BobT-47P15

When I was trying to determine why the Plymouth had no power coming through the system this week, I looked at various parts of the wiring as possible problems. Son in law had unhooked and re-hooked certain items when working on the car over the last 3 years. Did he get them back in just the right places? Had something worked loose over time and a connection needed cleaning and tightening? It turned out that the battery cutoff switch had failed for some unknown reason.....but it appeared to be OK. When I bypassed it and hooked the negative battery cable direct to the solenoid, the problem was solved. But the question still remained.......where does this wire and that wire go? Pretty hard to tell as they were taped into a larger group of wires coming through the firewall and going to various places. One or two ran down to under the car and I would need to jack it up and crawl under to figure out where they went. They were not as shown in the wiring diagram found in the Repair Manual. Added later either by me or someone working on the car. I probably knew at one time where that wire went.......but as I've had the car for about 40 years -- I forgot. I have not installed a new wiring harness. I have a looseleaf notebook in which I have drawn my own diagrams of individual components to separate them out from the overall schematic which can get kinda confusing with all those wires criss-crossing and such. Then there are my "added" things, like the two extra horns and a siren.....a couple "courtesy" lights under the dash, underhood and trunk lights, hood ornament light and what-have- you. I did not draw these out.....but should have.......and plan to list them now since I've had to think about them. Well, anyway, I thought I'd put this suggestion out for your consideration. May be helpful to some......not much to others. I've learned lots of good things from others on here over the years.

Pretty sporty car there. All the companies had concept, futuristic cars back in the 50s. Fun to see today how many of their features became reality. As said.....that grille resembles some used in today's vehicles of various types. They usually put fancy wheels on those concepts......who'd a thought virtually every new car today would come with "mag" style wheels as standard issue. Lots of other features that finally became reallty.

J Harold.......the engine ran rough when I first got the car back home. Came to find out one plug wire was pulled loose from the distributor. Now it runs fine. What is the generator supposed to put out for voltage......7 or 8 V? The ammeter needle stays just to the minus side of center when idling......and even when revving it up a bit. Will try to check it with the multimeter, but I'm no expert with that meter. The instructions that accompanied it are apparently not for un-knowing amateurs......who don't know what all those symbols mean. I think I found volts, though. And it has a continuity tester with a weak little "beep" tone. You'd think they could put something a bit more audible in them. Of course, I have a certain amount of hearing loss which probably doesn't help.

Wellll........the culprit seems to have been the battery cutoff switch mounted on the firewall. It appears to be a pretty durable item.....but for some reason it stopped working correctly. When I bypassed it and hooked the battery cable direct to the solenoid, the car started right up. Now....on to hooking up my two extra horns and siren and doing more cleanup--shineup of stuff that got dull and/or dirty from sitting around for almost 3 years. Thanks to all for the helpful advice.

I agree that old rubber mat won't get any better on it's own......but would be interesting to know how it works out with a coating of tool handle dip or whatever you use.

Oh.....and the battery is new. I've been checking connections. There are some wires I can't tell where they go as they are bundled with others and wrapped with electrical tape. I may have known where some of them went several years ago, but have now forgotten. I replaced the fuse on the headlight switch, but the old one looked fine and the lights worked previously. I made some drawings years ago of most components of the system, such as the solenoid.......listing where the wires went. But there is a set of extra wires on one solenoid post (presumably just for power) and I can't tell what they're for. I suspect they are fine, but the wiring diagram does not show such wires. Will keep looking and trying things til maybe I stumble across the culprit. Thanks for the responses......it all helps.

The car is currently "dead as a doornail" as the old saying goes. Turn the key and press the starter button.........nothing happens. Nothing is working. The new battery appears to have 6 volts according to the multimeter today......and the wires I've checked seem to have continuity. Will check wiring on ignition switch next. It was running Sunday afternoon........shut it off......then nothing. Had to push it back into the garage. Ah well........another mystery.

Bob---that car on left could be maybe a LaSalle given the nice sidemount. Or perhaps a Buick.

Dang...now I won't know anybody in the 'Boro. Of course, we don't get to Nashville since my mother in law is gone. So it's back to being a Hoosier for you. Do you have relatives in the area? Are you driving the Plym or shipping it? How long a drive is it? Good luck with the move.

My pump started out with FedEx, but was actually delivered by the Post Office. I asked the mailman "what's up with that"? He said around here the Post Office goes the "last mile" for FedEx and UPS, doing the actual home delivery of small packages. A friend who used to drive for RPX said the big companies try to avoid doing home delivery when possible....just like to deal with the bigger stuff.

Neat.......looks very realistic. Thanks for sharing.

In the 1954 Plymouth Savoy I bought 4 or 5 years ago, in the ash tray were some Vess soda pop bottle caps, an old movie ticket and some coins. The trunk contained all kinds of "treasures"......not.......

Ed......always an adventure (and fun) to ride around in a convert. Don......yep, your P15 made the trip from Tenn to Tulsa flawlessly. And Pete in his brown 50 Plym from Idaho. The "Big Race" was fun to witness as well. Just goes to show ya you can have lotsa fun with old Plymouths......

check eBay. Might also check "for sale" section on the HAMB. I suspect there are a few out there, but I don't know of one at the moment. Hope you are having good weather there in Destin. There is a fellow around here who collects old Dodges specifically and might have something.....but he's about an hour from me and even farther from you.

I guess it's all "relative" to how much play money you have and whether you want a car to keep and drive,,,, or if you're in the old car business. Probably true about some folks from other countries.....some seem to have the funds to pay the bigger price. The fact it was a two door hardtop was the main thing I'd say. Next best thing to a convertible.

Yep......I've discovered over the years of owning a couple other convertibles plus the Plymouth.....that top down motoring on a scorching hot day is not as much fun as you'd think. However, it can be real pleasant in the early evening when the sun goes down. Back in 2007 we drove the 100 miles to Tulsa with the top down.......got a bit of sunburn in the process, but it was fun. (we went to attend the digging up of the buried 57 Plymouth fifty years after it was placed into the ground) For any of you newer guys who don't know about the buried Plymouth thing, just Google "buried 1957 Plymouth" and some info should come up. This is what it looked like because the container had filled with water.

Thanks for the kind words. Still a thing or two to do before much cruising. And at some point, the upholstery guy will install the new top. He said he would do it, but subject to some other work he's doing.

A few other improvements to the car.......Dale cleaned up the hood hinges, and we used an air hammer on the rivets to tighten it up. It's cleaner than it appears in the picture. Added new front upper shock mounts........they are either off a Dodge or Ford pickup. Been a while since I got them. New shocks to go with them. The interior has been completely re-done. And, of course, some body work and new paint. Going to take the ooogah horn to an auto electric shop....have them look at it to see if they can rewind it or make any other improvements. It's really gotten draggy after sitting for the past 2 1/2 years or so.

I think it is, Don. Ready for take-off.

Since the tornado in 2011 made my bug deflector with the propeller disappear (it was sitting on a shelf at the time), Tim Adams found me a replacement at a swap meet. He went and got it from the seller and shipped it out here to Missouri. So, tonight, I finally got the new item installed. (Also installed a new Airtex fuel pump......the car started super fast with it on.) So.....here's "The Queen" And the box it came in........ Thanks Tim.

Your car kind of reminds me of this P15 racer. If you want to see a LOT of P15s......just go to Google and put in "1946 Plymouth" or "1947 Plymouth" and click on the "images for 1947 Plymouth".......can do same for each year. Might find some ideas there.

I seldom see those bumper wings on 46-48 Plymouths. The plain bumpers are really clean and smooth. Here's the only picture I could find of a P15 with wings. Apparently this fellow's chrome was not so good. That "bedstead" rear guard is pretty scarce. You see more of that style on the front only. (convertible is not mine)

Ditto

After my post, i discovered the ad for a black colored float for $99 i had saved on ebay. Actually i have a new Atwater Kent unit i got a few years ago.

You said the brake hoses look new-ish. So did my rear one...but the inside was apparently collapsed. Fluid would go thru it to cyls, but could not return. ...locking rear brakes. So i would replace both those hoses asap. If that doesnt solve the problem, at least youll know they are new.