Hey guys, Long time tinkerer, first time doing a pre war resto. I just bought a 1937 Plymouth 4 Door Sedan. My wife fell in love with it when I took her to look at it. (Car is essentially for her) I'll be bringing her home next week to get started. I'm sure I'll have tons of questions. Needs a full resto, but the bones are good. And the body is in great shape. Planning a modern v8 swap. Not sure on suspension/frame work just yet. (I have a few questions about direction of others). Myself... 36yr old, long time tinkerer (jack of all). Currently a sr project manager at a custom metal fab shop in St Louis. I live in Illinois, but I'm a NJ Native. Let's see if these photos will load? (Been a while since I linked into a forum... Photobucket used to be my hero) Front End Driver Fender Passenger Fender Album Below https://flic.kr/s/aHskGk325Q I guess I'll close this with my first question. Seeing this will be a cruiser mainly. I'm thinking of lowering the front a slight bit and keeping the leafs. Is there a disc brake conversion for this? Or what's the easiest way to obtain discs on this? Is a mustang ii front end the better route to go for suspension/drop/discs? Also, seeing I'm looking at a mild V8 with Auto. Do you think a full frame box is necessary? I've concluded that I don't absolutely have to have a 4 link rear, and leafs may be perfectly fine.
Good, solid looking project you fot there. I love 35/36/37 Plymouths. Hopefully I'll be able to get a coupe some day. As far as disk brakes, I believe @Scarebird here on the HAMB will be able to hook you up with what you need.
As far as keeping the leaf spring suspension it depends on how it was originally built. For example, years ago I had a '39 Fargo; also made by the folks at Chrysler. It had U shaped spring shackles that had metal bushings with grease zerks. Don't think anyone ever thought to grease them so consequently the shackles wore clear through the bushings and the shackles themselves were dangerously compromised. At the time, I couldn't find proper replacement parts. Don't think that since then anyone is reproducing this stuff. Could be wrong though. If that is the case in your situation, I think you should upgrade the springs to rubber bushings. In my case, I swapped the rear leaf springs for ones from an old Toyota pickup and used a Gibbon Fiberglass crossmember made for a '40 Ford with Cordoba torsion bar for the front. Don't think they make that anymore either. The V8 swap would be easy and boxing shouldn't be necessary.
I'll see if I can track him down to see what he has to offer. I'll look into that as soon as she's nestled into the shop. Suspension all still had good bounce, and sat level. I didn't see any nasty rot or issues when I inspected. Definitely a rubber or poly upgrade if they are solid bushings. Appreciate the notes on the boxing. Figured I'd need some firewall modification, and most likely the floorpan. But that's no worries. Just going to go computer controlled/fuel injected and overdrive. It's not gonna launch at the strip, but that's not what it's being built for. Just cruising.
Yup, she originally spotted a 39 4Door. She looked at it, and said "That's the one!". My first thought was, A 4 DOOR????? She said, absolutely. Which in turn, made it a lil bit easier to find as the coupes are a little more sought after. I found a guy who had both a 37 and a 39. I like the 37 front end better, to which she agreed. We'll see how much she loves it after I make her start sanding. LOL
Here's some info from an old magazine. Dick Maxwell's '37 Plymouth 4 door. Magazine is older than you are! Didn't include the whole article but it says he used rear springs P3690265 and P3690266 from Chrysler.
The original front end under those Mopar's actually drive pretty good. However if it is for the wife you will need power steering. A fuel injected 360 and automatic would move that car down the road with no problem. I really like the old Plymouth's. My avatar is a Plymouth with a Willys fiberglass nose.
Here is a slant back sedan I had a few years back, I didn't build it but bought it pretty much as you see it. I always thought the front of the 37's were pretty classy looking.
You can put in one of the new electric assist units that mount under the dash. If you can't find a box that will fit your needs.
Welcome from Waterloo Illinois, great looking project. Not too many old Mopars out there compared to Fords and Chevys, I agree, try to keep it Mopar powered! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Just a little inspiration for you. This is the 1937 dodge coupe (Plymouth front end)Dad and I are building. We still have a lot of bugs to work out but it has come a long way from the picked over parts car we started with.We Kept it almost all Mopar with a 392 Hemi, Torqueflite and 8.75 rear. Good luck with your build.
Happy wife, happy life. I'm onboard. I thought about trading similar when I I had my tub for sale years ago but didn't go through. Cash difference would have helped me fund the 46 Olds
Cool Car! Theres a '37 Plymouth coupe in my shop that's been waiting patiently to be put back together but the owner cant decide which direction to go. He converted it to air suspension probably 15yrs ago, but wants to take it out and do leaf springs and coilovers now. factory mustang front clip, power disc brakes and power steering, set up for an sbc. I almost bought it a few yrs ago, but a little too street roddy for what I was looking for.
? Where did you get the header for your 37 Plymouth like the hemi[emoji1320] Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I had them built by a local exhaust shop. I'm not real happy with the quality, as Dad and I had to spend a day fixing them. They don't look to bad after coating.
Power steering is tough if you want to keep the original leaf spring front suspension. With the big steering wheel and good front end parts, the manual steering isn't that hard. Any replacement original parts you might need can be had from www.robertsmotorparts.com I can offer some other ideas by PM. A late model 318 or 360 motor along with its trans will move the car down the road well. You can offset the motor & trans about 1 1/2" to 2" towards the passenger side to clear the steering box. The early 90s Dakota V8 has a pretty simple OBD1 efi wiring (get the computer too), or you can buy a stand alone wiring harness from www.hotwireauto.com, the Hot Wires harness is not cheap, but it works very well and is pretty much a plug and play. If you need more info, PM me here, the EFI and modern suspension upgrades are not really HAMB friendly. Gene
here's yet some more inspirational photos for ya! It took me 4 years to get it to here. Everything done by myself, didn't a single thing out. As you can tell by the overspray on my floor still have the interior to do.
I know the wheels were 15's I think 6 wide, I think the tires were 70 series with rears a couple sizes larger than fronts. Sold the car several years ago.
My wife has a ‘33. All stock. I would suggest just rebuilding the front. And cleaning up the engine and get it running. Scuff the front and paint it black to match the rest of the car and drive it as it. what you can do is replace the pivot/bushings on the springs. 40’s Willys Jeep ones are cheap and they match. If you don’t have tube shocks you can get upper brackets from a 40’s dodge truck. The lowers one can be fabbed up. But 37 models have the correct bracket welded to the tube. if you must change the drive line Mopar 60’s rear ends fit right in there. I would keep it all original IMO. if it has overdrive it help the driving a 30’s mopar like a mid 60’s. Rustyhope on here had some of the brackets also scarebird disc brakes has some them too. This would be for keeping the original suspension. once you change to a modern suspension like a MII Not many of the hamb members will be helping out or posting. Look for the old Betsy is coming home post. It very inspirational. highly recommend getting it running and making the wife happy now. Not in some future alternative reality. I had the same issue and sold the ‘33 dream rod and found a running all original of the same model and I have a happy wife. And she’s got a really cool car.
One of my favorite pre war mopars second only to the 38. I would keep the front supension and brakes if in good shape.
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