54 DeSoto FireDome Q,s

Ben

Just below the Message Tab that you used to post your
message is the Resource Tab link. In it is the the 1954
Volunteer's information:

1954 - Paul Beyer, 5833 Acton ST, East Syracuse,
NY 13057

(315)656-8114

Please contact him so that he may help you with the S-19.

The Air Scope on the Driver's side is used with the Factory
A/C. It would be connected to a "ducting hose" to the
A/C Unit mounted in the trunk. On the shelf behind the rear
seat was twin round out-lets about four inches long for the
cooled air to be blown into the car's interior ( or the neck
of a rear seated passenger. They stick striaght up and are
bent forward ( it reminds me of the stacks on the ship
Queen Mary ).

The Factory A/C Car had a Radiator Fan Shrould which is Sq.
Cornered around the Cooling Fan. No Shrould means it was
removed and a Round Shrould is the non-A/C design.

In the Imperial Division the A/C Option was about $1,600
when new.

The Speaker Switch is something some person installed to a
rear speaker after they got the car.

If a part of this is in-correct there should be others who know
the information better to aide ya.

Rodger & Gabby
COS

Ben,

The best resourse you can have in restoring your DeSoto would be the shop manual for the 1954 & 1955 DeSotos. These are readily available on ebay as originals, reproductions, and on CD.

Your car was the 1618th S-19 Firedome produced in LA out of a total of 3703 S-19s. Your car was produced with a black top and a Aztec Yellow lower body. The trim was a green cloth and it has a Powerflite transmission. The body (32) is a S-19 Firedome Club Coupe.

The air intake on the left quarter panel appears to be one from a 55 or 56 model Chrysler product with air conditioning. The ones on a 54 should be flush with the sheet metal. A car with air conditioning should have an air intake on both sides of the car. If your car was made with a/c, the controls should be on the dash panel to the left of the steering wheel. You should find an evaporator in the trunk underneath the package shelf. You should also have an elevated discharge air grille and two flat return air grilles in your package shelf inside the car. These cannot be seen in your pictures.

Sometimes there were some unusual differences between the LA and Detroit cars. I would consider it a plus if the car did not have a/c.

Mac

Cool project. The vent thingy resembles a 55/56 a/c scoop but is not. I think it may be a Chris Craft engine room fresh air scupper.

Have a nice day
Steve

Mac,
Do you know what the trim # 645 means on my 53?

Thanks, Randy

Randy,

Trim code 645 on a 53 was described as leather and nylon trim "Black". I believe the leather bolsters would have been black with contrasting nylon cloth inserts. The color of the nylon cloth is unknown. The appearance would be similar to that below.

Mac

Thanks Mac. What # on the trim plack tells whether it had a different color on the top. It had 376 for paint which was cream yellow.

Randy

Randy,

Your car looks great. Your paint code 376 indicates your car was produced with a two tone paint combination with the lower body being Ceramic Yellow and the upper body being Black. Mac

Randy, your car does look GREAT. You have done a real nice job. There are probably a few open items but we all have those with these old but beautiful cars. When was the photo taken? I find it hard to believe your grass is green already? Looks like a beautiful location.

Thanks for the replies. I bought the service manual off of ebay. Thanks for that advice will definitly come in handy. The car is now at my house, definitly doesnt have air conditioning, the guy i bought it off says he picked it up in the 70s and it never had AC then either. Thats cool, i dont like AC anyway lol.

Now im just going over it to clean it up in preparation of taking it back to Australia. The PO said he hadnt run it in 10 or so years, the motor turns over by hand easily. I doused the upper in Marvel mystery oil anyway. The wiring harness is dead. Lots of lost insulation etc. I wanted to convert it to 12v neg ground anyway with a new harness etc. Probably another thread, but is there a bolt on 12v generator (I have PS so needs the Power steer pump adaptor) that replaces the 6v on the hemi.

Thanks

Ben

Ben

Yesterday I saw a "ole Caddy" with factory A/C. The
scoop on yours looks very much the same.

Why do you want the 12v Negitive Ground ???

Rodger & Gabby
COS

Paul,
I took that last yr. Are you going to make it to Reno?
Randy

Ben, I'd be quite surprised if a generator/ps pump from a '56 Mopar wouldn't bolt up to your engine with relative ease. '56 was the first year for 12 volt negative ground.

Ben

Yesterday I saw a "ole Caddy" with factory A/C. The
scoop on yours looks very much the same.

Why do you want the 12v Negitive Ground ???

Rodger & Gabby
COS

I'm planning on running 12v neg ground for a few reasons, one being the wiring harness i have is to far gone, so it needs to be replaced anyway (all original but the insulation etc is deteriorated) and the second being im planning on doing a resto-mod type of build - keeping the car as original as possible with a few modern touches. 6v stuff is far and few between where im from, the 12v will just be more user friendly in the long run. Then again, the more i tihnk about it, a new wiring harness and a good 6v battery... hmmm...

Ben, I'd be quite surprised if a generator/ps pump from a '56 Mopar wouldn't bolt up to your engine with relative ease. '56 was the first year for 12 volt negative ground.

Excellent i'll check that out thanks!

Ben, sory, I am trying to getry about hijacking your post. I just need to reply to Randy. Randy, I am trying to get everything in order to go to Reno. I will keep you posted.