41 Plymouth Coupe

[Plymouthy Adams]

I agree with the two door sedan a bit fewer and father between....I personally like this model over the Club Coupe in style and roominess when the rear seat comes into play.  If you however wish for a coupe roof line, the Bz Cp is my preferred with the absence of a back seat INCLUDING not having the optional aux. flip down seats.  Again all this is subject to the owners own eye and intended use.  Your grille trim looks to be in excellent condition, placing you far ahead of the game for most cars this vintage.

[Veemoney]

Smart to develop a plan based on what info you can find here and online before ripping into it. 

 

As PA mentioned the trim for the 41 Plymouth is not easy to come by in excellent shape as yours is along with the lack of rust on your project which us in the Midwest are used to seeing.

 

Andy's cars are excellent examples and although he posted pictures of them before I never tire of seeing that 41 and this may be the first time I viewed the back seat arrangement of that car so always something new to pick up here. 

[Hardknoxs Motorsports]

That approach has always served me well and in the end results with a much cleaner ,well built product. As long as you take the right advice of course. Just gotta be humble enough to realize no matter what you build someone has did if before you. If others are will to share knowledge I will listen and take notes. I'm not a purist by any means but I always want to build things tastefully and respectfully. The trim and everything on this car is all there complete and in good shape. Was stored inside majority of it's life. That and the patina is what sold me on it. 

[andyd]

Hardknoxs.........this site is a wealth of info and I've learnt so much since coming here.........whatever your choices are in relation to the cars build its your decision and for me the main thing is to enjoy what you do and have and its all good...........again, Welcome on Board from Downunder.......Andyd    

[Hardknoxs Motorsports]

Love what you do and you'll never work a day in you life right?! Agreed ?. I am glad to have found and be a part of this forum. For sure some skilled and knowledge folks in here. 

[RobertKB]

Lots of forum members will disagree with me but there are probably many who feel like I do but are too polite or shy to say anything.
 

Your car of course, but to me it seems a shame to hack up what appears to be a nice original fairly rare two door sedan. That car has over 80 years of surviving unmolested. I have no problem with hot-rodding a rougher car but a nice original seems a shame. 

[Hardknoxs Motorsports]

I respect that. The fact that it is all original and in tact is why I won't hack it up. Just a few tasteful modifications. 

[RobertKB]

And I respect your polite response. Hack was probably not the best word for me to use, alter or modify would have been better. 

[Hardknoxs Motorsports]

One thing I always acknowledge and respect is the fact that every enthusiast or builder has different taste. There is an arena for everyone. The purist and the custom guys. One of my main interest is the restomod world. I like to preserve the classic aspect of cars and add todays technology to them. If done right is a beautiful thing. Although I will agree with you in this respect. There are those out there who should just put the tools down and step away from the car lol. Like you I have seen some bad work. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Hardknoxs Motorsports

[RobertKB]

Although I like them original, I agree that I have seen some very nice restomods. This was my latest project which is stock but would have made a nice restomod if so inclined. 
 

 

 

 

[Sniper]

Nice job Robert, you know someone else likely would have made it a rat rod.  Not a fan of those as most look to be on the run from the crusher.

[allbizz49]

The whole restomod thing is played out. It's like pro street in the 80s and 90s. Build it how you want and don't label it. If you have built cars before, you know what you need to do. Accumulate the needed parts and get to building. I'm not a fan of modern engines in old cars but it's your car so do as you please. Stab the engine, get your transmission output shaft angle where it needs to be and fab up some mounts. Pretty simple stuff. The biggest issue I can see will be the steering. I'm building a 49 Plymouth business coupe with a DeSoto hemi. I am trying my best to keep the factory steering box but I might end up doing a rack which I can't stand. I like my old cars old though. Pretty much get the motor and tranny where they need to be and build the rest around that. Good luck and have fun with your build 

[40desoto]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:28 PM, Sniper said:

The two biggest issues with the stock front suspension are the upper shock mounts and the very short driver's side tierod assembly.  Upper shock mount relocation is pretty common and well covered here. Though I found a set of stiff gas charged shocks that fit the stock mounting and seems a good improvement along with cut down Aerostar springs.

 

 

The tie rod issue is probably best solved with a rack and pinion swap as in the first link I posted.  Power steering could be added then.

 

Adding disc brakes to the front is easy, several vendor's have kits, each have issues though. 

 

Rear axle will definitely need replaced which will give you better brakes as well.  Explorer 8.8 swaps are common, several threads here on it and can be had with discs as well.

 

I would not do a frame swap, but I don't weld.  Same with clipping it.

 

Rear suspension will need addressed, I can wheel hop with the stock flat 6 power, lol.

 

Hey Sniper, my apologies if I already inquired about this.  Is there a way to add a non-power rack and pinion while keeping the flathead six in it?  I Installed fatman dropped uprights with scarebird disk brakes and exchanged the steering arms from one side to the other. (flipped?)  suprisingly they work without any more modification but now Im worried about bump steer because they are not exactly level to one another.  Would a R&P setup correct this?

 

[andyd]

The centre steer rack as used in the GM Cavalier seems to be the answer to the use of a rack & pinion, the only issue then is that due to most rack & pinions having a shorter "throw" then the normal steering box is that by installing a rack you may end up with a larger turning circle............shorter steering arms or relocating the stock arms 1" or 1 bolt forward reduces the length from the king pin to the tierod pivot and therefore reduces the turning circle..........there are a few threads on this site that cover this aspect.............andyd.

[Sniper]

Sorry, I was out of town most of this week

 

On 2/28/2023 at 11:19 AM, 40desoto said:

Hey Sniper, my apologies if I already inquired about this.  Is there a way to add a non-power rack and pinion while keeping the flathead six in it?  I Installed fatman dropped uprights with scarebird disk brakes and exchanged the steering arms from one side to the other. (flipped?)  suprisingly they work without any more modification but now Im worried about bump steer because they are not exactly level to one another.  Would a R&P setup correct this?

 

 

There is a member here who went thru adding a RP setup, did a very good job imo.  It was a power rack, but the installation is the same for a manual one.