new restoration project

Tim

I am going to "insert" a little into what I think I know
about your car. If I say it wrong, please correct me
quickly.

The car was purchased new in Oklahoma and brought
to Idaho Springs, Colorado when they moved here.

Two of the Good Options are:

Factory A/C
The Hi-way High Fi

It was parked where you first saw it after their daughter
finished High School and got married. The locals who grew
with her all say "she was every where with that car" ( how
true is this I do not know ).

Rodger & Gabby
COS

Your details are mostly right.

The A/C is not factory, but an aftermarket "Mark IV" or some other available unit from the era. My customer (the older brother) wants the aftermarket unit removed, and we have purchased most of the factory setup necessary with a lot of help from our own Dennis Pitchford.

It does have highway hi-fi, and around 120,000 miles, IIRC.

I understood the car to be parked after the link between the generator and P/S steering failed, and was never repaired.

The car was the daily driver for the older brother and daughter, through college, as I understand it, and the younger brother was just getting his learner's permit when the generator failed and the car was parked.

Wow, if that is all original and cleans up good, you might want to consider leaving it that way.

Have a nice day
Steve

Tim

I first looked at the car in the intent of buying it in the
1997/99 era. The brother who lives on the Western Side
of the Town wanted as much as a "golden brick".
All this time "MoM" still had the title ( Middle Exit from
I-70 ). I stopped looking to buy it about 2004.

At that time I posted all of the information to the site.

The Generator was missing the first time that I looked
under the hood. All The Wheel Covers and some misc
parts were in the truck.

You are correct it has the after market made A/C ( it still
is an dealer installed option ).

The location of the place it has been for some time is
shown in Robert Redford Movie that he plays the part
of a Snow Skier.

The last time that I looked at the car was about three
years ago.

Rodger & Gabby
COS

Steve, it won't clean up well enough to meet the stated goals of the owner. It will however, be a very original piece that will document well as we take it apart. It really should tell us "how they were" when new. The panel fit/finish looks very good, although I've noticed several trim pieces that aren't lined up very well in the grill area.

Since we've loaded it on the trailer, I've notices some rust in the passenger quarter panel, and it has a considerable number of minor bumps and bruises.

Roger, that's very interesting information to add to our developing story of this great car!

Once I've created a project page on the shop's website, I'll share the URL and interested people can pop in and watch our progress.

Tim Bowers
Stellar Antique Auto Restorations
http://www.stellarrestorations.com

Put a good battery in the car today, and discovered that a lot of things still work. The engine spun, too. Still trying to decide if we're going to try to start the car or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91eyUjV714E

`56 Adventurer is one of the most beautiful DeSotos ever made..
I´ll follow this restoration closely on your web pages.

Happy New Year

-jupe-

Tim,

I saw your pictures first on your facebook page. Very much looking forward to seeing your progress on this one! What a gem of a find!

It looks like a good candidate for restoration. I just passed through Idaho Springs on my way to Vail two weeks ago, and had no idea there was an Adventurer there. I sold the black and gold 56 Adventurer I had about 5 years ago at about the same time that I sent my 57 Adventurer to Sweden. (Looking back on it now I probably should have sold my 56 Seville and 57 Sweep kept the Adventurers.) I still prefer the torsion suspension cars and seldom drive my pre 57 cars. I do still have a 56 Firedome 4dr. parts car if you need parts. I sold the generator/PS pump off it to another club member about 1 month ago

Thanks, Ron. I remember buying a fan spacer from you when we did our previous '56 restoration, and I'll definitely keep you in mind for parts.

The family feels pretty certain that the generator/ps pump will turn up. They were trying to get a hold of a guy in town as we were loading her up that they might have given it to a long time ago to have repaired.

I think - maybe- this car is going to have a very short "to buy" list. Of course it's difficult to know until things are actually apart, but the car seems to be absolutely complete, and the parts that are there are in excellent shape for cores and such. The interior chrome is so nice that as I sit in the car I'm toying with the idea that there's no point in even having it redone.

Many '56 DeSotos used the Vickers PS pump but I'm pretty sure that all '56 Adventurers used the Eaton PS pump due to its smaller size. The same Eaton pump was used on '55 DeSotos and Chryslers. I will look and see if I have any.

Happy New Year
Steve

Tim,
On the interior chrome, you might consider trying to buff it up really well first. You may indeed not need to have a lot of it rechromed. Somehow, "new" chrome just doesn't seem to look like the original...

Tim,
You might be interested in this... http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forum ... 17#M255316