desoto1939

Contact Restoration Supply in Windber PA. They have headliner kits for cloth in the old style naped cloth and also vinyal and also all major clips. Go on line and search for them. I purchased my headliner for my 39 Desoto from them and it was precut and sewed and fit perfectly. Here is there link: www.restorationspecialties.com/ Rich Hartung

Rockwood. I have the plastic filter inline just prior to going into the carb and this is sitting above the manifold. It is approx 5 inches above the manifold. I have never had any issue with it melting from the heat. If It did touch the manifold then I guess it would melt but it is not even close to the heat source. Also if you are having a major rust issue then drop the tank and clean it an coat it. Also put a filter before the fuel pump to catch any junk. Rich Hartung

We have also been finding out that the newer brake linings are starting to get glazed quicker and when this happens the the lining get hard and then the brake will have the affect of a wet brake line and the car will pull. I have had this on several occassions. I now have gone back to the rivetted linings and use the old style brake linings that had the aesbestos. I have the Ammco tool but require a down payment on it to insure that you return the tool. Contact me at Desoto1939@aol.com ALso go the Tech Archive and look at the photos of how I did a demo with the tool. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

IOn my 39 Desoto I installed a fram inline plastic gas filter. I like these becasue I can see if the filter is getting dirty and any sediment will drop to the bottom of the filter. I was able to purchase several of these at Hershey this year for a buck a piece. Every year I install a new one at that price. Evey at a couple of bucks from Walmart this is real cheap insurace for the carb. If you had coated you gas tank with the older sealeant material i do know that this now starting to flake off and has been causing some issues. Also If you have an electric fule pump at the back of the car I would also put on a filter to help catch any sediment prior to going into the filter. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

On Plastic wood like trex there are limits on the spacing between the joists to insure that it will support a load. If I remember correctly any trex on a 45 degree angle must be 12 on center if running straight they recommend 16 but no more that 24 on center. If you plan on standing on the bed with a load or have seral people in the bed it might not hold the weight. I would recheck the spacing on the bed rails and frame to make sure you are not getting into a potential safety issue. Just my 2 cents. I built a trex deck several years ago and they do have spec's that you need to follow. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I was taking off the wing nut on the top of aircleaner ofn the 39 DeSoto. I then heard the sound of clink. I had noticed that the thread rod that is used to hold the wing nut and hold the lid to the cleaner had fallen into the carb. Now i was very nervous because if the srew rolled then it could have gone into the manifold and then into the engine. I lucked out and used a magnet onthe flexible spring style and was able to get it out of the carb. I now had threaded an extra nut onto the thread screen so that it can not come loose again. Suggest that everyone check this on their cars and add the extra nut just a word of caution and this might save a big headache for someone. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I have electric wipers on my 39 Desoto and this was standard not optional. They do make a barrel adapter just like the large knurled end that is onthe vaccum style wiper arms. These can screw on or press fit and some use an allen keyed bolt that attach to the end of the wiper transmission. Best is to go to a flea market with your units and see if you can get the adapters to fit the wiper arms and wiper pivot transmission. Look inthe small parts boxes when the you are looking at wiper blades and arms. Rich Hartung desoto1930@aol.com

If I remember correctly someposted onthis several months ago. And if my minds works then I think they coated the letters with some type of film of a soap product or grease then sprayed the entire emblem. Then when the pait dried the jus wiped off the grease from the fron of the letters and then the space between each letter was painted. Do so searching any you might find this posting. Do a search on the topic Quick emblem resortation technique. Arthur1947 posted how he did this on 8/25/2009 and it is a real simple trick. Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com

I guess this should be a popint for everyone to look at their policy to see how their car is covered at an event like BJ and other auctions. Is the aution house the one responsible for the coverage on each car. I would also assume that you sign some kind of liability waiver so be careful are read and ask questions. Prior ro going to an auction I would always raise the coverage onthe car just to be sure you are covered. Rich Hartung

If they had used the Ammco brake gage to adjust the shoes correctly several years ago then the lining has worn down since you have been driving the car. In most case as I had stated in a previous post you probably only need to perform the minor adjustment. Please call me and I can walk you throught this. I have the Ammco tool and alsothe Miller MTC19 tools. Also did you go to the Tech Archive and look at the posting on the brake tools that I also had posted. Minot Brake adjustment is all most a yearly thing with this older cars and if you learn to do this you willsave money and get to know your car. This is a very simple job to do. If you can turn a wrench then you can do the minor brake adjustment. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com 484-431-8157

Since you are taking the car back to the shop to have them adjust the brakes I would suggest that you ask them if you can go into the bay area with them so that you can watch what they are doing. This way you will learn what they are doing and then you can always make an adjustment if you ever had to do one. Learning from a mechanic is great and remember knowledge can never be taken away from you. You paid for the service originally so get your moneys worth. This is just my 2 cents worth. Case in point, when ever a contractor is doing work at my home I watch and ask questions to get some knowledge ad so I can do the same job in another room if need or make an emergency repair. The more that you know about your car the more you will feel comfortable when taking the car on trips and long drives away from your home base. Rich HArtung

Mike: If you are going for points judging at a POC event you might lose a couple of points, But from your prior posts you had stated that you wanted to make a very good driver. Since the head on your current engine is working and I also assume that the engine is not being taken down then I would not worry about this very small detail. If if you went to an AACA event you might lose a point but the judges do not look at the stamped serial number on the side of the engine block to confirm that the correct motor is in the car. Also remember that someone that owns a modern car and I say this with tongue in cheek a 1985 chevy might be jusding your car and might now know alot about your car. The system has flaws but they do not know everything about every car. If the correct engine is inthe car and someone replaced the head and you can get the new head then this is fine but if the engine was replaced then go with what you have. You willnot get back all of the money that you are dropping into this car. The new car guys are looking for the high performacne cars with the Hemi's and not the old L6's. If you have deep pockets then go for it but in my opinion I would not spend the money. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

The issue might be a worn vibration dampener. This would consit of the lower pully on the front of the engine that has the timing mark. These have a ruber encased pully and they breakdown over the years. This happened to me after having a new clutch and Pressure plate. Changed the Dampener and the engine smoothed out completely. this was on my 39 Desoto big 6 engine Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

It sounds as if the brakes need a minor adjustment to get the linings closer to the drum. remember these old system do not have automatic adjusters like the cars of modern times. As the lining wears on the shoe the arc has to travel further when you push on the brake pedal. JAck the front of the car up and support the car. You willhave two cams for the upper adjustments. Pull one to lock the shoe against the drum then backoff and spinthe wheel so you have a little bit of drag. Then do the other shoe. Then pump the brake pedal to get the brake fluid into the line since you moverd the shoes outward. Then do the other side. Test to see if the pedal is now firmer. Then jack up the rear and do each drum inthe back. Let us know what happens. Also go to the technical section on brakes to review the use of the miller and Ammco tool brake adjustments. I did this demo at last years AACA convention in Phila, PA rich hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Mike: i have a 39 desoto and the dash knobs and also widow handle knobs are very hard to find even the escuthion for the handles. They have a pink taupe coloring. There was person in Florida that had made some but I have not seen him on ebay for over a year. rich Hartung

at the end of the film is a parade of parts. Boy would I love to have one or both of those Dizzy Caps that fit a 16 Cylinder Car. Those caps are worth a bundle now. This is a really great film onthe company and shows how hard or grandfathers really worked in the factories. I wonder if our kids of todays could workthis hard and in some of the conditions that these people worked in. Thanks to all of these workers they made the USA of old now we shipp it out to China and other countries. Rich Hartung

On the eccentric anchors there are horseshoe clips or c clips. Insert a thind flatbalded screwdriver in between the pin and the clip. Use a hammer to nock the clip off the anchor. The clip is soft metal and is a spring clip. If youhave removed all of the other mounting hardware for the brakes then the shoe willslide off the pin. The pin is held onto the backing plated with a castle nut and a cotter pin on the back of the backing plate. Loosen the nut and remove the cotter pin. Since the pin might have a lip on it to hold the cylinder in place you might have to drive out the pin from the back and then the cyklinder should come off the pin take note of how the assembly was put together. Install the new cylinder put the pin back into the backing plate put castle nut back on. The put on shoes and other hardware sung up the castle nut put the drum back on bleed the brakes then perform the adjustments. reinstallthe cotter pin lock the castle nut down. Then perform minor brake adjustment. The Ammco brake gage tool maes the adjustment very easy. Go to the technical archives and lookup the Ammco brake tool adjustment slides. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

After my engine was rebuild I have been using 10/40 with a filter and have been running this since 1987 in my 39 Desoto. If your engine has not been rebuilt then I would try to stay with the straight weight oil since the engine is has been running with this for a long time and if you do not have a filter thenthe stright weight willnot foam like the detergent based oils that need a filter. If I remember correctly you would use straight weights when you did not a have filter on the car. That is whythe older cars used the straight weight. After the filtering systems were put on cars then we started with multi viscosity wieghts and also the cleaning agents. I might be wrong on this but this is what I have been told. Rich Hartung

If the cylinder has some rust then trying honing it out to get it smooth. Then retry but put the drum on this time or get some one in the car to press the pedal a little to see if the right shoe moves out but do not push the brake pedal all the way to the floor. Put your had on the left shoe so as to get the right cup to get the pressure. Try this first and let us know what happens. Else either sleeve the cylinder or get NOS All 39 fit. Here are the EIS numbers for all 1939 Model Right front EIS 6126 mopar # 678157 Left front EIS 6125 678158 Right rear EIS 6128 678323 Left Rear EIS 6127 678324 Hope this get s you pbm solved Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

To All: I did my look up of the bleeder screw number using the Catlog that you can get if you go to Frank Mitchells at www.mmpar.com. If you can print this it is a good reference manual to go for replacement parts After getting to the home page select the link to Hotsheets, then scroll down and then you can click on his link to his online catalog. The nice part about this is that it has part numbers that you can reference and you can print off sections and also you can save it to your PC. It take this with me when I go to the flea markets and also Hershey. Rich Hartung

The mopar number for the bleeder screw is 854039 and fits all wheel cylinders from 1939-42. I do know that there are different tapers on the screws. I might have a few from my 39 DeSoto since they use the same fitting. Try a NAPA store with this number to see if they have some in stock. Do you have an additional wheel cylinder in you stock pile of parts. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com 484-431-8157 cell phone

Ok gys and gals, Lets all put this topic to rest. We are all interested in restroing our Mopar cars and trucks and other off brands. It basically does not matter which brand or style of vehicle we have chosen to restore. Some people want to restore a vehicle to as they came off the assembly line others want to improve the car to a more modern driveable car or truck. Each owner has their own direction and opinion on what they want to do and how long it might take them to achieve the finished product. I support the members that want to maintain and improve their cars. As stated in prior statements some of the members have been in auto mechanics as a living and also have done body work as a living. These are the members that can offer all of the members some of their best advise on how they handled situations that have occurred during their lifetime of working on cars. Since most of us are not mechanics but do have some mechanical skills we do ask for your advise and rely on your experiences. I for one is a member on this side of the forum. I try to answer questions that I feel can be benefical to peole of provide information that I can verify to be correct. All this being said lets all try to change with the start of 2010 and turn over a new leaf. We are here to help each other and not setup a hate relationship. If you have a problem with someones question or answer or disagree so strongly than you might to reply to the person via personal email just to cut down on the BS that seems to fired against each other. Lets just enjoy the hobby. I was told always to pass on my knowedge to someone else and then someone else will pass on their knowledge. I do not have a Ply or Doge that fits within this forums design but have another vintage Mopar 1939 Desoto that has some of the same mechanical attributes so this is why I try to contribute information. If anyone has an issue with my comments please feel free to contact me directly on my home email at Desoto1939@aol.com. So from this point on lets all be on a more positive basis with each other. lets support the most important rule that was taught to us a kids, the GOLDEN RULE, Do unot others as you want ours to do unto you, Respect begets Respect!!!!!!!!! Rich Hartung

from my information the king pins from 1939-53 for plymouth all used the saME NUMBER AND FROM AN old napa catalog the number was momouth A290 tie rod ends 39-54 right 1 pair Monmputh 5060 39-54 left 39-54 1 pair monmouth 5131 hope this helps in your search also look on ebay these parts are always being listed but maybe not buy the same manufacturer. rich hartung

Insulator set, steering housing to frame. Replaces #684980-1. Set includes both inner and outer pieces. 1940: Dodge, DeSoto (6cyl), & Plymouth 1941-52: All Dodge & Plymouth 1953-54: Dodge (6cyl) & Plymouth 40-0422-36.....$ 90.40/set -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I did a search on steeles webpage and he has the steerbox insulator that mounts on the fame and the steering box. This is not a cheap item but this is what you might need Rich Hartung

Mike: Thansk for getting backto me onthe type of shoes that you have on the car. i did have some old bonded shoes and converted them to riveted. I placed the riveted lining on the shoe and clamped the lining onthe shoe. drill the holes and then mounted the lining with the rivets. It can be done just need to take extra care and clamp the lining to the metal brake shoe. rich hartung