What did you do with your DeSoto Today?

Well, not today, but last weekend, a friend of mine and I rebuilt the front brakes on my 41 DeSoto (for the 3rd time). Master cylinder, wheel cylinders and new front shoes.  Rear brakes seem to be working fine.  Then we dropped the fuel tank, cleaned and painted the metal in the area above where the fuel tank mounts with POR 15, installed a new flexible line from the pump to the frame mounted steel line. Adjusted the brakes and clutch as best we could without test driving (no fuel tank).  We then went hunting for some fittings and some rubber to use as mounting cushions for the tank when reinstalled.  And then, we ran out of time!  It was dirty, greasy and hard work, but it was fun and a learning experience.

Isn't that the way it always works?  Work will continue in a couple of weeks when our schedules permit!

Today, My 1952 DeSoto visited the "Wings and Wheels" car and vintage aircraft show at the Willow Run Airport.  The show is a fund raiser for the Yankee Air Museum, which preserves and maintains a section of the WW II Ford B24 Bomber plant and many vintage aircraft.   There were two Hudson Terraplanes at the show, but only one DeSoto.  Here is a photo of the local "Rosies" Booster club making a muscle pose in front of it.

Yesterday, Bill and Ann Miller, Rick and Joyce Wresche, and I all went to the "Rolling Sculpture" car show in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  We parked our cars together on "Desoto Avenue".  Here are a few Photos:

Today I had the pleasure of rebuilding my carburetor and replacing the front brakes.  For some unknown reason the car would not start and I thought it was the fuel pump because the car would start and run if I poured gas directly in the carb.  Not so, the accelerator pump in the carb was the issue.  Fixed and good as new now.

As for the brakes, they were fine except they would lock up immediately when the brake pedal was pressed going in the forward direction after the car sat for a few days.  Took the hubs off and the shoes looked super but were glazed. This happened a couple of years ago and at that time I just sanded the shoes down to get the glaze off and that worked for awhile but soon they started locking up again (darn self energizing brakes).  I learned to clean 'em up by driving the car at speed and then pressing the pedal lightly and dragging the brakes until they were heated up enough to not lock up.  But after sitting for a few days, back to the old lock up again.  So this time I just replaced them and I'll see how well this works.  So far so good but am expecting they will eventually go back to the old lock up behavior.  I believe the shoes absorb moisture and get real sticky to the drums if not used often enough.  Time will tell.

Any comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Hi Fred -

I disagree with both your hypotheses.

The car should start without having to engage the accelerator pump. The accelerator pump is for...accelerating. How long did your car sit since the last time you started it ?  Today's fuel evaporates fairly quickly just sitting in the float bowl. If you have a 4bbl carb on your car, it takes a while for the bowl to refill if it is dry. Also getting the fuel up from the tank via cranking sometimes takes a while. You should check the glass bowl fuel filter just ahead of the carb to ensure that it has gas in it. No gas. No start.

Brakes are not fine if they lock up. Your solutions don't address what I feel are the real problems. I recommend replacing the brake hoses, which can collapse internally, despite looking fine on the outside. Another reason for the condition you describe are weak brake springs. Those should be replaced if the brake hose replacement doesn't solve the problem. Both these conditions would result in what you describe. Not glazing. Not sticky shoes. Good Luck !

Ron

Thanks for your input Ron.  I tried starting the car today and it didn't start again.  I firmly agree with your comment: no gas no start.  It's not getting gas again through the fuel system but will start and run while pouring gas into the carb.  The carb rebuilder is coming by tomorrow afternoon to take a look at it while still on the car.  We'll see.

As for the brakes, I haven't driven it much since I replaced the shoes.  So far, so good though.

I will update soon.

Luckily I got the DeSoto running today without much effort.  The problem was a sticky needle in the seat on the carb - took about 10 minutes to loosen it up.

It was raining this afternoon when I got the car running so I elected not to take it out for a drive to see how well the brakes are doing after replacement of the shoes.  If the weather breaks in the not-t0-distant future, I'll take it out for a spin.

I put up my DeSoto Christmas tree in the office.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Jackie and I visited the America on Wheels car museum in Allentown a couple of days ago.  In one of there exhibit rooms they have a Neon Desoto dealership sign that was working.  I took a picture of the sign  and will post it here.

Rich Hartung                                                                          

Gorgeous December day in the Ozarks (55 degrees), sunny and dry.  Took the DeSoto out for a spin to check the brake action since replacing the shoes a few weeks ago.  The result was super!  No more brake lockup and no brake squealing.  Should stay like this for hopefully many years now.

Just in case anyone else experiences brake grabbing and locking up with the self-energizing brakes, the shoes absorb moisture and along with other contaminants, and over time will glaze and grab the drums to the point of lockup.  For awhile I was able to remedy this issue by driving the car up to speed (35-40 mph) and ease on the brake pedal enough for mild contact to heat up the linings and evaporate at least some of the moisture.  The inertia of the spinning wheels at speed prevented lockup but with caution I could heat the shoes and rid the moisture to the point where lockup was temporarily eliminated.   The brakes would act normally for a day or two and then revert back to grabbing and locking up after the car would be parked for several days.  Not fun and the procedure noted above would be required all over again.  (Note: The brakes were properly adjusted at all times.)

Prior to replacing the shoes, I sanded the glaze off the old linings hoping that would solve the problem but it only lasted a short period of time and I came to the conclusion the moisture/contaminant was imbedded too deep into the linings and didn't take long to to surface and cause the same lockup problem.  So the best solution is to replace the shoes and enjoy some feel-good braking.

Why this phenomenon didn't occur when these cars were new, I can only surmise the everyday use of the cars back then didn't allow the moisture to penetrate the linings like the limited use of the cars these days may.   It will be interesting to hear from others on this forum with similar situations and how they went about correcting their problem.  However with the success I have had with my DeSoto brakes, I can only hope my method of repair helps others having similar experiences.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Hey Fred!  Good to hear that you appear to have solved your brake issues.  Attached is a scan of a vintage Raybestos document intended for service shops working on the then-new Center Plane brake design.  Perhaps it contains some helpful information for you and others. 

As for linings absorbing moisture now but perhaps not in the past, could it possibly have something to do with linings of the era having asbestos in the friction material?  I'm far from an expert in this area but that would certainly be one difference between original linings and those relined recently.

Mark

Been too long since I updated this section.  Attached are some photos of DeSoto activities in Louisville during the summer and fall.  The first two photos were taken at night by a professional photographer at a homeless fundraiser in downtown Louisville, KY.  The fundraiser event theme was Cuba from the '50's and the event hosts approached our local AACA region asking for a '50's car to park in front of the event location.  We gained free entry to the event that included free food and drink and we met a lot of great folks and had a great time.

The third photo shows a couple DeSotos making their way to the display area on a taxiway of Louisville's historic Bowman Field for the Bowman Fest Aviation & Military Heritage Festival.  For the past couple years they have invited our old cars to add to the ambience.  It's a great show with vintage military and civilian aircraft taking off throughout the day.  The cars are a big draw as well.

The '57 Firesweep belongs to Rosy and Neal Stolowich and the '55 sedan is mine.  Look closely....yes, my trunk lid is open.  My wife Pat retrieved something from the trunk and did not close it completely and the off-road trip to the display area popped the trunk lid open!

Mark

Just a gorgeous day in the Ozarks so I decided to take the Big D out for a cruise.  As reported a few months ago I put new brake linings on the front replacing the "sticky" old ones that caused the front wheels to lock up.  I'm pleased to report all is well and am confident these new linings will give years of worry free braking.

I also bought a "Vintage" travel trailer that I'd like to be towing behind the DeSoto but since there is no hitch (and there will not be) I must resort to using the RAM 3500. Such is life.  Anyway I took a picture and if it were sixty years ago, would be just the "cat's meow".  Although I'm not a Chevy guy, I can still imagine a Turquoise and white '55 Chevy Nomad pulling this trailer and I believe it would be quite impressive.

I have been tinkering with one of my '56 Fireflite Sportsmans the past couple weekends and have all the wiring under the hood fixed and hooked up properly again. I also drained the tank, got a new o-ring for the drainplug, and put in some fresh gas. Today I didn't have time to mess with it much, but I dumped some gas directly into the carb and it fired briefly with the key, which means my wire repairs were successful as I previously had to jump the coil directly to get the car to fire.

My other '56 Fireflite Sportsman, which is in Kansas at Stellar Restorations and was seen by many members during the Wednesday welcome event at the National Convention, is in the process of getting painted. I got this photo today showing the fresh two-tone doors!