thrashingcows

Hey Welcome to the board....Looks like you've got your hands dirty once or twice... I would look at the Spokane WA car...that is basically high desert out there. My 68 Chrysler wagon came out of Yakima WA....not too far from Spokane. Bought it sight unseen and I couldn't have been happier...100% rust free. We did e-mail dozens of pics though. Good luck on your search!

Very cool. Pop off the tank sending unit in the trunk and take a look inside first. I too thought I was good to go with the tank in my 48 Desoto....but once I opened up the sending unit and looked inside I realized that it was not going to happen. There was a 1/4 tank of rust, sand, and debris in there. But please keep pus posted on your progress.

I was hoping to have rear drums you could get parts for pretty much anywhere....the 11x2.5 rear drums were used on so many applications from the late 60's on up into the 90's. I want to use everything from the later set-up. I can get the backing plate on no problem...the trick is getting the drum to fit properly on the tapered axle hub. Where I got to with the original axle, and drum hub, was it appeared I would need a 10mm spacer between the stock 48 hub and the later drum. But finding a single 10mm x 5 x4.5 spacer was proving to be a bit of a challenge. I was concerned about cost too. I really want to find a series of stock type parts that you can source from your local parts house, or junk yard. That is why I want to try and get a set of early 60's 8 3/4 tapered axle hubs...and see if those will move things out a little farther and allow the drum to mount without custom spacers.

I have been kind of working on a similar project. I have a set of rear drums 11x2.5 off a later mopar. Been trying to come up with a simple, and effect way to swap them onto the tapered axle and hub. I have been close to getting things together...but ran out of time so reassembled the original set-up and put the desoto away for the summer. Might try again this winter. I really want a set of tapered hubs from a 64 mopar with an 8 3/4...hoping I could make these work better with the original diff and it's axles.

I also installed all my delete plates...radio and clock. I might re-install the clock if I can get it converted to a new movement. And I never listen to the radio while driving my old vehicles anyway.

Wow sorry to hear about your issues with your "new" parts. But I also thank you for posting up all the information you have garnered so far....great help for others when trying to diagnoses similar issues.

And now a video of me driving up and down the street...with the new tires. What a difference having 4 new tires makes!!

And now Fernando outside with it's new Coker 7.60x15 Bias Ply wide whites.....

Then it was time to re-assemble the dash...again in a rush and didn't grab assembly pics. But here it is all back together and in the car. I went with Satin Black since I will be re-doing the upholstery in Ox Blood red leather and I think the Satin black trim, carpet and headliner will contrast nicely with the red leather interior.

I had bought a good used lower dash control assembly. This has machined turned detail and holds most of the cars switches and ignition. The original.... And the replacement. You can see that there is a lot of corrosion and dirt in the machined turned detail. I tried many different things to try and clean it up. I tried all kind sof cleaners and brushes...even a pressure wash...just wouldn't come clean to my satisfaction. I was wandering around the garage trying to think of what else I could try when I spotted a new package of small wire brushes I had just purchased. In the pack was a brass brissel wire brush...I thought this might clean the little grooves without damaging anything. Well I was right! All clean and looking better then it has in 60 years!

Then it was time to re-do the dash. I stripped ot down to just the shell...then used paint stripper to re-move what little original paint was left. Then gave it a coat of primer. I guess I didn't snap a pic of the white paint I put on the back side of the dash. This was a tip from a guy on the HAMB. And I was in a hurry to get things done so I didn't grab any assembly pics either.

Then it was time to clean up the original wiper motor and mechanism. No Idea if this unit works or not, I don't have any 6V to test it. So I'm hoping for the best. Old grease was pretty hard. Once I had it apart it went into the parts washer for a good cleaning. Then re-assembled with lithium grease. All done and ready to be re-installed. I will run a voltage drop to this unit once I re-wire the car to 12V.

Ahhh I see by the pics I forgot to talk about the firewall insulation. The original insulation was made mainly from carboard! With a thin layer of jute and the tar paper top covering. I did not want to re-use it the way it was so I went with some stuff called mighty mat. This stuff is only about 1/4" think so I doubled it up. Original and new stuff compared... Used the original cardboard as templates... Then re-used the top tar paper covering so it "looks" mostly original once installed.

Then it was time to get the re-done fresh air box in. Went fairly smooth...and glad I am that I took dozens of pics of this assembly before it came out. Getting all the braces and linkages back where they were supposed to go would have been a nightmare without those pics.

Once I got all that cleaned up it was time to clean up the cowl vent. Took a lot of PB Blaster and heat to get those screws loose to just remove it from the car. Then it was heat and more PB Blaster to free up the hinges. Once everything was moving properly I just sanded the under side and sprayed with some flat black. I had marked everything so when I re-installed it the hinges and vent would go back together the way it came apart....well that was no good. After a lot of trial and error I discovered I had to loosen all the screws and get the vent sitting tight in the cowl. Then tighten everything back up...worked great. Had to do this before I installed the main fresh air box. All done and working fine.

Had to order a new seal for the interior door....last photo in the last post. Thankfully Steel rubber had one. And then a new cowl vent seal. Other then that it was just clean and reapint, and free up the hinges on box doors. I then cleaned up the groove the seal sits in on the cowl. Little sanding cleaned it up pretty nice. Only one or two very small pin holes. Then mask and prime.... Then wait a day or two to dry and cure then mask and spray with flat black. I didn't want a tape line so while the paint was still tacky I used some acetone on a paper towel and carefully wiped the edges close to the groove. Came out great!

Well I'm long over due for an update...about 2 months over due. Desoto is in storage for the summer while the wagon gets it turn in the sun. Anyway here's what I got done before it went into storage. I had torn the dash and wiring out hoping I'd have tome to redo everything AND re-wire the car...well teh re-wire never happened. That is on the winter to do list now. Once I go the dash and under dash fresh air box out I dismantled the fresh air box. Turned out to be in really good shape...which surprised me since the cowl vent had rusted open many years ago.

I doubt it. I was not aware of needing talc when installing tubes. And thank you for that link. Might have to get those and get those tubes out.....Guess I should have come here first with my question on the oval valve stem openings...Doooh...

Well this tire shop has been around a long time...family owned for over 60 years. I trust their judgement and knowledge. They did say they had some oval ones for commercial trucks, but didn't think they would work. Also suggested a bolt in type valve stem, and when it crushed it "might" take up the oval....I didn't like that idea since it could have allowed the valve stem to shift and then loose all your air. If there is a special valve stem for this type of application I would have been all over it.....just never came across any reference to them in all the searching I've done.

Thank you very much guys....I appreciate the input. I knew it couldn't be just simple bearing grease...that poor motor would not be able to work in the winter when that grease is cold....

I finally got around to getting the old rims blasted, then primed and painted. And last Sunday was the big day....finally got my 7.60x15 wide whites mounted! After the rims were blasted and painted I noticed that 3 of the rims had oval holes where the valve stem is to go. I asked the tire shop if they could work around this as the tires I had were "tubeless". They said no...so I had to get new tubes installed as well. Fresh back from the tire shop..... And after a little simple green and a stiff nylon brissel brush.... Now I need to get my dash back together, so I can get the steering column hooked back up and get the car outside. Can't wait to see, and drive it around the block with the new tires.

Wondering what type of grease you used? I need to clean and re-grease the electric wiper assembly in the 48 Desoto before it goes back in.

Very cool pics! Thanks for snapping them, and sharing.

The yong lady doing your upholstry is doing a stellar job! Coming along nicely...looks great!

I like that idea...very clever! I need to ask though about that 12V motor you have pictured. What is it for? Heater blower motor?