Tim Larson

Thanks for sharing, Keith! Enjoy the long weekend. Always nice to see/hear your car!

I have to echo what Keith said - your car looks right at home here! Like a step back in time. We are still getting some snow up by Osakis this morning...

My grandparents had a 1950 Ford Custom (4 door) when they were first married and the house they lived in didn't have running water and there was no well on the farm property. My grandpa removed the back seat and would haul water for their drinking water in cream cans with that car. I have hauled water in 10 gallon cream cans and they are not light by any means! I can't imagine wrestling them in and out of the back seat of an old Ford.

I'm wondering what the best option is for lubrating a speedometer/speedometer cable. I tried searching the forums, but really couldn't find anything.

That's what I've found in the little bit of researching I've done so far.

Thank you. As you might notice that thread was also created by me. What I appreciated the most was hearing from others as to what they have used on their specific car.

Good Morning, I'm looking at a '41 Desoto and one of the things I know it needs is new tires. If I get the car it would have regular radials put on it for the time being - I don't have funds for coker or diamondbacks right now. My main question is what the best modern size radial would be. The car originally have 6.25x16 tires, but even that size is obsolete. If anyone has input or experience I would appreciate it! The car is at a dealership and I would use the amount that tires would cost to negotiate price. Thanks!

I'm curious which resistor you ended up choosing. My '49 was converted to 12 volt, but I don't think the blower motor was changed.

Really enjoy the updates, as always. Once I get a rear tire fixed on my Plymouth and this wretched wet weather goes away I can get my Plymouth out on the road again. Hoping for plenty of nice days in October!

Some knowledgeable guys looked at the Desoto this morning and were amazed at how well it ran, sounded, and looked. They did notice some possible oil leakage around the filter canister so that is a possibility - the seal under the cap might need to be changed. Nothing major or super worrisome so that is good to hear and what I figured. An almost 300 mile trip for a car that has seen extremely limited use in the last MANY years is quite a stress on it. This is all part of the experience in own a car of this era. They will never be completely perfect since they never were in the first place. Keeping an eye/ear on the car's operation is essential.

After all the reading I've done on this forum since June I definitely had the rear main seal come to mind....

The car does seem to drop a patch of oil every time it is shut off and parked - in a driveway/on the street, etc. I noticed this driving it home when I would look under it at the gas station. I made sure to check the oil and it did not ever seem low to me. My question is where it is coming from. The puddle doesn't seem to form under the drain plug on the oil pan - it seems to be under where I think the fluid drive is between the transmission and the engine. Would there be a way to tell if this oil is engine oil or fluid from the fluid drive? Since this car doesn't have the fluid torque drive it shouldn't share the engine oil with the fluid drive, correct?

Keith, I appreciate the information and always value your input.

Yes, the car has always run fine. It seemed to only blow white smoke when accelerating after rounding a corner or similar driving that would call for acceleration.

I will give this a try. What is the ideal number(s) that I am looking for?

Thanks for the suggestions. Here is the appearance of the oil before I added last night. I don’t think it looks milky, but I certainly could be wrong.

Trying to figure out why a '51 Desoto would be blowing white smoke. It seems to only happen when accelerating - especially from a stop or very close to a stopped position. The coolant level is good and normal even after driving 250+ miles. The oil was down below add and I had to add two quarts to bring it above the add mark. I was told it had a ring job done and the pan was dropped and cleaned. The car has really seen very few miles. Is it possible that the rings are seated properly yet? I don't know when this job was done exactly. Would adding seafoam or marvel mystery oil to the crankcase do anything? Right now it is running 10w30 oil, but maybe that is too lightweight. Otherwise the car runs and drives well with very little hesitation. Appreciate the input.

Something that was noticed yesterday on the drive home. The car seemed to put out white smoke while accelerating. I know the seller had the cooling system worked on recently and he mentioned that the system had been pressurized which he didn't really want to have happen. Is the white smoke possibly a coolant leak? How would this be diagnosed? I'll probably go check the car today to see if the coolant level is visible in the radiator. The car never overheated or got hot.

Gas gauges have always been the bane of my existence, it seems. The gas gauge on my neighbor's '51 Desoto is not working. What is the best way to start troubleshooting this? The car is still 6 volt. Is there a way to test the gauge? I know grounding is very important - especially on 6 volt cars. I appreciate any suggestion!

My Mopar journey really started in the mid to late 90s now that I think of it. My dad had bought a '62 Belvedere from a neighbor, but I never remember it driving. It sat in our yard on blocks with the most of the wheels off. I would play it it and pretend to drive it. The car sat so long it had moss growing on it and was an odd peach/orange color. The push button transmission was intriguing to me, but I never have driven one. The way that car smelled is something that takes me right back to that car and being a child- a damp car upholstery smell. My grandparents had at least a dozen cars sitting around on their farm because they would park them instead of fixing or getting rid of them. The one I remember the most had to be a Plymouth from the 1970s or early 80s. I vaguely remember them driving it, but remember playing it out in the yard more than anything. As a family we had some kind of Dodge/Plymouth car, but I can't tell you what model. How we all fit in that tiny car I'll never know - there were 6 of us at the time we switched to our minivan, but that was a Ford... It seemed like all of our rural mail carries had these small Dodge/Plymouth cars I'm referring to. They would last forever. Several families in our area drove the stereotypical Dodge/Plymouth minivans of the 90s, but we never had one. My own Mopar journey began in June of this year when I found a 1949 Green two door Plymouth Special Deluxe on Facebook marketplace. I couldn't resist buying it when I saw it in person. Since then I drove another '49 Plymouth Special Deluxe on a fairly long road trip for the age of the car. Just yesterday I drove a 1951 Desoto Custom home for a neighbor on a 250-300 mile trip. I'm starting to understand the saying "Mopar or no car" - haha!

I don't understand why they aren't desired as much, but it is a fantastic piece of history. Also, I personally don't understand the allure of two door cars - four doors are much more practical in my book, but to each his own! Although the classic cars I have are two door cars - that isn't what drew me to them. I might be buying my neighbors four door Plymouth now that he bought this Desoto.

It's possible the steering wheel doesn't look great under the cover, but the cover fits in with the rest of the interior nicely.

Well, the car came to its new home last night! A neighbor of mine bought it and I got to drive it home nearly 300 miles. It did stall on me just twice when coming up to a stop, but was able to start again with no trouble. The car is absolutely terrific and original other than new paint at some point and new carpet. This was my first experience driving fluid drive - because of this forum I understood how to drive it with no problem. I'll post a bunch of photos when I get a chance.

Keith, this thread gets more enjoyable every time! I drove a 1951 Desoto home from Clear Lake, Iowa yesterday for a neighbor. Almost 300 miles. The first time ever driving with fluid drive. The car ran and drove great - I had a clear understanding of how to operate the fluid drive because of this thread especially. Thanks!

Good to see someone else in the younger generation enjoying these truly classic cars! I'm 30, but love the cars from the 40s and early 50s especially. It's nice you and your son can bond while enjoying the car together.