ply33

I do tell people from time to time that "maybe someday I'll work for a company that will pay me enough to buy a new car."

Hmmm. I use a 20 amp fuse on the back of the ammeter on my 1933 PD which has a similar electrical system (18 amp generator on the PD versus 16 amp generator on the PA). And I have used that value fuse since I got the car, a time which I only had the instruction book for reference. But you are right, I don't see the amp rating of the fuse anywhere in that book. And I don't see it in my other reference material either. So now I am wondering where I came up with that value. Maybe that is what was in there when I got the car. Given the rating of the generator and the fact that your load (headlight bulb ratings, etc.) are very similar to what I have, 20 amps is about right for the fuse. But I am going to start digging for some period reference that actually gives the numbers.

And thank you for getting back and letting us know how it turned out.

The first Plymouth Factory Service Manual was issued for the 1934 model cars. For earlier years, the best vehicle specific repair information can be found in the "Instruction Manual" (owner's manual) that came with the car.

It is my understanding that all US passenger car manufacturers switched from what ever they were using (positive/negative ground, 6 or 12v) to 12v negative ground based systems in the mid-1950s. Exact model year might vary from one manufacturer/brand to another. I would expect any American car from 1962 to be 12v. Look at the battery. Each cap covers one cell, each cell is about 2.1v. A 6v battery has three caps, a 12v battery has six.

Hi Monaco, I am always looking for more photos for my web site. If you have some that your can give copyright release for then please do send them the email address on the web site should work for that. Thanks!

I don't recognize it either but it could be as late as a 1931 or even 32 model.

What gauge are those new cables with soldered ends? Starter cable gauge is critical with 6v systems. I have heard that if the bearings/bushings are worn in a starter that you can also have a situation where it won't crank over well. A assume you are dealing with a 36 Ford truck based on your ID. I don't know much pertaining to it exactly but I do know that a factory stock 6v electricals were a reliable and sufficient starting system for lots of cars for lots of years. So if the vehicle has starting problems now it is because of maintenance and repair issues and further modifying the vehicle to "fix" that is generally just putting a band aid on a problem that ought to be properly corrected.

Can I assume you are properly double clutching? I find on my 1933 that having a heavier gear lubricant assists in getting a quiet shift. It also helps to up shift at speeds quite a bit slower than you would in a vehicle with synchronizers. However mention that you have experience in other cars that did not have synchronizers so I expect you know about all that.

1934 is the first year that Plymouth had a factory shop manual. For earlier Plymouths the best mechanical repair information is found in the "operator's manual" that came with the car. At least for 1933 there are reprints of the operator's manual available from the usual literature dealers. I would guess that the PA operator's manual would also be available in a reprint. Rebuilding an engine of that vintage requires someone who can pour babbit bearings as Plymouths first use of thin shell replaceable inserts in all bearings was 1933. You will not find torque specifications in any repair literature of that period, the earliest I have found is from the late 1930s and cover entirely different engine designs. However the size and threads on the fasteners can be a good clue to the proper torque values, just use the values found in a machinist's manual for the size of fastener you find remembering that these are not hardened high strength materials.

Oil nowadays is so much better than it was then. Only reason to use non-detergent might be to keep from disturbing a build up of crud and moving it through the bearings. But if there is that much crud in your engine anything could disturb it, so drop the pan and remove the valve covers and clean it out. The 1933 Plymouth Instruction Book has this about oil: Summer: Average driving SAE 30 weight. High speed driving SAE 40. Winter: Above 15F SAE 20 Between -15F and 15F SAE 20 plus 10% kerosene Below -15F SAE 20 plus 20% kerosene or SAE 10 plus 10% kerosene. I assume you won't be foolish enough to be adding kerosene to your oil for winter. You probably won't be driving it in winter very much either... For summer, keep in mind that for most of the 1930s the maximum speed limit in Ohio (may be typical of the east) was 35 MPH. For California (may be typical of the west) was 45 MPH. So a lot of your tour driving will be "high speed driving". Clean your engine out if you need to then use a multi-viscosity oil: It will lubricate better on start up where most of the wear occurs and it will not thin out as much when the engine gets hot. Oil really is much, much better nowadays. Take advantage of it.

I use 20w-50 in my 1933 Plymouth L-6 engine (basically a slightly older version of your engine). I use the heaviest weight gear oil my local auto supply carries in both the transmission and rear end. I think it is 110 but it might be 90wt. I'd have to check to see what is on the shelf in the garage to be sure.

I don't recall any significant issues when I installed the Korean War vintage wiper repair kit I got at a local vintage Ford store. I used pliers for those funny screw heads and probably the wrong grease. But it has been about 10 years now and the wiper still works fine. I do recall that I found out after the fact that Wiperman, who has nothing but rave reviews, charged only a little more than what I paid for my kit. Probably would have been worth sending it to him.

Got 15.2 MPG average over about 1600 miles on the trip to Portland last month. Most of that at highway speeds (55 to 60 MPH). My car has horrible aerodynamics and the 190 cu. in. engine with a 4.375:1 rear end. Seems like the other cars on the trip (1937-41 Plymouths with the 201 engine and 4.11:1 rear ends) got a little better mileage than I. Maybe one or two more MPG. So call it 16 to 17 MPG for your era Plymouth at highway speeds. Probably about the same for mixed or city driving. On long rural drive at 40 to 45 MPH I'd expect significantly better mileage. Maybe the low 20s.

You are on the wrong forum to get helpful advice... The AACA is directed toward authentic restoration of vehicles. And what you are proposing is not restoration. The 1933 Plymouth PD basically used a Dodge DP (6 cylinder) frame so I think I know what you have on your 1933 Dodge. Assuming that you don't have a straight 8 engine DO Dodge. In 1934 Plymouth started off with a totally different frame and front end design by introducing a unequal A arm style independent front suspension for the PE and PF models. Looking at the Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 it looks like Dodge used independent front suspension in 1934. So I'd guess that the 1934 Dodge frame is totally different than the 1933 Dodge frame too.

Looks like they have it on Amazon. If the link below does not work, the ISBM number for searching is 9781560915249 Amazon.com: 9781560915249: Books

The device is moving gasoline from the gas tank to a location higher than both the gas tank and carburetor. A device that does that is called a pump. The fact that it uses an external vacuum source to move the fuel and that gravity then feeds the fuel to the carburetor should not change the terminology: It is a vacuum actuated pump. However I will admit that I might be the only one that calls it that. By the way, Carl Breer in his posthumusly published The Birth of Chrysler Corportation and Its Engineering Legacy has a couple of pages dedicated to the the vacuum tank fuel delivery system and the transition to a mechanical pump. And the big issue he mentions was cost. Stewart-Warner had gained a monopoly position and held it with strong legal action. With the monopoly they charged more money for it than the auto manufacturers wanted to spend. So there were some efforts to develop alternative, non-patent infringing designs. Most ended up in court. So they ended up biting the bullet and redesigning the blocks and cam shafts for a mechanical pump. No where in the narrative does he indicate that the overall concept was faulty with regard to reliability or sufficient fuel delivery under all driving conditions. Since the book is filled with his life experience in fixing design issues on cars it seems notable to me that only design issue noted was the cost.

At least one person posting on the Plymouth Owners Club's forum a couple years back was having an issue with the oil pressure dropping to zero after the engine was running for about 1/2 minute. He traced the issue to the fuel pump and/or the vacuum supply line from the oil pump to the fuel pump being defective and continuously sucking air into the oil pump. I do not have a car with this type of setup and am only familiar with it through reading the parts book, etc. So I am not an expert. But it did seem reasonable to me that if you had an open line from open air into the oil pump that the oil pump would have issues providing sufficient pressure. Chrysler engineers were pretty good. So I would expect that the system will work very reliably if restored to original specifications. But I can also see where someone who was having a difficulty might disconnect the fuel pump to solve both a fuel delivery problem and an oil pressure problem rather than fix the system back to original. All sorts of things were done "back in the day", and even still today, to get cars running again.

On the 1928 through early 1930 Plymouth and, from what I can tell from the original post, the 1928 Chrysler 52, the vacuum for the fuel pump is provided by the oil pump not from the manifold. This means a couple of things. First, you won't run out of gas pulling a long hill. Second, if there is an issue with the fuel pump then you can lose oil pressure. Since this is a full pressure lubrication system losing pressure is a big deal. No dippers to feed the rods in this engine... I have heard of people disconnecting the vacuum fuel pump systems because of oil pressure issues.

Once you figure out a modern cross reference, or even a period cross reference, make a note of it. You can often buy mechanical parts for older cars from your "local better auto supply" (not the bubble wrap store) but their books don't usually go back far enough. If you have a more recent part number or a aftermarket part number they can often match that. If you want to be nice about it you can then publish your information for others with the same or similar cars. I've done that for early Plymouths at Plymouth Replacement Parts It would not surprise me if the Oakland/Pontiac club has some resources to help you there too. NAPA Online crosses those 909001 numbers and the Fafnir 10001 number to BRG B01 http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Detail.aspx?R=BRGB01_0213151685

A bad connection between the generator and battery can cause a high voltage condition on a 3rd brush regulated system. A third brush generator acts a bit like a constant current supplier and the battery works to keep the voltage in check. The 1188 bulb is rated at 6.2v on each filament. While the typical brake light is rated at 6.4v and the tail light filament is rated at 7v. Because of the design voltage for each, I'd expect the tail lights to last longer than the headlights in an over-voltage condition. You might want to put an analog volt meter on the system and see what you are getting. (My digital volt meter gets confused by the unshielded ignition system.M aybe more expensive ones are better but my decades old Radio Shack analog meter seems to do just fine.) Once you sort out the condition that is causing the bulbs to burn out, I'd swap out that 1188 for a 25w quartz-halogen bulb that draws the same power as your 32cp low beam but provides the same light as your 50cp high beam.

Not always old fuel. Just finished a 1600 mile trip in my 1933. On the last day, the second tank of gas for the day, I stopped after running 60 MPH for about an hour in 90+F temperatures. Car did not restart until I cooled the fuel pump down with a little water from my drinking water supply. Best explanation I can come up with is the pump (not the line from the pump to the carburetor) was hot enough to vaporize the gas. Simple cure for me: Don't stop in the Central Valley the Bay Area is cool enough that I don't have that problem here.

Not sure, but I think the gas tank was "terne metal" (lead/tin coated steel) and as such probably did not have paint on it.

That plate has the body number. There are three different numbers on that era Plymouth: Serial number. On the front passenger door hinge post (as noted earlier in this thread). Engine number. On the driver side of the block just above the generator. Body number. On a plate on the firewall. They are all different. For that era, the serial number is simply a long numeric string (actually a sequence number from a range of numbers assigned to the assembly plant). The engine number is prefixed with the engineering code for the car. Probably P6 for a 1938 car. The body numbers seemed to have different formats depending on the body style.

The 1928-33 Plymouth Master Parts List lists part number 391269 as the thermostat for the 30-U, PA and PB. While I can give you modern equivalents for the thermostat used in 1933 (part number 612048) I don't have a cross reference for the earlier one. If you could get the number off the one in your spare head and/or get a modern match for it I would love to add it to my parts database at Plymouth Replacement Parts