I inherited a 57 desoto firesweep project!

Well my project plans have taken a turn, my dad is handing me the keys to his still born 57 desoto project. It's been sitting in our barn for the last 14 years and it's time to get this back on the road.

Current plans are to install the 392 im rebuilding in my other thread, I'm aiming for 400hp at the crank on that build which should make this car scoot pretty well. This car donated it's spindles to magnum force back before it went in the barn to mock up their 57 wilwood kit so it's got a set of those and he has a full front end rebuild kit for it. It already has a 65 c-body rear axle (screw those tapered axles) and the mechanical side of things should go pretty smoothly. I have a power steering box from my old 57 dodge, but i may keep it manual for now. The body is straight with minimal rust so current plans are to smooth the side of it by filling the trim holes and then painting it the factory muscatel maroon with the white top and drop it on black steelies. I've got a proto 300 race car vibe in mind here since we will have a nicely warmed over hemi with some aluminum on it to shed weight and these lightwil woods with aluminum hubs and adapters.

It won't come out of the barn until my engine build is done but that should only be a few months. I'll update this as things happen.

PS My Dad is still around, inherited makes it sound like he died or something. He is still kickin' and will be helping me on this quite a bit.

 

You lucky bugger, I love '57 DeSotos and Chryslers.

 

One of my all time favorite cars. I like your plan for the most part, but I'll ask you to reconsider shaving the side trim. It's iconic and critical to the look/design of the car.

 

Congrats -better be careful 'ol Dad likely has a duplicate set of keys to use when you get it done.

 

That would be one that is on my "list" Keep us posted on the progress.

 

Im torn on that as well really, i need to get it out in the day light and see what kind of shape that trim is in, you are right though, it is a big part of the look.

 

I will be awaiting each syllable with great anticipation. Almost bought a 59 Firesweep once with a 350 and powerflite, was gonna slip a long ram on it.

 

Sell that junker to me. lol Spring will be here soon and I need to get 2 of my FL cars on the road.

 

As you can see, most of us winched when you said you were going to remove the trim and fill in the holes.....Please reconsider.

 

Cleaning it out is half the battle. Very cool

 

Looks like a fun project.
I'm hittin the watch button.

 

Wow! Big project but those cars are sooo beautiful. Looks like you will be evicting a family of skunks or possums, good luck

 

Yeah, somethings been using the rear deck as its toilet, thankfully not the inside of the trunk though. It is a big project, my current plan is to get this running and driving then worry about the interior and body/paint. It can be ugly for a little while.

heading to the yard today to look for a newer lightweight starter and scope out A-518 options in early 90's 2wd vans. Its really much easier to come by a 518 than a straight up 904 or 727 in the junkyard these days.

 

Looks like a fun project.Please keep us updated.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

You sure there's a car in there?

 

I love the old Desotos. I can't wait to see where this goes.

 

Its delightful,its delovely,its DeSoto.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

And remember to tell 'em Groucho sent you! Desoto/Plymouth used to sponsor his show, "You Bet Your Life".

 

Man , you do have a really kool dad!!!!Bruce.

 

Hi cfmvw.That was one of my Dads favorite shows.He knew Mr Marks from when he did chauffer work after the war(WW1)that is until about the mid 30`s.He drove all the old goodies that we drool over today.Hupmobiles,Pierce Arrows,Packards,Caddys Lincolns and ect.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Saw one at Conroe swap meet Saturday, completely disassembled for 1000.oo. I sure liked the looks it is unique!

 

I think I'll just move my motor build action into this thread for ease of following along.

I got the pan and timing cover off along with the toasty timing chain and cam. They were worn out which is no surprise. The lifters had a very tiny dish to them as well.

We pulled the #1 rod cap and measured the crank, still in spec at 2.375. As long as the rest of the crank measures out, I'll just be putting bearings in this and polishing the crank, which makes me happy. I'll continue to disassemble and get the block off to the machine shop to be honed and hot tanked soon.

 

It has been quite a while since i posted so i figured i would update the current status.

Block is back at the machine shop getting more clean up and awaiting my new pistons to show up. The block had .013 of taper so i decided to take it .030 over. I'm going to be running 10:1 KB Hypereutetics, i chose these due to the tight wall clearance and the properties of the piston. I really like that they keep heat in the chamber and that they are quite stiff. I'm not going to be running boost or anything on this motor and hemi's don't ping easily so i'm not really afraid of having the pistons fail. The hyper just makes a lot of sense for my design goals with this build. I'm still trying to decide where to go with the cam. I want a new one, not a regrind at this point so i'm still looking at the Hot heads .485/238/112 or some of the howards grinds. Any input on these is much appreciated.

As for the car, i've decided to keep the manual steering vs the aluminum "co-axial" power steering box i saved from my 57 dodge for now. It simplifies the build a bit and allows me to worry about mounting up a pump down the road should i choose to. I picked up a mostly complete factory AC box a while back along with the desoto dash controls so i'm going to mount up the box to facilitate full AC when i can get to it, its easier to install now.

 

Nice! I'll be following along, have a '55 Firedome project myself

 

While the motor is at the shop I started digging out little parts I can work on while I'm at home. I pulled one of the tail lights out and started polishing today. These are going to clean up nicely!

 

Those lights look great...better than new!

 

Hopefully, the side trim will remain.

 

I've decided to keep it so long as it's in good enough shape. If the lower sections are jacked up I'll keep the spear ala the 300. I would like to keep it uniquely desoto as much as I can.

 

Another cool pic, an air defense command sticker from 1962 on its bumper. The car has lived its entire life in Colorado Springs. I'm going to have my friend clone it in vinyl for my future use.

 

Spent a few minutes seeing how the original paint that's left might come back. Not too bad.


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