Old mopar's. What do I need to know?

[matt167]

Yeah. '50 Plymouth S-DLX 2dr club coupe

[Young Ed]

nice find. Kinda miss the one we had!

[dpollo]

 The 50 Plymouth is a good choice  if you are new to this era of Chrysler's products.    As I mentioned before I have not  been without one for over 50 years.

(As a second choice I also have a 51 convertible.)

What I have often said of my 50 Special Deluxe 4 door :" It is cheap to run, economical to repair, keeps up with traffic and can seat six adults.... and  you never get tired of that beautiful dashboard.

[knuckleharley]

6 minutes ago, dpollo said:

 The 50 Plymouth is a good choice  if you are new to this era of Chrysler's products.    As I mentioned before I have not  been without one for over 50 years.

(As a second choice I also have a 51 convertible.)

What I have often said of my 50 Special Deluxe 4 door :" It is cheap to run, economical to repair, keeps up with traffic and can seat six adults.... and  you never get tired of that beautiful dashboard.

Yeah,all that.

[matt167]

It does need some tinkering beyond the rockers.. 2 kind of big things that needs fixed ASAP.. First is the truck lock is stuck in the locked position with the trunk in the open position.  I see lots of NOS lock cylinders available, but can the original be fixed? I have a good locksmith available. If not what years actually fits Some of the NOS listings list all different things, none list the same and at $45-100 per, I don't want to buy twice.

 

2nd is the PO removed the oil filter and is running without it ( he's only ran it  a few months ). Engine has great oil pressure and runs great but I want a filter. It had a disposable and that's why he removed it.. Is there any way I can convert to a spin on and have it work correct? I always have trouble getting the old canisters to not leak. It's either that or a bee hive, but then I'd have to purposely weather it to blend with the car

[belvedere666]

7 minutes ago, matt167 said:

It does need some tinkering beyond the rockers.. 2 kind of big things that needs fixed ASAP.. First is the truck lock is stuck in the locked position with the trunk in the open position.  I see lots of NOS lock cylinders available, but can the original be fixed? I have a good locksmith available. If not what years actually fits Some of the NOS listings list all different things, none list the same and at $45-100 per, I don't want to buy twice.

 

2nd is the PO removed the oil filter and is running without it ( he's only ran it  a few months ). Engine has great oil pressure and runs great but I want a filter. It had a disposable and that's why he removed it.. Is there any way I can convert to a spin on and have it work correct? I always have trouble getting the old canisters to not leak. It's either that or a bee hive, but then I'd have to purposely weather it to blend with the car

Vintage power wagons can get you a spin on filter that will work. I had to tinker with the brass fittings... found some at a local auto parts that fit the lines i had. I suppose you can just make new lines with the fittings that work with the canister. Came with the bracket to bolt to the block, got a filter from Napa.

Trunk locks 50-52 should work. Don’t remove the T handle from the base, if you can help it.

i had a locksmith make a key for mine for like, $30.

 

[matt167]

With the lock, I'll give the locksmith the parts and let him do what he does.. I'll have to check Vintage Power Wagons for a filter system

[Xlarashun]

Matt, You will Love the '50!

They have Nice lines, an Excellent ride, and Unbelievable Reliability!

Glad to have You in with This 'Herd' !

 

 

[matt167]

I’ll bring this old thread back to life. My other one was shut down as a mod considered it a classified WTB ( it wasn’t) 

 

since this thread, I had a ‘50 Plymouth which was great except it was the wrong time to have it and I traded it for an MGB that was more drivable and my the  daily driver blew up.

 

Now I’m looking into a ‘52 Coronet with gyromatic that I’m less interested in vs a 1952 Cambridge with a 3spd. Both are stock.   Now I have a spare vehicle and a nice garage.  My wife could drive the gyromatic but owner says it’s hard starting and wants me to pay his shop to get it running right. He wants $5k and it’s nice but not fully restored nice.  The Cambridge is the same price, just as nice and owner said it’s get in and drive condition.  I have zero clue the value on these cars now.

[Plymouthy Adams]

and the reading audience also not seeing the car or inspecting them completely would also be clueless to the value of the car.   For someone one to ask for you to pay maintenance prior to your ownership...joke.  I got a bag that may or may not have a pig in it.

[Los_Control]

9 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I got a bag that may or may not have a pig in it.

Can I peek?   😜

[matt167]

11 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

and the reading audience also not seeing the car or inspecting them completely would also be clueless to the value of the car.   For someone one to ask for you to pay maintenance prior to your ownership...joke.  I got a bag that may or may not have a pig in it.

I agree. I found it odd myself. Complete turn off. He dropped his price to $5k from $9k and it sounds like he  really wants to charge $9k for it Really. He said it starts hard which I know is either compression, spark or carb related. Thats why im more into the Cambridge as well because the owner seems down to Earth.. I just dont know even a ballpark with these cars anymore.  I remember paying like $5k for my ‘50 and it was a nice original needing interior which was ratty but fully usable but that was 2018 or 19. I’d only consider the Gyromatic car still because my wife could drive it.  

[matt167]

I actually know where my old ‘50 is, but it hasn’t run since 2019 and I think the current owner stuck on $10k. It’s been in his building since then. He’s married to one of my moms friends and in that time I traded him my car for the MGB when his dealership was open

[Los_Control]

I would be curious what others think of the reliability of the gyromatic?

I think I would want to see paper work or some assurance that it has been rebuilt at some point of it's life.

Just hard to believe that a 75 year old automatic transmission does not need new seals at some point of it's life.

 

I wonder how easy and available the parts would be to get today .... then who would open up the transmission and do the work? .... Something that you may want to learn to do yourself.

 

Just my opinion, adding the gyromatic gives a different level of maintenance and care to you car.

Requiring different types of information and skill.

 

Besides that, the guy sounds like a flake .... he wants you to take it to his mechanic .... talk to the mechanic first and see what his opinion is of the car ... chances he is familiar with it already.

 

$5K for a running driving car does not sound bad to me .... In a better market it would probably sell for more.

Today's high inflation has more people wanting to sell and fewer willing to buy a project car or a toy for fun.

You just need to look your car over and decide that you can take care of everything it will need.

[Dave72dt]

Your wife can learn to drive a standard transmission.  My wife did.  Her sister did. All my kids did.  It's not a gender specific skill.

[matt167]

My wife ‘can’ drive manual but she’s a little rough at it. I showed her how on my little beater daily driver. 
 

as for the gyromatic car.  It sounds like he does “ restoration work “ and that would be him billing me, for work on a car he owns. I’ve pretty much written that car off because he’s not going to go below $5k and I’m not sure the car is worth it.. I can do my own work. I even still have the manual I got for the ‘50

[matt167]

It’s looking like the Gyromatic car is 5th or 6th in line of 4 options ( in other words not happening )

 

I just found a 1951 P23 in near perfect condition but is original unrestored with one repaint. Owners asking $6,400 but I think it’s worth every penny 

[Ivan_B]

A couple of pics of both cars (like ~50, each) would be nice for a brief evaluation   Also, if you are not comfortable fixing either one of them yourself, for what ever has to be done to make them fit your operating needs, don't do it. There is a high likelihood that it will be another disaster.

I bought my 1940 for $10k, it is in very good condition, but still needed some work to be a good driver. And it still needs plenty of work (like new brake lines, a whole bunch of rubber parts, etc.) in general. And I am not planning to drive it to work daily, either.

[matt167]

I’m fully capable of repairing myself. My last one, I put scarebird discs on it and tweaked the carb and points just a bit to get it to run really nice… but now I work in a nice shop and have access to my tools and lift on weekends. 
 

I work 25 mins from home, and Thursdays there is a cruise in near my work. Realistically that’s my expectation.

[matt167]

https://youtu.be/3YeZk4w-n_s

 

this is the ‘51 that I’m seriously considering 

[Ivan_B]

10 hours ago, matt167 said:

I’m fully capable of repairing myself.

Okay, then, there shouldn't be any issues with maintenance. For some reason, I was under impression that you are in a different situation, like many other folks

 

The 51 looks very promising. Appears to be an older repaint. Likely, just needs the standard maintenance (mostly everything 😁) and a couple of gauges repaired. For $6500 I would take it right away, unless you have cars in better condition available. I assume that the little is in hand, and the engine number matches the frame and the body? 😀

 

Also, if you have not already done so, take a good look underneath the car, to make sure that there are no surprises.

[matt167]

The other car which is a ‘52 Cambridge isn’t as nice and the owner takes about a day to respond to me. I wouldn’t feel bad about putting my touches on that one. Paints tired. Interior is okay but not great. He wants $4,900 and I don’t see the savings as a plus. It’s simply the $6,400 car is twice the condition for nowhere near twice the price.   I’m not sure if the engine number matches. Does that severely impact the value?  My ‘50 had a 1970s rebuild with receipt.   The ‘51 also has dealer paperwork with it.  Guy said it was painted in the 80s

Edited Tuesday at 04:27 PM by matt167

[matt167]

In the video can anyone tell me if the ammeter is working correctly? He said it doesn’t constantly charge but is charging when the gauge is working probably something simple if it isn’t right. 

[Dave72dt]

Numbers matching only matters if you do shows with judging for originality.  You'll lose points every time you put your "touch" on it.  It's a plus to have it, buying or selling, just like having all the trim in good condition, all the gauges working, engine runs, glass is good, etc,  The better it is, the more you should expect to pay.

[Ivan_B]

4 hours ago, matt167 said:

In the video can anyone tell me if the ammeter is working correctly?

I take it that no one know how the amp gauge is supposed to work? 😆

In the video, it is showing a constant 0. That means that there is no current going either way through the meter. This could mean that the car battery is fully charged, that the meter ain't working, or it is not connected properly. Either way, that should not be a concern for me while looking at it.