39 chrysler dash plastics

[Guest]

looking at 39 royal with badly warped instument panel and glove box plastics. does anyone know if there is replacements made or some decent ones off of a parts car, or if other models of the same year will fit?

thanks,

chuck [color:\\"brown\\"]

[Guest]

Only 1939 will work...all models. I think the Plastic was molded

over the metal backers. I've seen a couple of pretty good efforts

at painting the metal backers to appear like the plastic looked. I've also

seen a couple of people try to make something out of wood and

paint it. Those were pretty obvious. You have one of the hardest

restoration problems in the hobby, and probably the main reason

why the 1939 Chrysler is one of the rarest cars to be restored or

shown at any Meets. All I can say is good luck.

[Guest]

thanks for the input and i was afraid of that. had hopes that somebody might have remolded some, (old car people always dream) or there was a parts car that might have had decent ones. to bad as i think the 39 chrysler was one of the best looking 39s built. thanks again for proving how valuable a site like this can be,

Chuck [color:\\"brown\\"]

[Dynaflash8]

Chuck:

I agree with you that the 1939 Chrysler was one of the prettiest cars to grace the road at

the time (although I think a 1939 Buick was prettier, but that's my favorite car of all time.)

My grandfather owned a 1939 Chrysler Royal when I was a kid, and that was during

World War II. The plastic dash was all cracked and twisted in that car, even then. I'm

not sure how many months they lasted following new car delivery. I heard a rumor once

that somebody had made some kind of a reproduction, but I might be confused with the

individual plastic dash parts used on 1941 Chryslers.

I don't know if you are a member of AACA. I hope you are. In any case, I personally

wrote an article for ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE magazine on just the 1939 Chrysler, with

many good pictures. The article speaks directly to the dash issue, but also includes pictures

of the Hayes-bodied coupe and a prototype sunroof model. I must be getting old, because

I'm now unsure of which month it was, but I think it was the November-December, 1998

issue. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll go downstairs and go through them and figure

out just which one it was. I think it was that issue, because I think I had another article, on

the 1949 Buick Riviera in the next issue, and I think that was January-February, 1999.

Earl Beauchamp, AACA VP - Regions

[Guest]

No I am not a member of the AACA and that may change, but DYNAFLASH tips me off to something we might have in common as we have a 1952 56R that is in beautiful shape. ( it says dynaflash on the rocker arm cover) Have owned it for 18 years and when you own a Buick for a while you do get hooked on them. It is the only old car we have at this time and are looking for a late 30s to mid 40s 4 door sdn. Had a couple others through the years and after they were sold, I missed them. Havn't bought the Chrysler as that dash would on my mind all the time. We use are old cars for weddings and nursing home and 4 doors work much better than the hardtop does though the latter is a very good parade and tour car.

Thanks for the input and the opportunity to just talk cars. [color:#666666

Chuck Rossman

[Guest]

Agree the 1939 Buick was best looking car of all time, especially in 2 door version. Could have bought one in the late 50's for a couple hundred dollars but didn't have the money (only made 75 cents an hour back then). Had to settle for a $45 1939 Plymouth business coupe. (which actually turned out to be an excellent driver and was a real good looker too in its own way)

[ronbarn]

Can't help with the original question, but my first car (in 1956) was a 1939 Chrysler New Yorker. Got it from a classmate who had a '51 Dodge and had inherited this car from his Grandmother. I bought it for $75 and removed the seat covers that she had installed when she bought the car. Oh how I wish I had not let my Dad sell that car when I went off to college. Have owned many cars since then and still have a few, but I would really like to have that '39 New Yorker.

[R W Burgess]

You got a picture of that car Ron? W.

[ronbarn]

I had several photos at one time. I owned the car during my Junior and Senior year in high school (1955-1957). I was not allowed to take it with me to college and Dad sold it to a man in El Centro, CA, who removed the engine and used it to power a water pump in the irrigation canals. Back to the question, I have searched through all my photo files and have not been able to find a photo - DARN!!

[Guest]

go to collectorcartraderonline.com search for 39 chrysler in illinois & you will see bunch of good pictures of one

Chuck

[Dynaflash8]

Now I know that Ron was probably born in '39, becasue I graduated

high school in '56, though I was 17 at the time. Chuck, the '52 has

the wrong decal on the rocker arm cover. Dynaflash went out after

1940 and was replaced by a decal that said "Fireball 8". I guess

that's where Fireball Roberts got his nickname when he was running

Buicks to NASCAR victories.

[R W Burgess]

Sorry Earl, According to the wife, Fireball got that moniker for his terrific fast ball! Should've followed baseball, he would have lived longer. Wayne

[Guest]

Maybe you're right about the fireball, those decals were put on by me years ago when the engine was detailed, see what you can look forward to as my year was "35". The car is put away for the winter but I think it says dynaflash eight in smaller letters under fireball, on the rear of the cover I believe it says Buick in large letters and valve in head underneath in smaller letters.

But there I go relying on memory. Thanks for the input on the dash plastics for the Chrysler, wish there were some available.

Chuck

[Guest]

Chuck,

I have never seen a prew-war Chrysler with decent dash plastic. It's too bad too, because they were quite pretty with the different marbled effects.

(I take that back- I once looked at a '41 Highlander that had a fairly decent dash in it- sort of a reddish marbled affair; it was somewhat bleached and had some checks in it, but was not hideously distorted the way that the '39s & '40s get.)

Perhaps somewhere there's a car that's never sat out in the bright hot sun, and still has a decent dash.

If you're afraid of the plastic dash, perhaps consider a De Soto or Dodge - they had metal dashes(woodgrained). The only plastic in my '41 De Soto dash is the speedometer lens, which has held up OK, except for some cracks around the edges.

My 1948 Chrsyler had plastic all the way across the dash, solid Navy blue, to match the interior, and the only cracking in that was across the top of the glovebox door (which was a pot-metal casting, which had probably warped a bit and hastened the failure of the plastic cover). Generally, the postwar Chryslers I've seen had intact dashes.

De Soto Frank