1950 Desoto

[bob w]

Way cool. You set a high standard for the rest of us.

 

[falconvan]

Thanks, man. Much appreciated.

 

[earthman]

I find flathead sixes oddly appealing. Simple to maintain, easy to fit in anywhere and that old timey antique look to them for starters i guess.

 

[falconvan]

Over the last several years I've gotten more and more away from my "stick a V8 in everything" approach and have gotten more of an interest in sticking with the old flat sixes. I guess it comes from the fact that my parents were older and this was their era when they were young. Dad was 20 when he deployed to Europe for WW2 with the Army. So the cars from the late 40s to the early 50's have been the ones I gravitated towards and Mopars are my brand of choice.

There's something really appealing about that era of technology. 70 years old and still going. It's easy to be working on one and get lost in thinking about all the places it's been, the generations of families that it transported around, the landmark events of our country that it's seen. Or the guys who put it together on the assembly line. Great stuff. We're not just car people, we're the stewards of history adding our own chapter by keeping these time capsules going down the road.

 

[bob w]

Well said, FV. Except for the Bantam, I've been going milder in the engine compartment. I find that a couple hundred horsepower is all I need to chug around like the old man that I am.
It is nice to think about the events that a given car has lived through.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Torchie]

I've always been a "Obsolete" engine guy.
It's the sound they make. Everyone sounds different.
Plus they look really.
Digging the flathead in yours.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[falconvan]

Right on, Torchie.
Drivetrain is back in and I’m getting it put back together. I’m grateful for all the extra garage time lately; just wish the circumstances were different.

 

[DozerII]

Really nice clean install.

 

[falconvan]

I decided to do some work on the inside today. The only gauge that worked was the gas gauge but it was faded really bad. The speedo was stuck and it had some under dash autozone gauges for the temp and oil pressure. I got the oil pressure gauge to clean up and it works, I found an NOS fuel and temp gauge on eBay, and also a working speedo. Not using the amp gauge, I’ll add an inconspicuous volt gauge.

 

[falconvan]

Got a lot of little things put back together the last few days. I’ve got an*exhaust manifold*coming in the mail next week; one I get it I should be able to fire the engine up and see what she sounds like.*

 

[Torchie]

[cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Old Iron]

[cl
[P[P[P
The gauges look great

 

[bob w]

Are you going to run a split manifold and duals? They make a sound to be remembered, even by the neighbors down the block.[ddd

 

[falconvan]

I’m going to keep it stock for now.

 

[falconvan]

Success! Got the motor fired up today and it sounds great other than the carb being pretty iffy. I might try one of those EBay YF knockoff carbs; this one needs rebuilt and the choke needs replaced. But it sounded smooth and had 40psi oil pressure so I’m happy.
When I got this the previous guy said the whole car was rewired. Technically it was; it had a new universal street rod harness but it was really a mess with a bunch of wire nuts and THHN house wiring added to it. I decided to redo it; solder and heat shrink the connections and just tidy it up.

 

[Torchie]

[cl [cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Old Iron]

Nice to here them run
[cl

 

[DozerII]

[cl[cl[P[P Gotta love wiring

 

[23crate]

the Little Rascals did a show where they chopped up string and grated the old sunlight soap for cheese to make some money on the side.. your wiring reminded me of that ....

oh yeah and my old Desoto, US export version Plymouth Cranbrook body..

i rewired that old girl , was 2 weeks work at nights and looked like that .. i stripped trailer 7 core to its individual wires.. all i could think of when the horns started blaring was Christine's Aunty (thanks Stephen King), turned out the horn wire had warmed near the exhaust manifold.. im thinking the fan helped blow the wire on to the pipe where the coating melted and earthed...

sigh... good times ..

LOVE your work !

this isnt mine , was the same tho

 

[falconvan]

Man, that's a beautiful car; never saw a Plymouth bodied Desoto before.

Yeah this was a case of good intentions with so so execution. But at least all its costing me to make it right is some time, solder, and heat shrink.