Hey all, Very recently the proud owner of another 1958 Desoto 4 door. The very first car I ever bought was a '58 firedome 4 door hardtop. Very badly rusted. Got her to run, but that's about it. She disappeared while I was in USAF basic. But I never forgot her. Flash forward about 25 years... A few weeks ago, my lady and I bought another 1958 Desoto 4 door, albeit a Fireflite Sedan. But this one is special. She is literally the "Barn Find" I have been looking for all my life. It is a 47,xxx mile survivor. Had been in a garage all it's life, until about 4 years ago. Major carb and brake issues. Paid the most I have ever thought about paying for a car that didn't run, and had a dead battery. But a 1958 Desoto, with all the original interior, solid body, and the original 361. IMHO the most beautiful car to ever come out of Detroit in the 50's. Anyways, after I removed the AFB dumping raw fuel into the rear cylinders, put a brand new Holley 600cfm vac sec with a spacer/adapter, charged the batt(which revived @100 CA over advertised rating), and pulling the valve covers to squirt oil on the lifters, rockers, stems, ect., she fired right up. ZERO smoke, zero ticks, knocks, or odd thumps. Checked all fluids, topped off. Runs like a TOP. Pulled seats out, to remove soaking wet original carpet. used n awl and putty knife to chip up asphalt sound deadener. Had been in garage 4 days, and water still sitting under the deadener!! Needless to say, I bet this is the "driest" she has been in YEARS. The plan is replace any of the "beige" colored cloth with a grey, to make the metal trim and bits, and grey painted parts "pop". Get rid of the pus infection yellow exterior paint, and paint her black, with a bright red top and spear. Mooneyes "Saturn" disks, and 3 inch whitewalls. Replace any missing, broken, trim, chrome, ect. Some of that will be a challenge to find. My biggest challenge has been the brakes. The car has been "almost" drive-able for almost 2 weeks, and the bad weather is almost here. Problem is, I had a leaky cylinder in the right rear, which hosed BF all over the asbestos shoes, rendering them useless. Absurd. The drum "locks" violently, after rolling a few feet. A scarebird conversion for the fronts is a must, 2 circuit MC(good suggestions welcome). And I am determined to change the rear axle. The folks over at forward look don't care too much for modifications. Now, to me, if I have a car, and I want to drive it 75 miles one way, I should be able to. Not be scared that a 60 yr old single circuit drum brake system might get me stuck somewhere, unable to get parts, except off ebay. And then, more asbestos. I want to find brake parts, cheap, around the corner, ANY corner, for at least another 25 years. I want MUCH more safety, serviceability, and reliability. The original brakes is all on the car I don't trust. There lies my problem. Do I put in an mopar axle only 10-15 years newer, with drums? Will shoes and drums be available for said mopar 8.75(or whatev axle I choose) in another 20 years? Will I still have to move perches? If so, how about a stripped crown vic, axle, or maybe a Grand Cherokee axle? Ford 9"? Just throwing out crazy off the hip so you get the idea. Common, cheap, fairly strong (3,990lbs car with 300+ HP), and what brake parts will be still be common in 20 years, and the difficulty of swap are what I am trying to balance. And I've read what goes on here. There are some seriously encyclopedic swapping gurus lurking about. For the most part so far, I get wanna be gods trying to be snooty at the idea of actually DRIVING my car, and modifying it for reliability and safety over at ForwardLook. Even the guys telling me to get the scarebird kit keep trying to talk me into keeping my rear axle. WHY? That pressed drum, asbestos, and a completely undriveable car if an axle or slave starts leaking? And 2 weeks now of fiddle fudging with drum brakes? Not this guy ever before on ANYTHING. And not gunna fly on my dream car. That archaic, iffy, temperamental, marginally safe crap gotta GO. This is a DRIVER. Here's a few pics. The one is the worst rust in the entire floor. Thanks for your time, and any advice.
Nice looking car. can't help you with your swap. much less what pay will be avaliable in 20 years. i swap rear diffs all the time. I've never cone across a "bolt in" main thing is width and gear ratio. re& re your perches. set pinion angle. custom driveshaft. E-brake cable. .....and your golden.
Nice Find and it's your dream car, KOOL ! Welcome ! Somebody on here has the info you need, suggest you Google for Mopar groups/parts and from my experience, replace All lines, steel and rubber, wheel cylinders, rebuild or new master, shoes, springs, cut drums as needed, also, had rear end oil get on shoes 9" Ford, bad seal, bearing, washed w/solvent and brake cleaner and it seemed to work fine on reassembly until I got some new shoes. Did you use search function on HAMB, if you do not get much response on this intro, try posting question in Tech. Good Luck and Enjoy your project !
Greetings, new guy from the Pacific Northwest. Been around hot rods since I was 10,been familiar with the pre-50 scene for a while, got bitten by the bug late last year. My latest project is a 1949 Lincoln El coupe (which is for sale by the way)but the plan is to build it '50s style. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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