keithb7 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) I won't be restoring this one....Just maintaining and enjoying it. I brought it home this week. It was restored 25 years ago. It came with an appraisal from 1998, 50,000 miles. When I got it this week, 57,000 miles. She's a gem. An emerald one. 1938 Chrysler C16 Royal coupe. Edited May 1, 2021 by keithb7 (see edit history) 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 VERY NICE! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Nice. Congrats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Perkins / Mn Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Very nice looking car Keith! With all the work you have done on your other Mopars (including all the great videos) it is a treat to just have one to drive and maintain. Let us follow your process in getting this one on the road. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9 Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Beautiful green Chrysler Keith! Congratulations and enjoy. Do you ever get down in the Vancouver area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 (edited) 45 minutes ago, Steve9 said: Beautiful green Chrysler Keith! Congratulations and enjoy. Do you ever get down in the Vancouver area? Yes Steve. I have family and friends there. Actually I was just there this week to pick up this Chrysler. Today I pulled the front drums. Inspected brakes. They were perfectly concentric. I tweaked the minor adjustment only. Just a tad. Front pads like new. No leaks. Fluid clear. I repacked the wheel bearings. I discovered both front wheel hubs are clockwise to tighten. Modern normal. It threw me off. Expecting left side to be LH threads. I assume someone changed it up. Will get to rears soon. Set accelerator pump to middle setting. Re-installed RH splash pan. Man that is a pain. My wife helped. She was under the car. I was reaching down from above. I’m trying to locate some micro-wrenches so I can get at the points. I need 7/32. No luck yet. I’ll try more stores soon. I won’t touch timing or dwell until I have some. A pic, out for a cruise this evening. Edited May 2, 2021 by keithb7 (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9 Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Like this maybe.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 Yes that's it. I have 1 double ended wrench ¼ one end, 3/16 the other end. No good. Too big or too small. I'll get a set tomorrow likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9 Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 I’ve had this set at least 50 years. Only needed on old car ignition systems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimKB1MCV Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 I've had the 'ignition' wrench set for many years as well but have found many uses for them outside automotive ignition work. Should be part of any serious tool box. I even have made up several open end wrenches sized down the ~ 1/16" for special projects in old radio and firearm repair. Not hard to make with the right selection of files and some patience. Congrats are due, Keith, on the new Chrysler, I know you've been looking a while. Your videos are very well done. Enjoy the car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 https://www.ebay.com/itm/111973695622 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimKB1MCV Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 The ebay listing is pretty much a bargain. But 😄 not to pick nits, the profile of the box ends is very heavy and will limit the usefulness of the set. ( Just an observation ). The better (Proto and probably Snap-On) are almost works of the tool-maker's art and probably priced that way, too. Sorry for the drift. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodneybeauchamp Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Keith, that is a very nice Chrysler. Understand your view on buying other people’s restorations but no doubt you did your due diligence and bought with your head not your heart....... nah you would have bought it anyway! Dont worry, you will have enough to do to keep that one serviced, cleaned and running sweet! Enjoy the ride! Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Congratulations, Keith! What a beauty. I love the color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 13, 2021 Author Share Posted May 13, 2021 (edited) I am hearing that this particular 1938 Royal Coupe model is pretty rare. Mine was built in Canada. I heard through the grapevine that a total of only forty coupes, same as mine, were built in Canada in 1938. Of those, I suspect some were sent over seas to Commonwealth countries. Somehow I'd like to be able to verify that production run estimate of forty. Is anyone else seeing any of these 1938 Chrysler Royal Coupes around? Where? If 40 is an actual number for Canadian builds, I wonder how many are actually left today? There can't be many. I can only speculate. What about USA production? Does anyone have any input on numbers Royal coupes produced in the USA? Edited May 13, 2021 by keithb7 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al W Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Beautiful 38 Royal! I can’t help you with Canadian production breakdown, but 2,850 Royals were built in Windsor, Canada. My father bought our 1938 Desoto Rumble Seat Coupe in 1969 or 70 and it is Canadian built as well (it had a total production US & Canada of 38 - 27 US built & Canadian production of 11 and ours is body #11. 1938 was last year for the rumble seat so it is the last Desoto Rumble Seat Coupe ever produced in Canada). I’m curious to see the production plate on your car as I believe they could be the same colour (if yours is original). The paint code on mine is 642 or possibly 648 as the last # is not stamped clearly. Any info we can share would be greatly appreciated. Finding information on Canadian built pre-war Chrysler products can be extremely difficult, so if we can assist one another would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 Thanks Al. I was aware of total number of Royals built. The majority being 2 door and 4 door sedans I’m sure. I’ll post a pic of my body plate soon. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
36 D2 Coupe Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Sadly. there is no collection of Canadian production records similar to those you can get from Chrysler Historical in Detroit. My understanding is that all those records - production by body type etc. - were destroyed years ago in a housecleaning purge so all we have to go on is starting and ending serial numbers. Any body numbers that can be found on the firewall plates that survive can indicate the upper end of the known number of bodies of a particular type that could have been built. For example my Canadian '36 Dodge D2 RS Coupe has body #76. So at least 76 may have been built. If someone has one with a higher number then the count goes up. But that is the only way we have to figure out Canadian production by body type unless someone has data that I haven't heard of in over 50 years. I can still hope...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 19 hours ago, keithb7 said: I am hearing that this particular 1938 Royal Coupe model is pretty rare. Mine was built in Canada. I heard through the grapevine that a total of only forty coupes, same as mine, were built in Canada in 1938. Of those, I suspect some were sent over seas to Commonwealth countries. Somehow I'd like to be able to verify that production run estimate of forty. Is anyone else seeing any of these 1938 Chrysler Royal Coupes around? Where? If 40 is an actual number for Canadian builds, I wonder how many are actually left today? There can't be many. I can only speculate. What about USA production? Does anyone have any input on numbers Royal coupes produced in the USA? This may help.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedyBuick Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 (2) Marketplace - 1938 Chrysler Royal · Delux | Facebook theres one on facebook marketplace right now. $14,500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Facebook car looks nice, and the price is right. Practically walking distance from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesR Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Beautiful green coupe. Body panels and paint look perfect, from what I can see. I'm thinking it takes a bit of courage hauling such a perfect car on an open trailer for four hours.😉 I'd be checking the weather forecasts constantly for a week before I made the trip...but I'm probably clinically paranoid. Boy, did Chrysler know how to design beautiful cars in the 1930's or what? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 Here she is....Check her out. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSayak Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 Very nice coupe! I'm jealous... I'm in Winnipeg with a pair of '38 Chryslers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodneybeauchamp Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 Hi Keith, we have just got the IPad sorted to play YouTube video on our large screen TV and managed to watch both 1938 Chrysler videos that you posted. Colour is excellent and much better to see you “ live and up close”. Jo now thinks she won’t get to watch her TV shows at all as I will be 24/7 on the AACA forum. BTW think the ‘38 Chrysler is magic and good to see it now being used. Look forward to seeing more of the posts that you do. Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) Hi @rodneybeauchamp thanks for watching all the way from South Australia. I am enjoying my Chrysler. This week I am letting the car sit idle for the week. I am soaking all cylinders in Marvel Mystery Oil. I have 1 cylinder at 75 psi. Others are 90-100 psi. Likely a stuck ring. The engine has not seen much use the past 25 years. I'll flash it up again on Sunday evening and start driving it again. See if I can get the ring to loosen up. Edited June 11, 2021 by keithb7 (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 (edited) Below here is a summary of the past two months. I've been dialing in my new '38 Royal. It's been a fantastic journey to get here. I gained some great skills that will help me look after my 2 old Mopars for years into the furture. I thought that others may gain from my learnings if I document them here: I found quite a few things to get this car dialed-in. In summary: -Coil wire at internal rear of coil. Exposed wire strands possibly going to ground intermittently. -A non-stock spring inserted above check ball, under set screw for accelerator pump circuit. Removed spring. -Bad points anchor bolt. Stripped threads. Would not lock down and hold the set gap. Updated. -Incorrect sized steel BB balls in the carb valves for intake and outlet of accelerator pump. Found both BB's same size. Replaced with correct sizes. -Valve lash found to be between 0.002" to 0.0035" wider than published spec. Re-set to spec. -Oil mist inside distributor cap. Cleaned up/degreased inside distributor cap and points/breaker plate. -Air leak at carb base adaptor place. Gasket shriveled up and shrunk. Replace with new gasket -Accelerator pump leather cup hard and stiff. Could not maintain steady flow of raw fuel stream. New accelerator plunger assy, spring and spring top retainer plate installed. -Adjusted float level to spec -Re-tensioned spark plug wire caps that anchor to spark plug. Getting loose. - Added carb base plate heat shield plus new gaskets -Added heat shield at front bottom of exh manifold to assist keeping fuel pump cool -Removed incorrect fuel pump and pressure regulator. -Installed stock type mechanical fuel pump, without built-in air pump - Found 1 cylinder with lower compression. 75 psi versus 95-100 psi across all others. -Cleaned all carb passages -Tweaked and set dwell and timing. Published spec for timing is 0 degrees. This is not really appropriate for today's fuels. Advanced timing 2-3 degrees. Every step that was addressed seemed to add some improvement to the engine's performance. I will add Marvel Mystery Oil to my fuel tank indefinitely in an attempt to free up possible stuck ring on piston #2. I will measure the compression again in a few months to learn if it's up. What a car. It's been fantastic so far. Lots of good times and memories to come. It's hard to drive it anywhere on any type of schedule. It attracts a ton of interest. People of all walks come to see and enjoy this car. I get it out as much as I can. I drive it lots and show it to the public regularly. Edited June 27, 2021 by keithb7 (see edit history) 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY F Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Really nice looking car. I like the W/Ws . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Keith: 1. What a lovely photo of your new ride 2. Your list of the things you have done is a perfect illustration of why it's difficult for those of us who don't have your skills to get a car properly sorted. What kind of shop would have spent the time and devoted the attention to find all of these little problems and fix them? Probably only a very few, and they would have charged an arm and a leg to have done it! Enjoy the car, and thank you for sharing. Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 15 hours ago, keithb7 said: Below here is a summary of the past two months. I've been dialing in my new '38 Royal. It's been a fantastic journey to get here. I gained some great skills that will help me look after my 2 old Mopars for years into the furture. I thought that others may gain from my learnings if I document them here: What a car. It's been fantastic so far. Lots of good times and memories to come. It's hard to drive it anywhere on any type of schedule. It attracts a ton of interest. People of all walks come to see and enjoy this car. I get it out as much as I can. I drive it lots and show it to the public regularly. Great photo of your car! The 1938 BC Y.O.M. plate is a nice 'finishing touch', and all your work pays off when it progressively runs better with each task. I hope you car is enjoying the heat wave!! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 It sounds like you have been keeping busy with working the bug's out. Great looking Chrysler ! Very well engineered cars , but it sounds like someone in its past didn't pay too close attention to fine details. I am sure it will provide you with years of vintage driving ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 (edited) I must admit ya’ll are making me blush a little. I’m no pro mechanic. I have just a habit of focusing very hard until I find the solution. It’s invigorating to me. I never spray a problem with new parts and pray for it to be fixed. I truly perform one step at a time. Then test drive. Rinse and repeat. Don’t stop till it’s done. I’ve learned a ton by sticking to these guidelines. I may be picky but I want it running as best as it can. I've been just a tinkerer most of my life. It all adds up, compounding. I literally got my first flathead vintage Mopar in 2017. I’ve spent the last four years neck deep in them. Before that, my last vintage car was my daily driver 33 years ago. A 1976 Dodge Dart. I love the hobby. Too much fun. Edited June 28, 2021 by keithb7 (see edit history) 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrbartlett Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 My brother has a '38 convertible coupe. These are nice-driving cars with the overdrive. Really easy to steer thanks to Chrysler engineering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Perkins / Mn Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 (edited) Keith, you are my hero! (no Mopar in the garage yet but working hard at finding one…..note the very short list of collector cars in my signature) Edited June 29, 2021 by Jeff Perkins / Mn (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 MAN, you got me drooling again! That is such a beautiful ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodneybeauchamp Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Keith, nice video. Great to see all the gremlins sorted. From what is posted in the forums, 99% of carburettor related issues are electrical. May pay you to make up your own set of wires, if they are copper core you can solder the connections. All the bits are available including vintage cloth covered wire. BTW, noticed the symmetrical dash design that could fit both LH and RH drive. Interesting note about the build in Canada and exports to Commonwealth countries. In Australia and New Zealand, Britain was always “the preferred supplier”, hence the abundance of Pommie Austins, Vauxhalls, Morris etc which for our vast continent were underpowered, heavy and slow. American cars were much more suitable for the poor roads and long distances experienced down under. However, the USA was not part of the Commonwealth, therefore making cars and trucks in Canada was a smart move. Lots of them were sent over as CKD (completely knocked down) or as chassis with driveline but without the body. Bodies were built here because of the high import tariffs imposed on fully imported vehicles. Many of the Commonwealth countries were RHD, so made sense for the lower production to be produced and exported from a different factory. Being next door to the US automakers, LHD for Canada consumption was probably a no brainer. Certainly the strong ties to Britain “ the Mother country” had a big influence for many many years on the automotive landscape throughout the Commonwealth countries of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. Look forward to the next one. Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrudy Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Great video Keith, a lot of good information about this beautiful Pre War Chrysler. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted July 1, 2021 Author Share Posted July 1, 2021 3 hours ago, kingrudy said: Great video Keith, a lot of good information about this beautiful Pre War Chrysler. Thankyou. I do love the old prewar Mopars. I also own a 38 Ply sedan. Yup. Spoiled rotten. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted July 23, 2021 Author Share Posted July 23, 2021 A couple months later cylinder #2 compression is now up to 85! Getting better. Will come up more yet I bet. This is great news. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now