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G'day All, This is my 1955 DeSoto Diplomat Regent. I bought it recently and got a Roadworthy Certificate yesterday morning, and got Club Permit plates in the afternoon. Previous owners have thrown a lot of money at it and all I had to do was replace a defective hydraulic brake light switch. It is a SP25-3 with a 250.6 cu in motor (3 7/16 x 4 1/2) and 3 speed with O/drive. The carby is off a Falcon with aftermarket air cleaner. Electric fuel pump next to tank. It has been repainted at some time and the engine fully recoed. Recently the head has been shaved .050". Now to drive the wheels off it.

Howdy CO Yep I’m good. Last year I was cranking on the truck build so hard it was a little much but I knew it was such a big project that it wouldn’t get done if I didn’t get a little obsessed. Now that it’s more of a hot loud gas guzzling daily driver I have just been mostly enjoying it! I do still check in here a couple times a week to read some ‘car stories’, learn some stuff, have a laugh, and once in a while help somebody out with some misguided advice. Last thing I did on the truck was the passenger side ‘stage 8’ locking collector bolts. The passenger downpipe had lost all 3 nuts and started falling off and leaking badly twice. I didn’t do the driver side because it hadn’t been self-loosening- yet! I took my mom for a ride last week. She loved the interior and the fuel injected reliability but was terrified and actually screaming after a quick half throttle holeshot up to about 30 mph from a slow roll. It was hilarious but I’m not a sadist so I didn’t mat the gas and bang second at redline- just cruised around a little more and went home. When I cranked up to take her out I noticed a new rattly sound so I hadn’t been driving it this week till I had time to check it out. Yup it was the driver’s side collector. One out of three collector nuts had backed off and vibrated all the way off, leaving just the bolt. I replaced that one with a fancy locking bolt at the cost of much forearm cramping, cursing, and a bunch of skin rubbed off my first thumb knuckle. Man who decided to put a big block in this tiny engine bay ? Sooner or later I’ll have to do the last two fancy locking bolts on the driver’s collector. I’m going to wait until the skin grows back on my hand that I rubbed of doing the first one. The Driver’s side has the O2 sensor in it that runs the EFI computer so I can’t have it leaking. Which reminds me- once you have a good tune in your holley self learning fuel map it’s possible to set/limit the AFR correction to a small amount. That way you can still have it correct for altitude temperature and and humidity but not go totally haywire if a sensor goes bad. I should probably do that soon. I have about 400 miles on it so far. Next up is replacing the dakota steering rack, pump, lines, and tie rods, along with a trip to re-set the toe afterward. It’s pretty much the only Dak part I didn’t replace (re-used the denso alternator too knock wood) and now it’s leaking. Parts are super cheap so I’m just gonna do all new. My buddy is a chevy dealership mechanic so he’s gonna throw the parts on and re-align at work. It’s only a few bolts and hoses but with a rack and a lift it’s a cake job and he wants to barter for a tattoo. Other than that I have a nuisance vibration in the dashboard just off idle and I think I want to back off the aggressiveness on my shock settings some. Also my headlights are aimed too low and the driver’s side sealed beam has a droopy bulb inside that is a little dim and doesn’t hit the reflectors right to throw a good pattern. So I’ll swap em both soon. The amount of rain that comes in is still significant but much better and I am confident all the metal is sealed up really well so it’s also just a nuisance I can deal with until I decide to get crazy and do a new windshield. Oh and my fuel lift pump hangs way too low out back- I gotta raise the mount by 4-5” and make a new hard line to the surge tank. Just like everything else it’s ok for now. I’m really enjoying the fall weather- in the 70°s or even low 80°s the truck runs nice and cool instead of the mid 190°s it runs in summer rush hour. I’ve also turned some of my attention to getting my ‘73 swinger back on the road from paint shop purgatory (free extended storage at the lazy painter/buddy’s garage waiting on him). So there’s a nice big chunk of mopar rambling! I hope everybody is also enjoying the fall weather and burning some gas! Radar

Had a nice hour long drive around central MN this evening. Haven’t been able to take Myrtle out since Sunday with all the rain! Ran great and got a couple of waves. I also upgraded the door hardware.

Did the deal on this one today. 1938 P6. Great known history. Solid car. Original interior. D24 engine installed but comes with original P6 engine needing rebuild. Lots of spare parts! Good runner. Test drove it. Looking forward to getting into this car. No plans other than make it reliable, road worthy and safe. Picked up in Victoria BC Canada. I will trailer it home next Saturday.

Finally replaced the temporary coolant recovery tank with what I wanted. Since the car never came with a recovery tank, I wanted something unique. I swapped out the radiator cap that came with the radiator for a 7psi cap. With 50/50 antifreeze, I should be good to 240 degrees.

I have a 2500 psi gas powered one that we use several times a year. I have yet to use it on any of our cars, but will try it out on the Terraplane's frame come spring, I wouldn't use it on a good painted surface. I have to clean Mother Nature's attempts to reclaim my trailers at least once a year, generally mid summer to get the remains of fall leaves, spring seeds, seedlings, hornets' nests, and such out of the cracks and gaps. I have to use it on the roof of the shop every other year to get the lichens off to extend the life of the shingles, and every other year on the deck before I paint it. I use it every spring to clean the garage floor, to get all the winter dirt and salt off the floor and out of the garage. I also need it to clean the exterior of our house, which turns green if you don't keep it clean. We didn't "need" a power washer until we moved to Maine and found the need to wash Maine off of stuff so it would last longer, or at least look like it's lasting longer. I have heard of folks having issues with the pumps if they don't use them on a regular basis, especially if you have hard water.

No. Best I can tell.....there are six digits after the "P15-" Looks like my Body Number on the firewall has 7 digits.

76 and still playing with cars

You must be in Montana by now. We took a 9,000 mile trip three years ago. One tip, stop whenever you see something interesting. Thiose quick stops do not add to the length of the trip and you don’t get road weary. Sure wish we were 200 yards behind you.

Andy, it is a single barrel carby, but I do have a XF Weber 2 barrel with electric choke on the shelf. The one on Ebay was a Dodge similar colour. He has listed it twice and both times has ended the auction early. He wouldn't let me see it as he was sick of the attention it drew. Close to me as well. I bought the DeSoto from Ballarat, and drove it 200km home. Ran great.

Who let the Kalifornian into my state, much less my house?

My sheetmetal parts are finished and it's time to put it together. I ran into a problem with the engine, so it's back at the machine shop for now. I should be getting the engine back from the shop in a couple of weeks. After the engine goes in, the cab and doors go on.

Everything ok? Haven't seen an update in awhile.....

Hey easy on the plumbers!

I used to be able to do a burn out with my moms ford pinto!! It’s all in the rolling backwards fast enough before dropping it into forward then riding the brakes.

I put the bed together yesterday. The fenders aren't fully bolted on yet. I still need to add the fender welting.

Fall of '17, Lathrup Village MI Sixty-eight years later, Walt's '49 D-24 Deluxe Three-Passenger Coupe.

Some views from todays Sunday drive in the country, with my daughter laying on the back seat so she could watch the clouds go by through the back window...

"Gentlemen, my warmest personal regards to you all. Even tho’ we haven’t met in person, hopefully someday we can. Until that time, I still feel privileged to address you as “Friend”. Thx." My thoughts exactly... Thank you for your kind sentiments. Here's another new from the old Dodge. This is what it looks like from inside after I pull into the garage...