So, as I mentioned in my welcome thread, I am looking at a 39(?) Dodge Coupe. I am guessing the year based on picture research I have done via Google. I am pretty confident in the year, within a few years at least. What I am having trouble finding is information on what kinds of problems I should be looking for in this car. I would like to tell you guys what I know about it and what my plans are and get your input on what I should be checking for. The car is complete as far as I can tell. All body panels are there and appear to be straight with no obvious repairs. The interior is rough but there. It will need to be reupholstered for sure. I don't recall seeing any cracks in the gl***. Both doors opened and closed easily. I did not take any particular notice of the trim, it may or may not be there. I have not looked under the hood, in the trunk or underneath. Now, my plans. I am thinking about a resto-rod approach. Maintain the appearance basically stock. Updated the suspension, drivetrain, brakes. Interior will be basically stock with maybe a few mods to make it a bit more comfy. I am undecided on powerplant. Part of me wants to stay Mopar and go with a 318 or something, then the other side of me thinks SBC due to the sheer number of parts out there for it. I will almost certainly go with an IFS kit of some sort for the front, unsure what I will do out back. That about sums up what I know about the car. Other than the usual poking around for rust, is there anything I need to be aware of when looking at this car? I will grab some pictures when I go out there again, maybe this weekend. Thanks for the input.
Be prepared to do some fabricating to update the rear suspension. They don't make kits like they do for chevy and fords. If your missing some parts like trim you'll have fun tracking them down. I have a 40 dodge tudor sedan and some stuff is one year only so it makes it tuff to find things. I have heard that the front suspensions are pretty good, mine has a gm sub but thats because I purchased the car with it already installed. In the end when the car is all done you'll have something really cool to be proud of. Good luck, later shawn
Floors, rocker panels and floor suppors are odd shaped and tough to fab from scratch, repopped patch panels are spendy but available...the front stock IFS handles nicely with new shocks and poly bushings, if you don't have a front sway bar I have one for sale cheap, disc brake swaps are pretty simple, 318's fit nice...good luck...
Thanks for the info. Something I just remembered. What is the definitive way to get a year on it? Pretty sure this is before the 10th VIN digit trick. Pardon my ignorance, but did they even have VINs then? If so, where would it be? Owner says he has a clear ***le for it, so I ***ume it does, somewhere. I am used to 40's tractors that didn't change that much year to year or even model to model, so this is a bit of a change up for me in the ID department.
The grille will give away the year...'39, '40,'41 and '42 were all different...the VIN is on a body tag on the driver's side of the firewall towards the top...
just be sure that most of the parts are with it because not much is made for those cars, but that is what make them so cool, not everyone has one And my vote is go with a mopar motor and keep it unique Ron...
There are plenty of those mopars around, and they have a good following, just not a lot of aftermarket or reproduction parts available...many of the stock mechanical parts are available through NAPA and Roberts Motor Parts...
If it is a 39 Dodge, it will have independent front suspension from the factory. (1st year) There are parts available to rebuild it, disc brake conversions are available and power (or nonpower) rack & pinoin steering can be easily adapted to these cars. The front shock placement is stupid and can easily be relocated which will improve handling greatly. If the engine is original, it will be a flathead 6, if it runs, they are not bad engines and can be hot rodded into a decent power plants. Anything you need is available for for a small block Mopar, using parts availability for installing a sbc is a wimpy excuse. Man up, keep it all Mopar, they are not difficult to install in this era Mopar cars. Other then rust, which is expected in a 70 year old car, these were well designed and well built cars with the biggest issue being locating body and trim parts. The gl*** is all flat and can be cut at youir local gl*** shop. window rubber and weatherstripping are available at www.robertsmotorparts.com as well as other places. I have a 39 Plymouth business coupe. Gene
Ohhhh, flathead, me like! Man, that makes things a bit rougher. Hmmm, if it still has the flathead 6 in it, I may just leave it as is. Great info on the suspension. Sounds like for just a weekend driver and cruiser, just a freshen of the stock bits will do fine. This is great news. I am not much of a fabricator, but I don't mind buying patch panels if needed and welding them in. Hmmm, the plot thickens. ***uming I am correct about what the car is. I could run it on the stock motor (if there and intact) and update to a 318 if I feel the need later. Options and more options.
www.plymouthdoctor.com has rockers and floor pans for these cars, a bit pricy, but then what isn't anymore? A 38 may or may not have the independent suspension, (think it was an option, depending on the trim level), but a 37 would have the tube axle and parrallel leaf spring suspension, still decent stuff. Sounds like your making a plan, you need to get by there and check the things out and report back with pictures, we will be here waiting. Gene
I will try, I mean really try to get by there this weekend. I am getting pretty excited about it. Friday and Saturday are shot since I have to run to Pennsylvania to get some Toyota leaf springs for my Father In Law, then deliver them to him and help install on Saturday. So, maybe Sunday. I had never thought of the flathead angle. That really excites me. Some nice exhaust....mmmmmmmmm. Not sure why I like the flathead so much. I think it stems back to a 40 Ford coupe that a customer had at the shop I worked at in Indy, had a flathead v8 in it, very nice. This also cuts the budget quite a bit if it pans out. I ***ume I should expect a standard and not an automatic?
Just more fuel for the fire, mopar flathead 6's were also used in tractors...so that ties in both hobbies...good luck man and don't be afraid of asking us any questions...
Plus to quote some old guy in the desert when the Bundy's went searching for gold on Married With Children; "You got a Dodge. Dodge is a damn fine car. I ran over my first wife with a Dodge!"
1940 1939 Either can be made into a rod but I myself never did really like the 39 headlights. The 1940 lights are much better looking IMHO and as I have been told, much more functional.
I've got the 40 and really don't have anything to add. I wanted to chime in and say the 40 pictured above is beautiful and exactly as mine was envisioned in my head (and would look like if the paint was fresh). Love these cars but the parts, especially trim are very pricey.
I am hoping to run up there this afternoon when the owner gets off work. Still waiting to hear back from him now, but he is at work, so not sure when I will hear back. Wondering if I should bring a wad of cash and the trailer Although, he already knows us and that we are serious, bought another car from him for the wife a few weeks ago.
My AWESOME wife just offered to run up there while I am at work today and snap some pictures. Maybe I will know something pretty soon She's a keeper i'd say.
Yeah the 39's had squareish headlights from the factory, very ugly. 40 was the first year for sealed beam. Just look for rusted out floor and trunk pans, rocker ect.
39 had oval shaped headlamps which is the easiest way to tell if it is a 39, also 39 was last year of floor shift 3speed, 40's went to three onthe tree. However a lot of after market places sole conversions so the car could be updated to the New Sealed Beams introduced in 40. The bodies are very similar. The stock front end is already IRS with Short and long A arms. Limiting factor is Kingpins, Fat man makes lowered spindles, several sources for disc brake up grade. rear axles from mopar B bodys are na fairly easy bolt in as are jeep cherokee 2wd drive rears. Drive shaft is a bit wierd because of universals, you may find several different ones. Usually bost are ball and trunion deals. Some had ball and trunion fronst and ball and cross rears. So if you change the rear end the driveshaft will need attentions. The stock e brake is on the tail of the transmission. If you want to stay mopar power think about subbung the front with a Dakota pickup clip. It will have motor mounts for most mopar v engines, the 3.9 v6 though not traditional is a decent engine for a good cruising car. 6/8ths of a 318. If you're gonna keep the flatty (I did) it is a simple reliable torque motor. Lotts of infor on P15-D24 website for 35 and up mopar flatheads. Good luck hope you have found a solid one. Engineering is way ahead of the Fords and Chevies of the time. Irs, real springs and shocks, decent steering.
Funny you mention a Dakota front clip with a 3.9... My brother in law just rolled and totalled his 86 Monday. Unfortunately, it's 4WD, so thats probably a non starter.
Lots of good info here, not much to add. Things to look for when inspecting are completeness, rust, and extra parts. Some great info out on the web. If the flatty is a dead palyer, you can swap in almost any other Dodge flatty 6. They were pretty much the same. Otherwise, go with a SBM or that 3.9L. It's a positive ground 6 volt system, so think and research before just hooking up a 12V battery trying to crank it. Suspension is good, except the shock mounting, as noted. easy fix. The driveshaft and rear are only for stockers. Swap out a B body rear if upgrading the engine/trans. Dics brakes are nice if you drive in modern traffic. Ask questions and post pictures, as you can see there are a few of us Pentheads here....
I wonder if it would be worth even talking to my brother in law about his. I am not sure the trans would work with it being 4WD and not sure what would be involved in swapping it over to 2WD. Might be more involved than it is worth. Or I could just have the only 4WD 1939 coupe!
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off"> I think most of the things to look out for are covered. Hopefully you won't find missing trim parts, they're getting hard to find and quite pricey. I have a '39 plymouth Business Coupe. I've kept the car pretty stock except; - disc brake conversion and dropped spindles (up-rights). The old MOPARs were really pretty advanced in terms of engineering compared to Ford & Chevy. - '55 Dodge 230 flathead - bored .060, Edgy cam, Fenton aluminum head, Langdon headers ( Fenton re-pops ), duals with Smithys, Edmunds 2x1 intake. I believe it's got 410 gears, so I'll be looking to change gears ( I went to 370's in my '46 ) to make it more driveable. More likely I'll just go with a T5 trans swap. 'Hope things work out for you. </TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Here's how to diy the shock mounts: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215548 Check the door bottoms for rust.
When you guy's updated the rear in your mopars, did you update the rear shock mounts also? If so, how did you do it and do you have any pics? I was told I can use 55-57 chevy lower shock mounts with the stock springs and 8 3/4 rear. I got a set of lower mounts but the holes don't line up for the u-bolts. So now I'm not sure if I should redrill the holes or go with something different. Thanks guy's, later shawn
'39 trim & pot metal parts are 1 year only, so pretty scarce. There's also a Hayes bodied variation which is very low production - does yours have a rib running full length of the roof? By '39 standards, these cars are very modern underneath & with some knowledge of MoPar interchange, you can use almost any combo of Dodge, DeSoto, or Chrysler engine, trans, maybe an overdrive, bigger brakes, & a better rear axle ratio ... hardest part will be locating all the pieces.
The flathead can be a reliable highway cruiser, with plenty of power. I drive my '50 Plymouth all over the place. Last year I drove it on a 3,300 mile round trip to Tulsa and back from Idaho, no issues whatsoever. It will cruise down the freeway all day long at 75 mph. You will need to find an overdrive, a different rear end, or do a T-5 transmission swap to get comfortable freeway cruising speeds. I'm running a '55 Dodge overdrive with my flatty, and it's great. More on what I did with mine here: www.50plymouth.com Pete
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