desoto1939

Brian I have the miller tool that is used to hold the lower control in position and then you screw in the outer bushings. This prevents the control arm ends from being pushed into far. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Do you have rusty springs inthe rear, can you see the rust on the leafs., You could go to a spring shop have them take the springs down and then have them put the anti squeek between eah spring leaf. Try spaying the leaf with penetrating oil this might help. Rich HArtung

How about going to an Alternator for your car and get the highest amp that you possibly can get. If this is a driver than go that route. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

I will be attending a wedding in August 15/19 and the wedding is in the Rutland Vermont area. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

The original horn relays for our cars would have been made By Autolite. But other electrical vendors such ad P&D, Echlins, Blue Streak, Delco, Sorrenson, NApa, to name a few also made components to fit our cars. I have offered up to the members a cross reference listing so that you can track you various parts. When you look into the various catalogs you will generally find that if it is now an Autolite catalog but say is a P&D catalog they will also list the Autolite part number to help the counter person get the replacement part that their respective shop is dealing with. remember there were alot of independent part dealers and it according to which vendor gave them the best price that htye did busin ess with so you wil have a lot of cross over. If you are going for a points car then the correct manufacturer of component needs to be onthe car but if a driver no one cares. If you want a copy of the X -reference contact me. Here is the X -refernece catalog. So if you know your autolite distributor cap number then you can look under the other various manufacturers and find their respective part number for your car. This goes back to at least 38-39 and up to 1962. The cost is $15 delivered to your home and willbe on a CD. Great reference material when searching for parts at a swap meet. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

the 36 desoto and back according to my Master parts book used the grease fitting. 37 and up did not use the grease fitting hose onthe throw out bearing. Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com

Juan: The bracket that you have the accelerator spring connected to looks to e the bracket for the Oil Filter Assembly. I willhave to look in my 36 - 42 MAster parts book to see if a can find an pictures. If you have a 37 Service manuals it should also show you how the sprint is attached and where it is attached Rich HArtung Live near valley forge PA Desoto1939@aol.com cell 484-431-8157

Over the years I have seen old stock oil filters for our various cars. Some of these filters can be had at some good prices. My questions to the members is this: How many of you have purchased any of these filters, including MoPar factory, off market, Apco, fram and what ever is being sold to fit your car or truck? Have you had any issues with buy these old stock filters? I am just concened that putting in a 20+ year old paper element into the oil canister is not a good idea. You Do not know where the filters have been stored. Has the element become old and the filtering paper would start to come apart and then you clog up the lines and cause more issues? With the cost running around $10 form an new replacement dropin filter I feel that this is the better option. The technology of filtering oil has come along way and also you are getting a fresh filter instead of something that might be 20+ years old. This is just a posting to get some of the members to have some input and for a general discussion. Hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day Holiday and please remember all of our fallen service Men and Women that have served for our great county and for our current service Men and Women that are serving in our Armed Forces. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

In the carter pump that you are using how old is the pump. I had an old style rotary 6v pump on my 39 Desoto and the new fuel killed the diaphram. I replaced this with an Airtex 6v pump that goes on the fuel line near the gas tank. Most electric fuel pump are NOT designed to be a Puller style like a mechanical FP that we have on the cars. So they need to be at the fuel tank to push the fuel. This might be your issue. Look at the instructions to see if they indicate that it should be setup as a pusher pump and not a puller pump. Locatin might be the issue. If this is an older pump I would consider chnaging over to the Airtex pump. cost around 48-55 dol;ars on the Bay. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

On the picture of your engine there are two bolts infront of the temp sender bulb that goes intothe head. There would have been a braket that would have been bolted at this point. There were two major types of oil filters. The cansiter style Fram PB1/2. These were good for approx 8K miles. You would disconnect the two lines and then replace the entire canister with a new one. Wix did make an aftermarket unit but they have discontinued these. These canisters can be found but are costly and range from 40-60 dollars according to manufacturer. Most owneres have converted to the type that has a metal housing that bolts at the same location. The metal housing then holds a drop in filter. SOme people use the Napa 1010 or the 1080 ? I think this is the other number that some use. I use a NAPA 1010 on my 39 Desoto. There are many units that can be used since as stated above these were add ons either by the dealer or by a garge. The NAP filters run arounf $8 so it is not costly to chage them out every year and $8-10 is easy on the pocket book vs 45-60. I Also have a Factory NOS MoPAr oil filter unit in my parts. I also have an Atlas canister model if you want to go back to that style. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Ok: according to My Borg-Waner U joint catalog: 1940-52 Chrysler 6 cars use the Detroit number 114-265 some of the old stok was numbered 114-225 and when they ran out they then used 114-265 1940-52 Chrysler 8 use the Detroit number 114-262 XreferenceS: Detroit 72625-2 BW 114-265 Perfection RG265 BW 114-265 Precision 300 bw 114-265 This might help in you search for original U joints Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Check the little wires that are on the breaker plate. They could be loose or rubbing and the outside cover could be shorting out the dizzy. ALso check the condensor it could be bad. Did you put in a NOS braker plate? The old condessor could be old and still not working correctly. Just some other thoughts. Rich HArtung

If your Battery is under the set you can use any good 6volt BAttery. I think you might be a group 1 battery. I use the NAPA 6 v but any one is fine. If you are planning to have the car judged at an AACA event or Chrysler Convnetion and the battery is visable then you willneed to have the correct style tar top battery. If I remember correctly I think they used the Willard battery. These are not cheap,but if you are planning to make this a fun car and a driver and take to local shows and are not a perfectionist then a general 6v battery will work. It all depends on what you plan to do with the car. During the rebuilding process get a generic bateery and then when finish then get a period correct if this is how far you want to go with the car. Also this should be a positive ground setup not negative ground check your data on the car. SO if Positive ground thenthe positive post battery cable will be going to the frame. ALso do not use 12 volt battery cable. The car will start when it is cold but when it get hot the 12 v will not carry enought juice to get the car start or it will struggle and grind to get started. Yoiu willneed to get the 6v 0 gage battery cable to get enough electrical supply for the car. We all have been there and done that. Check all ground wires and clean up the contacts. Grounding is very important on 6v cars. Rich Hartung - Desoto1939@aol.com

Since your 38 seems to be still original and when you took off the side panels to the hood is the color on the underside a dark black with a sort of green tint to the inside sufaces? If this is that way and not the color of the car then this is the factory color for the insdes. They did not paint these inside parts the same color as the car. i have a 39 Desoto that had this dark black greenish paint sort of an primer paint. Also note to see if the under side of the hood is the same way. Take pictures of these panels for future reference if you are going to paint the car and if you want to keep it as original looking as possible. Most owners just paint these sections the same as the body color. But if you plan to have it AACA judges then pictures will save you when the judges questionor want to take off any points. You have a great starting point and will have a fine car when you are done. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

This might sound like a dumb question. Is the distributer seated all the way down into the block. I had taken mine out to do a tuneup and then reinstalled the dizzy. It felt as if I had gotten the end of the dizzy shaft into the slot. I then tighten the lockdown bolt. Then tried to start the car but it would not fire up. So I had a friend stnad but the ca to see if anything looked incorret. We then took the dizzy cap off and then crancked over the car. We noticed the rotor was not spinning it was staying inthe same position and not rotating. I then loosend the lock nut and found out that I was not in to the slot inthe end of the oilpump. Moved the dizzy saft and then locked it down again. Sitll would not fire but the rotor was not spinning. So I knew then That I was 180 degrees out of sequence. pulled the dizzy again and rotated the shaft and got it into the proper positon and then fired up. Check this this might be your problem. Just a guess from my part. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

plenty of them on the bay rich hartung

I looked in my 36-42 Desoto master parts book and the clutch release grease tube is only listed for 1936 Desoto and the part number is 633286. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I will first look at my 36-42 Desoto MAster Parts book to see if there is any indication that the grease line was used on your 37 Desoto. I know on my 39 Desoto they did not use the grease line.. I 1976 I came thru Carson City when i went across the USA on my bicycle ride across the US and then we climbed up to Lake Tahoe and then onto Sacremento and then ended in San Fran. What model S3 do you have? i have a 39 S6 four door sedan Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

young ed: I also agree and with the indents by each spoke on the wheel also indicates that the horn ring has three arms. This might be a Dodge and by the way it looks as if there is a cap that goes over the top of the hole. My 39 DeSoto steering wheel looks very similar to this example, but I have a bango style on my 39 Desoto so that is why i am thinking dodge. The 69xxxx number is around the 38-39 vintage. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Ok here is your timeing information: for Desoto's from 1949-53 six Spark plug gap: .035 Breaker gap.020 cam ang;e 35-38 Fire order 1 5 3 6 2 4 Timing mark Second line BEFORE 0 mark on the vibration dampener or TDC is 0 Plugs AL-AR8 On the vibration dampener then will be a flat spot. Clean off and grease or grime on the flat spot then Take some sand paper to get down to bare metal. Shine a good work light on the flat spot you will see tiny lines cut into the dampener. You might see a large line in the middle with a zero and then smaller shorter lines before and after the 0 (TDC) You can then put a fine white line using a fine paintbrush to indicate 2 degress before TDC. Now also mark the tip of the pointer on the crankcase cover also in white. Now your timing light will pickup both marks when the light flashes. When you took the dizzy out of the block did you mark the block to indicate the same exact position to put back into the same position. You might be out by 180 degrees. You should have a slot or keyway at the end of the dizzy shaft. So either you are on mark or could be off mark by 180 degrees. I think number 1 on the cap and the rotor should be around the 7 oclcok position when the correct firing order is setup. Rich Hartung

Also to get a better grip get one of those rubber flat items in your wife kitchen drawer that is used to grip the lids on jars and use that to get a better grip on the center button so you can twist it off the center of the wheel. Surprising what this lillte things can help get undone. Rich HArtung

Since the cap has a lot of wear I would also replace the cap, points and rotor and condenser also check all the little wires inside the dizzy. Since you state things are worn out then replace these items should be replaced because they are important in get the spark also. Rich HArtung

did you change any of the wires for the spaqrkplugs, are they in the correct order. How did you verify spark? Did you take a plug out and have it connected to the wire and then turn over the ngine to see is the plug is sparking. Are oyu getting fuel into the carb did you chnage the condensor what is the gap that you are using. If I remember correctly it shoul de 20 but bring it back allitle to 18 might be open too far. If you have spark and fuel it shoudl fire up unles you are out of the correct timing sequence. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

The number pertains to 1939. I looked in my motors catalog and the 39 Chrysler/ Dodge/Desoto and Plymouth do not have this number. Maybe a dodge truck or Plymouth truck rich hartung

Don Smith: Also say hello to Tim Fagan. When he came east for our convention he was visiting realtives in Washington DC with his convertable in which he had just gotten the new roof installed be fore coming east and someone in DC slashed the roof on the car. He called me and i told him to come to the convention and we would over look the issue of the rrof. i was able to contact an auto interior guy and he patched the roof for him and his was able to show the car and then was able to get back home without a leaky roof. Have not been a member since 2000 and Les can fill in all the details on that when you get some time to talk to him. Rich Hartung