1933 plymouth coupe

An older gentleman in my town has decided to sell his 33 Ply coupe. An older streetrod build. He has owned it since 1957. I'm trying to help him price it. It doesn't have a computer or even own a cell phone. He is definitely old school. Sorry, no pictures but I can describe it.. Originally built in 1957 with an older Hemi. He installed a mid 60's 389 and 4 speed from a GTO about 20 years ago. Car is very presentable. Nice custom interior that is probably out dated but still very nice shape. White rolled Naugahyde(looks like to me) but very nice condition. Very nice old Lacquer paint job. Med. Blue Met. No cracks or bad spots in the paint. Still has the vinyl insert in the roof, which he replaced several years ago. Has a late 50's rear end in it. Original untouched frame. Needs the suspension and brake system updated (in my opinion). Has the incorrect bumpers and headlights, but look and fit nice. As I mentioned, Very presentable car as is but if I owned it ,I would upgrade the brake system with front disk and a dual master cylinder and drive it as is. Any idea what he should ask for this?

It's a hot rod, there are no "incorrect" bumpers or headlights.

Without pictures and a hell of a lot more detail you aren't going to get much useful help

So I am 80, ... take it easy with the old jokes.

What your asking is almost impossible to say, could be from that's too cheap to that's too much.
I think that's why there are no reply's.
Here is what I (a nobody) would suggest as a .solution to your situation.

Ask him what he needs / wants for it and then you should buy it to keep, and / or fix it, and / or sell it (if you want to).

Now you will know exactly what the price is. .

Yep, if you really want to know what it is worth, you need lots of pictures. The price range will be related to the details. Could have been really nice back then, or it could have been a bit crude, but at least it sounds like it is still presentable.

I would probably go to a website like the www.jalopyjournal.com (the HAMB). The car sounds like it fits into what they are all about (pre 64 Hot Rod builds). Originally built in 57, OEM frame, updated to a 389 (the old Hemi would have been better, even there), the paint and interior also fits in there. The more of the original 57 build pieces that still exist, if still functionable, would add to the value there. They will look intently at what is era correct, down to the tires and wheels. They love "new finds" of old builds.

How much does the guy want to get out of it? Most old guys have a number that would make them happy to get, though sometimes those prices are not connected with reality. The next thing is how long he is willing to wait to get his price. That car could be worth $5,000, to $20,000 or more. Would be worth the effort to take some pictures.

pictures would go a long way to determine build quality, but they could be deceiving as well.
back in 1957, there were certainly quality built vehicles, but there were certainly some very crude examples put together. [by today's standards]
studying articles in the "little magazines" often times showed state of the art builders back then cut corners that we wouldn't consider under any circumstances these days.

I'm interested in hearing and seeing more.

You interested in hot rods? Oh, by the way, Happy NewYear

Hey there, Happy New Year. Yes, Sir, I've been on the hunt for 3 or 4 years now. You could say I am very picky which is why I'm still searching. Just cant get into SBC powered street rods, has to be something closer to a 29-34 traditional hot rod.

i can't get into the "all chevy" drivetrain hot rods either.
except an early hemi in any make.

Any mopar street rod I build is going to be 2nd Gen Hemi powered. No Chevy allowed....

So, to this country boy the solution is simple, buy a GM powered hot rod cheap and buy a boat. Take the GM engine out and use it for an anchor for the boat. Install whatever engine you want. Problem solved.

Agree, except, there are enough of those GM guys out there the sale of the "Corvette" motor will go a long ways toward funding a nice Mopar motor build. Much of the hard work has already been done on a drivable car. You can sort out what has to be done before you pull the GM motor & trans.

Do those early Plymouths have front leaf springs? Do folks typically convert them to a transverse leaf or keep the parallel leaves?

in 1934 mopar went to a goofy independent front suspension, then went back to parallel leaf springs and a tube axle until the 1939 models.
my 38 plymouth coupe had the tube axle, so to lower it, i swapped the axle pads and put the axle above the springs.
i used an iron corvair box [reversed] for steering, and it worked really good !
that car came with the usual smallblock chubby, so i ditched that for an E58 360 cop engine/727, 8 3/4 rear from a 1970 chrysler [bolted right in] used 3.91 gears, and that car was a pretty good runner !

The front suspension swap from the 33 parallel leaf to either the transverse leaf spring front suspension or to any form of independent suspension is a pretty major undertaking. As far as any ride improvement or handling improvement, a modern steering box and a sway bar would accomplish the same improvements, the Mopar parallel leaf spring suspension was a pretty high quality set up if it is still intact. Most of the time, the transverse leaf was only installed because the Ford guys loved them, or the car was going fender less and they didn't like the appearance of the parallel leafs. The independent suspension was mostly a 90s thing when any form of a solid front axle was considered "old fashioned" or obsolete. What most changed to was not an improvement, but was often considered to be a "must have" at the time.

At a wild guess, I would say probably 1/2 of the old Mopars were converted from the parallel leaf to something else, and probably almost 1/2 of those were because the original Mopar stuff was either no longer intact, was in poor condition, or had a problem with the original steering (or lack of power steering).

My 35 Dodge frame came to me with the front axle and springs gone (early 1990s), but the rear of the frame also had a rust issue. I scratch built a frame using the cross torsion bar suspension (it was too wide, I altered the front sheet metal so the tires were under the sheet metal because I lived on a gravel road). We put 77,000 miles on that car in 7 summers, so it worked out OK.

Thanks! That's great information. I've been looking for a 30-31 model A coupe or early-mid 30's dodge/plymouth/Chrysler coupe to build once my '66 Dart is done. I'll be going fenderless, so I'm trying to figure out what front suspension to go with. I'm definitely one who believes the parallel leafs aren't the best looking on an open wheel hotrod.

There was an early Plymouth coupe on FB marketplace maybe a year ago, give or take .

VERY nice looking car that needed some assy work to complete it. But it was a new build top to bottom.
Original steel body and fenders, but glass running boards.
I.
Best I remember it was priced low to mid 30s and took forever to sell , if it ever did. I gave it some thought to buy and finish it. Then resell.

But a friend of mine is more of a street rod guy advised me against it. Saying the chance for any profit was SLIM at best.

There is a guy here locally that ha a turn key 32-34 Plymouth street rod with a Gen 1 Hemi for sale. It was just completed a couple years ago. Its not something I'm interested in, and I don't imagine its cheap, but I haven't talked with him since last fall. If there is an interest, I'll get some info.

He has turned his attention to his 73 Challenger with a Ray Barton Hemi in it.

This is a 1929 dodge I bought in a similar situation. All steel, lacquer paint that isn’t perfect but presentable. 340, 727, ford 9”. Independent front end with disc brakes. Paid $15,000 for it.

Great looking car for reasonable $.

very good buy, and a nice car too boot !

Nice hotrod! How long ago did you buy it? Do you have any more photos. Pictures of the front suspension would be great.