29' Desoto is running again after 41 years in storage

[GaryBudd]

Very good day here at the garage.Thanks to many in this group who stepped up and helped me thru some car problems.Had the carb rebuilt and she fired up on the first try.Because of the condition of the car when I got it I have some wiring questions.Most everything is cut off or pulled out at the dash panel.The ignition setup is different than the book shows.The coil is mounted on the engine.What is the best way to wire an ignition switch to be able to shut the engine off?Today I had to shut down the fuel pump.

As always

Gary

[keiser31]

I would go to Rhode Island Wiring and get a wiring harness for the car, first. Then I would go on Ebay and look for a dashboard-mounted, original style coil/ignition switch. Then, you're in business.

[ArticiferTom]

I would recommend removing coil from engine . Same set up on my truck lead to it overheating and opening on thermal protection then resetting --repeat . I moved in to cab fire wall .

                                         Tom

[F&J]

I started in the stock type hobby in 1972 with....wait for it... 29 Desoto model K.s... one led to more, more cars led to seeing more differences:

 

There were changes in K electric systems,  it is way past my bedtime to recall the sequences of changes, but two coil locations and two brands of electrics used in 3 different periods.  The earliest K had a coil poking out of a hole in firewall,  The other location, the coil is attached to the rear of the dash switch.  They were never on the engine, but it would work anywhere if not too hot.

 

anyways, if ordering a new harness you would need to tell the company which system you have, to have the correct wiring that would fit.

 

If you do not have a coil sized round hole through the firewall, your coil had the ignition switch attached to it, called a "key-coil" I believe.   The first use at the dash was Northeast Electric, and mid year production.

 

the wiring for the earliest K was confusing by anti theft design.  There were a bundle of wires going to a sealed steel box on the distributor, one was the real wire, the rest were dummy's to foil a thief.  That may be what you see?

[Spinneyhill]

Yes, I answered a query for a starter elsewhere. Early Ks were Delco Remy, then they went to North East for a while 1929-30 then back to Delco Remy. The NE system seems to be hardest to work with: the starter for one, was unique to that vehicle.