DonaldSmith

Really jumping on the guy. But I'm guessing that someone "shaved the deck" and he needs the complete latch/lock assembly. So maybe the junkyard is the best source. Expensive? Relative term. Call and find out. If a supplier is outrageous, we would. in the spirit of brotherhood, warn the poor soul. Be kind to the newbees. We were such once, and asked questions that made the oldsters roll their eyes.

Where's the fifth shoe? The bottom? Inquiring minds need to know.

Maybe your yearnings for a Jaguar will pass if you record and play back a loop of their their current Jaguar ad, where strange persons dance around in weird costumes, without any car being shown. Budweiser had an ad some time ago which helped many people quit drinking Bud Light .

The steering wheel must be one of the fifty Lincoln steering wheels that Tucker bought from Ford. I was told some seventy years ago that the spaciousness was a safety feature. In case of an accident, the front-seat passenger could duck down there. (That was before seat belts.)

I'm thankful for my wife of 60 years, and our children and grandchildren. Riddle: Our younger son is older than our older daughter. How many children do we have, and in what order? We have seven grandchildren; three of them married, but no word yet of a great-grandchild yet. All of them college graduates, except of the youngest, a Purdue freshmen who is spoiling the curve for everyone else. Then there's Benny- A few years ago, I was in the back yard when my wife came out with the phone: (You'll have to talk to your grandfather.") "Grampa, I didn't have that much to drink .. under arrest . . . send money . . . copy this case number down!" (Classic scam.) "Bennie, I'm outside. I'll have to get a pen." (More sorry tale. Finally:) "Benny, you rotten kid! You deserve to rot in jail! You've caused your parents nothing but grief!". Then he hung up on me! Despite all the crap, life is sweet!

In this photo, the back of the roof reflects the top of the garage wall. It looks like some sort of wrap-around rear window, with a dark tint. The first time I saw this photo, few years(?) ago, it took me quite a while to figure it out. An "optional delusion".

It's not big enough. It'll fill up in no time. It always happens that way.

The "suicide" doors are neat! Sleek! Front edge sloped like the windshield. Lots of foot room, getting in and out. Rear doors were suicide, except for the Club Sedans. Could have benefitted from modern safety latches and electronic latching. Thrilling days of yesteryear- My dad pulled his 50 DeSoto Suburban up to the gas pumps. I was sitting behind him in the second seat. I opened the door to see what was going on, and the door hit the pump. The door was pushed full open and dented the fender. Flash forward- A few years ago, I pulled my 47DeSoto suburban out of the garage. I forgot that I had left a rear door open. The door was pushed full open and dented the fender.

I'm so jealous of you guys, with your large multi-bay service barns, equipped with lift, compressed air, and professional welding and machine shop equipment, not to mention LED lighting, while I get by with an extra stall in my 3-car garage. But I get by. "I cried because I had no shoes. then I saw a man who had no feet." {Wise-ass retort: "So I took his shoes.")

I meant to say that the front doors for the 2-door sedans are the same as for the 7-passsenger car body. Maybe the front doors of the Town Sedans are also the same. The coupe door has the top swept back to meet the belt line.

Your Dodge body is the same as the DeSotos and Chryslers of the same era. The front doors are the same as for the coupes. The rear doors are special for the 7-passenger/limo/Suburban, being 9 inches wider than the standard sedan doors. The rear vent windows are the same.

Robert, where have you been getting your news? There is a great divide between the "Establishment" or "Legacy" news and the upstarts like Newsmax and even Fox News here in the States. And the there are the pocasts which have sprung up overnight. It's possible to get two widely divergrent views of the world. We'll miss you a lot. Come back some day.

Going from memory, on my 47 DeSoto Suburban - Map light in the instrument panel - pull switch on the instrument panel, and door button, right front door. "B" pillar lights - Slide switch one side lights both lights. I added a slide switch to the opposite pillar. I forget which was original, maybe the right. Dome light over the back window - door buttons left and right rear doors. One trick Walter W did was to ground a light circuit through the switches. Theoretically, you could have any number of switches capable of turning on the light.

I don't think the instrument panel - steering wheel made it. I think I had heard that Tuckers had Lincoln steering wheels.

Hole-cutting the hard way. Sometimes it's the only way.

My 47 DeSoto had a "Handbrake On!" light somewhere, where I wouldn't notice it. I made an auxiliary instrument panel, with a large "Handbrake ON, Dummy!" light. Quite visible, but still not noticed. So I put a flasher in the circuit. Now I notice the Blinking Light. Only thing, the flasher needs a a few seconds to warm up. Just enough time to take off, with the parking brake still on. .

My 47 DeSoto has disconnects at the battery ends of the cables, and these have served me well. I had been in the habit of disconnecting a cable whenever the car was to sit idle for any length of time. Lately, though, I just keep a trickle charger on it. No worries about the clock or something else running down the battery. Maybe this battery will last longer than a year. I also have a 2011 Buick, whose battery failed earlier this year. Too much electronics and not enough driving. So I have a trickle charger on this car, too. We have a 2008 Ford, which we drive all the time. No problem. (How I remember what model Buick I have? Well, where do they elect the Pope? The conclave. It's a BuickEnclave.) (What model Ford is it? Too many choices - Confusion. It's a Fusion.)

Maybe a local automotive electric shop (if there is one) can fix your generator/regulator. A local auto shop assembled my 6 v alternator, lo these many years ago. He mentioned that to adjust a regulator, he had the car running in the shop for an hour, just to get everything settled down. Sounds elaborate. My 47 DeSoto had the grounding wire for the starter solenoid connected to the "A" terminal of the generator. With the engine running, the back current kept it from grounding the solenoid, thus no grinding the starter teeth. After installing the alternator, I just grounded this wire to the nearest convenient grounded surface. I could install an oil pressure switch, contact off when pressured (engine running), to keep from grinding the starter, but I don't do that often. Grounding, grinding, my head hurts.

My dad did our vacation travel mostly at night, when the traffic was very light and there was no sun flickering through a row of roadside trees. (But no gas stations were open.) Once, he did run out of gas, but within walking distance of a gas station. We had an enameled steel potty or two in the car, for small children's imminent needs. My dad took one to the station and returned with it filled with gas, enough to get the car to the station. Luckily, the gas pumps were still turned on, so he filled up the car. He slipped the $1.40 under the door and drove off into the night.

The last photo shows the mad scientist. No, wait! it's Ulu.

I see it as a mystery, awaiting more clues. Grampa's car is not at hand. He can go see it next with a list of possible culprits. Then he can return with updated clues.

"Fluid drive" - do you mean the fluid coupling? Remove the access cover in the floor pan. (Of course, after moving the carpet back.) Remove the access cover in the bell housing. Then the trick is to rotate the crankshaft until the fill plug is accessible. Stuff a rag between the bell housing and the fluid coupling, so that then when you drop the plug, it won't fall down the rabbit hole.

Why separate them? Clutch work? Engine removal?

Babies. Try adjusting valves when you're 82. The things I have done, when I was so young. Maybe that's why feel so old.

OH, there's also an interrupter switch in the transmission, to ground the coil momentarily during the normal shifting. A work of engineering genius. But sometimes it's hard to understand genius.