DonaldSmith

I just don't want a double throw. (That's it; it's late. I can't think of any more puns.)

Can we switch the topic?

46: front fenders flaired into the front doors. Otherwese just trim and badging.

For my electric fuel pump, i got a double pole throw switch from McMaster-Carr that was momentary in one position, off at the center, and constant at the other position. Hold down for prime, flip up if the mechanical pump fails, and center for off. To keep the pump from running on if the engine quit, as in an accident, I installed an oil pressure switch to govern the constant-on circuit. Engine quits, pump quits.

OK, why is the "Race of Champions" TROG and not TROC?

Quite a bit of sunburn on that DeSoto coupe.

Andy, you wanted to see the other side of my dashboard. From when I was putting the carpet in: Yes, how did they do the inlays, when the base is one piece of metal? Inquiring minds need to know.

As I remember with my DeSoto steering wheel and horn ring, the spring contacts the steering hub and is grounded. The spring tries to contact a ring-thingy that is connected to the grounding wire and has legs which are secured to the steering wheel. The horn ring is insulated from the ground, and in normal position holds the spring away from the thingy. When the ring is pushed, it allows the spring to make contact, completing the ground circuit. I have a long post on this somewhere.

Andy: The dash is a single metal stamping, with the graining applied in some mystical fashion. Likewise the window and windshield moldings (or windscreen mouldings. l live near Canada, so I'm used to a "u" added to labor, moldings, etc. In fact, the tip of southern Ontario is directly south of me. ) The PO had an extra dashboard and moldings woodgrained by someone who has since passed on. I installed the refinished items, sold the old dashboard to a Plymouth owner who was going to try something with it, and I gave the moldings to a fellow Suburban aficionado. The PO is the current president of the National DeSoto Club. Over 25 years, he assembled this DeSoto from the best parts of three of them, and scoured the flea markets for the best pieces of grille and dashboard trim. I have had the car for sixteen years. I added carpeting, refinished the steering wheel, and made a few minor improvements here and there. Oh; I added power steering. Last year I had some bad times trying to keep the engine running; felt like driving it over a cliff. (Do you know the feeling?) Persistence and Pertronix solved the problems. I am reminded what an attraction the car is at car shows, with the open doors drawing the crowds like shies on flit. So I respect the car as a treasure. When it's time to part, I want it going to a good home. The PO said if I ever want to sell it, let him know. I know if he won't buy it for himself, he'll find an appreciative buyer.

47 DeSoto: Auxiliary panel I cobbled together. (I found a vinyl stick-on that looks a lot like the engine-turned finish.)

Several months ago, I was in the basement workshop and thought clearly that I had to to to the next room and get the tool tote that I had left there. I thought it clearly, but could not express the thought in words! I went upstairs and silently got my wife's attention. After a few moments I could speak, but with some lingering problems. The doctor called it a TIA, transitory ischemic accident, an obstruction like a clot that passes clear. He prescribed a full aspirin per day, to thin the blood, and ordered an MRA for that night. I had to have my head examined. At the MRI site, they put me in a loud tunnel that buzzed and snapped. They checked out my head, but couldn't find anything. I had trouble saying words. The prefix would be right, but the rest of the word would be way off. Now I find I have to pause for the right word to pop into my head, and sometimes the wrong word will pop out, to be corrected immediately. Aside from that, my brilliance is unimpaired.

They make 6-volt, positive pr negative ground alternators, or rather they modify standard alternators. Get the pulley to match your belt, which is probably the wide type. A local auto electric shop did mine. I re-used the generator bracket, with some creativity with bolts. Later, I noticed that the alternator holes were not aligned with the alternator shaft; some creative filing and a larger bolt corrected the problem.

Does the Dodge have a butterfly hood? That would 'splain the two hood release cables. Open only one side as needed. My DeSoto has an alligator hood, with a single hood release cable by the parking brake.

Deja vu all over again? Good job, but an independent discovery previously discovered. Another thread shows a red Mustang 2 master cylinder behind the original master. Not to take away the glory, but we can see how others did a similar thing. (Oops, someone beat me to it.)

That sounds like something that would happen to me!

"React, assess ..." let's not be asses. (Sorry. Speling is my thing.)

The small outside lights were called the "parking lights". I think in some jurisdictions, parking lights had to be on all night where the car was parked in a street. Not too sure, but it makes a case. So, turn on the parking lights, but shut off the instrument lights, to save "juice".

I found a local firm that relines truck brakes and the like. They had a lining material of the appropriate thinness and bonded it to the external brake strap.

My parking brake spring is attached to a wire, which is attached to a crossmember. I have no idea what is stock, but it works. (This crossmember is behind a short driveshaft from the transmission. The parking brake is seen at the very left of the photo. This car is a LWS (long wheelbase sedan. The wire may make up for the 18-inch extra length.)

Yes, rcb, the DeSoto Suburan in my avitar is mine. Search "DeSoto Suburban" and a good number of the images are of my car.

I had read that 1952 was the last year for the Suburban. The 49 had a new body, shorter hood, bustle trunk. The third seat was full size, and the back cushion closed off the opening to the trunk, or pivoted down to extend the cargo floor. The middle seat was full size. Livery cars, as for funeral homes, would usually have the full second seat. Limousines would have folding jump seats in the second row. 49 and 50 had the waterfall grille, vertical bars. 51 and 52 had the toothy grille.

I try to re-read what I have written, before I hit the send button. Surprising what I find, not just typos, but words and expressions that could be taken wrong. We can't take back the spoken word, but we have a chance to amend the written word, before we hit the sned send button. The spoken word fades into the ether, but the written word is there forever.

I don't get grumpier, I just feel grumpier. I think I have mellowed, less self-absorbed and more considerate of what other people must be going through. (In my estimation, I'm almost perfect by now.) Our kids did bussing and waitering in their early careers, so we make a point of tipping generously, based on the total, before the old age discounts. (These people have to be on their feet all day, waiting on cranky people. Have pity.) We greet the greeter at the big super grocery store. We have a new Kroger Marketplace, where the employees have been trained to greet us. That's good. They are people, and they are there to help us, so when they do, (Where are the marshmallows?) we thank them. It just makes life easier and better.

Dodge mated a three-speed transmission to the Fluid Drive coupling, at least for the post-war models. Shift into third, let out the clutch, and drive all day without shifting or clutching. You may have an access panel on the transmission hump. If so, you can see whether there is any wiring to the gearbox, and if there are protrusions such as a governor and solenoid, which are required for the semi-automatics.

I resemble that remark.