andyd

Yep...thats a 1949...........I notice that its missing the bumpers......they are a one year only ribbed bumper that were a favourite with custom builders.......maybe hard to find , although I think the 1950 bumpers might fit if needed............andyd

I had the V8 thermostat housing as I have a 318 in the 40 Dodge & when I bought the Edgy Head it was obvious that the alloy V8 housing would suit the Flathead six so thats what I intended to do and why I mentioned it in the earlier thread................in this pic its mocked up on the Edgy head............and its nice & shiney to boot.....lol.......andyd

Shame you couldn't have contacted me 45 yrs ago......I bought a 48 Chrysler Windsor, quite a rare car here in Oz and it had an extra taillight aside each stock one making two each side PLUS another pair in the trunk as spares...........lol.........considering that these 46-48 Windsors were never sold here in Oz but apparently 10-20 were imported for government use the three sets that my car came with were pretty uncommon.....lol..........of course I sold the car 43 yrs ago and no, I didn't keep the spare set of taillights that were in the trunk...heres the only pics I have of the car......it had the Highlander plaid upholstery to boot & everything worked including the clock........miss it, bought for $100, sold for $200.........sometimes I did/do dumb things..........lol.........andyd

Hardknoxs.........this site is a wealth of info and I've learnt so much since coming here.........whatever your choices are in relation to the cars build its your decision and for me the main thing is to enjoy what you do and have and its all good...........again, Welcome on Board from Downunder.......Andyd

Technically no, the car you have is a 2 Door Sedan....nothing wrong with that tho'....the red car that I pictured & owned is a Coupe.......in 1941 they, mopar had 2 versions of the Plymouth Coupe, both used the same basic body shell like I had.....most were called Business Coupes and used a single split bench seat like what your 2 dr Sedan has and no back seat.......the more uncommon version still used the "Coupe" body shell but also had a pair of small folding rear seats behind the split bench seat and were called Auxillary Seat Coupes,.........my car was in fact that type.....I have attached a pic of the rear seat setup that my car had & yep was RHD, really suitable only for children tho' adults can sit there.........then in 1942 Plymouth came out with 2 body styles.....the Business Coupe using the same body shell as 1941 and a longer roof Coupe called a Club Coupe with a full sized rear seat.......both body styles continued to 1948...........but the 2 Door Sedan as your car is was always available and used a full sized rear seat behind the folding split bench front seat.............again.....there is nothing wrong with your car........to be honest the 2 door sedan is probably the more uncommon compared to the various Coupes or 4dr sedan...............works for me..........Andy Douglas

Hardknoxs...welcome aboard.............I havce owned my 1940 Dodge sedan since 1971, I installed a 318 Poly in 1973 & auto...the car has the original lower A arms, 41-54 Cast steel MOOG upper A arms, 41 stub axles, 1" heim jointed adjustable sway bar, mid 50's Ford Coil springs, relocated upper shock mounts and 11" vented PBR Oz disc brakes with a 9" narrowed Austin 1800 Rack & Pinion, rear end is stock semi elyptic springs, heavy duty shocks, 1991 Oz Ford Falcon disc brake rear axle, stock body with 2 widened rear fenders, custom made Alloy steering column using Valiant upper, bucket seats etc etc..........have attached some pics or the 40 Dodge & 41 Plymouth I had for a while....it was to get a 230 & 5 speed , finned head, etc............so........... ............my suggestion would be to upgrade the stock front end with better shocks and/or relocate the upper mounts, swap in a thicker sway bar, use a centre steer rack to reduce bump steer.....check out various engine mount kits that use early Ford biscuits & chassis mounts or modify the original Hemi mounts to suit.........but don't go swapping the chassis, these cars use a better engineered frame then early Frods or GM stuff and just need some basic upgrades.........if you want more info ask away........regards from Oz.......Andy Douglas

Rich.......you question whether the right & left hand rubbers are the same......they are not, the overall outside shape is basically the same however as shown in the parts manual pic that Sniper posted the rubber that fits against the steering box is essentially "flat" whereas the outside rubber that fits between the frame and plate is molded with "bumps" that correspond with the area that the bolts fit thru....both rubbers use the metal ferrules to help locate and support the rubber pieces and the metal crush tubes......... ..........also the reference to the RHD export DeSoto using these rubber isolators maybe due to the fact that at least here in Australia the majority of mopars sold here were in fact Plymouth based notwithstanding what brand they were sold as.......... .........my 1940 Oz Dodge sales brochure does in fact show a picture of a US sourced Dodge with the US correct fenders, hood, bumper & headlights but in 53 years of playing with 1940 Dodges I have only ever seen one such car but maybe 20 of the Oz assembled Plymouth based cars which would have all used the rubber pieces.......... ............the plot thickens..........lol.............andyd

Dunno if this info will help re the clutch shaft bushings which originally are a split bushing made of diecast that fit around the ball then the two bushings are held onto the ball with some grease and inserted into the hole in the torque shaft....that piece in your hand bolts onto the side of the bellhousing from memory.........NOW THIS MAY HELP................here in OZ when Oz Chrysler made RHD manual gearbox Valiants from 1961-1981 the clutch mechanism used the exact same bushing in the same arrangement BUT these bushings were made of a white nylon or plastic, same 2 piece bushing, same size, width etc and were a direct replacement for the earlier diecast metal bushings..........I do not know whether mother mopar used these in the USA for Valiants but it maybe worth checking............regards from Oz.........andyd

When you replaced the rubber steering box isolators did you reinstall the metal anti crush tubes that go between the rubber pieces inside the actual chassis?.......also there should be some small thin pressed metal "washers" that fit around the rubber extruded pieces to support the rubber........these thin "washers" can sometimes be worn or not reinstalled.......also just a hint.........whilst the steering box does have a type of gear inside it its generally referred to as the "steering box"...........the term gearbox is generally used in relation to the transmission..........andyd

The general rule of thumb would be to remove the gearbox from the bellhousing from underneath then lift the engine/bellhousing as a unit or whilst underneath undo the clutch & flywheel after the gearbox is off then undo the side bellhousing bolts onto the crossmember and the front engine plate either from the chassis via the upturned U bolts or via the top of the engine mount via the 2 bolts under the water pump......then lift the engine out..............of course you could do what 16yr old me did back in 1970 when I decided to pull the 1940 Oz Dodge Coupe I had just bought apart.......... ..............so I started by undoing the driveshaft mounting plate onto the diff.......4 bolts came undone.......then moved onto the front plate that sits into a recess in the brake drum.....oops.............it got stuck in the recess so I couldn't remove the driveshaft.........so I decided to undo the gearbox and after undoing the 4 gearbox to bellhousing bolts and pulling the gearbox back it got jammed by the input shaft in the clutch plate................I'll fix it...says I.............lol.............so after rearranging the gantry my brother & I had welded together we removed the engine/bellhousing/gearbox AND driveshaft in one LOOOONNNGGG "SAUSAGE"............lol........off course when the lot was lowered onto the ground the offending articles all came apart easily........lol......and the lot was eventually uncerimoniously dumped into a large hole especially dug for such an interment....... ............now should I tell you about what happened a few yrs later when my brother & I decided to build a 30x20' garage in this area and had to dig footings for the garage wall.........do you want to guess what we found when digging?.........lol.......yep....you're right..........lol.........and then we had to did a DEEPER hole beside said article & roll the damn thing into said deeper hole..........AH!!!!!........the joys(and fitness) of youth........lol..............I was once young & silly.......50 yrs later I'm just as silly.........lol......and here is the only pic ever taken of the engineless 1940 Dodge Coupe & one of 19yr old me taking the 1940 Dodge Sedan I still have out for its 1st post V8 installation run around the block in 1973...............regards from Oz........Andyd

As much as I hate metric bolts I still have a metric tap & die set as well as an Imperial/SAE tap & die set.......the metric set is kept far away from the proper set so as not to pollute the SAE one......any metric bolts or nuts that are found in the garage are quickly disposed of in the garbage bin............a thread gauge is also a good tool to have handy ...........what are those things at the end of your legs?........metres or feet?........I rest my case...........andyd

Thank your lucky stars YOU are o/k.......and the car as well..........have you had a chance to check underneath as that area looks like above where a muffler might live......maybe something got caught between the muffler/exhaust pipe and ignited?.........also check wiring etc..the source seems odd...........andyd

I'm with Kencombs as well......I don't think 23/25" mopar pistons were or are cast iron........aluminium alloy since the 1930's.........as for whether NOS or new made I suppose it depends on the cost and condition.......if NOS and in GOOD condition, ie, have not suffered from any corrosion or abuse and reasonable cost then use them but if cost is not an issue I'd pick a nice new set from a reputable maker with a corresponding set of rings, ideally balanced to suit as well..........when I was getting all the bits for the 230 I intended to install in the 41 plymouth the pistons were the last things to get, I had found a set of NOS .60thou over alloy ones & had also found a place in Oz that made pistons as well as a couple in the USA so that was my next & last thing but ended up selling the lot...........back then, around 2013 a set of custom made but stock size pistons was going to be around $8-900.00 Aus, now would probably be at least $1500.00 Oz now.......maybe $900.00US...........andyd

Apart from using scrapers, old screwdrivers, an old butter knife or similar I'd also suggest either kerosene or mineral turpentine to seep into the still attached old grease & crud, then maybe a couple of old paint brushes to swerl the crud and loosen more then a good degreaser..........old pieces of towelling, a roll of paper towel even cheap toilet paper....basically anything that you can get the crud off and allow the degreaser to work.........I use a heavy duty degreaser then a hard water jet..........after that you can start to see whats actually there........the areas around grease nipples, ie, kingpins,upper/lower inner /outer bushes & pins and tie rod ends are notorious for nice hard, baked on crud.....the kero or turps first helps to soften this crud............andyd

Re the upper bumpers.......1939/40 use the same single 3/8th bolt on type, from 1941 on they use a type that is originally held by the upper shock mount pin..........unless you want to swap to disc brakes then I'd concentrate on getting the original setup working correctly then decide whether you want to redo or modify it........andyd.

Maybe it was only small block mopars V8's........andyd

AFAIK the alloy thermostat housing used on V8 mopars of all types is the same size as that welded piece.....at least thats what I've found here in Oz & doubtfull if its an Oz only piece.........this pic was taken when I lined up all the parts I had for sale......shows the alloy V8 thermostat neck.....andyd

Duuno if this is any help.....my car is a 1940 Oz Dodge which was essentially a 1940 Plymouth......whilst the front end has been modified etc & it has a 318 Poly the actual brake hose mounting positions are as per original even if the actual hose brackets are now not the original ones.....the ones pictured bolt onto the stock holes in the frameand were just in front of the triangular steering box bracket on the drivers side and in the corresponding same position on the passenger side...........regards from Oz......andyd.

Your brake hose setup has me intrigued as whilst my car is a 1940 Oz Dodge which is essentially a 1940 Plymouth its brake hose chassis brackets are BEHIND the axle centreline NOT in front as yours are yet yours appear to have always been mounted at the front .........odd.........the brake hose at the very least should not go thru the suspension assembly and if anything the hoses that are there would seem to be too short to go on the outside of the upright or spindle as shown...........hopefully someone in the US will reply to this question.............andyd

Re the head crack.........is it coming from the threaded housing bolt holes in the head?.........is there any possibility that the housing is "moving" or levering against the head..ie, the engine itself is moving forward/backwards and the upper hose is acting like a lever.........or maybe when the housing bolts are tightened they are making the crack appear?...........is intriguing to say the least........did you run a thread tap in the holes all the way though?...........andyd

I have not had any experience with these exact clips but they appear to be similar to lots of other types, the "squared" middle usually goes into the chromed or stainless rim edge and each end of the clip either sticks against the glass or against/into a molded part of the glass edge......or they could be used in the exact opposite way with the squared end locating into a molded area on the glass and the ends into the frame..........thats about as good as I can get but as Young Ed mentions the PilotHouse side of the forum should have a definate answer.........andyd

Adam............you have got me thinking.........lol.......thanks.......andyd

Adam..........as the car still runs the original gauges including the amp gauge and there is no volt gauge that will fit the amp hole I am stuck with it......as mentioned the Lucas alternator has been there for 45 years with the stock gauges..........so far I haven't had any issues with it and occaisonally do "rev" the engine so far without a problem...........but the Lucas alternator as mentioned is only a 45-50 amp one...........the only high draw item in the car is a 16" fan mounted on the radiator, when used the amp gauge shows a 15-20 amp load........the car has never been used to jumpstart another, it has a battery isolator switch that is always turned off when the car is parked and the battery is always kept charges , etc...........its an interesting conumdrum..........lol............andyd

When I had my 41 Plymouth Coupe I installed 2" blocks on the rear springs & cut one coil from the front, together with the 195/75x15 and 235/75x15 front & rear Coker Classic whitewalls it had this side profile.......lowered but not too low, everything cleared inner & outer without issue..........andyd

The issue with the old alternator was that a diode or some such animal had gone to valhala and the sparkie that I go to had to obtain a 2nd hand alternator to obtain a replacement part, he advised that new parts for that alternator were no longer available so that is why I went with the new unit..........I still have the "reco'd" alternator on the car and it appears to be working o/k but I don't trust it any more but was worried that the new alternator and its charging ability will "overload" the ammeter............and of course the two alternators both have wiring terminals that are completely different in name............lol.............fun,fun,fun............andyd