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Hi club members. I always wanted a desoto so i bought a 58 HT in 2010. I took all the trim off 2011. it got stolen in 2012. I got it back 2012. I took it completely apart in 2013. Years went by. Sat at the painters for 5 yrs. Now i am getting it back! I am old(er) now and do not remember how to put it back together. I bought the green covered "service manual" but it really does not tell you how to assemble the car. I do have many bags of bolts cryptically labeled but cannot make sense of it. Are there any factory assembly manuals somewhere i could get?
Ruh-ro
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
I can't speak for what was available for the 58s. If you were looking for a factory assemble manual for a 42, I'd tell you I don't think they exist, at least I never came across one. What's available is the different editions of the parts manuals for the 42. The DeSoto master parts manual(s) for 36-42. Then there are the Canadian sources. The ones I have are for DDCP. First edition came out in fall of 1941. The second came out in 1943 and there may have been one in 1944 or 45 before the 1946 models were released. Last but not least is the big, thick DDCP Master parts that goes up to 1954. In addition to that are the 'Standard Parts' manuals which is were all the nuts, bolts, etc are listed. There are good illustrations in this one. The other resource is the Body PArts and/or Sheet Metal parts catalogs. These give information on parts for the body, front end sheet metal, etc and also have illustrations not found in the either the shop manual or the parts manuals. With all of these and lots of time and patience one could probably assembly a 42 from a parts car or project like yours...
Ed K
