Help me pick some Mopar taillights to use on my 33 Plymouth

[knuckleharley]

Guys,I am trying desperately to keep my 33 Plymouth coupe all Mopar.

I have a hemi DeSoto engine for it,a push-button 727,and a Dart 8-3/4 inch rear. The body is going to remain stock other than no hood sides and I will need more modern taillights. Look at the photo of the car and help me to pick a pair of attractive Mopar taillights that will work on the car and look good. Either rectangular or round.

The taillights can either fit below the rumble seat lid on the body,or on the fenders.

I have been thinking about using a pair of 49 Lincoln taillights that I have because I already have them and because I really like the way they look. I also like the rectangular look of the 48 Chev taillights on cars of this style. I'd really rather use Mopar taillights though,so make some suggestions and post some photos of your pick.

[Reg Evans]

How about a pair of the 38 Chrysler tail lights.

[knuckleharley]

The very first car I ever bought was a 38 Chysler Royal 4dr sedan. Paid $20 for it,and after unsticking a couple of valves it ran whisper quiet,and even the radio worked. I was 14,and earned the money by digging septic tank holes and drainfields with a shovel.

I forgot what the taillights looked like,though. I like the way the lenses look,but wouldn't I have to mount them on the stalks? What do they usually sell for?

The original Plymouth taillights can be found,but they are insanely expensive.

[knuckleharley]

btw,I just looked at your profile,and see that you have a Dodge pu with fins.

I am eaten alive with jealousy!

[Reg Evans]

You would need to score the complete tail light assemblies I would think. I see them on eBay occasionally.

Eaten alive ? I'm sorry.....That's painful .....I know cause I just ate my right arm wishing I had your 33 Plym coupe.

I see we are both looking for a front bumper for our 42's. My 42 came to me with a 46-48 bumper on it. Sure would like to find one for the 42. Someone on here was going to sell me one he had but he never followed through.

[knuckleharley]

I see we are both looking for a front bumper for our 42's. My 42 came to me with a 46-48 bumper on it. Sure would like to find one for the 42. Someone on here was going to sell me one he had but he never followed through.

Yeah,I know how that works. Been trying to buy a pair of front fenders from a member here for over a year,and I can never get him to tell me how much shipping would be. I pretty much gave up on him and then asked the guy that posted the long list of NOS fenders for sale maybe a month ago,and still haven't heard from him,either.

[Suddensix]

Don't 39 Plymouths have a nice teardrop shaped tailight or am i thinking of something else?

[Young Ed]

39s do have that. Lenses are easy to find but the buckets were horribly prone to rusting out. You could probably adapt the ford teardrop lights to the 39 ply lenses

[knuckleharley]

Don't 39 Plymouths have a nice teardrop shaped tailight or am i thinking of something else?

I don't know. I can't remember what they look like.

[knuckleharley]

39s do have that. Lenses are easy to find but the buckets were horribly prone to rusting out. You could probably adapt the ford teardrop lights to the 39 ply lenses

Ahhh,in that case,I will pass on them. I may be the only guy on the planet that doesn't like 37-39 Ford taillights. I don't even like them on my 38 Ford.

[Brendan D25]

I had 39 Ford teardrops on my VW Bug and took them off because it seemed a lot of people had trouble seeing my brakelights, had a couple of close calls. I gave them to a guy building a 39 Ford. There was one year Studebaker taillights that a lot of rodders used to use(39?). Have you checked the Technostalgia website? Brendan.

[anthonyb]

I'm kind of partial to the 41 Plymouth lights. The good thing about these is there's no bucket behind them, just a couple of holes to mount the sockets.

You can also add these little 'extras' with minimal change to the stock look. They can even be hooked up as turn signals/brake lights.

[knuckleharley]

I'm kind of partial to the 41 Plymouth lights. The good thing about these is there's no bucket behind them, just a couple of holes to mount the sockets.

You can also add these little 'extras' with minimal change to the stock look. They can even be hooked up as turn signals/brake lights.

Yeah,they look like something I might be interested in using. Do you have any clearer daytime photos of them so I can see them from the side,see the bezel,etc?

[anthonyb]

Hopefully these will give you a better look at them. If not, I'll try to get some better ones later today.

[knuckleharley]

Hopefully these will give you a better look at them. If not, I'll try to get some better ones later today.

Thanks! Those look like a definite possibility. Now the only question to answer is "do they have the same curvature as the rear of my 33 coupe?",and "How hard are the buckets to find?". I see a lot of the lenses for sale on ebay at very reasonable prices,but so far haven't seen any buckets.

[anthonyb]

There are no 'buckets'. The socket has two wings on it that squeeze together and hold it in place. I have a couple of extra of those if you decide to try them. If you want, I can try to get a pic of them.

From a quick look at your 33, I would say they will be close on the curvature. Probably the only way to tell for sure is to get a lens and test fit it. I may have a spare one around here somewhere if you'd like to try it.

Shoot me a PM and we'll work it out.