MarcDeSoto

This may be the best looking 46-48 Dodge I've ever seen. I would have loved this car in high school! And I still want it, which is why I am working on the 48 DeSoto, a Palm Springs car.

Yes, the original fuel line is there, but it ends right about where the Master cylinder is with a screw on connection. So the line continues around the frame to the flex hose on the other side. I guess it's always hugging the frame. I probably have the missing line somewhere in my parts.

Thanks for all the tips! I noticed my fuel line ends on the left side frame and I don't know how the fuel line is routed to the other side of the engine. Does anyone have a pic of the routing?

It's easy to find new brakes lines. Why is it that fuel lines don't seem to be available, except for the short flexible fuel line? Or should I just keep the original fuel line?

As you can see on my left door, I do need new door handle springs. Thanks Denmark for telling that these springs are available. Are these the springs you mean? https://www.ebay.com/itm/1941-1952-Dodge-Chrysler-Plymouth-Desoto-Door-Latch-Remote-Springs-Set-Repair/393133695229?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5b889820fd:g:EKwAAOSwEN9bVNGT&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACgBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn%2BzU5L90Z278x5ickkyMJZWL%2BqFSgQ3TOOe%2FNr7j8MOQ%2BxAGuNFhyVrUQbTN0nJ6BpaEXuVoXLOQvKSbq0TXM6kHtzXA5TRK%2BGwwpvCxIMpA%2F8yREWDjeNgsLURLEotS6ioKy2lV3tM49f%2F5n%2BOZlzkxAHYjxHL9GZMFtzTP08gBksRA4TUKUvw1de90G6Y%2BkFvJ3lnWHh13zH%2B1aeTft4hUSwX373fWCkCAlHdffHYYjHShAjNRG6OkYUGG%2Fy9yIKnE3sM6T3p5Hkdq3UHcR9LwYc0NszdRDDgdJ2wjrJzg40fma%2FEESPdXnCCInSOFUImCHYxKfWavNGHHmQOBkQEROzjAJx%2FK93oAfkMJ2RwLs%2FmfN0ccNRXSCf6JF6jQv9C0a2iUJ2y7%2FmdekBLtE81jjBBUMSMavs4dScNw%2FP1pqDPHj5a55hMgFmpw6qLgSq5%2FAI4%2FyvBY6AOS%2F1ExvpPzpH1I9QeECdhrDTAIkSBpqME1jpMpynZQtfQhG%2BUDkinhJheu4U7Ya%2FXZpIq1GXu7GDzaeFUzEQG5XV94HqO6%2FqJvG62lSkFl97%2FLN9x8sxIXqynXYcgH9%2F5WuZJIpje5fL593ELKUd4ARaYkX3eQsfV%2FNp4zyYpaaJ5FBuHWPmOYiU4nD%2Fd7z5lfkpz%2FL0NWYgcAPvWPR2oscz0oxFIT%2FZ79F9ybo1IqRgdqUiamo%2FQhC3QQiRRwhnlkQpxlPVIYznb1LQF16jl2iHH2%2FMkWI1ZM6Tz7nLTzNGteMuVaGaJ1pc%2BPQwpq6pj4Lb5hlpOu1M0yXVRDBVGBGplsW4xh%2BzTcDJo7A%2BDFyIy0A%3D|cksum%3A39313369522906e291d24f0440e0bc1cb89d28468690|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524

Look at the maroon paint on the cowl. I painted it about 1983 right over the original paint and it hasn't aged a bit. MaddMax - I measured the heights off the ground of those mounts. The first one was about 19" off the ground, the second one was 18", and the third was about 20" off the floor. James - I found the frame serial no. about mid way on top of the frame on the left side. Would that be the same number as on the body? The flashlight shows where I found the serial number.

I've always loved the 41 Chrysler styling! The boat prow grille, the thin bold bumper guards, the art deco lines, the sculptured tail lights! Congrats of a beautiful car! V. P. Harry Truman's choice in 1941! He bought two of them, a Royal club coupe and a Windsor 4 door sedan. As far as stripping the car down to bare metal, there is no reason to do that if I can believe restoration expert Matt Joseph in his On Restoration series in Skinned Knuckles back in the 80s and 90s. Joseph said the only reason to take it down to bare metal is to say "I took it down to bare metal". But he thought if the original paint has adhered to the body for sixty to seventy years, why strip it? I'm just going to lightly sand it, apply some primer surfacer, and go from there. Of course on some areas such as the roof and the top of the deck lid some of the original blue faded away leaving red primer. I might go down to bare metal in those locations.

Did you finish your 47 Dodge yet? I saw that you started the tear down in 2014. By the way, the body is not on jack stands now. It's on a sturdy body cart. Also, my jack stands are good. They were not on the recall list.

At first, I thought I could remove the body from the chassis alone. So, I'm glad a got a buddy to help me do it. It's a two man job for sure. We had to get the front of the body much higher than I thought for the rear frame to clear the bottom of the front 4X4 post. My buddy thought we could keep the wheels on the rear axle and just deflate the tires, but I didn't think that would work. I thought about using my wheel dollies to ride under the rear wheel hubs, but that turned out to be a bad idea. The leaf springs and shock absorber mounts got in the way. So I used the floor jack under the differential instead and it worked fine. I was able to clear the steering post without unbolting the steering box from the frame. We carefully lowered the body to the body cart by going around the car and lowering each side a couple of inches at a time. We had to put an 8 ft. 4X4 across the back of the cart to hold the body better. After the body was on the cart, we found that there was no real need to screw the body to the cart. The cart was super easy for one person to move the body to the other side of the garage.

Also, if you go to too low of a rear end ratio, wouldn't it be a real slug trying to start from a stop with the non torque converter Fluid Drive? I know my 48 DeSoto cruised the freeways just fine that way it is with a 3.73 differential. I didn't cruise at more that about 60, but if I wanted to cruise at 75 to 80 and get tickets, there's an easy solution. Drive your modern car!

I've never done this, so don't take my advice as gospel. I've heard from other posters that putting a 25" engine in a Dodge creates fit problems with the fan touching the radiator. I would use the 23" Plymouth engine as I think it would fit, but you should get others advice on this.

yes, I agree that one looks good, but it is still missing things like the radio, clock, heater, and doesn't show the detail of the factory diagram, such as fuses and circuit breakers.

After looking at harnesses unlimited schematic for the 48 DeSoto, it didn't look accurate. It had eight cylinders and an alternator instead of a generator. And lines are so close together, it made my eyes tired. I think I much prefer the original shop manual diagrams.

Thanks 1941! I should have checked that myself because I have the shop manual for the S-13, 14, and 15. I believe the S-14, 1950, will be very similar to my 48 DeSoto. Looks like the radio is wired to a 14 amp fuse, then goes to the accessory terminal of the ignition switch. Pretty simple. I think I will take my 49-51 DeSoto shop manual down to Staples and have the wiring diagram blown up for easy reading. I just took my 49-51 DeSoto shop manual to Staples and they are blowing up the 1950 and 1951 wiring diagrams to a whopping 24 X 36 inches! It only cost $8 total! Marc.

I went to Fed Ex to have my wiring diagram blown up to 18 X 24. Then I got some colored Sharpie pens to color the wires in the diagram according to their color code. After that, I put the Egge Machine numbers on the wiring harness onto the correct wires in the diagram. The shop manual does not include the wiring for the clock, radio, and heater blower motor, but does include the wiring for the hand brake warning light and the back up light. In addition to the different colors on the wires, Egge Machine put numbers onto most of the wires, which are described in a two sheet list. Glad I still have that list! I called Egge and learned that they stopped making wiring harnesses decades ago. Can't wait to get my DeSoto wired up!

Yes, Chrysler cars used many military names during the WWII era. Dodge had Bombadier Blue, Seaplane Blue, Cadet Gray; Chrysler had Spitfire engines; etc. I like the interior on that car, partly original and part seat covers. I like it. I'm not sure why there was a Town Sedan or what the purpose of it was. Possibly some people did not want sucide doors, especially with children.

A lot depends on where you are located. If I wanted your transmission for example, shipping would be very expensive. I'm in So. Calif. Marc.

Looks like that gasket is available on Ebay. It's just $4.84 and free shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NORS-CARBURETOR-AIR-CLEANER-MOUNTING-GASKET-1942-1961-DODGE-PLYMOUTH-1556663/113929378327?hash=item1a86b85a17:g:mNMAAOSwfOBdqzR8

There definitely is a gasket between the carburetor and the oil bath air cleaner for all 1940s MoPars. It's a kind of thick heavy type gasket that sits at an angle if I remember. I'm looking at a P-15 Parts List under the Fuel section. Under Air Cleaner it says GASKET, Air Cleaner to Carburetor, Part no. 952062. I've been around these cars for 40 years and gaskets are required. Many cars are missing it just because someone didn't put it back on after removing the air cleaner.

For my 48 DeSoto business coupe, the right side door interior panel with the L shaped stainless steel molding. Haven't found one yet. Mine is there, but the bottom half is broken off and missing. The club coupe has the same part.

The problem with a lot of these Chinese and Indian parts are they have no idea what the part is for. They are given the size and shape and they make it without regard for its intended purpose to cushion the body from the vibration of the power train.

If they are soft rubber, I don't really care if they're Chinese. Is rubber from 70 years ago from MoPar still good? That is if you can find any NOS.

Has anyone bought this set from Mopar Pro. They say they produce them and the rubber is soft. https://www.ebay.com/itm/173383040603?ul_noapp=true

And Marmon is a Berkshire Hathaway product. that's Warren Buffet's company. So you only buy MoPar brand rubber? Hasn't it turned hard by now also?

I just bought some rubber top mounts for holding the bell housing for my 48 DeSoto. Even in 1948 Chrysler warned about buying hard inferior bell housing and motor mounts. I just ordered these Maromon ride control A2014. They just cost $2.52 each so they are cheap, but are definitely not good. They are hard as a rock! So has anyone ordered these where the rubber is soft and pliable?