Andydodge

Gidday from sunny Sth Grafton......I need some assistance from anyone who has a 42-48, maybe later Plymouth.....the 41 Plymouth I have has had a temporary horn switch rigged up since before I bought it and I decided tonight to properly connect it thru to the horn blowing ring. It appears that it has a P15 46-48 steering wheel and horn ring installed and its missing the Blowing Ring Ground or Contact Cup that fits inside the steering wheel hub behind the nut that holds the wheel on, this cup looks like a large flat washer with its outer edges turned up at 90degrees towards the horn blowing ring which makes contact with it and earths out the horn circuit......does anyone have a spare or the exact dimension so I can make one?......thanks and regards, andyd

Nah, actually the neighbours were quite good, originally we couldn't get a car into the backyard because of the front steps into the house so the back neighbour agreed to let me & my brother bring our cars thru her place, we cut a section of paling fence down and I brought my 1940 Oz Dodge Coupe in and then my brother brought his 1935 Ford 5 window Coupe and 1935 Ford Sedan Sedan in a yr or so later......being as we were only 16 and my brother 14 we could drive so after removal of said engines, where else do you get rid of them?.......yep, dig a hole, well big hole beside them and role them in.........a few yrs later then when we had rearranged the front of our parents house and moved the steps and put a drive thru, we then built a 3 car garage........only problem was that in building the garage foundations we discovered that some turkeys had buried a couple of engines where the footings went so we dug a couple of DEEPER holes beside these engines we found and rolled them into these deeper holes.........don't ever go buy a house in a Sydney suburb of Rockdale..........lol.......who knows what you'll find in the yard........lol.......andy(shovel)d

Rocka...........cause you used backing soda......if I bake a cake and stuff that down the carby throat would that work just as well?..........lo........seriously tho am really pleased to hear of your success........I might give it a whirl myself....or at least the Plymouth a go.........lol..........good one, andyd

I've got 6.00 x 16 crossply whitewalls on the 1941 Plymouth and 195 x 14 Radials on the 1940 Dodge.......now both use essentially the same suspension, the Plymouth the original steering box, the Dodge uses a rack & pinion.......the two cars are like chalk and cheese to drive, the Plymouth tyres track and wobble, visit places that I didn't even know were on the road........lol.......but thats what narrow, original style crossplys are like(the car has had a good wheel alignment, tyre balance, etc)......they are 1940's tech........and its good to compare.........the Dodge on the other hand steers and handles like a much more modern car even with the same type of suspension.......and its what I want from both......but be prepared for the reduction in steering effort that the radial tyres make over crossplys and the no more constant steering wheel adjustments........I had both out today, a short 10 min trip in the Dodge and a good 45 min trip in the Plymouth.......and both bring a smile to the dial....and thats what you want, either way.....regards, andyd

A coincidence.......I had my 40 Dodge parked outside of my shop today and a guy with a nice P5 mid 60's Rover parked across the road and called in, nice cream with lower body in maroon........andyd

Use either 15" wheels and tyres or get 16" radials like Cokers etc, that will fit on the 16" rims, only hiccup is that the original Mopar rims are about 4-5" width so you'll be limited to around 195/205 radials, if you chase up 65/70 series they will have very close to the original crossply section height also.....andyd

Chaz, my Auto Interchange 1950-1965 Chrysler Interchange Manual lists the 53-54 Plymouth having the same rear spring as the 53/54 Dodge, the width for both is 2", front to center is 22", rear to center is 31 & 5/8th......note I also checked 53/54 DeSoto & Chrysler and they have a 2 1/2" width spring but use the same measurements as the Ply/Do otherwise......hope this helps........andyd

Main thing is to make sure you run a thermostat and either the engine fan or rig up an electric fan/s with a manual switch...andyd

Oops and its an internal bypass engine, so I have to drill the hole in the edgy head don't I?......btw I was able to get a Best brand gasket set that has a steel head gasket, no potential copper gasket/alloy head problems.......andyd

Pete, thanks, your engine's the inspiration, you could have saved me some printer cartridge money if you'd have your site available as a paperback or hardcover........lol.....as for the adapter its a neat piece and the Holden water pump is like a small block chev piece over here, very cheap and plentiful, once its all polished it should look good, as for a race part.........do you think I could tell people its an early nascar engine?..........lol.........yeh right was used as a marker post on the daytona beach!..........thanks, andyd

Rodney, its o/k, nothing flash but its enough to put a smile on my dial, its getting driven to work today, friday, will have it parked outside of the shop.....creates some interest....andyd

Not actually sure whether it had the 201 or 218......more than likely the 201......its buried in the backyard of a house in Rockdale a Sydney Suburb I grew up in.......lol.......god help them if they ever try to dig up that yard.......theres the complete engine,gearbox,driveshaft & diff outa the 1940 Dodge Coupe plus two 24 stud sidvalve engines that my brother buried there also.........lol........the Plymouth looks good in pics tho' the paint is not that great but it will keep me happy, I intend to run 14x6, 15x7 whitewall radials on it and drop it at least 2-3 "........andyd

The reason you probably don't see many 1940 Dodges is that i wrecked a few........lol........between 1971 when I bought mine for $15.00(he wanted $40.00, we beat him down) and 1981 I bought a few, 4 sedans that i pulled apart for spares, a 1940 Dodge Ambulance from Toowoomba that I never picked up(also $15.00) and the 1st one was an Oz 1940 Dodge Coupe in 1970 which I as a 16yr old promptly pulled apart.....I was gunna use the brown sedan as spares but as it was complete, registered but not going, needing only some rewiring it was decided to restore it.....had "experts" rebuild the engine, the engine lasted 1500 miles(1st Street Rod Nats & back) so it got pulled and a V8 was stuffed in and its had the V8 since sept 1973.........I rave on........lol.....andyd

The head I got from Earl Edgerton, the Offy intake from a guy in Utah, the Holden single barrel Stromberg carbies from a mate, the aircleaners from Johns Rod & Custom in Melbourne, the Beehive Filter from Diablo Motors in Sydney......the water pump is a 186 Holden pump that came with the 230, the guy I bought the engine from said it was out off an airport tug at Mascot Airport in Sydney, he was gunna throw the 230 in a boat but decided against it, he had a full machine shop and made the round alloy lump that bolts to the original holes, the Holden pump looks like it should work o/k but neither he nor me have had it going so am not sure yet.....lol.......once i can get the water tube out then I'll send the engine off for machining...I have 20thou over pistons/rings, the crank is standard but will need a linnish at least, maybe 10 thou grind.........also slated is a Waggott cam and full balance......bring on the Frods......lol....andyd

Heres a couple of pics of my cars, the 1940 Dodge runs a 318 Poly & Torqueflite, Weiand single 4 intake, 600 Holley, mild cam, Mallory dissy, remote oil filter, both engine and trans oil coolers,balanced, 4wheel discs, rack & pinion steering, original style front end with adjustable sway bar,shortened thicker coils, etc bucket seats, late 60's Valiant centre console adapted to the cast iron torqueflite cable, 1990 Oz Falcon rear end with discs on original springs, rear guards widened 2", paint is 1970 Oz Valiant Mahogany Metallic......been like this since 1974...the 1941 Plymouth is a recent purchase basically as pictured, it apparently was built in Sth Africa, factory RHD, supposedly restored here in Oz about 10-12 yrs ago, whilst stock at present its getting a 230 with Edgy head, Offy twin carb intake with Oz Holden Stromberg carbs, Langdon HEI, Custom made headers(as the US ones will hit the Oz RHD steering box), Beehive oil filter, S10 T5(on the water as I type), will also get a set of discs on the front end, Falcon Diff on the rear and a couple of inches outa the ride height with wide whites on wider radial tyres.......Andy Douglas

Hopefully these will come thru...these are just the mock up.........andyd

Richard, the Standard Catalog of Chrysler book by John Lee lists it as having 699 made......great body style, good luck.

Is there a simpletons guide to attaching pics.......thanks, Andy...the simpleton......Douglas.........don't use big words....lol

Don, what diff ratio are you running? thanks, andyd

I would suggest that you will get better handling by mounting a thin, say 1/2" sway bar than a Panhard rod, which are normally only used on coil sprung rear ends now(I know that DeSoto/Chryslers used them) to provide lateral location, an anti sway bar is usually clamped or bolted to the rear axle tubes and the arms either go forward or back depending on the space etc.......one thing tho' make sure that you have the front sway bar mounted up, don't just run a rear sway bar and no front one as a rear sway bar can increase oversteer......I have a 1" front sway bar with heim jointed ends on my 40 Dodge with the original front end, I did have a rear sway bar but removed it yrs ago as it affected the steering too much........sorry no pics apart from the one on the shop About Us page.....andyd

Water Tube?........nah.......its more fun pulling fingernails..............and after spending 3-4weeks trying to get one out without success, I'd go for the fingernails every time........seriously tho I'd pull the welsh plugs, draincock and water pump but unless the tube comes out easily, I'd leave it for the time being and cleanout behind the plugs, hose the water jackets, etc........shoot the hose down the water tube if it won't come out, it'll all help.......andyd.

BTW..........that should be "pop" rivets in my story above......and just checked Blueskies seat belt info and he's the same as what I did......lol......andyd

Fred, I've had lap/sash retractable belts in my 40 Dodge for 30 yrs, works well, the lower mts are relatively straightforward, the upper mount I used a piece of 1/4" thick by 3/4' wide 3" long steel strip with a 7/16th nut welded on the inside of a hole drilled in the midpoint of the strip, found a hole in the upper part of the door pillar and lowered the metal strip inside the door pillar to a hole I worked out was the spot to fit the upper seat belt mount to, was able to use a 7/16 bolt to screw into the welded nut, drawing the strip hard into the pillar, then drilled thru the lot and used 4 large pot rivets to hold the strip to the door pillar, when I retrimed the car the pillar trim had a hole cut into it fro the upper belt mount and everthing worked fine....the lower belt mounts are thru the stock floor into 2"x1/4" thick steel plates 6" long........I also mounted the rear (non retractable)seat belts the same way tho' the upper belt mount is thru the rear parcel tray.......hope this helps.......andyd

I know my 1940 D15 Sedan and the P11 Coupe both use a pair of 2-3" square 1/8th thick plates between the radiator frame and the top of the front chassis crossmember, there are 2 x 7/16th threaded studs that go thru the crossmember sandwiching these plates, nuts are accessable via the hole under the crossmember.....I would assume the same setup exists up to 1948.......andyd

I would be using the brake hoses that the discs came with if they are a factory style of caliper, otherwise whatever the caliper co recommends.......move the wheels thru the full steering lock with tyres on to check where to mount the rear hose bracket, ensure that the hose is not likely to be caught between any suspension or steering arms, etc.......I have vented discs on my 40 Dodge with the caliper behind the axle and was able to use the factory disc hose on the original 40 Dodge hose bracket, at the time Oz regulations wouldn't let me use stainless braided line on the street but now I could, it maybe worth checking out stainless hoses/lines also........andyd