TodFitch

For 1931, the serial number tag should be on the front passenger (right) side door hinge post. To the best of my knowledge that is the only place the serial number appears on the car. In that era they often registered cars using the engine number. The engine number should be on a boss on the driver (left) side of the engine block above the generator. For 1933 the engine number was also stamped on the frame on the driver's side between the running board supports. I don't know if they stamped the frame in 1931 or not. For more than you care to know, see https://www.ply33.com/Misc/vin

“Spanish Village by the Sea” is the nickname for the whole city of San Clemente. There might be a place called Spanish Village in town but I haven’t heard of it. The big industry in the city is tourism, especially surfing. A lot of the surfing community goes for older vehicles. I am a short walk from a couple of the well known surfing breaks so I see a bunch of the vehicles they use. A bunch of the older vehicles are 80's and newer American vans (cheap, will hold several surfboards, and they can camp in them). But there are even a number of original VW Type 2 microbuses and a bunch

Depends on where you are. Still a pretty fair number of cars from 15 and 20 years ago on the streets in my town.

The question was, I think, about the rear hub bolt. You do not back that one off to the nearest hole: You go to the next one which is why the torque specification on it is for a minimum of 142 ft-lbs.

As does my '33 Plymouth which came from the factory with only right hand threaded wheel lug bolts. When I first got my car I knew that Chrysler products had left handed wheel studs/bolts on the one side. I nearly split a gut trying to get the bolts loose on the one side, fortunately using hand tools so I didn't ruin the hubs. For reasons way beyond my understanding, the 1931 Plymouth had left-hand threaded studs on one side of the car. They stopped using left handed fasteners for that by 1933 then started doing it again in 1940. Why the on again, off again approach to this?

The 1944 MoToR's Auto Repair Manual - Eighth Edition says the wheel lug bolts for 1935-42 Plymouths should be torqued to 58.5-66.5. Odd that they give an 8 ft-lb range with 0.1 accuracy on the end points. But basically I’d interpret that as 60 ft-lbs. For a 1/2 ton truck of that same era that has very similar running gear to the car, I am guessing the values would be the same. That said, like @JBNeal, I tighten mine with a four way lug wrench and not a torque wrench. First, just snug when on the jack. Then final after the wheel is on the ground. I do a star pattern on t

Parts book shows that both the rod and main bearings changed when they went from the 201 to the 218.

I think GTK tried to record it but I have no idea if it came out okay. If it recorded okay it would be nice to have it available.

It should have been an email from p15-d24.com with a link to a Zoom meeting. Sorry you missed it.

It is not just a washer: It is a “spindle washer” with a tang on it that fits into the slot on the spindle so that it will not rotate. 1928 through 1949 used Chrysler part number 50652 on the rear axle. I have a cross on that to a Dorman 618-005 with a note to myself saying “May not be an exact fit and need some filing on the tab portion.” Looking at the Dorman site, it seems adding a ".1" suffix to that part gets you the bagged version rather than a box of them. I don't know if your '53 uses that part or not but it seems likely as Chrysler didn't bother to change it fo

No. That felt dust seal is different. The oil pan gasket set has four pieces: Two sides and two ends. The ends go into channels at and the ends of those two gaskets stand proud of the pan when you install it. If you trim them flush as seems reasonable then you won't get it to seal properly.

Is that grinding going into first or reverse? Those aren’t synchronized. You should be at a stop to shift into those and maybe a little delay after depressing the clutch pedal to allow the gears to stop moving. Second and third are synchronized so any grinding there indicates a problem. For what it’s worth, 1935 is the first year for synchros for Plymouth.

I am only really interested if they were also used on early Plymouths. The key point you made and I reinforced it that when you find a cross that works you should save it for future reference.

Aluminum? That surprises me. . .

And when doing this, record the cross references that you found so that next time you need the information you have it on hand. Or, for that matter, being able to share with others that cross reference information. The database I have on my website started back in the 1970s as a 3x5 card file of that type of information.