possible to just pull the axles out only 4-5 inches then remove "the whatever we decide to call the thing"......lol......and just get it rebuilt........unless you really know what you are doing then I'd be inclined to get "the whatever its called" checked, rebuilt & adjusted by someone who knows what they are doing and has the tools etc to setup the "thingymabob".........my Oz 2 cents worth........andyd

Welcome Aboard from Oztralia........got any pics of the car?......we all like pics................andyd

Phil...........thats a book I'd like also..........I've never seen any Oz mopar parts book although they must have existed..........I have various USA parts books but they generally don't have any pics, the onlyy one with pics I have is a 36-42 USA Plymouth Master Parts Book & its great for the parts on mine that are Plymouth based.............andyd

The only different that I've found between the 1940/41 lower A arm and the 42-54 lower A arm is that the 42 onwards has the bracket that the front sway bar end inserts into with a rubber block to isolate the shock.......andyd

Aaron........other little differences that I can see between yours & mine are the front bumper which appears to be a D14/17 USA Dodge bumper with the "dip" in the centre...my cars front bumper is a Plymouth straight bumper, also the beltline chrome moldings appear to be "smooth" in profile, whereas my cars have 4 flutes along their length, also your car has the chrome/stainless windscreen molding, the Oz 1940 Mopars(Plymouth/Dodge,DeSoto and Chrysler) only had a rubber windscreen rubber....also note that your 1940 North American Dodge & all North american 1940 Mopars have concealed front door hinges, whereas Oz cars have a slightly different Oz made body shell with exposed door hinges and front 1/4 vents that pivot at an angle, whereas US one pivot in a vertical plane...................as for parts, you may have to look in Canada for body parts......although the front & rear fenders, hood & headlights are all 1940 US Plymouth, doors maybe the same also together with the trunk lid and the frame, suspension & wheelbase........grille & front grille sheetmetal maybe different to the US D14/17 cars......how does your grille attach to the car.........with screws from the front or as mine does via screws inserted from the radiator side after opening the hood and undoing that triangular plate panel in front of the radiator to gain access to the rear of the grille?............got a rear pic?.....heres one of mine, a distinctive shaped Oz 1940 trunk lid and 1940 Plymouth tailights( the 2 piece bumper is not stock, it originally had a single full width bumper) and 2 piece rear window different to the Nth American cars...............also I widened the rear fenders by 2" front to back yrs ago to cover the 15 x 10 mags..........andyd

Your 1st two pics show a USA drivers side A arm on the Passenger side, which is incorrect and needs to be swapped.............the 3rd pic shows a USA passenger side A arm on the passenger side, which is Correct................the 4th pic shows the USA stock 1940 Passenger side upper a arm on the passenger side............you seem to have both a drivers & passengers side stamped steel 1941-54 upper A arm, just need to get them on the correct side..............andyd

Plyrod.......you posted 4 pics.....the 1st two, show the upper A arm on the WRONG side as the arm shown has the upper shock mount facing FORWARD........this should face to the rear, like in the 3rd pic which shows the upper shock mount facing to the rear............the 1st two pics show the USA drivers side upper A Arm.........if you note my two pics there is definately an "offset" to the shape of the upper A arm, notwithstanding that the A arms shown are MOOG brand aftermarket A arms they are indentical to the shape of the stamped steel upper A arms of which I have two sets, both sets are offset like the MOOG ones on my car........I havn't access to my workshop manuals at present , its raing & they are in the garage outside but have you checked whether the lower spindle bush maybe inserted backwards?.................otherwise I don't know what to say as my front end is pictured and has been like this since the mid 1970's when i first rebuilt it using these MOOG upper arms..........will check the manuals later & get back..andyd

Aaron........welcome aboard from sunny south Grafton, Australia......I have an Australian 1940 D15 Dodge 4dr Sedan, which is essentially a 1940 Plymouth with 1940 Dodge s grille, badges & RHD dash.........with Plymouth chassis/wheelbase,, fenders,headlights,taillights, bumpers & hood...........in the USA Dodge had both a D14 and D17 series, I think the D17 was the Special, the D14 was the Deluxe.........BUT both Dodge & Plymouth had essentially the same front suspension and brake system.......kingpins will certainly interchange from 1939 to 1954 for both Dodge & Plymouth, also upper & lower A arms, spindles and stub axles will swap between Dodge & Plymouth for each individual year ...........I am not 100% certain but think that the master cylinder is the same for both 1940 Dodge & Plymouth......dash knobs will be different although the actual switches maybe the same , instruments are different between the makes..........as far as I know the D14 and D17 use the standard Dodge wheelbase which is 2" longer than the P9/P10 1940 Plymouth AND also longer than my D15 Dodge.......D15's were also made in Canada and used the same setup essentially as my 1940 Dodge.........Plymouth chassis, wheelbase, fenders BUT Dodge grille,dash,badges etc ..............so a Canadian D15 "may" also offer some parts BUT not fenders etc............the extra 2" in wheelbase was accommodated by an extra 2" in the length of the front fenders..................got any pics of your car?........we all like pics........heres a pic of my car.........had it 50 yrs this month..........regards, Andy Douglas

And Franks notation of this thread brought Bobs passing back into focus again..................and I still miss him...........andydj

Bob.........as far as I knew Penrite was available in the US...........I understand people using some sort of grease but for me the main thing is whatever is used it must be viscous enough to flow in and around the bearings, bushings, worm & rollers.........and I worry that grease may not be thin enough to do just that.....the STP idea seems o/k also............andyd

Or use Penrite Steering Box Lube which is a grease with a viscosity that is made to be used in vintage type steering boxes............andyd