Hi Gang - John here from Montreal. Long time member/lurker fascinated by the idea of building a hotrod. I like 1936-1940 Plymouth/Dodge business coupes. However, my only mechanical experience stems from my love for 63-64 Mopars. In all honesty, working on cars doesn't come naturally to me. Its frustrating and humbling. I have to research everything, take my time, and rely heavily on very experienced friends who can dummy down any technical questions I have. Their job is simple.....Make John Not Die! I love learning mechanics but I make tons of mistakes, sometimes costly ones, sometimes stupidly dangerous ones just based on lack of experience. But I have gotten much better in the past 5 years. I have been working on this for 3 years now. 1964 Plymouth - Car has built 360 bored .30 over, 727 with reversed valvebody, fenderwell headers, rollcage, trans brake, narrowed Ford rearend spool 4.11 runs high 10's low 11's depending on exhaust. Each weekend I put the car at the end of my driveway ( I live on the water on a scenic drive - lots of old cars pass by on weekends). I take out some old rusted jack stands, a ghetto blaster from 1981, and a cassette ( yes a cassette ) and blast Dark Side of the Moon as loud as I can. I just feel like a teenager again. Lots of cars stop and people just come to chat. It's awesome. Here are some pictures. She's a little old school mean. Here is the engine running. ( Yes..."triangle of death" air filter has been changed ). I am thinking about purchasing this 38 Plymouth roller as my first hotrod project and have a ton of questions that I will post up in a new thread. My questions mostly stem around can a person like me with little experience on chassis, suspension, wiring, fabrication, actually build a hotrod with help of people on this board. Not sure. I have read tons of build threads on HAMB and I am overwhelmed by the know-how and skills of the people on here. Anyway, very happy to be here and just wanted to introduce myself finally. Cheers John
Welcome to the hamb. It seem you have the engine/ granny know how. If you get a late 30's enough project you can go to the Dodge Plymouth forum for these type of cars. Most guys here will not tell you to do a mustang 2 under that car, they will tell you to rebuild some of the suspension as is or run and Ford Striaght axle. Seeing that that is a '38 I think you may have the early IFS. You may be able just rebuild it all. Put a modern drivetrain and rear and you are good to go. The other way is do a MII kit and the go the modern route. There is a late 30's build I think the user is sharps40 or something like that. He is building a 37. Look it up I'm working a 33 Plymouth with most all 64 Dart drivetrain. The front will be the original tube axle. Just updating the front brakes. Good luck and keep asking questions
Thank you Abe and nice to meet you. Funny you should mention the MII kit. This car has an MII kit already installed and sports a Ford 9 inch rear end. If I purchased the car this way I hoping the members will be a little easy on me! Lol! The frame has also been boxed though I am not quite sure what that entails with respect to a 30's frame (?). I will look it up. I am speaking with the owner today to get all the specifics before I post the new thread. I have been reading the 37 thread. Thank you for the heads up. Your car sounds interesting. I haven't seen any mopar builds on here using a 64 Dart drivetrain. Do you have a build thread?
Great intro, John. Love your Valiant and your week-end habit. Hope you get that '38 Mayflower. It would make a nice hot rod. Don't worry too much about that MII front end, just don't discuss it at length on here. If it was installed correctly you're well on your way to cruisin' with it...........Don.
Thank you for the kind words and encouragement Don. Just checked out your profile, very nice cars you have. Any threads on them? .... John
.................Thanks, John, no threads per se, just pictures scattered throughout various threads.....................Don.
Yeah I have a short thread over here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/dodge-this-1939-dodge-southeast-gasser-build.938352/ The 31 had a 330 Desoto for a while and then a 392. I sold it to Gabriel who runs the Southern Flyer.
Hi John Well if the price is right and that '38 is something you will be happy with for a while and project, it is very nice. Most of that chassis work is done. Just make sure to double check it as you work on things. That is a great start. Sorry no build tread either, I have not fully broke the car down year (just rough mock up right now), and it can in more pieces than you would think, I mostly read other people questions that match my concerns. Note that some of those early Ply-do's have beefy frames already. The '33 has semi boxed sections in the front.
The seller is a 75 year old welder. He has the receipt for the MII front suspension. I think he said it was $2500 or $3500 CDN dollars. I looked up the Speedshop that sold him the unit and they only sell FatMan or Heidts kits which from what I see on here seems to be a reputable manufacturer. There is no bodywork needed which is a big plus for me and also the floors are all good. The dash apparently is in excellent condition as are the gauges. It is missing a steering wheel and interior. We agreed on a price just under $5500 US. ($7500 CDN). What do you think? Is it a fair price?
price, yeah it sure is, for 2 dr coupe. Just make sure you have all the little bits that may be in boxes someplace. Account for all the trim pieces, garnish moldings, looks like bumpers and brackets, also that grill trim. A basic car in that year range can nickle and dime you really quick for some odd parts you will have to wait for a few years to show up. I would double check how the rear springs were mounted, where the mounts updated of did the old style mounts stay in place? Just a rear end replacement? New mounts or old just make sure welding is good and the parts are usable. The fact that the front suspension is already in, you just have to figure out a R&P and linkage to the steering. Just bonus. That's about 2.5K in itself
Thank you Abe for the tips. I am pretty green still when it comes to these cars. I appreciate any help.
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