My 39 Plymouth Coupe

[Gunnibronco]

Today, I picked up a DIY, DOM roll cage kit from Clint at Battlement Fabrication. A big thanks, with short notice, he got it done just in time for me to pick it up today. The primary reason to visit GJ, was to grab my 39 Plymouth coupe and bring it home.

The car is in really good shape, other than having Hantavirus, and probably the Plague. The interior has been trashed by mice and rats, and the floor was removed to fit the retro fit a V6 Chevy motor & trans that was never finished. Otherwise I could only find one piece of chrome missing, a piece that goes from the hood ornament down the front of the nose, and the inner door handles don't match. The car is straight, has good body gaps, and the doors, hood, and truck open & close nicer than my Bronco.

It will be stored for a while, at least a year or two. I need to get my house remodel done, and keep up with Bronco projects. But I'm happy to have it home, and finally get to see it, I had only seen some old pictures of it till today.

I'm going to start looking for and accumulating parts. I'm planning to install a modern 5.7 or 6.1 Hemi w/auto trans, my 74 Bronco 9" rear end(hell yeah), beef up the frame, Mustang II -disk brakes/steering, & updated suspension, but otherwise doing a mostly stock looking resto-rod build. The car is too complete and solid to chop it up.

[Justin]

Very cool, I'm excited to see what you do with it once the build starts. That interior looks mouse-tastic.

[Gunnibronco]

The only thing I'm going to do now is clean out the interior. I had to sit in it and steer while we dragged it to a flat spot to load it on the trailer. It smells so bad, its hard to describe. The only good news, no bees, wasps, or hornet nests. They even mentioned that they recently had a badger in their yard. Every time I opened a door or hood, or trunk, I braced myself to be attacked by unknown animals. Like some twisted game of Whak-a-Mole.

[Aztec77Bronco]

I know this sounds stupid, but load it with Bounce dryer sheets, new ones, mice HATE them!!!!
Also hollar at Rob Mylar at Mylars auto body in Montrose, he's into the old dodge's & plymouths. He can send you the right place. He has the 28ish red one w/ black scallops and shortened hood that runs around Mo-town. Awesome guy! Was the ONLY one that touched my vehicles until I had my flairs done on the Avalanche. I'll never make that mistake again.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks for the info, I'll look Mylar's up. Good to know there is someone around who knows something about them. You can Google "39 Plymouth" a 100 different ways, and end up with the same 10 pages of info. Not like Googling "early bronco".

When I ran my spa store, one of my customers came down with Hantavirus, and he gave us a lesson in what to do to kill the virus. It is spread when particalized fecal or urine is inhaled. First I'm going to soak everything in bleach/water mix, that kills the virus. Then get everything out of the car and clean up the interior. Of course, I'll be wearing gloves & a respirator.

I think I'm going to rent a storage unit and store this car, my Porsche, and some other stuff in my garage through the winter. That way I'll have room to do what I want on the Bronco this winter, and still keep my Chrysler garaged. I'll try the dryer sheets when I store it, but hopefully the storage unit won't be as bad as the field it was in, in GJ.

Another trick to keep rodents out of places (more for spas & basements), is to tuck steel wool into the cracks the mice are using to get in & out. They won't push past it. I'd need a sheet of steel wool 3'x5' to plug the hole in the bottom of this car.

[Clint]

Good to meet you Chad! Excited to see both projects happen!

[cracker]

Remember to wear a mask next time you get in it. The Hantavirus is nothing you want to mess with!!! LOTS OF BLEACH!

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks Clint, it was nice to meet you.

The next time I open the car, I'm going to clean it. Yeah I'll be suited up.

[D&D72]

Cool project! I used to have a 39 pontiac coupe. wish I still had it.

[Gunnibronco]

I've started a build thread here, it will not be a quick build, but if you guys are interested:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... ost8046466

[Gunnibronco]

Took on the horrible job of cleaning up the interior. Armed with a weed sprayter, 3 gallons of bleach, rubber gloves, and a respirator I started pulling it all apart. Still smells horrible, and I found a few more nests hidden in the corners, govebox, cowl, etc.

I have had some amazing luck finding the parts I need to make this car compete again. This is a 1-off year for the Plymouth. Many, many parts that are unique to this car. Only a few rubber parts are reproduced, so you are stuck finding used parts.

We had our Gunnison Car Show a couple weekends ago. I got to talking to a guy with a 40 Plymouth convertible. He thought he might know some people with the parts I was looking for, and I gave him my info. The next day a local from CB started discussing his "pile of 39 Plymouths", with that same guy. Well needless to say, I'm now going to buy a "pile of 39 Plymouths". He won't separate the batch, but I'm going to buy it all, keep the good parts, and scrap most the bodies. The bodies aren't usuable, way too far gone. But there are TONS of good parts that can't be sourced any where, even 2 beautiful hoods, fenders, motor, trans, and every small part you can imagine. I'm going to drag my car into storage and bring the "pile" home. I'll strip it down and store all the parts. At the end of my build, I can probably sell off the extras for what I'm paying for the "pile".

Lots more pics over on my HAMB thread.

[Gunnibronco]

I've started bringing my parts pile down from CB. It is a pile made up of parts of 3 cars, a coupe, a 2 door sedan, and a 4 door. Here are a couple pics of today's pile. I'm going to hopefully get it out of my yard and into a storage unit and to a friends house quickly. I have much more coming, a whole coupe body that is mostly trash, a complete chassis, and a bunch more parts, will be delivered tomorrow. I've already brought down 4 complete front fenders. Some of these parts, are beautiful, some are not. But just in this pile I have nice bumpers, doors, seat frames, a motor & trans, and a very nice hood. Lots of parts, like hinges, regulators, etc, can be pulled out of the trashed parts and reused.

[Gunnibronco]

My pile of Plymouths is complete:

[akaFrankCastle]

Where's that 4 door? Don't tell me it's the black one with no roof.

[Gunnibronco]

No the roofless one was a 2 door sedan.

These cars were all abandoned behind a gravel pit near Crested Butte, along with a bunch of other cars. This guy and a friend went in and pulled all the cars out, years ago. They are hotrodders and took pretty good care of what they thought was valuable. But, I regret to inform you........

The 4 door is no longer. And to make it worse, apparently it was in the best shape of all 3 cars. It sounds like they scrapped it. This morning, he told me "since no one wants a 4 door"...... I have the hood, fenders, a seat, doors, and a bunch of misc parts.

Still sorting through it all deciding what to sell immediately and what to keep & why. Part of me doesn't want to sell anything that will fit my car, but that will leave me storing a BUNCH of parts. Right now I'm just trying to find the parts that won't fit my car at all. So anything specific to the sedan and 4 door.

I'm selling the sedan body, and the coupe body. If they don't sell, I'll either cut them up to save space or just scrap them. Seems like a shame, but I can't have them sitting around. Spread the word......

[Gunnibronco]

I thought I'd update this thread. Although no actual work has occured, I've read up tons, and have a pretty good idea of how to progress through this build. There is going to be more than a little Ford in this Mopar. Here is a list of what I'm planning to do to it:

Ford Explorer front disk brakes are a real good fit, you have to make a caliper bracket, but that's about it.
Ford Aerostar coil springs (Moog c850) are the go to off-the-shelf coil being used to lower the front end of lots of hot rods.
Ford Explorer 8.8" rear axle, perfect width for these cars & lug pattern, 31 spline axles, nice disk brakes w/pbrake - of course.
Early 90's Chevy Cavalier rack & pinion
Hoping to find 5.9/360 Magnum motor & 2 wd 46re (or 46rh) overdrive auto trans. Might spring for the newer 5.7 hemi if the money is right, or something classic if I run into it. The 5.9 Magnum is roller cam, good heads, etc. Apparently, there is a band of hot rodders that have decided EFI doesn't belong on a rod. But after putting EFI on my Bronco, I'm a convert, this ride will probably be injected.

Yes, today I drove 6 hours round trip to buy a front bumper in Pueblo. Yes, even though I have 2 stock ones. I've seen a few Dodge & Desoto's from the same time period and they have a bumper with a peak that matches the nose cone. Although I didn't find a Dodge or Desoto bumper, I found this one. It has a cool style that will look nice with the nose cone on the Plymouth. I believe it is from a late 30's Reo Speedwagon truck(didn't know that was a car/truck until a few days ago), or a sister brand Diamond T.

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[Kinder]

Is it wrong to say a bumper is sexy or has great curves? I don't think so. About that 6 hour drive... Been there done that, Gunnison is beautiful, but damn it's out there.

[Gunnibronco]

Is it wrong to say a bumper is sexy or has great curves? I don't think so.

I'll take that as a compliment. I saw the bumper on Craigslist and knew it belonged on my car.

About that 6 hour drive... Been there done that, Gunnison is beautiful, but damn it's out there.

Part of the price we pay to live in paradise!

[akaFrankCastle]

Damn man. Wish I'd have known you were heading this way. Would have met you in Penrose in introduced you to the owner of Area 51. Probably could have talked him in to being your Front Range South parts contact. LOL

Happy to see you're starting to map this build out. Mostly because I'm going to plagiarize the crap out of your work. Now that we're buying the house with the awesome lot, I'm actually going to take meaningful steps towards picking up a '40 DeSoto and building the wife something old and cool to drive. Of course, I'll probably just wind up buying it and parking it for 10 years. But retirement isn't THAT far off and I'll be damned if classic prices aren't on the rise again.

[Gunnibronco]

It was spur of the moment. I was back home by 1 pm today. It would have been cool to meet up though.

These "Mopar" cars are pretty cool. They have an independent front suspension, that was years ahead of the competition. I've even read that the geometry is superior to the very common Mustang II IFS swap. The only recommended change other than the Aerostar springs, is to relocate the upper shock mount to the frame. The stock upper shock mount is on the upper a-arm. This shock location gives a very mushy ride. Locating the upper mount on the frame firms up the ride. No need to make major radical changes to get a modern ride.

I can't wait till my house remodel gets along far enough I can justify getting back to work on my Bronco & Plymouth. I've made major progress this winter & spring. It won't be too much longer.

[akaFrankCastle]

Well, where are the remodel pics and progress reports? If you can't work on a Bronco, working on a Bronco home is the next best thing. Besides, I need more material to plagiarize for when I get moved in. Your place is a pre-1960 build, or so, right?

[Gunnibronco]

Yep, about 80 years pre 1960. The original home was built in 1882 with a couple additions. I found 1912 Denver Post newspaper wrapped around the plumbing as insulation. And a 1944 Post used to shim the threshold under the kitchen/bath too. I was hoping to have tile in the bath room before posting more pics, but my tile guy just got busy ripping his siding off his house and is getting ready for stucco. So my tile will have to wait. I'll update my "build thread" with new pics soon.

[Gunnibronco]

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... p?t=800857

Its not a 40, but its close. Looks pretty complete. Didn't think they made headlights like that in the 40s.


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[akaFrankCastle]

That's actually really close in looks to the other car we saw when we first spotted the '40.

Here's one I've been looking at. That ad is a bit dated, but maybe, just maybe, he's still got it.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... ght=desoto

[Gunnibronco]

Everything is better about the 40, grill, bumper, headlights, condition? (rust?), price. I really like it. That 40 has the bumper I originally wanted for my 39, except I'd pull the "grill guard" hoops off the side & middle. I think they look good on a big 4 door cruiser, just not a coupe. That is cool.

[Gunnibronco]

Some eye candy threads. I'm surprised these cars aren't more popular, some have really beautiful lines. But because they aren't a Chevy or Ford, they have been ignored.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... ght=desoto

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... ght=desoto

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... p?t=756961

[Gunnibronco]

I didn't want to jinx it, so I didn't post anything up.

Last week, when I picked up the bumper in Pueblo, the guy I bought the bumper from expressed interest in my "Pile of Plymouth Parts". Today, he came to Gunnison and grabbed EVERYTHING I didn't want. Its so funny how things work out. I really questioned my sanity driving 6 hours for a bumper, but something are just meant to be.

He got a very nice deal on a rolling chassis, coupe body, and a bunch of parts. He was very happy, and I was very happy to see the chassis & body loaded up and pulled out of my parking/drive way.

In the end, I ended up with a great parts selection for my build. Obviously, I kept the best parts. I kept extra front & rear fenders, and a hood, dash, bumpers, steering columns (2- one with column shift & one for floor shift), a complete extra set of perfect stainless trim for the hood, grill & fillers (something like 35+ individual pieces- selling on ebay for about $20/ea), tons of extra interior trim pieces, gas tank, and a bunch of other stuff, way too much to list. And, of course the whole reason I bought the hoard, the coveted center nose trim. I had already sold some stuff via the Hamb, and Craigslist, so I only ended up paying a couple hundred bucks for what I kept. Since nothing is repop'd for this car, and they are fairly hard to find, I consider this a minor miracle. It worked out almost perfectly.

So today was a good day. I ended up with some cash in my pocket, and my hoard is gone (except the hoard I want to keep). And, I think most importantly, the parts car is going to be built and put on the street again. I was so close to scrapping the coupe body, I almost cut it up 2 or 3 different times. My heart wouldn't let me cut it up, now I'm very happy I didn't. Hate to see cool old iron scrapped.

[Gunnibronco]

I couldn't help myself. I knew if I didn't do something with my money from the "Pile of Plymouths", it would get spent on something stupid, like my house.

What is it they say about working smart, not hard? I guess I knew the right guy to ask if he had a cherry picker I could borrow. He did one better:

IMG_20130516_103509.jpg

Easiest way to get a motor, trans & tcase out of a pick up truck. For sure.

A few days ago, I realized we had a member here who put one of these 5.9L Dodge Magnum motors into his Bronco. Lots of thanks to cobshane, for answering my questions. This one is from a 99 1500, a little high mileage (140,000), but it was removed complete. Wireharness, ECU, all accessories, driveshafts, even the motor mounts. Supposedly, it ran great before the guy removed it. So I jumped on it.

It will be fun working with an OBDII motor. It will probably get a rattle can rebuild and a few new gaskets, and installed, as is. But there are options out there including a 408 stroker kit, and some upgraded intakes, heads, and programmers.

I want to drive the car before it is perfect. So hopefully I'll be able to get it up and running, without major restoration. Each winter I'd like to take on a project (body work/paint, motor, trans upgrades, etc) and be able to drive it in the summer.

I've also got a pretty good stream of parts coming off my other "parts car". Pedals, mc & booster, brakes & axles, and a bunch of misc parts that will make building this Plymouth much easier. I've also found a Chevy Cavalier that is getting scrapped, I'm going to pull the rack & pinon, and tie rods out of. Not having a salvage yard could have been a big hassle, but I've managed to bump into just about everything I need to do this. What luck.

Now I just need to finish this damn house, and get some time for my cars.

[Gunnibronco]

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This changes everything.

Who would think you'd find a classic hemi motor with awesome 2x4 ceramic coated intake on an early Bronco site?

I had a very short list of motors that would make me abandon the 5.9L Magnum motor I already have. A 331 Chrysler Hemi was one. Flatheadpopup happened to be selling one.

Now I need to figure how to mate a modern 4 spd overdrive automatic to it. I was going to use the '99 Dodge ECU to drive the motor & trans, now I need to know if the ECU can just control the trans with out a motor.

I need to get the block back to Gunnison and then I can start figuring it out. Hope it all fits, the 331 block has a long extended block/bellhousing and the Dodge trans w/OD is pretty long. There might be major frame mods to make it work.

[Peter Werlin]

One of the reasons I like this club so much is reading about all the cool projects. For a guy like me who is thrilled when I get a new battery in a vehicle without much trouble, it amazes me how talented many of you are! Keep up the great work! Peter