1932 Plymouth PB - Newbie

[Arkopolis]

Hi all,

I inherited a 1932 Plymouth PB from my dad and am trying to decide what to do with it. The background is this: my dad and grandad owned a Chrysler - Plymouth dealership in Arkansas that opened in 1925 and closed in 1969. I know that they owned this car since the 1950s, as we use to drive it on Sundays when I was a kid. My dad turned it over to a guy for restoration about 25 years ago, lost track of it as he got older, and about three years ago I recovered it from this guy, who had painted it and seemed to be wanting to turn it into a hot rod (but didn't get very far, except putting odd headlights on it). When I recovered it the guy started it up, and it ran but we didn't drive it.

I had it hauled to a storage space and it's been sitting there ever since. I don't have the skills to work on it myself but wouldn't mind investing in a restoration, if somebody could look at it and give me broad estimate. If it costs too much to get it in good shape, I might be willing to sell it to someone who would enjoy it. There's no AACA chapter here in Arkansas that I've been able to find.

Thanks for reading (also newbie to all discussion forums, so forgive me for any technical difficulties!).

Jay

[JACK M]

Post some pictures.

[Arkopolis]

Here you go:

[keiser31]

First thing to do is to get rid of the headlights and gas pedal. Otherwise, a very good car to start with.

[ply33]

Yes, doesn't look like a lot of sheet metal or running gear work would be needed to bring it back.

I was wondering about the placement of the headlights. But I think if they are off at all then they are very close to the stock mounting on the fenders. Might just be a matter of bolting on the right mounts and lights with no other metal repair.

The '33 and later used a tail light stalk mounted to the rear fenders which made me wonder about restoring yours to original. But I checked and the '32 has an arm bolted to the back someplace (spring or bumper?) for the tail light so your rear fenders are okay.

Might be a little work chasing down the correct headlights, tail light and tail light stand but not too big an issue.

Fairly clean under the hood with the big things, to my eye, being the wrong generator with an external voltage regulator.

Overall, a very good starting point.

[Guest DodgeKCL]

This is a good depiction of a '32 PB. I have photos but this drawing is much better for details that are lost in b+w photos. The hubcap is the same as a '33. It's too bad the guy took a paint brush to the 'woodwork'. The dash and the window garnishings were all painted to resemble wood. Most of what I see is a matter of correcting the wierd paint job. As you can see the headlights sat on stantions and were much bigger than the ones on it now. You should ask the guy if he still has the stantions in his loose parts. You never know. As ply33 says the electrical system will have to be returned to 1932 but that will mean just finding a single wire 6 volt Delco generator. They are very common. You have lot of chroming ahead of you. That and the painting will set you back $5000 I would think. The bumper and the rad shell are painted, is there by chance good chrome under that? You can do the fake wood yourself using instructions like ply33 provides. There is guy in Ohio does it and has for years but he's not cheap.

Anyways I can see you putting something north of $5000 to get it back to something that resembles a 1932 Plymouth. I'ts up to you if you want your father's car back. We,on this site, can help you do it but be prepared to spend some MONEY.

[Arkopolis]

Thank you, guys, for your very helpful comments. I'll have to give this some thought about how I want to proceed.