The Ressurection of Daphne - a 1932 DL

[Crazyred]

Nice work on figuring that one out!  I appreciate the pictures that you take it helps us visual learners tremendously!

 

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Door handles came up a treat. An the pads for the escutcheon plates just set it off.

[Torry Johnson]

Richard, might you have any suggestions on where I might find parts to restore the headlights on my 32 - DL6?  Any help will be appreciated.  Regards, Torry

[Taylormade]

I ended up having all the parts and didn’t need to source anything.  I had my reflectors resilvered locally and bought original style wire from Rhode Island Wiring.  They also sell fittings and sockets and can probably help you.

[Taylormade]

I'm having a problem with my door latches and I hope someone can point me in the right direction to fix this.  When I close the door the outer door handles droop, a common problem.  But I have replaced the springs in the mechanism and they hold things in place securely.  So why are they still drooping - there is a good half inch of play when the door is closed.  Then I noticed that there was no play when the door was open.  Poking around, I discovered that the part that latches the door was not extending all the way out when the door was closed.  I hope theses pictures will explain this better.

 

The part I'm talking about has the arrow pointing to it.  Here it is retracted as when the handle is all the way down and you open the door.

 

 

Here it is extended all the way out when the door is closed.  When it is all the way out like this, the handle doesn't move, there is no play and no droop.

 

 

So when the door is closed, that part hooks onto a casting in the door frame.  Here are the two parts as they work in the door.  You can see there are two ramps.  Is the part supposed to hook like this?

 

 

Or is it supposed to hook all the way back, like this?

 

 

When it hooks as in the first picture, it doesn't extend all the way out and this causes play in the handle.  I assume if it latches like the second photo, it would extend all the way out and there would be no slack.  The problem is that you can not close the door tight enough for it to latch as in the second photo.  I'm not all that sure it's supposed to, but if it latches as in the first photo, in the middle, then the handles flop around.  It's almost as it the extending part is too long, but these are the original parts with no modification.  There is some adjustment on the bronze casting - forward and back - but there doesn't seem to be enough to allow it to latch as in picture two.

 

I hope this makes some sense, I don't know if I've explained it very well.  If someone with a similar vintage Mopar could take a look and tell me how theirs work it would be most appreciated.

[ply33]

On my '33, your second image is fully latched. If my latch is on the intermediate position then my door edge is out about 1/4" from the body. I am not sure why the bothered to have two positions but it seems to be pretty common for the era.

[Crazyred]

My '33 fully latches in the second position as well, like @ply33 does.

[keiser31]

48 minutes ago, Taylormade said:

I'm having a problem with my door latches and I hope someone can point me in the right direction to fix this.  When I close the door the outer door handles droop, a common problem.  But I have replaced the springs in the mechanism and they hold things in place securely.  So why are they still drooping - there is a good half inch of play when the door is closed.  Then I noticed that there was no play when the door was open.  Poking around, I discovered that the part that latches the door was not extending all the way out when the door was closed.  I hope theses pictures will explain this better.

 

The part I'm talking about has the arrow pointing to it.  Here it is retracted as when the handle is all the way down and you open the door.

 

 

Here it is extended all the way out when the door is closed.  When it is all the way out like this, the handle doesn't move, there is no play and no droop.

 

 

So when the door is closed, that part hooks onto a casting in the door frame.  Here are the two parts as they work in the door.  You can see there are two ramps.  Is the part supposed to hook like this?

 

 

Or is it supposed to hook all the way back, like this?

 

 

When it hooks as in the first picture, it doesn't extend all the way out and this causes play in the handle.  I assume if it latches like the second photo, it would extend all the way out and there would be no slack.  The problem is that you can not close the door tight enough for it to latch as in the second photo.  I'm not all that sure it's supposed to, but if it latches as in the first photo, in the middle, then the handles flop around.  It's almost as it the extending part is too long, but these are the original parts with no modification.  There is some adjustment on the bronze casting - forward and back - but there doesn't seem to be enough to allow it to latch as in picture two.

 

I hope this makes some sense, I don't know if I've explained it very well.  If someone with a similar vintage Mopar could take a look and tell me how theirs work it would be most appreciated.

Mine on my 1931 DH6 are the same as yours and they latch on the innermost tab (second photo of yours).

[ply33]

Just went out and examined my '33 Plymouth more closely. Several things come to mind:

 

First, the plate that the striker screws go into is floating so you can adjust the location of the striker. I actually just got mine on my passenger side door out of adjustment just now when I loosened the two screws holding to verify. Took me a couple of tries to get it back to where the door closed nicely.

 

Second, I think the striker is made out of brass. Way back in the 1970s I had my driver side door open when I hit a bump. Not a good thing on front opening doors as your instinct is to grab the door to close it and the wind will throw it open and pull you out. I was lucky in not getting hurt and not having massive damage to the hinges or rear fenders, etc. Turns out the striker was badly worn. I used a brazing rod to add material and then filed to shape. Point being that you could, if needed, shorten the striker plate with a few swipes of a file if the floating adjustment is insufficient.

 

Third point, at least on my car, moving the inside handle to the lock position extends the lock tongue just a little bit farther than the simple closed position. I always check that both doors are locked before driving the car just as a little extra insurance against ever having a door come open while moving.

[Taylormade]

Thanks everyone for the quick responses!  I will now go out and adjust things correctly.  I suspected the second photo was the charm and now you have confirmed it.  I just need to move the plate forward and possibly remove a bit of the plate to get it to latch.  Since I have all new rubber door bumpers things may be a bit tighter than before.

 

Thanks again, thank god for this forum.

[Taylormade]

Does anyone have a spare striker plate?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a bit worn as I need to remove about 1/8 inch off the back and I prefer to try this on a spare just in case it doesn’t work.  My passenger side door was damaged before I bought the car.  We never knew of the terrible repair job until we stripped the body.  It was repaired correctly, but there is still a minor problem with the latch.  With the door completely closed, the latch will not quite reach the back of the stepped plate.  It’s just short and the door pops back to the second step.  If you have one let me know what you want for it and the shipping costs.  Thanks.

[ply33]

2 hours ago, Taylormade said:

Does anyone have a spare striker plate?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a bit worn as I need to remove about 1/8 inch off the back and I prefer to try this on a spare just in case it doesn’t work.  My passenger side door was damaged before I bought the car.  We never knew of the terrible repair job until we stripped the body.  It was repaired correctly, but there is still a minor problem with the latch.  With the door completely closed, the latch will not quite reach the back of the stepped plate.  It’s just short and the door pops back to the second step.  If you have one let me know what you want for it and the shipping costs.  Thanks.

I believe that they used those same strike plates for a lot of years. And even lots of other makes (the indeterminate vintage Chinese trucks I saw in China in the 1980s had identical looking parts).

 

Anyway, here is a vendor that carries strike plates for a bit newer Dodge trucks: https://dcmclassics.com/interior-kits-seats-dash-parts-handles-knobs-gauges/1302-i-232-door-striker-wedge-plates-48-56.html There are probably other vendors but that is the first I found in my search.

 

I can’t be sure all the measurements are exactly the same but they sure look close. If someone has the appropriate Dodge and Dodge truck parts books we could verify the part numbers are the same.

 

Edit: It also would not surprise me if the Ford strike plates here were the same: https://www.macsautoparts.com/early_v8_ford_truck?p=carline%3A"early_v8_ford_truck"&pagetype=boolean&category-filter=Body Components>Body Hardware>Door Latches and Related&rows=30&view=grid&start=0

Edited October 17, 2021 by ply33 (see edit history)

[Taylormade]

The Ford pickup strike plates look very close.  They’re cheap enough to give one a try.  If anyone has an old original,lying around, let me know.

[Torry Johnson]

Richard, If you might be interested in a slide show of what my upholstery guy has done let me know.  I will ask him to send it your way.  He is about 85% done with my car and it looks good.  He will be keeping my old upholstery for patterns and can make any parts you might need.  I can send pictures if there might be an interest. Regards Torry

[REVerend]

Thanks for the documentation of your build. I am building a sister car to yours. I love the old mopars. 

 

Side note: I need some pieces (hood & side panels, garnish mouldings, tail light stands) and have some extras (rear seat frame, original suspension pieces, etc...) 

 

Thanks again for the great read and information!

[Taylormade]

13 hours ago, REVerend said:

Thanks for the documentation of your build. I am building a sister car to yours. I love the old mopars. 

 

Side note: I need some pieces (hood & side panels, garnish mouldings, tail light stands) and have some extras (rear seat frame, original suspension pieces, etc...) 

 

Thanks again for the great read and information!

I’d love to see some pictures of your car.  I don’t have much in the way of extra parts, nothing you mentioned in your post.  Thanks for the kind words.

[Taylormade]

On 11/6/2021 at 11:25 PM, Torry Johnson said:

Richard, If you might be interested in a slide show of what my upholstery guy has done let me know.  I will ask him to send it your way.  He is about 85% done with my car and it looks good.  He will be keeping my old upholstery for patterns and can make any parts you might need.  I can send pictures if there might be an interest. Regards Torry

I’d love to see the slide show.  Sorry I missed your post and just spotted it today.

[REVerend]

On 12/2/2021 at 9:33 AM, Taylormade said:

I’d love to see some pictures of your car.  I don’t have much in the way of extra parts, nothing you mentioned in your post.  Thanks for the kind words.

I appreciate it. I've not got much of a car to work with, and will be more of a traditional looking resto-mod (I know, don't hate me). I don't have much to work with and I want to drive the car often and far,  so I'll have to make do with what I can. I love old cars. I love old things in general, actually. My goal is for it to look as close to original as possible with more modern drive train and simple, yet antique creature comforts. 

[Taylormade]

Although I prefer original cars, I would rather see a shell turned into a restomod than end up in a scrap yard.  Love to see what your working with.

[REVerend]

On 12/4/2021 at 1:25 AM, Taylormade said:

Although I prefer original cars, I would rather see a shell turned into a restomod than end up in a scrap yard.  Love to see what your working with.

I agree! I'll add some photos. I appreciate your willingness to converse with me. The old girl needs some work, definitely. My plans are to keep it looking as close to original as possible. It didn't have a hood or side panels, and I bit on a set of chrysler sides and top... They're not the same, I came to understand. This stuff, as you know, is hard to come by. I did a 33 and a 34 in earlier years. The 33 was a 1950s hot rod with a nail head and 39 ford rear. The 34 was pretty rough when we started as well. I started on the 33 when I was 12 and will be 35 next week. I have traded and worked on old cars most of my life, but as a college student and then a pastor, my budget was always minimal. Long story short, I now have a lovely wife, three kids, a business, a ministry, and the same old passion for old cars (old things in general, but especially that of the automotive nature.) 

 

So... here's what I'm working with. 

[keiser31]

1 hour ago, REVerend said:

I agree! I'll add some photos. I appreciate your willingness to converse with me. The old girl needs some work, definitely. My plans are to keep it looking as close to original as possible. It didn't have a hood or side panels, and I bit on a set of chrysler sides and top... They're not the same, I came to understand. This stuff, as you know, is hard to come by. I did a 33 and a 34 in earlier years. The 33 was a 1950s hot rod with a nail head and 39 ford rear. The 34 was pretty rough when we started as well. I started on the 33 when I was 12 and will be 35 next week. I have traded and worked on old cars most of my life, but as a college student and then a pastor, my budget was always minimal. Long story short, I now have a lovely wife, three kids, a business, a ministry, and the same old passion for old cars (old things in general, but especially that of the automotive nature.) 

 

So... here's what I'm working with. 

I know it probably does not matter to you, but it looks to be a 1931 radiator shell as the 1932 has a curved inner lower area and not with the crease in the center. Here is the 1932 shell....

[JACK M]

Here is a 31 DG we did a few years ago for your reference.

This was a straight eight car.

Now with a 360 auto.

Safe and dependable. Just like we like em.

When we got the car it was stripped and partly primed, it looked a lot like REVs car.

We went with a front suspension from "Fat Man"

 

My advice, get the paperwork in order before spending any money.

 

 

[ply33]

1 hour ago, JACK M said:

. . .

My advice, get the paperwork in order before spending any money.

Absolutely!

[Minibago]

My thoughts are that this is not a hot rod forum.

[Taylormade]

My fault, my thread.  I’m the one who opened his big mouth.  Let’s get back to our original cars.

[JACK M]

17 hours ago, Minibago said:

My thoughts are that this is not a hot rod forum.

25 years makes for an antique.

There should be room for all enthusiasts.

[Minibago]

Like a speedway track is not the place for formula one.

A Dodge Brothers forum is not the place for hot rodders to buy rare, hard to get Dodge Parts and Panels.

There is room for all enthusiasts and there are clubs and forums for all, however we find our Veteran and Vintage clubs and forums taken over by more modern vehicle owners and we become outnumbered.

No, sorry, 25 years does definitely not make it antique.

This is my opinion only.

[JACK M]

I can only go by what the DMV says. 25 years or older qualifies to be an antique.

And AACA stands for "Antique Automobile Club of America".

I know, I know, the mission says otherwise. But when someone comes to the site looking for info or parts I don't care which part of the community he is from, he's a car guy and we all like cars and people that care for them.

Sorry, Taylor.

Back to the thread.

 

[REVerend]

On 12/6/2021 at 11:54 AM, JACK M said:

Here is a 31 DG we did a few years ago for your reference.

This was a straight eight car.

Now with a 360 auto.

Safe and dependable. Just like we like em.

When we got the car it was stripped and partly primed, it looked a lot like REVs car.

We went with a front suspension from "Fat Man"

 

My advice, get the paperwork in order before spending any money.

 

 

Thanks for the information. I've got my title back and I have original paperwork where the car was bought new in Dandridge Tennessee. I appreciate your trying to help.

[REVerend]

On 12/5/2021 at 9:27 PM, keiser31 said:

I know it probably does not matter to you, but it looks to be a 1931 radiator shell as the 1932 has a curved inner lower area and not with the crease in the center. Here is the 1932 shell....

Thanks for the help. That does present a little bit of a mystery. I appreciate your willingness to help. 

[Torry Johnson]

Richard,

If you might look at your email I send a note yesterday,1/17/22.  One of the points I mentioned was making a copy of an old WPC magazine featuring a 1932 Dodge 4 DM. Rather interesting, can make copies if interested?? WPC, VOL- VII, NO IV - Dec. 1975

Regards, Torry

[Taylormade]

Well, the good news is that I’m still alive.  The bad news is I really slacked off on Daphne this winter.  But I have all new window glass, my door panels and rear seat are due back from the upholstery shop next week and I’ll be cleaning the garage this week, taking the car off the jack stands and moving it into the larger part of the garage.  Hopefully I’ll make some progress in the next few months.  It’s Daphne’s ninetieth Birthday this year and I owe it to her to get her on the road.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

I think we're both back and hopefully get finished this year !

Looking forward to your progress

[rageracing]

On 9/13/2016 at 11:52 AM, Taylormade said:

I'm getting close to the initial start-up of the motor.  Just need to finish getting the wiring in place.  I discovered that neither of the battery cables were original or correct.  I've been working with Rhode Island Wiring to get this sorted out.  They had no original information on 32 DL cables, once again revealing the rarity of these cars.  Using the Instruction Book diagrams and a little common sense, we think we have it figured out.  These are great people to work with.  They were most interested in getting it looking original and correct, and worked with me throughout the process.  When I bought the car, it had a red battery cable running from the starter to the negative terminal and a braided wire positive ground strap form a transmission bolt to the positive battery terminal.  I always knew the red cable was a replacement, but figured the braided strap was original equipment.  As usual, I was wrong.  Checking the Instruction Book diagram I could see the Positive ground was a wire and not a braided strap.  It also ran a different route than the strap.  This isn't a very good shot, but it shows the red cable and the braided strap.  The red cable has been disconnected from the starter at this point.  It runs through the slot between the two wood pieces and through a hole in the tool box to the battery.  You can also see the braided ground strap following the same path.

 

 

Here is the frame diagram from the Instruction Book.  It's a little hard to see, but notice the different routing of the Positive ground cable.

 

 

To help Rhode Island, I laid out the routes of the two cables with white rope.  This is the way they are supposed to go.

 

The Positive ground cable - I finally figured out what those two clips on the inside of the X-frame were!

 

 

The Negative starter to battery cable.  This is one long cable - 50 inches.

 

 

I hope to have the cables sometime next week.

 

 

Do you have a diagram like this for 34 Plymouth, trying to lay out starter cable on my sedan.  Thanks!

[Taylormade]

I do not.  Try the Plymouth site below in the same Chrysler Products section.  They can probably help you with this.  There were a lot of changes between 32 and 34.

[Taylormade]

Just a quick note, the restoration of Daphne continues.  I have been lax in posting, but plan to get back to it soon.  I've been working on the interior and most of it is experimentation rather than useful information.  I also spent a good month totally cleaning and rearranging the garage to create a better work environment.  More to come soon.

[ILIKECARS53]

Hi Taylormade,  Where have you and Daphane gone??  

Edited February 20, 2023 by ILIKECARS53 (see edit history)

[countrytravler]

On 10/16/2021 at 4:55 PM, Taylormade said:

Does anyone have a spare striker plate?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a bit worn as I need to remove about 1/8 inch off the back and I prefer to try this on a spare just in case it doesn’t work.  My passenger side door was damaged before I bought the car.  We never knew of the terrible repair job until we stripped the body.  It was repaired correctly, but there is still a minor problem with the latch.  With the door completely closed, the latch will not quite reach the back of the stepped plate.  It’s just short and the door pops back to the second step.  If you have one let me know what you want for it and the shipping costs.  Thanks.

Do you still, need it? I have repo ones that I will donate to the cause.

[Taylormade]

I still need the striker plate if you have spares.

[Taylormade]

To everyone who is still with me on this endless post, I'm alive, healthy and ready to get back to work on Daphne.  The reason for my absence is pretty far out, but here goes.  Even though I'm retired from my film-making business, I still write feature scripts and have several optioned at the moment.  About six month ago I received word that my western script "Place Of Bones" was going into production in December.  I was thrown into 14 hour days doing rewrites, meeting with the director and all manner of pre-production.  I was in LA for the shoot in December and January and am finally done pretty much with the project.  It's set to be released this fall and is currently in the editing stage.  So, no time to work on the car.  I never thought I'd be in this position at age 76, but go figure.