desoto1939

One thing do not use starting fluid or ether to prime your carb. If you spray starting fluid down the carb and the car does not start then you will cause more damage. The starting fluid needs to ignite and get the car started, BUT and here is the issue. If the car does not start then the vapors and the fluid that was sucked down into each cylinder acts as a Degreasser and then strips the oil from the cylinder walls. Most people stop trying to start the car so the pistons on the next try do not have any lubrication and now you have bare metal. It might not be that much of an issue but just wanted to bring up this topic. In you car manual there should be a section on car starting in cold weather. I also assume that you have a sisson electric choke on your car. Is this setup properly. The sisson choke is an electro maganetic choke that needs to be set correctly to close the choke butterfly. I have the instruction sheet on how to set these up. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

on my 39 desoto on the front seat I just lift up on the bottom seat section and the entire bottom portion of the seat cushion comes out as a unit. The you will see the two rails that the entire unit move on a right and a left rail. These bolt to the floor. Unscrew the four bolts for each rail and the entire back cushion and the frame of the seat can be removed from the car. The bumper bolts for the bumper have a nut on the inside of the bumper. Crawl under the front or rear bumper and look to see if the bolts come thru the bumper. Unbolt the bolts and the bumper should come off the car. Rich HArtung

Marc: So true about the cost of antique cars. A lot of the guys are older and gew up when things were cheap and now they can not get ahold on the current prices that sellers want for their cars. On this car that is for sale the current owner might have paid 3-5K for the car and wants to get some money back on his investment when you think about what he might have put into the car just to brake even. Just going to Hershey I have slowly seenthe increase in prices. The cost of a site is $90 and I remember when it was cheaper than that. Rich HArtung

The car hobby has changed, yes it has and the older pre war and after war II is no longer of importance to car collectors any more. I have seen this slow decline over the past 32 years just from attending the Hershey swap meet. The car hobby has changed to the Hemi cars and high performance cars and trucks, BUT these cars are so OVER PRICED that they will also lose there appeal because the market keeps changing. So you buy a Hemi Cuda for 100k then you are afraid to drive it because of the cost then it sits and deteriates in condition over the next 10-15 years and now you lose money on the car. So buy what you like run the hell out of the car and have lots of fun and enjoy the hobby so one mans pleasure and price that they can pay for a car is not what you will pay, but the idea is that we have saved another car from the crusher, another person joins the hobby and the hobby continues and maybe this gentleman has a son or daughter that wants to get involved with the hobby. This a positive thing not a negative thing just because of what someone else wants to pay for a car. Its the continuation of the hobby and then enjoyment of the hobby. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

I agree with Plymouth Adams. Just go price a nice paint job on a car today you are starting any where from 7-10 k. Tires period correct for my 39 Desoto with the ribbed sidewall and in White for 5 and new tube were over $250 each and I picked them up at Hershey plus moutning and balancing at $15 dollars each. So I just have over 1300+ in tires even though it is a door the older cars are still not cheap. If the interior is good and usable and you do not have do do that that is another 3000. Quality material runs approx. 90+ per yard for the period correct cloth plus installation. Yes some of this can be done by you, but just price out a good compressor air and water filter, a very good spay gun, material to remove the paint, material to correct any body damage, paint primer and then top coat paint. These all add up. The cost to chrom eplating is not cheap. Just to do a triple plate on my rear flat style bumper is running $500. So when you start to figure in these cost I do not think that $7 is that bad of a cost. Also remember that Mecum, B Jackson car auctions have driven up the prices on these older cars. We are not living back in the 60's when these cars were cheap the cost to find parts is going up just watch the prices on Ebay, the parts are getting harder to find even at Hershey with over 8000 car venders in one 4 day event. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

the foot switch should be on the left side of the floor board near the driver side kick panel. Have you lifted up the floor mat or rug to see if there is any type of indication of a prior hole. So assuming that you do not have the floor switch then you only have a direct wiring setup to only have the low beams work on your car. The h/l beam floor switch is a generic item and would have a wire running from the headlight switch down to the floor switch. then a wire running out to the lowe beam on the wire block and then the wires run to the low beam on your headlights. Also a sperate wire running from the foot switch out to the wire block for the high beams. If there is no prior hole then first get the foot switch and then determine where you want it to be located. You will have to drill out three holes, one for the button to sick up thru the floor board and then two smaller hole that use two screws to attach the foot switch to the metal floor boards and then run the appropriate wires from the headlight switch and then out to the headlight terminal block. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

This is rich Hartung with the 39 Desoto. Great to see your 40 Dodge moving and running on its own power. First, can you contact the prior owner to contact them to see if they had added any brake fluid to the master cylinder which is under the floor pans? Since the car seems to be a fresh barn find I would assume, and assuming that the prior owner used off the self brake fluid, and that would have been Dot3. Do not install, again do not install DOT 5, that is silicone brake fluid and IT DOES NOT MIX. If you are going to install DOT 5 then you need to bleed the entire brake system with denatured alcohol, Install all new rubber brakes hoses, rebuild each brake cylinder with new rubber cups, also rebuild the master cylinder with all new rubber components. DOT5 can be a purple color and or even a yellow color. Dot five will not remove paint from metal but DOT3 or DOT4 will remove paint when spilled on a fender or other painted surface. I have lots of cross reference catalog for this car such as the autolite electrical components and other info. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

This is rich Hartung with a 39 Desoto. I have a similar tag on my 39 Desoto. If you look on Ebay for paint chips for your car you will find next to each paint chip there are numbers. These numbers refer to the specific body color for your car. the 566 refers to the type of material that was used on the interior. If you lookin your parts manual in section 23 arounf section 23-AQ you will see some number and this will list if ther interior is a pile cloth or bedord cloth and or leather interior. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Since you are asking the part number question we can all assume that you do not have a parts book for your car. My answer would be to first purchase a copy of the 1949 Chrysler Royal Parts book. You will need this is you are planning to restore your car and to also look for parts on ebay and other vendors parts listing. I am not trying to supply you with a smart ass reply but this is one of the basic catalogs and also the service manual for your car. You also might want to check restoration supply in Windber pa, they carry a lot of clips and rubber molding for antique cars and trucks. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Clay, Rich Hartung, It is a very very fine adjustment with the screw. It take time and a lot of small in and out turns. I had the same issue on my 39 Desoto but I finally got them both to work. This is a great winter project since you can do this type of work in the house so long as the wife and or kids do not mind the sound of the horn going off and on. Rich

also check where the small wire in the above reply that there should be a rubber plug that has a slot that the tag from the breaker plate extends to attachs the wire. If the tab is hitting the body of the dizzy body this will also cause you to ground ut the dizzy. There also should be a small bakelite brownish material on the breaker plate tab to help stop the BP from grounding out. I have seenthe rubber plugs on ebay. I still might have a few in my supply area. I just did a search on ebay and the part is Autolite IGS-34 there are acouple listed and it also has a picture of the rubber plug this plug was used from 1935-50 Mopar part number 648029 this is a picture of the plug from ebay Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

you have the same MC as in my 39 Desoto. The rebuild kits are available and can be gotten from Andy Bernbaum. The MC is very easy to rebuild so long as there is no scoring in the main area where the piston goes in and out. You can rebuild one in less than an hour if this is your first time. You can also get an new unit off of ebayMC complete for around 175 and that should have everything and just add brake fluid and bench bleed the MC prior to putting it in the car. If you have more questions please feel free to contact me. Also look on ebay there are MC rebuild kits, get one that has the piston. The 39 Mopar parts are not an off the slf item but there are more ply parts then Desoto parts. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

I have a 39 Desoto. Had a similar pbm. The brakes worked fine for 30 years then one day sitting in the garage pumped the brakes to test in the winter and then pedal went to the floor. Started checking the backing plates of each wheel to see if any leaking brake fluid and found none. The next day got back in the car and was able to have a good pedal, very odd then the pedal went to the floor. Pulled all four drum not leaking and wheel cylinders. Knew it had to be the MC which as you know is under the floor board. Pulled that. Took it apart thinking that I might have a torn rubber seal. No torn seals, no score or markings in the main piston area. So decided to do a complete rebuild and changed the piston from the aluminum to a brass piston. Put in a new check value. Bench bleed the MC and installed the MC.. I then had good brakes with good travel as per specs. The next day the old parts were on my work bench I looked at the check valve and noticed a very slight cut in the rubber part of the value. This was the cause of my issue. The pedal when beaing pressed permitted the pedal to go to the floor and did not have a resistance. So I hate to say this but pull the mc and rebuild. Do you have any MC rebuild kits. Are you using DOT 3, dot 4 or Dot5 fluid. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Can you have someone help you test to verify that you are or not getting. HAve someone sit in the car. Pull the number 1 sparkplug wire from the sparkplug. Use an insulated puller to hold the end of the wire near the head or near the top of the number 1 plug. Have the other person turnthe key and crank over the engine. See if you are getting spark at the number one plug or not. This will tell you that you have a spark or no spark. Did you take out the dizzy and then got out of fireing order by 180 degress. The end of your dissy has a slot so you are either dead on or 180 out of rotation for firing order. Is the dizzy even turning or spinning the rotor when you crank the engine. So pull the cap have someone crank the car to verify that the rotor is rotating correctly. One time I did not get the slot allthe way down into the oilpump slot so I was not getting the rotor to spin but the engine did crank over. So also check this area. Are the sparkplugs wires in the correct holes in the dis cap and also on the correct sparkplugs to make the correct spark at the correct time during the rotation process? Rich HArtung

When cranking over the engine are you getting fuel upto the carb. Could be a fuel pump issue also or a clogged line. With these older cars a lot of the members have installed a 6v electric fuel pump near the gas tank to help with starting. The electric pumps are the pusher style and not the puller like the mechanical pump on the engine block. Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com

all joking aside and I like the fun everyone is having with this topic. But remember to test your antifreeze in your car and make sure that the water mixture is not looking like chocolate milk. If this is happening then the anti rusting agents have gone away. Also since we all have cast iron block I put an 11 oz bottle of antirusting agent liquid made by Prestone in my car each fall to help keep the anti rusting agents up to par and it also helps to lubricate the water pump. Also fill up the gas tank on your last run for the year. I also put Stable 360 into my tank to help stop any rusting of the metal tank. Add air to your tires and add about 5-10 Lbs more air to help keep the tires inflated for over the winter months. Also to help prevent flat spots on the old bias ply tires put a piece of old rug under each wheel. This wil lprevent the flat spot next spring. Either remove the battery or get a small tricke charge on the unit to keep it fully charged. This also extends the life of our 6 volt batteries. Put in some mothballs, and I willget the comment how do we get the balls off of the moths, or some ceader chips in your car. remove any food or left over items that might bring any critters to the car. Clean the tires prior to stoage. If you keep the battery in the car then every couple of weeks start the car and let it come up to full temperature. Pump the brake pedal several times everytime when you start the car over the winter to make sure that wheel cylinders are working and they are not leaking Keep the cover over the body to protect the paint. Any other suggestions can be added to this topic. Have a safe winter and hopefuly the car will be ready in the spring. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

Any good quality muffler and exhaust shop should beable to make you and exhaust and tail pipe system. Would go with stainless steel but you could also go with aluminum to save some money also ask about a quality muffler system so as to be quiet for your neighbors sake. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

glad to see and hear that some people in the local govt had the fore sight to save the old gas station. In todays society they want to tear down everything that is old. Keep pressure on the local govt to maintain the site, history is important. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Todd, The universal catlog convers cars and trucks starting at 1926 and goes to 1934. The 28 Dodge as you already may know uses Northeast electrical components. As you also may know these parts are hard to find at swap meets. Under each year for each covered car or truck it lists the Northeast part number and a description of the part. Also there are pictures of each part later on in the catalog. By having this info you are in a better opportunity to spot the correct Northeast part at any swap meet and this sometimes equates to a great saving in price since most vendors do not know what they if they do not have any cross reference catalog such as this catalog. The catalog is 188 pages and has been scanned and would be on a CD. The cost is $25 and includes the shipping to your home. Let me know if you are interested. I can send you a sample page Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

tom: Check all of the small wires inside the dizzy body one might have a bare wire and causing a shot. Also check where the braker plate assembly sticks out of the dizzy body under this opening there should be a rubber plug in which the little tab slide throught this prevents the breaker plate from making a complete contact. There also should be a bakealite insulator under the tab of the breaker plate assembly where is sticks out from the dizzy body. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

Todd Rich Hartung I sent you a PM regarding the Universal Catalog that I have scanned and also lists all of the Northeast components and Norteast part numbers. Check you PM. Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com

According to my Motors manual and tune up data for a 39 Plymouth the timing should be set at TDC or Top Dead Center and not 7 degrees. Also you might want to check the distributo beaker plate assembly. It could be worn and you might have excessive play or movement. Might want to replace this also to insure that you have a good internals on the dizzy unit. The breaker plate Assembly is an Autolite IGS 3004 which is the upper and lower plate with the points and condenser and all small wires. I have a few of these if you can not find one. I have a 39 Desoto and a lot of parts and cross reference catalogs for your car on CD's. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com