Bob Riding

As a fellow Plymouth woodie owner, I can tell you that most woodie-only parts are not reproduced. That said, certain items, such as door handles and locks are the same as Ford handles and locks of the 1930s-40s. Mac's Auto Parts was where I found quite a bit of stuff for my wagon. https://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_mercury_early/catalogsearch/result/?q=door+handle&x=21&y=9 Plymouth woodies are quite rare and we have a solid group of owners that can help. I have a friend in Grass Valley CA who has three 1941 Plymouth woodies in various stages of repair and a ton of extra parts. PM me with your contact info and I can send you more. I would also be happy to chat on the phone.

I have a '40 Plymouth wagon and struggled with the original color scheme. It was a total basket case so leaving it as it was was not an option. It came from Chrysler beige with blond wood, yellow bracketry and hardware and a tan top, with blackwalls, which was Plymouth's only option that year. The wife wanted a pretty color, so we opted for Brewster Green (a GM truck color from the '40s) with contrasting wood. In 1941 you could get multiple body colors and two tone wood (blond ash with mahogany panels) Because it spent it's life on a turkey ranch in Tonopah Nevada, delivering birds and eggs - it was considered the delivery van of it's day and so didn't warrant all the fancy color schemes, etc. After seeing your wagon, I almost wish I had stayed stock.Your wagon's color scheme reminds me of vintage postcards showing street scenes of the 1940' and 50s. - very cool! I agree that you should leave it as original as possible (6 volt, stock motor, etc) but the two best "hidden upgrades" that you can make are front disk brakes, which can be done without lowering the vehicle, and bias-look radial tires. My dad always said to me (during my wild teenage years) "you may want upgrades, but but you only need two things- good tires and brakes"

I ordered the 1955 1956 1957 Chevrolet Chevy Turbo Transmission Mount Brackets, from eBay- I think I can make them work for the Wilcap adapter. I will let the group know the results!

Thanks, I'll check it out

Looks interesting. What is the title of the auction, or auction#? Thanks Bob

There is a hole on both sides so you have the option of mounting the starter on either side.

I am in the middle of fitting my 218/2004R combo into the '52 Suburban and can't quite figure out how I'm going to support the rear engine with mounts. I have a transmission mount with polyurethane pad for the rear tail shaft of the transmission, and I'm using the stock single motor mount for the front, but the stock rear motor mount crossmember needed to be cut out to make room for the auto tranny. I've looked at a number of after-market solutions from Summit, JEGs, Butch's Cool Stuff, and other sites, in addition to Forum threads, but most of the swaps are for SBC or other V8s, and not designed for a GM auto trans with our stock motors and frames. The shiny Wilcap adapter has a number of pre-drilled mounting holes, but I'm not sure if it would be better to have rear engine mounts under the rear of the bell housing, or attached to the Wilcap adapter. Anyone else face this issue?

Thanks everyone- Once Plymouthy set me straight on the correct name - steering knuckle- NOS examples popped up everywhere on eBay. I was able to find a set for less than $100. Reminds me of a T-shirt my english teacher-wife had: “Lets eat grandma!” “Lets eat, grandma!” Punctuation matters!

On my 1940 Plymouth wagon, I used ECI's front disk brake kit and their dual master. Fits with existing brake pedal setup. Very well made. Dual master for Chrysler products. Others have gone with Summit Racing's generic offerings with good results.

Andy Bernbaum, or Roberts will supply you with all the correct pieces and you will be supporting American business. Never quite sure what you will get on eBay. I just did mine from Bernbaum's and they were perfect.

You might also consider Tom Langdon’s GM based HEI distributor if you are not worried about an absolutely stock look. Langdon’s Stovebolt

Got mine recently from Bernbaum...gave me exactly what I needed at prices competitive with China, and NOS equipment to boot. Good people.

Thanks!

I stand corrected- it is the steering knuckle support - Thanks Plymouthy Adams...that search term turns up a lot more eBay offers. It really helps to use the right terminology!

It's the assembly that holds the kingpin.It is attached to the spindle with the kingpin.

I was so excited to be getting my front end started- I removed all the A-arms, tie rods, springs etc, and took the kingpin assemblies down to my cousin's shop for rebuilding. One looked fine- the other he said was junk because the top arm hole was egg shaped. He wondered if someone could weld and drill it out.I called around to local machine shops with no luck. I began looking for used kingpins online (you'd think with all the Mustang ll front ends out there, there would be a bunch available), but so far, nothing has come up. I've got my buddy at Turner's Auto Wrecking looking too. Anyone know where I could get a good, rebuildable kingpin in this day and age?

I wanted to keep the stock look of my radio in my '52 Suburban build, and also have cellphone connectivity. When I did my '40 wagon, I went to Bob's Radio and TV repair in Pismo Beach. Back in the day it was approx $300 to go through my old Mopar 802 and bring it back to life. It still works great, but as others have said, AM is very limited. I bought a RadioRad unit for it last year, and that's quite an improvement, but still a little clunky, and no bluetooth for the phone. After talking to Dan Steele at Bob's (now in Oceano CA), he told me about the next level of music/phone connectivity for our old rides. He takes Aurora Designs products (they are miniaturized, digital AM/FM/Bluetooth/MP3 players) and installs them in old car radios, utilizing all the existing controls, including functionality for a completely stock look, but with modern capabilities and the power to drive 4 speakers. I had him convert my stock radio to the Aurora system and although I haven't installed it yet, I bench tested it and it works and sounds great! Dan will even give you info on which speakers to use, and where to get the best deal. I'm using the stock single speaker location under the dash radio for one 6X9 and then 2 back 6X9 speakers for stereo sound. The unit automatically goes to bluetooth when someone calls me, then back to either AM/FM, or my own tunes if I plug in a thumb drive with MP3s on it. I believe this will only work with a 12 volt system, and the price is approx twice what I paid 10 years ago to have him convert my 802. Another option. Vintage radio conversion to FM/MP3 Player Bob's Radio and Television Repair

In sorting out my '52 Suburban build, I find I need new hood hinge springs- one is missing, the other tired. The only replacements I can find online are NOS and $75. I would think if you knew the length, strength, spring rate, etc., you could probably replace them with other springs, possibly from a hardware store. Anyone tackle this yet?

Didn't think so...too good to be true, even for a fellow Forum member...got to stay in business!

Paul- also did you have them drill and tap the arms or did you do it yourself? I don't see a place on RustyHope's website for purchasing all the other parts- rotor, pads, etc.

I will check, thanks

Good point. How do I know if the rear leaf springs are OK to use? I assume they have never been replaced, as they still have the original covers on them, as you can see in the pictures

I'm dissembling the '52 Suburban and found Gabriel Hi-Jacker air shocks on the rear. The schraeder valve still had the cap on and the lines were hooked up, so why not test them out, I thought to myself. To my amazement, they worked and raised the wagon at least 4 inches! They are holding air after one week. The last time the vehicle was registered was 1979. Good ole American quality! After reading about air shocks, all the major manufacturers (Gabriel, Monroe, etc) describe them "for towing or hauling heavy loads" but nothing about adjusting ride height for all the time driving. How many forum members are running air shocks? Any reason why I might want to replace them with modern air shocks, vs the standard rear shocks? I will be using Rusty Hope's shock relocation brackets for the front.

Again, thanks...that what i was planning to do. Great minds...