Figured I should introduce my self and my project to the Ham since I plan on posting and reading a lot. I live in San Diego, CA and found a 1933 Dodge DP 6 in a barn located in Lincoln, CA. this car sat in storage since 1991 (I was 9 years old) and had not been moved. the owner in January decided to post the car for sale on Craigslist for $13k. My father and I had been looking for an old car for my wife and I as I had just sold my full custom 2005 Chevy Silverado 1500. I got tired of dumping money into a vehicle that would not appreciate in value. I was on my way home and my Dad called me and said "I found your car, I am on my way to put a down payment on it, go get a plane ticket and get up here" so me excited but also curious what car I am about to buy wanted to know what car my father had found. although with him having many years of experience buying and selling old cars, I trust his judgment with any vehicle. He told me to check on Craigslist and when I did, the car looked so bad that I scrolled right by it. after he told me, "no, that is the one, the 1st one that pop's up" I am like oh, really. um ok. so he gets to the owners location and finds out that someone beat him to it, except the person who came 1st wanted to buy the car for $12K, but the original owner said NO and refused the man. then the original owner of the car went home and told his wife he declined the $12K to which she said "are you kidding me, sell the Fking car" haha my luck my Dad was the 2nd guy there and happened to offer the owner $12K to which he agreed. My Dad called me and said, ok, I check the car its amazing in and out. but from the pictures you would never know it. I flew up to Lincoln, CA the next day with a pocket full of cash and organized the pickup. as soon as I seen it the 1st thing I think is. what am I buying. well my self being a car guy I have never imagined buying a Dodge. originally I was looking for a Chevy due to my previous experience with mostly ford/chevy's. Once we got it to my grandmothers house in Sacramento, and put it in the garage "I being a Mobile Detailer by trade" spent the whole day wiping down and vacuuming the car best I could with out all my detail tools. as I did this I slowly uncovered the GEM that was under 27 years of dust and dirt. With the help of my good friend Dan Twenty "A custom car transporter who trailers vehicles for people the likes of Metalica, Jimmy buffet, etc" we loaded up the car in his trailer and I made plans to get back home to wait for my new ride. Dan Twenty said he can have it delivered on Christmas Eve which was great because my wife had not yet seen the car other than the dirty pictures shown above. on christmas eve 2017 Dan showed up to my home and we loaded the car into my garage which is where all of the work has been done. the 1st thing for me to do is always detail a vehicle inside and out so that I have a good idea of what I am really working with. The exterior was washed with spot free water/claybared/waxed/buffed and the interior was vacuumed again, whiped down, and with a closer look, I found that at some point this car has had visitors under the seats "mice/rats" luckly they did not eat the interior. however now the vehicle has went from dull to shinny and I am REALLY surprised how clean and complete this car really is. well today is 3/9/18, I so far have got new Firestone 650-16 with 4" White Walls on the car, put a new Fuel Pump on, rebuilt the Carburetor, rewired the entire vehicle, cleaned out all brake lines, new master cylinder, polished all the chrome, new light socket internals, new bulbs, new dimmer switch, and much more. I plan on having the car ready for Good Guys Del Mar April 2018. not sure if it will happen, but goals are good to have with a build. I still am having trouble with the brake lights and brake light pressure switch, may have to replace that. if there are any people who want to lend a hand and know more about this style/era of car, I am happy to have a beer and tinker around on the ride. Well this is my 1933 Dodge DP 6 Barn find, I look forward to being part of the OLD car community. if you are in San Diego, CA get a hold of me. Thanks for Reading Ralph...
If you do ANYTHING other than additional detailing to the exterior if that fine specimen, your privileges here should be REVOKED! THAT, my friend, is a beautiful survivor!!!!
My brother did a twin of that back in the early '80's. One of the best looking 4 door cars ever made. The four doors have the 2 door versions beat hands down. He went Washington Blue, but a fine metallic (metallic against my advice, but his car) and ran 15" beige painted Chrysler wires. Very elegant. Best of luck.
What a find! It reminds me of a 33 ply 4-door i bought sitting in a guy's backyard for 20 yrs.It was not in as great of shape, in fact i had to kill two live rats that had been in the car that transferred to my garage. When i moved to my now house of 31 years,i drove it up the Cajon Pass going 35 mph with the original motor. Funnnn! I ended up dropping a 360 Chrysler motor in it and it was fast.All this to say i miss it and if i could go back in time-i would of kept it.(Sorry about the rambling).
Thanks for the nice words all. Tonight I got the brakes blead and pressurized. Was going to start it but the carburetor gave me an issue and the battery was dead. But hopefully that will be fixed shortly. I will post updates as I move along.
A beautiful and unmolested survivor. Thanks to your dad's great eye and immediate action you got a smokin hot deal!
There must have been a bunch of the top end blue 4 doors built. The local Dodge dealer kept an identical (except wood wheeled) car in their basement for "special" use. Other than a '50s lacquer repaint, it had never been touched. A friend bought the car when the dealership changed "leadership", enjoyed it for a few months & sold it ... he hated not being able to do anything but clean it & give rides.
Good find. It seems like there seems to be more and more 33-34 Mopar threads on the Hamb now. Much prettier than the Fords. EEEKK!
I you plan on keeping like it is, you might want to look into the Dodge Brothers Club, they are all about preserving the old Dodge's. Otherwise, let us know when you break out the Sawzall
Welcome to the HAMB Ralph. You and your dad did good! First, thats just an amazing car. It has so many very hard to find parts, and you did a great job of bringing her back. Also { THANKS } for sharing your story, and all the great photos. I have a sedan delivery. It was bought new as an ambulance in 1934, and then turned into a Hot Rod in the 60's.I've had it since 78. It is one that I'll never part with. Ralph I hope you drive it a lot, and keep us posted on the process and your travels with it too. Thanks, Ron...
What a cool car, hope you enjoy many nice drives in it and learn to appreciate all the fine Dodge features like hydraulic brakes, all steel body, full pressure lubrication to all bearings, etc unlike certain competitors that featured mechanical brakes, wood body framing, spit and hope oiling etc. We need to keep this thread as a reference for what careful cleaning and detailing can do for a cruddy looking old car. I am sure there are newbies who will not believe you can make a car look like that without a complete repaint.
Thank you all for seeing my progress, I will keep this forum up to date with progress. I just made the new Battery box as the old one was rusting and seemed to have been repaired about 5 times incorrectly. so here is a picture of the new DUAL OPTIMA 6V battery tray.
Car is wired positive ground. Use zero gauge minimum battery cables. You might want to repower your brake light switch. Pull a power wire ff the battery or from the battery side of the starter wiring. Do an inline 15 amp fuse to one of the hydraulic switch terminals. Just tape off and abandon in place the original power lead. This takes the brake light load out of the general lighting circuit. You get brighter lights also. 6 volt systems like clean tight grounds and thicker than 12 v wire gauges. Also ground the body to the frame or engine. A couple lengths of 10 gauge wire is sufficient. Makes for much better response for interior lights and head and tail lamps also.
also, I am replacing the brake light pressure switch next week as my ORIGINAL one is bad I think, then I should have all the electrical squared away. but it has not been easy with the headlights working but not having high beams and the running lights working when they want. basically I am working out wire issues but am very close to being done.
High beams might be related to corrosion within the foot switch. Some times giving the switch about a dozen cycles will knock the rust off. Again tight corrosion free circuits are a must for 6 volt proper function.
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