Projects Removing street rod from old Coupe

Hi from SE Mn . I'm currently working on a 39 Plymouth coupe. Going to resurrect it to it's former glory when first built in the 70's . Later owner's destroyed the hot rod look. This is what it looked like when I bought it. It came with a very nice rolled and pleated interior, horrible wiring, brakes plumbed backwards and questionable body and paint work.

 

Start by removing that horrid 1990s stripe.

Then move to the electrical when you don’t have to see the cheesy graphics.

Someone at GM should be imprisoned for coming up with that Heartbeat ad campaign.

 

Wheels, tires, taillights, body and paint.

 

I'd guess the inspiration was a music video, not GM.
The 39 had the TV shaped headlights, last year before sealed beams took over. If that is part of the back dating, I'd look for OE parts rather than trying to fix that. Rare one year only but not in huge demand.
Definitely work on the wiring, that can burn the thing down. \

 

I’m a chrome stock bumper guy so after you fix what’s needed for reliability that’s where I would head. The rest is your thoughts.

 

Well, gotta get rid of the color and the stripes. Find the correct bumpers and lights, and get a good harness in it. That's 90 percent of your job done! The only thing I miss from the '80's and '90's is cheap cars and fast women... or was it the other way around

 

I love the '39 Plymouth stock headlights!

Dave

 

Me too Dave! Unique and specific to that year. But I love the 39' Dodge as well.

 

My Father wanted on his 40Ply
With swan hood to V windshield
French head lights ,I am glad he never did , he did add one each side 65 impala brake light on fenders Not Freched & about vertical in line with trunk handle

 

These are a neat, overlooked body style, I'd like to see progress pics as you move your way through it.

 

I always wanted to do this, take a well built reliable street rod and backdate it. Most of the cars I’ve seen have unrealistic prices.

 

40 little different
Swan hood is full length
& head lights round maker light on top slopes into over frnder
& grill bar's

 

ZZ Top all the way on that! You'd think they would have made it not so thin.... Put a chrome grill back in.

 

The stripe is gone along with the black stripe on doors . I removed 20 feet on spliced wiring under the dash and made a new gauge panel to replace the plastic one that was in it .

 

Plastic? Not sure what would be worse, plastic or billet.

 

I made the panel from a sheet of aluminum and laid out the gauges and indicator lights.

 

What's funny to me seeing this car in all it's 90's glory was the memory of seeing an entire car show back in the nineties with all those Easter egg colors.

 

Enjoy the process.

 

Would have ***umed a Street Rod would have been billet, or maybe Aluminum, but plastic.

 

Stock wheels with big n little bias ply tires, lower the front, find some bumpers or nerf bars, fix the mechanicals, brakes, wiring, exhaust, get rid of the stripe, different steering wheel, go burn rubber! I think the ol' car has a lot of potential. Have fun.

 

Your car seems to be in nice shape, it's also a good looking body style. What kind of steering wheel will you get?

 

You don’t say how you came to “own” the car. Did you have to pay for all the “improvements “ or was the crime committed by a family member? Looks like the stripes might peel off. I don’t know about (or understand) the black triangle on the doors. It looks like something we did in highschool when we fixed a rust out, but couldn’t afford to paint the car. You are to be commended, please take us along for the untanglement. I think I can live with the orange, stance doesn’t look too bad, but it might just be fancy camera work. Full speed backward! Edit - I revisited your comments, must have been overwhelmed by the pictures- so you did buy it, and the black triangle was a stick on? There is hope for the old girl.

 

Thanks for all the ideas guys. The black triangle covered rust holes on the doors. I cut out the rust and repaired with steel patches. The photos make the car look better than it really is. I have replaced the floor and repaired the body mounts. I found a half inch fibergl*** floor when I removed the carpet to see why the seat came loose during a test drive in the yard . 350 Chevy runs good but the transmission may need some help.

 

Glad to hear of someone who relates to some basic mods to a stock body machine. In my day of dino's and flying snake type critters, just getting an old coupe etc. and installing a V8, putting it in primer, and making sure the wiring, brakes were o.k., and then driving the thing everywhere was the ticket since $ didn't exist for most of us.

 

Am I the only one who prefers the updated headlights? "39 Plymouth headlights just don't appeal to me.

 

I did the back-date thing to a Model A coupe a few years ago but after looking at your photos, I think I lucked out. Mine didn’t need quite so much. I had to sand off some hokey stripes, fix some lifting paint, change wheels/tires and remove the excessive ginger bread. Plus the usual things to make it safe and reliable.
I thought your paint looked pretty good until you mentioned the rust under the triangles, it looks like it has some chips and lifting in other areas. If you like the color, it looks like it could be saved. The shots of the dash and interior shows how it was neglected. Too bad, but it sure looks like it’s worth the effort. Nice looking car overall, looking forward to watching you bring it back to life.

 

Don’t forget the steering wheel!
Good luck with the project. I will be watching.

 

I think doing away with the stripe and better wheels tires and some sort of bumper will get it where it needs to be. The color isn't so bad. Excited to follow along.

 

My dad and I used to call them 'frail engined, panzy colored street rods.' Looking back at the pics from the 90s makes for a good laugh.

I'm in the process of de-billetting as well. Can't wait to see then end product.

I like the flushed round headlights it's got. Always thought the stock Plymouth TV shaped lenses looked out of place.