New Member, old dude, old Plymouth

[rockable]

I just bought a '41 Plymouth coupe today. Hope that is welcome. I think it's a great looking car.

I plan to fix it up mechanically and drive it, as is, until I finish my present project '64 Pontiac Catalina. After that, it will likely be a street rod. (Hope that's not a bad thing around here. )

Here are some pics. It's a solid car and never been hit. Cosmetically, it's rough but ALL the pieces are there. Overall, I'm very happy with my new purchase.

[Jim Yergin]

Welcome to this forum. Nice looking car. Congratulations on your purchase. It certainly doesn't look rough to me. Now this is rough (my '41 when I bought it):

Jim Yergin

[michael.warshaw]

I just bought a '41 Plymouth coupe today. Hope that is welcome. I think it's a great looking car.

I plan to fix it up mechanically and drive it, as is, until I finish my present project '64 Pontiac Catalina. After that, it will likely be a street rod. (Hope that's not a bad thing around here. )

Here are some pics. It's a solid car and never been hit. Cosmetically, it's rough but ALL the pieces are there. Overall, I'm very happy with my new purchase.

was that on ebay?

[rockable]

was that on ebay?

Nope. Craigslist. Two hours from my house.

[Young Ed]

Boy if that is rough I'd hate to see what you'd describe my car as. Enjoy the new car.

[hkestes41]

Wow Jim, I see your woody has the rare optional cat tale windshield wiper. Very neat.

[greg g]

Welcome aboard. Nice looking business coupe. You may be suprised how the old thing aquits itself once you have up to spec mechanically. They are pretty nice road cars as they come. Limiting factor is the high ratio rear end which makes high speed cruising a little less than comfortable engine speed wise. On the engine block above the genny and just below the head is the engine number, you might want to post that to see if its the stock motor or something transplanted from a later model, which was commo with these.

If you are thinkig of upgrading to disc brakes, which is fairly comprable in price to a stock rebuild, contack OldDaddy of the forum. (www.rustyhope.com) he makes adaper kits for mounting discs up front.

If its still stock mind the polarity as it was designed 6 V positive ground. Also make sure it has nice beefy primary battery cables, not the skinny 12volt style.

Good luck, looks like a very nice starting point for either a good driver, or with some updates for street rod duty.

[Barabbas]

Nice looking coupe'--from the looks of the interior and wheels, it appears that someone has already done some work on her.

I am curious about your Catalina---got a picture?

And welcome to the forum

[rockable]

If its still stock mind the polarity as it was designed 6 V positive ground. Also make sure it has nice beefy primary battery cables, not the skinny 12volt style.

Thanks! Great advice and stuff that I would not have thought of.

The Catalina is on the rotisserie, so it's not much to look at right now. Just a darn big, long hulk. I have finished all the "rustoration" portion and undercoated the underside today. I'm now working on the trunk and interior to get them painted. Then, I will start reassembling the chassis. There is a long road ahead before I'm finished with it but I'm in no hurry. It's a journey, not a race.

Having the Plymouth to drive in the meantime will help me be more patient. When I'm finished with the Pontiac, I'll start on the Plymouth. I've got my calendar full of activity for the foreseeable future..............and that's ok with me.

[P-12 Tommy]

Welcome to the gang, Rockable! You won't find a better place for old flathead Mopars. Enjoy!!

Tom

[RobertKB]

Welcome to the forum. Way too nice a car to rod! There are lots of things you can do with the flathead to improve performance as many on this forum have already done. I think as mentioned, if you get some miles on her in stock condition, you will like the car and maybe do a few brake and flathead engine upgrades.

[mackster]

welcome aboard! and that coupe aint rough at all! I would drive it as is! great car. this is a great forum, no off topic whatever you decide to do with it, but I would vote on keeping it stock. looks good already!

[1940plymouth]

Welcome to the best forum there is. You will surely enjoy it here.

Believe me, from the photos you posted, your '41 isn't rough by any means, and yes, if you kept it stock, there are plenty of upgrades as have been already mentioned.

Here is what rough looks like in my world.

Good luck with both your projects,

Bob

[rockable]

Ok, maybe rough wasn't the right word. I did say it was straight, solid and complete.

[Rodney Bullock]

Welcome to the forum. There are alot of 40-41 owners here, for some reason we are excepted because one they are plymouths and two they are so darn good looking. Your car is real nice and a craglist deal to boot. You are very lucky to get one in such fine shape.

I like Pontiac as well so feel free to allow us to see your progress from time to time. Restoration is Restoration and methods can be used on all cars. There are many muli make owners here but our primary love is the early mopar.

I have a 1940 Plymouth P-9 and 1966 Dodge Charger. My Mopars are what you call pre war and post war.

The guy's on this forum have seen everything so I don't think they can be stumped so if you have any questions ask away.

As far as street rodding well I just got into that as well so it's not a bad word around here.

[hkestes41]

Something you might consider is keeping the flathead and doing something like mine.

Or Pete's.

That way you get the best of both worlds. You will draw attention among the sea of V8's when surronded by hotrods, and also allows you to unbolt the hop up parts and put the stock parts back on if you ever want to put it back original.

[Frank Blackstone]

Welcome aboard Where are you located? Looks like you are set up well to done good work in that nice garage. Frank

[Plymouthy Adams]

Wow Jim, I see your woody has the rare optional cat tale windshield wiper. Very neat.

could be that..or..spraying for termites..

[Uncle-Pekka]

Welcome Rockable!

For one thing you have a great taste for cars: '41 Coupe and '64 Catalina. I would not mind having those myself.

218 flattie is a nice engine - please drive it and get to know it before making decision to swap. There are great hop-up role models here on the forum. For instance take a look to Pete the Blueskies' souped up '50.

http://www.50plymouth.com/04-eng/eng.html

(Pete, I hope you don't mind me making you as an example...)

Once again - Welcome!

/Unkka-Pekka

[Plymouthy Adams]

unless the engine was changed, stock was 201 in '41..did not go 218 till '42..

[rockable]

Thanks for all the welcome and advice. I'm in Oak Ridge, NC, just outside of Greensboro.

That picture of that flattie is sweet! I'm going to drive it in stock mode for a while and evaluate it. We'll see. Maybe the flathead addiction will hit me.

Rock

[1940plymouth]

Rock,

The old flattie in my Plymouth is tired, very tired, but when I attend the local cruise ins with it, the old MOPAR flattie gets as much attention as the big V-8's

Just wanted to pass this along, as they really are a very good engine, even after all these years

Bob

[rockable]

My uncle, who lived next door to me, ran a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership. His son, who is my age, still runs it. When we were young, Brad built Ben a '47 4 door with a hot rod look but kept the flattie. We drove the crap out of that car. It was a lot of fun but the lower end didn't hold up to our hot rodding, as I recall. Do I also recall correctly that the rods are babitted and do not have replaceable inserts?

We also had a '55 Dodge with a Red Ram in it that we used to run around on the farm. That thing was a blast:D........but that's another story.

SO, how much HP do you guys reckon you get from one of the streetable versions of ol' flattie? BTW, how much does one of these coupes weigh?

Edited April 4, 2010 by rockable

[Young Ed]

Nope your car will have insert bearings

[greg g]

my 46 p15 says 2787 lbs on the registration papers. In NY if if was not registered as a historic, it would be pay per weight.