1948 Special Deluxe police buying advice

[stukamensch]

Hey all just joined, about to buy a 1948 special deluxe police model, it looks really clean no rust CA car, its been updated to a 12v system and a th350 trans anything i should specifically look for on these cars. Still has the original motor, and police equipment.

Thank you all in advance!

 

Edit: car appears super clean, has won some local car shows, only reported issue is windshield wipers not working.

Edited January 31, 2024 by stukamensch
.

[Dan Hiebert]

Welcome!  Cars were not built specifically for police service until the late '50s, although Buick made some special order cars for the California Highway Patrol in '55 or '56.  Meaning your car may have been used for police service, but none of that police stuff would be original to the car.  MoPar did make commercial service cars with sturdier components, but not specifically for law enforcement, think "taxi service".  Before the advent of police package cars, agencies usually went with the lowest cost alternative, and then added the police components.  We can certainly help with the '48 Plymouth stuff, but best bet for the police equipment is to find one of those vintage police car sites, or a police car club (those do exist).  The equipment agencies put in the early cars was all over the map, depending on needs, and primarily...budget.   

[Ivan_B]

I suspect that the author is interested in advise on getting the specific car, and not about the police stuff. A short story is: check everything. Especially underneath the car.

If you have some pictures, feel free to share them here, we have plenty of qualified critics available

[Sam Buchanan]

9 hours ago, stukamensch said:

Hey all just joined, about to buy a 1948 special deluxe police model, it looks really clean no rust CA car, its been updated to a 12v system and a th350 trans anything i should specifically look for on these cars. Still has the original motor, and police equipment.

Thank you all in advance!

 

Is this car running and driving or not? Some major problem areas include brakes, fuel system, cooling system and electrical. If the car is roadworthy then it will be easy to get a rudimentary idea of the condition of these systems. If not then it is best to consider this car a project that may need extensive ($$$$) work in these areas. 

 

It depends on what you want, a car that you can drive now or a project with good bones. It is difficult to offer specific ideas without knowing your intentions. The fact the car has a modern auto transmission is reason to wonder what other mods have been made and this makes it more difficult to evaluate. The driveshaft won't be stock and questions arise about the rear axle (brakes, final drive ratio, etc?).

Edited January 31, 2024 by Sam Buchanan

[andyd]

I for one would be interested in seeing the adaption of a GM turbo hydro 350 trans to an original mopar side valve 6...........very interesting........andyd 

[stukamensch]

13 minutes ago, andyd said:

I for one would be interested in seeing the adaption of a GM turbo hydro 350 trans to an original mopar side valve 6...........very interesting........andyd 

Ill confirm the driveline on sunday for sure and get some pics

[Sam Buchanan]

20 minutes ago, andyd said:

I for one would be interested in seeing the adaption of a GM turbo hydro 350 trans to an original mopar side valve 6...........very interesting........andyd 

 

Same here.....very interesting..........

[Sniper]

Wilcap made an adapter to do just that. They probably still make it I don't know I haven't looked lately. But if I was going to go through the aggravation of sticking an automatic in my ride it would have four speeds with 4th gear being Overdrive.

[stukamensch]

20 hours ago, Dan Hiebert said:

Welcome!  Cars were not built specifically for police service until the late '50s, although Buick made some special order cars for the California Highway Patrol in '55 or '56.  Meaning your car may have been used for police service, but none of that police stuff would be original to the car.  MoPar did make commercial service cars with sturdier components, but not specifically for law enforcement, think "taxi service".  Before the advent of police package cars, agencies usually went with the lowest cost alternative, and then added the police components.  We can certainly help with the '48 Plymouth stuff, but best bet for the police equipment is to find one of those vintage police car sites, or a police car club (those do exist).  The equipment agencies put in the early cars was all over the map, depending on needs, and primarily...budget.   

Yeah I'm not worried about the police stuff its all intact and functioning, I was moreso concerned about the factory engine electronics etc

[stukamensch]

18 hours ago, Sam Buchanan said:

 

Is this car running and driving or not? Some major problem areas include brakes, fuel system, cooling system and electrical. If the car is roadworthy then it will be easy to get a rudimentary idea of the condition of these systems. If not then it is best to consider this car a project that may need extensive ($$$$) work in these areas. 

 

It depends on what you want, a car that you can drive now or a project with good bones. It is difficult to offer specific ideas without knowing your intentions. The fact the car has a modern auto transmission is reason to wonder what other mods have been made and this makes it more difficult to evaluate. The driveshaft won't be stock and questions arise about the rear axle (brakes, final drive ratio, etc?).

It's show condition allegedly and runs and drives great and everytging works except the wipers.

[Ivan_B]

2 hours ago, stukamensch said:

It's show condition allegedly and runs and drives great and everything works except the wipers.

Are you buying remotely? ? Sounds great. Now, all you need is a 100+ pictures and a full inspection!

[stukamensch]

24 minutes ago, Ivan_B said:

Are you buying remotely? ? Sounds great. Now, all you need is a 100+ pictures and a full inspection!

Nah I'm going to see it in person this weekend

[Ivan_B]

Take a lot of pictures! And take someone with you, preferably a non-interested and knowledgeable party. Otherwise, when you want something, the smoke does get in your eyes... ?

[stukamensch]

3 minutes ago, Ivan_B said:

Take a lot of pictures! And take someone with you, preferably a non-interested and knowledgeable party. Otherwise, when you want something, the smoke does get in your eyes... ?

I'm taking my old man who isn't a fan of anything pre 60s he'll be my voice of reason ?

[Sam Buchanan]

4 hours ago, stukamensch said:

It's show condition allegedly and runs and drives great and everytging works except the wipers.

 

Excellent. That changes the character of your original (unedited) post.

 

Some might be concerned about whether or not non-detergent oil is in the engine, be good to find as much recent service history as possible.

 

Enjoy your new ride!

 

P.S. Your first purchase is one of these:

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=10593924&cc=1486874&pt=10335&jsn=381

 

Edited February 1, 2024 by Sam Buchanan

[DJ194950]

Word was that Wilcap has shut down and not selling their motor/trans adapters any longer but some other company has bought their leftover supplies and last I read 6+ months ago that companies website did not say whether they would continue to make new adpters.

 

Suggest you web search the Wilcap name to see for yourself if interested.

 

Some old aftermarket auto parts makes seem to dropping like fries these days.

 

If you have been planning to buy something from one of the aftermarket suppliers but been stalling, I suggest you get off your - - - and get it done just in case!

 

DJ

[Booger]

21 hours ago, andyd said:

I for one would be interested in seeing the adaption of a GM turbo hydro 350 trans to an original mopar side valve 6...........very interesting........andyd 

I was thinking the same!

[Sniper]

49 minutes ago, DJ194950 said:

Word was that Wilcap has shut down and not selling their motor/trans adapters any longer but some other company has bought their leftover supplies and last I read 6+ months ago that companies website did not say whether they would continue to make new adpters.

 

Suggest you web search the Wilcap name to see for yourself if interested.

 

Some old aftermarket auto parts makes seem to dropping like fries these days.

 

If you have been planning to buy something from one of the aftermarket suppliers but been stalling, I suggest you get off your - - - and get it done just in case!

 

DJ

 

Good point, I was going to buy a floor pan from the Plymouth Doctor, alas, I can no longer do that.

 

If I win the Mega-millions I might try to buy and resurrect some of these old suppliers, lol.

[kencombs]

Surprisingly, it's still available, and only 1200 bucks.https://transmissionadapters.com/collections/mopar-1/products/wmo501-1933-1971-mopar-slant-6-to-chevy-automatic-transmission

edit"  the link says slant 6 but the actual page says FH.

Edited February 2, 2024 by kencombs

[stukamensch]

So update, car was not at clean as  it looked which is normal for an old car seen online but it was way worse, wearing trim, bondo, 12v system didnt work with the old gauges, needed a tune. Probably need a few pan sections cut out. Offered 12k and was given the walk

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/694883189361617/

Need some interior trim, various chips in paint with rust. They painted a very different picture and i drove 5 hours round trip. They wanted 15k

Also the th350 was done in Socal with an adapter plate and worked beautifully.

Edited February 5, 2024 by stukamensch

[Sniper]

The gauges should have worked fine.  oil and water are mechanical, ammeter doesn't care about voltage and the fuel gauge should be the older style thermostatic type that runs on current flow not voltage.

[stukamensch]

19 minutes ago, Sniper said:

The gauges should have worked fine.  oil and water are mechanical, ammeter doesn't care about voltage and the fuel gauge should be the older style thermostatic type that runs on current flow not voltage.

Gotcha 

[Ivan_B]

11 hours ago, stukamensch said:

So update, car was not at clean at it looked

And that will probably be the same story with a good majority of the vehicles you see, regardless of the price range and advertising condition. Have you been looking for a while, or was this a random impulse decision?

Always ask the far-away seller for more pictures. The ones that tell you that the car is in great shape, etc., and then find 101 excuse why more/better/larger pictures are unavailable - are full of "nonsense" Show winner - means nothing (unless properly judged, etc.), since most people cannot tell a difference anyway, as long as the paint is pretty... We have some rather bad cars on the floor at the local classic car museum, for example.

Always beware of the pretty new paint.

[Sniper]

I have to wonder if this had any documentation as an actual police car? Because all those 12 volt accessories did not exist in 1948.

[Ivan_B]

21 minutes ago, Sniper said:

I have to wonder if this had any documentation as an actual police car?

That was also my first impression - probably a fake police car, hence all the extra cost ?