Hello all, New member here.

[EagleChief]

Hello everyone. I'm dropping in to say hi and introduce myself. I live in a suburb of Tulsa, OK and have a 1947 Plymouth Special Deluxe. I bought the car in April 2022. I've entered it in a couple of car shows so far, but haven't used it too much. I love classic cars & trucks of all sorts, but have to admit, I don't know a whole lot about them. I'm always learning, though. It is just hard to remember it all. I have a few friends that are walking encyclopedias on cars and it baffles me how they retain all of that information.

 

Anyway... as for the car itself, to my knowledge I'm the 3rd owner at minimum. The gentleman I bought it from only had it 2 years. The PO before him had the car redone, but I'm not sure how long he owned it. I had the generator rebuilt last summer. I need to replace one of the rear door windows as the previous owner cracked it. I just had a blowout on one of my front tires and have some replacements that I need to get installed. I added seat belts to the rear seat, as we have 3 kids that want to ride along and they still require car seats. From what I was told, this car is "original" with a repaint. To be honest, I don't know if it is, or not. I was told it has the original motor/transmission. Interior is supposed to be original, but I'm pretty certain is was all redone. It has the tube radio in it, but I haven't been able to get it to work. The previous owner said he got it to come on, once. All of the lights work, heater works, defrost works, even the hood light functions.

 

The kids are the main reason we got this beautiful car. We have 2 trucks ('71 C10 and a '73 F100), but we can't all ride in the trucks as a family. So, the search began for a "family car". I ran across the ad for this car and pulled the trigger on it. I've searched around on this site a few times for info, and decided to join in order to learn more. I like to be active on forums, so feel free to ask me any questions and I'll do my best to answer, or I'll probably be asking questions.

[Los_Control]

Wow that looks great. Makes a great ice cream fetcher 

 

I imagine the radio would not be too difficult to fix for the right person .... Not me but there are some pretty knowledgeable people here who could help you with it .... or suggest where to send it.

 

I once restored the wooden case on a old house radio from the 40's. I honestly pulled it out of a pile of junk covered in snow.

When it dried out I plugged it in & turned it on. It started to work. There was one tube in it made from cardboard. So when the radio started to work and the tubes warmed up, I watched the one cardboard tube disintegrate & it quit working.

So when you say it came on once .... I think about a old tube failing as it warms up .... should be a easy fix.

 

Welcome to the forum .... I love trucks, seems all my working career I drove Fords at 8mpg .... while always secretly wanting a chebby .... just the way the dice rolled.

Today I'm retired and have a 1991 chebby SWB 350/5spd & get a whopping 16mpg   

[Booger]

Welcome aboard. that thing is PRIMO!

what could you possible want from us? youve got it all!

(Lots of good advice and peoples in here)

 

[Sam Buchanan]

Beautiful ride and welcome to the community!

 

It is easy to determine if you have the original engine. If so the block number and frame number will match. The frame number is on the frame arch inside of the left rear wheel. Some careful sanding may be necessary to determine the frame number if the frame is very corroded. Both numbers should begin with P15.

[Saskwatch]

Sweet ride !  Welcome to the forum ….

     Thank you for the pictures ?

[motoMark]

Welcome to the forum. Beautiful car!

[Bryan G]

A very handsome car! That thing is going to generate an amazing amount of smiles this summer, just watch.

 

Radio: capacitors dry out (likely that's what went bad on Los_Control's set) and vibrators stop, well, vibrating. A real handy person can learn to redo them. I've tinkered on 'em for years.

 

If you don't have it already, you can write Stellantis and they'll send you a photocopy of the original build sheet, no charge. They'll also tell you which dealer sold it new. Neat info to have. You can find the contact info online, just use the latest email that goes to Stellantis vs Chrysler or FCA or whatever.

[Dan Hiebert]

Welcome to the Forum!  Lots of good knowledgeable folks herein.  That's a very nice car, thanks for posting photos of it from the get-go.  You'll find we tend to pine for photos quite a bit.  We got our 4-door sedan for the same reason, already had an old pick-up but the young-uns couldn't ride in it after Texas banned riding in the back of open pick-ups (yeah, it's been a while), so instead of a sexy two door, we looked specifically for a family sized / doored car.  Now we cart the grandkids around in it when they visit.

[JohnTeee]

Welcome! That's a nice car you've got. There's a ton of information on the website. Check out the downloads, ask questions and use the search function. Search can by augmented by using a Google site search: "site:p15-d24.com keyword keywords". You can throw in operators like "OR" - 'Plymouth OR Dodge'; "AND" - 'Radio AND Tube'; "*" - '* distributor' ; "( )" - (vibrator OR capacitor) radio.

 

Cheers!

 

John

[EagleChief]

Thanks for this info! I'll look into Stellantis and see what I can find out. That would be nice to have!

 

We are planning on doing more with the car this year. I have to keep it stored away from the house, so that makes it a little harder to just jump in and go. But, I think it'll definitely get used more this year. 

 

10 hours ago, Bryan G said:

A very handsome car! That thing is going to generate an amazing amount of smiles this summer, just watch.

 

Radio: capacitors dry out (likely that's what went bad on Los_Control's set) and vibrators stop, well, vibrating. A real handy person can learn to redo them. I've tinkered on 'em for years.

 

If you don't have it already, you can write Stellantis and they'll send you a photocopy of the original build sheet, no charge. They'll also tell you which dealer sold it new. Neat info to have. You can find the contact info online, just use the latest email that goes to Stellantis vs Chrysler or FCA or whatever.

[EagleChief]

Thanks everyone! It is a fun car to have. We love interacting with people when we drive it. The nostalgia that it brings people and the smiles when you hear stories about someone riding around in one, or their parents/grandparents had one. It makes it worth it. Keeping those memories alive is what it's all about.

 

My main search on here was for tire sizes. I know there are a ton of debates, and a ton of threads, and opinions. But I had a blowout a couple of weekends ago and have been trying to search for a new set of tires. The current set on the car are Coker Classics in a 185r16. I talked with Coker and they don't even offer that tire size anymore. I went ahead and bought a set of Cokers in a 6.00-16 bias ply, but was hoping to go with a radial tire. It's just hard to find anything without paying an arm-and-a-leg for them. I had found a set of 205/70-16's from Diamondback, but they were still pretty pricey - about $1500 for a set of 4. We're going to end up using the 6.00-16's, and I'll just try and keep tabs on something else for the future - if we ever get to that point.

[EagleChief]

To add to the wish list... I'm going to have to replace one of the rear door windows. The previous owner cracked it from top to bottom. I did find the write up on replacing the window on here. Pretty sure I even saved it off somewhere. Other than ebay, is there a source for windows that you all know of?

[Sam Buchanan]

32 minutes ago, EagleChief said:

To add to the wish list... I'm going to have to replace one of the rear door windows. The previous owner cracked it from top to bottom. I did find the write up on replacing the window on here. Pretty sure I even saved it off somewhere. Other than ebay, is there a source for windows that you all know of?

 

I bought a driver door glass from this vendor, was very pleased.

 

https://www.sandersreproglass.com/

[harmony]

Welcome aboard.  Is your Radio the 802 model?  Good time to point out to you sometimes pictures load sideways on this forum.   If this is the radio that you have I might be able to help you out.

[moparfun]

Nice ride, Welcome

[EagleChief]

5 hours ago, harmony said:

Welcome aboard.  Is your Radio the 802 model?  Good time to point out to you sometimes pictures load sideways on this forum.   If this is the radio that you have I might be able to help you out.

That does look like my radio. All of the buttons work, the dial will change with the button press.

[harmony]

Yep, that's the 802 Model.  It's maybe not a priority for you right now.  But when the time comes, let me know and I can walk you through it.  It might be a very simple fix.  The selection of buttons on the right, as you have already discovered select the stations.  The top button is the OFF button and the bottom button DIAL, is not only the button you select to gradually go up and down the dial to find stations, but it's also the ON button.    It's quite possible that the contacts are just corroded and they just aren't making a good contact.  I'm assuming that you have checked to make sure that you have power going to the radio.  I'm also going to assume that you have checked to make sure that the speaker works. 

 

These radios take a bit of time to warm up, but only a minute or so.  So after pushing the DIAL button to turn it on, and letting it warm up,  try pushing it in just a bit further and holding pressure on it, and also try wiggling it around as you apply pressure.  If you get a crackling noise, then it's probably the contacts.

If that's the issue, I can explain how to get at those contacts and how to clean them.   

[EagleChief]

9 hours ago, harmony said:

Yep, that's the 802 Model.  It's maybe not a priority for you right now.  But when the time comes, let me know and I can walk you through it.  It might be a very simple fix.  The selection of buttons on the right, as you have already discovered select the stations.  The top button is the OFF button and the bottom button DIAL, is not only the button you select to gradually go up and down the dial to find stations, but it's also the ON button.    It's quite possible that the contacts are just corroded and they just aren't making a good contact.  I'm assuming that you have checked to make sure that you have power going to the radio.  I'm also going to assume that you have checked to make sure that the speaker works. 

 

These radios take a bit of time to warm up, but only a minute or so.  So after pushing the DIAL button to turn it on, and letting it warm up,  try pushing it in just a bit further and holding pressure on it, and also try wiggling it around as you apply pressure.  If you get a crackling noise, then it's probably the contacts.

If that's the issue, I can explain how to get at those contacts and how to clean them.   

I appreciate the advice. I'll look into it some more. Honestly, I haven't had the chance to really look into it at all. I just took the word of the previous owner that it worked once. I've pushed the buttons on it a few times, but haven't messed with it enough to really figure it out. It's usually while I'm driving that I have pushed the buttons, and then I'm more focused on driving than I am with the radio working.

[Dan Hiebert]

The only glass on these cars that isn't flat is the rear window.  Any auto glass shop should have scads of flat stock that they can cut you a new one from.  Most don't have the right patterns any more, but they can cut a new one from your old one, or a cardboard pattern.  It's all laminated safety glass, too.  Would most likely be less expensive than ordering from somewhere online, to boot.

[harmony]

Like Dan Hiebert just pointed out.  Any auto glass shop is your best bet.  Try to source out a local one that is good with vintage cars.  Sometimes if the "fuzzy" is worn out, rain water drips down the outside of the window and forms rust along the bottom track that holds the window in place.  When the new window is set in that track, it needs to be in good shape and bonded well.  It might be worth considering handing everything over to the Auto Glass shop.  Sometimes they will even sandblast and prep that track for you if it needs it.

[Sam Buchanan]

I hope you have better luck with a local shop than I did. A local shop could cut the glass but it was going to cost much more than the vendor I used and linked above. I added pencil grind to the laminated glass which the local shop didn't offer. Maybe your shops will have better service. Total cost with shipping from Sanders was $76 for the driver door glass.

[EagleChief]

I appreciate all the advice on the glass. I didn't think about a local place cutting a piece for me. 

 

On another note... My horn is not hooked up. There appears to be a box(relay?) mounted on the front of the horn bracket. Should the wires from the horn attach to that? I tried looking at some diagrams, but I'm not good reading electrical stuff. When I first looked at it, the wires from the horns were pushed back and just loosely touching a screw that mounts the box(relay?). But, I'm thinking it should be connected to this box. Is that right? In this picture, you can see the post where the spade connector was resting.

[harmony]

1 hour ago, EagleChief said:

I appreciate all the advice on the glass. I didn't think about a local place cutting a piece for me. 

 

On another note... My horn is not hooked up. There appears to be a box(relay?) mounted on the front of the horn bracket. Should the wires from the horn attach to that? I tried looking at some diagrams, but I'm not good reading electrical stuff. When I first looked at it, the wires from the horns were pushed back and just loosely touching a screw that mounts the box(relay?). But, I'm thinking it should be connected to this box. Is that right? In this picture, you can see the post where the spade connector was resting.

It's quite possible,,,,  however,,,, It's best to try and follow the wires on the car and compare them to the wiring diagram.  

One thing to keep in mind.  That slot screw on the relay actually doesn't look loose.  Also the forked style terminal end on that wire is the type that makes a bend at the end of the two prongs.  This means the terminal screw where it mounts to has to be really loose for it to simply fall off.  What I'm getting at is if that wire is supposed to be connected to the terminal on the horn relay, it looks to me like it was deliberately taken off.  So if you're any good with a multi-meter, I'd snoop around a little bit.  Maybe it kept blowing fuses, or maybe something started to smoke, or maybe it was grounding out somewhere.  I'd check around a bit before I hooked it up to what looks like a simple solution.

[Eneto-55]

I'm kind of late to the welcoming party, but Welcome to the forum!  Curious which part of the Tulsa you hail from.  I grew up north of Tulsa, between Collinsville & Owasso, but still in Tulsa County.  (Now I'm a 'displaced Okie' living in Ohio.  I bought my 46 in Claremore, from a coworker's brother.  I was working at United Plating Works at the time, on the north side of Tulsa.)

[Dan Hiebert]

That box is indeed the horn relay.  That one unsecured wire connector, from the near horn, we can see should be attached to the one lead that has nothing attached, that we can also see. Looking at the relay directly it'd be the upper left one.  As harmony notes, there may be a reason it is/was taken off that may need to be chased down.  Keep in mind there is no power to the horn circuit on these cars when the ignition is turned off. 

 

Spitballing here, but that bare section of wire at the horn end may provide a clue, perhaps grounding on the horn, so the/a PO just unhooked it rather than fix it.  Part of the clue also being that only the one horn wire looks to be unhooked.  The power to the horn circuit goes through the ammeter, so maybe either the horn was sounding or the ammeter wasn't working right due to that ground / short.  

Edited March 26, 2023 by Dan Hiebert