desoto1939

Yes that is the Correct factory switch for the heater. I have one of these switches and yes there is a plastic knob that goes over the switch and it has a small light bulb inthe socket. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Here is another way to see if the wires are leaking or need to be replaced; At nighttime the darker the better. Start your car open the hood. Then llok at each sparkplug wire, Do not touch tem while it is running or you willget a nice shock to your hand. Do not use any flashlight to examine the wires. Look to see if you see any blue streaks or lighting streaks coming off each wire. If this is happening the covering is bad and the wires need to be replaced. I would also advise on putting boots on each plug end. You cango to any NAPA or Autozone and buy sparkplug wires in any length that you need and then get the ends and other caps and make each sperate wire to be a custom fit. Hint only do one wire at a time some start with number one, pull the wire off the plug and then off the dizzy cap and pull it out of the wire holder. If it is the correct length then cut the new wire to the same length , put the rubber boots on each end then crimp the ends inplace. Put that wire back onthe cap and on the appropriate sparkplug. This eliminates the issue of where each wire goes from the cap to what plug, logical process. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

for hogs hair carpeting and for the door bottom kick panels they used hogshaid. Try Bill Hirsch in New Jersey. He did sell this at one point not sure if still available. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

on my 39 Desoto I use the aux or the post that is only hot when the car and the key is turned on. This insures that the fan can not run when the car is turned off. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

This is a pbm that most of us have when our antique cars sits for several days without being started. To help eliminate this issue you can put on a 6 volt positive grounded electric pusher FP back by the gas tank. It needs to be near the gas tank because the electric pumps are a pushing pump and not a pulling pump like the mechanical pump that is in your car. Also have a toggle switch installed so that you can turn the electric pump on when you are priming the carb after it has sat for several days. Let it run about 30 seconds and then try to start the car. This way the fuel has come up through the regular fuelump and into the bowel on the carb and you then can start the car with out grinding the engine and the battery. I have one in my 39 desoto. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

I always use number 6 sparkplug with my 12volts sears timing light. I just reverse the leads to be representative of the 6v positive ground and not negative ground. My timing mark on my dampener is approx. 2 degrees before TDC and I can get the car adjusted to that marking. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Here is the type of filetr that I use on my 39 desoto and the picture was taken off of ebay 33-59 MoPar filter around $35. It has the glass bowel and paper filter. I have this mounter directly before the carb when the needle value is onthe front of the fuel bowel. Last filter before it goes into the carb and lets you see that you have clean fuel and can be take apart easyily. But never take it apart with a hot engine since it sits directly above the manifold. Not trying to be a smart axx but just common sense instruction. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com 1933-1959 MoPar GAS FILTER Glass Bowl Plymouth Dodge DeSoto Chrysler Dodge Truck her is the lisiting

I know a lot of cars in the late 50-60 had spray on rust ont he underside of the car and frame. They did find out over the years and later on that this antirust process actually caused more rot out becasue when a stone or large object het the bottom of the car it would chip away at the material and then make a small hole int he coating. So when it rained or snow with rock salt on the roadways the melted water with the salt brine would get into the small hole and then get behind the antirust coating and then start the rusting process. The car owners never knew this was happening and then one day thy see a rust spot. I am surprised that someone did the interior along with the inside of the hood and other areas. I would also assume that the surface is not smooth but of a rough texture. This is going to be hard to get off the metal and might have to be blasted with sand or some other material to remove it. Thy have also found that when the plastic truck bed liners have been installed that the water gets underneath the liner and then starts to rust out the pickup bed and rusting occur also at the fenders. Also as a safety issue, When you have a plastic bed liner NEVER fill a gas can with gas while the gas can is still in the pickup bed area. The car and the liner can cause static electricity and then when the can is opened and the nozzle is placed in t e gas can the gas fumes and the static causes a spark and then you have a MAJOR Explosion. I worked in a Gas station and have first hand experience of seeing this happen. SO ALWAYS REMOVE THE GAS CAN FROM THE CAR OR TRUCK WHEN FILLING THE GAS CAN. THES SAME WARNINGS ARE POSTED ONTHE PUMPS. I HAVE SEEN OTHER PEOPLE NOT TAKE THE CAN OUTOF THE BED AND WHEN I SEE THIS I INFORM THEM OF THE POTENTIAL DANGER AND THEN SHOW THEM THE WARNING LABEL ON THE GAS PUMP. BOY ARE THEY TAKEN BACK BY THAT INFORMATION. I do know that on my 39 Desoto the underside of the hood and the side engine compartment panels were not painted the color of the car which was Steamliner gray. These panels had a very dark green black primer coating and the paint was a smooth finish. I think this was a base under coating or primer. This was a one owner car so I do not think anyone resprayed this area. Just some more information on undercoating. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

i have the handbrake on my 39 Desoto and my driveway is on a good slope downward to the street. When I back the car our of the garage and the car is on a downward slope to the street the front is higher than the backend. I use the handbrake and it holds my car in place. But I always set the transmission to be either in forward gear basically 1st gear as a secondary backup. To note I have a NOS unit on the car for about 25 years and it holds the car. I also have a NOS 38-41 Handbrake unit with NOS brake band webbing if anyone is interested. Fits Plymouth Dodge Desoto and Chrysler. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

On all of the postings on this topic and of the various body styles that are either up on a hoist on a cart or even on a rotating unit I have an issue with all of them. The issue is that the body has been removed from the frame. The doors have been removed and now you have no support for the door area. I have attended several AACA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia Pa and there have been each year several restoration shops that put on seminars about restoring cars and trucks. After they have taken the doors and truck and other supporting items they all do an X bracing at the doors and across the interior of the body to prevent twisting of the body. This is also to insure that the body does not get out of alignment with itself and that when you go to put the doors and truck lid back on the body has stayed straight. This is especially important if you need to weld in new rocker panels and or other major body panels. One of the restorers even use a hand pressure lawn tank to spray the interior of the rocker panels. He drills small holes so that he can spray in a rust preventer and to coat the interior panels to prevent any rust out in future years. Think about what you are trying to accomplish and plan it out and write it down and go over your steps several times before even starting the work. Have another car guy look at your process steps he might find where you might have missed something. And best suggestion is if you have gone this far do not rush your work you have one time to do it correctly and then after it is all put back together its too late to try to repair something else that should have been done. Plan and then plan again and then plan for the third or even 4th time. Take lots of photos because you will forget what you took apart. or how something goes back together. If you have a budget then and another 50% to the budget for cost overrun and for unknown repairs and issues and tools that you need to purchase. People wonder why a professionally total restored car such as a common Desoto, Plymouth, Dodge or even Chrylser has a larger selling price when the car is complete. Just think of the amount of time and correct steps involved such as the steps for just bracing the body. This is all extra time but has a cost if you want a professional restored ground. up restoration. Just my $5 comment. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Up on the flange of the air horn which is where the air cleaner unit sits look to th eleft of where the fuel line comes into the carb. On the flange is stamped the model of your carburetor and in a prior post they told you the number but did not tell you to locate the carb number. This is the information that you need to supply to get the correct carb kit. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I do notice that there isa lot of tarnish in the downdraft section of the carb and also tarnish and deposits in the bowel area where the accelerator pump is located. I would suggest that a total rebuild is needed. You can go to Harbor Freight and get a sonic cleaner to soak the parts in to clean out the carb parts. Also here is another suggestion. Get two cardboard egg cartoon containers and label each hole starting with Number 1 thru 24. As you take each part off the carb put in in the respective hole inthe container. Be careful there are two small ball bearing in the base of the carb. They are small but they are different sized ball bearings do Not and I say Do Not get them mixed up. This is why you make the and number the egg carton. Then to reassemble you start with the last part and work back to number one. This makes the process so simple. Also soak the leather accelerator pump in a little light oil to get the leather to become soft and then it will make a good seal to draw up when it is going up and down. Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com

Here is the sisson choke testing stand with the choke inthe starting position set at the Zero marking. Here is the sisson choke with the pin removed and the pointer is now set a 65 which is the temperature on the thermometer So the choke is working correctly. I have just come across a send testing stand but is missing the thermometer any thermometer can be used to get a base temperature. Here are pictures of the original sisson tool and setup kit that came in a leather pouch. Here is the information on each tool: I have had this testing stand and original tools for over 15 years. Most of the Airflow owneres have never seen the adjustment tool for the setup of the ones onthe airflows and Chrysler straight 8 engine that is tool AC-620. I found this whole setup on Ebay. So keep always looking. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I acquired several years ago an Autolite Service Traing Manual that is approximately 6 inches thick. This manual and technical training manual was used by the Autolite Company to officially train any car dealership service technician on the proper ways to diagnose issues and how to service a car or truck that was equipped with Autolite components. I took two small sections today and scanned these for your reading. The first section covers the Sission choke and the second section covers yes the lonely Brake light switch. I also scanned a larger section that just covers the Autolite Sparkplugs adn the approximately 25-30 pages of detail training regarding how the plugs were made, hot/cold plugs, gapping, condition very interesting reading. So baically this school is similar to the Certified Mechanical school that our new mechanics have to go through to be certified. Enjoy the reading with the snowy weather that we are having so you can gain more knowledge before we start using the cars in the spring. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Autolite Stop Light Switches.pdf Autolite Sisson Choke Training.pdf

Refer to Plymouthy Adams reply regarding the fuel filter.. When it gets warmer the go check the car to cold to be working on it right now. When you get some time blow some compressed air back from the fuel pump connection of the rubber hose and have the gas cap off. Have someone listento hear if they hear the air bubbles inthe tank. The line might be getting clogged at the outlet from the tank. If you have a glass bowel on the FP again check to see if there is crud and or an accumulation of gunk and rust particles in the bottom of the bowel. If you are getting this situation then you have rust inthe tank. Might want to drop the tank clean it out and then install an inline fuel filter, where the fuel line exits the gas tank and then another one inline just after or before the fuel line goes into the carb. If you put one in the engine compartment I would suggest that you do not use a plastic inline filter but get a good metal body unit that has the glass bowel so you can keep an eye to see if there is sediment in the bowel. Can also use fuel line cleaner in the tank a good product is the New Stabil 360 product and it is sold at Walmart and they have the cheapest price. This is a little different than their red fuel stabilizer product. do some reading on the product. I use it regularly in my 39 Desoto especially during the winter months when the car is sitting in the garage for several months Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

You stated you checked the gap of the plugs and the dizzy. But what are the setting that you used? Are they over or under the correct gap? Please let us know. How are the small inner wires on the dizzy? is the cloth covering exposing any of the bare wires or anything rubbing against metal. If you have the FP that has the glass bowel on the bottom of the unit then take this off and clean it and check for sediment also check the small screens in the base of the FP to make sure they are also clean of any sediment. Was the Coil a new coil or a used coil. It might be breaking down internally? Just some thoughts. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I am also now working correctly but did not do a reboot of my desktop. Original poster of the issue. Rich Hartung

After draining the oil and verifying that your FP is working or not and replace if not I would add anelectric FP at the back of the car near the gas tank to help prime the carb after the cas been sitting for a while. Yes even if you had the electric pump as a primer pump and the mechanical pump was faulty there is still the possibility of gas getting included with the oil in the oil pan. But the electric pump is a backup for staring and priming when the car has sat for a period of time. Rich Hartung

I have recently come across an strange issue. When i first come onto the forum on the Car side and try to select a topic that is not the first topic the listing will not open to view it. I then have to go select the current first topic at the top of the list and open this topic and view the listing I then return back to the main listing page and then I can select the second or other topics. This has jsut started a couple of days ago. Very strange. I was able to select any topic in the list. Has there been any changes made to the database? Does anyone else have the same issue? Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Moe of a camber and caster adjusting tool. Rich Hartung

Is the tag on these units red or green? If red then 6 volt if green then 12 volt. I can not find these numbers in my autolite catalog that ends in 1952 so might be 12 volt units. Rich Hartung

T120: yes i noted that the engine was from another car. The point that I was trying to make was that if something has changed but you think it might have beenthe original engine and not real sure of the approprate electrical parts then you have to do some searching to make sure that you have replaced specific parts with the appropriate parts such as in this case the engine was s wapped and then old dizzy might have been used or the original might have been used. So if the original wa used then asking for 1939 Plymouth parts would be correct but asking for a 1939 plymouth Dizzy internal parts might not work if the dizzy is from another year such as in this case. Have to know what you are replacing the parts with and to be sure they care correct. This mistake has happened to alot of car owners. Rich Hartung

All condensers are the same but the difference is the length of the wire coming out of the condenser the mounting bracket and the type of connector on the end of the wire. I have the Autolite catalog and it shows pictures of the various condensers and it should the Autolite number and the length of the wire and then the connector end. So this is important to know. Also just because you have a specific model and year of a car does not mean that you can just go into a NAPA or good auto supply store and say I have a 39 Plymouth and expect them to sell you the correct parts for your dizzy. Yes you might get the correct parts for the 39 Plyouth based on the books or computers information for a 39 Plymouth. But over time things wear out and someone might have replaced the dizzy from another Plymouth from a later or earlier year. If this has been done you will always need to know the model dizzy that you have such as IGS-4102 or IGS-4102C which is specific to my 39 Desoto but if someone put in a different model then then internal pats might not work. So you have to know the number that is stamped on the body of the dizzy to get the correct internal parts. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

over here inthe state the lens and the headlight rings can be found because the Plymouth has the most sales of the 39 Cars. What gets hard is the 39 Desoto and Chrylser. The 39 dodge is not to bad but the other two are getting harder and harder to get NOS and original parts. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I have taken a picture of a NOS Autolite Breaker Plate IGS 3004A This is the same plate used inyour 39 Plymouth and also used inmy 39 Desoto. As mentioned before I think some of the wire are not correct look at the pictures. rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com