1938 Dodge and Discussion Group

First, does anyone have any extra clips that hold the hood sides to the inner fenders on a 1938 Dodge? They are a 'S' shape clip with cowel lace inserted. This part was also used on the 1939 Dodge as well.

Second, any interest in establishing a discussion group on 1938 cars? Those of you that have worked on the cars could share information on problem areas, parts finds, substitutions that work etc. Anyone find a place to get running boards resurfaced?

Hi CP, trust all is well with you. Good idea, also on the wish list is someone that makes replica knobs for the dash switches, I have most but could use a couple more !!

On the "must do" list I recommend that others replace the driveshaft with a new modern one....that takes care of many vibrations that can not be good for the rest of the car !!

No body in creation has come up with the molds yet to replace the '38 running board rubber matts. They were vulcanized onto a separate piece of metal that was then attached to the runnning boards. I think that's the problem. The other side of that is that if someone did re-pop them the price would be next to prohibitive except for the ultra-comfortable restorer.... Oh Well.

I ended up with a replica set that are fully vulcanised onto a new running board "bed". This means that when you look at the running board you only see rubber, no metal at all (metal is only visible from underneath).

These are not "Dodge" types, but then the body was Plymouth (ex Canada) anyway with a Dodge front clipped on....so the whole car was odd from the day it was made.

Hundley W.Acuff, 1423 Wilson Rd., Rossville, GA made the running board mats for my 38 Dodge and they are a perfect replica, down to the tabs that fit through the running board holes and twist to hold it down. He has the molds and the rubber is vulcanised to a metal mat. They are not cheap, $750/pair in 2007, but he said I would be happy and he was right. These mats really set my car off and it will be the last mat needed on my car.

Dave,

What knobs are you looking for? They seem to be very hard to locate except for the dummy DODGE one. The few I have seen on eBay have been pricy but I guess if you don't see many over the course of a year what is pricy. Was the design used on other cars or other years? The ones on my car have a turned look to them or a hounds tooth look to them in silver.

I think I had heard about him a few years ago. Does he have email? Do you have pictures of your boards you can show us?

Dave, where did you get the running boards mats on your car? I looked all over, every website anything that even mentioned running boards 4-5 years ago and could not find any reference to someone that could/would reproduce them. My originals were so far gone that I had to trash them and ended up using aftermarket boards acquired from Smoothies. They fit OK, but do not have the punched holes for the stock type mats. Also, what wheels re you using? I see that they are not 16" wheels, but you are able to use the original hubcaps.

Hey, take it easy there Dave. To us Canadians the car is not "odd" by any means. We had the advantage for may years of having two complete lines of Dodge - Plymouth-based and the others the same as the U.S. One great advantage we had was the long block engine and the ability to get 265+ cubic inches without altering the external appearance of the engine or giving up an "original" engine. I wish I now had a few dollars for every engine upgrade we did without the authorities - or anyone not directly involved - ever being one bit wiser.

Brian

Here is a link to look at my 1938 Dodge showing a little of the running board mat. I will try to get some better pictures and post. http://photos.aaca.org/data/516/medium/scan0002.jpg

Hi There

Knobs...looking for a "wiper" one and if I could find one with "choke" on it I would be happy. I have a manual choke on my car, so don't even know if the "choke" knob was made redundant by the Automatic choke if fitted to some of these.

Wheels....widened rims, split them and put another 1 1/2 inches onto the width. Then found a nice set of 16inch radials and she is good to roll. And yes I get to keep the original hubcaps on the car. I have 3 spare wheel rims so can revert to original if I want to.

So, I have 8 hub caps fpr my 37 Desoto and had the same idea in mind. However my polishing guy told me I would be spending lots of money with him and might not be real happy with the finish. Any body have any NOS or mint caps for a Desoto?

Thom, you got a beautiful car. How does one get a hold of the man who made your running boards? That's the only non-stock part of my car on the exterior (if you don't consider the mercury "lace" wheels). I'd like to see if he can still make a set, if they're not priced "out of sight" now.

Dave, I still have my 16" wheels with 20 year old Firestone implemant tires on them (and they hold air), but they're 5" wide. Did yours end up 6 & 1/2" wide? They look great. I'm currently using a non-Mopar wheel to be able to use a radial,215x60x16.

Thanks for the compliment! The man who made my running board mats is Hundley W. Acuff, 1423 Wilson Rd., Rossville, GA 30741. His phone is 706-866-4875. I ordered them in the spring of 2007 and they were $750 plus $35 shipping then. With the increase in petro, I assume the price may have gone up. I have my original mats, or at least what is left of them, and Hundley's mats are the exact duplicate.

Andy Bernbaum used to sell chrome plated brass shells that crimp on over your old hubcaps. Makes them look like new.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wbower3</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Dave, I still have my 16" wheels with 20 year old Firestone implemant tires on them (and they hold air), but they're 5" wide. Did yours end up 6 & 1/2" wide? They look great. I'm currently using a non-Mopar wheel to be able to use a radial,215x60x16. </div></div>

Hi There, I honestly can not remember to orginal rim width, 4 inches I think and now out to 5 1/2 inches. I too had some old bias tyres, but they were hard and had a mind of their own !! The new radials are far better to drive with, but yes you do loose some of the originality of the car.

Does a 39 Dodge fit in the group ? Carl ,39 Dodge coupe ..lookin for parts

If you could provide some closeups of the pattern and the front and rear treatment on the board plate it sure would be appreciated.

Did anything happen with the Discussion group? I am trying to track down info on a '38 D10 Business Coupe, and having one primary source of info would be much easier than searching everywhere.

Meljan , as i just said in a reply to your other posting the 38 Dodge D10 is a plymouth bodied Canadian DODGE which used a Plymouth body and drive train , if you are looking for parts it would be better to look for 38 Plymouth parts . the only difference was trim and name plates

Thanks for the info - it is appreciated.

Anyone here have a 3 speed floor shift trans for a 38 Dodge? Mine in my coupe broke a tooth or two a while ago. I'd prefer a complete used one rather than having mine rebuilt.

Thanks

I am parting a 37 Desoto. Unknown condition of the trans. You could pull it and take a look. Near Portland.

This spring I'll be taking out most of the drive train in my 38 Dodge coupe.Iam installing a 230ci.With an overhead convertion.So maybe motor too.Also the front & rear bumpers.

Tail lights .I would like to trade parts.

I need 38 Dodge crank hole cover,37/38 Chrysler,desoto,imperial,airflow coupe tail lights,39 40 Dodge steering wheel or the above. What do you have?

I can't ship this stuff to big.

Iam in Placerville Ca.Thanks

The 37 Desoto parts car has no bumpers and the tail lights are rusty, sorry.

Running gear is all there and intact.

I would make someone a deal on the whole car, straight body with very little rust. Bad trunk lid. Missing one hood side.

Could be interested in some of those 37 Desoto hub caps if you still have them.

So, I have 8 hub caps fpr my 37 Desoto and had the same idea in mind. However my polishing guy told me I would be spending lots of money with him and might not be real happy with the finish. Any body have any NOS or mint caps for a Desoto?

Sorry Dale, the parts and car are long gone.

Do you have hub caps?

Ok thanks. Still looking for 38 Desoto hub caps.

For those now reading this thread because of the bump, there is another source for running board matting that is earning respect among restorers.

Check out: http://www.runningboardrubbermats.com/home.html

I am not affiliated with this company but have read a couple articles about them in the last two years.

Also may I comment... There isn't really a "need" for a separate '38 Dodge message board. Most questions can be posted here on the "Dodge and Dodge Brothers Forum" and will be read by many. People other than specifically '38 guys may be able to contribute answers to '38 Dodge questions posted here. You never know! Just be sure to put '38 Dodge" someplace in your post title and other '38 guys will find it easy enough. You can also do a search for any specific topic or question on the "Dodge and Dodge Brothers Forum" by using the "search thread" function at the top right of the "Dodge and Dodge Brothers Forum" base page to find all kinds of '38 stuff. (Or any other year for that matter!)

hi to all the 1937 and 1938 dodge owners .if I can be of help just send me a email and I will try and help .Since I finished I have done 1000 klm and no prob I found about 45 mph was a steady speed to drive at .look forward to hearing from you all .Regards John

any gearbox parts about for the 1937-38 dodges .......John

looking for photos of the cars that have been restored 37- 38 ........Regards John

Here's mine.

Now "there's" a different definition of "restored"! ?

I knew I would get a comment or two....