Projects Project 48 desoto...aka: Fernando

Front and rear brakes...axle pinion seal...May 03/2011...

Well I finally got the front brakes back together and adjusted...I have a new disdain for the factory set-up and adjustment on those front brakes.

Well here are a couple before pics...








And ready for the drums to go back on....less the springs.

 

Then it was to the back to get those drums off. I borrowed a proper drum puller from a friend of mine on the East Coast...Thanks Steve!!



The passenger side came off with some PB Blaster and a little heat....



Looks like an axle seal is leaking....

The Drivers side fought me. Lots of PB Blaster and heat. And cranking on the drum puller until I though the studs would rip free. A little trick I used, and not sure if it's ever been mentioned or not.

I spun the drum so the keyway was in the 12 O-clock position. The sprayed PB Blaster onto the keyway and then hit it with compressed air to drive the fluid down into the hub. Did this a few times and then heat cycled it some more. The drum did not let go. I Continued doing this but also started rotating the drum puller. I figured perhaps the drum puller wasn't pulling perfectly square to the hub so if I rotated it I might get lucky and it would pop off at a certain position. Well this did the trick!!

Here's what it looked like when I got it off...

 

Rear axle yoke questions...May 11/2011...

I need some advice from the knowledgeable. When I separated the drive shaft from the rear axle I didn't pay much attention...since it was all caked up with 60 years of grease and grime.

Anyway today I went to re-install the drive shaft to the rear axle and things just didn't look right, especially since they are mostly clean now.

Have a look see.....

 

And a couple more....







So tell me this is all wrong and that a previous owner cobbled this together.

 

Quote:
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset"> Originally Posted by Dodgeb4ya
Well here is the cap retainer that clamps the caps to the yokes. Did you look at the other end of your driveline to see what it looks like? Sorry no flash for better pic's.



Bob
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Well I feel like a dolt...I forgot that I had removed those retainer plates....DOOOHHH!!! Found them in the parts washer.

Thanks for the help...and pics Bob!!

 

Flathead to Slant 6 distributor conversion...Dec 15/2011...

Well I'm beginning to get my motor ready for the re/re in the old Desoto. I'm working on a new remote oil filter, converting to a 12V Chrysler Alternator system and converting the Flat 6 dizzy to a 80's electronic ignition slant 6 dizzy.

I have acquired all the parts to convert the dizzy, and tore everything down this evening. Now I have a couple questions for those who have done this conversion.

When you swap over the main shafts, do I swap over the more modern weights and springs, or keep the originals? Just wondering if the mechanical advance would be similar or not?

I will post up pics and info as I go along so other can benefit from my trials and errors.

 

Well it's done...I combined the two and I think it might work?

Anyway here's a step by step on how I did it.

Here they are side by side...





Now torn down...

 

I had a wee bit of a time getting the lower collar off the flatty distributor. The pin would not move...I tried heat, penetrating fluid etc. SO eventually I had to hack it off with my dremel and a hacksaw.



Here you can see how similar the two main shafts are.





The main difference...other then the distributor drive portion...was in the mounting for the mechanical advance weights. The flatty weights use a smaller mounting lug on the main shaft plate then the slant 6 one does. So you can't swap them. I weighed the weights and they were all 55g, so the only difference would be in the springs and when they would come in.

So I cleaned up the original flatty weights and springs, lubed them up and re-installed.

 

So now came the hard part. The shaft bore on the flatty distributor, the part that runs down in to the motor, was 1.060". The Slant 6 dizzy bore was 1.090. SO I had 30 thou I had to remove. Well I don't have a lathe, or access to one so I did it the old fashion way....sand paper, micrometer and a couple hours.

I did the hard cutting with some 60 grit band saw paper and then used small, varying size strips of 100 grit to slowly polish it down to the right size.

Few pics...





And all done...

 

Here you can see the two bushings that run between the wreights. The one on the right is the flatty, the left is the slanty. You will need to use the slanty one so when the top plate goes on all your clearances will be right.



There is a bushing/washer that runs on the bottom of the plate, between the plate and the distributor housing itself. The flatty shaft/plate junction has a slight lip so it runs the bushing on the right. I tried using it but the collar would not allow the shaft to drop down far enough to get the collar on the lower section of the distributor. SO I re-installed the original slanty one, on the flathead shaft. Not a perfect fit but should be OK I hope....



Now in slides the shaft...lubed it up good.

 

Since I destroyed the original collar from the flatty I had to use the slant 6 lower collar. It wasn't a perfect fit. The shaft center lines did not match up. I had to find a drill bit just a hair smaller then the shaft through the distributor shaft and then drill through. Once that was done it was tap the roll pin into place.



Then cleaned up the original flatty mounting plate and installed. Not sure of the reasoning behind the timing marks plate that was on there, but I did not re-install it.

 

Then it was re-install the vacuum advance, top plate assembly and all is done...





I hope all works properly when I finally get my motor installed into Ol' Fernando. Will definitely give an update when i do.

 

Old engine removal...Feb 05/2012...

Well I finally got around to pulling the motor out of ol' Fernando this weekend. Been slowly pulling things apart getting ready for the big day...well today was the day.

Of course there were a few problems, couldn't get the nuts to budge on the exhaust pipe to manifold....They were put in from below and then double nutted on top! I had to cut the heads off from below and then pound them up until the double nuts hit the manifold....even then it wouldn't pop off. Once we started pulling the motor I was able to beat it free!!

Then the hood would not come off. The drivers side captured nuts were all loose and spinning, then I had one that the had forced a bigger bolt and nut into...I had to carefully cut the head off that one and beat it up into the hood area. Once the hood was off we could get to work.



Ready to pull..



We just had enough boom length on the hoist to clear the front end....and it was sketchy at best...but got it out.



Now it's clean up time and get ready for the new motor and tranny...

 

And now I could really see the carnage from the original motor lost #1 cylinder!!


When #1 let go it also took out #2 as well. The crank is gouged and done...no salvaging like I had hoped.





It also broke the cam apart, and one piece went down, around and up into cylinder 3/4 area adn got jammed up and punched a hole in the block! I was lucky that the cam piece was still there and I was able to wrestle it out...now I have a cool cam carnage paper weight!!



The fuel pump got beat up as well....

 

I've also been upgrading the 218 that will be going back in...installed a Mopar 12V alternator, spin on oil filter, my Slant six electronic dizzy and converted one of my air cleaners to a paper element unit. Will post up pics and info on that in a few days.

 

Rear engine mount removal...Feb 21/2012...

Well over the weekend I decided to get in there and pull that rear engine mount. Since I'm swapping in a new 218 motor with a 3 speed manual, I now need a new location forward of the fluid drive mount location.

First I cut all the heads of the rivets, and cut the welds on the underside of the frame rail....mount would not come loose. Tried pounding the rivets into the frame...they would not move!!

So I figured since I'm going to have to shorten the width of the mount anyway, I'll use my sawzall to cut the mount into 3 pieces. cut the mount off about 4-5" from the frame rail on each side. Tried again to pound them loose but no go.





This side was a little tricky to get to the two rivets behind the master cylinder mount. Thank goodness for my dremel and a cold chisel.

 

Well I eventually had to drill out the center of each rivet with abut a 1/8 bit, then went back with a 5/16-ish...or about the same size as the rivet body. Only went deep enough with the big bit to clear the bracket. Then it was a couple swift hits with the punch and hammer and the rivets fell into the frame.





Here the are the 3 pieces together.



Once I get the motor and tranny in the hole I'll hook up the center piece to the bell housing and then trim the outside pieces to fit and tack everything in place. I'll be bolting the mount to the frame this time though.

 

And a couple more pics....

Before...



..and after....



Only other thing I need to do is put a small brace on the front side of the MC mounting bracket. Since it used to be welded to the old mount.

 

Motor going in and rear mount reconstruction...Mar 03/2012...


Well been busy working on Fernando the last week or so. Running out of time to get the motor and tranny in, and get it running before May, when it goes into summer hibernation and the wagon comes home.

So after the old motor came out I was looking and trying to figure out the best way to get the new motor and bellhousing combo into the car. I figured it would be easiest if I pulled the RH side fender, grille and other misc parts. That way I could swing the motor in mostly level and feed it down and into the engine bay.

Here it is missing the said front end pieces....

 

Now the motor going in. It went in fairly easily.



Only problem was the Alternator was hitting the support bracket for the battery tray on the LH inner fender...sawzall took care of that.

 

So now I had to figure out just what I needed to do to mount the old rear engine mount assembly into it's new location. The frame was already drilled for the new location...Lucky me!! So all I did was find some matching 3/8 bolts with captured washers from my buckets of misc bolts...and then tap the holes to the right thread.

Had to open the holes in the bracket a little with a rat file to allow the 3/8 bolts to go through. And then trim off the lip that was welded to the frame in the old location. Since in the new location the bracket is actually mounted up higher. But once that was done they bolted up fine.

 

Now the real fun began. Seems the old rear engine mount spacing was about 1/2" wider on the old fluid drive vs the new manual 3 speed bellhousing. So I had to cut the mount down the middle.



Then remove about 1/4" from each piece...using my vise and my sawzall...no band saw for me. The trial fit it, remove it and grind off a little here and a little there...a few times



Then mount it for the last time, square it up and tack weld it.

 

Then once the center part was secure and mounted to the bellhousing I could figure out how much I needed to remove from the sides to make it line up with the stubs that were secured to the frame rails. Turned out I needed a little help to position the motor....it was sagging back on the front engine mount. SO I hooked up a small ratchet strap, and with the help of a small floor jack and the engine hoist I was able to position the motor perfectly.



Then it was remove another 1/4" from each side of the big center piece...again with the vice and sawzall..and hope for the best. Actually went in fairly well...here it is tacked and ready for removal and final welding.

 

Looking good! cool car!

 

Here's the mount just tacked together...



All welded up....



And painted and installed....



And here's Fernando with it's new motor. No idea how long it's been since it has had a motor that could run in there?




....Now the fun to bring things to life begin.

 

Tranny Seal...Mar 13-2012....

Well the other day I picked up my new tailshaft seal...Thank you to our forum members for posting up this info.

The old one put up a bit of a fight...



The new one fit perfectly and has not leaked...Part number is SKF 15620...




Then I decided to pull off the side cover...since I couldn't figure out exactly how the shift arms worked together. I now understand how things work but since I had the cover off I decided to replace one of the shifter seals that was leaking.

Here is the old seal, which is cork, and other parts...



Since I didn't have any original seals available I did a little brain storming and came up with a potential solution to my problem. I would dig into my jar of new/used misc O-rings and see if I could find one that would work. I did eventually find one. Then installed it and needed a very thin washer to cover it, and protect it from the movement of the shifter arm...so to my tin of misc washers.

Here it is...



No leaks yet...

 

E-brake... March 13-2012...

Well since the original E-brake system that came on my 3 speed tranny was incomplete I decided to use the complete system off the old fluid drive. Really it was not that hard to make things work.

Here are the original 3 speed brackets and small drum...





And here is the system on the original fluid drive...

 

fter cleaning up all the parts off the fluid drive tranny I then had to trim and shim out the original 3 speed bracket on the pass. side. And then trim the bracket on the drivers side and straighten it. Then it was install the bigger e-brake drum and band...line up the pass. side original fluid drive bracket with the other bracket and tack into place.



The the driver side I had to cut off one of the top mounting hole on the original fluid drive bracket. The it was line things up and tack it onto the cut and straightened original 3 speed bracket.



Then I adjusted everything and it all seems to work properly. Just have to remove everything and do a final weld on the brackets.

 

New Wide whites....Mar 13- 2012.....

And today i picked up my new Coker Classic 7.60 x 15, 3" wide white, Bias Ply tires.





Now I have to pull the old rims and tires...sand blast and repaint, before I can install these beauties.

 

Drive shaft...March 28/2012....

Been up to a bit more over the last week or so. Moved on to the next part in the hook up of the motor and tranny. I needed to see if I could make the current drive shaft work...or figure out if I had to get a new one made up.

Well here is the original drive shaft. It has a splined section at the front , near the tranny, that slides in and out with the movement of the rear suspension. The rear section is your standard U-joint style.



There is a threaded collar, and seal, at the front that helps keep the two pieces together...and provide a sealed area for the grease to be held. The splined section is about 2" long.




I initially installed the drive shaft unaltered and found that it was going to be short. Then I removed it and proceeded to be sad..thinking I was going to have to spend some big bucks on getting a new drive shaft made up. Then I had a thought....what if I unscrew the threaded stop, therefore giving the drive shaft more range of motion, and extra length. I did this and re-installed the drive shaft. I found the drive shaft only needed about an extra 1 1/4" (1.250") more length over stock, and the splines only extended about 1/4" (.250") past the threaded stop. Pic shows what it looked like.