marcapra

Yes I scold my 30 year old self all the time, but it doesn't seem to do any good. There are a lot of things i would do differently if I could be 30, or better yet, 20 again.

Good advice, but not for me. I took this car apart in the 1980s! Today, I'm working on finishing the throttle linkage all the way from the gas pedal to the carburetor. It's all done except for the gas pedal and the stem to the lever connection. Luckily, my parts car guy sent the missing pedal hinge and linkage clip to attach the stem to the lever.

I asked a question in techical about this flange on the cowl. I didn't know what it was for. No one else knew either. But my part car buddy, who has a 47 DeSoto took a pic under his dash. It turns out that a strut bolts on there and helps support the steering column by securing it to the cowl. Good to know, so I'm putting this obscure info here to possibly help other restorers with the same question.

My parts car friend sent me a pic of his 47 DeSoto under dash. It's good to have a parts car buddy, as no one else seems to have the answers on this kind of minutiae. And maybe these pics might help a future restorer of a Chrysler product of this era. What goes there is a strut that seems to be for holding the steering column firmly to the top of the cowl. The bottom of the strut screws into a flange that attaches to the top part of the steering column clamp. This strut is attached with 1/4" bolts.

I'm planning on putting my dashboard in tomorrow. I noticed this flange on the cowl. I screwed a 1/4" bolt into it. I can't see anywhere on the dash that would screw into it. Maybe it has something to do with the dimmer switch light?

Have you given it a test drive yet? Very important thing to do before buying it. Do you know what it's missing?

After playing around with the clutch some more, I think I understand it now. It is not whether fork rod moves when you push the pedal in 1", it is when does the fork contact the pressure plate. If you push the pedal in you can kind of hear the fork contacting the pressure plate. So I adjusted my clutch fork rod to contact the pressure plate at about 1" travel on the clutch pedal.

I have a question on the clutch pedal adjustment. How do I get 1 inch free play at the pedal? If I back off the clutch rod adusting nut, the pedal will stay down when pushed down.

On my DeSoto, you can't pull the cable out at the transmission because there is a collar at the gauge end. I had to pull the cable out at the gauge end.

Today I lubed the speedo cable and installed it on top of the trans. just behind the trans. solenoid. I wasn't sure if there is a correct way to route the cable so I placed on the exhaust pipe shield where the trans. wires are and snaked it up of over the bell housing into the engine compartment, then back through the hole in the cowl to be ready for the dashboard when I install it on Monday. Does that sound about right? The original cups for the solenoid and the interrupter switch had cracked off, so I substituted some new Everdry Mopar spark plug covers, which I think will work.

I routed the speedo cable over the exhaust shield with the trans. wires, then up the bell housing to the engine, and back into the cowl hole for connection to the speedo when I install it Monday. Is that right?

Ok, I will take the cable out and clean the lithium off of it. I saw guys use wheel bearing grease. Thanks for the tip about the bottom 2/3 of the cable. For some reason, probably other cars I have worked, I thought the speedo gear would down low on the trans. But on a 48 DeSoto, it's way up on top right behind the trans solenoid. And my original rubber cups that went over the solenoid, and interrupter switch were cracking due to age, so used some new EverDry spark plug covers as substitutes. Looks like they are a good fit.

After watching several how to videos on YT, they, including Dave Welch, the Chevy truck guy, seem to prefer Vaseline or Red and Tacky grease on the cable.

I was going to use a white lithium grease, but maybe that would be too thick?

I am going to lube my speedometer cable today. The shop manual says to unscrew the oil tube and saturate the wick with Mopar speedometer oil. The screw is a small Allen type and I don't have the right size wrench. Is it OK to just put some drops of oil down the hole to lube it? And what type of lubricant should I put on the cable. The manual calls for Mopar All-weather speedometer lubricant.

As you can see in these pics, part of the dash and window panels are straight grain and parts in the middle are what is called burled. The straight grain is made just by dragging a one or two inch bristle brush across the part as you jiggle the brush. The burled parts are simply made by using a wadded up piece of paper, dipping it in the woodgrain paint, and lightly stabbing the part. This does not take an artist to do. It is just simple crafts and anyone can do it, although the pros can do a more stunning job if you are willing to pay.

AT the request of some restorers, I am putting some pics of my 48 DeSoto dashboard after I painted it and woodgrained it, as the original finish was flaking off. I show a pic of the inside of the dash which shows the base coat. The base coat is very important as it gives the overall tint of the dash. It is always a lighter color than the darker woodgrain that is applied over it. I did this work over thirty years ago and used printer ink for the woodgrain. I used acrylic lacquer for the base coat. If I was doing it today I would use oil paint for the woodgrain. When dry, I top coated it with several coats of clear lacquer. Then I polished it to the appropriate shine.

The top steering column clamp has this black flange sticking out with a threaded hole in it. Does anyone know what it is for? I have a Deluxe DeSoto which may be different from a Custom. Also, do you put anti squeak under the dashboard where it screws onto the cowl?

Great to hear that. Sometimes it's just the little things that don't conform to the big things like spark, timing, carburetor, etc. And a little thing that most guys here would not even know about was the culprit.

Since I realized that it would be very hard to screw this bracket on after I install the dash, I installed the top half of the clamp while the dash is on my kitchen table. My question is What is that black flange with a threaded hole there for? what would screw into it?

I have been collecting the Master Tech filmstrips made by the Ross Roy company. That is the MoPar version of Jam Handy. But all I have are filmstrips, booklets, records, and display charts. No movies.

Excellent film with good sound for the 30s!

First I'm no expert on pre war car values, so all I can say is some generalities. There was a collector on here a few years ago complaining that he wasn't getting any decent offers on his 39 Buick convertible sedan. Some of the guys who commented said that pre-war convertible sedans were not as collectible as they once were. But they are great for a parade I would think. And I know that pre-50s cars have been dropping in value in recent years, so 60K sounds a little high to me. And I think the 65 is the entry level Cadillac, so possibly worth less than the 75 model. That's about all I know, so I might be totally wrong on this. When I think about old car values, I say to myself, if I want to sell it in a few years, would it be an easy sale at that price? Very hard question to answer.