Hudsy Wudsy

I studied that back window, too, for quite a while. Something about it doesn't look quite right. To me, it looks somehow smaller, but the photo angle and the reflected lights from above may just be playing tricks with our aging eye sight. You raise an interesting point about factory photos. I'm sure that they are not all the same because they were taken for different purposes. The photo that I posted last week with Ma Perkins (of radio fame) was clearly a publicity photo, whereas this one may have been taken in some shop area for review by those in the ivory tower.

Good job! Unlike the one from last week, it is a '36 body for sure because the gas tank filler neck has been moved from it's '35 position on the body to it's '36 position on the fender. The tail light and fender are both correct for a '36 Plymouth, but not a touring sedan. I'm sure that most of you know all of this, but for 1936, the touring sedans (four door models with outside trunks) had the tail lights mounted on the body and not the fenders. The trunk lacks the Plymouth emblem, but has the license plate mounted on it. That's something that wouldn't show up in regular production models until the '37s arrived. I don't know the source of the license plate lamp, but perhaps it's something adapted or improvised. vintchry, I'm always curious about the sort of changes in details of the production models as you mentioned. Do any of them come to mind that you can share?

Here is a link to a factory photo of a '36 Plymouth four door sedan that's for sale currently on ebay. Can you be first to spot the issue? Caution: the correct answer won't be as simple as you might initially think: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1936-Plymouth-Factory-Photo-ae0408-N4FUT4-/290879586353?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43b9c64031 http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTc2WDcyMA==/z/7fgAAOxy5QtR9qj7/$T2eC16Z,!zEE9s3!YlrqBR9qj7Pqp!~~60_57.JPG

Yes, I read his post and believed him when he stated that he wanted to import a car. I think he made it clear he wasn't interested in anything native to the Brazilian market, which the SP2 most certainly is. Also, Datsun 240 cars had a remarkably short life up here in the rust belt. Rust made them collapse from the floor outward. As a result it I've seen them look fairly good from a distance with apparently sound rocker panels, but the seats ready to fall to the ground. haven't seen one in years. I advise extreme caution if anyone were to ever buy one online. I think an independent third party inspection is almost mandatory.

I endorse the slant six Mopar thoughts, but if you would like something more unusual, you might Google "Volvo Bertone". I don't recommend the six cylinder engines, but the four cylinder ones are very long lasting engines. Some of these come with turbos, as well. These are classy looking two door versions of Volvo's iconic and beloved 242 series with styling touches by the Italian firm Bertone. Lowered roof line and leather interiors dress up one of the worlds most respected daily drivers. Replacement parts will likely cost more than American cars, but there bullet proof dependability and legendary life expectancy will offset that, I'm sure. The two that are currently offered on ebay at the moment are well under your ceiling of $10,000. From Google Images: Current ebay listings: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2055119.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC0.A0.H0.Xvolvo+bertone.TRS0&_nkw=volvo+bertone&_sacat=0

Here's a pair of fender skirts from Google Images that say they are '37 Chev. I think that the profile is the same, but see what you think: http://www.chevsofthe40s.com/images_product/large/604503A.jpg

Matt, I can't help you, but I'll share this little bit of info on them ,if you don't already know it. The Airflow skirts look quite similar to the Ply and Dodge, and Chrysler and Desoto Airstream models, but are symmetrical in profile front and rear. The non Airflow skirts have a flair detail on the trailing edge. I was at an auction once where I saw a couple of guys bid fiercely on a pair of "Airflow" skirts that were "Airstream". Fender skirts for '35 & '36 Airstreams are an inch or two taller than the skirts for '37 & '38. I don't know, but I'm inclined that isn't true for Airflow skirts and that they are all the same height. On Google, I found a picture of an Airflow skirt that had it's measurements written right on it so I included it, specifically. I'm just guessing, here, bit I think that the Airflow skirt that I included here might be a Desoto one because it doesn't have a stainless molding, but only a painted one instead. These pictures are from Google: Airstream: Airflow:

I've known a lot of Dealership offered accessories to be the same items in different packaging. I've had a number of under hood lights, trunk lights, snap-up gas caps, compasses, etc, that came in Mopar, Nash or Hudson labled boxes, but were identical.

All of this is precisely why my wife won't consider letting me move from my 50 foot lot in the suburbs. Of well, maybe in my next life!

Yeah, I hesitated a little about posting a thread of such a non-stock looking car on the AACA site, but it's such cute use of the iconic Plymouth symbol that I figured I might be forgiven. I'm glad you guys liked it.

Someone is offering a '36 Desoto clock for sale on the Desoto section of this forum. It looks to me like the ones that I've seen for Dodges and Plymouths so I presume that it's the same, but I don't know for a certainty. Here's a link: http://forums.aaca.org/topic/257857-1936-desoto-clock-for-sale-rare/

Pressure build up in a tank is unusual and difficult to explain, while vacuum build up is common and easily explained. An unvented gas cap, or a gas cap with a clogged vent hole will cause the fuel pump to draw a substantial vacuum over time. I've removed gas caps many times to find that a substantial vacuum had developed. The rush of air into the tank is quite loud and might easily be mistaken for the sound of pressure being released.

In the case of mirror mounted clocks, they always pretty much resemble the one to which I'm including a link. Where the standard factory mirror was glass mounted into a metal holder, the mirror/clock combos that I've seen always have the mirror floating freely, clinched in a bracket like the one on ebay that I'm showing you: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Original-Automobiles-Rear-View-Mirror-Clock-with-Mounting-Bracket-/171825827554?hash=item28019e0ee2&vxp=mtr http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/hyEAAOSwpdpVeR~0/$_57.JPG

I don't think that I've ever seen one close enough to know what brand they were. Perhaps Ingraham. They weren't labeled "Plymouth" or "Chrysler Corp". I've included a link to an article on Hemmings blog that has a very similar looking clock in that it mounts from the back: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/11/12/did-you-ever-buy-a-vintage-car-part-without-even-knowing-what-car-it-came-from/

I thought that maybe a couple of you would get a chuckle out of the paint job on this '49 that's for sale on Craigslist, Minneapolis: http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/cto/5059373227.html

I went google images and came with this picture of the radio. It's in the proper place to the left of the speedo, but I recall seeing one mounted in the same spot on the right side: This picture is of what I believe is a correct radio for '36 Chrysler and Desoto Airstream, Dodge and Plymouth. Maybe the same radio was used in Airflows, but I don't know. Each specific brand had their own dash mounting plate. The one in the picture is specifically for a Dodge, you'll notice that it has a curve which matches that detail in the Dodge dashboard. The Plymouth piece is flat: I can't find a picture of a clock, but they were mounted in the center of the right glove box lid. I've seen rectangular ones, maybe measuring 2 1/2" X 3", and less deluxe looking round ones. Also, the common mirror mounted one. I'm sure you realize that most accessories like these were sold and mounted at the dealerships. There is also a thread on here about cigar lighters, if that's of any interest to you.

Nothing gets past you, does it?

I don't know about you folks, but I think that there's something menacing about a big old Buick promising eternal life: http://images.craigslist.org/00606_cD9hp7Mk9Ke_600x450.jpg

I found this on Craigslist. Considering the price, it might be a great parts car: http://billings.craigslist.org/cto/5038823363.html

Somewhere around here I have a book called "The Plymouth Story", or maybe it's "The Story of Plymouth". It's one of those Crestline books, I think. It's been a long time since I read about the issue, but I'm pretty sure that I recall it stating that the change occurred in a matter of weeks, and not months. The change did happen at the factory, not the dealerships, although maybe some retrofitting did take place at the dealerships. I've never read that, though.

Excellent! You didn't cheat, did you?

I think that most guys would be surprised at how easy it is to get answers to questions like this by simply going to "Google Images". Simply go to Google, click on Images and then enter "1936 Plymouth dashboard. There you will see photographs of four '36 Plymouth dashboards that have the lighters installed where they usually are -- in the middle of the fake glove box on the left side. You'll also see one picture of a cigar lighter installed right above the right ash tray. I've always thought that spot on the left side was a strange, overly conspicuous place for the cigar lighters, but it's probably what the factory recommended. Perhaps because they felt it might be easier for the dealership to drill holes in that particular piece while it's out of the car. (It's only installed with two or three small machine screws). In any case, that's the same place Dodge cigar lighters are installed, as well.

If you guys want to test your powers of observation -- without looking at the picture again, were those P1 headlights sitting on P1 stands, or P2 stands?

When the new '38 Plymouths first started showing up at the dealers they were greeted with a great deal of derision by the public. People laughed at them and said that they looked "bug eyed". Now, dpcdfan (and others) please don't be offended by this. It's just that it's fairly obvious that the headlights on these early model stick too far out and, as a result, give the cars a somewhat laughable appearance. This simply infuriated the dealers who quickly made there feelings known to the factory. The factory reacted to their perceived blunder by modifying the position of the headlights on the grille shells on the models as soon as they could. My recollection is that they moved them back four inches and down two inches, which made a substantial difference in their appearance. I doubt seriously if anyone would have had success getting the factory update the early '38s that had already been sold and I have to think that in time the public must have gotten used to the look of the early ones. As I said, my first car was an early '38 Plymouth, so I have fond feelings about them and don't mind the looks of them. I've come to realize over the course of my life that while some people see details like this as glaring, others simply don't, and don't care a bit. I've never thought about the details of the matter much, and I've never had a '38 parts book to look at, but I have to think that if someone wanted to "update" their '38 to the later look it might even involve changing the whole grille shell, rather than just the headlight mounts. A few years back, I was at the annual "Back To The Fifties" car show at our Minnesota State Fairgrounds. It's a very large show with many thousands of people and cars in attendance. In fact, it's one of the nation's largest. As I was walking along I came across two '38 Plymouths parked along a curb, one in front of the other. Both of their owners were there, so I asked them if they new which one was the early production model and which one was made a couple of months later. They were completely puzzled and had no idea. I told them to compare the two cars closely for a while and I would be back after I browsed around for a while. Later, when I returned, they said that they couldn't see any possible difference at all. When I explained it to them, they were generally silenced as they stood back and studied their two cars. Amazement followed. It was a hoot! Here's a couple of picture from Google Images: Early '38: http://forums.aaca.org/uploads/monthly_11_2011/post-31738-143138733261.jpg Later '38: http://www.centralpastreetmachines.org/Member-Cars-files/RonFox/RonFox-38-Plymouth.jpg James Sheehan

dpcdfan, My first car, which I bought for $20 fifty years ago, was an early production '38 Ply like yours. Mine was a four door, however. Are you familiar with the difference between the initial '38s and the later ones?