1940 Chrysler Traveler Straight 8
Summary:
The Beautiful Chrysler
Faults:
The radio no longer works, most likely it needs a tube. The high beam switch doesn't work.
It loves to stall and leave you stranded. It will start again after it's cooled down. Unfortunately there aren't any mechanics left who worked on these when new.
General Comments:
The car is a 5 window coupe. I got it from the 2nd owner who purchased it in 1956 as a second car. He ended up not driving it; only taking it out of the garage once a year and driving around the field behind his house.
I bought the car in 1992 and did the normal maintenance stuff, brakes, tune up, etc. The ride is unusual but very comfortable. The angle of the gas pedal puts a strain on your ankle on long drives.
It keeps up with modern traffic on the highway, but you have to obey the posted speed limit on turns. No turn signals means using your arm. The heater works well on cool fall days.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 7th August, 2008
11th Aug 2009, 16:50
I just finished restoring my 5 window Traveler Coupe, about 2 months ago. We love it, I'm not too fond of the brakes though, they do the job.
It does sound like your car has vapor lock. I rerouted my fuel line way away from the exhaust manifold. We have been searching the web trying to find some more Traveler Coupes. They are very rare. We did add a aftermarket turn signal switch to it it works great.
I would be interested in getting a hold of or talking to anyone who owns one or has owned one. You can reach me at mybadfish@gmail.com
8th Aug 2008, 15:22
Wow, this sounds like a really fun car! If you're interested, people make those aftermarket turn signal indicators that bolt up to the steering column and are wired into the marker lights. We put one on our 1950 Chevrolet Deluxe. It's fun to imagine driving it on the back roads in the Fall during leaf-viewing season.
Does it still stall when hot? Does it overheat or does the temperature rise before it stalls? I could see if it got really hot, or lost oil pressure, the engine might seize enough to stop, and then start when it cools down.
How's the oil pressure and oil consumption? It sounds as though maybe the condenser in the distributor, or perhaps the coil may be shorting out when it gets hot and then the engine dies from no spark.
If you have a circuit tester, you can test the leads of the coil after it stalls and see what kind of resistance reading there is. Also, on a car this old, it could be that the insulation on a wire has worn through, and maybe when the wire heats up from engine heat, it touches something and shorts out.
Pushing it up to 65 mph might be asking a bit much from this car, though. You could get an idea of the problem if it stalls after a certain time, or certain miles, at certain speeds.