Projects 1956 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman... Custom?

My dad and I picked this car up about a year ago. The intention was to work on it together and cruise around, but I think it quickly became to daunting a project for him and he asked me to try and sell it a few months back. Well after months of no interest in the car, not even Craigslist low ball offers, he just signed the ***le over to me last week and told me to have at it.

It runs, drives, and stops. Just waiting on a water pump gasket to get it back running.

The rear quarters and the rockers have the worst rust, and it got me thinking - what if I replaced the lower quarter skins with something from another 50’s car? I mean it’s not a custom if the body is factory stock right? I have been looking though pictures to find something with cool wheel openings. If you guys have any ideas/pics of something like this I would appreciate it. From what I have found most Desotos get restored not modified. I also thought it might be cool to slightly exaggerate the upper rear quarter like a 59 Dodge Lancer or 59 Chrysler New Yorker.





I live in an apartment so as soon as I get it back on the road I can drive it to work to do the real work. I can get away with quite a bit here but I don’t want to push it.
For now I’m going to get it more reliable, get the floor patched, and get the interior finished up. More pics to come.


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I think that would make a good custom. How about '57 Packard tail lights?

 

You can get those bottom quarter pieces from any Chrysler - 4 door or two door. Hell I just sent a 4 door to the crusher a month or two back - if you had only been a little sooner. Plenty of 4 doors around for that metal - try Browne's Auto Salvage in Sunset Tx. - Trenton is the contact - text him at 940/393-2469 and say you need them off a 4 door......cheaper that way.

 

Lawrence

 

That car has killer lines just like it is.
I would fix the rust and lower it.
Paint it the colour of your choice and cruise in style.

 

The car is killer, I just want to make it mine. For the wheel wells I’d like something really like a 59 New Yorker, 59 Impala, 57 Fairlane, etc, Even if I don’t mess with the top of the quarters, that more swept (?) wheel well that covers just a little more of the wheel looks good to me. That’s a ways off. Need to get it running well enough to drive it 3 or 4 days a week first.

Thanks Stillrunners. I’ll give them a holler.


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Very pretty car and a perfect platform for a mild custom. I personally would just make panels to replace what's rotted out, no need to replace the entire quarter panel from what i see.

 

Wow, That Mopar is friggin cool I don't recall ever seeing 2dr hardtop version before. It's gotta be RARE. Nice find. good luck with the project.

 

Could you use "cruiser skirts" to hide the rust while you think about what wheel-wells to rock?

 

They definitely aren’t bad enough to NEED to replace them. The wheel openings are the worst part. Just thought about altering the look a little. I could make the new panel from scratch if I knew how to make the contour (?) on the wheel opening. I can weld but I don’t have the tools or the knowledge for that kind of body work yet.

A little history on the car:

It was originally purchased in one of the Dakotas by a deaf watchmaker, so it has every option except radio and A/C. I believe it then made its way to Wisconsin then Kansas before being brought down to Texas. If you punch in 1956 Desoto Fireflite in YouTube there is a video of this car being fired up for the first time in 20+ years. I think that’s in Wisconsin.


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The skirts wouldn’t have anything to clip to! The wheel opening is the worst rust


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I'm all for customizing, so if you can find some quarter panels and want to change the shape, I wouldn't say no. I would however think about how the new quarter panel opening shape is going to mimic the front fender opening, and also how it will look contrasted to the side moldings, which are very straight and angular. The side trim is really pretty on this car, I'm ***uming that's one of the things that would not get changed.

I always thought the '57 Studebaker sedans had a cool quarter panel opening shape, might work if you could find some. Any ideas you get, you can bring them to the Photoshop thread and see what they'll look like in real life before you commit to the metal.

 

some people would just get out the gaffers tape, tape it up and drive as is- if water is an issue. You can find a lot parts cars and cut that outer lower rear part it is not that complex nor the dogleg, the wheel arch lips is where more finesse may be needed.
Find a local wrecking yard or someone parting out a similar era model. You may look at 57-61 Mopars for some skins.
If you need to sell this car, once the world opens up again, Driving this car and showing that it nice car would make someone else want it. You may enjoy it. Actually driving his the best adverti*****t.

 

Check out Cold War Motors channel on Youtube for inspiration. Those guys do some things with some old Mopars. Things that you wont believe until you see them. Watch them splice a Dodge and a Chrysler together for helluva nice car!

 

It's a 2 door hardtop so you're easily 1/3 of the way there to begin with. Those cars make great customs, and are good looking cars to begin with. No need to rewrite the book on them.

 

Not common.... DeSoto built about 8500 of the FireFlite 2 drs, and about 23,600 of the cheaper Seville and Firedome versions. There was an additional 9000 4 dr hardtops across the three models. There was no 2 dr post sedan version, only a 4 dr. Main body shell is the same as a Chrysler, but DeSoto trim parts are very hard to find (look at my sig line below...) with pretty much zero available in the aftermarket. Taillight lenses are very, very tough to find, along with interior trim. Most stock replacement mechanical parts can be found and there's some aftermarket support, so that helps.

I bought one a number of years ago for the same purpose, but the longer I looked at it, the more I decided the mods I wanted to do were beyond my skill sets. A pretty much rust-free example (it came out of the high desert in California) with only surface rust where the paint baked off. Every option except power windows/seat. I need to move it on to a new owner one of these days...

 

I like those Studebaker wheel opening shapes. The the squared of front of the opening to the tapered back is what im thinking. I think im going to grab some sheetmetal and see what I can come up with during downtime at work. It will be good practice anyway.

I already made up my mind that I'm keeping it. I've let other cars go but I think I would actually regret this one.

Thanks for letting me know about this channel. Im already hooked!

If the Desoto trim parts weren't so cool I would sell them all and fund the whole project! I lucked out and have every piece plus some extras in the trunk.

Speaking if trim, any good tips on polishing out the pitting?

 

Welcome to the Forward Look club. Those '55-56 Desoto and Chrysler coupes are awesome looking cars.

Does yours still have the 330 Hemi in it? Since it's a Fireflite, I believe it will have a Powerflite 2-speed automatic, but it could be a 3-speed manual. For stock parts and some advice on keeping it well-maintained, you might join forwardlook.net. These are pretty basic cars, but there are some real funky aspects of them - like the brake system - that you need to be aware of.

You do need to make some decisions about which way you want to go with repairing that rust, which does look substantial. The '56 cars were well built, so there are still plenty of 4dr sedans out there that can give up some sheetmetal for quarters and rockers, and maybe floors and trunk if you need them.

I like your idea of customizing the wheel openings. I'm kinda intrigued by the Studebaker wheel openings mentioned above, that could be really cool. This guy has a really nice custom '56 Desoto, and this guy has an awesome chopped '55. There are a handful of others around. Looking forward to your progress!

 

Mine does have the 330 Hemi and the Push****on 2 speed Powerflite. I’ll jump on forwardlook.net tonight. The chop on that 55 is really what I’d like.


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Here’s some progress pics. So far I have gutted the interior except for the driver seat. I’m getting help from my mom on recovering the seats and the door panels.
Pulled the dash cap because it’s pitted and rusty. Going to take it to work and get it cleaned up and primed until I figure out what colors I want
Pulled all the top trim to look for rust but ended up finding perfect factory paint!
Got the water pump pulled to replace the gasket which I guess might show up eventually. Ordered it 2 weeks ago.
I’m going to order a p***enger floor pan this weekend and try and track down a floor brace for the rear driver side
I’m using this thread to keep me moving so I should post pics often. I’m trying to do at least one thing a day








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More...

 

If you have all the trim, consider yourself fortunate. I was missing 10 pieces (4 die-cast, 6 stainless) for the door panels, 6 of which are specific to the FireFlite. I have yet to find those, I did find the stainless 'finishers' at the 'joint' between the doors/quarterpanels as those are common to all hardtops. Take care of your taillight lenses, good ones are almost impossible to find. You're lucky, you've got the standard steering wheel, not the optional clear plastic rim version that will be hopelessly cracked or disintegrated by now.

As far as the pitted die-cast stuff, you'll never get fully rid of the pits without a re-plate but I've had good luck by buffing it on a buffing wheel. Start with a sewn cotton buff and red rouge compound to initially 'smooth/blend' the pits and any scratches but go very lightly or you'll buff right through the chrome to the nickel. Follow up with a loose cotton buff and white compound, again being careful to not go though the chrome. It's a rather slow process; let the compound do the work, apply as little pressure as possible. Stay away from steel wool/tinfoil as those will micro-scratch the plating. Keep the parts well-waxed after buffing.

If you don't have service manual, get one; there's a lot of weird stuff on these....

 

You can buy rolls of gasket material to use for your water pump. Avoid the ebay black e-coated steel parts for the floor brace and patches (the sellers change constantly, but the parts are the same, and are notoriously thin and poor-fitting). Finding good originals is best, but there is also a guy making Forward Look steel parts and he's got a good reputation. I haven't seen any recent updates on his page, but here's a link.

Power windows are extremely rare on a '56 Desoto. Take extra care when handling those parts.

Steve is right, get a "FSM" (factory service manual) for your car. They are reproduced and pretty cheap, and absolutely invaluable for telling you the right way to service the car.

@Crazy Steve I know a guy restoring a '56 Fireflite coupe. I'll see if he has some of those door panel parts you're missing.

 

Browne's Salvage is your one stop place.......he just pulled in some of those 57/58 Studebakers along with some later 1959/61 Mopars.....he's got a 1956 Desoto hard top as well.....

 

Power windows, power steering, and a radio delete on a Fireflite hardtop, that's gotta be pretty rare, I would think someone custom ordered this car.

Looks like you're jumping right in, that's good to see.

 

If you've gotta change the rear wheel opening shape, I'd stay away from the teardrop/swipe look of the 59 chev/etc. Looks ok on them. What would look better would be to transplant the front fender openings onto the back. It'd open that area up a bit, giving it a "lighter" look, sorta like the55 nomad vs a reg 55 chev. & you''d be welding in a area of lot of decent metal as the higher cut needed anyways would just be for the normal front shape. & it'd be 56 desoto too, so make sure to keep the body lines & the trim lies matching up properly. Lots of folks would be scratching their heads... esp if you suggest that it "May have come from the factory that way. Well, we don't know for sure, might've been a Autorama display car, or something." . One of the guys could photochop that design for you in the photochop thread. I could see ~57 chry taillights n fin tips, but then it's not a subtly changed 56 desoto.
Marcus...

 

Oh yeah; two more things.... One, you need a special tool to remove the inside handles. With power windows, you only have two but you'll still need the tool. Mopar only used this particular design for 4-5 years before discontinuing it, so no one offers a new one anymore but you can find them NOS/used on eBay, or try to make your own. Try not to choke too much over the cost of the ready-made....

Two, the automatic trans doesn't use ATF. You need a special 10W oil which is still available but hard to find. Some say you can use ATF, most say you can't....

 

There is a story of an old man who found a dead wolf in his sheep pen, and of course there was also a dead sheep with a big chunk bitten out of it. Upon inspection the old man discovered that the wolf had choked to death. I can't say for sure, but that was where the old expression, "Don't bite off more than you can chew," came from. Alright, now about your car. I know there are those who like to blow smoke and will tell you that you ought to do this and that and the other. And, I'm sure they mean well with all their ideas. My suggestion is going to be pretty much like the basin of cold water my grandmother used to use when my younger brother turned over and went back to sleep when she called him for breakfast. The main reason people own automobiles is to get in them and go places. Then there's those who like to do things to them. From what I gather, you don't have a well equipped shop and a roll around neon-colored tool box full of tools and four or five kinds of welders, and an air compressor and cutting tools and an English Wheel and a shrinker/stretcher, and so on and so on. So, here's the thing. Instead of aiming to change what already needs to be fixed, (and I have no idea of your skill levels, or abilities to improvise, or what magic you can do), why don't you take this as your motto: K.I.S.S. --- and, no, I'm not trying to get a laugh out of it. I have that one posted in my shop, because no matter how smart you are, the first person who is going to suffer from biting off too much to chew is going to be you. Instead muddying the real problem with an attempt to change what is already messed up. If I had a car like that I'd try to repair it so it looked like an old car that was still in good condition, and I'd drive it (I mean it does have Hemi in it, which is the coolest part of the whole deal) and, when I had gotten over that buzz, I'd stand back and look at it and decided if I wanted to build it as a mild, or wild custom. And, here's my logic. The skill-sets you are going to attain in repairing something that you know needs to look a certain way are going to be the same ones you can use later when you decide to change things. And, I know I didn't answer your question exactly like you wanted to hear, because I've been down that same road and made more mistakes and screwed things up and been angry at myself because I didn't listen to the voice inside my head that kept saying, "Keep it simple stupid!"

 

Investigated the condition of the Hemi yet?

 

I appreciate all the knowledge and advice you guys are throwing my way. Fortunately I’m starting with a much more solid car than most, and it will be driven in the next week or so.

[mention]Squablow [/mention] - it was a special order. The guy who ordered it was a deaf watch maker, hence the radio delete
[mention]Crazy Steve [/mention] - I actually found a trick on another forum for the door handles. I bent the last 1/4” of a ****er knife blade and it lifts the lock tab so I can removed the door handles. I’ll put a pic up of the “tool” later
[mention]fortynut [/mention] - I completely understand where you are coming from. For me to have this particular car is a stroke of luck. I won’t find another one like it and couldn’t afford it if I did. I have already decided to keep it so I’m not in a hurry to make modifications. It’s just not possible for me to look at it and not think about how it COULD look. To many cool customs on this site have got me dreaming. But my aim right now is to make it reliable mechanically. The interior and cleaning stuff up costs a lot more time than money (doing it myself) so I’m going at that stuff first because, well, I can!


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