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Here are current pics of my 48/49 Desoto. They were putting in the exhaust today and hope to have her engine running soon! Need help:
Where to restore the steering wheel? Only need a new outer rim I think. See pic of the original one.
Is it possible to get replacement beauty rings (15 in) for the 4 tires? Mine are in bad shape.
Would also like to know how others added side view mirrors and where to get them? Mine has only a rear view mirror.
Thanks, Nancy
@nancydailey for the steering wheel, I know of two companies and both are expensive. One is Quality Restorations in California ( https://qualityrestorations.com/ ) and one is D&D Automobilia in North Carolina ( http://danddautomobilia.com/Welcome.html ). Yours, however, doesn't look to be that bad and might be able to be fixed with some time and basic materials. I believe Frank Lashua from the NDC did this with his steering wheel where he prepped the cracks, filled them, sanded, and painted the wheel. You might try contacting him using the information in the club roster.
For the beauty rings, I might suggest submitting a "Parts wanted" ad to the club magazine. Instructions and deadlines for that are in every issue.
For the mirrors, hopefully someone else can chime in with more knowledge of parts for that era!
Going to be beautiful? She is already a beauty! You will only make her more beautiful! Keep up the fine work!
Thanks,
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Just a couple of suggestions regarding the wheel trim rings and the outside mirror(s): Sometimes eBay has these items for sale. The mirrors are a clamp-on design that fastens onto the front lip of the door near the vent window. I don't believe there never was a factory mounted mirror on these older DeSotos. I have seen these mirrors from time to time on eBay.
Also a lot of times there are the wheel trim rings available but they would be generic and new. Getting the factory rings in as good of condition as the rest of your car would probably be impossible. You might try googling for both the mirrors and trim rings just to see what comes up.
Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
"It's delightful, it's delovely, it's DeSoto"