Art Bailey

I've got a bunch of posts, with helpful links, on my adventures in starter rebuilding. If you've got the time and inclination, it's worth doing...they're dead simple devices, over-engineered, and I'd imagine it'd take a lot of abuse before one can be completely destroyed. A Hollander book from around the year of your truck's manufacture is indispensable for finding out what parts cross reference.

Wow, Jonathan, that car is an absolute beauty! Living vicariously through your driving experience--I don't have a lot to do on mine to get it roadworthy, but life and responsibilities are unfortunately dragging things out. Regarding locks, I have two single keys. The older one works fine in the ignition and door, the other, only in the ignition, and not well. They appear identical, but they're not. I think whoever did the key cutting was not so good at it. Is your key a newer copy? Maybe the doors never got locked, and the ignition tumblers wore more than the door? It's not difficult to get the lock cylinders apart, and poke around with a micrometer, just don't lose the springs, or mix up the tumblers. I don't know if you have same or similar lock cylinders as my '48 DeSoto, but 1/4 turn to the right locks it, 1/4 to the left unlocks. Also, when the lock cylinders are removed, the square drive part that engages with the locking mechanism needs to be oriented correctly when they're reassembled. Maybe if someone replaced or messed around with the cylinders, they didn't put it back together correctly? I can't remember the details of getting it right, maybe someone else can chime in, but it took me a few tries to get it correct, taking it out, reorienting it and replacing it to get it to lock correctly. I gotta get me one of those visors!

They make cool little GPS locating devices now, but they have a pretty limited range, something like 250 feet. I also wonder how they'd react to being spun while stuck to the inside of a hubcap at highway speeds.

It's common to run 6v starters on 12v. I had a '52 Ford barnyard beater when I was a teen, I cranked the heck out of that thing on 12v for a couple years. It was the only good part left on the car. I can only guess from looking at pics, but that looks like mechanical damage, judging by the way the other wires to the right of the broken wire are pushed together and touching. Something got in there while it was spinning, is my guess. You might look for missing bolts around that area, see if anything is laying around inside the hole that you pulled the starter out of, inspect the flywheel gear, look for a missing hunk. You can pull the flywheel inspection cover off the bottom of the bell housing pretty easily, and have a wider view of the flywheel, and also have an opportunity to look for hunks of errant metal.

I'm wondering, too. I'd be looking around for likely causes...I'd have to imagine a bolt somewhere in the vicinity letting go and lodging itself in that area or something like that, and then someone cranked it over. Looks like some pretty violent activity went on in there.

That looks to be one of the heavy, rectangular shaped copper wires that you see fanned out around the armature, that has broken itself loose. That ain't good. I'd take it to an electric motor rebuild place and have them take a look. Hopefully it hasn't gouged the field windings.

I'm digging this car a lot. If I had space, I'd definitely pick up one of these clapped out 4 door sedans and have some fun with it. Keep us updated!

Those gloves in the corner of the pic are creepy...you should shut them in the hood of the DeSoto, or have them gripping the grille bars!

I found this one useful...it's an AC pump for a Triumph, but it's pretty similar to what I have on my DeSoto, and probably yours, too. Look for when he pre-loads the diaphragm when he's assembling it at the end...I missed that on the first reassembly, and couldn't figure out why my pump didn't pump. When you're hooking the fuel lines back up, if you use teflon tape on the threads, don't overtighten, because it's very easy to crack the castings.

Chromed pot metal. They're made in 4 sections, I've got a few of each, in conditions ranging from yuck to meh. They all seem to be fairly brittle, don't take a hit well, and have craters lurking under the plating. If I were building a frankenrod, I'd probably get the cheapest, ugliest grill I could find, sand it down, fill the pockmarks with bondo and paint it.

I think you're gonna have a tough time finding an entire 46-8 DeSoto grill that isn't somewhere between a cratered, pitted mess, and looking like an abused aluminum sauce pan. I know I have.

I think he's inventing catch phrases. He called the chrome doohickey on the rear quarter on a '53 Ford a "flying toaster" as if that's what everyone calls it. Maybe they do, I don't know. Whatever...I'll watch any video that pans slowly over 40s and 50s cars in a junkyard.

I know, I'm being ridiculous. I have no doubt that a ratchet stand has never, ever failed, but I can't keep from looking at them while I'm under the car and imagining my insides squeezed out like a tube of toothpaste.

Wow, never considered this. Gonna yank the battery cable from now on. Maybe I have an overactive imagination, but using ratchet release jack stands gives me the willies. I splurged on some pricey US made stands (can't remember the make, but if anyone's interested, I can go check) that have holes and at least 1.5" rod to hold them up. I'm determined to live long enough to be a burden to my children ?

If it were me, I'd want to know if the core measurements of whatever it is you have is the same as the original DeSoto rad, and if the tank capacities match up as well. If so, I'd just fab up some kind of extension brackets and use what you've got, at least until you get your hands on an original rad.

Hey Marc...I can't really get an accurate measurement on the rad with it in the car, but it's a little under 15" from the flat surface of the water pump to the rad cap, if that helps. Very roughly, it measures about 25" from the bottom tank to the peak of the top of the tank. Also, my rad is 972208. Could be a replacement from when it got whacked.

The prices for department store branded "vintage" battery chargers over on ebay are pretty obnoxious, and as noted, new ones for 6v are non-existent. Somehow, I stumbled onto one of these beasts... Eico Low Ripple Battery Eliminator and Charger, Model 1060. Keep your eyes peeled for one of these, they're pretty undesirable and cheap. I'm going to have to recap it, replace wires, etc., but it's a dead simple device, built like a tank, should be good to go. If not, I can use it as a jack stand.

I don't know how common it is for the harmonic balancer to get sitting crooked, but mine is, and I'm going to have to pull the rad for the 87.9th time to get at it, and send it out for rebuild. Might be a good idea to take a look at it and make sure it's spinning without wobble.

1) Those are soft rubber insulating washers. I made new ones out of bike inner tube. 2) I'd get that sucker a little cleaner. Hit it with CRC electrical parts cleaner and compressed air. Dirt is the enemy of electrons. 3) I'm no expert, but I wouldn't put any lube in there, I don't believe it's necessary since there's no real moving parts. I avoid using WD40 around electrical stuff. I notice you're missing a cork gasket that the cover presses against, which keeps it sealed, and dry and clean inside. That's why it's probably grungy in there, especially if oil from the filter has been dripping on it for years. You might want to get some very thin cork or foam rubber gasket material, and make a new one. It should fill up the indented area in your third pic. 4) I made sure the plunger and cylinder on mine was scrupulously clean, using brake cleaner and scotchbrite on the piston, and lubed it a little with dielectric grease, though I'm not sure it's necessary. I was careful not to get solvent in the hole, to keep it away from the enamel insulation on any windings I couldn't see. I cleaned the cylinder out with solvent on a rag, and compressed air. There's a tapered rubber boot that's supposed to go over it. As far as I know, there's no replacement, so I tried using one from a Chevy starter. It ripped to pieces pretty quickly because it wasn't long enough. You're going to have to hunt for one meant for another purpose, or make one. With no boot, dirt will mix with grease and make grinding paste.

Great tech write-up, thanks for doing this!

I love this car, Keith! I'd guess that kids in their 20s almost never see anything this old riding around. I'm 50, and it wasn't too unusual to see 30s cars still in use when I was a kid. Plus, your '38 looks so friendly and approachable, like a big Irish Setter. Today's cars look so irritated and angry...that red jeep parked in back of you looks like it has a perpetual sinus headache.

Mouser.com should have what you need.

Nice starting point! I wouldn't worry about who you're pissing off, I for one am always super impressed with hot rodding ingenuity. I'm really interested to see how this turns out!

Better than the kitchen table, if you have one of those steel mesh backyard patio tables that you stick the umbrella in, the crud gets forced through the holes when you hose down whatever you're cleaning. If the table's big enough, there's a better chance your wife won't catch you as she chases you around it. Seriously, though, I've never regretted the money spent on my Black and Decker Workmate, an old one with the cast aluminum base. That thing is the Swiss army knife of benches...it's a bench, a vise, a step stool. Just don't use it as a step stool if you plunked a big hunk of plywood on it, and then try to step on the part hanging out in midair.

I'm no expert on anything. But, I rebuilt two different EV2s a total of at least 7 times. My engine still runs like crap. I'm about to rebuild a 3rd, much better preserved carb, with a kit from thecarburetorshop.com. His kit is the best I've seen, expensive, but worth it. He includes a bunch of things others don't, including a new jet screw and spring, and new balls. This time, I'm also going to replace the main jet. I bought it, and the correct tool for removal and replacement, from him. Couple other things. I have 4 bases, and they all are worn badly around the throttle shaft, which will cause a vacuum leak. I'd check that out. I rebushed mine. Also, every air horn/cover thing I have is very warped. Rocks back and forth. The gentleman at carburetorshop.com told me they ALL are warped. His solution is to take two c clamps, slowly and gently bring the clamp down on the corners of the air horn to the carb itself, taking no more than .003 out of the warpage. Toss it in a toaster oven for 5 minutes. Release it from the clamps, see if it's improved. Keep going until it's flat. I have not tried this myself, and plan to proceed with extreme caution. But, I like this idea a lot more than sanding off material.