Ok, I just fell in love with and saved a 4 door 53 Powermaster from the crusher by less than a week. It has no motor or tranny but is unreal solid. Needs a drivers rocker but other than that no holes or body problems. The interior is all there but dirty. What I would call great shape for a project. Now for the questions, where can I get good info about it, production numbers, specs, etc. How rare is it, anything I should know and most importantly where can I get good chrome for it and maybe an original engine and tranny?For that matter, what engine did it have? What does it take to convert it to 12 volt? It has a clear title and I paid $600 for it. I really don't care about value, I want to see it run. It would have been a crime for it to be crushed. I know there's got to be some diehard Desoto folks out there with wisdom I can use.
Where the engine is gone, it probably had a 276 DeSoto Hemi(assuming the 6 would still be in it!). No grill?
i've never owned a desoto but like the way they look cool cars got any picks and thanks for saving another
Welcome to the club! You have made a wise purchase. Look at Desoto.org for info. I have the following: 1939 5 window coupe 1950 Coupe 1950 Convertible 1950 Sportsman (hardtop) 1952 Fordoor 1953 Fordoor Powermaster 6 cylinder Enjoy! Fred
The Powermaster was the flathead 6 engine car, if it had the 276 Hemi it would be a Firedome model. For $600 you did real well, the grille and grille related parts are worth that.
I had a 54 Powermaster Club Coupe that drove like a dream, but I sold it to a friend and have been trying for five years to buy it back. That flathead six, though not too powerful, was smooth and quiet and was a good 55 mph car. My friend is going to pull the original drivetrain out of the '54 (with a good Powerflite trans) and put in a later model engine and trans. 33,644 '53 Powermaster 4 dr sedans built.
It does have the grill (missing a couple teeth) and all the chrome but some of it's a little beat up. Not bad though. I'll have pics up in a couple days.
youll be able to find many of the parts right here on the hamb. desotos you gotta kinda just find parts when and where you can. not alot of repop stuff out there. id place an ad in hte classifieds here though for starters
I just picked up a 55 for my wife. The forward look group can be real helpful, and a company known as AFF does adapter for newer brakes. A decent 318 with a overdrive would get it going in the right direction.
Everything you ever wanted to know about your car is at this site...http://www.desoto.org/index.php?module=Pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=1
My wife's '54 Powermaster; Good to see that you are willing to fix it up. They are cool cars and you would be amazed how many people have never seen one before. Good luck. BloodyKnuckles
The car would likely have had a 251 cu in flathead 6. they were in chryslers and Desotos, Chrysler motors have a Head casting that says SPITFIRE. These are based onthe 25 inch long engine casting. If you are in an agricultural area, look for Massey Harris or Massey Fregurson Combines. These were powered by Chrysler industrial motors of the same design. You can also look at airports to see if they have surplused any Clark airplane tugs. (Some tugs may have been equiped with powerflite 2 speed automatics, most were three speeds.) These will usually be long Block Mopars. also all Canadian built Mopar Flat 6's were the 25 inch block. displacements were different but the blocks and accessories were all the same. 53 Desotos were equipped with fluid drive and the M6 semiautomatic transmission. (the power flite with a torque converter and fully automatic 2 speed was made avaiable in 54.) These are commonly refered to as clunk o matics. They are dual range two speeds. You use the clutch to select the gear lo or hi range, then release the clutch and drive off, a lift of the gas pedal signals the trans to shift, and kills the coil momentarily. You hear an audible clunk and the shift to driving range has been completed. you don;t use the clutch again until you select another gear. There is also a later version of the same block used by Chrysler but stroked to 265 cubic inches. If you have a regional airport that services small charters or business charter they may have some engine. I visited our local one and they were selling a bunch of tugs and had several rebuilt engines on pallets that were already to be bolted in. The Imperial Club website has good tech pages on the engines and transmissions. Check this site for Don Coatney's post where he details putting a 251 Desoto engine with a t5 5 speed in his 48 Plymouth.
I forgot I posted this. Well to update, the car is actually a 54 Firedome. I bought it way back when this was posted and just now got it tp my new shop. It's nice and solid. Interior is dirty as can be and the front fenders are probably going to get replaced, provided I can find some.
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