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No problem! I'm 38, but I've grown up wrenching on cars since I was a teenager. My first vehicle was a '63 Chevy II station wagon with a 194 six. My stepfather helped me work on the car and taught me a lot along the way. After a couple of years we rebuilt a 327 and replaced the 6. I moved away (Army) for 8 years but while I was gone I couldn't stay away from wrenching and got into Corvairs, 80's GM F bodies and G bodies. I did some pretty extensive backyard tinkering on the G bodies especially - boxed frames, fabricated 4 link rear end swaps, rebuilt Olds 455, etc. I missed the style of older iron but wanted to learn something different than a GM platform and found an interest in Mopar A bodies. They're relatively affordable and a lot of fun - started with a 318 swap in a 66 Dart GT and most recently have been working on a 1964 Valiant. With the Valiant I comited to trying to keep the vehicle mostly stock and just using it as a fun cruiser. Its a 170 slant 6 car and I've had a blast with it. I put a new fuel tank and sending unit in the car and ran all new brake lines with a dual master cylinder upgrade. Restored the gauges and push button transmission selector, rebuilt the carb and unfroze the manifold heat riser and recently upgraded the ignition to an HEI style. I welded in a new spare tire well. It still needs some floor patches. While learning about the slant platform, I read about the flatheads that predated them and wanted to learn. I looked at a few 40's Mopars that were in far worse shape (and a lot more money) than the DeSoto, so patience paid off for me. I'm very much a DIY'er and I would prefer to spend an entire weekend on a simple job than pay to have it done. I'm mechanically inclined, but I do like to learn and this is my first vehicle older than 1960's era, so it seems I've got my work cut out for me.

No idea where that is, been a long time since I lived in Tacoma. ... my birth certificate shows I was born at Tacoma General. While my parents lived in McMillion, a tiny store, post office, church and farms east of Sumner. Lived there until 10 and moved to Puyallup. Bought a mobile home in a Lakewood trailer park. Used my Dodge 1 ton slant 6/4 spd to move it down HWY 512 from south hill and up Eli hill to property I bought in Bonney lake. It is a small world. I went back about 4 years ago, man was I amazed at how it had grown over the 20 years since last was there. I do not plan to change my flat head 6, if I ever did, it would have to be a slant 6 replacement. I have owned several over the years, they were awesome engines.

Looks like a real nice, solid car. A bit of cleaning, polishing and wax will probably make that baby look great. Good luck with your resurrection!

Hello mhjarrell. welcome to the forum. Your car looks very good with loads of potential. The photos appear to show a club coupe but not completely sure. Best of luck on your venture. John R

I think the Le Femme are rare! I saw an episode of my classic car and there were 2 at 1 car show! I bet a 426 would catch spectators by surprise! I took her to her first cruise in since getting her all back together. Most everyone said something to the effect of "you don't see many of these around ". One guy that looked over the car returned in about an hour and said "I've looked at every car here now and this is my favorite " I've got the ac ordered, I'm trying to figure out how I want to build the fan shroud and still have it look period correct. Here's some pictures from the cruise in.

hey 46DeSoto, I have a 48 DeSoto I'm restoring. Maybe you read my thread on rebuilding my front suspension. That slant 6 engine is beautiful and brings back a lot of memories I have of the 70s and 80s when I owned a few of those. They were dirt cheap then and easy cars to work on! I think my favorite was a 1973 Dodge Dart sedan I had. Part of the reason it was my favorite was it was free from a guy that had bought it for his daughter. It was the first year for electronic ignition and it had my first disc brakes on the front axle. I loved its Smurf blue color and it had those cool fender top turn signal lights! Turns out a midnight bandit liked 'em too. Some guy ripped off my engine wiring harness and turn signal lights one night. Had to go to the junk yard and get a wiring harness out of a Plymouth for about $8, but all the Mopar were missing the fender top lights. Mopar cars are so easy to work on, it took me only a few minutes to install the new engine wiring harness. Luckily, it plugs into the cowl! Keep in touch since were both restoring an S-11 DeSoto. Marc.

Is your Plymouth a club coupe or a business coupe? If you don't know the difference, a club coupe has a back seat, but the business coupe doesn't have one, just some small storage space and a shorter cab.

Excellent advice from Joe there! Also since youre a newbie, I always recommend educating yourself about basic auto mechanics. You don't have to go out and buy a boring auto mechanics textbook. Just go to MyMopar.com where they have the booklets and filmstrips hosted by that gravel voiced brother of the Pillsbury Doughboy, Master Tech, that Chrysler put out starting in 1947 to educate dealer mechanics. For example: http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=388

Yep, lot's of mechanics fail to understand the 6v positive ground setup. had a guy stop by the house to talk to me about my Cambridge. Turns out he has a 51 Chevy, almost a brother, same black outside, grey interior as mine. As we were talking he mentioned his headlights were real dim, so we got to poking around and I noticed someone had installed 12V headlights in his 6 car, lol. No wonder they were dim. Set him up with my old 6v headlights since I converted to 12v and installed GE Nighthawk LED headlights. He was happy.

Yeah, don't believe everything you see on You Tube. What you need to do is have a ton of patience moving forward. The car has been sitting 30 years - if you have to wait a couple of more months to get it running that's not a big deal. If you rush into it not only will it cost you more time but it can cost you a lot of $$$$$ As stated before,: Pull the plugs and squirt Marvel (as stated before) or a mixture of acetone and tranny fluid into the cylinders. The cylinders are not directly below the spark plug holes in the head so make sure you get it into the cylinders. You can use a small tube or straw to pour the mixture into the cylinders. It will also be okay if some of it goes into/onto the valves as they need to be lubed up, too. Let it sit a day or two and repeat the process. With all of the plugs out try turning the engine by hand. It sounds like the engine is either stuck or tight from sitting. DO NOT FORCE IT TO TURN. YOU MAY HAVE A COUPLE OF STUCK VALVES AND FORCING IT TO TURN CAN CAUSE DAMAGE. If it won't free up, or turn by hand, you can try removing the flywheel cover plate and using a big screwdriver/pry bar to turn it over using the flywheel teeth. This gives you more direct torque to the engine. DON'T FORCE IT!!!! IF IT TURNS A LITTLE THEN STOPS AND WON'T TURN ANYMORE THEN YOU MAY HAVE STUCK VALVES. If that is the case you will need to pull the head and maybe the valve cover plates (located under the intake/exhaust manifolds on the side of the engine block / if you do this clean up the sludge in there, too) to free up the valves. If you get it to turn freely without binding or stopping, then you can proceed to move onto the brake/fuel/cooling systems, etc. All of these things will need to be rebuilt, cleaned or replaced from sitting. Once you get it to turn over freely and before trying to start it: Proceed to #'s 1,2 - you can do #'s 3 & 4 after you get the car started using the procedure below 1)Drain the oil, radiator,fuel tank, etc... 2)Drop the oil pan and clean it out - you'll be surprised at what you will see. 3)Drop the fuel tank and get it cleaned/boiled out. 4)Flush all of the fuel lines, brake lines, radiator,etc... If it turns over freely and you just want to see if it will at least start /run, after performing the above mentioned steps (at least #'s 1 & 2), fill with oil, then either do a complete tune-up (plugs,cap,rotor,points, condenser, maybe wires, too), or clean up the plugs and points, and run a remote gas can connected to the fuel pump (this will tell you if the fuel pump is still good, too) to see if it will start. Good luck on your journey and remember - BE PATIENT !!!!

Yeah, they are coming out in our canyon right now also. We have had 2 king snakes in the yard in the last 2 weeks. (unfortunately one of the dogs got one before I could relocate him) Neighbors are reporting the rattlers are starting to show up also. I have humane snake sticky traps out in all the areas where we have seen them in the past. Also have been really aggressive about reducing the local rodent population.

I went with the EMPI as I wanted a new carb. I did see the rebuilds but decided the other was better. Only real aggravation is getting to the adjustment screws. They are either under the back of the carb or behind another part of the carb that blocks access.

while the argument is not a flat out hatred for the 6v system...the hatred is in the fact many shopping LOCALLY for support parts find great issue here and thus the disgust. Second is the number of folks who are not content with the old system and it draw back for creature comforts. Many like their car styles as they appeal to them in this manner but the older mechanics limit their ability to use the car in the manner they wish. Many just like to make it an all out performance car...in any case they have their argument and you have yours. Many think it is a waste I spend the time I do on later model V engines and yet at the same time I see their attempt at speed components on an old flattie in the same light....WHY...! All in what yo want and how you like to spend your money. Most is for oohs and ahs as it is for the flathead speed stuff, the kid on the mini bike is not even going to take you seriously. As long as they don't have a brand X engine in them I can pretty much accept any and all other whimsical differences. Brand X and GALP just two things that don't belong on an old Mopar.....

Never understood the need to change from a generator to an alternator. I have four old cars all with generators. So it doesn't charge at idle.......big deal. I tend to have my cars do more than idle 98+% of the time as I am driving them. Yes, they sit at traffic lights and don't charge but your car will run off a battery alone for hours if you are not using fans, radios, lights, etc. Some of my generators have over 100,000 miles and work fine. I do keep an eye on brushes and play in them but generally speaking no problems. The world of cars ran on 6V and generators for decades and seemed to survive. I have no issue if someone wants to change to an alternator but I just don't see the need.

That's what would be called a land yacht. Just don't take it to sea!

Painted the firewall, inter fenders and all the little bits and reinstalled the engine and transmission

I learned Parts are not so readily available for a 315 poly as they are for a 230 flathead. I had the heads worked, mainly to replace the valve seals but since the aftermarket gasket is thicker, had them surfaced by the difference. In the process of assembling, I broke the rocker oiling studs and had to make new ones. You ever tried drilling length ways through a 3/8" bolt?

The fender skirts would not fit with the width of the rear, a brake drum appeared to be warped andThe speedometer was off, I did the math and figured 3.07 gears would correct the speedometer. So I found a 8.8 with the right width and 3.08 gears. The paint on the wheels was flaking off so I painted them. Tried to see if the wife would go for the no hubcap look but she liked the hubcaps.

You’re gonna fit in here real well. Welcome to the “I’d rather bust my butt all weekend rather than pay anyone a dime to lay a finger on my old Mopar” - car club. It’s a long name for a club, but there sure are lots of members here.

Rebuilt engine with good compression, good oil pressure and 1000 km since overhaul. I would give it another 1000 km of driving to properly "break -in" the engine and let rings properly seat in the cylinders. Will probably see a decrease in oil consumption as engine components wear in. Just my 2 cents. Regards

"Thomba48" - I have two conversion boxes left from my latest batch. You can contact me at "dennyodoms@gmail.com" To all you others that want to run the "Classic Tachometers (Sun, Stewart Warner, etc) that need controller boxes that are missing or in- operable, I have just finished an updated unit that will run these older "meter type" tachs on 6 volts, positive ground as well. This has been done before (as noted above), but for "$$$$$". My unit is projected to sell for less than $200. The price of the regular driver for "motor" tachs is still $120. Here is a link to a video of it running an a Merc flathead on my engine stand :