Plymouth Owners Club

Hello there-

I just inherited my grandpa's 1940 Road King that sat under a tarp for about 40 years. We have the engine running (once we removed the deceased feline from the motor compartment), but we're having some trouble with the transmission. Her maiden voyage was limited to 2nd and 3rd gear, reverse and first are impossible to move into. Is this a known issue, or does anyone have any recommendations? I'd appreciate any help or info you can provide -

Most Sincerely,

Wendy Rea Murphy

Wendy - sounds like it could be adjustments.  E mail me at with your mailing address and I'll copy those pages out of the service manual and mail them to you.

Wendy,

Congrats on your 1940 Plymouth, they are a great car, actually I think they are a better looking vehicle than the coveted 1940 Ford.
I have had mine for close to 17 years or so.
If you email me at with your Postal address I will gladly copy what information I have on the 1940 Plymouth.
I would also be pleased to see some photos of your car.
Good luck, you won't be disappointed with your Grandparent's Plymouth
Bob

Hello Wendy,  You might try lubricating ( with oil or wd-40?) the shift linkage under the hood.  If that does not work you will need to find if the problem is in the linkage or at transmission.  You can unhook rods at trans. and see if lever will move on trans.  If you have a car lift (ha-ha) this would be a 5 minute job.  Good luck, John D.

Thank you so much for the response (and encouragement!). It appears that there's something fishy with the linkage - my husband, father, and I were toying with it for quite some time and can't seem to get it rolling. We'll try a bit of lubricant, I know it didn't appear that the second rod was even moving so it might take more than a little jeep juice to get it going.

I will try to get a few photos to post. There might be some old family photos of it as well. My grandfather was the second owner, but it was only six months old when he bought it and drove the family cross country in it. It's a pretty special car to me - even ran over my dad's foot when he fell off the running boards at age 12. I was the crazy grandkid that only asked for the car when the estate was getting settled - five kids and 13 grandkids and no one but me was passionate about it. They all wanted the 65 mustang.  It's in pretty poor shape in the interior, everything is original but almost everything inside and probably the floor will need to be gutted. I keep finding critters inside of it, and I need a new gas pedal - the current one is rotted and keeps fallling off- which makes for exciting outings.  But all the external components are there, original brake lights, etc.,  including 20 years worth of registration in a notebook hanging from the steering wheel. Oh, and if anyone needs a tax manual from 1963 I have one in the back seat.

It will be a slow project for us,  but I have NO idea what is safe to invest in it. It seems to need so much, and my dad is afraid it will never be worth (at least monetarily) what we will put into it to get it at least partially restored and safe to drive to Denver (where I live now). I think its a stellar design - the deco elements give it such a classy look. It was black, but I haven't decided what color to take it in the long run. I'd love to restore it with as manyof the original interior elements as possible, but we don't even know what all the levers and handles ARE yet. If anyone has seen any schematics or a old manual copy I would love it.

Oh, one more question. Is it typical for the driver door handle to sag a bit? I saw a photo of another plymouth online with that trouble as well, I'm wondering if there's a spring that's broken.

Thanks so much, and i will definitely email you Bob and Jim!

Many thanks,

Wendy

As far as the door handle--there is a little s shaped spring about an inch long that fits in the mechanism inside the door just above where the square rod from the handle goes thru.   It is a big deal to get to it-u have to take the window out and remove the window winder, then the latch mechanism.  I would wait until u are going to be taking the door apart for painting and window channel replacement.  roberts motor parts is a good source for all kinds of chrysler hard to find parts.  that little spring will turn up at a swap meet-that is where i found mine.  In the sevice manual under the "body" section there are the directions for getting the latch out.  they don't mention that spring, however.

as far as getting your money back from a restoration--forget it.  Either u love doing it or u don't get started.  U will learn a lot of skills that are priceless and your time will probably figure out at about a nickel per hour--maybe.

I do know that one can transport a car professionally from the west coast to the east for about $1000.  If u live in Denver, then it will be less than that- how much less depends on where the car is now.