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First flathead!


46DeSoto

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Tacoma...Cool spot. I go down there once in a while. I’ve tipped more than a few back at the McMillions repurposed, old Elks Hall there. I’m just above you in BC. I was at the Hemmings Great Race finish line at LeMay There last summer. There was also a local car show at the event. Good turn out. Saw some nice local cars. Its a good spot to be a car lover it seems. 

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31 minutes ago, keithb7 said:

Tacoma...Cool spot. I go down there once in a while. I’ve tipped more than a few back at the McMillions repurposed, old Elks Hall there. I’m just above you in BC. I was at the Hemmings Great Race finish line at LeMay There last summer. There was also a local car show at the event. Good turn out. Saw some nice local cars. Its a good spot to be a car lover it seems. 

 

Small world! I live just down the road from the original LeMay collection at Marymount.

Edited by 46DeSoto
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  • 3 weeks later...

Over the last few weeks I've spent most of my time on the car loosening rusted components. I've got the clutch pedal functioning, and both the accelerator and shift linkage are un-stuck now. I bought a universal hub puller and was able to get the rear drums unstuck. The shoes on the drivers side came off in pieces, but now the car can at least roll. Its all a step in the right direction!

 

It does look like I'm in for a wiring nightmare. Maybe I'm overthinking the 6v positive ground system, but not being familiar with it is sort of intimidating. What I've found so far:

  • 6V battery installed, however the cables were oriented negative ground (positive cable to starter)
  • 12V coil installed.
  • electrical wiring disconnected at generator and one side of the coil.

Because of age and grease/grime, I'm having a tough time identifying how to wire it all back up. I don't want to pull the whole harness and start over, but I may have to. Good news is my service manual showed up so I have a wiring diagram to reference.

Edited by 46DeSoto
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Yep, lot's of mechanics fail to understand the 6v positive ground setup.  had a guy stop by the house to talk to me about my Cambridge.  Turns out he has a 51 Chevy, almost a brother, same black outside, grey interior as mine.  As we were talking he mentioned his headlights were real dim, so we got to poking around and I noticed someone had installed 12V headlights in his 6 car, lol.  No wonder they were dim.  Set him up with my old 6v headlights since I converted to 12v and installed GE Nighthawk LED headlights.  He was happy.

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hey 46DeSoto, I have a 48 DeSoto I'm restoring.  Maybe you read my thread on rebuilding my front suspension.  That slant 6 engine is beautiful and brings back a lot of memories I have of the 70s and 80s when I owned a few of those.  They were dirt cheap then and easy cars to work on!  I think my favorite was a 1973 Dodge Dart sedan I had.  Part of the reason it was my favorite was it was free from a guy that had bought it for his daughter.  It was the first year for electronic ignition and it had my first disc brakes on the front axle.  I loved its Smurf blue color and it had those cool fender top turn signal lights!  Turns out a midnight bandit liked 'em too.  Some guy ripped off my engine wiring harness and turn signal lights one night.  Had to go to the junk yard and get a wiring harness out of a Plymouth for about $8, but all the Mopar were missing the fender top lights.  Mopar cars are so easy to work on, it took me only a few minutes to install the new engine wiring harness.  Luckily, it plugs into the cowl!  Keep in touch since were both restoring an S-11 DeSoto.  Marc.

Edited by MarcDeSoto
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Thank you, Marc! I really enjoy the slant platform and I think most people are surprised when I open the hood and don't see the V8 they were expecting. 

I don't know if I've read your suspension thread, but I'm going to look for it now. 

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On 5/23/2020 at 6:13 PM, 46DeSoto said:

Small world! I live just down the road from the original LeMay collection at Marymount.

No idea where that is, been a long time since I lived in Tacoma. ... my birth certificate shows I was born at Tacoma General. While my parents lived in McMillion, a tiny store, post office, church and farms east of Sumner. Lived there until 10 and moved to Puyallup. Bought a mobile home in a Lakewood trailer park. Used my Dodge 1 ton slant 6/4 spd to move it down HWY 512 from south hill and up Eli hill to property I bought  in Bonney lake.   It is a small world. I went back about 4 years ago, man was I amazed at how it had grown over the 20 years since last was there.

 

I do not plan to change my flat head 6, if I ever did, it would have to be a slant 6 replacement. I have owned several over the years, they were awesome engines.

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