andyd

Busy..........interesting that Belgium connection..............good to learn something new every day......looks like I've lost my 3 Oz cents...........lol...........andyd

The water pump bypass is threaded so that a threaded plug can be screwed into the bypass piece when the heater is not installed.......I have not ever seen that 90degree or elbow shaped piece but I would have a guess and say that it may screw into the bypass fitting to allow a heater hose to connect........andyd

Both you guys deserve medals for the amount of quality fabrication you are doing with great pics that also add to why this forum is a real addition to the Mopar restoration world.......many thanks........andyd

That firewall plate also gives a nod to its source.......and also the edge of the plate below it........they are in FRENCH......no USA or Australian tag or plate would ever have been in any language other than English........that car was built in CANADA.......my Oz 3 cents worth(I'm more certain of this now so I increased my monetary wager).........lol.........andyd

The horn button on our 30's & 40's mopars is an earth switch..ie, pushing the ring/button or whathaveyou earths the circuit and the horn toots...........there should usually be a relay wired into the circuit going to the horn/s also...........andyd

Sniper has the right idea but wrong country........being LHD it was never made by Mopar here in Australia.......I would suggest that its a either a US export model Dodge made & assembled in the USA or its a Canadian Dodge which also used the plymouth body shell with Dodge trim & moldings like we had here in Australia but the LHD definately rules it out of being made here in Oz, as far as I know Oz Mopar did not make a LHD car at any time..........Thomas McPhersons book, The Dodge Story on page 170 identifies this car as either a 1954 Canadian Dodge in the Crusader Series, Royal Series or Mayfair Series........all of which used the Plymouth body shell,frame, & interior with Dodge exterior chrome.......the book doesn't list the series numbers for these Canadian Dodges tho' the USA Dodges were D-50/51/52 & 53...........my Oz 2 cents worth..........andyd

Original poster is in Germany so shipping maybe an issue.........but use brass plugs shaped like that on the right of the original pic, 1 & 5/8th diameter.........clean the recess in the block well, wipe some non hardening gasket goo around the edge of the hole, place the plug in the hole, sitting on the ledge of the hole and using a drift or even say a 6" long socket extension, 3/8 x 6" bolt hit the centre of the plug which as Plymouthy says will flattened the plug a little and therefore "expand" its diameter locking it into the edge of the hole in the block........I've never had to replace a brass plug.............they don't rust........andyd

If you can I'd get anything that is shiney, any steering and suspension part, brakes anything that bolts onto the frame & engine......if you can't get the whole door then anything that bolts in or on it, glass, lights, etc, etc...........the storage area or space that you have will basically determine what to get but get whatever you can see you may need or would like another piece to choose from.........my motto is "if its not bolted down or can be unbolted then its fair game"..........lol.............andyd.

John, the other guys have helped you re the fanbelt size...all I can offer is what a great car, I'm particularly smitten with D15 Dodges having had my Oz 4dr for 50 yrs.........if ever you decide to part with the coupe give me a call.........seriously.........61 02 6642 5963......lol.........Andy Douglas

Allbiz.......no offence taken nor implied...........I've a thick head & skin and its all good.........have enjoyed this thread as its good to learn some new things........thanks.......andyd

Yeh.........lol..........I'm from way back..........lol.....all good.........lol............personally I will never use any 2 pack or urethane paint as its cyanide based but as mentioned I'm no expert & acrylic lacquer has worked fine for me over the years but if you are comfortable using these new fangled paints then go for it.......why, I've even heard that there are telephones now that you can carry in your pocket................things change.......lol...............andyd

Marc, as others have said use the same brand of primer/undercoat & colour paint and you should be fine........you mention that the primer you used is acetone based so I'm curious whether it was actually acrylic lacquer based?..........I used acrylic lacquer on my Dodge when I painted it back in 1978, when the r vinyl roof was removed about 15yrs ago a mates son repainted the roof in 2 pack, he is a professional paint & body guy so that was what he wanted to use, colour wise he matched the 2007 paint well with the 1978 paint so I'm happy..........when I painted the Dodge in 1978 I mixed up 4litres of paint into 12 litres of sprayable paint, shot 4 straight coats onto the car then started mixing some clear into the mix and shot another 2-3 coats of paint/clear mix then did the reverse, ie, mixed paint into the clear at about 70/30% clear to paint and then 2 coats of very thin clear and finally a last coat of virtually straight thinners with a small about of clear in it............then wet sanded the whole car by hand with 1200 grit wet&dry paper then used machine cutting compound by hand then polished out.............apart from all the stone chips & crazing it looks o/k ......lol..........I'm no expert but I decided that I could spend a few thousand getting someone to paint the car and really learn nothing or spend a lot less on a compressor, spray guns, paint,thinners,paper etc and whilst it may not be as perfect as the professional it will have taught me something..........and the reason my mates son did the roof is that after a couple of right shoulder operations I didn't trust myself to be able to hold the spraygun above the roof like I needed to.......lol......old age catching up........lol...........heres a pic with the yinyl top, with the top off, note the writing "vinyl top to go here" that I wrote in 1974 & the car as it is now & has been since 1978 with the Mahogany Metallic paint ............regards from Oz

For a DeSoto the 1st number will be the letter S, this prefix was used from the early 30's thru to the late 50's for DeSoto, Plymouth used the letter P, my 1941 Plymouth was a P11, but the more upmarket one was a P12, my 1940 Dodge is a D15 which was and is the Plymouth based export version,the USA 1940 Dodges were D14 & D17's and Chrysler used the letter C from the early 30's to the late 50's.........after the letter or letter/number prefix they all then had the actual engine number for that particular year which had a starting and finishing sequence..........but as the engines can be swapped reasonably simply then its sometimes an easy job to see if an engine has been swapped if you have the engine number............Dodge & Plymouths used whats known as the short engine, ie, 23.5inches long measured at the cylinder head length.....DeSoto and Chrysler used whats known as the long engine, 25 inches long when measured at the cylinder head.........and at first glance both short & long engines do look the same, BUT internal parts of the two engine lengths generally do not swap...........anyway that machined boss should have an stamped S, a couple of stamped numbers then a run of maybe 6-8 stamped numbers which will be the engine number for that particular engine........and S15 will indicate that its the original engine or at least from a car in the same year series as the one you are looking at............andyd

How is the steering column shaft attached to that intermediate shaft, ie, the intermediate shaft looks like its a solid piece of bar, is it butt welded onto the original hollow steering shafts?.........andyd

The main way to distinquish our mopars is via the raised machined boss on the USA drivers side, on the block, above the generator, just below the block/cylinder head interface behind the water pump.....the various cast in numbers generally relate to the foundry or casting number days or time that the block was made and are a separate thing to the actual engine number............this machined boss is usually about 1.5-2" long by 1/2" wide and the stamped in numbers in your case should start with S...... which will indicate that its a DeSoto engine, usually for each year there will be a choice of two series, so it will be, for example, S15-1 or S15-2 indicating the specific series then it will have a row of numbers to indicate the actual engine number...........hope this helps........andyd

I would not use any silicon sealer but thats just me, the windscreen rubber/body edge is not a great fit at the best of times so I always use some sort of non hardening "mastic" between the rubber & body edge, as for where the ends join, that depends on how good you are in fitting the rubber with the glass inserted into the channel , a piece of thin rope is inserted around the rubber in the "channel" that is between the glass channel and front rubber lip then the whole lot is placed from the rear against the body edge and the ends of the rope pulled towards the front of the car which "lifts" the rubber seal over the body edge and places it in front of that body edge.............hard to explain but its shown in the shop manual..........andyd

Simon.do you have a pic of what you actually have, I assume its a factory RHD so there should be some sort of cable going from a bracket on the engine side of the firewall around to the USA drivers side and held onto a bracket beside the bellhousing with the inner cable going to a shifter arm on the gearbox.........there should also be some sort of bracket going across the top front edge of the gearbox/bellhousing join with a pivoting shaft and brackets/rods going to the column and gearbox............what exactly is the problem?...........andyd

The problem is that Maok is in Oz, as am I......I wish he would phone me as I have some suggestions that may help, including a set of rear springs .........Andyd.

Maok.....what is wrong with the springs that it has?..........have you tried any local spring companies in Brisbane?.........is the car a US build or is it a TJR Oz assembled car?............do you know the length of the springs that it currently has?...........can you ring me...........andyd

Maok...ring me............02 6642 5963......andyd

Maok........do we give Merle an encouragement award or just ignore him?.........lol...........yep..........I agree.....he should send both of us a carton of the PBR he talks aboutso we can conduct a proper test of its properties........lol..........andyd

BTW if you Yanks are wondering what a "PBR" brake booster is PBR was Patons Brake Replacement an Oz company that made these remote boosters as Maok said for 1950-60's Oz cars.........2 types were made, VH44 for drum brake systems and VH40 for disc brake systems, AFAIK they were only for connection to the front brake line........MAOK, I thought they were 8" or 9" diameter but sold my NOS one 5-6 yrs ago............have you checked the fitting on the booster that the hose attaches to?.......I've had that play up.................andyd

Dennis.............welcome to the world of 1940 Dodges......lol..........whilst mind has the instruments on the right side of the dash they are the same as yours and I'd love to find a nice NOS set especially the speedo which has a crack in the turning piece.......from what I've seen it maybe similar to that used in other 1940 Mopars but am unsure............my car is not original, 318 Poly V8, auto, 4 wheel discs etc since 1973, I/ve owned it since 1971........regards from Oz...........Andy Douglas

I've a 318 poly in my 40 Dodge with a rack & pinion, installed in 1973........I've also installed a couple of other V8's & steering boxes over the years in various mopars.........first thing is have you checked around as there are quite a few different exhaust manifold shapes & designs used on SBC engines over the years, however if the engine only needs to be offset 1" then depending on other clearances that still would be acceptable from an engineering standpoint although I understand your reluctance to accept that 1"...........as for cutting the steering shaft I've also done that years ago on a few cars.......the internal steering shaft is a hollow tube to allow the horn wire to escape, as for using uni joints so long as the ones you use are designed for steering use like Flaming River, Borgesson or Ididit or similar then they will be fine, the trick is deciding how to attach them to the cut column.........again that is a personal preference and thinking about this I would expect that you will need at least 2 if not 3 uni joints to get around the manifolds and therefore a center bearing to stop the shaft "flopping"..........what I did in my car is probably not real relevant as I mounted the Poly quite low and ended up using an Oz Austin 1800 rack & Pinion that I narrowed 9" & my car is RHD but thats technically not an issue............I've attached a couple of pics.........I'd get hold of a uni joint catalog before cutting anything as generally I'd think it would be better to identify uni joints that will work then cut the shaft to suit rather than cut & find that nothing will work..........lol.........anyway trust this gives you some food for thought...........any questions ...........ask away........Andy Douglas

Marc........do you still have the old worn brake shoes?.......do they allow the drums to fit on?.............are the actual old/original shoes the same size as the "new" ones that don't fit except that they don't have a new thick brake lining?.......then it must be the new brake lining thats the problem...........from here in Oz it still sounds like the linings are TOO THICK..........andyd