Los_Control

Might be possible to find a kit, I've never looked or heard of others talking about them. Amazon has a 25' roll of 1/4" nicop with assorted fittings for $15. The nickel/copper line is rated for fuel,brakes, transmission lines. It is easy to work with and can bend or form it by hand .... They will not rust and should last a lifetime. you do need to flare the ends though. The 5/16" is needed for fuel lines on my 49, not sure about 47 .... I assume it is the same .... 5/16" is just larger and stiffer, does not bend by hand as easy as 1/4". Just makes sense to make your own at these prices and quality of material. .... In my book anyways. I had my brakes all plumbed and bled, then my rebuilt master cylinder failed .... I upgraded the master and had to change my new lines to work with the 2 stage master. Same with the fuel line, was easy to use original for a pattern and make a new one, but I have a idea to customize it and run a return line back to the tank. A kit is not going work for me and just better off to make it.

Sounds like you had a great day ..... It warmed up here also today. Was suppose to be 73 ... I dunno though I stayed in my office watching movies and took a nap. Then tomorrow is suppose to be a high of 34 .... until next week. Then back up to mid 50's and can get some more work done. I feel ya on the remodel work, it sucks to do both bathrooms at the same time .... I suppose if replacing the plumbing it only makes sense though. I need to replace all my water lines also and gas. I replaced the drain lines all ready, new sewer line all the way to the street. My water lines were crapily replaced with pvc years ago and it works, I want to run all new pex though and be done with it. What I'm saying is, My bathroom floor has a large access door cut in it, and the wet wall has some drywall removed for access to the water lines. My kitchen faucet is a couple of gate valves and pvc pipe. ..... As a old retired remodel carpenter, my wife is used to living in houses under construction everything works and it is comfortable .... I just stopped working on the house to work on the truck. For whatever reason, I want to remodel my house built in 1948 using my 1949 truck to haul the materials with.. I enjoy laying tile floors, custom showers .... I really enjoy all phases of it .... I just think it will be even more fun using the truck to get the job done. I just hope I can get the truck on the road driving by early spring time. My wife is getting noticeably frustrated with me working on the truck all the time ?

For whatever reason I have kept the tab open in my browser .... I refreshed it yesterday and was surprised. It has changed from order not found to order in transit .... no idea of a delivery date .... will probably get lost along the way I ordered my temp gauge from ebay and did not realize the seller was located in India ..... Think it was 3 months or more before it was finally delivered. I'm still expecting if they actually do arrive, will probably be tires for a Hot Wheels car or something else.

I have no knowledge of lead paint in vehicles .... not saying it did not happen .... just never heard of it. In the early days lead was used in paint to make it last longer. A good example is Red barns .... They could add more lead to red paint without it affecting the color ..... the more lead they added the longer the paint would last. The problem with lead is it is sweet tasting. So with modern houses in the 1940's, as paint peeled off the walls children would peel it off and eat it. The trick to avoiding issues with lead paint .... do not eat it. .... If you do eat too much it can cause brain damage. I'm just saying I have never heard of lead in automotive paint ..... always a good idea to wear a mask when sanding anything to prevent it from getting into your lungs. I strongly suggest you do not eat the paint you have removed. Anytime you cover it with fresh paint it is considered encapsulated and no longer a issue. Same thing with asbestos ... cover it up and no longer a issue. Try to remove it and it becomes a environmental catastrophe .... the truck will need to be seized and destroyed. Use your best judgement preparing the paint in your vehicle for new paint ... possible old paint did have lead but never heard anyone complain about it. Same time, lead is still used in paint today. Such as elevators or the San Francisco bridge. It does make the paint last longer, but only available to commercial companies. Just do not eat it!

I know I have a photo of it on my pc somewhere, I saw it 8-10 years ago .... Yeah it is pretty cool. More effort & time I want to spend to store tools.

A old trick a guy showed me was the dollar bill trick. If you lay a bill over the end of the tail pipe while it is running, the exhaust should blow the bill straight out. If the bill flaps back and forth, you will have some valves that are not seating. And you would be losing some compression through the valves. I will tell you I did this with my truck, I did not have a dollar bill so just used notebook paper. It flapped back & forth so quickly it ripped the paper in 1/2. My truck sat for years in a field and sure there were a few valves open and some rust on the valve seats. These engines it was common to have just the rings replaced or just a valve job done. .... Low oil pressure you would want to install new bearings. I believe the rings are cast iron, they just wear quickly compared to modern rings. This was in a way just considered general maintenance. ..... Question is, how many times have your rings been replaced or valves lapped over the years already? Pulling the head to measure the cylinders and inspecting the valves could be done. Everyone here seems happy with your compression numbers ..... I feel it may run for years just as it is also. I think it is useful to keep track of the compression, it will tell you a story. When I first got the truck delivered from sitting in a field for 20 years ... the compression was 115 60 75 85 75 90 I checked it awhile back and was better ..... Now it is 125 85 125 100 120 110 ..... best reading yet but still troublesome. #2 cylinder is way lower then the rest, I'm afraid I may have a stuck ring frozen to the piston and not rotating/sealing like it should. I will most likely pull the head and drop the pan and figure out whats going on .... I will not pull the engine for this though. 100, 75, 85, 75, 85, 93 .... I've heard as a rule of thumb, anything over 60 should fire ... barely. Sure would be better to see all of them around 100 in my book. If you are physically able, you can spend a little $$ for a engine gasket set, a new set of rings and lap the valves .... just freshen it up. Replace the bearings if you think they look bad .... This is totally mickey mouse by todays standards with modern engines running over 300k miles. But is exactly how these engines were maintained in that time period. I bet you might break a bolt along the way and will be a challenge ..... Either accept it as it is, or open it up and have fun with it.

Thanks @Merle Coggins I agree with what you say. I was really hesitant to trim the spring, just get the correct one and install it. I did examine and compare closely .... the points are identical except the length of the spring. So after trimming the spring, side by side they are identical. I'm thinking it will be fine. You can see from the photo the points adjustment screw and mounting screw are exactly where they need to be I'm still thinking it is possible I have a cracked cap or plugged passage in the carb so both will be addressed. I also woke up at 2:00AM and thought to myself, I never connected the power wire from the coil to the distributor when I installed it yesterday ..... It was getting late and really was just trying to wrap things up for the day and forgot. Naturally I had no spark to the plugs. .... I pulled the distributor back out so I could write down the number for ordering parts in the future.

Having free time is good. It is things we can not control that is bad. Something as simple as my distributor cap can be a pita. I ordered a cap for a 1950 dodge and it was delivered the next day from napa. But it was the wrong cap so I had to take it back and we used the distributor number to order this time, now it will be here Monday or Tuesday. That is 6 days waiting for a simple distributor cap..... No big deal, you just get used to being patient when dealing with 70 year old cars. It is harder to be patient when it is your only car .... myself I would be stressing out over it. My main goal is to have a complete set of spare ignition parts in case I break down on the road .... I can reach under the seat and grab the needed part, swap it over on the side of the road. .... Then order a new part to replace it with so I still have a spare in stock. These are things you can do to prepare yourself for future break downs ... Naturally having a spare Desoto for parts is pretty handy and would help immensely. I believe you could daily drive it if you prepare for it by having needed parts on hand And I'm a cheapskate .... some are polite and call me thrifty None of my business how well you will be financially set after you sell your house and what your new housing plans will be. I'm just a firm believer in no payments. My wife has a older Dodge caravan that is in really nice shape ... Just does not run ? I'm looking on FB market place for Caravans and you can find a few good deals for around $2k-$3k ... just be cautious as they often get over 300k miles on them and there are several that look really nice and say they run great and have over 300k on them .... thats a little much for me. Here is a 2012 they say it runs fine has 148K interior looks really nice the asking price is $2900. Keep all the maintenance up on it and could last you the rest of your life and no car payments! I do see some hail damage with dings on the hood. Also it is in Texas so no rust issues, not sure about your area ... do you fight road salt? That makes the used car market different. Besides no car payment, I imagine you are required to carry full coverage insurance. I carry liability and uninsured motorist in case I get hit by a uninsured driver. Very basic. 2 cars & 2 drivers we pay $180 every 6 months .... its not bad. So there is a big savings there also. Savings from insurance would soon pay for the price of a used vehicle. Then get your Desoto.

Was thinking I seen this truck for sale a few years ago here in Texas .... keep thinking it was in Dallas ... so I was looking for the location. The truck is in Sweden, they bought it in 2017 and shipped it over there. .... No idea how prices are over there.

There is always user error to contend with. I'm realizing that my distributor has been changed over the years ... so when I order parts I'm getting the wrong pieces and had to remove my distributor and take it to Napa and use the id number to order parts. So when I put the distributor back in yesterday, I now have a no spark no start condition ..... I automatically assume it is the new condenser that went bad. I have a know good working condenser for a spare and 3 brand new ones never installed .... that is how much I trust new condensers .... total junk. Just between you and I, don't tell anyone ..... I woke up at 2:00AM out of a deep sleep remembering I never connected the coil wire to the points when I installed the distributor yesterday. Naturally I have no spark. Now it will only take 2 minutes to hook it up and start the engine, curious to see how well the carburetor works that I just installed. I was out in the shop all day yesterday and just not feeling it today. I may go out later and hook it up and run the engine ... If I feel like it. If it was my only vehicle I would not have a choice, I would be out there fixing it.

It is good to think about things and have a plan. I think you can do all of the things mentioned while daily driving your Desoto. As just mentioned a fully restored car would be a good candidate, but more importantly one that is in mechanically good shape is a better candidate. Something you will not cry over if a shopping cart bumps into it and mars the paint. While it is important for the car to be in good mechanical condition if it is your only car .... Daily driving requires maintenance. Modern cars with computer controlled ignition and fuel systems, self adjusting brakes .... they require less maintenance or very little. Our cars are going to require regular brake adjustments, points and timing will need to be adjusted somewhat regularly, oil and grease .... seems there will always be something that needs tinkering with. .... Thats fine if it is not your only car. The first time you have to take your wife to a Dr appointment, and you find the choke is stuck or the points need adjusted ... you cant go anywhere til it is fixed, you will miss having a modern car around. A starter can go out at any time, imagine the problem you have had with your current Desoto and imagine it was your only vehicle The quality of parts for our older cars is almost criminal .... how they are poorly made but often only option we have. Just seems difficult to rely on them as a only vehicle. If they have the original drive train.

I'm in the process of changing the carb now. It was a interesting day. I picked up the new cap and it was wrong, does not fit. I decided to push forward and change the carb, I really think my other one needs cleaned. Once changed I now have a no start issue with no spark .... I was checking for spark and it did start. I just used a spare plug hooked up to #1 plug wire and it started on 5 cylinders. .... I thought the light orange spark was pretty poor. So now I sit with no spark .... The new cap will be in next week sometime .... I do not think it is the cap. Good possibility my new condenser just failed .... I do have a known working spare to try. I'm kinda leaning as coil went out ..... I will check condenser first. I have been looking at a issue that gradually got worse and worse .... now the spark has failed I have someplace to look. The spring on the points is interesting ..... I had to modify the new points. If you look in the red circle, I had to trim off 1/4" and then make new slot to mount the wires. The body of the points was the same and bolted in perfectly .... just the points spring was too long and needed trimming to fit. I think it is fine, and it ran exactly the same when I started the engine. .... I also needed to trim down the bracket for the condenser and relocate the mounting screw .... so it would fit the distributor. While not ideal, I do not think these minor changes would affect the way it runs. .... It did start up and run perfectly crappy just like it did before I changed them. .... Made zero difference changing the points/condenser. Ran just the same. Now I'm starting to wonder if the coil has gone bad. ...... I hate to get too involved changing parts. I'm thinking I will now install the new 12 volt coil & ballast resistor plus wire the 12 volt charging system. I do have a 12 volt battery installed, it is time to make everything correct and let the chips lie where they will. Sigh I hate changing too many things at once ....

That is a terrible idea. I personally am down to one vehicle while I work on my Dodge truck. .... It is a bad place to be. My daily driver truck is a older 1991 chebby that has a really good running sbc 350 & a manual 5spd transmission. .... 5 months ago the clutch went out .... It was a bad thing to be without a vehicle while I ordered parts to get it going again .... I think it took a good month for me to do the job. Other then a small bearing noise when I pressed in the clutch .... The throw out bearing just failed and left me sitting. I hate having only one vehicle for transportation. Today in another thread I'm working on a sad running truck where I'm trying to get the engine running better on my 49 Dodge truck. I ordered a distributor cap and got the wrong one .... getting the wrong parts for a 75 year old vehicle is so common that you can not get upset. ..... It cant be your only vehicle though. My chebby I paid $2k cash for it, it ran good but needed some maintenance ... So it is paid for. I have been driving it for 6 years, new tires, brakes, clutch, starter, battery, exhaust, distributor, water pump, u-joints .... I have no problem taking care of it as it breaks down, It is cheaper then a car payment. But I feel capable of taking care of it before it leaves me sitting on the side of the road ....... And I still fail at that. I have to admit that someone with higher power then me helps me out. When my clutch went out, I was just backing into my driveway. When my front wheel bearing went out, I made it home from a 100 mile trip .... yeah the next morning I could not drive around the block. Last week I was going for a 150 mile trip to see a family member in the hospital .... I told myself I had to check my tires. I have been making the same trip for a couple months ... Something told me I had to check the tires again ..... Sure enough I found a screw in the tire .... Had it fixed before going for the trip to see the family member. I get by with a hope and a prayer with one vehicle ..... I'm not sure my Angel would stick with me if my only Vehicle was a Desoto. Buy a older dependable vehicle, pay cash, keep it running .... Then buy a Desoto as a 2nd car.

I'm with you Buddy, sure is a lot better then taking Heroin based pain meds. A couple beers during the day just helps me relax. Dr ask if I want oxy codeine for pain ..... Nope I'm fine. I wonder if this is a Albuquerque thing?

Let me toss out my two cents You do not have to be a Ace mechanic to enjoy driving a Desoto. There are many different situations for different people ..... The one thing that brings us all together is we enjoy these old cars and they mean something to us. Some people like myself, I can not afford to buy a running driving vehicle. I do enjoy having the project and look forward to working on them when I can. Sometimes I think just having the project to work on keeps me sane. There are some people that can do the work, the investigations, everything needed .... They just do not have the time. So they have a mechanic or shop where they take the vehicle to and have it serviced. ..... Some while they know what needs to be done, just do not have the physical ability to do the job. I'm just suggesting that many drive old vehicles and we all have a different level of understanding, mechanical ability and time. A very good analogy is, buy the best car you can afford. Majority of people like myself, buy what they can afford, then spend years trying to make it a decent vehicle and in the end they have more time & $$ tied up in it then what they could ever sell it for. Sooo, in my book, if you can buy a running driving car, then use your experience to keep it running and take your wife out for afternoon drives ... take it to the shop when needed. You and your wife will enjoy the vehicle while you are still mentally, healthy enough to do so ..... Life is too short to be unhappy. So personally I'm all for you buying a running driving car and just figure out how it will be properly maintained for reliable driving pleasure. As far as using your existing car for a parts car ..... I dunno about that ..... I do not know the condition of your car, maybe it would be better for another to restore? None of my business. Just enjoy life while you can, it is much shorter then we first planned on. ..... If driving a Desoto makes you happy .... DO IT!

Looks like a old Hill Billy trick I might use when you have a flat cam. The lobes on the cam is flat and no longer pushes the pump lever far enough to make it work properly. So you add cam extensions to the fuel pump. To give it more lift. I wonder if it was someones Grandfather that made that in the garage at home, or if a company actually sold them? I can very easily be wrong here, that is what it looks like to me .... never seen one before. The fuel pumps are still available new, although it would be nice to have a original and have it rebuilt .... almost mandatory to replace or rebuild. The original rubber will not hold up to todays fuel and soon stop working .... if they do work now.

While one may call it the shotgun approach or throwing parts at it ..... One goal I hope to accomplish here is to have a complete set of known good working used spares, in case of a roadside breakdown. points, plugs, cap, rotor, condenser. I will keep them stored under the seat along with needed tools to change them if needed. I just have little faith in modern replacement parts. Since I do not have a spare cap, I need one to complete my set of used parts .... If it turns out that it is the problem. Well then I will throw the old one in the trash, and will still need to buy another just to complete my set of spares. As a old retired carpenter, is hard for me to get the correct mechanical terms out. I'm more apt to say "It revs up lickity split" Or I say the engine keeps dancing in and out with rpm changing. Like a couple dead cylinders coming and going. Then a mechanic jumps in and says " Surging at a constant throttle position with no load " I'm jumping up and down yeah yeah yeah that's what I just said. Sooo, Surging at a constant throttle position with no load ....accelerator pump is not in play. What about the vacuum advance? Would that be a constant vacuum leak and cause this issue? Could I just plug the port at the carburetor to test if the condition changes? And as far as installing my rebuilt spare carburetor to test with. I think it would be nice to know if my work was satisfactory and it actually does work if I ever do need it. To be honest, my new rebuilt carb I bought in 2018 has not led a sheltered life. Would be a good idea to go through it before actually driving the truck on the road. The photo is from a few years ago, you can see my fuel tank sitting on the bumper and same tank I use today. I really would not be surprised if it has a clogged passage inside, and can be causing the lean condition. So again I'm just calling it maintenance and not throwing parts at it. At least I did have the air cleaner on it, and where it is parked is where it will spend most of its time when not being driven. The cap is here, going to go pick it up and try it.

One thing I notice, is funny how our brains can play tricks on us. We can have pain that would have sent us to the Dr when we were younger ..... now it is just another day. I judge how my day will go by the amount of pain I have before getting out of bed. So many times my brain tells me I can do something, and I attempt it ..... then later have to bail out with the project unfinished. I will turn 62 this summer, so not really that old. .... But have been medically retired with a bad back and legs since I was 48 years old. I have really turned into a softie over the years, was 65F today and was wearing my insulated coveralls while out working. When I went inside and got down to T-shirt & jeans, I turned on my gas heater in the office and warmed it up to a cozy 85F

This is my thought also .... and it did run like this before I changed anything. I also doubt all new condensers. So changing points, condenser, rotor, plugs .... it runs exactly like it did. Something is obviously worn out or broken. Possibly a bad cap could cause it. I agree with @Dave72dt my cap does not look that bad, I assume it is why I never bothered to change it before ..... maybe it has a hair line crack and throwing spark around. My theory on current timing. ... I have the original hard line going from distributor to carburetor. Just drop the distributor in and let it relax, will be where it was before. Unless I forcefully rotate the distributor. My dirty little secret about my timing light ..... I bought it from the Good will for $5. Is a Actron inductive DC powered timing light brand new in the box and never opened. .... 6 years later the box has still never been opened. I plan to use a vacuum gauge to time it .... would be a good idea to hookup the timing light and watch the consistency of the spark/timing. Napa did not have the cap in stock, they did have it in the warehouse and will be in town in the morning.

I'm not sure about the vacuum advance. The carb I bought rebuilt from Rockauto and it was working fine. My biggest issue it seems is at a steady rpm you can really tell the problem. I have turned in the idle screw and it is running in 2nd gear at about 18 mph. Not sure how well you can hear it in the video, it just keeps dancing in and out with rpm changing. Like a couple dead cylinders coming and going but not consistently the same cylinders? I'm thinking neither accelerator pump or vacuum advance would cause changing rpm at a steady speed. I took a picture of the inside of the cap, we can see the shiny metal like a step at the bottom of the electrodes .... I'm thinking that is wear .... worn even, but still worn. ..... I think a new cap is needed, but not going to fix the problem ... unless it is cracked. It ran good but slowly & gradually started to run this way. So the new rotor, condenser,points,plugs have made no difference. Wires were new in 2018. Only thing left spark related could be the coil? I am ready to switch it to 12 volt. Will include new coil and a ballast resistor ... Just do not want to change too much at once then try to troubleshoot things. Unless it is the cap, will know tomorrow. I'm heading towards fuel related .... To me it feels like spark, I guess it could be a plugged carb. I do have the original carburetor. It ran ok but the accelerator pump was not working. I ordered a rebuild kit for it and went through it. Same time I bought a rebuilt carb from Rockauto and installed it. So the original carb I sprayed it down with oil and wrapped it up in the packaging the new carb came in and set it on the shelf. Just driving me nuts, I would think it would be simple to diagnose. Either a new cap tomorrow fixes it. Or I will bolt on the other carburetor ..... short of that I'm at a loss .... except for the coil maybe. Open to other suggestions. .... Not bad gas, I share the same 2 gallon can to fill up my yard equipment so it never gets old.

Random questions from a mad man! Why does my engine run so bad? It has slowly been getting this way, I figure as long as just driving in the driveway to move it around ... was never this bad though. I recently went through the distributor, expected I would find a problem there. I installed new plugs, the old ones were nasty. The wires are good I have replaced them .... pulling 1 by1 really ashamed can barely notice a difference. It starts good cold or warmed up, If I apply gas too fast it will start backfiring through the carburetor or just die. It will eventually get to 3k rpm as long as you apply gas slowly. I thought I put a new cap on it in 2018, pretty sure now I did not and it does show wear ... the spark from rotor would need to jump a little. ..... New cap will be here tomorrow. I'm guessing it might be some blockage in the new carb .... It has been running off of a open gas can for a few years. Easy to get dirt & bugs into the fuel system. But the backfiring through the carb makes me think ignition? Here is a video of it running, I have it in gear and warming up the oil in the trans.rear end to change it. https://rumble.com/v469dpr-running-rough.html

There are many ways that it has been done, usually by making a mounting plate for the MC then using the MC of choice. Another option is a 1991 Toyota Corolla, many have used it. It has the same oddball 3 bolt mounting flange as the pilothouse .... will need to ream out the holes slightly to make it fit the original truck mounting holes, you will need a brass fitting to adapt the 10mm Line threads to 1/4" brake lines. Will also need to shorten the rod going from the pedal to the MC. If you search this forum you will find articles from others that used this MC ..... also the results .... I've not read anything bad about the swap. This only gets you a 2 stage MC. Here is a photo from Rockauto, it is the one I used ~$46 .... The rubber cap on top I imagine could be modified to attach a remote reservoir to? .... I never have done it, would it matter if a guy just used a remote reservoir on the firewall and ran a rubber brake line down into the existing reservoir? I'm sure the reservoir could be removed from the MC, I'm just not sure how it attaches .... is it screwed in or press fit ..... I dunno. I do see other MC for sale with no reservoir on them, you use your old one and swap them over. Just a couple ideas for you.

Thanks for the tip. I did not realize it was a option in settings. I thought it was mandatory when it was introduced and just enabled it. Since I have no problems logging in on my desktop pc, I just went in and disabled it .... of course I did need to supply the correct answer on the pc and did so the very first try. With it disabled I no longer have a problem logging in on the phone. It was all small letters as I would normally use for a passwd .... K.I.S.S. This got me thinking that the android phone automatically capitalizes the first letter .... possibly I did not catch it .... That was the issue? I will enable the option in settings again and try the phone again ..... I'm thinking it was simply user error. ... Maybe @Bob Riding is having same issue?

Verification Required To protect the security of your account, please answer the following security question Nickname for your car? Or verify using another method > If I choose verify using another method, Login from a previously used device. Get an email to recover access Contact us for assistance I do not know how to create a screen shot with a phone, this is what I see on the screen though.

That is fine with me, I am using email & not user name. .... If it is not correct it will not go past that section .... for example I fat finger my password and it will complain the email or password is incorrect and not allow me to go further. I do get past that section fine, it is when it ask for my project name I can not get past it. .... Always comes up with the answer is incorrect. I feel like I know the correct answer .... but not accepting it. Same thing with @Bob Riding ... They know correct answer, but not accepting it. I imagine @P15-D24 can look and see the correct answer on their side of things, and decide if we are wrong or if possibly something went awry when the vendor changed the software?