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Hi All,
Recently I met a gentleman in a neighboring town that has a very nice collection of autos. Everything from a Franklin to a Ford. He also had this parked in his shed. When asked what it was, he told me a 1950 Desoto then asked if I wanted it. Really?? Of course! I already have the '59 Firedome that I'm learning on and having great fun with. It came with a glove box full of old paperwork, including a work order for a wash from a local Desoto dealership.
My question is for help decoding the data plate, it seems fairly original but I cannot tell what color the interior door panels were. Thanks in advance for all your help!
Model 142 indicates the Custom model
Body 5 indicates a 4 door
Paint 305 is Pacific Blue color
Trim is Gray Broadcloth
The gray broadcloth seat fabric would have had Delon (vinyl) trim on the seat frames as well as on a portion of the back of the front seat. This would have possibly been a dark red color. The upper part of the inside door would have been perhaps painted gray with the panel below being vinyl or cloth & vinyl matching the color of the vinyl on the seat trim. The door panels would have had two horizonal stainless peices on them.
Mac
The 1950 is nearly ready for another test drive and I really want to beep those glorious horns at the neighbors, but they are not working with the horn ring. When I jump between the incoming horn wire on the relay and the hot wire from the starter solenoid, oh what a noise!
How can I tell if the wiring, relay, or horn button is to blame? Also, would there be a way to bypass the horn ring in order to use a push button under the dash? My Desoto welcomes anyone and everyone in it and I am sure that once the kids find the horn, they wouldn't be able to resist making "music". Thanks in advance for your advice and insight.
Lisa
Lisa
As you start learning ( with some contacting of The 1950 Tech Advisor ),
soon you will realize The 1949 and The 1950 Cars are The Same and yet
not The Same. This also applies to a De Soto and the same years of
Chrysler Windsor's.
Either way we all hope you have good memery's to come.
Rodger & Gabby
COS
*
Please take note my email address is now: GibaGab@msn.com
*
FltSgt@outlook.com
Thanks for the tip Rodger, and yes, it will bring many great memories to our family once the car is finally on the road.
I should probably state that it is in much better shape now than when I first acquired it. The rocker panels have been replaced, the rust on all exterior sheet metal repaired as well as the entire wiring harness replaced (sans the transmission harness).
Now if I could just get those horns working....
Now if I could just get those horns working....
Just do what I do, Lisa...open up the windows and scream obcenities at the top of yer lungs. 
Your cars are looking good!
Please post more reports and photos when you can! 
Lisa P., the saver old lost and lonely Desoto's. lol. Looking good! Wish I had your shop space.
Just do what I do, Lisa...open up the windows and scream obcenities at the top of yer lungs.
Ahh, but Rosemary, I tell the kids not to say those things, lol.
Lisa P., the saver old lost and lonely Desoto's. lol. Looking good! Wish I had your shop space.
Yep, that's me! I love saving old Desotos and will always welcome more if they find me. As for the shop space, it is truly wonderful to have. Room for more old Desotos, right?
And I have to add that I did get the old gal up to speed today in order to experience the Fluid Drive shifting. Wow was that ever cool, however, I believe I may have a new nickname for the car. Molasses.
And I have to add that I did get the old gal up to speed today in order to experience the Fluid Drive shifting. Wow was that ever cool, however, I believe I may have a new nickname for the car. Molasses.
I have been driving my 50 Desoto every chance I get I just love it.
Not sure how much you know about but if you want the shift to happen faster just push the clutch in and it will shift for you and let it out. This will override the tip-toe shifting for upshifts.
Also your car will down shift if you push the pedal all the way to the floor, really mash it.
I had my idle speed to high and down shift were hard. That is in low range the car ould jump when down shifting, almost give you whiplash. Also the upshift were not as smooth as they could have been. I am still messing with the idle speed.
Did you figure out the horn?
Not sure how much you know about but if you want the shift to happen faster just push the clutch in and it will shift for you and let it out. This will override the tip-toe shifting for upshifts.
Did you figure out the horn?
Thanks for the tip about the shifting! It shifted really smooth and that was great, it is just that the transition between the shifts was a several seconds but that is probably normal, right?
As for the horns, now that I've put the spring under the "brass" spider and the horn ring on top, I can hear the relay working when the horn ring is pressed. However, when the horns are hooked up to the relay, they start honking as soon as the key is turned on! It is pretty comical, but I'd like them to leave the honking up to me. I am thinking that maybe a push button under the dash may work better. It could be that the steering wheel is missing a ton of the original plastic and things are grounding out. I'm open to suggestions though!
I love my Desotos!
You allude to the potential problem; if your horns are honking as soon as the key is turned on, then you probably are making contact within the horn button all the time, rather than simply when the button is pushed.
The horn button grounds the relay, which then energizes and honks the horns. perhaps you could take the wire off the relay that goes to the button and see if the horn still honks when the key is turned on. If it still does, then perhaps the relay is faulty. If the horn doesn't honk, I would then ground the relay and see if they do. If they work, then I'd start looking at the horn button. There shouldn't be any continuity to ground on the horn wire unless the horn ring is depressed.
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
You allude to the potential problem; if your horns are honking as soon as the key is turned on, then you probably are making contact within the horn button all the time, rather than simply when the button is pushed.
Tim was right, and I thank him greatly for helping me troubleshoot this! There is a problem with the steering wheel and horn ring. What (if anything) insulates the horn contact button from the rest of the metal contained within the horn ring and steering wheel components?
We made it to the ice cream shop today in the 1950 and what a fun time the girls and I had! Our faithful Desoto seemed to perform flawlessly, shifting just when it should. It did sound like another gear would have been helpful once up to speed, but either way the trip was well worth it! Thanks for all the help and support here on the forum.
Let me know if you still need help with the horn. When I dismantled my steering wheel I took photos after each part and will provide them if needed and if I can find them. I have the parts in a bag too if you want photos of any of the parts. I am waiting to rebuild the steering wheel before putting back on. I have Plymouth steering wheel on my 50 Desoto right now.
car looks great and it I nice to see it on the road being used. I drive mine as often as I can.
Darin
