She just came home last night, I am really really excited about getting this car, I've wanted a Desoto since I was a little bitty kid messing around in my uncle's shop and now that I've got one I am overjoyed. She's missing the engine, transmission and grill, but the rest of her is there. I haven't pin pointed yet what I plan on putting in there yet, I'm doing a lot of looking around first until I find what works within my budget and isn't too overtly complicated to figure out on my own. I plan on doing everything I can myself, I have a few friends willing to help on the harder stuff, but for the most part I'll be doing the work. She's my first real project, I've had a few old cars before, but most of the stuff was done when I got them. I don't know a lot, but I know a good portion of the basics and I have a hell of a drive to learn, so I should be alright. I've done quite a bit of work on my daily driver in the last year, as well as helped a few other gals I know work on their cars so I'm starting to get the hang of things. She's in decent shape, and it damn near killed me to leave the house today to go into work, I just wanted to stay home and start working on her. Anyway, here's one quick picture of her that I snagged this morning on the way out the door. I'll snag and post a few more shots of her once I get back to the house this afternoon, thanks for checkin her out!
Thanks guys! For now I just plan on getting her going (and stopping..that's important too), all the custom stuff I'm saving until after she's solid on the road without problems. eventually I plan on getting her painted up nice and redoing the interior, maybe lowering her a bit. I had some crazy plans for her before she got home, but the second I saw her in front of me I decided to go a little less on the harder modifications and save them for another project in the future. This car is something I've wanted for so long, so to actually get to walk out and see her this morning really made my day. Thanks for checkin her out!
Good luck on your build. I've got a 55 Plymouth and looks like we both have a long road ahead on our builds.
Cool, all I would do is lower it and put some wide whitewall bias plies on it. Of course after putting an engine in.
A 55 Desoto 2 door was the 1st car I remember my parents having. It was a dull red, almost red oxide. Traded it for a new 59 Ford blue and white.
If cash is an issue,and you're not concerned about originality, just grab a 318-torqueflite combo and go driving. There should be plenty of em out there.
part it out/sell it. buy a 49-54 chevy 2 door. cheaper, cooler(since you dont have the best parts on that car), easier to find parts for
What? No suggestion to put a belly****on in it? A big or small bock mopar would be a good choice. If you could afford one, a 56-8 tall deck Dodge, DeSoto or Chr Hemi would be nice.
Oh Johnny dear, I would sell everything else I own before I sell this car. It's literally my dream car, so just because it doesn't have the original engine in it doesn't mean I'm going to just roll it to the crusher. Jeepers man, have a sense of adventure. I'm not going for a full restore, I just want something that fits in there without too much h***le, is loud and hauls ***. Money isn't really the issue, it just takes me a bit to save it up is all, I got a little monster to feed. thanks for the suggestions on engines fellas, I'd love to find a hemi to shove in there, but again, when it comes down to it it's going to be a price vs. condition thing. I'll get it figured out I'm sure, I've got a few fellas on the lookout for me now so something just perfect will show up. Until then I'll be following wires and seeing how they look, as well as cleaning up the ol gal and making sure she's ready.
You go Girl!!! You have probably already found out that the EarlyHemi engines can be downright expensive so there is no shame in considering another of MotherMopar's v-8, either small block or big block. I believe that the best bang for the buck these days is a 360, followed closely by a 400 and there are still plenty of both these to be found in running condition. http://tulsa.craigslist.org/pts/3364145369.html The big advantage of the 360 is that the A500/A518 is available. Keep us posted on your progress! .
Thanks for the tips! Very much appreciated. I was outside messing around in the Desoto earlier and found a tear in the upholstery, inspected a little further and ended up ripping half of it off the front seat to find the original upholstery underneath...get this...it's pink. (well under the grime and yuck it's pink haha) It's in godawful shape, which explains why it was redone in the first place, but now I have the original to make patterns from so I'm overjoyed right now. I was thinking about it while I was out there tearing stuff apart and I think I want to stick with Mopar, (even if it isn't the original) After all, after dreaming about this car for so long I'd hate to end up putting a chevy in her...it would feel kinda wrong.
Pink was big in the 50s. If you go modern, Pick ups & Vans are a good source of rear sump 318 & 360s, usually can be had fairly cheap.
It made me excited to find the old pink upholstery because I plan on doing the interior black and white with pink accents ( I love pink, but even I feel like too many people overdo it.) Plus it jsut solidified in my head that this car was meant for me all along. The exterior will be a good flat black, and the top will be a darker pink with flake...Whitewalls..yadda yadda. I'm hoping to have her driving by April, and in the paint shop by the end of next summer. It's a big hope, but I plan on doing something on her every day ( even if it's something little like taking a wire brush to something or taking out fabric or drafting patterns) so I can get into a good routine of working on her. I am definitely going to be looking into vans and the like, the guy that sold her to me was talking to me about that very same thing, and I've made a few phone calls, so hopefully I snag something soon for her. Thanks!
Pink??? did you say Pink??? Here is a 55 Imperial I am working on... A "color swatch", if you will...
Yeahhh...I'm pretty sure she got lost on the way to my driveway and ended up with you...You can bring her home anytime you're ready.
I love your car. I had a '54 a few years ago and regret selling it. There was a '56 at the Stray Kat feed in Dewey last Saturday. I'll try to get a photo uploaded.
sweet sweet ride you have there! yah, a 360 swap would be the easiest, and it would throw that car around pretty good, tons of potential if you want to go faster too. Thank you for keeping it all Mopar.
Here's a picture of a 55 hardtop a fellow customized sometime back. Just tossing it in as an example of what has been done with one. Here's what another person did to theirs......I don't much care for the paint scheme however.
I saw it! I was there, as soon as I noticed it my happy *** was skipping over to see it. (well more like bolted out of the food line as fast as my heels could carry me) Ended up talkin to the gal about it for a while.
Thanks! Haha if I didn't I'm pretty sure my uncle come back from the grave just to slap me in the back of the head.
I made new covers from pink marine vinyl, I'll see if I can find the supplier. They sent me 6 different pink samples so I could match the factory "Ember Glow" http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308432&highlight=desoto http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=310736&highlight=desoto+interior&page=5
Very cool car. I see you changed your avatar to a shot of your steering wheel and dashboard and knees! Are those the original "DeS" wheelcovers in your photo? My grandmother had a '56 DeSoto with those when I was a kid. But the grill on the '56 didn't have the teeth - though, yours no longer has them either. I hope you'll post more about it as you fix it up.
Nice! They look good! I'm thinking about getting a big bolt of the hot pink diner vinyl to do the headliner and to make piping for the seat trim,(just because I'm a detail geek) and using black and white for the rest of the interior. I don't want to overdo the pink because I'm going with such a bright color. I love that picture The steering wheel makes me feel like a little kid again... reminds me of when I would sit in my uncle's cars turning the steering wheel and making "vrroooomm vroooom" noises haha Yes they are, got all 4 of them (Yay for matching!) I am rather sad about the grill, but I figure I'll either find one that goes to it, or find something else and make it work. All in time I will be posting a bunch on her I'm sure, I also started a blog about her too. (Here it is) I'll be converting it to a mini-site once I actually get some time on my hands, I need to get a few hours during daylight that I'm not at work to clean her up and get some good photos with something other than my phone to put up on there.
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