Chrycoman

The D22 was the 119.5" wheelbase Dodge built in the US and Canada. The DeLuxe series was not built nor sold in Canada. Both US and Canadian plants built cars for domestic and export markets. 31,681 DeLuxe models were built in the US of which 13,343 were 4 door sedans. Custom production came to 36,841 in total (US and Canada) with 22,055 4 door sedans in total. (Do not have a break down between US and Canada). The D23 was the Plymouth-based 117" wheelbase Dodge, also built in the US and Canada. The US-built cars were for export only, including Hawaii, at the Plymouth plant on Lynch Road. The Canadian plant built for Canada and export. . 2880S was the 2,880th 4 door sedan, with the "S" for sedan. Each body style had a letter (or more). Very good possibility bodies were not taken in sequence for production on the assembly line. Bodies were assembled and painted and then put aside to be used when needed. Or someone may have replaced the body. That does happen when someone finds a car with a solid chassis and powertrain but a body that missing parts and is full of holes. If you want you can get the build record from Chrysler Historical which can confirm the body, colour and any options installed. Dodge built their own bodies at Dodge Main (Hamtramck) as did Chrysler Canada at their Windsor plant. Chrysler of Canada had a plate on the firewall having the model number, body number, paint code and trim code. Plymouth bodies for the Detroit plant were built by Briggs Body at their Mack Avenue plant. Briggs bodies had a body plate number that had a body code unique for each series, the body plant (if not the Mack Ave plant) and the sequential body number.

In 1941 only American-buit Plymouths had a "Special DeLuxe" series. P-11 : Six P11D : DeLuxe P-12 : Special DeLuxe . The serial number should be on a plate attached to the passenger side front door hinge post. The serial number can help determine which series it is and also which assembly plant built it. The serial number might also be stamped on the chassis frame. I believe it should be on the passenger side just ahead of the front axle. It probably is buried under umpteen years or mud and grime.

That's what I get for not wearing my glasses when checking numbers in parts books - Front fenders - right - enamel : Plymouth PE - 621188 Dodge DR, DS, DT - 621133 Chrysler CA, CB - 621188

Overdrive was available on DeSoto and Chrysler Airflow models but not Plymouth, Dodge or the non-Airflow Chrysler CA/CB models.

The 1934 DeSoto came only as an Airflow, so you can remove it from the list. The Plymouth PE and Dodge DT (both 114" wheelbase) shared doors and had the same length of hood. They also shared sedan and coupe bodies. The Dodge DR and Chrysler CA (117" wheelbase) used the PE/DT coupe bodies but used the PE/DT sedan body extended 3" in the rear compartment. The DR/CA also shared sedan doors. The hood on the coupes was 3" longer The 121" wheelbase models, Dodge DS and Chrysler CB were available as 4 door closed coupled sedan and 4 door convertible. Sedan front doors and hood were shared with the DR and CA. Front fenders are the same for all.. The difference in wheelbase was made by the length of the running boards. The PE/DT were the shortest and the DT/CB the longest. The Dodge DT was sold only in Canada and was the first Plodge sold in North America. The very first Plodge was the export Dodge DM of 1932 - basically a Plymouth PB with a Dodge front end and instrument panel. The Plymouth and Dodge used the 23" long flathead six (3-1/8" or 3/14" bore) while DeSoto and Chrysler used the 25" block (3-3/8"bore). 1934 was the first year for the 25" block. Bill Vancouver, BC

Nice, but the coupe, and convertible, were K cars, basically upscale Aries and Reliant coupes. Only the sedan was an E body with 3" longer wheelbase (all in the rear seat/door).

KT Keller was not a tall man, but he did have some girth. He firmly believed that every farmer hauled produce to the market in the trunks of their cars and every man wore a big hat while driving. Whenever an interior was ready on a mockup for production, apparently he would come in with two milk cans and his large hat to check on the luggage and driver capacity. First, the two milk cans would go into the trunk and he would attempt to close the lid. If the lid closed, good. If not, the car's tail end would have to be redesigned to fit the cans. (The 1939 Dodge brochure actually has a photo of Dodge sedan trunk loaded up with vegetables and some other farm produce, ready to take to the market.) Then he would put on his hat, get in the car, sit in the driver's seat and bounce around. If his hat hit the roof, the roof had to be raised. So, the Chrysler products of the 1940's and early 1950's had nice large trunks and headroom galore. Since he was not tall, a tall person would find the headroom great, as well as the distance to the steering wheel, but the legroom, not so much. Drove a1949 DeSoto in my 20's and had lots of headroom and belly room (was 40 lbs lighter back than I am now). I'm 6'2" with long legs and the leg room was not as great as I thought it would be. Or as comfortable. Back in those skinnier days drove a friend's new Toyota Celica with four on the floor. Tight fit, but was doing well until I downshifted from 3rd to 2nd, and found my thigh wedged between the steering wheel and the shifter. Took a little more care when driving it after that.

Dodge Brothers did have their own foundry. That was the main reason Walter P. Chrysler wanted the company. He wanted to get into the low price field (against Ford, Chevrolet) but the cost of parts, in particular castings, was holding him back. Having his own foundry he could cast all his needed parts and eliminate paying the supplier for the parts and the supplier's profit margin. Chrysler acquired Dodge Brothers in late July, 1928. From that point Chrysler would have used Dodge Brothers facilities. Before that Chrysler would have used CWC. By the way, before Chrysler of Canada opened their engine plant in 1938 all engines were imported from Detroit.

Really nice car! The original engine would have been a 201.3-cid flathead six. The 225 slant six will give you lots more power. The last year for all Mopar pushbutton cars was 1964. Chrysler dropped the buttons as many prospective buyers were hesitant to buy a car with pushbuttons. Rambler dropped their pushbuttons for 1963 leaving Chrysler the only one with buttons. Raised the question, "why are buttons so good when everyone else has dropped them?" Chrysler owners, on the other hand, loved them. Your Dodge D7 was marketed as the DeLuxe Six and was basically a 1937 Plymouth P4 DeLuxe Six with a Dodge front clip attached to a Plymouth body and chassis. Wheelbase is 112" - the US-style Dodge, D5, (sold in Canada as the Custom Six) was on a 115" wheelbase. There was a model D6, sold as the Six, which was based on the P3 Plymouth (Business in USA and Six in Canada). The D6 was also built in the U.S. for export markets outside of Canada and the U.S. The instrument panel in your D7 DeLuxe Six is the same as used in the D5 Custom Six while the D6 Six used the Plymouth P3 Six panel. D7 serial numbers started at 9,469,961 and ended at 9,478,110. Total production came to 9,150. Your car, serial number 9,477,586, was the 7,626th D7 built. For your body tag : Model - 4DTRG - 4dr Touring Sedan - Has the larger trunk - humpback by some people. Non-touring models had a flat back. Body No - 50 - the 50th 4DTRG built. Surprising that number is so low given how high the serial number is. Trim - AHA - Have no info on pre-war trim at this time Paint - 580 - Colour was "Blue" ("Plymouth Blue", "Dodge Blue", "DeSoto Blue", and "Chrysler Blue") and first used in 1936. The same colour was used again in 1938-39. It was a Canada-only colour and used C.I.L. (DuPont) code 246-8629 and Sherwin-Williams Canada P-1193. Chrysler of Canada used lacquer paints on all their cars prior to WW II, switching to enamel for 1946. Brand new, the D7 DeLuxe Six 4dr Touring Sedan sold for C$890. Shipping weight was 2,975 lbs. Four models were available - Business Coupe, Rumble Seat Coupe, 2dr Touring Sedan and 4dr Touring Sedan. The lower priced had the flat back sedans but no rumble seat coupes.

Positive ground was used by Nash, Hudson, Studebaker, Packard, Kaiser-Frazer, Chrysler Corp & Ford Motor. They all changed to 12 volts and negative ground in 1956. Well, except for Kaiser who stopped building cars in 1955. Chrysler Imperial was 12 volt 1953 to 1955, but that was still positive ground. Chevrolet, Pontiac,Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac and Willys were all negative ground in 1949. BIll

Should point out that Fluid Drive is not the transmission. It is a fluid coupling between the engine and clutch. If you are looking for information on Fluid Drive in a service manual or parts book you will not find it under Transmission - you will find it under Clutch. The starter ring gear is attached to the fluid coupling housing as is the clutch plate. Fluid Drive was standard on the 1949 Dodge Coronet along with the basic 3 speed manual transmission. Chrysler's 4 speed semi-automatic was optional and Dodge sold it as Gyromatic. To determine if your car has the 3 speed manual or 4 speed semi-automatic - check the first gear position. If you have the gear lever in neutral, pulling the lever toward you and up will give you reverse. Pulling the gear lever toward you and then down will give you 1st - if you have the manual transmission. If you cannot move the lever down, you have Gyromatic. Pushing the lever away from you and up will get you 2nd gear in the manual transmission or low range in Gyromatic. Away from you and down will be 3rd in the manual transmission or high range in Gyromatic. Gyromatic has two gears in each range thus giving you 4 gears. You need to use the clutch to shift between gears but the Fluid Drive permits you to come to a stop while in gear and the car will not stall. Thus you can place the car in 3rd gear (if manual trans) and drive just like an automatic - gas and brake. Only nothing will shift or need shifting. As your car has "Fluid Drive" on the front fender and not "Gyromatic", it probably has the 3 speed manual transmission. Of course, lots of stuff happens over the years so the nameplate may have been replaced at one time or another. Bill

Model numbers for the late 1930's Plymouths - 1935 - PJ 1936 - P1, P2 1937 - P3, P4 1938 - P5, P6 1939 - P7, P8 If that P-5 on the transmission does refer to a Plymouth, it would be a 1938 model.

That "DC51U-3261" is more likely to be the body tag, giving the model number, body style and sequential number. As with Chrysler Corp cars, bodies for the trucks would have been built in Australia. Thus the body tag, From what I have been able to determine, there is little in common between Canadian and Australian bodies as Australian bodies had higher unique local content than Canada. Canadian-built Chrysler vehicles had fewer differences than the U.S. versions with most of the differences being ways to reduce the costs of tooling and producing parts - castings instead of stampings, for example. As for paints, Chrysler of Canada dealt with Canadian suppliers, most of whom were subsidiaries of US firms. Prior to the mid-1950's most of the colours Chrysler of Canada used were unique Canadian shades along with some US Chrysler and, before WW II, even some GM shades. The largest supplier in Canada before 1954 was Canadian Industries Limited, a firm created when ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) of the UK and DuPont of New Jersey, USA, joined their Canadian subsidiaries into one firm. Apparently they did that in a number of countries around the world and the American Anti-Trust people in the early 1950's declared the two firms were controlling their markets and thus impeding competition. Thus CIL in Canada was split, with DuPont taking back their companies. and a chunk of the newer plants, forming DuPont of Canada, Limited. A new Canadian Industries (1954) Limited was formed and all of the ICI subsidiaries, etc., were rolled over to CIL (1954). The 93-55093 (Waterway Blue - and "93" is for enamel) is a DuPont paint code, and was used by Dodge Truck in the U.S. in 1948-49. It was never used in Canada. CIL used DuPont paints and codes from the beginning of CIL. In 1936 CIL began making auto paints in Canada, using the CIL brand name, and continued to use Dulux and Duco labels. In 1954, though, CIL adopted new paint codes, as did DuPont Canada. DuPont Canada did not start using the US paint codes until 1969-70. Did DuPont exist in Australia or was it part of another firm, as in Canada? Would like to know what company used the 93-55093 paint code. Waterway Blue was also made by Ditzler (code DQE-10450) and Sherwin-Williams (code 43689).

For paint chips : Sherwin-Williams - (Includes trucks except for 1937 and 1951) - 1937, 1940, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951 (Spring colours), 1954, 1955 Canadian Industries Limited (C-I-L) - DuPont Numbering - 1941 (inc trucks), 1946, 1947, 1951 Canadian Industries Limited (C-I-L) - From DuPont/ICI split - Cars : 1955-1966; Trucks : 1959-1966 DuPont Canada - Cars : 1955-1962; 1965; Trucks: 1959-1960; 1965 CPI (Ditzler) - Cars : 1956-1966, plus Spring 1955; Trucks - 1955-1959, 1961-1966 Rinshed-Mason - Cars, no Trucks - 1958, 1963, 1964 For colour lists, no paint chips - Sherwin-Williams / Canada Paint - (Includes trucks from 1936) 1934-1942, 1946-1955 Canadian Industries Limited (C-I-L) - DuPont Numbering - (Trucks in 1941) - 1937-1948 Canadian Industries Limited (C-I-L) - From DuPont/ICI split - (Includes Trucks) 1949 to 1966 DuPont Canada - Cars and Trucks : 1949-1966 CPI (Ditzler) - Cars : 1950-1966; Trucks :1953-1966 Rinshed-Mason - Cars and Trucks : 1954-1964 GM of Canada. Ford of Canada and Chrysler of Canada all had unique colours for Canadian production over the years as well as some US colours. Chrysler of Canada even used some US GM colours just before WW II. All imported cars, and trucks, by the big three were available in US colours only. All options and equipment on imported models were the same as in the U.S. And yes, there were imported Fargo Trucks as the US truck plant built Fargo and DeSoto trucks for foreign markets. The same holds for the 1935-1959 "Plodges" - they were built in the US for foreign markets, which included Hawaii before it became a state. Ford of Canada also imported some Mercury Trucks, but they were Ford Trucks with Mercury namplates. Canadian Dodge and Fargo Truck colours were the same from 1941 to 1950 and 1951 to 1953. 1954 and 1st series 1955 used the same colours (codes 53xx). 2nd series 1955 colours were the same as 1956 (codes 56xx). New colours were used for 1957 and revised for 1958, 1959 and 1960. Hope this makes sense.

In the Chrysler Master Parts for prior to 1934, 72009 is listed for P, CC and CJ series as well as Fargo Truck QC, PT, and KC. For DeSoto, 72009 is listed for K and CK as well as Fargo Truck QC, PT, and KC. Nothing listed for Dodge cars. Plymouth book lists Q, U and 30-U using 72009.

One thing about auto colours. Never assume colours that have the same names have the same formulas. 99 times out of 100 they don't. Always use the paint company's code to search for the same colour. If you are looking for another company that had a colour like Canyon Coral on the 1956 sheet, for example, search on the Ditzler number - 70378. Or whatever paint company you prefer. That will bring up all uses of that shade as well as the associated colour names and makes using that shade.. Bill Vancouver, BC

DuPont no longer handles auto paints. Forget who they sold the business to. DuPont Canada and C.I.L. were the main players in Canada back in the 1950's and 1960's. As I stated in the quoted article regarding paints, C.I.L.'s auto paint business was sold to Ditzler in the 1990's. I have a copy of the 1956 CPI-Ditzler chip chart, and although the sheet shows 1955 Spring Colours as well as 1955 Truck Colours, Canadian-built Chryco trucks used the same colours as in 1955 - 5600 - Cuban Red - DQE-7000 5601 - Dominion Blue - DQE-1000 5602 - Ponchartrain Blue - DQE-41256 5603 - Canyon Coral - DQE-70378 5604 - Banner Green - DQE-41480 5605 - Neutral Gray - DQE-31132 You will notice the five colours on the chart have five digit Ditzler codes meaning they are US Chrysler colours. So you should have some luck coming up with what you want. CPI is no longer on Central Avenue in Windsor so your best bet would be a good autobody paint shop. The two four digit Ditzler codes are for Canada-only colours. Ditzler codes are easy to determine whether the colour is Canada only or a US colour. Prior to the DuPont/ICI split C.I.L. used DuPont paint codes and were assigned blocks of numbers to use.

Auto manufacturers were serious about the dangers of riding in cars with hydraulic brakes. In the mid-1920's there were numerous ads extolling the virtues of steel-to-steel mechanical brakes and the dangers of hydraulic brakes that leaked. Hydraulic brakes did have one positive effect on car manufacturers wedded to mechanical brakes - the adoption of four wheel mechanical brakes. In the early 1920's mechanical brakes were installed only on the rear wheels/axle, or in several cases, the driveshaft. In 1921 there were 84 makes in production and almost all had the service brakes external contracting on the rear drums and internal expanding emergency brakes on the same drums. Some, like Cleveland, Jackson, Lexington, Maxwell and Nash, had the emergency brake at rear of the transmission, while Franklin, Holmes and Mercer used that driveshaft brake for their service brakes.and the rear wheels for the emergency. By 1925 there were 60 makes in production, 10 with 4-wheel mechanical and 16 with hydraulics. The rest with 2-wheel mechanical. For the 44 1928 makes in production, the following 18 cars had hydraulic brakes - Auburn, Chrysler, Diana, Dodge Brothers, Elcar, Franklin, Gardner, Graham-Paige, Jordan, Kissel, McFarlan, Moon, Paige, Peerless, Reo, Stutz, Velie, Wolverine, The remaining makes had 4-wheel mechanical brakes - Ford was the last to drop 2-wheel brakes with the arrival of the Model A for 1928. Of the hydraulic users, only Chrysler, Dodge Brothers, and Graham-Paige built more than 50,000 cars a year. One make, Hupmobile, used hydraulics in 1925 and dropped them in 1926, not switching to hydraulics for good until the 2nd series 1935 models. All other makes switched : Buick - 1936; Cadillac - 1936; Chevrolet - 1936; Ford - 1939; Hudson - 1936; Hupmobile - 2nd series 1935; Lafayette - 1936; LaSalle - 1936; Lincoln-Zephyr - 1939; Mercury - 1939; Nash - 1935; Oldsmobile - 1934; Packard 8-120 - 1935; Packard - All models - 1937; Pontiac - 1935; Studebaker - 1935; Terraplane - 1936; Willys (except model 48) - 1939. So, yes, the anti-hydraulic, pro-mechanical, brake push was neither a joke nor a gag being played on other motorists. There were some large, serious players in the auto industry trying to kill off the hydraulic brake system and preserve mechanical brakes in the mid-1920's. The largest manufacturer of mechanical brakes, by far, was Bendix. Midland was a small second player in the market (Durant, Hupmobile, and some Nash models) . Bendix eventually came up with their own hydraulic brakes which were used primarily by General Motors, Hudson, Nash and Packard. Bill Vancouver, BC

It is more of the "You put your life in jeopardy if you ride in this car", not whether or not the driver will take responsibility for his passengers. If the owner of the car has insurance covering his passengers, the insurance company will cover them. If not, the passengers are on their own. Also, it seems a strange item for a car owner with no insurance to place on his car. Those plates were riveted on the car and not easy to remove if the owner, or next owner, decided to get insurance. Must also remember back then most, if not all, states / provinces had no requirements that car owners had to have insurance. It was a totally different world for cars, and car owners, before WW II. Bill Vancouver, BC

The coat of arms emblem is for a Frazer car and not Kaiser. Apparently "Je Suis Pret" was the motto for the Frazer clan. The Kaisers had no family motto or coat of arms. So someone in advertising or marketing gave the Kaiser car an emblem with a North American bison on it. Bill Vancouver, BC

The tags appear to be the type attached to cars with hydraulic brakes by supporters of mechanical brakes. The mechanical brake crowd used to push the fact that the fluid in hydraulic brakes were known to leak and thus you had no brakes. Hence the "You ride in this car at your own risk" attitude.. Bill Vancouver, BC

There is a possibility this head gasket was meant for the 1920's Lafayette, which was owned by Nash although never marketed by Nash Motors. The Lafayette was an 8 cylinder car, but it was a V8 engine, not a straight eight, and would need two gaskets - one for each 4 cylinder bank. A gentleman named D. McCall White designed the Lafayette V8 and was also responsible for the 1915 Cadillac V8. Both the Lafayette and the Cadillac engines were side valve. Going to have to do some digging here to compare bore sizes for the Lafayette and LeRoi engines. Bill Vancouver, BC

Liquimatic was actually a Borg-Warner product and it was an option on 1942 Lincoln and Mercury models. Although it had a clutch, there was no clutch pedal. It was a dud and all were replaced with the normal clutch and transmission. Studebaker offered the same unit in their Commander and President models, calling it Turbo-Matic. They, too, were replaced with the normal set up. All but one, apparently. Studebaker also used a wide brake pedal with their Turbo-Matic. Ford bought Hydramatics for Lincolns starting in 1949 The 1951 Fordomatic and Mercomatic was not a Studebaker transmission but a unit Ford developed with the Warner Gear Division of Borg Warner. It was a 3-speed with Low being 1st gear and Drive starting in 2nd and shitting to third. The 1956 Lincoln Turbo-Drive was derived from the BW Fordomatic, which in turn was improved upon and, with an aluminum case, became the Cruiseomatic. Another variation of the Cruiseomatic used pushbuttons - 1957-58 Mercury, 1957 Monarch, 1958 Edsel, and 1958-1962 Ramblers (except the American). Studebaker's Automatic was developed with the Detroit Gear Division of BW. and first appeared midyear on the 1950 Commander models. It was first offered on the Champion models for 1951. The gearing was similar to Ford's Warner Division transmission, but the Studebaker unit had a locking torque converter. Also, Studebaker's Hill Holder was also available on their automatic. And again used a wide brake pedal. When Studebaker was working on their transmission, Ford asked if they could purchase units for their cars. Studebaker said no, and thus Ford went on to develop their own with WG. In 1955 Detroit Gear advised Studebaker the price would be going up as production was dropping. So, in 1956 Studebaker starting using Ford's transmission from BW. The Studebaker automatic was shipped to Britain where it was used in various six cylinder cars British cars. After BW got control of the WG transmission, that unit was also sold in Britain, but used on four cylinder cars. GM's Hydramatic was introduced for 1940, the year before Chrysler introduced their semi-automatic. Next came Buick's Dynaflow (1948), Packard's Ultramatic (1949 - with TC lock up), Chevrolet's Powerglide (1950), Studebaker's Automatic (mid-1950), Ford's Fordomatic (1951), and last but not least, Chrysler's Powerflite (late 1953). Kaiser, Frazer, Hudson, Nash, Lincoln, and Willys also used Hydramatic. Chrysler was dead last with an automatic, and Plymouth was the very last American-built car to offer an automatic (mid-1954). Plymouth's Hy-Drive was an update of the Fluid Drive of 1939 - a manual transmission mated to a torque converter instead of a fluid coupling. It was neither an automatic nor a semi-automatic. And the lack of an automatic transmission, coupled with old fashioned styling and high prices, cost Chrysler Corporation the #2 slot in U.S. auto sales and Plymouth its #3 slot in its battle in the market. Chrysler was the third American manufacturer (after Packard and Studebaker) to offer a torque converter lockup in 1978.

Checked Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler parts from the 1933 Master to 1940. No 598306. Also checked the Dodge Truck 1933 Master plus the 1937 and 1939 parts books. No 598306. The bulk of the 5xxxxx part numbers were issued to Dodge Truck with most in the 1933 Master. The numbers in the 59xxxx area seem to be later around 1937. Do not have Dodge Truck parts books for the 1934-1936, 1938 or 1940 models.

Yes, the Chevrolet-based Pontiac (Fleetleader 1941-52, Pathfinder/Laurentian 1953-54) used the Chevrolet chassis, brakes, rear axle and transmissions and torque tube driveshaft right to the last 1954 model. Mechanically, only the engine is different. Not sure on the bellhousing and how it attaches to the engine, though. There may be differences there especially concerning the starter. You may find people who will try to pass along some US Pontiac parts in your search, if they have not done so yet. When I was living in Toronto a couple of years ago I ran across a nice 1954 Pontiac Laurentian at a repair shop. In talking to the one of the mechanics he stated that the car was a Chieftain. He could not grasp that the car had Chevrolet taillights, was a little shorter than a Chieftain, had torque tube drive and Powerglide, He also did not know that the Chieftain came with Hydramatic and that it was a 4-speed automatic. Another of their customers had a 1942 Dodge D-23 Special DeLuxe sedan, original flathead six, in great shape. Thought it was a hemi six - had spark plugs on the top of the head, you know.