Taylormade

Thanks. The. paint on my car is not perfect. It's a classic example of a photograph looking better than the real thing. Don't get me wrong, it looks terrific at five feet, but there are a few specks of dirt in the single stage that I'll have to get to eventually. It's never going to win at Pebble Beach, but I built the car to drive, and at 71 I'd like a few years with the old girl rather than sitting in the garage nit-picking over small problems that only the eagle-eyed will ever see. To get the best paint job out there was going to cost upwards of twelve grand and at that price I'd be afraid to drive it anywhere. I spent about three for paint and the shop to spray it. I did a lot of prep work myself. I got what I expected for the price, and they were honest in telling me it wasn't going to be flawless. Ever time I roll Daphne out in the drive to work on her, all the neighbors come over and compliment me on the paint, so I guess it will do.

And I prefer the slant back. Maybe that's why Buick gave customers the choice. The trunk back is certainly more practical, but I've always liked the sleeker look of the slant back.

Did you buy the brake lines or make them yourself? Exactly where are the leaks - between the brass fittings and the wheel cylinder, at the hard brake line fittings or at the hose connection?

This is Photoshopped. The faces of the people have been added over the original folks,, as have the graphics on the side of the car.

The rivets holding the bracket on are pushing the lining away from the inner metal brake band surface. I'm not an expert on external contracting brakes, but someone on this site will have dealt with this problem. Either there is supposed to be a gap,, or you have to put recessed holes in the back,of the lining to clear the rivets.

I know when I took my 48 Plymouth steering column apart, that was what was in there - a rubber strip as I described. It makes sense - how could you install a grommet unless you took off the steering wheel? And you'd still have to stretch it over the larger horn base of the column.

Is the inside of the bracket hollow or solid? If solid, I would simply cut a piece of sheet rubber the width of the bracket and long enough to wrap around the column with out overlap. If you put the joint at the bottom, the column will hide it. I have rubber sheet in 1/16th and 1/8th inch thickness. One of those should work.

You learn something every day.

Really beginning to look like a car again. Great work.

I'm no expert, but I rarely, if ever, see washers under the head nuts. it may be perfectly fine, but I have to wonder why they weren't used originally.

Best to post this in the Buick section of this site. The guys there know their stuff and are always willing to help.

`I have never understood the desire to reupholster these cars in bright red or blue velour. That, and the painted grill shell and bumpers and incorrect wooden running boards, leaves something to be desired, but it looks like a sold start for someone if they get it at a reasonable price. i wonder what it will go for?

I swear, Spinnyhill, you know my thread better than I do!

The broken front casting is pot-metal. the reason it shattered is the sad fact that the pot-metal swells up with age and trapped the throwout bearing. Hit the clutch and Bam!, it's broken. Finding a good one will not be easy, as most have already swollen and become useless with age. I'm surprised no one is making replacement as this is a very common problem with these transmissions. I'm not sure if my posting all the pictures is doing any good, so I'll reference my thread on the Dodge & Dodge Brothers site just below this site on the main page. Under "The Resurrection of Daphne - a 1932 DL" you'll find a complete description of rebuilding the transmission, where I found the bearings and other general information that may help. On the throwout bearing, you will have to take the actual bearing off the support (no easy job - I had to cut mine off - and replace it. Any good bearing shop should be able to find you replacement bearings for the transmission. Just bring in the bearings and they will match them up with modern replacements. It starts at page 31 on my thread.

Assuming you have Spicer U-joints and not the rubberized fiber disks, this is how my driveshaft comes off. First, unscrew the cup piece the arrow is pointing to. This contains a seal. Once it's free, slide it back along the shaft (the sliver shaft behind it.) If your shaft is rusty and covered in crud, clean it up before you slide the seal piece back or you'll destroy the seal inside. It's probably a good idea to replace the seal in any case. This shot gives you a better idea of how the front of the driveshaft looks once it's off. You can see that the seal holder also holds the front of the driveshaft in place. Now, you remove the six bolts and nuts from the rear U-joint. The arrow points to the correct bolts. You have to take the bolts completely out of the unit. Once they are out, push the driveshaft slightly toward the front, just a little, enough to clear the slight flange on the rear of the U-joint. This will allow you to drop the driveshaft down clear of the rear axle. Support the driveshaft so it doesn't drop too far down and put undo stress on the front U-joint. The back of the U-joint looks like this - notice the inner flange. Now, you can simply slide the driveshaft out of the front housing by pulling it toward the rear. Once it clears the housing you have it out. Here is a shot of the front housing which is part of the front U-Joint. You can just see the threads for the seal cup piece you unscrewed at the start of the process. I hope this was some help to you. Good luck!

I'll post some photos tomorrow that may help.

Looks the same as 32. As I said, my 29 Plymouth had flexible disks. If this DeSoto has the disks, be sure to replace them with fresh units.

If the set up is the same as a 29 Plymouth, the driveshaft has rubberized fiber disks instead of U-joints. Does your car have the disks? Maybe the bigger six cylinder motor made them too dangerous and they went with actual U-joints. It will make a difference what you have.

Are they pot metal? I hate to say it, but the best thing to do would probably to cast new ones, using the old parts as patterns, and get them chromed. My chrome plater managed to reassemble the three pieces (pot metal) of a decorative cowl spear on my 32 Dodge Brothers sedan. It worked, and the piece looks brand new, but it lies flat on the cowl and is under no stress as your parts are. Best of luck with this.

Young, privileged, lazy. It's more work to accomadate you, so let's make the rules so as to avoid doing anything but accept a salary and text friends on their cell phones.

The weather finally cooled down enough to allow me some time in the garage. I got all the fenders, running boards, splash pans and welting on and lined up. I was worried that all the work done on the fenders might cause an alignment problem, but everything went together much more smoothly than I anticipated. We rolled Daphne out into the sunlight to take a few pictures and to thoroughly clean out the garage as there were bits of welting, tools and debris everywhere. Deep black paint and polished aluminum running board trim make for a tough exposure, but you can see some of the welting in the close shot. Now we are all ready for cool Fall weather and lots of assembly - door mechanisms and windows are next.

If that sleeve is anything like the one I had in my 29 Plymouth, we got trouble right here in River City. The piece fits on the front of the transmission over the input shaft and the throwout bearing slides on it. Unfortunately, they are made out of some sort of pot metal that disintegrates over the years. this is what it looks like on my 32 Dodge Brothers transmission... Luckily, Chrysler figured out the pot metal sleeve didn't hold up and mine is machined cast iron.

Again, not trying to be a know-it-all, but I would strip the frame down before I painted it with the final black. Once you're down to the bare frame, you are going to find areas that the blaster missed, mainly under the parts you will remove. Leave that rust under there and it will bleed out over time and stain the painted frame. Everyone has their own way of doing things, so this may not be the way you want to go, and that's fine. Just trying to pass on a few lessons I learned when dealing with the same problem. As far as the paint issue, take a look at this. Not everyone reacts to things the same way, just like everyone who smokes doesn't get cancer, but this may make you think. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/bad-urethane-experience-need-info.308529/

Not trying to be a know-it-all, but I would recommend wearing a mask when spraying any paint, especially two part, activated paint. That stuff can kill you.

The tires on the car should have the information you seek. I would also post in the Buick section on this forum - those guys have all the answers.