Update on the DeSoto wagon project: The front suspension is DONE. The 5.7 and 8 speed transmission are bolted down, and the car is setting on wheels. The stance is PERFECT, everything clears, there’s plenty of room for steering, exhaust and all the bits that’ll make it a car.
I found a guy in Washington state, “Sound German Automotive”, who makes a controller for the Benz built 8 speed automatic, a stand alone system, which will work perfectly with the MOPAR crate Hemi engine management system and wiring harness I bought. It will be here tomorrow, and, once I get a fuel pump, which I will order tomorrow as well, we’ll have smoke and noise.
The engine and transmission came from “Morris Rose Auto Parts” in Kalamazoo, from my pal Brad Rose, from a 2018 Challenger R/T with only 19,000 miles on them. These cars have a keyless entry and ignition system, which doesn’t lend itself well to swapping into an older vehicle, hence the need for the stand alone systems. On the plus side, the milage is so low that they’re brand new, so, it’s a wash money wise.
The front end was fun to build. I bought a complete set up from “Speedway”, which uses a “Heidt’s” crossmember patterned after the venerable Mustang II design, with tubular control arms and GM 11″ disk brakes. It was a little scary cutting the frame, but I took careful measurements, and everything went well. I also purchased a new power brake booster and master cylinder from them, and had to modify the firewall to make it fit, but it’s mounted, and the pedal assembly is hanging in the cabin.
One of the things I wasn’t aware of, and didn’t even notice after getting the engine, is that there was no power steering pump. These cars have electric boosted power steering, built into the rack, with torque sensors on the steering column, that talk to the PCM, that talks to the servo motor on the rack, that gives varying levels of assist depending on vehicle speed. Not having any of that stuff, and not wanting a bulky steering column booster (which Toyota uses), I bought a pump from a RAM pickup and made a spacer to bolt it to the engine. The spacer is needed because this engine is a VVT (variable valve timing) engine and has a different, deeper, front drive and timing cover than the older ones like the pump came from.
Nothing is easy…
I bought, hoping they’d work by just looking a photos, a set of beautiful polished stainless steel exhaust headers on eBay, designed for a RAM pickup. The Challenger engine’s stock cast iron ones dumped out directly on top of the frame rails, My hunch was correct, they fit perfectly, although it was difficult to install them on the engine, even with it setting on the shop floor! They’re never coming off though, so no worries. The engine mounts I had to fabricate, as the original cast aluminum ones and huge vibration insulators just wouldn’t work in the relatively narrow DeSoto frame. These use early Ford flathead rubber biscuits, same principle just not as refined, but we will accept a level of NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) in this car as opposed to a 2018 Challenger.
The car has been here exactly one month now, I’m happy with the progress so far. It feels good to stretch my muscles as a designer and fabricator, and to reassure myself that I still have the chops to take on a big project like this. The body is by far the nicest one I’ve ever started with, aside from the HORRIBLE brindle brown repaint, but that is just a few sheets of DA paper away from gone. This DeSoto will be a vey worthy replacement of the Pontiac wagon.
As an added bonus, the original 276 Hemi (peeking out from under the bench) will be a good foundation for another hot rod project down the road. I’ve got a couple of cars left in me, this will be a good base for another uncomfortable, noisy, leaky, cramped car that only I can fit in.
Retirement is great so far!
We delivered it to him last weekend, to Lexington Kentucky, and made it our first “retirement trip.” I had loaded the car in the trailer as soon as the guy bought it, we hitched up the Diamond T and headed south. We had a great weekend, the guy is super happy with the car, and is building a ‘glass bodied ’34 5 window, so our car has a great home and stablemate.
I got it in the shop in January, and started working on the body. It’d been the victim of a “used car lot” type “repair” years ago, plastic about an inch thick that was letting go around the wheels, the dog-legs were gone, and the bottom 4″ of the tailgate were AWOL. In fact, the left side hinge had torn loose, causing the right side hinge (die-cast) to break from the extra load. I bought a shrinker/stretcher set from Harbor Freight, made my own sheet metal brake from scraps of steel I had, and set to work making the dog-legs, lower quarter panels and wheel openings, and bottom of the tailgate.
Cool McCool's Garage 