Bob Riding

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

Hi dangulo, Great info. How did you make the decision about what to keep vs. replace? I was looking at my front end, and being a CA car, there is very little rust. I was going to replace the tie rod ends of course, get new king pins, and replace the rubber bits, but the upper and lower control arms and bushings look like a dip in the solvent tank and a good wire brushing would suffice. Ditto with the A-arms. Inquiring minds want to know!

Awesome thread! What did you replace vs. reuse and where did you purchase the front end rubber parts?

Yes, you have a good memory Don! I sold it to an 80 yr old guy from Alaska, who drove it back from my house in CA to Seattle, then put it on a boat to Juneau. He then proceeded to drive it as far as the roads would take him up Mt McKinley (Denali). Tough old guy, (and Dodge). here's what the woodie looked like when you were here. I was still in my parts collecting phase- not sure why I didn't show it to you then. Fun visit!

I wanted to use a Chrysler color but never found one that I thought went well with the wood. My buddy had just painted his 1946 Chevy pickup Brewster green and I liked it. "Green was the standard color of early truck manufactures and Brewster Green was Chevrolet's choice. If you didn't order one of Chevrolets other no-cost color options, you received Brewster Green. Over 60% of Chevrolet trucks 1936-1946 left the factory with this medium to darker green color." Jim Carter 1932-74 Truck parts sells the paint Jim Carter Truck Parts. Not sure what the paint code is.

I know Jim and received lots of great advice from him. I visited his place in SoCal and rode in his '40- very impressive guy with tons of knowledge on Plymouths, woodies and I'm sure many other topics. His woody is featured in a couple of books.

Thanks! I took my time and spent a lot of time searching for parts. One of the hardest choices was what color to paint it? Mother Chrysler made the '40 wagons (and earlier) kind of like a beige blob going down the road -beige paint, tan roof, non-contrasting wood, yellow brackets etc. One of my goals was to highlight the craftsmanship of the era, so I went with the darker green, contrasting ash structural pieces with mahogany panels, and powdered coated the brackets and seat frames with bronze, and copper. Found a local upholster who duplicated the original french stitch on the seats. Tom Gagner ('41 Plymouth woodie owner) and I had the original window sliding knobs reproduced, by an old radio restorer, etc. Details are what make a good restoration, and Forum member's advice kept me from quitting many times! All yours now for only $4.95!

Thanks! Now they are on sale for $4.95!

I was absentmindedly thumbing through the latest issue of Old Cars Weekly, when I saw an ad saying there is still time to buy your "Old Cars Weekly Riders Ride 2019 Calendar" The B&W picture was a woodie that had to be a '40-'41 Plymouth. They are the only production woodie wagons that I know of that all four doors are full rectangles -all other have a dogleg cutout for the second set of doors. As I looked closer I realized that it was MY wagon! I had forgotten that I sent pictures to OCW six months ago for the 2019 calendar, but they never told me I had made the cover! Below is a picture of when I found the wagon on eBay in 2003, and last year after I had it pretty much finished. So I guess I should say get your calendar now?

Very cool, thanks for sharing! I like the color of the Desoto. What countries use RHD...mostly UK of course, but what about the rest of the British Commonwealth?

Yes I agree 100%...I wonder what a Vega weighs? Or a Mustang?

Good point -Yes, I plan to use an aftermarket column and re-use the original steering wheel. Do you know if the Vega design is a worm and sector, or something else?

I'm looking at upgrades to my '52 Suburban project- I plan to stay with the stock front end suspension, and add disc brakes. I will be using a 218 with the Wilcap adapter and a TH200-4R overdrive automatic tranny. In going through old posts I saw that some members had swapped out the stock Plymouth steering box (worm and sector or worm and roller, I can't remember which), with a Vega or "Vega-style" box Forum member John Burke said back in 2007 "I bought a "Flaming River" Vega steering box from Speedway...It was about $320.00...I am using it and it works like a dream...well worth the investment." Assuming you don't change the front end geometry, what would be the benefit of the Vega box? It looks like you'll need to fab up some bracketry, etc. Speedway has one for $269.

Just ordered it- thanks!

Bought the carb and adapter, but must have purchased the wrong adapter because although it fits perfectly over the 1 1/2" intake opening, it isn't wide enough to attach to the bottom of the carb. Do you have the model of adapter you used?

Awesome! Sometimes it pays to not be in love with a Chubby or Furd!

I had heard as much but never saw the exact specs...Thanks!

never heard of that process...I will investigate- what disc kit are you using?

I was asked by a friend why Plymouth went from 6.00 X16" wheels to 670 X 15" in Nov/Dec of 1947, since the P15 models still had over a year to go. I couldn't answer, except to speculate that the postwar styling was getting long in the tooth and they wanted to lower the ride height to boost sales. Was there possibly a functional reason?

Sounds like the ECI front disc kit probably won't fit 15" wheels, but the Scarebird will. Great info!

We should make a sub-group of '51 and '52 Suburban restorers/refurbishers! Seems to be at 4 or 5 that I have seen in recent posts.

Great advice, thanks!

Who's disc brake did you go with? And are you running 15"s or 16"s?

I discussed-the different options with my tire expert ( my cousin who owns and operate a tire business in Fresno since the 1960’s) and he wondered about clearance issues if decide to run disk brakes ( which I prefer) any thoughts?