Robert Smith

Yeah, there are differences since your body is a '40 Plymouth body with '40 Plymouth fenders and such. The US built Dodge's are different than those of the others made in other countries such as Australia and Canada. Glad you enjoyed the photos... I wanted to take them outside in the day light... they came out nice I think... was a beautiful day yesterday and an even nicer evening! If you have a spare ashtray with lighter and hardware to mount it in (Mine just sits there and isn't attached... Hardware missing) That would be perfectly swell! I'm curious if it would be the same, I'll take a photo or two of it to make sure it looks the same. Yes, you're correct! That current wiring is Public Enemy #1!!! It's strange to me how it can drive when I'm not sure the charging system is really doing it's job. I drove it around town yesterday, started each time! I even drove it to the store last night with the lights on... started right up... odd. If it were any normal system and wasn't charging, that battery would be flat after a trip up the street 4 blocks to the store at night. I'm just waiting on the wiring from Rhode Island wiring. Should be here in a week or so! Can't wait to get it all done! :-D

Ornament: Happy car... Well, will be happier when I'm done! Polished the chrome the other evening: Took this one this evening at sunset, she photographs well! Typical mild SoCal evening: I love this car!

Electrical system cut-out switch. Yes, the original fuel pump was bypassed.... Naturally they just cut the line and left it there... No one will notice... Right? AndyDodge, this is for you pal! Close up of leading trim detail on driver side hood. A pitted trunk latch: Door handles:

The wiring to the horns are in such poor condition. Electrical tape was someone's best friend I gather. Yes, that's a diode soldered to one of the lead contacts to the gen. This is on the inside of the driver side fender, looks like some wires were cut and bypassed for the headlights? Hummm.... yeah. Fallow the shiny line coming from the Pep-Boys cluster in the glove box... The most obvious is the temp gauge... See, it goes right to the front of the water pump... Why?

Good looking instruments, I'd be surprised if they didn't operate. Missing a good portion of the throttle linkage, oil filter holder, oil filter lines and mounting bracket. Missing the bracket that holds the spark plug wire spreader. Don't you just love the welded on flat plate of metal and the bolt and nut on the starter peddle contact from Home Depot? Oh so not cool. :-( Two fuse boxes I gather, top is 6v the bottom is 12v... a voltage regulator that I just installed, another small box with a clear top that I'm not sure what is exactly, could be the 6v -12v converter? *Sigh* Will all go bye bye when new harness arrives.

Oooh, ahhhh... Looking for two of these: And two of these: Looking for a complete ashtray, mine is only the outer door with no lighter or mounting bracket.

Ok, over the weekend I put in a rebuilt generator. I also just purchased a voltage regulator. I hooked it up and tried to polarize it... No sparks at all. There I tried to see if there was anything I was doing wrong... no sparks period. So, I'm curious if the 6v/12v combination I have eliminated the need to polarize... Or, that the regulator isn't even being used. Anyone have experience with the 6v/12v combination set up? Now, bare in mind, it's going bye-bye soon as the new wiring is connected! I'll be going back to 6v. and everything should work out fine. But in the mean time, the car starts perfectly, the car drives fine, and starts without any problems after sitting any place I have driven the car... so, it seems to be charging and not draining the batteries at all... So, who knows what's really happening. -=Rob

AndyDodge, I haven't had the chance to get the pieces to fit yet. I know I could make the dash trim piece fit, so long as the shop drills a hole for the light switch. It will take some time before that's done... I'm waiting to get the wiring all done and get this car on the road before I focus on the trim pieces... I have the ones you sent, haven't had much time to spend in the garage to take photos and post them. I really appreciate you sending those parts to me, they will go to good use, I need to send them to the chrome shop and have them re-plated and corrected to use. :-) I have some photos of the motor, and some numbers... I'll post those when I have the chance. Not sure exactly what number mine is, I'm still not positive if my car is a D14 or D17... The plate on the firewall is no help, can't read anything on it... it's just like a flat piece of metal with no real numbers embossed besides the body ID number which the previous owner mistook as the VIN. None of the original gauges are hooked up... The entire cluster is disconnected besides the speedometer. I hope to have them hooked up again when I'm getting the new wiring in. I can't wait to pull that headlight switch and see the dash lights come on... Why on earth did the previous owner feel the original dash instruments were worth fixing or what not... so retarded and not to leave the dash lamps in the dash.... their missing except for one that's wrapped in electrical tape with the rest of the wires coming from the firewall. When this thing hits the road... It'll have a sense of identity... As for now, it's a very confused car. =R

This is true, also, made me kinda sad seeing those illustrations from the "fashion tone" interiors... I once had the chance to buy a four door '41 Plymouth that HAD the ORIGINAL fashion tone interior still in good shape! Door panels EXACTLY like that in the ad! With the wood grained dash and garnishes! And the white plastic with read stripes on the garnish detail. The car was it's original two tone paint scheme with the extra stainless belt line... Gray cab and dark blue body... Beautiful '41... Needed a new paint job and also missing all the stainless to the grill... Asking $6k and wouldn't budge! It was a four door, I tried to get him down... Wouldn't budge a buck! Drove perfect... Eventually he sold it to some clowns and it ended up back on Auto Trader a few months down the road... Don't know what happened to that poor '41.

By the way, I placed an order for a harness for the car the other day. It's going to take 4 weeks or so. I also purchased another generator off of eBay, it's rebuilt and the seller rebuilds them, has 50 years of experience doing'em. It's a 40s Autolite which the original one is. When the technician up at Star Auto showed me what mine looked like in side, I was not impressed. The field coil wrappings were completely gone, just bare wires int here, the armature was shot and the bearing was rubbing really bad and caused silver dust all over the end of the unit. So, I was quoted $250. for a rebuild... I recalled there was this guy selling rebuilt gens on eBay for a reasonable price... I talked to him and looked at his feedback and it's all 100% positive. Waiting on the wiring and the gen... get that all put in and then get the car on the road! I also took care of the registration and title on Monday. Have plates and will receive a title in the mail from Sacramento in a few weeks. =R

The belt line trim you sent is very close to what's on the car now. When I get the chance to take the two parts to the chrome shop and have them size them and re-chrome them, I think they'll look perfect! -=R

I also will be taking photos of the engine bay, for all to see and point out what may be missing and what is currently missing. And maybe any suggestions as to who to go to for the missing items. Stay tuned.

Yeah, I feel that it should be just fine so long as the wiring is going in correctly and will be done right, should be just fine.

Latest: Today I made a decision, I was tossing around all the pros and cons to converting the car either back to 6v and or to 12v. After reading the 6V VS 12V on the site, I figured that since I'll be ordering new wiring and getting things ironed out correctly, I may as well convert it back to 6v. I dropped the generator off at a rebuild shop in town and will get it refurbished so I can plop it in and continue on the path towards a new start for this car. Also, I received a license plate lens I ordered from Arizona Parts, they only had a small list of 1940 Dodge parts but, that was one of them I needed! So, it was $15. no biggie and is an original glass piece. I installed it however, it's loose. I figured it had a rubber gasket originally so, does anyone know if STEEL rubber has this gasket? Thanks! -=Rob

Yeah, I looked at their site, they seem to offer a high quality product and I think they'd be a good route to go, I have to call them and see if they have it in stock or will have to put together an order and how long it would take to receive it. Also, I put the speedometer back in, I took it for a little spin around the block late last evening, I figured I'd turn on the lights and see how they responded... Well, they stayed one brightness and did not get brighter as I hit the gas... The generator has to be not charging at all... However, the two 6v batteries under the seat seem to keep a good healthy charge... I have no idea what's happening there. If this car was wired correctly and the voltage regulator was hooked up and everything was correct, I'd have a better idea what's happening or not happening... I don't know. On the other hand, I'm pulling the gen out to send to a shop to be rebuilt so, that'll be another step in the right direction. I'm going to have it built to 12v and convert the light bulbs to 12. The brighter lights and quicker starts is very appealing. :-) However, she'll maintain the 6V look. I recall hearing that a car wired for 6v will handle 12v just fine as long as the lights are 12 bulbs and so on. =R

Talked to Rhode Island Wiring today, it will take them 4-5 weeks to prepare a harness for the car to ship. Yikes, that's a long time... I'm not in a major hurry but, I did have plans to have this all done before the latter part of April. Any how, I'm going to make a few more phone calls and see what else I may find wire wise. :-) =R

I liked the old stance... At least in my area, curbs are much higher and there are more and more speed bumps around so, the stock stance is more practical. But, from a "cool" point of view, I can see why this makes more sense to you.

Some horror stories here... Wow, that is quite a fiasco some of you have had to deal with! Well, I'm waiting for some papers from the previous owner in the mail. He told me he mailed them on Thursday of last week. I received a message from him asking if I received the envelope... I replied that I have not received ANY mail since Friday. Saturday and Monday were mail free days; I know this because we had a Netflix envelope hanging out of our mail slot waiting to be picked up by the post man and it's still camping in the mail slot of our apartment!!! So, Mr. McFeely is flaking or his manager is giving days off because our wonderful US "Postal disservice" is playing games with the routes. Come on Uncle Sam, let us have our mail you chiseler! Anyway, when I get the papers, I'll know the rout better to go about this. In the mean time, the car is in the garage and tag-less. :-)

Ok, Rhode Island sounds good... Checked their prices... not too bad really! They do have a small harness for the dash lights... $35. bucks! So, I think I'll place an order with them! Thanks for that tip!

Wow, lovely '40! I do have a shop manual for the car, the guy I bought it from kicked it in with it. :-) I really like the look of the '40 Dodge, such a lovely grill! I'm not sure about the wiring harness, if it comes with the hardware already attached... that's something I'm wondering about. I went to the Long Beach swap yesterday to see a guy I was told that carries wiring harness... I think I went to the Antique and collectibles show, I wasn't aware there's another show just for autos. Anyone here have experience with the Long Beach auto swap or just Pomona? =R

I have both plates. I may lave them out of the equation and re-register the car after a while with the YOM plates. Thanks for the tips, very helpful! =R

Oh, that's good to know, I always liked the lit ignition like on the P-15's. I think that light was by passed too... :/ I have some back peddling to do but, I really like this car! -=R

Today I decided to take out the speedometer to re-attach the ring that came off during transport. I put it back on without too much trouble also, I'll have to lube it and get that back in. Also, while under the dash I had the delightful surprise to see I have no dash lamp sockets... Until I saw a large lump wrapped in black electrical tape along with the wires leading to the light switch... Yep, one of the dash lamp sockets... but, can't find the other... Oh where was logic when this wiring was being done??? So, if I can't find the other dash lamp socket, I may need one of them too. Also, I was looking at the windshield motor... Looks to be electric... Did Dodge have an electric wiper motor? Or did someone replace the vacuum type at some point? Thanks for all comments and info! I'm really enjoying this! =R

Great, I can think of some things, PM me your number and I'll call you and I'll give you a list of some things I'm looking for! :-)

Beautiful coupe!!! Never seen a glove box door with a clock! That's gotta be ultra rare... And yes, I'd agree that the '40 is the best looking Dodge of the 40s... IMO of course. ;-) Well, thanks for those photos! They do help very much! I hope to purchase a wiring harness and start getting the wiring replaced by Monday. The wiring on this car is just so hap-hazard, I'd leave it alone if it wasn't so, so... screwy. This also raises a question... Did the '40 Dodge have a choke? Mine doesn't have one... Or it was removed at some point. Not sure why but, it was if there was one. -=Rob