BobT-47P15

Read an ad at the last of the week in an area shopper paper. The guy has 3 or 4 old cars listed, including a 53 DeSoto ragtop. He said the previous owner took the hemi out then left it sitting outside the past 20 years or so. Has the top bows, but the floors and things are not so great. All trim is evidently missing. Probably one of those that would make a street rod instead of a resto. Asking price is reasonable enough: $750. Car is in the Springfield, MO area of southwest Missouri. One thing about the seller, get him started talking, and it gets to be a long conversation. Just putting this out in case anyone might be interested.

Simply sat a hubcap on top of the air cleaner....just to make it look different. It's no real solution to anything.

Click for pic: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Various%20Car%20Shows%20-%20Cruise-ins/100_1014.jpg

There were some old MoPar air cleaners which were smaller than the P15 type, such as came on the old trucks with two carbs.

Hi Mike. I presume you're speaking of that little rectangular plate on the door frame....probably on the drivers side. Click on link for a pic of mine : http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Petey%20Plymouth%202/100_2359.jpg It's basically just a piece of sheet metal, not sure what gauge, with some numbers stamped on it and some black painted border area. Can you still read your numbers?? Someone is making reproductions of that red ova tag....maybe someone has that info. l

OK, the question is: if you were wanting to put in new windshield rubber and also new upholstry including a headliner......which would you install first???

Gary.....says rocker trim highly polished, (probably no dings)....calls them super rare. Bob either does some things himself for sends sutff to others to have them shined, repainted, slicked up. He currently also has a repainted, cleaned up air cleaner and oil cap on there with new orange stickers on them. He touts them as show quality. Which they probably are. And manages to pull pretty good money.

Another item is this clock, he says was restored by the Clock Works company. Now at $255 and reserve not yet met.

Link to the clock ad: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1946-1947-1948-PLYMOUTH-restored-dash-clock_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33673QQihZ020QQitemZ300043089226QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW He doesn't sell everything every time, but eventually. Has a buy it now of $120 on the air cleaner plus a reserve. Ya gotta remember there are people out there with plenty play money who want perfection. So, shining & painting stuff up and restoring it is not a bad approach. It takes more time, trouble and money than tossing out a dingy item that needs work.

Downright clever, those guys from Georgia.

Welll, Zach. You could go to Coker Tire website and check for a bias ply, probably their house brand would be least expensive. Or there are other antique tire dealers. Or....you might check with a local tire store in your town for good used radials taken off another car, or for their inexpensive tire models. I just put a set of 205-55-R16 tires on my wife's PT Cruiser and the bill was about $395. These were not major name tires, but are pretty good. Do you have 16 inch rims?

The wide whites in this picture are bias ply Firestones in 6.70 x 15 from Coker and cost a little over $100 per tire.

Are these plugs anything that are needed much with these transmissions?

Gary, guess I don't know what you consider a 'marker' light for an old car of that vintage. I think of the side marker lights on the fenders of later model cars. Maybe I'm missing something here.

Hi Christopher. Back in 1968 when I acquired a job as a sales rep with a tobacco manufacturer, I inherited a 67 Plymouth with a 318 in it. That sure seemed like a good engine.....I rather abused it, even ran it mostly out of water one time, and it kept on ticking. Don't recall the gas mileage, but seemed OK. (I actually never checked it as they paid for gas.) It would get up and go pretty good, too. So--my experience with a 318 was good. In reading ads and comments by assorted people, it seems some are using a 318 in older MoPars nowadays. My couple cents worth. Bob

I actually took one off my car when I first got it that was exactly the item pictured in the parts manual. It was broken. Then, a few months ago, I took another like that off a 50 or 51 Plymouth.....for a sample. It has been in the weather so long its not shiny any more. And the cable had been broken off. So they used them up into the early 50s.

Reg, I would suggest that along with the extra roof support you are adding, be sure to attach that carport to the ground real well. Wind gets under them and they are just like a big opened umbrella.

A front view, too

You dont see very many of the painted wheels (never were chrome). I had a set once.....shoulda kept them.

That car is in this ad if anyone is interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DeSoto-Desoto-Firedome-Desoto-Firedome_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6190QQihZ002QQitemZ120047467012QQrdZ1

I guess if you really needed the part and were willing to have it re-chromed, then it would be OK. His starting price is not too bad as they go. Some of the stuff they offer is a lot worse. Like that P15 hood ornament for the same price.

Hmmm. Just got back in on this conversation. It had been a while since I saw that price. Evidently have gone up. It does seem awfully high for a sending unit.....but everything seems to be in the stratosphere nowadays.

I ended up paying $100 for a new clear plastic insert for the P15 hood ornament a while back. Not bragging.....kinda complaining. Finally figured that was the only way to get a new one these days. Guess I'm fortunate that right now have just enough play money to get a few things I want, not necessarily need. But that could change at any time. (Come to think of it, I cant recall even one person saying my hood ornament looks good, is that plastic part new?)

I know when the SS gets in the picture, they don't exactly make a person rich. So, glad you found a more affordable source.

Check your PMs here on the board for some info. Bob

I guess my point was: does anyone know why the Dodge head on the newer Plymouth motor would not work OK.

When I bought the motor, the seller had a finned head and 2 carbs....which he was not going to let me have. So he sent the motor with a stock type head. My mechanic said it didn't look so great, asked if I had any other similar heads available. Happened to have this Dodge one (don't know what year its from). He said it looked better and put it on. Runs OK, but not real zippy on takeoff. Recently got about 17 mpg. Runs smoothly. So, guess it's really not a big problem. Perhaps might do just a bit better with correct year head, but then, maybe not much.

Hmmmm......well, maybe I will change the wiper arms over to park toward

the middle. Maybe that's why they don't have such a good swipe. Noticed that when I got caught in some rain a couple weekends ago. Don't normally take it out if raining, but on rare occasions get caught in a rain. Of course, the rain-x helps.

That boot I finally got made this summer for the top sure makes it look better.

I think it was originally for some model of a Buick. As you can see, it goes down real low, which I like. Not really correct, however. Designed to be on the curve.

Ed, there are a couple of those on ebay right now, i think. However it seems like they want around 50 bucks for one. Check it out - I put in "plymouth antenna" to search. They go on the side of the cowl.

You can usually find aftermarket items made like these at auto stores. These were actually purchased at swap meets. The one on the left has a base for a curved area, like the curve of the cowl. The one on the right will work on a certain amount of curve plus on a flat surface.

Click on the link to see what an original (as furnished by the dealer) antenna looks like. This is shown in the Plymouth parts manual. These are not real easy to find....and not cheap when you do. I suspect Dodge used the same thing as Plymouth.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Parts%20Book%20-%20Other%20Literature/100_1061.jpg

What style was your antenna, Michael??? And where was it located?? Oh, and by the way, there is no photo of your car in the members list.

Robin, you only have 22 more posts to go before you, too will be promoted. the magic number seems to be 30.

Box seat covers, side panels $6.99 per yard vinyl with a grain, carpet replaced the rubber front mat. Need to re-do the seats with something better.

Trunk carpeted by upholstry guy, I made side panels of the $6.99 per yard vinyl and cardboard type material from Hobby Lobby.

Car is yellow.

I presume that the letter D cast into the head stands for Dodge. Looked at a spare head....it has a P there. Numbers below that D are 1311804-2...anyone know what they indicate? Presumably a Dodge part number. Click on thumbnail to enlarge.

Which brings me to the next question. Is there much if any difference between a Dodge and Plymouth head. This head is on a 57 Plymouth engine.