Plymouth Owners Club

I recently purchased a 1939 P 8 convertible from a POC member in Ohio.  I'm attempting to learn as much as possible about the history of this car.  The gentleman that sold me the car stated that he purchased it from an older man in Kansas about 5 years ago.  Some things about the car are not factory correct.  The paint is not a Plymouth color.  I believe it is 1939 Dodge Air Cruiser red. The upholstery is not the correct pattern, but very well done.  There is no horn ring but does have the deluxe steering wheel.  I've seen another 1939 convertible equipped with the same steering wheel for sale on the internet.  The instrument panel has been wood grained by the man that I purchased the car from because he "liked it better".  I agree!  The transmission is equipped with a floor shifter.  I know the P 8s would have the column shifter.  I'm not sure if this was a later conversion or a special request, factory installation.  If it was a conversion it is very nicely done.  I'm going to contact the Chrysler historical society as soon as the title is transferred to my name.  The reason of this post is to see if any POC members are familiar with this car and know any of its history.  Again, it came out of Kansas.  If you have any knowledge about this car I would appreciate hearing from you.  Thanks.  Rick.  rln31455@yahoo.comIMG_0401.jpgIMG_0402.jpgIMG_0403.jpg   hanks.  Rick.   

I don't know much about 1939 Plymouths other than I like how they look and your's looks great!

We have a forum member here with a modified 1939 convertible who may be able to help answer any questions. I am not sure how often he checks in though.

Good news!  I was contacted by Noel Wilson of Sydney Australia. He was familiar with my car.  It was restored about 20 years ago by Mr. Jerry. Elwood of Bucyrus Kansas.  The floor shift and wood grain dash were done at the time of the restoration.  The car was featured in the August 2014 Plymouth Bulletin.  I've ordered the back issue.  I'm going to try and contact Mr. Elwood for more details.  Special thanks to Noel Wilson for providing the information regarding the history of my car.

Hi Rick, just noted the write up about your 39 Plym conv coupe.. Nice looking car.
I have a very extensive topic here on the POC about my 39 conv cpe, I was able to assist Noel Wilson in Australia with the restoration of his P8 convt which he bought in the USA and had shipped to Australia.
As Tod mentioned, my car is very highly modified mechanically, however, the body is basically dead stock, restored to a very high standard with mostly NOS parts and accessories. I wood grained the dash and interior sills in lieu of painting them body color because it added a degree of class to the car.
Regarding your floor shift: Generally speaking the P8's which is the delux version of the '39's had column shifts, the P7, standard for '39 had a floor shift. The P8 also had a banjo steering wheel.
I know of one other '39 conv in Los Angeles, CA that has a floor shift. The car has a Dodge engine with a Desoto OD transmission which was installed by a man in Pleasanton CA that started the restoration of the car. Wm,

Thanks for the information.  This is my first pre-war collector car.  It is also the first Chrysler product that I have owned so I have some learning to do.  I believe the floor shift was installed during the restoration.  The woodgraining was done at the same time.  This car was featured in the August 2014 issue of the Plymouth Bulletin.  I've ordered the back issue. I read your thread about your '39.  It's informative and entertaining.  Thanks for posting it. The styling of the 1939 Plymouth convertible pushed my buttons the first time I saw one fifty years ago.  I finally decided to look for one.  I didn't think I would locate a car that was in good condition in my price range.  I posted a "wanted" ad not thinking anything would result of it due to the rarity of these cars.  Remarkably, two weeks later I received a phone call and the rest is history. I didn't want a project car and couldn't afford a show car.  This car fit the bill perfectly.  It needs a little mechanical sorting.  I hope to have it on the road soon.

Rick, you mentioned in your recent contribution to your thread that your car has some mechanical issues that need to be 'sorted out'.. The '39 Plyms were actually very much ahead of the times, when compared with the other low priced entry level vehicle's. The 39 Plym was the only conv cpe in the entire Chrysler line for '39. The lowly Plymouth was actually badged a a Chrysler Air Stream, 1936/38 not to be confused with the Airflow Series which did not make open cars.
A very unusual feature of the '37-39 Plym conv is that they were made to be convertibles, the body has it's own chassis, which makes the body very stable, when the car goes through a dip, the doors don't fly open like the majority of the 1930.40 open cars.
Since the '39 model year was the last year for reflector head lights, the lights are very poor for night driving. I would caution you about falling into the trap of converting the head lights to Halogen. I made that very costly mistake which I just corrected on my car..
In the near future I will be documenting the process to rebuild and improve the headlights on a '39 Plym

I don't plan on modifying anything on the car.  The engine oil pan was leaking.  I dropped the pan to replace the gasket and inspect for sludge in the pan.  The good news is that there was no sludge.  The heat riser was loose and the exhaust manifold was cracked.  I removed the manifold and repaired it.  I also rebuilt the fuel pump with materials that are not affected by todays' fuel.  I have to fabricate a metal fuel line from the pump to the carburetor to replace the rubber hose that was installed.  The radio, power top and park lamps are not working.  I plan to look into those items at a later date.  I'm involved in the complete restoration of another car at this time.  I plan to drive the Plymouth while the other car is being worked on.

Power Top: The '39 Plym's were the first car to have a power operated top, the top operates off of vacuum from the engine. The engine has to be in excellent condition to supply vacuum to the two large cylinders that operate to top.
I looked for many years for a source for repair parts, and/or a company that could repair/rebuild the top cylinders. The vacuum tops were only used for a couple of years, the majority of the open cars used hydraulic/electric or just straight electric.
If the pivot bolts and cylinders are in good shape you could try adding a vacuum pump and an accumulator tank to the system. I opted to convert my top system to a 12v electric system made by a company in Monrovia CA.
I had new top pivot bolts made out of stainless steel for my car. They work perfectly and did not require hard chrome plating to achieve the correct size.
I had ten sets of bolt/pivots made, I still have five sets in stock.
I also had new oversize shafts for the vacuum cylinders made. I used stainless for the shafts because the upper bushings for the cylinders are bronze, which is self lubricating. From age, the bronze had suffered some ware. I honed the bronze bushings to fit the slightly oversize shafts, this eliminated the need to have new bronze bushings made.
If you try to re-chrome the shafts, they have to be 'Hard Chromed' to achieve the correct size.
Radio: The original radio for a '39-41 is a Philco push button, an excellent unit that fits the entire DPCD line for '39-40.
Any good radio man can rebuild the radio and re-cone the speaker, convert the vibrator to a new solid state type. I have a neighbor that rebuilds vintage radio's, he has a source for the solid state vibrators and a company in Los Angeles that re-cones the speakers.
I would caution you about trying to 'Poor Boy' the radio, they are very old and therefore the majority of the circuits, etc., are in poor condition, powering the radio up without first checking everything up could cause very fatal damage. Wm.