desoto1939

could it be used the support the rear fender and bolt to the frame and then to the bottom of the fender so that the fender can not be pushed in near the back of the wheel opening. Just a thought. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Also have the seller verify in writing that the head is level and is not warped and is not cracked or repaired and that all thread are good and there are not messed up threads? Also that all head bolt holes are not out of round. Also have him run a flat edge on the manifold to verify that the manifold is not warped. If warped then it will need to be planed to get it perfectly flat across the entire unit also the same with the head. So buyer be ware of any potential issues. So you have $2000 in parts and what is this going to do for the car? It might go a little faster make it look like a supped up engine but you still have the 40 suspension and braking system, unless that has already been updated. I am not trying to be sarcastic but think about the first outlay of cash and then the additional funds needed to install the parts and the additional setup costs versus just running with what you have now on the car. You could use these funds maybe for an upgrade to interior or chrome of other issues. These are just my 50 cents worth of input. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

the 2531 original bulbs were the higher bulbs 50/32 candle power versus 2331 32/32 candle power. These are the bulbs that have the flange on them that have the three pin holes in the flange Hartung

I went to the Ron Francis site and he does not have the 2331 bulbs that were used in my car, unless I did not see the bulb listed. Thanks for the information Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

here are some pictures of the 4200 series Detroit Housing and Kit and then pin and the pin with the end caps and springs on them insterted into the housing with measurements. The housing at the flange diameter is 3 5/8 by 3 inches tall. 1. The first picture show the pin with the end caps and flat spring washer installed. I just pressed the pins and the unit into the hosuing with no effort at all It slide right in without any effort and any lubricant. 2. 3rd picture show the distance from side to side of the inside 3 1/32 3. 4th picture is the pin length 2 21/32 4. 5 th picture is the pin with the end caps and spring washers in the micrometer without any real pressure on the ends 3 3/64 5. 6th picture is of the repair kit that the components were taken from These are the measurements that you should have on your unit. There were three series of U joint bodies: 4100 the body flange diam is 3 3/8 inches 4200 body flange diam is 3 5/8 inches You use the 4200 Detroit metal housing. 4400 body diam is 4 inches so the pin will be a different length based on the series that you are using. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com cell 484-431-8157

Ok I just miced a current pin in a spare drive shaft for my 39 Desoto that also used the Detroit pin and trunion 114-52 which also would be the same for the Dodge for the 47. The pin length is 2 21/32 from end to end without the end pins. Also the body diameter for metal housing your car should be 3 5/8 which is the 4200 series for your car. Rich Hartung

go to ebay and enter this number 361068116278 This is the MC kit that should fit your car with the brass piston and its at a great price Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com

I have heard of this gentleman in Oregon it is an oxide coating I think Aluminum. This is the coating that they are using in our modern cars to get the bright reflective headlight beam. Yes this is another option and this might be the best way to go. Thanks for your input. At least with your Ply you can find the reflectors but for the 39 Desoto these are so hard to find that is why I have some real reservations about drilling out the hole. Once it is done you can not go back to original look. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

What rear car is these u joints for I have several kits and I can check my kits and also my U joint catalog. But need to know the year and model of your car or truck. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

And even Desoto used the same MC and Kit. So the piston should not have changed if you are using the correct kit. Again it could have been rebuild incorrectly and also did he check to make sure the relief holes are open and the relief check valvue is installed inthe correct way. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Someone elase in the club had a similar issue and the pin was to long they cut it down a little and then the end tabs fit. There are specific Detroit Pin And Trunion housings and repair kits that fit your car. Do you know the kit number that you used. I have a U joint book and I might have a lisiting for your car. Will need to know your car make and year. Some housing are smaller in size so might have gotten the wrong housing. Can you measure the distance from side to side on the flange of the unit and also the total height onthe housing. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Did you put the releif value in the correct way. Sounds as if you may have it in the MC incorrectly. Also check the two holes inthe reservior to make sure that they are both open. Freview the install instruction with the master cyclinder kit or refer to your service manual. I use the same MC in my 39 Desoto as in you Plymouth. Thes MC are getting harder to find and are around the $300 range. If you can not get a New one then have you oldone resleeved. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

From looking at your picture it lloks as if there was a gasket. Since you will be bolting to pieces of castiron metal together I would put the gasket between the two halfs. It is easier now to do it since the two halfs are apart then having to take it all apart just to save a couple of bucks. Plus all of the aggrevations and the removal of the manifold nuts, etc. By putting the gasket in it will not hurt anything but if not there you do not know what might happen until you fire up the car. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Attached is an article about a new proposed Kentucky House bill on how they might be starting to tax old cars. Got this from the SANS webpage. Just wanted to let anyone know that lives in Kty that might get a new tax on your old cars. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Like MarcDesoto stated check the suppliers that your are thinking about doing business with. Ask how many they have done yfor your car, do they have the pattern already done for the car, willthey need you existing Wire harnes to make the pattern. Some harnesess were wraped is a cloth loom that has strickers inthe loom and then some willcome with a cloth covered tape. Do the terminal ends have the rubber cover installed like the factory. For a mopar car or truck the various wires would have stickers onthe cloth covering and do they have the correct solid color and the appropriate striker collor. Example for Mopar they had a single, and double sticker. The stricker is like a dash in the cloth cover and the single stricker was a 16 gage wire 2 stickers 14 gage. So the other question to ask is if they can make the look in a higher guage wire like 14 gage but have the correct stiker onthe wire I have delt with Rhode Island wire and they are good and have good quality work. Here is an example I had the original wire harnes inmy 39 desoto that had the outside wire loom in black with a blue sticker. There original outside loom did not have the stricker inthe blue. I saw them at Hershey one year and shoed them the original wire and then they chnaged their looms to be correct. Basically they will build a harness from soneones example and the example could be so old that things had changed over the years, but they are always willing to get it correct. Yes the harness are not cheap but if you are going for the correct look then this is what can be done. You do not have to buy the complete car harness but can purchase the individual sections if the are made in that fashion such as headlight, interior, engine etc. If you have a pre 1940 car some of the builder do not carry the headlight sockets. Don Axlerod up in MAss has the correct 2330 and 2331 headlight sockets for the cars and trucks that used the prefocused headlight bulbs. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Thanks for everyones input greatly appreciated. On the 39 Desoto we had the old style rectangular headlights that were built into the fender. On the 38 and back model they used the round headlight glass and reflectors. I do have the higher rate candlepower prefocused bulb the 2550 bulbs instead of the original lower brightness. I have install sealed beam driving lights on the car helps some but the biggest issue when driving at night is that I get washed out and its hard to see the road. I did purchase the prefoused halogen bulbs that were mention but have not installed them so yes that is another option. really do not do much driving at night but we have a lot of Friday and Saturday night cruise in night and would like to attend more of them so that I why I was considering changing over. But I also do have the conversion lamp assembly for the car that would permit me to go to a sealed beam but this totally changes the appearnance of the front fender and is really not astatic looking on the car. So I have options to think about. Still thinking of doing the alternator anyway so the next steps is to put some real thinking into the lights. Keep the comments coming they are very helpful. To get a picture of what the original headlights look like do a search on the 39 Dodge or Desoto or Chrysler and you will see what I have on the car. Tks, The first picture is the headlight lens, second picture is the whole assembly without the outside trim and 3rd picture is with the car with the after market conversion sealed beam assembly 4th is the original headlight chrome. The 4th picture is my actual car with the factory headlights so compare 3 and 4 and tell me what you think, you can not hurt my feelings looking for input. Rich HArtung

Don: I currently do not know the answer to your question. I know they are lsited under the Model T section at Mac's. I will try to get sdome more info on these. Also since I have headlight reflectors similar to what what used on the 39 Plymouth but might are longer I can not use the sealed beam style that Casper50 is thinking of using. 1939 Was the last year to use bulbs and in 40 they went to sealed beams and the round headlight bulbs. From Looking at 6v positive ground 1 wire alternators they state that when using halogen bulbs that you shoudl convert to the Alt So the conversion would cost around $150 for the alt, 45-50 for the bulbs and drilling out the reflectors. So I would have around $200 for some better lighting as they state but no guarantee. I have seen some ownere convert the bucket to using the sealed beams but I would be more concerned that you would have two different light patterns being used. One pattern on the sealed beam and then another pattern of the original headlight lens. Also with the sealed beam as from above there is another issue. On the 39 Desoto/Dodge/Chrysler they use a 2331 bulb and the bulb moves from a right to left for the low to high beam affect where as most sealed beams that are a single light move in a more up/down fashion. the 2330 Do not think this might not be an issue if any but that is how my headlights work with the original equipment. I currently have a dula 6v headlight relay on my 39 to help with the draw and a 10g wire from the battery connection which is ontop of my statrt that has the footpush floorboard starter switch. I use 14 gage wire from the relay out othe the headlight block and foot dimmer switch. would you suggest converting to 12 or 10 gage wires for the halogens from the relay? Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

I am thinking about converting my 1939 Desoto that has the 6v prefoused bulbs over to the 6v halogen bulb system. Mac's Model t Has supply house has the convertion kits for around $45. HAs anyone that has the old style reflector system converted to these type of bulbs and did you have any issues? I do know that I would have to drill out my refelector to accept the 1 inch home for the bulbs. I do have an extra set so I would also beable to retain the originals if and when the car is sold at sometime inthe future. Also did you have to convert to using a 6v alternator. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

I received an update from Jim the ex owner of Antique Auto Supply. He informed me that a major Ebay seller from Indiana purchased his entire business and will be listing on ebay. Anyone have any information on this seller that is located in Indiana. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

oh well money talks when they wave enough of it in your face. Out real lose and I guess who ever bought the parts now will try to charge an arm and a leg for them. Thanks for the update. Rich Hartung

I tried to contact the vender known as Antique Auto Supply in Texas the other day and this is the reply that I received from Jim. As a followup I am currently writing back to him to see if the parts were sold or any info that I might beable to obtain. Does anyone else have any upto date info? sorry we are out of business JIM Antique Auto Supply 1225 Colorado Ln Arlington, Texas 76015 phone: 817-275-2381 Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Since the engine is a rebuild engine I would also add some RedLine Engine Breakin oil since it is a new engine. ANd i am going to say myabe some ZDDP since the valve tappets could use some extra anti wear protection. I know some people disagree abiut the ZDDP additive but since its a rebuilt engine why not. a few bucks spent to me is worth the money becasue of the cost to rebuild the engine is more costly. Then a good quality oil. I spoke to Shell Oil about their rotella T15-40 desiel oil and they stated that this isa fine oil for our older cars. Might want to quirt some oil down each sparkplug hole and thurn the car over to get oil on the cyklinder walls before an official fireup. Do not use starter fluid as this will strip any oil off the cylinder walls if the engine does not fire up. Rich HArtung

If you can go throught the parts and look for items that are specific to 47 then I would keep those items as spares and backup parts. The parts that are more generic then you could sell. I know that for my 39 Desoto the parts are almost impossible to find at local swap meets and even at Hershey. remember ever year that goes by more parts are being stored away and used and they are not making these parts again. Some Chinese parts such as brake cylinders and other stuff is real junk so think about this real hard. Once you sell it, it is not coming back to you sin ce you willnot know the buyer or maybe never see them again. Just my 25 cents worth other may not agree. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Hey Don: I just checked the onoline JC Taylor application for the State of PA and onthe application they want to know the following: car year, model, serial number and if the vehicle is registered in the state of Pa. I have also seen on some Insurance carries that you can insure a car that i sbeing restore but is not road worthy so I guess you can insure a car without being registered. In the state of PA you can also register an antique car with a Year of Manufacture plate but have to pay an additional fee for this so it really is not worth the extra money to me in the state of Pa since I already paid for the Antique tag. I have a correct year of manufacturer plate on the front of the car just for display puposes. Rich HArtung

The other point that no one has mentioned is that you now can get cheaper insurance for the car. Also better to use an insurance company that specializes in antique car coverage instead of your regular car insuracne company. When you insure with a special antique car insureance company such as Taylor, Grundy, Haggerty, would state a specific value that you want to insure the car for. This is the value that the insurance company and you both agree on and if the car is totaleld then you get the price that you insured the car for, but there is one note here in some states there is a cap on coverage so to if there is damage and the dmage exceeds a cetain percentage then the car is total and you only get a percentage of the amount. So read your policies carefully. This happened to one of the forum members a couple of years back. In PA the advantage is no inspections, cheaper car insurance and you own the tag for life even if you sellthe car, you can keep the tag and then regreister it on the next car or sell it to the new ownere of the car you just sold. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com