Today i went out looking at a few coupes. Some pretty ratty, others in nice shape. I found this one, a 1941 Plymouth Businessmans Coupe. Its originally a 2 seater, w/ no back seat...it had the original frame for the rear "closet" compartment and hinges. I have never seen such a thing...it was cool. The car was an old guys Daily Driver Hot Rod from 50's to the 70's. The body was removed from its original chassis and put on a later convertable Mopar frame...upgrading the running gear and rear-end (in its time)...the motor...here is the good part is a complete, rebuilt, super low milage (under 1000 miles) 392 Hemi, mostly stock, but a super runner. The old guy who had this coupe only ran Hemi's in his ride...went through 4 of them, the 392 was the last. The car is totally rust free, never been hit...all metal. Amazing. It even had the original last set of tires the guy rolled on...Bias Plys. The car is 100% complete, but in boxes...Im very excited. It was cool to talk about the history of the car, whom it belonged to the guys father-in-law. The car was taken apart for restoration, but the father got sick and passed. INcluded w/ the deal was several aluminum bell housings (for Hemi) for other tranny makes, trannys, box of glass Mopar Taillight lenses, severl types of Mopar gage clusters, Disk brake rear end, couple 50 gal. drums full of parts, Literature, books, (2) Modern day columns...etc, etc. I paid less than $3000 for the wholedeal I thought I would share...Later!
jealousy has set in nice score many weeks of pleasure just sortin through all of that stuff and puttin the car on the road can't wait to see the end result very nice.
Thanks guys, its nice to find something; your looking for, for a fair and descent price. Now its time to start writing down my plans for the car... A few things I do want to do is lower it (maybe channel it), do some photoshop mods on it, stab in the motor, wire it and drive the heck out of it. Of course one thing at a time. I will pull the body from the frame and get the frame dialed in and cleaned up. Ill post progress picts as I go. Thanks for the compliments....
Ya better jam the Hemi in it before you decide how much to lower it. That monster probably weighs somewhere near to 700lbs and is really gonna squat it when its setting in there. Ya found a winner BTW. Those make a real sweet ride, and hemi powered to boot.
Do you think this roof is too small to chop? I think it would look bitchen ~but Ill have to do some photo-chopping to get a better visual.
Its a lot like chopping a '40 Ford not normally done, and not easy to do without overdoing it. I've seen 'em with a mild chop. If you chop it mouch you'll need to do a milsd section in order to maintain proportion. Thiose bodies are deep or at least appear to be deep. Just my opinion on the section.
i have a 41 4 door, these are greats cars to run around in, your really going to enjoy it, if you are interested in moving any of the extra parts you have, ie trim pieces, interior trim etc let me know
have fun man they are cool cars.. my Dad has had his 40 Plymouth rod for years now and orginally had the closet door too. The 41 had a little better front grill imo but great find and good luck. P.s it would make a great straight axle gasser!
Very cool car. It will be awesome with that engine in it. As for chopping, I have seen a couple chopped, but never one that looked good. They are great looking cars already... Congrats... HyFire Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Good score! Any business coupe with ripple fenders is cool with me..I wouldn't plan on a chop until after you get it on all 4's and running. I gotta ask: Is that a ball of snakes sitting on top of the engine?????? Damn!
I think it would be cool to chop it.on page 66 of july's 2004 street rod builder there is an aticle on chopping a 41 ford.you should take a look at it.give you an idea weather you would like it or not.pretty wild how the did it 2.no pie cuts they dragged the trunk section foward to meet the dropped top.pretty slick
I DO want to get it on the road first...then body...then paint...etc. etc. Here is somewhat of a direction I want to go w/ this. (crude but to the point photoshop) Definitely a sled. Chopping is going to be LAST on my list...but will be considered. Oh, and Rocky, that ball on top of the motor are chains, not snakes, if they were, I would have not been that close to snap a shot. I did think of it when I was laying in the dried up grass to look underneath....
man, that's one hell of a deal. congrats on the purchase and it will make one kickass sled. but it looks like a gasser as it sits now. keep us posted on the progress.
Nice score I wouldnt chop it more than 2 inches maybe hard top it ?? what grill treatment you shooting for ???
Hard Topping it would be cool, and easy. Especially considering the size of the roof itself. Im still undecided. I have hard-topped all of the chops I have done, so I might go the easy route and keep the pillars....but...I have always wanted a carson top too....but I think it would be a last ditch effort if i go that route. As for the grill treatment...not sure. I love the mouth openings and floating bars, but this one is really cherry and complete, plus it has another complete stock grill w/ it. I may have to do a front end shot, and get some photoshop'ing ideas from everyone to help make up my mind. (the wonders of computers...isnt it great) Then again, I may opt to stay w/ the stock look w/ some suttle changes.... I know this much, the rear is getting the complete shaved treatment (except trunk) w/ the taillight in the bumpergards.... Its funny though, I have had alot of comments on the gasser treatment. That car sits that high cause the motor is out. I never knew how large those and heavy HEMI's were...the darn inner fenders were cut heavily and radius'd outward to accomodate the heads and valve covers. If the motor is as big as the cutouts...there will be no space under the hood....nothing but engine....SICK!
Nice score! I wouldn't chop it. With the forward rake in the b pillar, and the flowing roof lines, it looks custom already, IMO. If you do chop it, study up and make sure you know what you are doing. I've seen more screwed up chops than nice ones on this car.
I hope you cured yourself of that nasty VW Bus habit! Congrats. Here's my take on your custom. Customs with Hemis rule.
The fender fades and flush skirts with the ribs incorporated looks really sweet. I'd like to see that without the top chop. I've got an almost finished '40 Chrysler and it's cool to see these early Mopars getting the attention they deserve. Since this is an old hot rod from back in the day, and it's got a nice "patina" on it, maybe just make the mechanicals work again and leave it? Although I don't know if I could resist those closed-in back fenders! That looks great, way better than the $50 fits-anything steel skirts I used on my '40. I'd love to see what the front end looks like. I had a '41 Plym but I can't picture what the '40 looks like.
Kilroy...your funny, and yes Im cured....Sometimes you have to break out of the box to really see what you really love....
Here's a pic of my '40 that I was talking about. Yeah, it's a gay 4 door, but oh well. Looks funny with the knobby tires and no running boards, hopefully that'll change this weekend (crossing my fingers)
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