Bingster

I live in Iowa. Where is this meet and what exactly is it?

I'll keep him in our prayers, Rodney. It is a shock when somebody close to you like that passes on. I had a couple of those kind of calls when two of the Pullman porters I mentioned to you died. I'd become close friends with them.

Is there any dvd or at least a book on rebuilding flat head six's for novices?

I've got a '47 Chrysler shop manual and in the back there is a section on maintaning and repairing their Town & Country woodies. Quite a program. They recommended re-varnishing every six months ideally, and say that the owners of such cars are able to afford it without bother. (my words) It also says how to make repairs. As a woodworker myself, it was pretty interesting. I don't think that the cars would be very practical in daily use in a climate such as Iowa where I live. They fit right in like in the movie Holiday Inn, where an inn or hotel might use one to pick up passengers from the train station. They'd have to be garaged and well taken care of, as in a driver or maintenance person.

Yes, very nice looking car. How long did it take you? I'd like to see a photo of what it looked like when you started.

Joe, I agree that if you really did admit defeat you would have stopped. Period! You have what all the great inventors had: determination and perseverance. I design and build furniture, and one design I had took more skills than I had in my bag of tricks at the time. I had to buy and learn to use a vacuum veneer table, and you should have seen the learning curve on that! It does get discouraging at times, but it's true that taking one step at a time ultimately gets you where you want to go. I raise my glass to you!!

Ed Speigel may have a NOS radiator for your car. Call him at 724 733-1818 evenings. Nice guy and lots of Mopar stuff.

Joe, you do nice work! I don't weld. I do have a pro welder in town who did my floor board. I guess I could have him take a look and see what he could do. I think Fusor is what I saw before. Thanks.

Thanks for the input so far. Joe, what gauge steel did you use? And no, it wasn't JB Weld. I believe it came in a cartridge.

I've finally dove into removing the rust from my trunk compartment and I have a few questions. Overall the sheet metal is okay with some rust through spots along the ledge where the trunk latch is located. I've been thinking about doing a Desoto Suburban treatment in the trunk by bolting a piece of plywood with aluminum or chrome strips running vertically. Even if I do go with carpet, the pitting in the metal won't show anyway. But the rust holes are another problem. I doubt welding would work due to the poor sheet metal that would burn through. I was thinking about making some new metal strips to overlay onto the ledge area and more or less rebuild it. Now, I've heard of an adhesive for autos that claims to be as strong as a weld. I forget where I saw it. They talked about using it in the trunk compartment. Then there's fiberglass, but I think I like the metal strips/adhesive idea better. And then, Eastwood sells a seam sealer caulk. Quite pricey. I was wondering if any of the standard butyl caulks for roofing or some other application would work. I've chipped away what looked like factory seam sealer but it seemed (pardon the pun) to be applied rather haphazardly. I was wondering if somebody tried to seal the trunk at a later date. The other thing is the spare tire wheel well. Rusted through badly. I recall some of you had some ingenious solutions to this. Well, I'd appreciate any tips. Thanks.

Well, the fella cross checked interchange numbers and said the pedal is the wrong one. So he's sending me my money back. (and I send him the pedal.) They don't show the back side of the pedals on ebay.

Thanks for the numbers. I do have a Desoto parts book for 1947 but the NOS pedal I bought has no numbers at all, so I have no idea what it may have been intended for. As the bolt holes for the pedal bracket are in the floorboard from the factory, and the accelerator shaft has to fit into the top of the pedal, you can see how the whole affair would be off with that bottom hinge in the wrong place on the pedal.

I just received a NOS accelerator pedal I won on ebay for my '47 Desoto S-11Custom. It looks basically the same as my old one, but the hinge at the bottom of the back of the pedal is about 1/2" or more lower than the old one with a smaller diameter hole for the bolt that attatches the pedal to the floor bracket. Also, the old had serial numbers molded into the rubber on the backside while the new does not. They must have changed something between '46 and '48 for this pedal arrangement, or my pedal is not for a Desoto but maybe a Dodge, Plymouth or Chrysler. Anybody know for certain? And maybe this is not a Mopar NOS part but an aftermarket one.

Does anybody have a factory photo of a '47 era Desoto S-11 with skirts or even a Dodge or Plymouth with factory skirts? There seems to be various designs in aftermarket skirts and I'm curious as to what a factory skirt looks like.

I'm looking for a right rear fender stainless trim piece for the Desoto if you run across one.

Thanks very, very much! I know Les, more or less. Met him at the Binder Auction in Iowa a couple of years ago and have emailed him for this and that. If yours has studs and nuts (sounds like an old Abbott & Costello routine) and is a '47, then mine must be correct. Of course, mine is a driver and so whatever holds the grille on would be fine. But I already made new studs with threaded rod.

From looking through an October 1947 Desoto S-11 parts catalog, I have the suspicion that the attachment method to bolt the front grille pieces to the frame changed from when the model was released to later in the year. I found those studs with two nuts used to bolt the grille on. The book lists bolts and washers but does list a stud washer but no stud. Now, this may have been the same with Dodges and Plymouths as well. If somebody has a '47 Desoto out there, could you look under the front grille area and tell me how the grille is bolted on? Thanks.

Are there any dvd's that go through the rebuilding process on one of these flatheads? It's pretty intimidating for a novice like me. I like to do the other mechanical stuff but an engine seems so . . . tricky. So many parts. Of course it isn't brain surgery.

Very good!!

Thanks guys. Well, it sounds like they will be okay. I know what you mean about the lower bumper rubber being vulcanized onto the steel plate, which has the bolt welded to it. I'm wondering what creates the platform, or base, for the lower bumper if there is no metal plate? I guess the steel on which it sits.

I need new upper and lower front control arm bumpers for my '47 Desoto. I can get the uppers re-vulcanized at Steele but have not found the lowers except at Andy's. Has anybody bought his rubber bumpers? I hesitate buying NOS due to the age of the rubber, and at $14.00 each Andy's seem a bargain.

Those 5752's will fit a '47 Desoto S-11 Custom on the front, won't they? What about the backs? I contacted Monroe and they said they didn't have a reference to go back that far and needed the specs to find shocks for my car. Mmmmm.

I second that! What a concept to give one's life so that others may be free. It's the ultimate sacrifice. Somebody made that same sacrifice about 2000 years ago! So thanks to all you veterans out there.

That Chrysler appears to be a Windsor by the Deco wrap around trim on the front fenders.

Hi Rodney. I'm curious as to how much movie companys pay to rent classic cars on location, and is it worth it? I'm in northwest Iowa and how does one approach this? Is there a list the studios keep or do you have to watch for who's shooting where? Thanks.