Well for the longest time I've wanted this car; 1941 Plymouth Coupe. It's been owned by my grandpa since the 50s, and before him it was owned by his uncle, the original owner. Has just under 70K original miles. I know it's not super rare or exciting, but this was the vehicle that got me excited about cars. In the past year my grandpa has battled with cancer, and as a result has had to have his leg amputated just below the knee. This was his second term with cancer. Even before the cancer he has been sick for nearly 10 years and thus the car has sat for quite a while. Just today while talking I he offered me the car! Not really sure where to begin with it, it has been sitting in his garage for nearly 10 years so pretty sure the tires are shot at the minimum. Brakes are really weak, so not sure what I need to get those fixed. I plan on working on it this spring and getting it call cleaned up and giving him a ride in it once again. I don't want to do a frame off, just keep it original but cleaned up, possibly repaint it in the future (original color was robin egg blue). Any idea on where to look for brake components and the most common reasons the brakes may be shoddy?
Keep that car and treasure it. Get it running so you can take your Gramps for a ride in it. Just don't be the cracked out cousin I had that my grandpa gave his car to, just so he could wreck it. Then all the other older relatives gave the same bonehead more free low milers, which he wrecked.
I hear you, I already know my cousin who was kicked out of the army, never graduated HS, doesn't work and has been fired from everywhere wants it; I really hope my grandpa trusts me with it. I just graduated from college and working full time as a Chemist, this car means a lot to me and I don't ever plan on doing anything crazy with it. Soon as the Michigan winter is gone I'll be pulling it out of the little garage its been sitting in and flatbed tow it to a real shop so I can get working on it.
Rebuild the master and the wheel cylinders. New shoes and replace the rubber in the brake lines and you should be good to go. I was able to get all new ones online for my 48 ford front end, so the parts ARE out there.
No one has noticed that is a 1942 Plymouth, NOT a 1941?! C'mon, people. What a great car! I love the odd old(much older than the car) remote radio tuner head hanging on the control panel with the gnarly rubber knobs. These are the kinds of cars you get once in a lifetime. A great piece of heritage to pass through the family for the next several generations. Imagine all your kids driving this baby to high school! Especially after the "embarassment" of having had YOU driving them to school in it for 8 years already. Best of luck. Remember, Mopars that sit more than a year or so always need the brakes rebuilt so DRIVE< DRIVE< DRIVE!
congrats man, that's really cool. from someone who lost his grandfather around your same age (and we were really close), i'd like to tell you to get that thing driveable ASAP, and then take him for a ride and bring a camera. We missed out on cruising in the Woodie with my grandfather b/c we waited a bit too long. Also missed out on some good engineering tips for our shop, b/c we didn't ask my other grandfather soon enough. both were here on a Friday in perfect health and died by the end of the weekend. Congrats on the cool car man, glad it went to someone who understands what he has!
That looks like a cool old mopar and the family ties to it make it pricless. Try Kantner auto products 800 526 1096 www.kantner .com .They sell all the parts you will need to get your brakes up.
pasadenahotrod; you sure its a '42? I believe ya because I honestly am just going by what the license plate says and the note in the car.. grandpa probably thought the same thing when get received the car himself. Whats the differences between 41 and 42? I found a distributor cap, rotor, and other misc ignition parts today so hopefully that will help tune up the car a bit (although it ran great when parked minus the braking issue)
YES, it is a 42, the first of the body style which was used from 1942 to early 1949 virtually unchanged. The 46-early 49s(YES, the early 49s were carry-over 48s in all the Mopar lines,which is why regular 49 stuff is so damned hard to find) had a different hood ornament, grille, stoplight(on deck lid), taillamps(which are taillamps only or tail/turn if accessory signals are installed), bumpers, and exterior stainless trim. The Plymouth emblems inside the car are much fancier in 42 than the post-war cars, and your car oddly, in my experience, has black-faced gauges, rather than the beautiful copper backgrounded ones in ones I've seen and owned BUT is yours a Deluxe or Special Deluxe? The Special Deluxes I owned and others I've seen have the fancier emblems, perhaps the Deluxes have the black-faced gauges which were continued with like the postwar cars? You could find a 5-button or 7-button radio for that radio-delete car without too much trouble I think. Other neat accessories are a red parking brake indicator light which mounts above the E-brake handle, an underhood lamp which extends on a cord for overall troubleshooting, an electric opening "locking" gas cap, interior trunk lamp, turn signals etc. One cool thing in early Mopars, the speedometer lights up green up to about 35 MPH, then turns yellow up to 55 or so, then turns red for "Danger, Will Robinson, high speeds high speeds...click click whirrrrrrrr".
Welcome to the HAMB! Congratulations, nice car! Paint looks to be fairly decent to me. I'd get it road worthy and drive it. Have fun!
thanks everyone, learning a bunch already! pasadenahotrod, thanks a bunch man! I'll probably be bugging you a little bit over the next couple months. I'll talk to my grandpa this weekend and take a bunch more photos for you. -Pete
It IS possible that the car was registered as a 1941 beacuse it was originally sold in a state that registered cars by the calendar year sold rather than the model year of the cars OR simply because the typist who typed up the transfer hit the wri=ong key on her upright Underwood! The engine number should start with P12- I believe. That is what they are registered by as VINs. You can apply to the state to have the error corrected to avoid any possibility of future problems if your paperwork corresponds correctly with the car, numberwise.
Brakes are weird - Chrysler refused to license the Bendix patent for self-adjusters and had their own method. Sometimes two cylinders per wheel, always a bear to adjust. Get over to the P15-D24 forum and search for brake adjusting info - they were all the same from late 30s to about 1954. There are quite reasonable disc brake conversions available too, olddaddy on the HAMB and on p15-d24 makes one, I think also scarebird and others. The rear ends tend to leak and typically have a 3.9-1 ratio. No racing, not even any prolonged high speed runs. Keep it to 55 or so. People like to find the overdrive units and put them in any car with a mopar flathead, lets them cruise on modern freeways. The flathead motor has about 100 hp and lots of low-end torque. It has some quirks but nothing too strange. They put them in things like forklifts and airport baggage handling vehicles until the 1970s so there are a zillion out there, look around and don't pay too much for parts. Since you are on the HAMB, here's the cheap way of hopping it up in a nice reversable manner: buy a spare intake manifold and exhaust manifold, get both split so you have twice the carb airflow, bolt them on. Haunt Ebay for mopar flathead speed parts - they still make the fancy new aluminum heads but they are pricy. You can get up to about 130 HP easily, 150 a little harder (a head and a cam).
Yes, get gramps back in that thing and take him for a cruise asap if you can. Way cool ride. You're gonna have a great time! Good Luck!
What a neat original car. I really like the extra bumper under the front bumper. To bad about the small ding.
Looks like an aftermarket radio judging by the dial and knobs at the funny angle there. I'll second or third or whatever it's a '42. 1942 Plymouth Deluxe (P14S) production: 2-door Business Coupe (no rear seat) - 3783 2-door Club coupe (rear seat that folds down) - 2458 Special Deluxe (P14C) - Business - 7258 Club - 14,685 None of those is particularly common, especially given their lifespan ended about the time of the Korean War, which means demand for scrap would have been up at the time. I can post some serial number data if you like, too. Interesting that in '42 there was a Plymouth "Town Sedan" that did not have the extra quarter window most of the others had. Low production, too, less than 6000. Probably explains why I didn't know it existed until just now -
Very nice... Treat her rite. Down here in the antipodes if you grandpa leaves you his old car when he can no longer drive it, it's probably a really low mile Daihatsu Charade, or a sweet Morris Cowley! We's jus jealous.
A bit of brake info; The fluid absorbs moisture when they sit unused. When renewing the hydraulics you will need a hone to polish the bores of the wheel and master cylinders. If they are badly pitted you can send them off to be sleeved. I don't know where, as the only thing I've gotten done is Corvette brakes(done in stainless), But my middle brother had something for his '39 Chevy sleeved in brass, seems like the way to go. You might also consider using DOT5 brake fluid, it won't ever absorb moisture, and seems to last forever if assembled with silicone grease, but does contribute slightly to a spongy feel because of it's compressibility, so new hoses would be a must(probably need them anyway).
very cool,i would go through the car and make it road worthy and just drive it and enjoy it,,here is my gift from my grandfather
What a sweet little "rare" coupe. These have such cool swoopy body lines. I am sure you are in for a good time with this great car. Some good hints have already been passed to you on parts sources etc. Enjoy!!~Sololobo~
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