BobT-47P15

Along with what Marc just said, at one time several years ago I purchased a MoPar battery adhesive sign to stick on the battery....but now I don't recall from whom I got it. Has anyone checked with Neil Riddle to see if he has that item? Seaplym on eBay. He has had various signs and tags that were used on our cars in the 40s and 50s. The last one I got from him was a hanging tag about the radio. He is easy to talk to. This may get you to him.. or his ebay ad........https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1940-1950-Mopar-Radio-Tag-Dodge-Plymouth-Chrysler-Imperial-Truck-Desoto/313439571306?hash=item48fa744d6a:g:nyMAAOSw1DtXLi4G

There are several hard to find items on the old Mopar convertibles......mine is a 1947 P15 Plymouth. I think what happened to all my original stainless trim was -- it was removed because they were going to repaint the car and was not stored in the car. So, when the car eventually wound up in a salvage yard after spending time in a body shop, the original trim was not with it. I had to go to various salvage yards in my area in the 1970s and remove trim pieces. Fortunately there were numerous old Mopars and the price was very reasonable back then. One hard to find item on a convertible is a stainless plate made to trim the rear end of the window opening of the door. They look like this - and I have seen various home made versions. There was an older fellow making these, who I met at Hershey about 5 years ago and I bought the last pair on his display. Don't know if he is still making these or not. If anyone needs this item, I can trace it on paper to get dimensions. Another rare item is this upper wing window pivot....which can be made by a competent machinist. There is a threaded rod on the back side which goes into a hole on the window frame and held in place with a nut within the frame. And.....the chrome plated windshield wiper bases which can become pitted....which my left one is. I think the last one of these I found on eBay sometime back sold for $150 or $200. The seller did say that with some modification, the base could be used on either side. And converts use a very short wiper blade plus a slightly smaller wiper motor than coupes and sedans. The converts have a steam bent wood bow above the rear window.....which, unless you are a talented woodworker, can cost six or seven hundred dollars to have one reproduced by a professional steam bent wood guy. Mine was damaged by flying debris during our huge tornado of May 2011 and I could not locate anyone locally to make such a bow. So I sent it off to a fellow in (I think) Pennsylvania.....who quoted me a price for "a bow", so I sent him my bow for an example. Then, when he said he was done with it--all I needed to do was finish it up....I told him I had no way to work on it and had thought he was doing a complete job. Then he said he could finish it up for two or three hundred dollars more. So the job ended up 6 or 7 hundred some dollars total. Good news was insurance paid it. So I still have the original bow, taped together, in case anyone ever needs measurements.

I don't believe there was ever any "double clutching" required to shift a correctly working clutch/transmission in a 40s or 50s MoPar. But - I don't know what the problem is. So---not much actual help here. Perhaps someone with much more knowledge than me will join in.....

Good looking car. Appears to need some, cleaning, shining and tuning up. Probably a new set of tires. Otherwise, it is a good "time capsule" of originality. Yes, those plaid sort of things on the seats are seat covers.....which were very commonly used.....likely installed on this car by the selling dealer. Unless they are somehow not usable, I would just leave 'em there. Let us know what you decide to do. Bob.

It looks as if these Dodges could be purchased either plain or fancy. It would seem from the build sheet there were very few options on this one. Perhaps it had only one sunvisor--on the driver's side.......perhaps a horn ring in addition to the center cap of the horn. It listed standard wheels having 7:10x15 Goodyear tires. There were things on the build sheet like stone shields, glove box lock, glove box light which did not appear to be included. Probably would have had the small "dog dish" hubcaps. Color was Blue #505. At the first of the accessory line were spaces marked 1 through 8 under accessory groups. I suppose those may have been groups designated by the factory....but none appear to be marked. So is this a very "plain jane" sort of car with very few accessories......maybe no radio or heater??? Some pictures would be nice to show what the car and it's accessories looked like. I had to enlarge the build sheet and then rotate it to better read what it said......another automotive mystery.

My guess is if a particular P15 does not currently have a woodgrain finish on the dash and window frames, it has been re-finished by a previous owner by painting. The only P15 models without woodgrain (I think) were the convertible and woody wagon. I have a convertible -- on those the dash and what little window frames there are, were painted body color when new. The Special Deluxe (top line) model had a fancier dash and interior than the lower model Deluxe......but I think both had a woodgrain dash, etc.

WELL.....I don't see a gasket between air filter and carb in this pic from the P15 parts manual. And I do not have one on 47 P15. Yes....you tighten the air cleaner to the carb by turning that nice big "key" that you see. There is also a flat bar brace that bolts to the driver side of the air cleaner and then to the head to steady the cleaner. And did you put some motor oil in the bottom of the cleaner to catch dirt? These old cleaners work pretty well....have never had a problem with mine. Some people have modified their housing to accept a paper filter. Pic from Parts Manual......

I ran onto a newspaper page tonight that I have saved since July 4 of 2017 and re-read the story for which I saved the paper. It was entitled "Belvedere vehicle headed to Illinois auto museum". It refers to the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere two door hardtop which was buried in the yard of the Tulsa, OK courthouse on the 50th anniversary of the state in 1957....to be dug up as a time capsule in 2007. It was a big old Mopar deal the summer of 2007 which Don Coatney (48 Plymouth), myself (47 Plymouth), a fellow named Pete from I think Utah (1950 Plymouth) and a couple other forum members went to witness the big event and participate in the car show. While in town, Don and Pete, who had been "talking trash" for a few years about whose car was the fastest after their respective engine rebuilds....held their "Big Race" on the interstate highway which runs through Tulsa. I was trying to keep up and take pictures as a witness. The race ended up, as I recall, won by Coatney.....and concluded at a restaurant where we all went in for lunch. Back to the original story --- the article I found said the 57 Tulsa Plymouth (named Miss Belvedere) was indeed given to a relative of the man who in 1957 guessed the 2007 population of Tulsa. They, in turn, gave the car to a man in New York who manufactured a liquid de-rusting agent which he applied to the car to clean off as much rust as possible. Due to the weakened condition of most metal on the car, they could not scrub on it....but a lot of rust washed off. So, after 10 years, the rust fellow tried to find some place to take the car for display....which proved not so easy. Finally, he contacted Wayne Lensing, owner of a small museum in Roscoe, Illinois---a suburb of Rockford... called Historic Auto Attractions...who agreed to take the car. The place is in an industrial park across the street from a business owned by Lensing and contains both auto and non-auto artifacts.... There are things pertaining to Bonnie & Clyde, JFK, Hitler, Sanford & Son and many more as well as some notable historic vehicles. The owner says he is going to enlarge the museum soon. Under normal conditions, the museum is open Tu thru Sa 10-5 and Su 11-4. Admission for adults is $13 and (I think) a discount for seniors and kids.. Address is 138252 Metric Dr, Roscoe, IL. Phone 815-389-7917. First pic: son in law and I ready to head for Tulsa in 2007. 2nd pic....in Tulsa...the blue sedan belonged to Don Coatney. Had a DeSoto 6 cyl he overhauled himself.

desoto 1939 Rich....I do not have an aamco brake gage .....just using the feel and guessing process. I probably need to tighten those rear brakes a bit more but just hate to get under the car these days -- old age thing I think. Not so easy to find a filling station with a lift who will mess with the car......way back in the olden days those places would work on stuff or even let me do certain things myself. Probably will not get to Hershey or Carlisle again ... but it was fun when we were there. Thanks for the offer of visitation and lunch. Bob Toft 3/24/2021

Do you have a wholesale auto trim business in your area.....where you could simply purchase a roll of carpet ... which you could then take to an auto upholstery shop where they could cut, fit and bind it? That's what I did and it all fits good. But costs a bit more. I had them do front, rear and trunk carpet (all the same color) and it all was good. They even made a "flap" in the driver side carpet which can be folded back to access the master cylinder for checking/filling brake fluid.....without having to pull the carpet from under the rubber sill plate. I use matching maroon rubber floor mats on top of the carpet to protect it. They can be easily removed if you wish to have just the carpet seen during a show.

Nice, neat installations. It all looks good.

There is a connector terminal block on my 47 Plymouth on the driver's side, up front on the inner fender area....I believe it has 3 connectors and is held to the car with two bolts. Both the headlight wires and parking light wires attach to it. Do you have a repair manual and a parts manual for your car? If not, I would suggest purchasing one of each. The attached picture is an item that goes on a Chevrolet but is similar in appearance to one on out model vehicles. Hope it helps. The mopar item I have is all metal.

1955 Ford 4 door wagon. Note shape of door tops and rear window divider bar. Fun to try and identify....

I think that wagon in last picture is 55 or 56 Ford...... When I expand the picture I think I see that translucent section above the speedometer that lets in light.

My car only has one heater - on the passenger side - so I have been using this T type manual on/off valve for the water. (Turn off flow for summer--on for winter) As I recall, the valve was purchased from O'Reilly Automotive Supply and the price was not very high. Not what the original poster is seeking, but another alternative that can be used at reasonable cost. $5.49 for this valve at O'Reilly. They have several others at similar prices.

I had carpet cut to fit by an upholstery shop. I wanted maroon to go with my interior color scheme. However....to give the same general look as having black rubber matting - you could simply use black automotive carpet. My guy added a vinyl heel guard in maroon--- whereas you could use black if a guard is desired. Same for the back seat area and the trunk. Regarding the problem of lifting your carpet to reach the master cylinder to check/refill it ....my man made a cut so you can simply fold back a small area from rear to front of the carpet to access the master. Works for me anyway.

Your bumpers should be chrome plated....also probably your hood and trunk ornaments. Trim on dash, horn ring, door handles probably all plated. Normal side/hood trim should be stainless. Back in the 1970s I owned for a while a 1951 DeSoto two door hardtop with "factory air"......had the clear plastic tubes in the rear package tray. Never did bother to get it working, but it seemed to be all there. Nice car you have. Good luck on the resto work.

Did they still stamp the engine number on the left rear area of the frame in 1953? On a P15 model (46-48) , it is on the outside of the frame just before the gas filler neck. May require some wire brushing of surface rust and/or dirt to read. About 6 inches before the filler tube. I went over the numbers with a piece of chalk to make them stand out better.

Thanks for the info. Always good to have more sources. There is a fellow about 13 miles from my house who has tons of NOS stuff plus some salvage items for many brands of old cars. His name is Ron Riediger and his business is Riediger Antique Auto Salvage...located in Diamond, Missouri. Phone is (417) 325-6200. Sometrimes his wife answers. He posted this note some time back: Riediger Antique Auto has been in business for 43 years (since 1976). I have a large accumatation of NOS (new old stock) parts from many different dealers. We are open most days, but it is best to have an appointment as I started a wrecker service about 10 years ago and am in and out quite a bit on some days. He has two metal buildings full of stuff and also some semi trailer stacked to their roof. A nice guy.

Always good to know another source. Thanks for the info.

That was going to be my question as well Greg.....about having a back seat. Definitely the lower line model....which is not a bad thing. I lookedup some pictures and it looks like this one is a Cranbrook model.....1953. Here's one picture i found.

I looked thru his ebay ad---his prices do appear reasonable. Didn't see much Plymouth stuff there, but probably would just need to ask.

Hi Billy. Sorry it took me so long to reply but I just remembered to look at this post. Yes, I have taken my car to the Maple Leaf show in Carthage many times over the years....so that was probably it you saw. Did you ever live in Aurora, MO? How is your convertible project coming along---any pictures? (((I sent you a private message here on the forum also.))) Here is a pic from some area show of the past.....

Some people in past discussions have mentioned that places like Lowe's handle a rubber floor or stair runner that might be used for the trunk and perhaps running boards. I have not checked into it personally as I now have maroon carpet in the trunk which matches the floors of the car. Several years ago I found at a swap meet a new old stock rubber front P15 floor mat which I installed and used until it began splitting.