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Chrycoman

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  1. Did some checking on the body side moulding. The Canadian 1936 parts book lists the body side moulding only for the US-style D2 Custom Six. The Chrysler Airstream Six and Eight also body moulding, but the mouldings were not the same as used on the D2. Part numbers on the Chrysler models are one digit higher than those used on the Dodge D2. No body side mouldings are listed for the Plymouth P1/P2, Dodge D3/D4 or DeSoto Airstream S1. On another note, that 1938 Pontiac Special Six was the first year of the "Cheviac", GM's version of the Plodge. The chassis, powertrain, torque tube drive and body were pure Chevrolet. The 1939 and 1940 versons were called Arrow. For 1941 the Chevrolet-based Pontiac was called Fleetleader and used Pontiac's L-head six, although with torque tube drive.. The larger Canadian-built US-style Pontiac used a 224-cid version of the Chevrolet six in 1937 (224), 1938 (DeLuxe Six). and 1939 (Chieftain). That 1938 Pontiac would also be interesting if it had been built at GM of Canada's assembly plant in Regina, Saskatchewan. The 6th digit in the serial number would be an "8".
  2. Chrycoman

    1938 Data Plate

    I believe they all said Detroit, Michigan in the U.S. After all, that was where the head office was. And they all had "Made in U.S.A." That tag was used from the 1930's into the 1950's. Each division, Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler, had their own version.
  3. The historical archives were begun by Cliff Lockwood. I believe he was a retired Chrysler employee with an interest if the history of the Chrysler Corporation and its products who went around to various departments to collect items that may have some historical value and saved them from destruction. I believe most of the early information was collected in this manner. Thus CHS has more information for some years than for others. When CHS says they do not have dealers codes, for example, it is because no one passed the documents along to CHS and not because they can't find them or tossed them out. The staff at CHS do the best they can with the information they have access to. If they do not have it, there is not much they can do. I am another person who has found the staff to be very helpful. I just wish Chrysler of Canada had had a person similar to Cliff Lockwood. All the Canadian build records were tossed years ago. They went on the basis that the information was needed for the first seven years to help distributors and dealers obtain the correct parts for their customers' cars. After that time frame interior parts, for example, would not be in stock and thus they would not need the build records. No one thought they would be handy for car collectors, a hobby that did not flourish until after WW II.
  4. The US-style Dodge D2 (sold as "Custom Six" in Canada) was on a 116" wheelbase while the D2, D3 and the Plymouth were on a 113" wheelbase. Thus a 3" difference, all in the hood. The D3 and D4 used Plymouth front fenders which did not have the air horns in the catwalk. Also, the D3 (sold as the "Six" in Canada and export markets) used the Plymouth instrument panel while the D4 (Canada only - "DeLuxe Six") used the Dodge instrument panel. For 1937 the Dodge body was 3" longer than the Plymouth by moving the rear axle back. The front fenders were the same for Plymouths and Dodges while the three Dodge lines used the same hood. And the same instrument panel.
  5. For the Canadian-built vehicles - standard equipment with optional equipment (if any). All Chrysler straight eight models were imported. 1940 Chrysler Royal and Windsor - 3 speed manual transmission - Fluid Drive not offered 1941-42 Chrysler Royal - 3 speed manual transmission - Fluid Drive with or without Simplimatic optional 1941-42 Chrysler Windsor - Fluid Drive with 3 speed manual transmission - Simplimatic optional 1946-48 Chrysler Royal - Fluid Drive with 3 speed manual transmission - Simplimatic optional 1946-48 Chrysler Windsor - Fluid Drive with Simplimatic 1949-50 Chrysler Royal - Fluid Drive with 3 speed manual transmission - Prestomatic optional 1949-50 Chrysler Windsor - Fluid Drive with Prestomatic 1951 Chrysler Windsor - Fluid Drive with 3 speed manual transmission - Fluidmatic optional 1951-52 Chrysler Windsor DeLuxe - Fluid Drive with Fluidmatic 1952 Chrysler Saratoga - Fluid Drive with Fluidmatic - Fluid Torque Drive optional 1953 Chrysler Windsor DeLuxe - Fluid Drive with Fluidmatic - Fluid Torque Drive optional 1953 Chrysler New Yorker DeLuxe - Fluid Drive with Fluidmatic - Fluid Torque Drive optional 1954 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe - Powerflite 1954 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe - Powerflite 1940 DeSoto DeLuxe and Custom - 3 speed manual transmission - Fluid Drive not offered 1941 DeSoto DeLuxe - 3 speed manual transmission - Fluid Drive with or without Simplimatic optional 1941 DeSoto Custom - Fluid Drive with Simplimatic 1942 DeSoto Custom - Fluid Drive with Simplimatic 1946-48 DeSoto Custom - Fluid Drive with Simplimatic 1949-52 DeSoto Custom - Fluid Drive with Tip-Toe-Shift 1952-53 DeSoto Firedome - Fluid Drive with Tip-Toe-Shift - Fluid Torque Drive optional 1953 DeSoto Powermaster - Fluid Drive with Tip-Toe-Shift - Fluid Torque Drive optional 1954 DeSoto Powermaster - Powerflite 1954 DeSoto Firedome - Powerflite 1940 Dodge Custom - 3 speed manual transmission - Fluid Drive not offered 1941 Dodge Luxury Liner- 3 speed manual transmission - Fluid Drive optional 1942 Dodge Custom - 3 speed manual transmission - Fluid Drive optional 1946-48 Dodge Custom - Fluid Drive with 3 speed manual transmission 1949-50 Dodge Custom - Fluid Drive with 3 speed manual transmission - Gyromatic optional 1951-52 Dodge Coronet - Fluid Drive with 3 speed manual transmission - Gyromatic optional 1953 Dodge Coronet - Fluid Drive with Gyromatic - Fluid Torque Drive optional 1953-54 Dodge Crusader / Regent / Mayfair - 3 speed manual transmission -- Hy-Drive* optional 1954 Dodge Royal - Powerflite 1953-54 Plymouth Plaza / Savoy / Belvedere - 3 speed manual transmission -- Hy-Drive * optional * - Hy-Drive had torque converter with 3 speed manual transmission. (1939 all over again). Available from April 1953. Chrysler of Canada never used the Vacamatic name in advertising, at least not on Canadian-built cars anyway. On the topic of reliability of automatic transmissions, that was proven during WW II with GM's Hydramatic. Hydramatic was installed in a number of armed forces vehicles including the M5 Stuart tank (two, each mated to a Cadillac V8) and the M24 Chaffee light tank. After the war GM advertised the Hydramatic as being "battle tested". Starting with the 1949 models, car companies that could not afford to design and tool their own automatic began offfering Hydramatic - Lincoln (1949), Nash (1950), Hudson, Kaiser, Frazer (all 1951), and Willys (1953). Only Henry J and all the Mopar cars did not offer an automatic by 1953. And Plymouth was last of the Big Three in mid-1954 (Chevrolet - 1950, Ford - 1951). Bill Vancouver, BC
  6. Don't see a reply to this, so . . . The body plate used on Nashes in the 1950's had - Body No. (The first body was 1001.) Model Number : 5547-2 55 - 1955 model year 4 - Statesman series 7 - 2dr Country Club hardtop -2 - Custom subseries Trim No - Have no info on this one Paint No - P-1 - Black P-44 - Caribbean Blue P-61 - Midshipman Blue P-62 - Island Green P-64 - Rio Red P-65 - Coral Red P-66 - Sunburst Yellow P-67 - Bermuda Green P-68 - Mist Blue P-69 - Snowberry White P-71 - Palomino Brown Two tones are laid out as P1A44 - The P1 is the upper colour (P-1)and the 44 (P-44) is the lower colour. The options on the car were not placed on the tag back then. Hope this helps. Bill Vancouver, BC
  7. Have some stuff for1933 car specifications from Automotive Industries (date of issue unknown, but sometime in 1933) - Front tread - 59.75" Rear tread - 61.156" Frame : Manufacturer - Midland Depth - 8.0" Thickness - 0.125" Flange width - 2.25" Bill Vancouver, BC
  8. Calendar Year - Starts January 1 and ends December 31. Production, shipments and registrations were all recorded on a calendar year basis. Production was the number of cars that rolled off the assembly line. Shipment reports were the number of cars shipped from the assembly plant(s). Not all cars were shipped the day of, or the day after, or even within the week after they were built. Thus shipments and production reports do not jive. Production of the 1st series 1949 models (model year began on December 1, 1948) came to an end in the last part of January, 1949 but shipment reports show the last models shipped from the plants in March. Bet those cars shipped in February and March were discounted to get them off the lot. Registration reports were the number of cars registered for the first time. This number included all cars registered for the first time regardless of model year. Not all cars sold were registered in the U.S. Cars sold in Canada were registered in Canada, etc. Again, in the case of reports on car registrations, the reports will not match production or shipments reports. Model Year - Dodge Brothers (and most manufacturers in the 1920's) began the model year on July 1st of the year. Naturally there were exceptions to this "rule". Thus in calendar year 1921 the cars built from January 1 to June 30 were 1921 models while cars built from July 1 to the end of the year were 1922 models. Reports were done on model years but were rarely published for public consumption before WW II. We seem to have gone back to that era. Chrysler Engineering, as well as the engineering departments at Graham-Paige, Hupp, Pontiac and others, had a model year completely different from the July 1st start. This model year depended upon when the model went into production. If a model went into production in May, 1921, it was a 1921 model. An October, 1921, start was still a 1921 model. However, the sales / marketing people still sold the cars according to the July 1st start of the model year. Thus you get people calling the model Q Plymouth a 1928 model (Engineering model year) and others a 1929 model (sales / marketing model year). As for the individual states and provinces, they followed whatever regulations they had laid out. If the DMV believed the model year was the year the car was first registered, your Dodge Brothers coupe built in October, 1921, was registered as a 1921 model. And if your October, 1921, coupe was first registered in 1923 it was registered as a 1923 model. If you lived in a state where they registered the car according to the sales invoice, your October 1921 car was registered as a 1922 model regardless when it was registered. Couple all that with using either the engine number or the chassis number as the serial number, things got confusing. Bill Vancouver, BC
  9. Casting number 78381 is also the part number - Silver Dome head for P (1929 Chrysler 65) and PT (1929-30 Fargo Clipper) engines. It's listed in the Chrysler Master Parts List for Chryslers and first generation Fargo trucks prior to 1934. Bill Vancouver, BC
  10. The United States switched from RHD to LHD back in the days of the French Revolution. The French believed RHD was a monarchist idea that needed to be replaced. thus the switch to LHD. The U.S. followed shortly after. In Canada, the last hold out for RHD was British Columbia. The province changed to LHD in 1923. Bill Vancouver, BC
  11. When it comes to black before the 1980's, black is black. All cars used the same black, the only differences were if the car was done in lacquer or enamel. Ditzler's DQE 9000 was the black enamel while DAL 9000 was black lacquer. In the 1960's when acrylic paints arrived, it was DAR 9000 for black acrylic enamel and DDL 9300 for black acrylic lacquer. Starting with the 1969 models, black was Chrysler Corporation code TX9 (was code 15 on 1946-48 Chryslers) - "X" for black and "9" for dark. The "T" was for the Engineering Department code for the model year that the colour was first introduced. "T" could be either 1964 or 1940.
  12. Canada switched to metric in 1978. Thus all 1978 model cars came with metric speedometers. Chrysler, though, built their 1977 models for the Canadian market with metric speedometers. Guess they figured as they could do it, why not. Going to need them in 1978 any way. British Columbia was the last province to switch to LHD. The prairie provinces were always LHD. Ford of Canada built a small assembly plant in Vancouver before WW I and shipped RHD model T parts to the plant for the BC market. All parts were shipped painted and ready for assembly. If these RHD cars were built for any country in the British Empire they would have MPH speedometers. Can't think of any RHD metric countries off hand, except Japan. Bill
  13. Way back when they used to sell O/S linings - Over Size linings. These shoes had thicker lining to compensate for the loss of the metal on the brake drum. The extra thickness was along the whole lining area. You simply treated the brake shoe installation for a brake drum that had an inside diameter greater than 7/32" than came from the factory as you would with a normal sized drum, only using O/S linings. Thus you would arch the new O/S linings so they would mate with the inside of the drum along the complete length of the lining on the shoes, and not just the ends of the lining. Exactly as you would do for standard linings, only now you are dealing with thicker linings. The centre section of the linings would remain greater than 7/32" to be able to mate with the now larger inner diameter of the brake drum. Only the ends of the linings would be shaved off to permit a good fit with the drum. Bonded brake shoes with their linings glued to the shoe were developed by Chrysler, by the way. They were the first company to use them. The main benefit was that you did not have rivets machining two parallel grooves into your brake drums. Instead you had the shoe wearing across the inside of the drum. You usually machined off less drum material with bonded shoes as opposed to machining down to the bottom of the rivet-made slots.
  14. The Italian models were built by Ghia for Chrysler. Pininfarina did work for Nash. They built the bodies for the second generation Nash Healey as well as coming up with design proposals for new Nash models. The car you saw in Exner's driveway was probably the XNR sports car. Had a single fin leading off behind the driver and a bulge on the hood lined up with the fin. Exner had high hopes it would be put into production and he tried using the offset fin (only about two inches high) front and rear on the shrunken 1962 Plymouth. But the one sided fin idea was killed by management.
  15. The " 1 8384 " is the sequential production number which started at 1001. The engine is a 250.6-cid, 25" block flathead six.
  16. S20 is actually a 1954 DeSoto Powermaster - 250.6-cid flathead six.
  17. The various model numbers : D29 - 1949 Dodge Wayfarer D30 - 1949 Dodge Meadowbrook and Coronet D33 - 1950 Dodge Wayfarer D34 - 1950 Dodge Meadowbrook and Coronet D41 - 1951-1952 Dodge Wayfarer D42 - 1951-1952 Dodge Meadowbrook and Coronet The Meadowbrook and Coronet came on a 123.5" wheelbase, except for the LWB Sedan on a 137.5" wheelbase. Models available were 2 door Club Coupe, 4 door Sedan (Coronet and Meadowbrook), 2 door Convertible, 4 door Station Wagon, 4 door LWB Sedan (1949-1951) and (1950-1952 only) Diplomat 2 door Hardtop. The Station Wagon was steel and wood in 1949 and 1950, with an all-steel Sierra Wagon introduced late in 1950 and carried forward through 1951-52. The Wayfarer was a shorter car, 115" wheelbase, with a 3 passenger Business Coupe and 2 door Sedan. The Wayfarer series also offered a 2 door Roadster in 1949 which was replaced by a 2 door Convertible Coupe for 1950 and 1951. In Canada we did not get the Wayfarer or Meadowbrook. Only the Club Coupe, 4 door Sedan and LWB Sedan were built in Canada with the Convertible and Hardtop imported on special order. Also, the 1949 and 1950 models were sold in Canada as Custom series, changing to Coronet for 1951. Bill Vancouver, BC
  18. You could ask FCA if they have the build record for your car. It was built in the U.S. (Fireflites were not built in Canada after 1956) so they might have it. That would give you some information on who ordered the car and what it had when new. (If it was exported from Detroit to New Zealand by Chrysler, they might not have it) The car was originally built as a normal Fireflite sedan and some owner had the car extended. That was not uncommon in the era before the arrival of wagons based on compact truck vans (Dodge Sportsman, for example). Six and eight door sedans were built for airport limousine use. These were done by firms such as Armbruster and Stageway who extended sedans and wagons. These extended vehicles were not built or ordered by Chrysler, but by the customers that purchased the regular vehicles. Thus FCA would have no knowledge of these vehicles after they left their plants. The export 1957-59 Diplomat used the same front grille as the DeSoto Firesweep, so it is not surprising this DeSoto looks like a Diplomat from the front end. Is there another serial number for this vehicle - other than the one the factory placed on the car in 1959? There is a possibility another serial number was assigned to the car when it arrived in New Zealand. Trying to figure out the "M/58" Chrysler used the letter "M" for the 1959 model year. Bill Vancouver, BC
  19. Serial numbers on Canadian-built 1924-1925 Chryslers fell into the same sequence as the U.S. built models. It was not until the beginning of the FEDCO system for 1926 that Canadian-built vehicles had unique serial numbers. Same held true for Dodge Brothers vehicles prior to Dodge production moving from the Toronto plant to the new Windsor plant as well as all Graham Brothers Trucks. And Maxwell used the same serial number sequences for all plants. Thus you cannot tell what plant a Maxwell, Chalmers or pre-1926 Chrysler was built by the serial number. And that goes for all engine numbers prior to early 1938 as well. Chrysler of Canada imported engines from the U.S. until the new Windsor engine plant (25 inch flathead sixes only) went on line in 1938. Prior to 1938 all engines were built in the U.S. Thus there are no unique Canadian engine numbers or casting numbers on engine blocks, heads, etc. before the Canadian engine plant went on line. For example, the Canada-only 1933 DQ was based on the DP and used US-built DP engines. The Windsor facility at Tecumseh and McDougall opened in 1918 and was owned by Maxwell of Canada. The plant also built some Chalmers, but starting in 1924 assembly of the the new Chrysler Model B began. Chrysler Corporation of Canada Limited succeeded Maxwell-Chrysler Corporation of Canada Limited on June 25, 1925. The Maxwell was replaced by the Chrysler 4 in June, 1925, and the new 1926 models were introduced. The big Chrysler Imperial 80 model E was not built in Canada. In 1926 General Motors announced that Fisher Body would no longer be supplying bodies to non-General Motors customers. With that, Chrysler of Canada purchased the Fisher Body plant on Edna Street at St.Luke Road in 1927. Plymouth and DeSoto production began in July, 1928, as well as the new Fargo Truck, at the old Maxwell plant. Do not confuse this Plymouth-DeSoto-Chrysler-based Fargo with the Dodge Truck-based Fargo of the 1930s. Although Fargo Truck continued into late 1930 (1931 models) in the U.S., production in Canada ended after about 43 units were built. As in the U.S., Dodge Brothers (Canada) Limited and Graham Brothers (Canada) Limited became part of Chrysler Corporation of Canada Limited at the end of July, 1928. Graham Brothers Truck became Dodge Truck as of January 1, 1929, as in the U.S. Dodge Brothers cars were assembled in Windsor from 1921 to 1924 (basically CKD units from Detroit) and in Toronto on Dufferin Street starting in 1924. Graham Brothers Trucks began rolling off the Toronto line in 1925. The new Windsor plant at Tecumseh and Drouillard (now Chrysler Centre) opened in 1929 and the car production at the old Maxwell plant in Windsor and the Dodge Brothers plant in Toronto was transfered to the new Windsor plant. The new Windsor plant handled body production, and the old Maxwell plant was expanded to handle truck body work. Once that was done production of Dodge Trucks was moved from Toronto to the Tecumseh and McDougall plant. Histories of Chrysler of Canada from the public affairs people say Dodge Truck production began in 1931. That is based on the serial number listings which do not show Canadian production prior to the adoption of the seven-digit serial number system adopted in 1931. Prior to 1931 Dodge Brothers, Dodge, Dodge Truck and Graham Brothers Truck used Amercian serial numbers. The Maxwell plant located at Tecumseh and McDougall was used through to the 1980s. The last cars to go through the plant were the 1981-83 Imperials for their quality inspections. The former Fisher Body plant was used for storage from 1938 to the end of WW II. Chrysler also used the former American Auto Trimming Plant on Walker Road from 1938 to the end of WW II for export shipments as Plant #5. Graham-Paige used the plant from 1931 through to mid-1936 to assemble cars for the Canadian market. Hope this helps sort out the pre-WW II era of Chrysler of Canada.
  20. Neither Fluid Drive nor Fluid Torque Drive are transmissions. Fluid Drive is a fluid coupling between the engine and the transmission. Attached to the Fluid Drive unit is the starter ring gear and the clutch. Fluid Torque Drive is a torque converter used instead of the Fluid Drive, starter ring gear, clutch and all. The V8 Chryslers had Fluid Torque Drive as standard while the sixes had FTD as optional but Fluid Drive as standard. The transmission attached to these units was a 4 speed automatic that was called Fluidmatic on the 1951-53 Chrysler models. Reverse was located in the same location as in a 3 speed manual - toward you and up on the gear shift lever. Low range was where 2nd gear was (away and up) while high range was in place of 3rd gear (away and down). You need the clutch to change between reverse, low range and high range, but thanks to the FTD you can have the car in gear and it will not stall when you put your foot on the brake and not touch the clutch.. But each of the forward ranges has two gears. When you start out in low range, you will be in low gear. To shift to high gear in low range, when you hit about 10 mph lift your foot off the accelerator, wait a few second for a clunk, and you are in high gear of low range. It downshifts automatically when you are slowing down. Or you can put it in high range and drive it like an automatic (almost). You can drive gas and brake, forgetting about the clutch, but must remember to do the upshift as it will not do it automatically if you do not take your foot off the accelerator. The system is noted for its reliability, even if it does sound convoluted.
  21. Of the 842 1970 Dodge Polara convertibles built, 696 went to US dealers and the remaining 146 to Canada. Bit of a drop from 1969 Dodge Polara convertible production which came to 922 plus 573 Polara 500 convertibles - total 1,495 - all for the U.S. No idea how many convertibles were built for Canada, which were all Monaco and Monaco 500. Never heard of a gauge package for a C body Dodge. The 1969-70 Dodge instrument panel came with the basic Mopar gauges - alternator gauge, fuel gauge and temp gauge. Had a warning light for oil pressure. No tach.
  22. Chrycoman

    Dodge wfx

    The WFX was a 1-1/2 Ton truck, model T-118 - WFX-31 - 135" wb WFX-32 - 160" wb WFX-34 - 178" wb WFX-36 - 200" wb Engine was 3-7/16" bore and 4-1/4" stroke for 236 cid L-head six. Model was built in Detroit and Los Angeles, sharing serial numbers with the other WF models - 1946 : Detroit - 81,335,001 to 81,411,256 Los Angeles - 86,500,001 to 86,502,852 1947 : Detroit - 81,411,257 to 81,434,685 LosAngeles - 86,502,852 to 86,505,883 Hope this helps.
  23. Does Steele list a gasket for a 1936 Chrysler Airstream sedan or coupe? The Chrysler Airstream used the same 2-piece windshield on their DeLuxe and Custom sedans and coupes so the Chrysler windshield gaskets will work on a DeSoto Custom. Only the convertible coupes and sedans had a one piece windshield on the Chrysler Airstream.
  24. Never use photographs of display units or in brochures for production colours. Any chassis display will undoubtedly have colours that are geared more to catching the eyes of passing admirers than presenting what your next car will look like if you removed the body. If you look at the photo of the chassis, the core plugs are done in a different colour from the engine block. Not going to happen on a production line. Also, the fan belt is a little pale to be black. And the nice, shiny head bolts. Same with brochures. Engine and chassis illustrations again are geared toward presenting an attractive package as opposed to what they actually look like when they roll off the assembly line. Even the colours on the cars may not be correct as they are done for looks, not accuracy. Brochures that have colours illustrated usually have disclaimers stating the colours may not be accurate and to check the paint charts at your local dealer.
  25. Are you sure you have an Airstream DeLuxe? The DeLuxe models did not have a fixed windshield but had the one-piece unit that could opened. The Airstream Custom models had a fixed windshield, but they were two piece. Does the serial number on your car start with a 5 or a 6?
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