Bingster

Rebuild! Then & Now have excellent rebuild kits. BYW, they have little C clips that fit into grooves on a stainless pin that hold each ends of the rocker arm pin on the pump. Easy to rebuild. I've done it. See other post on pumps.

Bernbaum has a brake shoe adjusting tool?

This should get you to one of his videos and the click on his icon and there's a list of videos for various cars and pumps.

I rebuilt mine and it was very straightforward. Didn't seem to be too much room for screwing it up.

Then & Now also has great videos on how to rebuild the pumps. He tells you where to find the serial number on your pump.

Thanks Rich. I checked them out. Is rebuilding my wheel cylinders myself too risky a proposition? I see rebuild kits and the pistons seem very simple. I don't know if they routinely need to be honed out or good-to-go if they look okay.

There are numerous wheel cylinders available for a '47/'48 DeSoto S-11. Any Made in USA?

There is a YouTuber who does "This car is 500 years old. Will it Still Run" and his young son is his "co-anchor." The dad is a very nice and knowledgeable guy, and as far as I've seen generally gets them all running. It's amazing to me how these old rust bucket engines still start with a little persuading. Anyway, this nice kid - Ralphy is his name - is getting a great education in mechanics, and actually takes part in the work, then his dad lets him drive the car around the property after it's running. And it's obvious that the two of them are very tight. What great memories that kid will have of his dad later on.

I rebuilt the fuel pump for my '47 DeSoto and I was surprised at how straightforward it was. Of course, I haven't put it back on the engine yet. If it leaks, it's maybe not as straightforward as I thought. I had to get over the fear of completely botching a "complicated" part. A carb is more of an example of teeny jets and such. Ouch!

There is a guy on YouTube who has a series of videos on reupholstering his 48? Chevy. He goes into all of it. A good video, but it's a lot of work and he made some mistakes. The seats in his car were more or less similar to mine, a '47 Desoto. I also did find a source for seat covers, but I don't think they'd serve as anything you'd want to keep in the car once it's done. But for me to throw over the front seat while I'm working on it is great. I am amazed at the low cost. It's about $40.00.

Well, it could be generic because I'm not fussy as long as it covers the seat. It's for a 1947 Desoto.

Does anybody make seat covers like in the J.C Whitney and Grand Auto Days?

I have a '48 Desoto and am facing the very same brake problems. These brakes are notorious for being somewhat of a bear to adjust. I'm not looking forward to that. And I hear that the aren't as reliable as some. But I must say. I always thought that converting to disc must be a very involved and expensive job till I saw somebody do it on a YouTube video. It seemed pretty straightforward with the kits you can buy. And discs are I guess the bees knees. I still can't justify the cost of converting, especially as I have the shoes and such. But it's tempting. Of course, that blows the historically accurate brake system.

Do I see Mary on the dash?

Great job! I am intrigued by how you might have painted the insides of your door panels.

Does the discolored areas on the radiator in this photo mean there's a leak?

Good ideas!

Actually, it's in a metal building and the car has never been out in the elements while I've owned it. Humidity, yes. Cold, yes. The floor in the building is dirt because I didn't have the $$$ to pour concrete. My compromise was to build a "platform" where the car sits firmly so I can put jacks under it.

The guy started it when I bought it but it hasn't been started since. I've done work on the engine accessories like the oil filter piping arrangement, starter, fuel pump, some electrical, etc. things that had to be done before I attempted a start. A friend and I turned it over with no plugs about a year ago and one or two cylinders spewed some of the MMO that I'd been pouring down the spark plug holes to keep the cylinders lubed. In fact, just today I could easily move the fan. I have no doubt that with spark it'll start. What condition it will be in I'm not so sure about. The car had recently been a street runner when I bought it. But I figured that I should see if the engine was in good shape before I finished the rest of the car. When I bought the car, in my haste I did a stupid thing and began taking parts off, some of which I labeled the screws and others not. It'll be fun to search in the parts book and see the fasteners for each part. Actually I've done a lot of that. I have a pretty good collection of articles and threads from this web site that explain a lot of things that I'll need to do. I've copied photos from guys on here that show the floor pan bolt types and things like that that I can identify. I was looking today and I have quite a few parts ready to go. New shocks. Brake parts. Master cylinder. Some home made sheet metal, and quite a bit of floor pans and other sheet metal blasted, primed and painted black. What I would like to know now is if there is a video showing how to upholster the front and back seats. I'd like to sand blast all of the springs and metal, and get them painted before doing the upholstering. I've been looking for a local college which offers a course but nothing around here. I've also been working on a platform to put the car on before I start jacking it up on dirt. That's taken up a lot of time. I'll tell you, Dave's video gave me the bug to get out and work on Carlo this summer.

Marc, I agree. I've read your posts and I don't know precisely how much of the engine work you've delved into yourself, but you seem to be a pretty hands-on guy. I have watched other flat head rebuilds but machine shop work and new parts can get very costly. I am all for bringing the engine back to factory specs, but I've had the car about ten years now. I have done quite a bit of metal restoration back when I had the time. I'll attempt a start pretty soon and see what I have. I figure even if life forces me to sell it, I can get more if it's running and drive-able.

Well, I read the old posts of Dave's "technique" and am always amused by the varied reactions. All I can say is that it gave me a better idea of what went where on my flat head. I get pumped just rebuilding my fuel pump! I would not attempt pulling the tranny out because up to a point I could probably do the things he did. But I know that in my financial situation - especially today - it's a case of do I want to run my car or not? Grease or money? But even time is precious these days. Paying the bills leaves less and less time to turn a wrench. In Dave's defense I'd also say that the inspiration to get out and work on my car by watching him gave me a boost. Every year I say I'm gonna get Carlo running and it doesn't happen. I am saying the same thing this year, and watching a video like this gives me the courage to attempt it.

I ran across this video in a multi-part series that describes how this guy rebuilt his P15 engine. I found it pretty damn good, considering I know very little about doing that sort of thing. Some of you have probably seen it.

Thanks, Sniper! That one looks pretty good.

I'm starting my '47 DeSoto when the weather gets warmer. I watch a lot of the "will it start after 100 years?" videos on YouTube. Seems that after they get one started, they'll pull the head cover and see if the valves are stuck. Then the compression tests. So any good ones that aren't terribly expensive?

Some great info. Thanks!