National Desoto Club

On behalf of the National DeSoto Club and the forum participants, let me extend a warm welcome to our new friends that have joined us here on the club's forums.

Please introduce yourself! Tell us a little about yourselves and your DeSotos. Let us know where you are, so we can help network you with other people in your area that might be able to help out some day! Sometimes knowing where you are can help us as well.

Be sure to check out the FAQs and Technical Articles forum for answers to many questions and helpful hints on how to drive, maintain, and enjoy your DeSoto!

We look forward to getting to know you!


Tim Bowers
Webmaster

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It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)

Hi Tim or another,
For my car insurance of the 1929 DeSoto, in the UK, I am required to provide my club membership number. Could you let me know what this is as I can not see it anywhere on line.
I am hoping to drive it out on the UK roads now that the weather is improving but obviously need it to be insured.
Thanks and Happy Motoring to all members,
Peter Jeffery

Peter, We just got the new roster edition of the Adventures so your # was handy. It is #5653.

Thanks Les, for extremely quick and helpful reply....cheers Peter

Thank you for the warm welcome. I am from Indianapolis and live within 3 miles of the motor speedway. I purchased my 1960 Fireflite sedan in the late 70's from a neighbor of my grandfather. Later sold to my father and repurchased this year. Can't wait for good weather to drive it more. It has less than 50,000 miles. I look forward to meeting others in the area!

Hello everyone and greetings from Lee's Summit, MO. My name is Fred Roman and my wife of 50 years is JoAnn.

Thanks to our son, Brian, in Branson, MO, we are now the proud owners of a 1959 Firesweep 4 door sedan recently purchased from Stan Phillips in Oakmont, PA. It is a 22,000 mile factory original car in near mint condition with one repaint in the original Glacier blue with a white top and color sweep. The blue interior is the Firedome upgrade and from what I can decipher, it has the accessory pakages #1, #2, and #3, plus the matching right side outside mirror and fender skirts. We plan to keep it exactly as it is with the exception of the Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels we have on order. Of course we will retain the factory wheels and wheel covers.

A little history regarding my interest in DeSotos: Dad was a DeSoto-Plymouth dealer in Beaverton, MI from late 1946 till DeSoto was discontinued. He immediately received the Chrysler line and subsequently the Dodge and Dodge Truck lines. The dealership closed December 26, 1980 but remains listed, ROMAN MOTOR SALES, in the roster of DeSoto dealers.

Dad's favorite car was the DeSoto and we are priviledged to have this Firesweep which just so happens to have the same color combination as his 1959 Firedome 4 door sedan demo and gives us a special meaning for owning this automobile. We also have several DeSoto momentos from Dad's dealership and DeSoto that will be displayed with the car at cruises and shows.

There are so many memories we have of The Wonderful World of Chrysler Corporation that a book would have to be written in order for us to convey all of these. And yes, we still drive Chrysler (Dodge) cars and trucks for everyday use and probably always will. As I have said many times, "Chrysler may not be the best but they're way ahead of whoever's in second place".

We are pleased to be members of the National DeSoto Club and will assist anyway we can. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of service.

Best Delightful, Delovely, DeSoto regards,

Fred and JoAnn Roman

Hi, my name is Thomas I live in San Diego.

I have a 1950 DeSoto Custom I am working on fixing up. I got it almost complete but not running for $500.

I know its blasphemy but I am pulling the engine and putting in a 350 I have already.

I am looking forward to all the info I can get from this site. Thanks.

Hey, Thomas;

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks for saving a DeSoto!

_________________
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)

I guess I'm your newest forum member.

Just last Saturday I went to a car auction and bid on a '55 DeSoto 4-door Fireflite. My cut off was $2000. It got to $1600 and nobody bid me out so I got it.

Then I took it to a garage to be safetied. I did know there would be quite a bit to fix but I didn't think it would be $4000 plus, just to get it on the road, before even thinking about cosmetics!

The body and frame are good (one rusted fender) and the mechanic thinks the motor and steering are good. But that's where it stops. It seems just about everything else has to be rebuilt or replaced.

I'm just on the cusp of abandoning the project and maybe parting the car out to get back as much as I can of whats already spent versus biting the bullet and start shelling out the $$$ to bring it up to a summer daily runner. (Even though I KNOW that 4 grand is just a starting point. Not included in that is exterior paint (or plastic vehicle wrap?) and upholstery (the interior is basically a mouse motel. not even enough on the door panels to tell what it was).

When I drove away from the garage after the $4000 news I saw 2 '50's era restos driving by and an older coupe. They looked so fine compared to the other, new anonymous "boxes" on the road. ( I think I'm leaning towards keeping it )

It doesn't help that just across the road from the garage is a lead sled (I think it started out as a 49/50 Merc). It seems to get a new colour scheme every time the owner sees some house paint left at the side of the road. Most of the paint schemes are U..G..L..Y, but the lines are so fine, every time I see it ... want ...

Hey Michael -

Welcome to our club !

Most modern mechanics have no clue as to how to find parts for, or repair, a 55 Desoto. So save your money and work on the car yourself.

Buy a factory shop manual.
Buy a parts book.
Use all the resources available online, for free. Examples: this Message Board, the Forward Look forums (The Forward Look Message Board), the Imperial Club's website (Imperial Club).

I recommend starting a new thread on this car. I'm sure you'll get lots of responses.

Ron

Another new guy here. I recently bought this 1956 Firedome wagon.
It's pretty complete, but will need everything gone through to get it driving. I have a lot of learning ahead of me. This car deserves to be driven! 330 hemi and PowerFlite trans.
I'm in North San Diego County, California and would sincerely appreciate any input/advice to help get this car on the road.

One quick question...why is there a piece of sheet metal within the color swatch on the front fenders?

Thanks,
Robb

Welcome Robb,

On those 55 & 56 DeSotos with color sweeps, the factory evidently found it easier or more efficient to apply the front fender portion of the sweep by painting and applying the sheet metal pieces rather than painting the sweep directly on to the front fenders. These pieces were basically held in place by the stainless trim bordering the sweep. I have seen some cars which have been repainted where the sheet metal was removed and the sweep painted directly on to the fenders.

Mac

New to this board, but I do have a '49 DeSoto S-13 2-dr. The flathead has been replaced with a 318 with a 904 automatic. It's a driver as-is, but I need to 'finish' the installation a bit better. I got it to drive, and the later model drive train sold me. It has been painted (nice 20-footer) and the interior is all new. Gets lots of looks.

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Act in haste..........repent in leisure.

Hi everyone. I'm the owner of a 48 s11 4dr custom. Fairly complete and very solid car. Just missing some parts on the froze motor. I've had my desoto for 4yrs and in that time I have done nothing due to the severe lack of parts for cars of this vintage in Wisconsin.

Hello Everyone,

As a new member to the forum (and joining the club officially yesterday), thanks for the welcome!

In 1931 my grandfather "Pap" bought his first vehicle - a used '29 Model K Roadster with the spare tires in the fenders. He soon after bought a farm (orchard) and used the DeSoto as his daily driver. When one of the trucks broke down, he took the K to a friend and had the rear bumper removed - then welded on a bar in order to install a ball-hitch. From that point, he used it as a car AND a tow vehicle until 1939 when he parked it in the corner of the fruit packing shed, put it on blocks and did not ever drive it again.

Well, the farm stayed with the family and the DeSoto sat in that corner until May of 2015. My father and his brother worked out a deal where my father bought out his brother's ownership of the car and today it sits in my dad's barn awaiting restoration.

We've had a couple of people take a look and although there are several dents and dings, a missing rear bumper, torn top, mouse-eaten seats ... the K remains in good shape overall. The wood is in OK condition and can be sealed to curtail further degradation, almost all the pieces are in tact and we have two complete sets of wheels (5" spokes and 9" metal).

Now we are going to take the entire vehicle apart and begin the restoration. I've been scanning ebay and other sites to find extra pieces that may be in better condition than what we have and that elusive rear bumper is a definite challenge!

I look forward to hearing others' stories and be able to network in order to bring this gem back to life. The fact that it was my Grandfather's first vehicle makes it even better.

Fred Leeds
Newtown, PA