Hi, Bondo,

We have a '34 Plymouth sedan also, and are in process of getting it set up to be a reliable 'daily driver' car. Ours is the 'PE' version, it looks as tho yours is a 'PF' (bonnet side louvres are a recognition feature).

I've been somewhat interested in these cars ever since I had a '34 Dodge, back in the late '60's.....wish I'd been able to keep the Dodge...

There's a couple of 'hard facts of life' about trying to modify these cars, and I've seen a few of them become parts cars or scrap when the owners tried to 'change things around' a bit....

The '34 Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler CA cars used the 'first generation' independent front suspension, which is actually a very good system, with much heavier, stronger components than the later independent front suspension systems.

The Dodge/Ply cars used this system only in '34, they went back to leaf springs in front for the '35-'38 cars, then to a lighter duty, cheaper independent system in '39.

Whilst I can't actually 'know', I strongly suspect that they did tnat, not cos there was anything 'wrong' with the '34 suspension, but as a cost-saving measure. The '34 suspension, with its high quality, heavy duty forgings, would have been quite expensive to build.

The 'catch' is that this system requires greasing fairly often, the various thead-bearing joints must never be allowed to run dry. When these cars were run by owners who neglected this detail, the suspension parts perished.

Its perfectly feasible to rebuild the '34 suspension, the parts are available with some looking, and there is a specialist firm who will rebuild the front shock damper assemblies.

Please don't even think of following the bad example of the fools who build up 'display cars' by cutting the frame and welding in the front suspension assy from this or that late model car.....there are some rather serious issues of steering-geometry and weight capability here, and you really don't want a car which isn't stable at freeway speeds.

There is nothing for it but to correctly rebuild the original front suspension and steering, but, when you do that, you will be well rewarded for your efforts, with a car which will ride and handle superlatively well compared to the Ford/Chevrolet cars of the '30's....the Dodge/Ply cars are much nicer on the road, a little secret amongst '34 owners....

The other side of that suspension issue is that its just not realistically possible to lower the front of the car.....unless you had the resources to make a modified version of the 'steering knuckle support' part, with the king-pin mount a couple of inches higher on the part. (analogous to using a '49-'54 Chevrolet steering knuckle support on a '41-'48 Chev to lower the earlier car....it works on those, but there is no similar situation for the '34 Dodge/Ply)

If you really have your heart set on a lowered car, there is nothing for it but to sell the '34 Ply and get a '34 Ford. I've no idea as to whether Marty Costello, of Oakland, CA, is still living, he is the one who made up the re-forged 'Mor-Drop' dropped axles for the Fords....he did quite a few of those, and it should be possible to find one with a bit of looking.

As for the engine/gearbox, its readily possible to make some worthwhile improvements to a '34 car. Keeping the '34 201 is not really the best idea, for a road car. The '33-'34 engines had a couple of design flaws, which were corrected in the '35 and later engine design.

A really nice engine/gearbox arrangement, which I've seen done on a few of the '34 cars, is to make up a modified cross-member to use a '35-'38 bell-housing (the '34 cross-member is cut a few inches in from the frame rails, and the centre section of the later cross-member welded in.....my '34 Dodge had been done up that way, and fitted with a '53 engine)

If you are able/willing to do the precision cutting/forming/welding involved, and make up he clutch linkage parts needed, the cross-member mod is the best way to go. I particularly remember one fellow who had built up his '34 Dodge coupe that way, with a '59 Dodge 6 engine, and the overdrive gearbox from a '37-'39 Chry/DeSoto. The '57-'59 Dodge 230 passenger sixes were rated at approx double the hp of the '34 201, from the works, which is a far better starting-point for a nice road engine.

Another way to fit a '35-later engine is to keep the '34 bell-housing, and modify the starter housing a bit.

Its possible to modify the '34 cross-member slightly, by cutting away the gear lever mount and re-enforcing the cross-member forward of the cut area, to allow fitment of a '35 or later gearbox, again, ideally a '37-'39 overdrive box. (the '39 box for column-shift can be converted to floor shift by simply replacing the column-shift top cover/shift forks assy with a '37-'38 top cover/shift lever assy.)

Please don't consider cutting up your '34 to try some of the 'hot-rodders' kluge-ups that seem to be a fad these days......I've seen 'kluge-up' cars come up for sale very cheaply when the owners found out the hard way that such things don't actually work very well.

If you'd like, have a look at our '34 on our web-site www.tactical-link.com Go to 'Tricia's pages', then to 'our project car'. Now that Tricia has taken her retirement from her job, one of the many projects we have in mind is to set up a '34 Dodge/Plymouth page on the internet, a resource for parts connections/restoration advice/sharing of stories, etc., for '34 owners.

cheers

Carla