Art Bailey

This is gold...this goes right into my ever growing DeSoto file. Thanks so much, James.

This is a great idea. I don't know if mine are OEM, but they're OLD, and since my car has been off the road the better part of 55 years, there's a good chance they're a closer match to what should be on there than anything currently available, and might even have some part numbers on them.

Hi James, why did you choose the KG5473 instead of the Monroe 31000?

Cool. Did you mount it to the firewall? I ended up ordering the Four Seasons Sniper recommended, we'll see how it works out. The ebay valve I picked up, the ports are too small to thread either male or female. I could braze a nipple to it, but that's going to have to wait until I learn how to braze ?. The heater cores and rad (and gas tank) are at the radiator shop, I'll post pics of my fine handiwork when it's finished. -Art

I've got a bunch of meters for different purposes. I do some electronics repair and scratch building, so I have a nice Fluke, and a huge, old VTVOM. For the garage, I have a Mac tach-dwell-volt-ohm meter. Meters for car repair are cheap and plentiful on ebay, and I won't mind so much if it takes a dive off the fender. I prefer reading a big, analog meter in some situations, where accuracy to three places isn't important. You might take a crack at fixing your old meter, you can learn a lot by digging into one of these simple devices, and if it doesn't work out, nothing lost.

Looks exciting! How did you get the body off the chassis, floor jack? This is in my future. James Douglas' point about replacing that rear cross member is a good one...when removing the gas tank on my '48, I was surprised at how flimsy it is, and noticed that it took a hit at some point.

Darn, your post didn't come up when I googled. I also see this topic has come up many times...sorry, folks. Is it the http://www.dacoglu.com/cooling.htm you link to? They appear to be defunct. Too bad, it would've been nice to have a stainless valve. Man, I like the way you re-routed the tubing---the way they did it originally is kind of goofy. Are those solid tubes custom made?

Great ideas. I just did a quick search on ebay for "dodge heater valve" and came up with a load of different things that could work. Hoping to get it right the first time, so I don't end up spending $400 to save $300 ?

Young Ed posted a pic of an engine compartment, and you could see this unit in place, at the back of the engine, threaded into the head. So I guess it's a Mopar part, made to replace the rather flimsy looking valve that was originally in there. If this valve works, I'm going to have to come up with or make the little metal flap that holds the cable housing in place, and also form a coil on the end of the cable. The outlet wall looks pretty thick, I think it'd take threads nicely.

Here's the valve I bought on ebay. It's very similar to the replacement part that's now sold, except that there's a threaded nipple in place of the 45 deg. elbow that's on this one. It's hidden in this pic, but there's an outlet port. I'm hoping there's enough steel on mine to be able to cut off the elbow, thread it with a pipe tap, and thread in a nipple...we'll see. I don't know if the heat from welding would destroy the valve, but that could work, too. Assuming that this part is actually functional, and not just clean.

Here's the remote heater water valve. Threaded nipple attaches to head, the two outlets connect to the two heater core inlets, and it's controlled by a cable inside the cabin. Here's what it looks like with the cover off. Here is where it should attach, where the pipe tee is. I'd just like to verify that it's a simple on-off valve, and see if anyone has ever come up with a replacement for it with universal, off the shelf components.

Hey Folks, Finally figured out that what I thought was a dangling choke cable on my '48 DeSoto, once hooked up to another fried-looking mystery part I found in the trunk, which was the heater water valve for the Comfort Master No. 53 dual heater. Someone replaced it with a standard looking plumbing tee, so now it's heat all the time. Not a problem now, since it's not moving much these days, but it will be, hopefully soon. This is the doohickey in question: I'm assuming this valve is just a simple on-off valve? Have any of you found any off the shelf parts that can work here? $300 for the repro part is a little...steep. I just grabbed something on ebay that looks similar the ones being sold, but it's a little different, no threaded nipple to attach to the head. I can probably modify it and make it work, but just wondering if anyone's come up with other solutions. Thanks, Art

I left the right hand stud until last, and it dawned on me then that I should've done what you described. Damned if I was taking it all apart again ?. I can't leave it like that, though...I'll be back at it again, next time I'm under there, which will be soon.

Finally got this thing buttoned up. Thought I'd leave pics for reference, in case anyone else finds themselves parts hunting... 960064 clutch housing shield 667515 and 667516 clutch housing pan brackets, and a clutch housing pan, both from a '49 Dodge. Ugly zinc plated hardware will get painted, someday. There's still a mystery hole, in the middle top 1/4 of the photo... Getting this back together wasn't easy. Two bolt holes on the clutch pan were located in a space just big enough to jam a finger in--I had to slide the pan into that space with the bolts "glued" in the holes with marine grease, then spin them with both index fingers on either hand. Pretty obvious why some mechanic said "&*%$ it" at some point in the distant past. I also had to leave out one of the two large rear studs, near the transmission, and one of the screws that wouldn't clear a bulging trans mount. It wasn't possible to push the pan in with the studs threaded into it already. It was designed to be assembled with the trans and engine out of the car, I suppose. It's pretty over-engineered, and between the cast iron brackets and remaining screws, I'm not worried about it coming off. Thanks, Dodgeb4ya, for all your help! -Art

$1500 for dimply things on the sides of my tires...that'll make you reconsider how cool you want to look ?.

I find the tire size thing confusing. The 1947 DeSoto owner's manual states that the standard tire size for short wheelbase vehicles is 6.50 x 15. One online source says 7.00 x 15, another says 7.60 x 15. Shop manual says 6.50 for early S-11, 7.60 for late. Is it logical to assume that the car will accept a range of tire sizes, and what's the last word on tire size? Right now, I've got 215/70R/15s on the stock rims. It's kind of a bummer to come to the conclusion that if you really want to do some driving, radials are the way to go...bias plys look so cool.

I've got two DeSoto shop manuals and a Motor's. The '48 edition says .025, the '50 says .030, and Motor's says .025. It's easy enough to regap and see if it helps, I guess.

Thanks! Yeah, it may be too soon to ask questions about smoke color, I don't think I even got it up to full running temp without it stalling. Does it look white? When you say antifreeze leak, you don't mean "cracked block", I hope ?? It looked like normal, grey exhaust to me. I'd go with moisture being expelled. When I pulled the pan, there was no glycol or water in it, and until the rad blew, it was staying full. The liquid out of the tailpipe was clear looking water, but more than I'm used to seeing, and the fluid in the rad was glycol green. My new oil still looks fresh on the dipstick. I didn't replace the points or condenser, they looked good (famous last words). I have a set, I'll throw them in. One of the reasons I didn't put the parts in is the reason you mention, I've read bad things about new parts, and it kind of ran when I got it--I didn't want to introduce new problems. I may have gapped the plugs at .030, which is too much. Old lawn mower mechanic habit. I'm leaning toward vacuum advance and timing, which I haven't checked. Pulling the distributor and making sure everything moves free probably wouldn't hurt. I'm not going to start it again until I deal with the oil leak at the oil filter, check the oil pressure relief valve, and fix the cooling system. I'm going to take the opportunity to replace the water distribution tube with the rad out, and see how many new combinations of cuss words I can come up with. -Art

Yeah, me too...I did literally thousands of carbs in my dad's small engine shop, just by dunking them in a can of LEADED gasoline (the lead levels in my blood must be off the charts...never used gloves, and we also washed our hands with it), and blasting with compressed air. Could've been the length of time, I'm not sure. I got pretty excited about zapping the crud off with my cool machine, I let the parts sit in there for a couple hours, at least. Learned my lesson.

Nice, Mark! Looks to be the same color as mine, though my color doesn't match the code on the plate.

Hey Folks, I've been hard at work since I last checked in here...if you enjoy stories and videos about middle aged guys goofing around with old cars, read on. Today was a mostly good day. Short version: my '48 DeSoto (not '47, as I was told) moved its own carcass out of the garage. Play-by-play provided by my very patient wife. This is kind of where the fun stopped. More on that soon. Leading up to this awesome achievement, I rewired the starting circuit, the ammeter, ran fresh wires to the transmission relays, and disconnected everything else, so as not to set my car and garage on fire. New plugs, wires, battery cables, and battery. I rebuild the carburetor--or more accurately, two carburetors. I reset the float several times before getting it right, so it didn't flood the intake with gas, and leak out the throttle shaft onto the manifold and everywhere else. I discovered that you absolutely shouldn't put these BB carbs in an ultrasonic cleaner using Simple Green and water, because, as it's clearly stated in the Chrysler repair pamphlet that I didn't read before rebuilding, BB carbs exposed to water will oxidize rapidly, creating "oatmeal like" crud that covers everything and is impossible to stop. Oops. Good thing I had a second carb to rebuild. I learned that teflon tape is good for sealing up gas line threads. I rebuilt the fuel pump once, then discovered that I hadn't engaged the pump lever while tightening the screws as I was supposed to do, so it wasn't doing its pumping thing. I learned that you can completely destroy the fuel pump casting by overtightening the fuel line connector. Thankfully, I also had a spare, rebuildable fuel pump. I think I had the fuel pump off and on 6 times. Finally, after some weeks, I ended up with a carb and fuel pump that didn't leak fuel all over the exhaust manifold, garage floor, or dump raw gas into the intake. Still, it wouldn't start After lots of hair pulling and forehead smacking, it turned out to be a spark plug wire not fully pushed into the distributor cap. This leads us to the short victory lap up the driveway. Couple questions: I noticed a lot of water coming out of the tailpipe, and as you can see, a good amount of grey smoke. Is this normal for these engines? It was at least 34 degrees F, don't know if that has anything to do with it. It idles pretty nicely. But, as you can see here, it stalls when you open the throttle. I remembered later that I have the accelerator pump linkage in the middle hole, rather than the outside hole for winter, don't know if that might have something to do with it. I still haven't dealt with timing. I've also got generic NAPA wires on it, that have a resistor symbol on them, don't know if that would effect much or not. And then the fun stuff. Radiator became incontinent, so I had to quickly drain the whole system before it all ended up on my driveway...really should've anticipated that. One of the lines from the oil filter is leaking a lot, at the brass connection to the engine block. Finally, I couldn't keep the damn thing running without stalling, so when the front tires hit the half-inch bump of the cement garage pad, it would quit. Snow and rain is coming tomorrow, it's getting dark, and I have half my car sticking out of the garage. I discovered that I'm strong enough to push a '48 DeSoto into my garage by myself. I guess that was fun...? Seriously though, I'm learning a ton, and I can't thank you all enough for the advice you've all given me. That's all for now...

https://www.carburetor-blog.com/knowledge-base/carter-bb-1-barrel-troubleshooting/ https://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Service_Carter_BB_downdraft_issues.pdf

I'm dealing with a leaky BB carb that I'm rebuilding for the second time. I haven't sorted it out yet, but I'm pretty sure it's related to float level height. If you do go to rebuild, you may think, like I did, that the float retainer clip provided in the kit is too tall and the wrong one for your carb, because it sticks up above the top edge of the bowl line. It's not. It's supposed to get crushed down by the top piece, and secure the float in place, otherwise the float will rise too much and not shut off. Don't start snipping it down to fit. Like I did.

Shiny, black, hard stuff that dissolved (softened is a better word) in lacquer thinner. Could barely chip it off with an old wood chisel. I don't think it was Indian Head shellac, which if I remember correctly, dries to more of a dark brownish color. Never removed and cleaned out an oil pan before...add that to my personal list of unpleasant jobs to avoid ? Glad I did it, though...I was able to see the condition of the engine and feel a little more confident that the last owner told me the truth about it. Very little wear on the camshaft, and I could still see a crosshatch pattern on the cylinder walls, overall pretty darn clean, hardly any sludge at all, except at the bottom of the pan. And, I found a 10-32 nut that someone dropped in during an oil change a million years ago. Hoping and praying I didn't botch the job of putting in the new gasket.

Dodgeb4ya, thanks---above and beyond the call of duty. It really would've been a big PITA to figure out what I was missing, without your help--- I feel confident now to buy a set of long brackets. I've got a good clutch housing, and a dust cover on the way. Hopefully, this is the last of the missing stuff on my car, though I'm sure it won't be! Art