desoto1939

Ebay will provide you some of the bearing and cones. If you can find an old Tmikin Bearing and Cone I feel these would be better than what you are now getting from the parts houses are selling the Chineese stuff, The Old USA Made Timkin bearing is my preference because being made in the USA ove the the other junk stuff. See if you can get a Timkin USA bearing first. Just my two cents. Rich HArtung

PA only uses back plates on current, classic and antique. At one time they did have both front and back plates I have a dual set of 1939 Pa Plates for my 39 Desoto. PA does permit you to register a car with the year of manufacturer. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

OK some prefer the original look of the oil bath filter and others prefer the newer paper style filter. Some prefer to add period correct speed equipment to their engines. The best anser to your question is DO YOU EVER SUITES your WISHES. It is your car and you can make any modifications that you want to your car. I preferred to change over to the paper filter for my 39 Desoto but also kept the original metal mesh oil bath filter element. I found a paper filter at NAPA that was a complete drop in to the aircleaner. So as someone suggested if you can get an original air cleaner as a spare and keep the oil bathe element and then get another air cleaner and modify it then that is an option. If you want originality for a resale then go this route and just change when going to an official car show if you are looking for AACA judging or specific car judging or if its just a driver that make it work for you. If someone wants to fork over cash when they say it is wrong then they can have a say but its your cash that your are spending on your car and not their. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

The 38/39 upper control arm that was used onthe 38/39 Chrysler/Desoto on the upper outer bushing uses an eccentric bushing to make the adjustment for the camber/castor. The nut if I remember correctly is 1 3/8. The metal part is as you mention eccentric and threads on the the upper control arm thrtought the hole inthe upright control. The other end of the control arm of the upper end is threaded and when you thread the bushing into the arm this is what moves the upright in or out to set the camber caster for the front wheel. The other control arms have two metal bushings that should unscrew from each end. to remove the control bars and bushings. Does this answer your question? Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

WAS IT A THIN BURLAP MATERIAL OR A TICK BURLAP MATERIAL? MY 1939 DESOTO HAD A THICKER STYLE BURLAP MATERNIAL THAT WAS GLUED TO SIDE OF THE TRUNK COMPATMENT. I HAVE NEVER FOUND ANY OTHER MATERIAL LIKE THIS AGAIN, SO YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD THE ORIGINAL INTERIOR IN YOUR TRUCK. RICH HARTUNG DESOTO1939@AOL.COM

alsomake sure you have a gasket in the lid to help seal the top and from the oil seeping out from the top when the car is runni9ng. I use a NAPA 1010 gold filter element that just drops into the unit. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I have a 39 Desoto and i am the 3rd owner of the car. I sent of to Chrysler Historical and received the build sheet for the car. The car originally was sold to a gentleman that live in Brywn Marw PA which is near Villanova College in PA. I found out the the car was delivered to the Wolfington Desoto Dealership on 3400 Chestnut stret in Philadelphia, PA. Just the other day I was able to aquire a metal key fob from this very same dealership. The next part of the story is the interesting part. This dealership has closed but the great Grandson is the the President of the Wolfinton Bus Company which produces school buses. They are currently located inthe Exton,PA. I stopped by their main offce with the pictures of the 39 Desoto and all of the information that the Chrysler Historical had sent me. I was able to meet with the GreatGranson of the original Wolfington Dealership. He was very surprised that one of these cars was s till onthe road. The car came off the assembly line on May 19.1939. The Wolfington body works also made custom bodied for cars in the Philadelphia area. Some of you might have heard of the Durham Body works company that was also located in the Brwyn MAwr area. This comapny closed shop but the building that they occupied is not stillbeing used to sell Ferrari's. The greatgranson told me that when his greatgrans father need extra help when building a custom bodied car and the Durham body compnay was slow they would swap the crafts from each others shop when ever either needed the extra help. SAo my car has stayed in the local area around the suburbs of Philadelphia and has a real local hisrtory and this all came about because the Chrysler Historical had the history on the car. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

If I were you I would also pump on an electric fuel pump near the gas tank as a backup. This way you can still get to a repair shop to tank out the mechnaical pump if it goes bad on the trip. Also have a spare gas line that goes from the fuel line connector in the engine bay to the fuel pump and also a spare rubber oil line. Rich Hartung

If a body shop has to do the paint work and if they have to strip the paint and also do any major repairs I would figure on 8-10K for a paint job. Then also figure at the same time getting new glass installed at the same time even if the glass looks good better to install new and also new rubber seals. If you can strip the car of paint then you can save some money and also take off the fenders and trim also saves time and money. To paint the car need good compressor, and filters, good gun and other tools, so price out the required items and then price out having it done. Rich Hartung

You might also glue a sheet of plastic film to the back of the backer board or even onto the metal door frame to help reduce the mositure issue. Might beable to spray a water proof spray on like what you can do to leather work boots, not sure if this would warp the backerboard or not? Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

how old is the battery in your car? Have you run a test on the battery to see if the battery might have a dead cell. Is there water in the battery and can you screw off the caps to check the battery with a hydrometer? The correct regulator for your car is an Autolite: Generator GDZ-4801A of GDZ 4801B both use the same regulator VRP-4503A The VRP-4503A found on Chrysler Desoto, Dodge, Dodge Truck, Fargo, Plymouth from 1940-42 and 1946-50 except Dodge truck which was 40-41 and 44-49, Fargo 40-42 and 46-49 So you should be able to find someting Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

The biggest part of this is bracing the body so the body does not twist. I have attend several AACA seminars on restorations and one of the major shops has the cars always x braced in allof the possible section on the interior to prevent twisting. It is work but if lifting the body off then it is a must do. Also when you dip the body or sand blast the body. drill a small hole in the rockers. Then take a garden sprayer and put int primer or a good rust preventer paint push the nozzle into the hole and spray the interior of the rockers to prevent rust out from the inside. Do this in different spots to insure that the metal is getting coated. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

As noted before about the plastic fuel filters in the older cars there always the possibility that the plastic could crack, and this has happened and the cars has caught on fire. This is why one of the members has recommeded the all metal fuel filter instead of the plastic fuel filters. I know we can buy the plastic ones at swap meets for around a couple of bucks and it has the ability to view the buildup of sediment, but maybe we should switch to the AC metal body with the glass sediment bowel as a precautionary to prevent a melted fuel filter. Just my 2 cents. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

I just checked my 1939 Desoto parts book and quess what. As you may know or not know there were no 39 Desoto convertibles but in thye book they list Leather and an option. Code 810 Blue leather code 811 red Leather Code 812 Tan Leather I know the Desoto was an upper class car then the Plymouth but if they offered leather in 39 without a convertible then they could possibly have done this in 50 for a non-convertible Plymouth. Does anyone have a 50 Plymouth parts book and look in section 23. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

fstfish66: Never heard of posies but that would be another great trip for some of us local guys that live in the greater Philly area. I will have to checkout their website if they have one. If you hear of anything let me know. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I looked in my 1936-42 Desoto Master Parts book last night. On my 39 Desoto they do not show a rubber gasket for my years. They do show a flat metal washer that sits just before the lockdown braket. This is the same for 37-38-39 Desoto. The next seris up on the dizzy has the locking plate bolted to the bottom of the dizzy housing. on the early version the locking plate does not bolt directly to the bottom of the dissy body. I could copy the expoded view if anyone needs to see a copy as a reference for future repairs. The 39 Desoto dizzy is an IGS4102 or IGS4102C unit Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I have the Signal Stat 900 on my 39 Desoto and it is a metal body and it has been on the car for over 17 years. I like the 7 wire unit so that you can hook up the various lights individually with each seperate designated wire. I also hooked up a 6v third brake light that fits in the rear windows via two suction cups. It doesn ot obstruct my vision when looking out the rear back window. It has the turn signal setup and brake light and also the 4way bliker setup. Since most new car all have the thrid brake light setup. I felt that this was a no brainer to add to my car and it puts the brake light in a higher position that people are now acustom to seeing when driving. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

On one of your other psots you had stated that the brakes di not work. I assume that you have gotten this item fixed since you stated that you might take it for a drive. How did you adjust the the brake shoes so that they have the correct distance from the drum for the Toe and Heel on each shoe? Were you able to find and use an AMMCO 1740 Brake gage tool? Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Perry: You state that you have no working brakes. Cna you state what is happening. So when you push the brake pedal does it go all the way to the floor board or do you at least get some sort of soft pedal. If you pump the brake pedal do you get a build up of pressure. There could be a couple of things that need attention. You could be low on brake fluid. I am assuming that your have the old dot 3 brake fluid and not the silicone Dot 5. Do not mix the two they are not compatible.. The MC could need to be rebuilt since the car has sat so long Check the resevior onthe MC to see if there is fluid in it. The brake shoe might just be out of alignment. The brake cylinders might be leaking and either rebuilt or replaced or have them resleved if they are badly pitted. If the shoes are worn down then need to replace the shoes or reline the shoes if you have riveted brake lining this is easy to do. After finfin out what is wrong then you will need to adjust the shoes to fit the brake drum. Also might need to replace allthree rubber brake hoses. Since you have the lockheed brake system that has the toe and heel adjustment you will need the AMMCO 1750 Brake gage to get the shoes properly adjusted. I have the brake gage and you can contact me when you get to that point inthe project. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Cell 484-431-8157 home 610-630-9188 Valley Forge PA just outside of Philadelphia, PA

The big question is what size is the wire in diameter. Idf the diameter of the wire is too small then the metal clip might not fit into the hole inthe dizzy cap with a snug fit. If you have a micrometer or digital gage you might beable to measure the thicknees of your current wires and then measure the inside of the holes where the wires go in the cap.. You also might now have had the wires pushed all the way down into the top of the cap to make the electrical contact. Might also change the rubber cap on each wire that goes into the top of the cap. These might have gotten soft and are not a firm fit. Might chnage them. Just some thoughts on the topic that might help. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Every year for the past several years Pollacks has the open house around Thanksgiving weekend. It provides him with the opportunity to get more business and also showcase his shop. If there is any interest next year i could lead a group out to his open house. As I get more information I can post it on the Forum for all of the local members if they want to meet at a specific location such as the King of Prussia Mall and then it is just about a 30 minute ride up 422 to Pottstown. If there is any interest please let me know. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Ok the big question is this: So how much faster with the car run with the three carb setup with the stock motor. ANd if it going to go so fast I would assume you have switched over to Disck brakes onthe front to help stop the car with all of the extra speed. ALso did you redo the fronend suspension. I am not picking on you please note that. I just see alot of time and effort going into the three carbs and to make an 85-90 HP engine try to be a hotrod. Not sure of the investment and time and costs. What type of fuel economy will you get. So why not just put a v8 mopar engine inthe car or are you just trying to look nostolgic witht he appropriate speed equipment and to be period correct? I am just asking and not picking on you plese take that into consideration when you reply. remember the car isalmost 74 years old. Did you beef up the frame or anything else to make it a hotrod? Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

try this guy he has been around for along and makes the custom pipes for your car and has the bending machine and the spec's for our old cars. He is at Hershey and also Carlise. www.kepichexhaust.com He can also make the pipe with the flange that comes off the exhaust manifold for you with the correct bend. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

well at least as someone stated they did not go to the crusher. They probably bought these for pennies on the Franc or might even they were given to the this person because back when these cars were no longer worth fixing and not in style they were not really worth keeping. So be thankful that this person tried to keep them. He or she was just the caretaker of these fine cars. I currently state that I am not the owner of my 39 Desoto but just the current caretaker and that hopefully there will be another caretaker to this car after I have gone. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I also have a Sear 12v unit and I get plenty of light from the gun.. remember red clip goes to the ground or the head bolt and the black goes to the power source. You can clip the spark plug wire connector to either 1 or 6 spark plug wire. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com