New DeSoto Owner

Josh,

Nice looking car! I also own a '55 Firedome 4-door; substitute black for your blue. I'm also the Club's '55 model year coordinator. I've owned my '55 for nearly 30 years and have amassed quite an assortment of spare parts and have been maintaining a reference list of part numbers for both NOS MoPar and aftermarket parts. Feel free to e-mail me at the following address and let me know what parts you are needing. Many are still available from NAPA, O'Reilly, etc. Contact me:

mark.kubancik@insightbb.com

Hope to hear from you soon!

great, thank you mark, i will definitely take you up on that offer. i could also use a bit of support.

Hey Josh;

Welcome to the DeSoto community!

Have fun with your DeSoto; it looks like you've got a good car to start with. You should be able to make it a reliable and capable car.

You'll find a lot of eager help here!

Like I said before; have fun!

Tim Bowers
Stellar Antique Auto Restorations
www.stellarrestorations.com

That's a really nice clean car you have there. I too have a '55, substitute baby blue and drop the top.

Drive it and enjoy it!

Have a nice day
Steve

thank you tim and steve. i only hope that i can contribute to the community as much as i get from it.

Josh contacted me via e-mail. Below are his questions and my replies. I made it clear to him that I am no mechanical wizard, so those of you that are feel free to correct or elaborate.

Subject: josh from desoto club

hi there mark, thank you for your hospitality and offer to help. as i stated in the thread, im new to these cars, but not new to mechanics so we should be on the same page when talking shop. here are some parts that i am looking for. i have visited a few websites but they were little help....................

drivers side outside mirror Good used original mirrors can be found on eBay for a reasonable price. Nobody is yet reproducing original style MoPar mirrors of this era. If you’re not a slave to originality, you should consider any brand of era-appropriate side view mirror. Most of the custom car/street rod websites sell a clip on peep style side view mirror that is era-appropriate yet reasonably priced.
drivers side outside door handle Again, you will have to search eBay for these. Search for both ’55 Chrysler and DeSoto as both used the same door handle. Prices for used handles are pretty steep as these handles are prone to breakage. If you find a parts car or a junkyard donor, try to buy the door handles for a good price.
ignition cylinder, with or without key Cole-Hersee supplied the original switch for Chrysler. Again, you can find an NORS switch on eBay pretty frequently. Most six volt ‘50’s Chrysler products used the same switch. You’re not likely to find this at NAPA, but you can try (original Cole-Hersee part number):
Cole-Hersee Ignition switch 9548

weather stripping where the door windows meet the sheet metal, on the outside, sill stripping i guess youd call it Many sources for this. One that specializes in ‘50’s MoPar repro rubber is Gary Goers. Google for a basic website. Send for the catalog and you will find all sorts of decent repro items for ‘50’s and ‘60’s MoPars including weatherstrip. Come to think of it, he may have outside mirrors as well.
i could also use the numbers of the replacement fan belts, both of them Here is what I have on record. Note, these are older Gates numbers that may have been superseded to updated numbers. A good NAPA parts guy should be able to cross them to current items.
Gates Belt, idler pulley 7380
Gates Belt, generator 7410

rubber upper and lower rad hoses
Upper hose: An exact replacement is no longer available. This is a close fit with modification required:
Gates Upper radiator hose (molded) 20908 Modification required
NAPA Upper radiator hose (molded) NBH7635 Modification required

Lower hose: An exact replacement is no longer available. This is a close fit with modification required:
1 20046 Gates Lower radiator hose (molded)

Bypass hose: An exact replacement is no longer available. This is a close fit with modification required:
1 20563 Gates Bypass Hose - Molded
NAPA Bypass Hose - Molded 7379

im having a few technical issues as well that i was curious of you could help me out with, i did purchase a FSM on disk

i cannot get the inside door and window handles off so that i can get the door cards off without damaging them You will need to purchase or borrow a K-D door handle removal tool like that shown on the attached file. This is a non-current part that appears occasionally on eBay; it’s in high demand and selling price reflects that. You might visit an old upholstery or glass shop in your area and chances are they have one of these buried in their tool chest. Maybe they would let you borrow or buy the tool. Or, if you’re handy you can make one of your own tools to do the job.
the car has a hesitation that is not at idle or appear when i rev at idle but only appears when im pulling away from a stop sign and is only for a second or two of throttle, the plugs are new and gapped to .035 and the wires are good, the only thing i havent checked is the actual cap. From my personal experience, hesitation as you describe is usually indicative of problems in the carburetor accelerator pump. Suggest rebuilding your carburetor. You can still get a rebuild kit from NAPA:
NAPA Echlin Carburetor repair kit 2-5092

the temp gauge on the dash does not work, i have check the actual dash wires and there doesnt seem to be anything wrong with them but im unsure of the actual sensor location Check your FSM for detail on troubleshooting the temp gauge. I, too, am unsure of the sending unit location but you should be able to trace a wire from it to the firewall.
the location of the neutral safety switch, i believe this is the cause of my ignition problem. i think it is on the drivers side trans See page 483 of the FSM for a photo of the left side of the trans showing the Neutral Starter Switch. NS-1 seems to be a popular number for this switch used by Chrysler into the ‘60’s. Check NAPA using that number.

i plan on converting the car to 12volt system but it seems like an incredible pain in the butt !!! any suggestions? im sorry for all of the questions but i was just throwing a few things off the top of my head that i had questions on and any help that you could provide me would be greatly appreciated. thank you so much for your time.
I’ve owned my DeSoto for nearly 30 years and it has performed fine on six volts. Buy a good battery, add a battery disconnect switch and use it when not using your car for more than a day and you will not have difficulty. I can’t comment on converting to 12-volt as I’m like things as original and I agree with you that to convert would be a big job converting all the electrics.

Josh

one last thing, i had to install a new master cylinder and i had a very knowledgeable friend bleed the brakes with me but they seem to be, well, a bit, how should i say, rough ???? the previous owner said that new show were installed in it very recently and there is no power brakes so im just wondering if its normal. i have nothing to compare it to as i have never owned a car without power brakes as well as one that weighs as much as a locomotive. i also wondered if the brakes are self adjusting? once again, im soooooo sorry about the book here !!!!!!
Brakes: Remember, this is a 4,000 lb car with no-power shoe brakes. At your age you’ve not likely driven many cars with shoe brakes; they don’t stop like disc brakes, especially imports with discs front and rear. You need to give yourself and other drivers plenty of stopping distance and plan ahead when wanting to stop. Be happy you don’t have power brakes as the power booster on the ‘55’s was prone to failure and is an expensive item to maintain. Many members have converted their ‘50’s era DeSotos to later model disc brakes. It can be done and is relatively easy if you have mechanical skill, tools and $.

Meanwhile…here are some tips for the shoe brakes:
1) The brakes are manually adjusting. See the FSM for adjustment procedures. You’ll need to adjust the brakes frequently if you drive the car frequently. It’s an easy process if you have a good floor jack.
2) The FSM describes a special tool used back in the day to center the brake shoes before mounting the brake drum. Practically nobody has this tool so you would be well served to remove the drums and check to see if the shoes are meeting the drums evenly. Look for high spots on the shoes indicating the shoes may not be properly aligned. You will likely need a drum puller to remove the rear drums; they are taper fitted to the rear axle shaft. A club member on the website named Les Fairbanks sells a very effective drum puller for around $85.00.
3) For what it’s worth, I’ve used silicone brake fluid since rebuilding the brakes in the early ‘90’s with no brake system problems.
4) On a system that old, be sure to replace the rubber brake hoses at each front wheel, at the master cylinder and at the rear axle. Remember, this is a single master cylinder so if a brake hose or brake line ruptures the pedal will go to the floor. Then, you’ll be hoping that the parking brake will bring the car to a stop!

Aren’t old cars fun??? When people see my DeSoto and say “They don’t build them like that anymore!”, I say “Thank Goodness”!

Mark, thank you for your help, i have been working on little things here and there and im getting it sorted out slowly but surely. im going to get radial white walls installed tomarrow so im gonna be looking into those brake a bit more at that time, however, i drove the car the past few days and it seems as though the brakes have smoothed out quite a bit. i also heard back from a junkyard who states that they have many of the parts that i am looking for so ill post up what i found, where, and how much it cost so that anyone looking for the future has a heads up. thanks again everyone, im really enjoying this car, i feel like i should have been driving one of these my whole life !!!

Hi Josh,

I haven't been on the forum in a little while as life has caught up with me, so I just recently came across your thread. Congrats on aquiring such a nice car. You've come a long way with it already.

I, too, own a 55 (mine is a fireflite). It is a Coronado, so it has a tri-tone paint job. I am much like you in learning as I go along, but you couldn't find more helpful people than on this forum. They're truly wonderful. Do you have a service manual? I picked one up last year when I purchased the car, and have found it immensely helpful.

Best of luck in getting everything where you're "finally happy with it" (is there such a thing?), and welcome to the club!

Jessica

thanks jessica, i have actually read through your thread and got some good info. i have picked up a FSM and im reading through it every now and then and learning more every day. you have a nice rig there yourself. thanks for your kind words, and thanks to everyone that has helped already.

on another note, i am looking for a front, drivers side, outside, door handle. i have found a passenger side and purchased it, thinking that it might work, however, due to the slope of the door, it wont work and i really dont want to tear it apart just for the parts just yet. so if anyone knows a place that maybe produces replicas, id be interested in hearing about it. i have searched everywhere. thank you

Josh
BAMBAML19@AOL.COM

Josh,

No reproductions available for the '55 door handles. You will find them occasionally on eBay, used condition far more frequently than NOS. As you might imagine, the left side handle is the most popular and hence the most pricey. The nicer the chrome the higher the bid; if you just need a decent driver handle you won't be hurt too bad. Remember to search '55 Chrysler door handle as well as DeSoto as the handles are the same. The handles fit only the '55; no other year handles are the same.

Mark

thanks mark, i have and continue to search for the chrysler ones as well and i did find one on ebay and for a great price and after three weeks of not seeing it in the mail the guy decided to tell me that he couldnt find it and would refund me my money!!! anyhow, the internals are the exact same from door to door, the only difference is what i will call the escutcheon plate, for lack of a better term, the outside of the handle that lies on the door. it is slanted the opposite way for each side so when you try to mount the pass side to the drivers side, it fits just fine, and looks great, however, when you actually go to open it up, the angle of the "lever" that pushes on the release tab is to steep, causing it to go under the actual tab.

as i said, im trying to avoid tearing it apart for two reasons, one, i dont really want to ruin it, as it is in great shape, and two, there arent many out there and i dont want to make it one less. im afraid that knocking out the lynch pin might shatter the whole assembly. but if i cant find one soon, i might have to do whatever it takes.

although, i do have another solution that some of you might be interested in. my machinist has a woman that does castings and will remake ANY part that you can give her. but obviously at a cost. a cost that im not sure if it is worth it to most people. i have asked for an approximate cost so if anyone else is interested, please let me know. she can remake anything, such as handles, ornaments, and other things. she has done some custom work for a hand built roadster that they are building right now. anyhow, if it is an asset to the community, id be glad to do the leg work for everyone.

Josh, that's a wonderful resource to have at your disposal. I am not sure if anyone is re-popping the front plastic emblems on our car, but mine is in dire need of replacement. The key is to find one in superb condition to serve as a template.

In the past few club issues, there have been classified ads for some 55 trim parts. The first by Gil Evangelisto. He's actually in Pa, so not far from you. His email is gil@evangelisto.com.

If he doesn't have the correct handle for you, try Russ Frank. des4us@ticon.net. He has a listing offers a good bid of 4 door trim. Possibly other goodies you may need. Hope this is helpful!

Jessica

thanks for the tip jessica. ill shoot gil and email and see what he has, i also found a place out in the midwest that claims that they have tons of parts. for anyone interested, its called Moorse Auto Salvage, and the phone number is 6054844751. i have yet to call them back to see exactly what they had, but i sent them a request for parts and got a phone call back stating that they had mostly everything that i needed. in fact, im going to call them today.

jessica, exactly what part are you in need of? the gentleman that i bought the door handle from told me that he was going to give me the V8 emblems and another small piece or so, but wasnt sure if i needed it and didnt send it. but if it is something that you need, ill contact him again and see if he can send any pics. email me if youd like.

Josh
BAMBAML19@AOL.COM

I used NDC Club member George Laurie from Queensland Australia for the reproduction of all the lenses and front emblem on my 55 DeSoto. George's contact information is listed under the Vendor page. I cannot say enough about the beautiful work George does. He probably does not have an inventory of these items, but can make these items to order perhaps without having to send him your old items.

George is a one man operation out in the boondocks and one has to be patient and willing to wait for items ordered. He was lambasted unmercifully on this board several years ago by some who had waited over a year after sending payment.

George sent the attached explanation which was published in the July-August 2008 Adventures.

Mac