Ron42Dodge

Attached is a diagram from a D-19, D-22, D-24 Shop Manual. The American 42 Dodges had the Dual pistons. The diagram shows the Smaller pistons to the front on all 4 wheels. I added the words Front and Rear for reference. Hope this helps. Ron

Another gadget I found was a Gasometer. Not the vacuum Gage type. This was either mounted to the dash of a demonstration car or hung on the window of a customers car. You would fill the glass vessel to a specific line so you would have a measured amount of gas. Then you shut off the fuel pump flow and gravity fed gas to the carb as you drove, until you use up the gas. This would allow you to calculate your fuel mileage in the car you are looking to purchase and compare it to what you are driving. I wrote this article for the WPC News awhile back.With the cost of fuel on the rise, and the availability of fuel sometimes limited, consumers have been searching for more economical means of transportation. We toy with the notion of buying a new fuel efficient car but, can it really pay for itself in fuel savings? <o:p </o We've all have seen those reports and claims that estimate what your new vehicle should get for gas mileage. We tend to be skeptical, wondering if we will ever come close to that kind of mileage when we drive it. Does this sound like a conversation from yesterday? Quite Possible. But I can assure you that Dodge and P<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:plymouth </st1</st1:city>have been watching out for their customer's economic concerns for a long time, why evenback in the 30's. And they have been able to prove their performance. How you might ask? With the GASOMETER! The Gasometer was a Gas mileage tester that was produced by Miller Tool & MFG CO. A Salesman's Service bulletin No. 22 for the 1938 Dodge and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:pPlymouth </st1showed the salesman how to use this tool to help sell cars.</st1:city> Operating instructions were easy. Just "Disconnect fuel line at fuel pump inlet. Connect tester hand pump hose to rear fuel tank line. Plain hose of tester attaches to inlet side of fuel pump. Open vent valve on top of tester. Fill tester with hand pump. Take speedometer reading as fuel passes upper graduation mark, take second reading as fuel passes lower graduation mark. Ten times the distance traveled is miles per gallon. To show comparative fuel consumption, fill tester half full, close vent valve. Fuel will enter through flow scope at same rate as engine consumes it. On rubber tube models, drain tubes when not in use. Do not operate pump with vent valve closed. " The Gasometer held approximately 14 ounces of gasoline and was either mounted on the dash of a demonstrator car or hung on a side window in the front seat of the customer’s car. (Oh yes, that makes me feel safe.) A newer more visible Instrument Panel Gasometer model C-655 was available to the dealers when the 1942 models came out for a mere $8.50. <o:p </o Remember the words of Seemore Sellem: "Dodge and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:pPlymouth</st1 economy is so outstanding it's only good salesmanship to make the most of it. Use the new instrument panel Gasometer on all demonstrators. Keep a standard Gasometer on hand to check the prospect's present car." </st1:city> <o:p </o Seventy years later, a Gasometer is standard in many of the Chrysler and Dodge vehicles, located within the vehicle information center. <o:p </o Dodge Bulletin No. 22, April 20,1938. </o

I have a NOS Cloisonné emblem that I believe is for a 1938 Dodge D-8, all models. I believe it is for the center of the dashboard. Can anyone confirm what I have? It is about 2 5/16" long wing tip to wing tip. This is in perfect condition as you can see in the pictures. Nice chrome and no broken glass. $130

A long time ago someone had told me that the older Plymouth Convertibles had a double floor but Chrysler, Dodge and DeSoto did not. My 42 Dodge Convertible does not either. I don't believe I have seen a 42 Plymouth Convertible to know either way. But so far all the "no's" have come from Chrysler, Dodge and DeSoto owners. Any 1942 Plymouth Convertible Owners out there?

Periodically you run into something you never saw or heard of before. A unique aftermarket item or an unusual dearship Sales tool, or an intriguing tool. Just yesterday I purchased a Safety Sander which allowed you to dispense sand grit in front of your rear tires while driving on packed ice or snow. The sand hoppers mounted inside the trunk over the wheel wells. You activated a switch on the dash which would open the 2 valves, thus releasing the sand. The hoppers could be refilled from inside the car if you drilled some holes in the rear deck. Always good to keep the kids occupied while driving in the snow. I thought it might be interesting to see what other oddities others have come across.

Beyond the factory photos, original blackout information is next to impossible to find. Sometimes you will find a blackout part but rarely do you find original personal pictures. I recently stumbled onto 3 photos of a Blackout 1942 Dodge Convertible. They have revealed a lot of information. Bumpers including bumper guards and license plate frame were still Chrome. All other trim appears to be painted whether Stainless Steel or Chrome. This car is sporting a 1947 California License Plate so it is 5 years old and being well cared for. Blackout paint for this car appears to be grey like the hood ornament below. Custom trim on the fenders were omitted rather than painted. This was done by using Deluxe fenders because they would not have the holes for the trim. The rims almost appear to be painted white rather than getting the white trim rings a convertible would have gotten. The hubcaps appear to be chrome. The dash is painted to match the body color as a convertible would be and all the normally chrome pieces on the dash appears to be painted blackout grey. (see 4 door sedan above for chrome pieces) Even the steering wheel chrome pieces were painted. I managed to get some more detailed scans and discovered the owner had his name put on the top of the door. "DON" A Blackout 1942 Dodge Hood Ornament as well as a Chrome one. Grey was the blackout color for this hood ornament too.

A 1942 Dodge Deluxe 4 Door Sedan came up for sale on Ebay. With only 38,716 miles on this car, it was in such original condition it was amazing. The seller agreed to let me post some of the pictures of this original condition car. Except for some wear on the 801 radio push buttons, the interior is near perfect. Tampico Beige exterior color with Mohair Interior. Deluxe doors had a T Square like pattern made into them. Nice to see the original plastic buttons in the rear seat assist straps. Note the Factory turn signal indicator above the speedometer with the high beam indicator in the middle. Dash. All dashes were wood grain look except for the convertible which was usually painted to match the car. Turn signal indicator painted to match dash. Horn ring retainer painted brown between the chrome ribs. Clocks were an option. Clock lenses were plastic and all turned yellow over time. Speedometer lenses were glass and therefore did not yellow like the clocks. 801 Radios had plastic push buttons with Chrome sides. The plastic button faces tended to crumble over time. Obviously not an original Cigar Lighter. Appears to have standard vacuum wiper from appearance of knob. Trunk & Spare Tire. Nice to see the trunk floor mat survived. Spare looks to be original. 4 tires are radial and not original however they are blackwalls which is correct. I don't know if the white trim ring is original or not but it looks to be. Front Grille, Gull wing hood and 230 Cu In Engine. Factory dual front heaters, in Texas? After market fuel filter is not a surprise. A great example of a mostly original 1942 Dodge Deluxe.

Andy Bernbaum and Roberts Motor Parts should also have your parts. Both have web sites. Andy's is www.oldmoparts.com. Roberts is www.robertsmotorparts.com/

Helping a friend try and locate some trim for his 1939 Dodge car. He is looking for the drivers (left) side hood trim # 795029 cowl chrome moulding right side #790194 cowl chrome moulding left side #790195 door lock Cylinder and keys #904093

I have for sale a Convertible Top Switch for the 1949 and 1950 Chrysler products (I believe) with 6V electric folding tops. It is the same basic switch as for the 1951 1952 1953 and 1954 however the toggle stem is a different length. The rectangular lke portion of the stem is 7/16" long. The threaded portion is 3/8" long. The toggle stem is 1/2" long. This was in a box of NOS switches that had become separated from their boxes. I believe this would be part number 1302996. I have checked it with an Ohm meter and it functions properly. The handle returns to center nicely after being rotated right or left. The threads look new and no indication a toggle handle was on it before. I had this one as a backup but once I found a correct spare one for my car, I no longer need this one. A deal at $249.

I have a used, but in fantastic condition, Radiator from a 1951 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe. This will also fit 1952 6 cylinder Chryslers. May also work with other Mopars. I was going through a boneyard when a new arrival, a 1951 Chrysler Windosr Deluxe caught my eye. I would swear the car was driven there. (what a shame) The car was in good condition minus a few pieces now. It looked like someones treasure and pleasure before the inheritance. I pulled a few smaller parts when the radiator caught my eye. It was in such great condition on the outside, almost perfect. Then when I removed the cap, I discovered it was full to the top (no leaks) with antifreeze, I knew it was worth a second look. When I drained it, nice new clean antifreeze came out. Hardly a spec of rust. I have flushed it with water a few times and barely any discolored water has come out. I think this radiator was installed and hardly run, if ever. The picture that is shown is how it looked as wiped it off. Amazing condition. A steal at $350. Pick it up in Omaha or I will ship it but you will need to pay the shipping.

I looked in my Mopar parts book and DeSoto offered 4 steering wheels in 1950. They had a Beige and a Grey in a 2 spoke style (1330387 & 1330388) and a blue or a tan one in 3 spoke.( 1322042 & 1322040). The two spoke had a different Blow ring retainer so make sure which one you need or you may be chasing other parts. I have a shop manual for 49-52 DeSoto if someone is needing one.

The 1951 and 1952 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe (6 Cyl) shared the same radiator. It is part number 1346700. I pulled a real nice one from a car in a boneyard. I've uploaded a few pictures Front and Back Views Part Number 1346700

I will say I fought my brakes for a long time before I decided to invest in an Ammco 1750 brake tool which allowed me to set the brakes properly. But pumping the brakes did not make them any better prior. The shoes would make contact but not full contact. Now they are much better. The tools are on ebay. A little pricey but the nice thing is you buy it, use it and then resell it and get most of your money back, or get into the brake adjusting business. But make sure all the parts are there before you buy it. One other thought is the travel of the piston push rod. You can look down into the master cylinder with a flashlight and see the piston cup pass the ports in the bottom of the cylinder as well as brake fluid movement will ripple the the surface of the fluid. This is described in the free play section of the shop manual page 43 and 44. Your piston push rod may not be set quite right.

I looked in my shop manual and for 41-48 Dodges the fuel pump pressure range for those would be 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 pounds. The must have lowered the pressure for 1950. Same problems and same results. I believe if you really have 12 lbs of fuel pressure, you would have fuel flowing out the bottom of the carb all over the exhaust manifold. You may want to recheck the fuel pressure or possibly the gage.

I found these pictures of the 1942 Dodge War Wagon Woodie. This 42 Dodge bus was created by Bishop, McCormick and Bishop however it was actually built by Derham Company of Rosemont, PA with assistance from Dodge Engineers. The 1942 assembled cars were held in inventory until the government approved the sale. These 42's were modified to be used as school busses in rural areas. Notice the dual tires on the rear axle. Is this the first mini van? Not a truck chasis.... More information at http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/b/bishop/bishop.htm

I agree with the need to bleed. Be sure to keep the master full while bleeding to make sure you don't draw more air into the system. Also be sure to bleed the rear passenger one extra good. That line is extra long and may have a high spot for air to pocket in. When the pedal gets firm again, hold the brake for a while to see if the pedal slowly lowers. If it does, than you may have a leak some where in a wheel cylinder than isn't visable yet or a leaky line or a bad master again. Do you have new lines and new hoses?

One other point to consider. The wiring. If the wiring is starting to crumble, you will likely need to replace it. I would assume that Plymouth ran the harness above the drivers side doors just like on mine. I had to remove the headliner to replace the wiring and there was no way to save the headliner. As a side note, the mice seemed to love the insulation in the headliner and once I replaced the headliner and insulation, and cleaned out the old nests behind the kick panels, the smell went away (after a while). (I've never been to Hawaii but I assume you have mice there too). Look at the headliner and see if it is stained from mouse urine. If it is, I might suggest redoing the headliner and redo the wiring at the same time. My 70 year old wiring was crumbling 15 years ago (when I got it) and the car was kept in a garage most of its life(1954-1997) (1997-current). Look at the wiring in the trunk and under the hood. Clean everything else. Original is nice but if you are going to get sick from the smell...... 1942 cars are rare and you do not see then too often. As I understand, the price guides are developed based on sales records. Since these 42s don't sell very often (especially mopars), the guides may be a little behind on value data. I would tend to believe that 10K might be high for an unrestored car or for an original that has odor issues. My wife would not go near my car for the first year because of the original mouse smell. I tend to agree with the 6K number. I've got more than that invested in mine that I probably won't see back but I enjoy the hell out of it. It pays back as the enjoyment of the hobby. Ron

David, I tried to repair my fluid drive years ago. I found the correct seals but never got the fluid drive totally apart. I fell one step short. The only place that I found that could repair it (about 10 years ago) was Northwest Transmission Parts. They also had the seals in stock but they also allowed me to send mine in. I had to ship my fluid drive to them and they shipped it back a couple of weeks later. It has worked great since. I don't have their info in front of me so I searched on the web. I believe this is them. Northwest Transmission Parts. 13500 US Route 62 Winchester, Ohio 45697 Information Line: 937-442-2811 Fax Line: 937-442-6555. Good luck. Ron www.northwesttransmissionparts.com<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

I've got a new thought. I had similar problems with my 42. Went down many of the same paths as you have. I believe I actually fixed it this year as this was the first summer I did not break down. The answer was, a broken wire on the distributor plate. The wire was broken inside the cloth wrap. It looked fine. It would make some contact to get me going but eventually would quit, usually under load. I would get towed home and then it would start right up again and I could drive it into the garage. I believe as the vacuum advance would move the plate which would move the wire. The wire would vary its end to end connection with the flexing. I found a NOS distributor plate with points and condensor and put it in over the winter. The car ran stronger, smoother and never failed. That is my suggestion. Ron

I have tried several times to get one of these tables but they have been too far away to justify shipping. I do have 3 radios that came out of tables that did not survive. They have the transformer still attached. I found some factory press photos of 1942 Dodges. 1942 Dodge Blackout Custom Brougham 2 Door Business Coupe Custom Convertible Coupe Custom 4 Door Sedan Deluxe Club Coupe Custom Town Sedan 1942 Dodge Deluxe 4 Door Sedan with Coachwork by Bishop/McCormick for rural school busses. Note the dual rear tire modification. First Mini Van?

I have a few more sheets from the Salesman Data Book listing the Standard equipment and options as well as the interior and trunk dimensions. The Dash Clocks were manufactured by Borg. Many cars were put into military service when the war broke out. Cars with clocks had the clocks removed so they would not drain the battery. This clock was Army surplus. There is an interesting story on the radio. Radios were an option and the Philco 601 and 801 radios were the correct models for this year. Philco produced many 801 radios for the 42 models however when the war broke out and car production was halted, Philco was stuck with a bunch of radios and nothing to put them in. Metal was rationed so they came up with the 801-A Chairside table. It was a wood table with an 801 push button radio mounted in the top that would go in your living room. The Radio was converted from 6V to 115V. The buttons had chrome sides and plastic push faces. The plastic buttons did not survive the years well in the cars but many good buttons and knobs can be found on the indoor radios.

The 1942 Dodge was introduced to the public in September of 1941. Concealed running boards were the big styling change for 1942. But with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, everything would change. Factories were switched from Automobile production to wartime production. Many parts were already made so factorys were allowed to assemble the cars until the end of January, while the factories were being retooled. Dodge sales were ceased on February 21, 1942. Only about 1/4 of a normal model years production was actually produced. As an example, only 13,343 four door Deluxe Sedans were manufactured in 1942, compared to the 49,579 produced the year prior. The 1942 Dodge serial numbers ranged from 30,577,001 to 30,644,377 in 1942. A total of 67,377 1942 Dodge Cars were produced in the United States compared to the 236,999 produced in 1941. The De Luxe was the base model and the Custom was the upper end. The difference was mostly in the exterior trim however the Custom models came standard with Electric Wipers, and Airfoam Seat Cushions as well as a few interior apointments. Custom Convertibles also had Electric Clocks Standard The Dodge Deluxe Base price was $998.00. Cars that were made after January 1 were restricted on Chrome usage as the Copper and Nickel that was used for chrome work, was needed for the war. These cars had to have painted trim, even if the trim piece was already chromed. (so there was no unfair sales advantage) These models were refered to as Blackout Models. Dodge simply started to install De Luxe fenders on Custom cars which eliminated the need to paint some of those trim pieces. Serial numbers from 30,636,724 and up were factory blackouts. Roughly only 7,653 cars were factory blackouts, or roughly 11.3% of the total production. Dodge put out a promotional film called "Keeping Faith" featuring the New 1942 Dodge. Jimmie Lynch put the car to the test. I had the film transfered to video and eventually digital. I have posted it on Youtube for others to enjoy. If you want to see my copy of a 1942 Dodge promotional film go to Of interest, Dodge slogan was “The New Dodge” even back in 1942.

Jerry, Look like the New Mexico heat and sun got to both your faces. I believe both backgrounds are the same. As I recall the numbers and tick marks are all on the glass. The speedometer has a unique feature too. It is a safety speedometer. At night when the head lights are on the color of the speedometer changes from green to amber to red as your speed increases. (Probably a color lense that rotates with the needle.) The clock is an electric wind clock. It winds about once a week I believe. One unique difference from the speedo and the clock is the speedo has a curved glass lense where the clock has a curved plastic lense. The plastic lenses tended to yellow. Feel free to contact me and ask questions. I'll be glad to try and help. Ron glowen@tconl.com

Jerry, Good to see another 42 is getting restored. I picked this one up for spare parts last March. I could be convinced to let it go. There are a couple small cracks in the face back ground but it would be great for making a pattern. I have also attached a photo of a clock for a better example of the numbers. Do you have any spare custon door garnish pieces? Ron