Gary Manes

Mentioning both of these at the same time and price makes me nervous. The Dodges are the same size as the Desotos, and Windsors NOT Plymouth. Plymouth Doctor is out of business. I was all set to buy a set of floor pans for my New Yorker and Desoto, so I have been keeping an eye on his web site. He never did make any '48 and up for anything not already on his web site. I would send him an e-mail from time to time and they were always just about ready. Ready to go out of business!

Thanks everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rodney that is a beautiful installation!

Right now it is virtually impossible to find anything in the junk yards. China has been giving such good prices for the last several years that they are all cleaned out. Finding a "whole" car over a year or so old is nearly impossible. My shop told me that any part he has ever purchcased for himself or a customer was allot cheaper for the 350's than any Ford or Mopar of the same period. I am not in a position to argue with him, and he emphasized after-market parts are available at K-Mart, Walmart or any of the chain car part stores. But, I am not here to cross swords with a member about pricing. We all do what we want or have to do with our toys. I am just trying to find a way to get the headers around the steering box for a 350/350 combo. I noticed none of the people that have them in their P-15/D-24's have chimmed in on this disucssion--again. In all sincerety I do appreciate the positive comments. It just appears that I'll have to find a pro header maker or come up with another option. Thanks guys.

Everyone always talks about putting in a V-8 of one kind or another, but I never see any serious discussion about intake or exhaust tubes placement. My mechanic recommends a 350/350 combo (for cost, simplicity, and easy access to parts) There are many engines he likes better for other reasons, but for economy, etc. he likes the Chevy 350/350 combo with a pre-emisssions pickup throttle body which he says are bullet proof. The problem is getting exhaust headers because of the issues we are all familar with because the steering box is inside the frame instead of out. Apparently, there are no specialists in Tulsa or in this area that he is aware of. He has found a company over in Arkansas that makes headers for race cars, but from converstations with them he gets a cost of around $6,000.00. Which, of course, is more than the car is worth. What have some of you done to work around this issue. Every time I have asked this question in the past I have never gotten so much as one comment. I know darn well some of you have 350/350's in your P-15/D-24's. What did you do about exhaust headers?? The 350/350 would not be my first choice either if money were no object. I know the 727 may have been the best automatic transmisssion ever built and there are some very nice MOPAR engines I would rather have. But, as many of you have found money is always an issue. My 1948 Desoto coupe is all original, and except for the running gear I would like to keep it that way (maybe better brakes). So, please, someone share your experiences with headers.

Rodney, Back when, I found that there was a page of spare parts either on Rhode Island Wiring or YnZ's Yesterdays Parts. At that time one of them carried them. Both companies have a reputation for selling quality parts. If they don't, try Dodge City Truck Parts. They have allot of normally hard to find parts. I can even get a thermostat for my New Yorker from them. Good source for hard to find parts. They are in Canada. I know allot of companies have been cutting back, etc. but give their web sites a look to see if they still carry them. I was shocked to see they had them for my New Yorker, which nothing fits. Fortunately, I already had a spare from my parts car which has worked fine. Good Luck!!

I don't even have to pull out a book to agree with Niel. If you are old enough you will know the terms used in them days, and I was just a kid then but I remember having always been a car nut. In fact they continued into the late '50's for sure.

Rockwood gave just about the best suggestions non-professionals can use. Every step is important. Good luck!!

Here we have had a couple of them in the last ten years, but they don't last. The last one stayed during a critical time on my Desoto, so I was lucky. The senior sales person ordered their old car catalogues. I was able to buy a number of "allegedly" hard to find parts right over the counter. One of the younger lady sales persons had never even heard of "Desoto." I could not believe that she had not seen an old sixties model or at least heard about them! If you can get your local store to get the old car catalogues you'll be in heaven. The gas caps, locking or regular, ran around five dollars. A guy on e-bay was selling them for $20 and up.

He asked our site a lot of questions about interest in rust replacement panels for the '46-'48 Plymouths, Dodges, and Chryslers, since the body shells are so similiar (except for the Plymouth). I sent an occasional e-mail over the years and kept getting promises that they were coming any day; but have yet to see an offering on his website. We provide a much larger audience than the one he had been servcing before, but no action for the Dodges or Chryslers. I know they would not be cheap, but his quality would have been good based on the photos he had at one time on his website for the older Plymouths. It's a shame we can't get someone interested in making good quality replacements.

I had them on my 1957 Ford all during college without any problems. I drove VERY fast in western Kansas, but they never came off, tore, etc., and looked real. I would buy a set today, if I knew they were as good as the ones I had back then.

James, There could be a number of possible sources for rearend parts for you, but I can just about guarantee these folks have what you may need. One of the few things I recall is that even for the big rearend there were at least two ratios available--one low and one for cruising. Keep that in mind as you are shopping for replacement parts. www.mooresautosalvage.com

James, Some screw sizes have not been made in years. The parts books will show the size. Go to a good fastener shop and see what they have. I had fits trying to find the screws for the exterior door handles. Went to my neighborhood shop, and the owner told me immediately that those screws had not been made since 1962. He is an older fella, and knows his merchandise. Which brings me to the machine shop approach. You may have to have some made--that is if the running gear, etc. is salvageable. Maybe I was lucky but the last time I was looking for some rearend parts there were several for sale on e-bay. As a last restort, check with the salvage yard in South Dakota that specializes in old Mopars. Can't remember the name of the company, but they have expanded into other makes more recently, but originally were MOPAR only. The problem was their prices. They have just about everything, but you will have to pay for it. I'll try to recall the name of the yard, and post it later for you.

Reminds me very much of the '49 Plymouth we drove to highschool. That is the shade I prefer of all the ones I have seen in any car. You should be very proud of yourself!! The rest of it will be the real challenge. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and best of luck on the rest of it.

My '48 Chrysler has a button which is depressed when the the brake lever is pulled. It causes the light in front of it on the lower dash to flash. I am sure the Plymouth has a smiliar set up.

Both companies have quality products. For some reason Rhode Island makes smaller harnesses which can save you some money depending on your needs. However, if you go whole-hog they are pretty close in pricing. I used YNZ, and sure enough had a problem with the transmission wiring from the inner fender to the carburetor--there was a wire missing. After several weeks of frustration the manager finally found an old copy of a factory wiring diragram showing the missing wire. Turns out that they were using a 1947 harness as a template, and my car is a 1948 New Yorker club coupe. Apparently, in '48 this extra wire was added. But, you will be happy with either company you use I am sure from a quality and service standpoint.

I was still new with U.S. Customs in El Paso when an older couple came across from Juarez having taken just a quick look around. They were just starting to drive away when smoke started coming out from under the hood near the windshield. It was a brand new 1970 Mercury Marquis. Several of the guys ran for extinguishers, but to no avail. The brand new car burned before their eyes. The firemen were able to save the majority of the passenger compartment and trunk. They were fortunate not to have lost their belongings as well. Mercury had some kind of electrical problem and they were one of the first to experience it. Many followed before the problem was corrected. So, it can happen to any of our cars. An extinguisher may or may not help depending, of course, what is going on with the car. I would have been on the ground in tears if that were my Plymouth. She was a real beauty!!

The needle bearings are much better. My mechanic said that if they had used them on both ends it would have been the best suspension on the market in that time frame. The only ones that are hard to find are the ones for the long wheelbase models and the New Yorkers/Saratogas. I know--I have a '48 New Yorker club coupe. I was given a tip by my shop that after installation as in your case or during regular mainenance to jack up the suspension and grease it with the wheels off the ground so grease can circulate around the entire surface on the bottoms. Wiggle the wheel around after putting in a couple of squirts to get it spread around. Put it back on the ground, and you are good to go.

The main problem for everyone using the original frame/crossmember, steering box, etc. is the steering box vs. manifolds. How did you work around that?? I want to put in a 350/350 in my '48 Desoto, but have been blocked because no one around my area makes an exhaust manifold that is worth less than the whoe car. So, please, explain away what problems you ran into and your various solutions!!

Cut off one of his mother's breast?? If he were familar with her surgery needs at all he would have been referring to a "mastectomy." Not cuttting off her breast. And, as noted above Canada has universal health care, and would not be charging for the surgery. This would be a good time for an "independent" examination of the car by a third party which E-bay ususally recommends on the sale of vehicles. If you are real serious, approach him on this subject before you make another move.

The brake switch on all the MOPARS during this period are under the radiator where the brake line crosses to the passenger side. Easy to spot.

If the engine performs as you expect at that price, I would say that price is WAY BEYOND great. That is the cheapest I have ever heard of. I live in Oklahoma in a relative low cost area, and I know for a fact it is at least double that at the cheapest shop in the area. More like triple. Just to give you a sample; I had an eight cylinder crank shaft from a MOPAR flat head flash welded and reground to standard was $895 about ten years ago. Good Luck!!

Did not realize you had made changes underneath. With everything stock the steering box gets in the way of the exhaust for everything except the 273 Desoto V8 which can be shoehorned into the engine compartment. I (and my mechanic) planned to put in a 350/350 with a Ford 9" in my '48 Desoto coupe until we found out no one in this area makes custom exhausts, and those that do (one over in Arkansas that specializes in racing engines) charge more than the car would be worth.

Just what Chevy motor do you plan on shoe-horning into your Plymouth that does not require a specially built intake or exhaust manifold to get around that steering box?? I am pretty flexible myself. I let cost dictate my moves.

The other web site is VERY fussy when it comes to the Chryslers. If you suggest modernizing or changing anything they go into a freenzy. Several members became so disgusted with some of the obsessive members they started another web site for which I do not know the name. What I do remember is the name, Edward Pauch, of the the most knowledgeable member who runs the new site. He makes reproduction parts, and sells them on e-bay from time to time. His plastic items are of VERY high quality. He lives in Winnipeg, Canada. Other than this web site, he is the only other person you need to know. So, looks for his items on e-bay. You can contact him if you like, but I do not know his currrent e-mail address. It may be on his e-bay sale pages.

Yesterday I was purusing what was purported to be a 1954 Windsor which I have been looking forward to seeing for some time because of the 265 cu. in engine and two-speed PowerFlite automatic transmisssion. The car had been almost completely strippped and poorly painted sometime in the past, so all the easy to remove trim parts were in the car in boxes. There appeared to be extra bezels for the front lights and extra tail lights. There were so many parts I may be wrong, but my mechanic said that it looked liked there were extra parts too. The owner could tell you for sure. I am not sure the tail lights were all for a '53. He wanted $750 for the whole car which was fairly solid (except for the front floors), and the engine turned over. However, I wanted the PowerFlite. So, no deal. His company name is Savage and Sons Towing in Hulbert, Oklahoma. His company phone number is (918) 772-3350 with a cell of (918) 346-0316. Give him a call and see what he says. Seemed like a very nice fellow over the phone. Good luck!!