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Wanted to post some thanks for everyone on the forum who attended the 2022 picnic. Really amazing turnout, fantastic touring, great camaraderie, and just lots of fun. I will be creating a web page next week for all of the photos and will post the link here soon. Much appreciation to all, Mark D

I hope the leak has been resolved, if so this will be the least expensive part I've installed on the P15. ? Turns out a brand new Lincoln penny is a great fit in the countershaft recess. I buttered the recess with JB Weld, inserted the penny and sealed the outside. We'll know after the new release bearing arrives and the trans in installed if this solves the leak but I think it will. If the countershaft ever needs to be removed a hole can be drilled in the penny so a drift can be inserted to drive out the shaft.

I love my 6v positive ground alternator.?

After a lot of discussion we decided to not use the 1947 Desoto Suburban for our cross country retirement travels. The big issue is that we now live in an age where: 1. People just have no patience on the freeways and in the mountains for slow 1940's cars. 2. No trunk. We are seeing more and more reports of people with cars, both classic and not, getting broken into by bashing the windows to get to things in sight. The 1947 Desoto Suburban does not have a trunk. We do not want to worry about someone looking in and deciding to break a window to get to things while we are in some diner someplace. By dumb luck we ran across last week an 88 year old man that had a few cars. He cannot drive any more. One of the cars was a 1964 Chrysler 300K hardtop. It was his mothers that she purchased new in the fall of 1963. FACTORY paint still on it. The sheet metal unibody is perfect. A couple of small dings here and there but where it counts the metal is just fantastic. The car has a documented 98K miles on it. Now you have to understand that my mom and dad, in addition to the 1949 Desoto that a got back and restored, purchased a 1964 Chrysler 300K in the fall of 1963 as well. I restored that car as well a convertible. I sold them both in the late 1990's. I regret to this day selling the hardtop. Neither of the 300K's would fit into the garage space here in San Francisco at the time. So, we are going to rebuild a stock 265 for the big Desoto and not do all the fancy modification I was contemplating. We will use it for spring and fall cool weather trips in Northern California for fishing and the like. The 1964 Chrysler will be completely rebuild for cross country trips. James

I bought a lightly used longbed, 4dr 2012 Tacoma pickup in 2016. 32k on it & I paid $33k cash. With tax and 13 mos license. So far I have changed battery, brake pads, rotors and tires, oil and filters. I put my used bed cover on it from the old truck which got smashed. I put airbags and an anti-sway bar on the back axle, and premium shock absorbers all the way around. Those were also from the smashed truck. I also put better front springs on it and shimmed up the rear springs. I changed all the ball joints and tie rod ends myself, because I can. Also the wheelbearings which were expensive. I think the bearing design on these trucks could be better. Anyhow I have good spares now for most of those parts, because only two of the tie rod ends were getting worn. and one ball joint was loose. Everything else is serviceable. Except for the tires and genuine Toyota brake parts, None of those things were desperately needed. I just wanted the truck to be Tip-Top, and I had the money and time to do it. I might’ve spent $100 on new tools. It now has 52,000 miles on it. I’m going for my third smog inspection next month. That’s about $50 each time. I changed the differential oil one time. I’ve had it in for alignment three times. I keep changing the shocks, springs, etc looking for better handling. (It was the sway bar and the spring shims that made all the difference.) Nothing has gone wrong otherwise. So I’ve spent about $38,000 including tax, lic, insurance and gasoline. And my labor. That means if it disintegrated today my total cost of ownership would be $6166/year. My labor not included. But on the basis of mileage, it would be a horrific $1.90+ per mile. This truck is still so nice, and prices have gone up so high, that I think I could sell it for $30,000 today. That brings it down to a more reasonable $.40 per mile or $1334/yr. (plus my labor)

Some of the conversations are fun. This morning I took my Chrysler to the grocery store for the weekly refill. A friendly older lady approached to voice her approval of my car. “Is it a Studebaker?”, she said. I smiled and told her no. She praised the car and said “I guess you had to install seatbelts?” I replied “I don’t HAVE to install them. A stunned, confused look appeared on her face. “What do you mean, you don’t have to?”. I told her if the car did not originally come with seat belts, you don’t HAVE to install them. She paused and asked, “Don’t you want them?” I replied “Well, not really. I do wear one if I am leaving town on a hiway. Although I’m not convinced it would do anything to save my life.” I went on about how safety was far down a list, if at all in 1938. There was laminated glass in the car and that was about all the safety improvements I could think of. If someone hits me at 30 mph or less in town where I travel 95% of the time, I’ll likely be alright. Above 30 mph, I put the seatbelt on. Yet, I won’t be alright if someome hits me. “Its just some of the risks we take to drive these old cars” I told her. She was surprised. A trunk shot after I put a few items in that massive cavity.

the line-up.. proof that i made it...

soon joined by the pic-nic crowd.... and the tail end....

Hickory: Glad tohear that you now can drive the 29 Desoto. Also glad that it runs well at 45mph and you were able to get the car upto 55 mph. The best that I can say is keep driving the car and you will find the seet spot for the mph rate. I drive my 39 desoto around the 50-53 mph. I drove my 39 from valley forge to altoona for the NDC car show and tookthe Pa turnpike all the way out and back averaged around 16-18 mpg. The faster that you are going you still have to remember that you are now driving 90+ year old car and that the stopping and braking distance is now greater and sloer than your modern car. So when driving the 29 you have to be more aware of the driving conditions, road conditions and traffic. My point that I use is if I see a traffic light inthe distance and it is red i slow down so as to try to time the light going to green. If the light is green while approaching the light and I see alot of traffic on the ohtger lane than I feel as if the light has basically just turned green and I will get throught the greenlight, but if there is little traafic coming towards me than I anticiate that the light might turn to yellow and then red so I get prepared to stop. On my rear licesen plate I have several bicycle red flashing light that work on battery power. These are bright evenin the daytime and I have also placed runner plastic refelective band around my bummper. These are not held on with glue but are a plastic band that is spring loaded and wraps around the bumper just like it can wrap around a runners arm or ankle. I have these in all my cars for safety issue in case we break down at night so that an on coming car would see the refelctive color. Would also suggest that you install a 6 volt rear windo 3rd brake light. These have turn signal capabilites along with four way and stop light. Most people look for the 3rd light now that they are standard in all modern cars. Basically saying to be safe and make the car visible at all times. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

These cars are why they built the blue roads. Find them, drive them, enjoy. Find us Rt 20 or US 11 or 15 take a long weekend. See America.

Ha! Yes not going to meet my goal of getting it on the road before my 50th next month. A baby and wife not working to care for our daughter has slowed me down a bit.

Yes I agree that keeping the car original has its appeal. So as many of you have read that I drove my stock 1939 Desoto from valley forge Pa to Altoona Pa to attend the National desoto clubs car show and convention back in June. I drove the car on the Pa Turnpike the posted speed limit goes from 55-70 MPH. I drove the 39 at the average speed of 50-53 and stayed inthe right lane. I had blinker lights like what would be used on a bicycle attached to the my license plate and also reflective plastic strips over the rear bumpers. We drove a total of 550 miles. I would like to say that i did not have any issues with truckers or other car. They all gave me plenty of room and no one was on my butt going each direction. On my way home i even had a tractor Trailor stay behind me all the way from Harrisburg Pa to valley forge for an approx distance of 75 mile and acted as a buffer to my car. When he went around me I waved a big thank you to him and he replied with a pull on his air horn. So yes you can still travel with these older cars but you also have the responsibility to be aware of your surroundings and to give the other guys the room they also require. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

My other car is a 65 Cuda with power nothing. Does have factory AC though.

i drive mine. sorry to hear people are afraid to drive theirs. i am going to try to do a long 5 or 6 day trip this fall to penn. from N.C.. I WILL DO MORE BACK ROADS, BUT 95 is not out of the question if needeed. it is a car, drive it. capt den

Well guys it’s been far longer than I expected to test drive this project but it finally happened yesterday! I’m excited to report the rack and pinion and all the mods paid off hugely! 2-1/2 turns lock to lock effortlessly and factory spec turning radius. A quick rip down the not-so-smooth road by my house produced zero bump steer! I’m very happy with things so far. Still have much to finish on the project as a whole. Some exterior trim, some interior pieces, etc. but overall I’m stoked about driving it soon for some summer fun.

I cut the factory draft tube off, turned it upside down, added an o-ring between it and the block, 1 grommet and pcv valve. Easy and it works well. Adam

Go to the downloads section of this web page (located at the top of this page) and read the factory PVC section.