From the photo, it looks solid! It reminds me a lot of my '59 Fireflite - a very solid car and a great driver, but with faded paint and a baked interi...

@jessebashaw I saw your posting on Facebook - I am glad to see you decided to keep the car and are finding time to work on it!

Very nice! I'll be looking for articles from club members with 1949s for a 75th birthday issue this year. I hope you'll consider submitting one!

@MikaHatanpaa I have some loose '59 wagon doors here that I can get you some measurements from. The only problem is that we just got a couple feet of ...

I don't have personal experience with disc conversions or your era of DeSoto, but I know that AAJ Brakes is one of the go-to sources for disc brake co...

@franciswarwick I checked and the club does not have any records of that specific serial number, nor does a Google search come up with anything. It wa...

@franciswarwick I see from the new member list that you recently joined - welcome! I submitted an email the club's Membership Secretary, Christina Par...

Do you by chance have the serial number from your original car? If so, you could Google search that number to see if by chance it pops up (though I'd ...

I am not sure if they go back that old, but you might try Rare Parts who deals in suspension parts. Also, Andy Bernbaum or Ed Spiegel are options. R...

And the year of the car.

@nancydailey for the steering wheel, I know of two companies and both are expensive. One is Quality Restorations in California () and one is D&D A...

@dickpirkey see the first part of my previous reply with attached image. The "Add topic" button is what you are looking for to start a new thread/topi...

@dickpirkey to answer your first question, when you go to a sub-section of the forum, such as "parts for sale/wanted/trade", you should see the "Add t...

@fredroman glad you enjoyed it! Hope to see you next year and Merry Christmas!

I agree, that looks like you have likely found the cause of your stumble!