Art Bailey

You mean twist, pulling out the vinyl welt? Forgive me, I've never even had a fender off of one of these cars, so I'm totally green. How do you go about getting the welt formed to the desired shape? I'd imagine the way to go would be to maybe get the welt pinned at the farthest corner, with a bolt, and slowly work your way around the curve, bolting down and forming as you go, maybe pulling the welt down inside the fender once you get a little lateral pressure on it.

That's cheap! Thanks for the tip, Bob. Any tricks to forming this stuff without crushing or kinking it?

Hey All, I found these at thecj2a.com site. I tried to do due diligence and ask permission, but the person who scanned them hasn't been active there in years, and his own personal site has no way to reach him. Anyhow, I'm finding them enormously helpful in my starter rebuild, hopefully others will find them useful, too. Unfortunately, they're too big to store on this site, so I put them up at Internet Archive... https://archive.org/details/auto-lite-maintenance-and-operation-manual Note that there's only 5 of 9 chapters. They include chapters on charging, horn, ignition, starter, and instrument panel.

Woodies are so cool. I vaguely remember reading some shop literature or owner's manual that it was expected that the owner would re-varnish or shellac it at least once a year...no way that was ever going to happen. Have you ever seen any DIY woodies? I wonder how possible it would be to recreate one in the shop, using a damaged sedan as a base.

This sticker is on my vent window, a relic of the previous owner's days at Dear Old F.U.

Many thanks, Rich, I grabbed it. Don't know why it wouldn't come up for me in an ebay search. However, like a man driven to climb Everest, I am still on a mission to rebuild the other commutator end, which, by God, I will do. It'll be good to have the other as a spare.

Cool. I would've been looking in vain for the socket that fits the outside edge of the bushing exactly. No hammering, though, right?

Thanks for saving me from myself by convincing me not to rip out the welded thrust washer. Wrenching is fun, unnecessary wrenching to fix self-created problems, not so much.

I plan on replacing it with an oilite bushing, but I have to admit I don't know anything other than the most basic info about oilite bushings. Did some quick research... An Oil Filled/Sintered Bronze Bearing with a 3/4" diameter and 1-1/4" in diameter and 1-1/8" long was run at 1800 RPM for a total of 1,321,920,000 revolutions without exhibiting wear or scoring of the shaft. Wow. I'd say we're good to go. -Art

Success. All I had to do was slightly enlarge the hole with a dremel grinder. With the tap threaded in the bushing, it was easy to see which side was closer to the edge. It twisted right out with the tap. Rich, unfortunately all I'm seeing on ebay are generator end covers. You make a good point, though, about not being able to oil this. I haven't looked closely yet, but hopefully there's enough material in the cover to hold threads, and I can thread in an oil cup, like what's on the generator.

Hey All, Thanks for all the responses. It's not apparent in the photo, but the spot welded, stamped steel thrust washer isn't retaining the bushing. My guess is that since this was considered a disposable item, as Rich has said, it wasn't made, or mounted, with close tolerances in mind. It was welded on slightly off center, so part of the edge isn't allowing the bushing to be pulled. Looking at both photos I posted, if you were to draw a line from the "U" shaped notch at one corner of the cover, bisecting the bushing, you'll see that the washer covers part of the edge of the bushing in that area, on the side opposite the notch. I was able to pull the bushing up to the point that it touches the edge of the thrust washer. I don't believe the bushing spread during threading. It was already a press fit, if it had spread, it wouldn't have pulled at all, or maybe even cracked the housing it's pressed into. I'll hunt down the NOS cover that Rich mentioned on ebay, but I'd like to take a crack at rebuilding this one, just because. I'll post the results...

Good call, I may do this...thanks. Sometimes I have to be reminded to keep it simple.

Next project: get my wayback machine inspected and plated ? Interesting...the Desoto parts book shows that there used to be a bunch of washers in there. 8-52-121: Leather washer, bunch of fibre shims, and unknown washer at the "pinion end", is that the cover end? So, at some point, they made the throwaway cover, but it's a safe bet that I could remove the built in washer and replace it with carefully chosen loose washers and spacers. A teflon washer might be a better modern choice.

Here's where I'm at. I decided to tap the bushing. M18 1.5 was the closest thing I had. It would've worked perfectly, but there's a spot welded flat washer type thing, not really centered carefully, that's preventing the bushing from coming out any further. My plan is to dremel/drill/grind the spot welds, and remove that thing, maybe replace it with some washers and brass shims, or just put it back. Is there anything more specific I should be considering, like washer material, type, etc? What's in there is pretty lo-tech, so I guess it's not that critical. No turning back now...

Great ideas, guys! Thanks. I really couldn't imagine how this could be done, but the great thing about ancient technology is that whatever problem you have, someone's come up with a solution at some point. I think dpollo's tap idea might work best for this situation, but I may have to either up my tap game and get some better taps (the kind that don't break), or switch to a bolt when it's time to pull. I'll post the results soon. Cheers, all!

Brilliant! Not sure if I could generate enough pressure with just my bench vise, though. Also, there's just a hairline crevise at the bottom, where the bushing meets the bottom, I wonder if there's enough space down there to get it going?

Hey All, This is the rear cover from the Autolite starter on my '48 Desoto. I'd like to remove and replace the Oilite bushing, but I can't see a way to get it out. Sealed up tight. There's no apparent gap between the bushing and cover to grab it. Any suggestions? I know...take it to a shop. Thanks... -Art

It's kind of a party trick, like doing a Rubik's Cube behind your back. Maybe not that hard, but you just need to fiddle with it, and you'll finally figure out the combination. I was this close to chucking it across the room, when I finally got it to pop loose. It helps to visualize the hook sitting in the slot in the rod. When you get it out, you'll see that the rod has a long, oval shaped hole, so kind of push up on the rod, and move it away from the lever. Remove the lever spring before you attempt this, if you haven't already. Take heart, reassembly sucks even worse. ?

You may, but I really don't like bashing on things where it's not necessary, especially on hard to source things like the countersink pole shoe screws, the motor casting, or the pole shoes themselves. The Motor's manual explicitly says not to do this. Last night I got all four pole screws out of my starter with no sweat, and they're completely reusable.

Then and Now has a helpful reassembly video: I had no idea that you were supposed to assemble the body with the lever held down, and then couldn't figure out why it wouldn't pump. You may know this already, but be careful putting teflon tape on the threaded fuel line nipples upon reassembly. If you overtighten, you can easily split the casting.

Thanks! I enjoyed your DIY wheel alignment post. After researching the process a bit some months back, I knew it must be possible to cobble together an alignment kit---lots of food for thought in your post.

Hey All, I'm in the process of rebuilding my generator and starting motor, and quickly discovered how freaking tight the pole screws are in there, how round and unwieldy the motors are, and how easy it is to mangle the screw slots, no matter how careful I am. Motor's manual shows one of these neat devices: I'm sure one or more of you guys has a crate full of them. But for the rest of us... Two hunks of 4x4 lumber, all thread, nuts and washers, Harbor Freight 1/2 drive impact socket, 1/2 extension, breaker bar, threaded pipe flange reversed, and two cans of beer (optional). Carefully grind the screwdriver blade to fit the slot as precisely as possible. Shape the bottom 4x4 to match the round profile of the motor, though making it into a v-block would've been quicker and probably better. This genny was in the trunk of my heap, and if someone told me it spent the last 65 years at the bottom of the Hudson River, I'd believe it. Both screws cracked loose with no effort, no bashing, no swearing, and no mangled screw slots.

Thanks for the encouraging words, buddy! I'm sorry to hear that it's not as easy for some to get parts for these beauties, it's something I'll be sure not to take for granted. I feel incredibly lucky to have found this fat fendered beauty and I've enjoyed every minute of wrenching on it (well, nearly so). Mopars are really the best

Hey All, Thought I'd post an update for any of you who were thinking, "gee, it's been a long time since I heard from Art." Hi, Mom. Today and yesterday, I stood on my head under the dashboard and squeezed the two Model 54 heaters back into the DeSoto. Over the last few months, I had taken them out, brought them and the rad to be tested at a questionable shop, made new gaskets, and gave the heater boxes a light cleaning and some paint where there wasn't any. Good enough. I'm really hot to get this thing back on the road, so I'm really considering it an extensive repair job, rather than a restoration. Others might cringe at putting something that looks like this back, but I kind of dig it, and if I had stripped the original paint, the double pinstripes around the electric motor cover that someone hand painted on there would be gone forever. Also, the flash makes it look a little worse than it really does. If you have to remove these heaters from your project, here's what I discovered. You have to remove the glove box. The left heater box is much trickier than the right box. For the left, remove the two screws that clamp the steering column, and you'll gain an inch or so to maneuver by pulling down the steering column. Same applies for reinstalling, but also, leave off the motor cover, motor and squirrel cage--less weight, and easier to maneuver. The firewall brace should be put in last, and then tightened only when the box has been fastened to the ductwork. There's room to adjust it upwards a tiny bit, which if you don't do, the left outlet on the heater core might be touching the firewall, and you won't have room to get the hose on, and you'll wonder if you put it together wrong, take it out a second time, completely disassemble and reassemble it, and use up all your swear words. Every hose and clamp under the hood has been replaced, and it may not run, but it's starting to look like a car. Smells like fresh rubber, too. Other goodies and work done since I got it 5 months ago: -New plugs, wires, coil, battery cables, points, rotor, condenser. -Ran all the temporary green wiring you see in the above pic. -Bent up new NiCopp lines to and from the oil filter, which was squirting oil all over the ground, the last time I started it. New flexible line to the oil pressure gauge. -NOS vacuum advance, from a well known supplier everyone loves to hate, which I discovered doesn't quite hold a vacuum, after the 30 days return policy expired. -New water pump -New stainless water distribution tube. That took a lot of massaging with a big funky hammer to get it to fit. The old one slid right out with virtually no effort, and it was interesting to compare the quality of fitment (is that a word?) of the two. The old one was made with more care to fit the contours of the space inside the engine. -New heater valve (thanks for the rec, Sniper) -Rebuilt the carb, fuel pump, got a new fuel filter, stuffed up all the leaks with teflon tape. -Dropped the oil pan, cleaned it out. Wasn't bad at all, backing up the original owner's story that engine work had been done. Reinstalled, new oil and filter, no leaks. -Removed the distributor for cleaning, which was utterly frozen in place with ancient rust and crud. Seriously doubt it had ever come out since at least the Kennedy administration. This tells me that the fish story about the engine being rebuilt was just that, since there's no way the block was machined with the distributor still in there. So, most likely, they just put in new rings and didn't bore it out, which is actually just fine with me. It's kind of fun to do this forensic stuff... -A bunch of junkyard goodies from Ebay that were either missing from the car or not up to snuff, including the air cleaner bracket, clutch bell housing and shield, trans support brackets. -Last, I got it plated and registered. Most people would say I'm nuts to have bought a car with no title, but I read this article on the Hagerty site about a loophole allowing one to register a title-less car in Vermont. Incredibly, it's true. After it's registered, SUPPOSEDLY it's possible to just bring your Vt. registration to your local DMV and get a title for it, as if you moved from out-of-state. I have yet to tackle that part of it. If NJ tells me to stuff it, I might have to road trip to Vermont once a year for an inspection. There's worse places to road trip to, I guess. Next up, generator and starter rebuild, plunk in the new gas tank and run fresh lines, and I should be able to do some serious back-and-forth driving, up and down my driveway. Onward!

Sorry...what I meant is no more dunking carbs in ultrasonic cleaners for me. I cleaned the spare BB I had with Gumout, acetone and elbow grease, and it worked out fine.