1938 Plymouth woes

[Rodney Bullock]

I have been working on a 1938 Roadking for a friend and it's getting me excited. I just had the gas tank repaired and now I need to do something about the clutch and rear spring. The shakle in the rear of the spring is missing the boltquestion is it possible to replace the bolt without taking the spring off? also the clutch is very loose as in free play, I thought as a clutch got tighter you have to loosen it does it get loose? any help

[eric wissing]

No answers for you except to say that is a great looking car. Eric

[Jerry Roberts]

Rodney , I have a shop manual for a 1938 dodge 1/2 ton truck and the clutch pedal freeplay is 1and 1/16 inch , that is quite a bunch . I don't know if the freeplay is the same for a car though .

[1just4don]

....some of that free play be from worn linkage type parts???

And for sure a cool car!!! I like the center fold piano hinge hood and the headlights on the fenders. If you have a more door the suicide doors are great. Question re same::: how did they keep from killing all our ancestors with those suicide doors rattling open going down the road,,,and NO seat belts etc.,,,you know for darn sure they leaned way out to catch the door,,,and there roads were rougher back then to jiggle them open. ALL my old doors used to pop open on there own!! Rural roads are rough by nature!!

[TodFitch]

....some of that free play be from worn linkage type parts???

And for sure a cool car!!! I like the center fold piano hinge hood and the headlights on the fenders. If you have a more door the suicide doors are great. Question re same::: how did they keep from killing all our ancestors with those suicide doors rattling open going down the road,,,and NO seat belts etc.,,,you know for darn sure they leaned way out to catch the door,,,and there roads were rougher back then to jiggle them open. ALL my old doors used to pop open on there own!! Rural roads are rough by nature!!

Having the doors pop open did not happen when the cars were new. Either the strike plate gets worn (as happened on my car) or the body/door start to sag (more typical on the wood framed GM cars).

And you don't want to try and catch the door if it comes open: The wind catches the door and flings it open. If you are holding onto it you will be thrown out and onto the highway. Thus the "suicide" nickname.

On my 1933 I have found that locking the doors extends the latch a bit farther out than simply shutting the door. This gives a little better security against the door accidentally coming open. For that reason I always make sure all doors are locked before the car starts moving.

It is my understanding that two door sedans were popular with families with young children because there was no rear doors for them to play with the handles on and accidently open.

[1just4don]

After reading what you wrote,,,I have a tractor that has suicide facing doors on it. It is physically impossible to close those doors when going down the road at any speed at all,,,and top travel speed for those were about 20mph and you didnt have to be petal to the metal to even try,,,specially if against the wind a bit!! Anything over 8-10 miles an hour was next to never happening,,,you stop, close door resume travel. When the air isnt working you leave the door open to work,,,IF you forget and road travel with it,it would break the restraint and send the door into the tire,,,result, NOT pretty!! It was easier to get in the door facing that way,,,but practically speaking,,,zero, practibility for long term use. Always banged them into things you diodnt even see at 2mph. They can reach out and touch something faster than the enegizer bunny,,and staightening them,,,yikes!!

I bought a NEW tractor with a HUGE glass,no frame door that opens that way,,,first question I ask when looking at it,,,"How do you keep from wreaking that door"??? Answer,,,keep it closed ALL the time,,,before even putting in gear!!!(has worked so far)

[Normspeed]

You nailed it Eric. What a classic.

No answers for you except to say that is a great looking car. Eric

[Don Coatney]

I have been working on a 1938 Roadking for a friend and it's getting me excited. I just had the gas tank repaired and now I need to do something about the clutch and rear spring. The shakle in the rear of the spring is missing the boltquestion is it possible to replace the bolt without taking the spring off? also the clutch is very loose as in free play, I thought as a clutch got tighter you have to loosen it does it get loose? any help

Rodney;

To answer the spring question it is possible to replace the shakle bolts on my car without spring removal. However the spring must be disconnected on the shakle end and the weight of the car must be "off" the spring. May be different on the 38.

If you do not have enough free play in the clutch pedal the throw out bearing will stay in contact with the disc and cause premature wear leading to failure. As the clutch disc wears the free play increases and requires adjustment.

Very nice looking car.

[TodFitch]

<snip>The shackle in the rear of the spring is missing the bolt question is it possible to replace the bolt without taking the spring off?<snip>

My service manual shows that through 1940 they used the "Silent-U" style rear shackle. You can replace this on the car but I am confused about "missing the bolt" as there is no bolt on the rear shackle and if the front of the rear spring is missing its bolt then the spring would not be attached to the car at all. According to the service manual they did not go to the style of rear shackles that DonC has until 1941.

In any case, you need to relieve the spring of all weight: Jack up the car frame until there is no weight on the spring but not so far that the spring is holding up the rear axle. The "Silent-U" style shackles can be a bear to get the threaded bushing out if they have been in there a long time. Especially if they have not been regularly greased. . .

[bobby horne]

Rodney, If the rear shackle is the u shaped, you can replace it with the jeep shackle. I used new Jeep shackles on the front of my 38 coupe, and used some of the leaf springs of a jeep also.

[John Reddie]

That sure is a sharp looking Plymouth. Really clean. It is a later '38 because of the headlight positioning. The earlier '38 s had the headlights mounted further forward and a little higher up. Thanks Rodney for posting.

John R