desoto1939

So the big question is???? With the cost of the new intake plus two identical carbs that needs to be completely rebuilt and be in equal condition almost back to NOS or as close as can be, A new collector pipe or possible two because of the exhaust manifold. possible two mufflers and two tail pipes clamps and what ever other items are needed what is the payoff result for making this change. You still have a car with an engine that has a rated 92-100 HP based on you head being either the original or an aluminum head. If then you want a better speed then possibly a rear end change. So add up the entire cost to get what result? A cool looking car or a somewhat hotrod. And then if you have all this speed then also change to Front and rear disk brakes. And all the aggravation of making the changes I do not get all the hoopla. Just my opinion. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

try atlas obsolete parts www.atlaschrys.com 951-461-9005 Also try Ed Spiegel from Pittsburgh, PA another contact collects auto supply www.collectorsautosupply.com Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

the autolite vrp-4503A was used with the following generators GDZ-4801A and GDZ4801B accordin gto my autolite catalog Try Echlin VR23 or Sorrenson VR66 according to my reference catalogs. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

no one has mention to have your fire extinghsher handy since you might have a back fire. just a thought. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

the picture of the red steering wheel that has the 5 metal rods for the bango wheel is the same that is the standard steering wheel in my 1939 Desoto. Also I have the Miller steering wheel factory puller to remove the 40 Plymouth steering wheel. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Be very careful with starter spray can fluid. Yes you can spray this into your carb to give it a shoot to help start, but if you continue to spray and spray and the car does not start the starting fluid is known to get into the cylinders as a vapor and then will wash away any of the oil that has coated the cylinder walls. So you need to make sure that the car starts and not let the engine oil be removed from the cylinder walls because of the starter fluid spray. hartung

I still have the original rear end and drive train in my 1939 Desoto and the drive shaft has the Pinion and trunon style universal joints with the leather covers I can cruise down the road around 50-55 MPH with the original drive train. I use 10W40 because my engine was rebuilt and also had the filter on the engine. Rich Hartung

How old is the antifreeze in the engine block. As antifreeze ages it starts to loos the antirusting agents. So what happens is that the Af still has the capacitiy to stop the freeze of the water but the rust inhibtors break down. So you have a cast iron block and now you develop rust and scale. So every year I go to the local NAPA store and they sell a product made by GUNK it is a pint bollte that isa an additive for the radiator and is an anti rust inhibitor. This then adds more chemical to the A.Ff to get the anti rusting agent back upto par. It is also a lubricant for the water pump. So you might be at the point where the A F is starting break down. Also when changing the A F in your car only use the OLD Green style AF and not the extended versions. It is still available. Let me know the answer to this question. This might be your issue with the specs. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I would try to suck out the floaters with a meat baster and then put them is a small container and then pickup one of the floaters to see it is an oily substance or just rust flakes. If an oily substance that check the oil in the crankcase so see if you have a milky white color in the oil pan. If it is milky white then you have a water leak somewhere and possibly a head gasket. Does the car run smooth or is there any roughness to the engine? rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I have had my 39 Desoto up to 65 but I have the 4:11 rear so it is not a high speed rear. It is a nice cruiser around the 50 MPH mark. Still the original rear end in my 39 Desoto. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

If you have a service manual for your car it will tell you all of the information that your are asking. It will also tell you the points gap, spark plug gap and the timing mark that you will time the engine against with a timing light. On my 39 Desoto inline 6 I use 2 Degrees before TDC. but yours might be a little pit different. ALso get a Chiltons Manaul for your car. These are available at swap meets and look in the book to make sure your car is included intthe contents. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I just did a google search and found this adaptor: Web page: www.ihpartsamerica.com phone 530-268-0864 it is an air filter adapter for a Holley 1904 Carb. the part # is DPC-ACA and the cost is $36.95 It has a 2.25 inch opening. Happy Thanksgiving. The internet is so great to find parts. If you do get one please post pictures of how you installed and the top air clear housing that you used. Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com

This past sunday my wife and I went out with our local AACA Club, Valley Forge region of the AACA. The leader of the ride drove his 1957 Desoto and I attended with my 1939 Desoto. I was the oldest car that attended. We went to the leaders fathers garage in which he has an extensive collection of older Lincolns from the 20-30's. One of his cars in the collection belonged to Admiral Bird that went to the Artic to discover the North Pole. This gentleman collection was very extensive and he had a lot of parts to support the collection. One of his early cars was a 1919 Mitchell. This was a 4 cylinder car that had the exterior valve rods and springs. It was a convertible that had exposed interior. During our tour I found out that this car originally had a leather cone clutch and not the typical flat clutch that we have in our cars. This lead to a more in depth talk with the ownere and I told him that I first learned to drive on a 1915 Willys Overland that had the same type of clutch and that when we parked the car at night and for storage we put a rod to disengage the clutch so that the pressure of the clutch would not indent the leather because then the clutch would slip when you stated it after sitting several days. He told me that he now has a Kevlar clutch that will prevent this issue. So as we were by the car he looked directly at me and asked if I would like to start the car via the crank handle and I replied yes. I then reached down to grab the crank handle and then I did not do what most people do and that is wrap your thumb over the top of the handle. I cupped the handle and handle my thumb also cupped. He looked at me and said that you must have done this before and I think it took him by surprise. We did two priming cracnk to get the pressure and prime the car. Then he sat at the control and turned on the magneto. I engaged the crank again. Set the handle at approximately 5 o-clock rotted in a clockwise manner and the car fired over when I hit the 11 o-clock position. It was great to do this again because you do not get these opportunites that often. My wife assured me that she had just paid up my life insurance just in case if the car would learch forward and knock me down but that never happened. Attached is some factory information. This is the exact car that I cranked over on Sunday. Interesting note is that when the Mitchell company folded they were bought out by Nash. So this car does have some connection to MOPAr because NASH and American Motors merged and then became part of big MoPar. A great day was had my me. Rich HArtung

that is if you are buy froma vender but if you are buying the old style rivet lining and are getting the correct number you can still get the long and shoe lining. I always buy th eold lining with the rivets and reline my old metal shoes. Rich Hartung

Sorry to hear the news about Gray Beard. I have talked with him on numerous occasion and also meet him at the truck show that was held in Macungie PA. Like others have stated, Dave was a wealth of knowledge and was always willing to help another car or truck owner. I had always wanted to have supper with him at the Lancaster Shady Maple Smorgasbord but never was able to set a date. The entire forum will miss you, RIP and mabe you willfind another truck up in heaven. Rich HArtung

my 39 Desoto has the little bubble on the speed dial arrow. Behind the needle there is the green, yellow red color that is glues to the speedmoter and just the movement of the arrow permits the color to show through the little buble. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

so the real reason for the heat riser was to help the drivers that lived in cold climate areas. In the winter and cold months the base of the carb where is bolts to the intake would ice up and thenthe cars would stall and cut out when stoping for a light. So they created the heat risor to warm up the base of the carb. Since we have downdraft carb the gas air mixture made a vapor and then this would freze because of the coldness at the base. So the heat risor flap would be straight up to divert heat to the base of the carb. then as the engine got warmer then the spring would relax and the flap would go back to a horizontal and leftthe heat go out the exhust section into the tailpipe.. So here isa test wire the HR so it is closed then see if you get the over heating and try it with it open and see what happens. The guys in the southwest, and floida have no need for the heat riser and also in southern California only the upper states that have a real winter climate. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Pumping the gas pedal willnot get fuel into the gas line. Sounds as if your gas line has drained back and when that happens there is a lack of fuel in the line from the pump up to the bowel on the carb, so you have a void that needs to be filled. When your car was driven on a regular/daily basis the fuel line most likely never drained so you always had fuel in the line from the FP upto the carb hence the car will start and have the extra fuel to feed the bowel in the carb. Again this is where an electric FP aids in priming the mechanical FP and then send fuel up to the carb and therefore less cranking of the engine even when warm weather/cold weather. Rich Hartung

Since you removed the eccentric pins you do not have any reference point on how the eccentric pin is going to affect the setup for you shoes. ANother question is Do uyou have access to the Ammco Brake guage because you will need this to get the shoes in the perfect arch that is needed to get a good brake. Also get yourself a service manual on your car before going forward on the brake rebuild this will show the proper orientation. I have the Ammco brake tool and rent this tool. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

her is page 2 of the bulletin starting in damp weather p 2.pdf

Here is a copy of a factory svc bulletin date May 31,1938 about hard starting in damp weather also from my pcket of Service Bulletins Happy reading Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com starting in damp weather p 1.pdf

Ok here is some great information about starting our old car when the engine is either hot or cold. While attending the Hershey event this past October I cam across a packet of 1938/39 Services Bulletin Sheets and factory prices sheets. This packet had about 350 pages of information contained in the folder. Since I own a 39 Desoto I purchased this packet. I have now also scanned the entire 350 pages onto a CD. I have attached a copy of the page from Service Bulletin 315 dates Sept, 13, 1938 It talks about the hot/cold starting procedures. Have fun reading this one page article. Even though this was written about the S5 Desoto which was for 1938 it is still usuable for our cars. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Start hot cold engines.pdf

DJ so again if you put on an electric pump and then use this to prime the fuelline to the carb then you will not have to crank and crank and crank the engine. Prime the line first since the car has been sitting then the engine will fire right up. An electric fule pump is around $50 a good investment for hard starting and less cranking. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

the real way to know would be if you know the part numbers for each year and car. They might fits but if someone that has the parts book for the 47 could lookup that number then you might luck out. Or if you could just find a piece of the belt trim for the 41 then you could have a spare maded with the proper indents. Just a thought. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

I do not understand why you think you need a booster pack to start your car during the winter months. It seems to me that the gas is not getting to your carb and that the fuel needs to be pumped up the fuel line to get the carb bowl loaded with gas. I also assume that you have your car in a garage as required by all antique car insurance plans. I think that if you invest in a 6v electric fule pump and install it near the gas tank and then prime the carb to get the fule up from the tank then you should not have any issue with the cranking. This way the fuel is in the line and the engine should turnover with little cranking. Also remember these cars were being used ina ll types of weather when they were the cars that were on the roads back in the 30,40 and 50's. So your cranking issue might be something else instead of a booster pack. I have a 39 Desoto that I can crank over still 6v positive ground. I use the electric fp to prime the carb and then if fires right up in in the dead of winter. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com