MarcDeSoto

This car has been garaged for most of that 40 year span. What was done on the rebuild? Everything about. Machine shop work: crank and cam reground, engine bored out .030. New rings. New pistons .030 over. I reground the valves according to manual. New bearings. New valve springs. The cooling system is working. Smoke is coming out of the exhaust pipe to exhaust manifold connection. Spark plug electrodes are turning black quickly. Does this engine start look normal?

I got a new fuel pump today from AB. This one's good. I got the engine running pretty good. A lot of smoke is coming out of the tailpipe, but I guess that's normal for an engine with a lot of oil in the cylinders. Oil pressure is 40 lbs. One thing that isn't working well is the accelerator. When I start to accelerate the throttle, the engine starts to stall unless I close the throttle real quick. I do see a squirt of gas when I pull the accelerator rod back when the engine is off. Any ideas?

They say a Noco Genius 10 can act as a trickle charger, but mine doesn't seem to work. It shuts off after 5 minutes.

They were unused plugs from the 40s, but they were wet from oil. I already know what got oil on them. I did a wet compression test and there was left over oil in the chamber when I put the plugs back in. I started the engine today and it ran for about 30 seconds before running out of gas. Can't wait to get the new fuel pump. Now I wore the battery down from cranking, so I am charging up the battery.

Do watch some Keith's Garage videos as he goes over engine rebuilding flatheads very well. I also have a 48 DeSoto, a business coupe that I've owned for 42 years. But I'm only now getting the engine started. The body is off of the frame right now, so I'm anxious to put it back on so I can rewire it and drive it. Don't make the mistake I did and take the whole car apart or you will have to wait 40 years to drive too!

I found out that the throttle shaft on my carb. was getting hung up on the side of the carb. body so the throttle couldn't close. I fixed that. But I continue to have a hard starting engine. Today, I came to the conclusion that my spark plugs might be wet with oil. I did do a wet compression test. So I pulled the plugs and sure enough, they were wet with oil. I put in a fresh, new set of Autolite plugs and I'm hoping the engine will start tomorrow. I don't have a new fuel pump yet, so I will try to start it with some gas in the float chamber.

I don't flare. I tried it but my flares looked too bad. I will replace the entire line. It's kinked pretty bad.

I wrote the vendor and he said to send it in and they will evaluate it.

I just noticed that I somehow put a dent in my new brake line that runs on top of the frame in my 48 DeSoto. Should I splice in a short section, or replace the entire line?

And Keith showed a pic of ketchup squeeze bottle and said to forget the fuel delivery for now. I guess I can hook up a gravity feed system until the new pump arrives just to get it started.

I did the sucking test where you disconnect the incoming fuel line and put your finger on the fuel pump intake hole. The manual says you shoud feel sucking, but I didn't. So I think I'm going to buy a new one.

I noticed that the fuel pump bowl had finally filled with gas after many weeks of cranking. So I unhooked the gas line from the carb. to see if gas was being pushed up to the carb. Nothing came out when I cranked the engine. So I put a vacuum gauge on the fuel pump and I got a 0.2 or almost a 2. I don't know what measurement I'm supposed to use. I assume the 2. The manual says I need the pump to produce 3.5 to 5 pounds. So it looks like my fuel pump is weak. Correct?

The engine finally started again, but when it starts, it is at full throttle. I'll have to figure out how to not have it at full throttle next time. I believe there is an idle speed adjustment on the outside of the carb I can adjust, as well as the idle mixture screw.

Just don't send in your old MC for the $15 core charge. A new one doesn't include some much needed parts that no one sells, like the push rod and the steel plug on top.

Put the radiator back in. Filled with water. Primed the carburetor float bowl with fresh gas. I have spark at the plugs. The automatic choke is working. But engine refuses to start now. Only thing I can think of is maybe I flooded it. Tried again to start it after 80 mins. but still no start.

Yes, I have the booklets, filmstrips, records, charts, etc. I've even contributed to the online website some filmstrips they were missing, such as the rare ones on the M-5 transmission. My only gripe about the filmstrips is the mostly horrible sound quality. It was caused because the sound editor digitized the records with a stereo cartridge. Even though they are long play records, they should have been recorded with a 78 cartridge. The records sound great then. You're lucky to get those rare binders and they look near mint!

What MTSC booklet is this?

Oh for a minute I confused you with another west coast Suburban owner, but his name is James Douglas! Now it makes sense that you know Les. I know him too from previous DeSoto conventions. The original color of an S-11 dash was a Flemish Gray. And a DeSoto would not have had a vacuum wiper motor. Those were on the cheaper Plymouths and lower model Dodges. The first pic shows an original S-11 Custom dash. The other pics below are my attempt to copy the original color and style. The middle part of the dash like on the glove compartment was burled grain also. The straight grain is easy to do with a paint brush and the burl was done by dabbing it with a wadded up newspaper.

Keith, you often say in your videos, "I'm not a mechanic." But with all of the videos that you've made, I hereby, with all the privileges and emoluments herein, pronounce you Doctorate in Flatheadology. A real mechanic!

Special thanks to Wagoneer who solved my problem!!! I went to HD and bought a bag of the same screws No. 8 32 thread X 3/8 long. I tried to screw in the new screw, but it wouldn't go in. My loose one would screw in easily. So I tapped the threads for a few threads into the Sisson choke. Now I could start screwing in the new screw. It was tight fitting, but that was good. I attached my wire coming from the stater solenoid, and I screwed the new screw all the way home. Now it's as tight as can be!

All good ideas here! Thanks. I cranked my engine to see if the Sisson choke would close the choke. It did, but as soon as I stopped cranking the choke fell back to slightly open. Does this sound normal?

I tried to solder the wire to the screw, but it just wouldn't stick. Soldering isn't welding I guess. Maybe I can super glue it?

I took my starter motor and solenoid into an auto electric shop and they rebuilt it cheaply. But that was 40 years ago. I just got it out of the box and put it on my car and it works great. Maybe try to find a shop that rebuilds starters?

This doesn't look like a 46-49 Mopar Sisson choke to me. It has the wrong part number for one. At that price, I think I'm going to keep mine and solder the wire! https://www.ebay.com/itm/185273325771?hash=item2b232698cb:g:5xMAAOSwIlVh8~3j&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoBENUM453hVdVFseowKsLoSRT22buaep20Sfzbi4860ZK8%2FqrGX9PMBXUxMncJf1%2BuiOYPGk%2FtfPy2%2BC12bWchEKTXyFadSFNlihZJ%2BJLayrbTCtZh%2BZwKBfuCm49beemkbzU%2FS2sfpvKrx0AwjvIGkilCYidAuF0P1OT%2FLEqZe3YPRhdiYBZI%2BHT35GgV4O7WbDAuLjHWyXma99zHNeu4g%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7LJ5qGzYQ

The Threadlocker didn't work, but that's not what it's supposed to do anyway. I think the only solution other that buying a new Sisson choke is to solder the wire terminal to the screw.