New Car Day! 1938 P6 Plymouth Deluxe

[keithb7]

Had a great few hours in the shop today. Easily, I lifted the tranny back in place myself. From above, I reached down as seen here are slid it right in on the pilot bolts I made. This is why these old cars are so loveable. So simple, great access. Enjoying every moment working on it. So far so good. Everything seems to be going back as it should.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by keithb7

[Worden18]

1 hour ago, keithb7 said:

Had a great few hours in the shop today. Easily, I lifted the tranny back in place myself. From above, I reached down as seen here are slid it right in on the pilot bolts I made. This is why these old cars are so loveable. So simple, great access. Enjoying every moment working on it. So far so good. Everything seems to be going back as it should.

 

 

 

 

Looking good man!  At first glance I thought you were a crash dummy!  Glad you're enjoying the car.

[Bbdakota]

13 hours ago, keithb7 said:

Had a great few hours in the shop today. Easily, I lifted the tranny back in place myself. From above, I reached down as seen here are slid it right in on the pilot bolts I made. This is why these old cars are so loveable. So simple, great access. Enjoying every moment working on it. So far so good. Everything seems to be going back as it should.

 

 

 

 

You'd think the person taking this picture could put the camera down and help you with that transmission! LOL!

Gonna be a great car! I love it!

[keithb7]

Last night I was doing some tweaking on a few things. Perhaps I should get the heater working next. 
 

 

 

[keithb7]

Anxious for driving season....

 

 

[Bobb Horn]

I took my heater apart, flushed, pressure tested, repair leak, painted, all that one winter.     A heater sure makes a lot of difference. Enjoy.....

 

[classiccarjack]

I am really enjoying following along here.  I can't wait to get enough free time to put into my Plymouth.

[keithb7]

Thanks for the feedback @classiccarjack. I figure there’s probably no shortage of folks on here like me, who cannot seem to get enough of these old Mopars. I hope that sharing my progress and the odd video on nothing but my passion,  breeds community spirit here among us.
 

There’s probably a few beginner folks viewing here, with little car repair experience. There may also be folks who maybe used to wrench, but for various reasons cannot anymore.  Maybe there’s folks who are reluctant to start a major project on their old  Mopar. Perhaps lacking the confidence. Or maybe its a lack of motivation? We do know there’s some well respected, experienced mechanics here too. Maybe they smile and  remember when they rebuilt their first transmission. If I can reach out to any of these people via my thread here, I figure it’s worth my time to keep posting. 
 

To some, maybe we’re thought of as an odd bunch. The old pre-muscle car Mopar guys...Maybe we are odd,  but we have a great community here and am glad to contribute to it. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by keithb7

[keithb7]

Stock? No, but I'm going for it. Too cool when you hear these on old cars.  I love the sound...

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by keithb7

[dpollo]

if you want to make adjustments without damaging your hearing, stuff a rag into the trumpet.

[keithb7]

As they lay tonight. ‘38 Full brake disassembly. Rear axles and diff coming out next. I have no diff rebuilding experience so I’ll be turning here to the great membership, for some guidance.
 

I’ll start a new separate thread on rebuilding the diff. I have not seen a diff rebuild thread on the forum in a while. Should be fun. 
 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by keithb7

[keithb7]

I found this pic recently on the internet. A 1938 Plymouth from back when it was near new, I hope I didn't post this already. My thread is getting long!

 

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by keithb7

[keithb7]

Spending my spare time these days media-blasting the rims. Doing it myself. I’m getting ready for new Coker bias tires. 
 

What does it generally cost to get 4 rims media blasted these days?  
 

 

[Eneto-55]

Hire someone to do it, and they likely wouldn't have been done so well as that.  (About 12 years ago I worked on a power coating line, and we got semi wheels sand blasted for about 10 bucks a piece, as I recall.  But they were not terribly careful to get all of the paint off.  Sometimes you would see sort of "shadows" of rust or paint, where they should have come around & hit it more from a different angle.)

[keithb7]

Diff went back in today with a new gasket. New inner axle seals too. New axle bearings arrive in a few days. Then the axles go back in. Started making new front  steel brake lines today. Then the brakes will go back together in the coming week or two. Along with outer axle dust seals.  All the parts in hand. Reassembly progress should be steady over the next few weeks. I am again yearning for a test cruise.  Will do that maybe after the brakes are done! Gotta get my fix. 

[keithb7]

More future work to add to the list. My radiator nose cone is not great. This one is straight and seems good. It’ll be running it through the sandblast booth soon enough. 
 

As good priced, 1938 spare parts appear, I buy!

 

As I progress I can see that I may have years of work in front of me. Not complaining, it's fun. At this point I get to drive between many of the  repairs I tackle. 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by keithb7

[Sam Buchanan]

We never really finish one of these projects.....   

[keithb7]

A local contact has offered me a pulled spare engine and tranny. It is a 1949 Windsor 251 engine, (frozen but visually looks half decent). Fluid drive is still attached as well as the semi auto tranny. It looks like an M6 tranny to me. Same as used in my '53 Chrysler. I don't THINK, it has the fluid torque drive that is in my '53. The shared oil between engine and torque design. The 251, probably has a fluid copler. I think the 251block is the same block as in my 265. Just a ¼" shorter crank stroke. I will take these components home and store them. Fantastic spares for my Mopar cars. The 251 would likely be very nice in my '38 Ply with a hi-way friendly diff gear set. The power to the weight ratio would likely have that little '38 humming along very well. Even better, the stock 3 speed with a bolt on overdrive.  An interesting proposition to me as it already has the 1953 25" long 228 engine in it. So the 251 could drop right in. The hoarding of spare parts continues. I already have a spare 1949 218 engine! I think... Things get fuzzy when you own 4 old Mopar flat head engines.

Edited February 29, 2020 by keithb7

[keithb7]

While sandblasting my 4 rims I discovered 2 lime green circular pinstripes around each rim. Outside surface. As illustrated below. 
 

 I have seen a few same period restored Mopars with similar pin stripes.  Perhaps this was a dress-up option? Or was it a stock pinstripe on the higher end Chrysler and Desoto models? 
At this time I do not know if these pinstripes were available for Plymouth or Dodge cars. There is also a chance the pinstripes were painted over when my car got a $59 paint job in the late 60’s or so. 
 

My Rims are stamped near the valve hole with 11-37 date codes. Along with the CPDD code. One rim which appeared a little more pitted from rust than the others is dated 1935. Likely picked up somewhere during the past 82 years. 

All appear salvageable and they turned pretty true when tested.  We shall steam ahead. 

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by keithb7

[keithb7]

Time for paint...What is with new tires?

 

 Many people may wonder, how  could anyone get excited over new, old-type bias ply skinny tires? 

 

 

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by keithb7

[keithb7]

Following up in the pin-stripes on the rims: I just found these drawings, advertisements for the 1937 Plymouth. Those sure look like the stripes I revealed when sandblasting.

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by keithb7

[Sam Buchanan]

The pinstripes are waaaay cool, see if you replicate them. 

[RobertKB]

My '38 Chrysler had pinstripes just like that and that is how the cars came from the factory. I repainted the rims when I painted the car and the wheels just needed something else. The something else was pinstripes just like you have shown. I did silver on the black rims. It just made the perfect difference. I recommend painting  pinstripes on the wheels.

[Worden18]

Keith, my Meadowbrook rims have pinstripes.  They certainly look original, although I can't prove it.  I have some literature lying around that I need to dig out and look at the sketches.  

[1950 Special Deluxe]

https://www.oldmopar.com/oldmopar/colorchart.html
 

I had this article bookmarked from an earlier time.

My 1950 Dodge rims also have the pinstripes.