BobT-47P15

Did anyone mention S M S Fabric Company? They have lots of old style fabrics. It seems that exact reproductions of the front rubber mat and steering post piece are hard to come by. My 19747 Plym P15 had the same arrangement....I bought a new old stock front mat several years ago......it lasted for a while, then began splitting. So have now replaced with maroon color carpet in front and back. Probably black carpet would be a close look to original.

Also, guys........you who have early to mid 50s Plymouths (and maybe others) might want to check O'Reilly's stores for new wheel cylinders (and I can't recall what other related items). I bought some front wheel cylinders for my 47 P15, and they fit, but are not quite correct. When installing some new front brake hoses, the connector was not quite at the original angle......but we got the hoses on anyway. Just putting this out as something else you may be able to get locally instead of shopping eBay, etc.

Back to any of my earlier posts.......the "original" shock I was using (and am still using--right or wrong) is a Monroe Sensatrac 5752.......the short one. However I think I need to research lengths and maybe find a shock that is about one inch longer since on this one the top cover does not overlap the bottom portion by very much. Don't know if that could become a problem or not. The two shocks I tried that were too long were the Gabriel 81676 and the Monroe 555004.

46 Ply --- as you can see, it sometimes pays to check with everyday auto parts stores like O'Reilly and others. They still have some things available that apply to our old cars. I think they still have some ignition switch tumblers with key as well as the water connector that screws into the back end of the block and you attach the heater hose. O'Reilly has some wheel cyls for early 1950s Plymouths.

I haven't driven these tires enough to tell just how they will do in the slow or stopped turning situation. Some radials I had in the past were a bit tougher to work with. As Don said......they certainly do improve handling and ride on the road. I looked and also had the tire shop guys look inside the new tires for any tags or stickers, and did not find any. The Coker salesman said the same thing......be sure to look and remove any stickers if you find some. I have put tubes in any tires used on these 1955 Chrysler factory wire wheels........because I am concerned that there could be air leaks where the spoke ends are joined to the wheel. Have not had any problems with leaks using tubes. These rims have round holes -- but my tire shop showed me other tubeless valve stems in other shapes besides round. I think big truck shops have oval and other types, if needed. The radial tubes my shop uses will fit both 14" and 15" tires.....and only sell for about $5 apiece. If you look at the picture in the original post of the new and old tire side by side.....you can see they are pretty much the same overall size.

When at the Fall Carlisle, PA swap meet the first week of October, I found a few small items that relate to the P15. Otherwise, my big purchase of the trip was a set of radial wide whitewalls from Coker Tire Co. They had to charge sales tax, but we put the tires in the back seat of the rental car for the trip home, eliminating the shipping charge. So, yesterday I decided to get the tires mounted.......drove to my favorite tire shop......and they took care of it fairly quickly. The whitewall width is about the same as my old bias ply Firestone 6.70x15s so most people will never notice any difference in appearance. But, of course, when you look at the tread area you see an all weather type design instead of a straight tread. The new tires are 215-75R-15, which I feel is a good size for our cars. My old tires had been on the car 7or 8 years (maybe a bit more), but probably did not travel over perhaps 3,000 miles, so the tread looks like new. The new radials do make the car handle better and ride better. I opted to buy the B F Goodrich Silvertown tires rather than the little cheaper Coker Classics. Have heard too many complaints about bleed through on the whitewalls and problems balancing those Classics. New tire on the left, old one on the right........... The "old" bias ply tires............. And........lastly, what do they do with those stickers you find on new tires???? Why, they made a "sticker ball".......

Glad to hear you are getting the ute spruced up. It's pretty cool............

Many of the hot rod parts dealers have some new trim rings they sell. The above pictures all came from eBay.

Don, you want a trim ring the same size as your wheel............if your rims are 15 inch, then you want a 15 inch trim ring. After that........it gets down to style. There are some a bit wider, some thinner. Some with a groove or two, and some with a smooth surface. If you prefer those big wide ones that go under the hubcap to make it appear you have a full wheel cover, you have to make sure to get a set described as specifically fitting your model car / wheel. There are some like these............plus many others............. I have some like this........ These are the big ones that cover the wheel.........

I guess I got a good deal from a local, one man glass shop a couple years ago......he made me two clear glass (no tint) windshield halves for the convert for about $57 each. Not sure if he is still open or not nowadays due to some health problems. Stan......are there any other glass shops in your area you could check with. Were they quoting you clear or tinted glass? You can get glass for our old cars in various color tints.

Tim I called Ed at the start of the meet---they did not come but were going to Hershey. An older fellow had that space.

But---i have never seen a post asking where to get such a knob. Two knobs i would like to have for my 1947 P 15 are a spare headlight knob with the metal clip included and an extra "top" knob. If the cost is reasonable.

Just curious....what size tires are on the car?

There is one knob on a P15 convertible that is probably impossible to find-- it says "top"...is located on the passenger end of the dash.

There are some holes on my P15 firewall where sawtooth type fasteners come thru from the inside---they hold the insulation and the cardboard inner covering to the inside of the firewall. There is also a hole for the drain hose that goes to the cowl vent. Plus some others

I had to look at it a while to decide it was really a DeSoto; Im not so crazy about a four door model and it did need some work.........but it would definitely be different. You would have to explain to the average guy how and why it was different.

YEP....many relatives had a car exactly like my convertible........except it was a blue four door, etc...........

Don........I think he's talking about some advertisements that appear on his i-pad. They must take him by surprise or scare him. That's all I can make of it.

Really did not find much for a P15 or it's cousins,,,,,,,I did not see any of our models in the car corral ---however some fellow said there were two P 15s that were run thru the auction and did not sell on Thursday. This event does not seem as large as Hershey....we covered about the entire place. In our opinion the vendors here had the same sort of merchandise as at Hershey. There was some older and some newer old car stuff. Old Mopar vendor Ed Spiegel was not at Carlisle, but told me he was going to Hershey.

A few thngs I found on Fri------

How do you stuff 4 fifteen inch tires in the rear seat of an Altima??? Carefully I would say.

This is our official shopping photo. We rented this white Nissan to keep from ptting almost 3,000 miles on my van. This car has been getting over 30 m p g.

Found this 49 or 50 (I think) Dodge radio grille. Very little pitting -- the picture does not do it justice. Anyone need it? Will try to take a better picture in daylight.

Looks good Swede. I see they have already customized the hood for you. (We have a granddaughter, her husband and two kids who live in P'cola) We are in Missouri.

Met Phil Martin (L) and Clay Diggs ® at the Springfield, MO swap meet back in '09.