Enjoy, they are so much fun to drive

Looking good, nice job on the engine compartment. Very nice car all together. You have a ball, I do with mine. 
Take Care
SD Glenn

After many hours and $$$ I finally was able to take my 31 PA for a good drive!  I found in the process of getting her running that the intake manifold had developed cracks but was able to find a NOS replacement. When I first brought the car home from NE Ohio I had a challenge. While my Father In-Law (RIP) had started the restoration he passed before the car was complete. It seemed that everytime I made a repair to get her running something else would "pop" up. Blown head gasket, distributor worn, fuel tank leaks, cooling system, and on and on. I did "flip" the intake and installed a Rodchester carb to just get her going. This helped as I found the head gasket problem and many other issues. I did have my original Carter carb professionally rebuilt a week ago. So now the minifold is back to original and she purr's with the rebuilt carb. This car is trully a joy to own and I look forward to passing her on to my son one day. 82 years in our family with many more to come:-) I will include a couple pictures of the carb and a front shot of her in the garage.

The build card will show serial number, engine number, body number, date built, date shipped, dealer shipped to, color & upholstery codes, key codes, number of wheels & tires (size), gear ratio, body supplier and sometimes accessory group installed, or other information.  Foreign built cars shipped as CKD from the factory may show other items.

Quote from: MarkG on February 21, 2013, 08:11:51 PM
Does anyone know of a lead additive alternative, we have two small children and we don't want to expose them to toxic lead.

I doubt that you need to worry about putting an additive into the gas, just use it straight from the pump. Valve seat wear happens under high load in incipient ping conditions. The compression ratio is so low that incipient ping should not be a problem and you are not likely to be pulling a trailer at 60 MPH in the summer desert heat.

Quote from: Jim Benjaminson on February 15, 2013, 05:36:05 PM
address to order the build card is:

Chrysler LLC
Corporate Historical Collection
CIMS 410-11-21
12501 Chrysler Freeway
Detroit, MI  48231

Cost is $45

You must show proof of ownership with your request

What will the build card show me?

Does anyone know of a lead additive alternative, we have two small children and we don't want to expose them to toxic lead.

Beautiful car.  Even more fun with the windshield folded flat.  Just make sure to wear some glasses and keep your mouth closed while at speed!

address to order the build card is:

Chrysler LLC
Corporate Historical Collection
CIMS 410-11-21
12501 Chrysler Freeway
Detroit, MI  48231

Cost is $45

You must show proof of ownership with your request

Cool car...I wouldn't change a thing...

Pat O'Connor

Beautiful car making good humor to the occupants...
Greetings from D?sseldorf!
Go

Thanks! This is in Niagara county, but the car spent most of its life in Albany. Eventually it will be in Indiana.

Great looking car and family. 

What part of New York?  I am in the Catskills of Sullivan County

Thanks for all of your feedback so far! I feel much better about keeping it at my house now. Here's photo of the car. Me driving with my brother, and my dad in the back. Give you an idea of the condition. I'm sure i'll have more questions once i actually have it. Thanks Again!

Quote from: SD Glenn on February 11, 2013, 04:35:10 PM
Hey Tod, How you all doing.  Do they do any searches for the 1928 and 1929 models? I see the Address lists only the 1930 model on up.
SD Glenn

To the best of my knowledge, Chrysler Historical has no records for the 28 or 29 models. I've heard they are on microfiche and are stored by serial numbers. So even though they can get you the original body number and engine number from the serial number they cannot do the reverse. Too bad they aren't digitized and put into a database, then you could do lookups based on the engine number that many states used for registration purposes...

Thanks for the link Todd! Love the site :)

Hey Tod, How you all doing.  Do they do any searches for the 1928 and 1929 models? I see the Address lists only the 1930 model on up.
SD Glenn

Quote from: Patricks31Plymouth on February 11, 2013, 11:18:40 AM
Yes please if you can forward the address it will save me some time looking it up. Great information! Thank you!

See: http://www.ply33.com/Misc/buildcard

Yes please if you can forward the address it will save me some time looking it up. Great information! Thank you!

The only number you need to get the build card is the serial number from the door post.  That is the only way they have to find the record.  The build record will show the body number and engine number but build record card is filed in the microfilm strictly under the serial number.  You need to send proof of ownership to get the record.  I have the address if you need it.  Interesting history - always fun to know where they came from originally!

Correct Jim. Typo on my part! Yes I was told a Business Coupe by the family:-) No rumble seat, just a nice big trunk. I've asked the family to pull some original photo's from when the car was purchased to document the history but as yet they have not. Maybe someday. I believe during restoration the tag on the firewall was discarded but I do have the serial number inside the passenger door as well as the motor number. I need to see if I can still get the original build card with only two of the three requirements?

Thanks again.

Patrick - your car is not a roadster -- it is a coupe.  A roadster was an open car with folding top and no side windows (using side curtains that snapped in place during inclement weather).  I can't tell from the photos if your car is a business coupe (no rumble seat but a trunk) or a rumble seat coupe (flip up seat in the rear that will hold two additional passengers who sit out in the elements.  Still a rare car but not a roadster.....

That is a great drive!! I agree much better before they raised the dam but the drive up is something everyone should experience once. Not to mention back in the day driving the materials up those roads in the cars, trucks, and wagons. Glad you got to experience it :)

Quote from: Patricks31Plymouth on January 31, 2013, 02:43:15 PM
I'm in Apache Junction which is east of the metro Phx area. Tucson is roughly a two hour's south at freeway speeds. The car would not be judged as the intent during restoration was to have a fun car whitout the stress of judging etc. I get enough "judging" as my wife shows dogs at AKC shows! :) The only modification from original would be the carb. Once I have it operating properly I will reinstall.

It is my intent to go to the Tucson meet but won't know my work schedule till we get a bit closer to the date.

I know where Apache Junction is... On one trip "home" a year or two back I took my wife up to Roosevelt Dam via Apache Trail to show her the wonderful old masonry work on it.

I haven't gotten the rattle out of the plastic dash of the new car since going up that dirt road. :(

And we got up there to find that sometime since I'd last seen it in the 1970s they poured a bunch of concrete over it to raise it up and spoiled how it looked. :(

So as a sightseeing day trip it was a bit of a bust.

I'm in Apache Junction which is east of the metro Phx area. Tucson is roughly a two hour's south at freeway speeds. The car would not be judged as the intent during restoration was to have a fun car whitout the stress of judging etc. I get enough "judging" as my wife shows dogs at AKC shows! :) The only modification from original would be the carb. Once I have it operating properly I will reinstall.

It is my intent to go to the Tucson meet but won't know my work schedule till we get a bit closer to the date.

Quote from: Patricks31Plymouth on January 31, 2013, 11:30:38 AM
Congratulations Mark!

I also inherited a 31 Plymouth PA Roadster from the wife?s side of the family. We brought it home (AZ) around five months ago...
Patrick

What part of Arizona are you in? Will you be attending the meet in Tucson in April?

Quote from: plym_46 on January 31, 2013, 12:58:08 PM
Congrats to both of you.  I have in the back of my mind building an early 30's Plymouth based Speedster, basically a chassis, runningear seats and wheels.  Patrick what did you do to fit the down draft carb?  Were you able to just flip the intake over or did you need to modify it?  My day dream includes milling the head to achieve a 8.5 to 1 compression ratio and utilizing dual SU side draft carbs with a fabricated header style exhuast.  (Moderators please disregard the previous blasphemy) But a single downdraft couls also be in the mix.  Luv the three window PA coupe.  Keep her going.

A fellow I know with a '32 PB roadster (pretty similar engine to the '31 PA) has modified his with dual carbs, etc. I believe he is planning on driving his from where he lives in the Sierra above the Stockton area to the meet in Tucson. I'm sure that if he has it judged it will fail due to authenticity issues but it might be of interest to the non-purists. Wouldn't be surprised if he does a "do not judge" on the car.

For that matter, even though my car is stock and did well in judging the other year in Portland I'll exclude it from judging if nothing other than the reason that it has another few thousand miles of wear on it and I'll probably not want to deal with getting it all (under carriage specifically) cleaned up having driven it nearly 1000 miles to Tucson.

I did try to refab the original Carter carb. Tore it down and had it media blasted then used a rebuild kit. The accelerator pump would not function properly. A friend had a Rochester carb avail (free) so I did the rebuild on the Rochester Carb (1950's I think). rebuild kit was avail at AutoZone which was a rare treat as normally I have to search for days to find NOS parts! The downdraft vs. updraft did make it much easier to prime the carb since I was just to the point of trying to get her running smooth and needed the prime to get her going.  I was able to simply flip the manifold. I did not have to do any modification to the manifold other then the flip and replace the manifold gasket. I did have to fabricate a new linkage arm to the throttle but never changed any parts that would prevent me from putting the original carb back on. All I lack now is funds as I have found the more I run her the more items I find that need repairs:-) Since I had everything tore down I took some time to paint the main engine parts including the manifold.

Congrats to both of you.  I have in the back of my mind building an early 30's Plymouth based Speedster, basically a chassis, runningear seats and wheels.  Patrick what did you do to fit the down draft carb?  Were you able to just flip the intake over or did you need to modify it?  My day dream includes milling the head to achieve a 8.5 to 1 compression ratio and utilizing dual SU side draft carbs with a fabricated header style exhuast.  (Moderators please disregard the previous blasphemy) But a single downdraft couls also be in the mix.  Luv the three window PA coupe.  Keep her going.

Congratulations Mark!

I also inherited a 31 Plymouth PA Roadster from the wife?s side of the family. We brought it home (AZ) around five months ago in good running order ?according? to the family. The car has been in the family since the original purchase by my Wife?s Great Uncle in NE Ohio.
Since then I have replaced the fuel pump, replaced the carb, and replaced the head gasket including milling the head, rebuilt the brake system, and checked every bolt / nut on this car. She is running ?o.k.? now but I?m still a few 12 hour days away from comfortable.
I do use a battery minder to keep the battery in good order. We are in AZ but do have times that the overnight temp will be below freezing and she has kept well in the garage without heat.
In the short time I have had her I have found many resources for parts, advice, and hints to make the repairs. I?m not a mechanic but do love the simplicity of these cars. If you need any help locating parts or direction please drop me a line and I will help as best I can.
Patrick
 

Congratulations on your "new" car. Receiving it from your grandfather makes it all the more special.

You shouldn't need to do anything special other than keeping it in your garage. Assuming you have a concrete floor as opposed to a dirt floor, and the roof doesn't leak, it should be protected well. I keep my '35 in an unheated, detached garage and it has never had any ill-effects. I do keep the battery on a "Battery Tender" type of charger and that has helped prolong the life of the battery.

Why do you think you need to rebuild the engine? The best way to get a handle on the condition of the rings and valves is to do a compression test. Be careful that you don't use a compression tester that has a deep reach adapter, many of us have made that mistake and have had a collision with the bottom of the adapter and the top of the valve. Never a good outcome. The other question would be any knocking sounds or poor oil pressure. Those would be indications of worn bearings.

I'm not sure what kind of manuals are available for '31s but you should try to get what ever is available. If it is running rough you should give it a complete tune-up. If you haven't already found this site, Tod Fitch has an excellent site geared toward those early Plymouths... http://www.ply33.com/  Check it out.

Good luck and have fun!

Hi plymouth guys!

I will soon be in possession of my grandfathers 1931 plymouth roadster. My grandfather has had this car since at least the 50's and was his pride and joy. He was the opposite of a hot-rodder so that's not an option. He used to take us out for ice team in it and I like to do the same for my kids. So I'm looking for some direction.  It need a bit of tlc, I've driven the car so it does work, but not well. The body is in great shape, the interior is not pretty. I'd assume the motor needs to be rebuilt. My biggest question is how do I keep this car from rotting in my in unheated garage in Indiana? If anyone has cost/time estimates on motor rebuilding, interior work that would also be helpful.

Thanks!
Mark