parts car on ebay

[Young Ed]

This thing is overpriced for sure but if someone was in the area they could probably offer them less and get it. There does look to be a few good pieces left on it.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/vintage-1940s-plymouth-4-door_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ10076QQihZ002QQitemZ120075841570QQrdZ1

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

I think the owner of that car would have to pay me to come get it out of the mud. I've only seen two cars buried like that in the mud for years. One was before I bought my coupe about 14 years ago. Was a 55 Olds 2 door hardtop about 25 miles from me. They only wanted $500 for the car. Went to look at it and it was buried like that P15 is in the mud. Actually, the body looked pretty good. Pulled the dipstick and the oil still looked good too. Opened the drivers door and you probably could have moved the front seat out of the car without removing any bolts. Floor was really shot. My guess is if you tried to move the car out of the mud, the body would have come off leaving the wheels still in the mud.

The second one was a 50 DeSoto I helped someone pick up. If you pushed too hard in any part of the body, you probably would have made a hole in it. We broke the come along trying to get it on the trailer. Finally the farmer got his front end loader, lifted the rear of the car and pushed it up onto the trailer. I won't even go look at a car that's buried in the mud anymore.

The only reason the guy bought the car to begin with was to get the grill out of the DeSoto for his 49 Merc street rod. Said he only paid $50 for the car and was going to junk the rest.

[Young Ed]

I certainly wouldn't pay 500 for that thing either. But maybe 100 just to get the few good pieces and scrap the rest. Even with how much of a POS that car looks like the pass rocker molding looks very decent.

[BobT-47P15]

Front end stainless and bumper may be good. Bumper probably needs re-plated. Other chrome items seem badly pitted. Fenders might be ok if bottom edges not rusted. Rocker trim might be good. Interior not looking so hot. Steering wheel might be ok...has the sought after 1/2 horn ring. Dash trim pitted. Floor some amount of rusty. The brake and clutch pedals are in the proper vertical position. No extra charge for the mud.

Rear bumper looks pretty straight, chrome peeling, those leaves on the bumper pan probably mean rusted edge on trunk lid and below tail lights.

Subject to a personal inspection to see the real condition....and depending upon what a person needs....it "might" have $500 worth of stuff still good on it.

[Young Ed]

Ya I wonder if it has the hood release cable/knob that I need? Not likely to find out....

[John Mulders]

Ed, thought there was a hood release cable on Ebay

Person doesn't know it is a hood release cable though

John

[Young Ed]

Ya there is and I've already given up bidding on it. Its over 50 bucks with an hour to go.

[thedahmer]

that clunker is about 45 minutes from my house--

[Young Ed]

Well if you go drag it home the hood release cable and rocker stainless are sold already

[RobertKB]

Worth about a $100-200 at most. That's a bit more than the scrap value. Parted out though there is probably $500-1000. This is truly a parts car unlike some poor old four doors in decent shape that get parted to support a coupe or convertible. Can't save 'em all!

[thedahmer]

I honestly don't think I would haul it home if the guy gave it too me... cars around here that have been around here for a while are rusty--very rusty--

[Rodney Bullock]

Guy's I think it's time to look at cars like this for what they are worth, this car is worth alot, why because there are parts on it that are not seen by the naked eye. These parts I am talking about are drums, suspinion and rear end parts. You know you can't get brake shoes for our cars unless you send them the cores first. There are little parts like steering column parts that you can't find unless you get a car like this in a junkyard. That trim around the windshield is hard to find as well. There is alot there. I know that most of our cars are built and we need so little now that's why most of you shug this car off as undesirable, wait until you need something, then it becomes all important, somebody needs to start stripping and saving these parts and storing them inside for the future. If we don't 20 years from now that car will be worth 6,000 because it has more parts then vendor can supply. just a thought, THE PICKINGS ARE GETTING THIN!

[BobT-47P15]

Know what you mean, Rodney. Back in the 70's there were a couple wrecked P15 convertibles in area salvage yards. Although they had been there quite a while and were both mashed in certain places and rusty from the weather, there would still have been a certain few usable things. I looked at them then, and concluded there was nothing I could use. Maybe today, I would look a bit harder and possibly see some different things.

[D25_Steve]

You can always use a spare carb, spare radio, gauge cluster etc. stuff that is small that you can put on a shelf in the garage, but one day might come in very handy.

[Young Ed]

Rodney I agree 100%. If that thing were in my state I wouldn't hesitate one second to try and buy it. The seller needs to move it to sell that property and may end up selling it quite cheaply if not giving it away just to get rid of it. An interesting addition to your brake comment-the core charge for shoes from brake and equipment warehouse is $100. So it pays to have some to have relined!

[thedahmer]

But if you street rod one you either throw those mentioned things away or you run an ad in Hemmings and Cannot give it away-That is what I did

[Plymouthy Adams]

Gary is right..I upgraded my engines..I was fortunate to find a person who could use them..we both made out. I also hate to see then go to the scrap heap..but tripping over them get tiring also..most rodder are not even trying to get high bucks return to begin with..Gary, sure you don't need a D19 Town Sedan...look good at your place...lol

[Norm's Coupe]

I have to agree with Tim and Gary. I started out trying to keep my car mostly original except for a few cosmetic things like the interior and spinner hubcaps. So, I spent the time and money rebuilding the old 218 back to like or better than new. I also originally kept the brakes original until I started driving it and decided it's not safe to drive these in the heavy city traffic with the old style brakes. So now I have another set of new disc brakes on the fronts. I also got smart after all that when the gas tank sprung a leak. Instead of trying to patch it up or buy another 50 year old one to rebuild I just bought a new one.

As for anything else that goes bad on my coupe, it'll be replaced with more modern parts. If something happens to the rearend, I'll put a late 60's or 70's rear in it and also gain self adjusting brakes for the rear. Not to mention a better emergency brake in the process.

Last but not least. Rodney, you said parts will be hard to find 20 years from now. In my case I probably won't care if I can find any kind of parts for the car. I'll be 82 years old 20 years from now. Don't think I'll be doing much work on cars when I'm that age.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Ahhh...come on Norm..be a real guy..know what I want folks to say about me 100 years from now...

"Damn he looks good for his age..."

[Rodney Bullock]

Norm when my grandfather was 82 years old he and I use to run up and down the road in my 55 chevy, we had great fun then. Yes he did not drive as much however he did drive, he got more fun out of riding. I used the 20 year marker as a way in the future figure. In 20 years I will be 67 so to me that seems along time from now. If you are upgrading that's great! However if your brakes are the way they should be weather your driving in the city or country it doesen't matter you should stop, they stooped in 1940:) also if the car doesen't out run it's own technology it will be fine. I would not try to stop if I installed a small block 350 in my car I would have to upgrade. When it comes to these cars I like them the way they are, they go fast enough for me. If I want to go fast, I got something that can

[RobertKB]

I'm with Rodney on this one. Parts are getting hard to find. When I restored my '48 Dodge D25 in the early 80's I got parts from around a dozen cars for it. I even bought and resold two parts cars. Now I know of only one car that could be used for parts and the owner won't sell anything off it because "he might fix it up one day". Trying to find any parts for my '38 Chrysler is extremely hard. The parts car above has lots of good parts. The grill looks like a good clean with steel wool would make it worth lots as it is straight. Headlight rings seem OK. Lots of parts you can't see. If nothing else the parts taken could be sold with your car when it is time to part with it. I sure hope I'm driving and looking after my cars at 82. Fellow in the car club I belong to is 97 and only stopped working on his car last year. I know health makes a big difference but if I'm feeling good at 82 I sure want to be driving my old girls.

[thedahmer]

Do you have pictures of this Town Sedan D19??

[Plymouthy Adams]

a few..can send them out from here..look for a PM with photobucket links in a few minutes from now.

[Norm's Coupe]

Rodney,

That's a great story about your grandfather. I didn't say I wouldn't want to keep driving the old cars when 82. Just don't want to be rebuilding them then. It's getting hard to work on the one I have now at 62. So, at 82 I just want to look and drive (if still able).

As for storing a lot of extra parts I don't know that I'll ever need, refer to Tim's comment. They take up too much room and you begin to trip over stuff. Or have to move it out of the way to find something else you may need. Not only that, but if I did buy a parts car like that one, I'd have to take it apart. Don't want to get into all that even at 62.

As for my extra 350 engine, Claybill gave me an idea last Saturday when some of us from the area all met. He said put the engine on a stand so I could run it just for fun. That really didn't appeal too much to me when he said it. However later after getting home it started me thinking. So, when I get roundtuit I'll put it on a stand on wheels so I can run it. Then add the necessary items to it to make it an electrical generator. That would produce enough power to power the whole house (and then some) in an emergency, and wouldn't cost that much to make it. Could also use it to power a large electric heater in the garage if I wanted to. So thanks to Claybill for mentioning running the engine on a stand.