Customs Wagon hunt may be OVER!!! 1952 DeSoto wagon is HOME!

For all you fans of traditional wheels, new shoes for the DeSoto.


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Already paint matched to the roof,

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Haha, they ARE, aren’t they? Not for long, the new color is white pearl.


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After MONTHS of waiting for "Instrument Services", the gauges for our '52 DeSoto wagon are finally done. I have to say they certainly look beautiful! Now I can finish the wiring, which has held the project up since early June when I sent them in. I've been working on our house the past 6 weeks anyway, so no shop time. Until now. It's on...

 

They look better than they did when they were new!

 

Like your choice in wines. We keep several bottles around. Interesting story of chrimes against the crown. Nice gauges too!

 

They look great Brian. I am still waiting on mine. I took them to the instrument shop in April. According to the owner, they've been trying to get the clock to keep time for 48 hours straight for the last 2 or 3 weeks. I think we are going to give up if he doesn't get it this week.

 

They were almost 5 months getting them back to me. There was no deadline, but I admit it got a little long. The only complaint I have, and I told them, was the complete lack of communication. I admit I was impatient, I guess in the end it didn't matter that the job took so long, as I haven't been able to work on the car since late August anyway (big home improvement project), I do feel they could have done a better job with communicating with their customers. The gauges are stunning though.

These are '53 DeSoto gauges, from the extra dash that came with the car. The '52's are the same, but the centers are brushed stainless, and the ring with the numerals is the dark chocolate color. These "pop" a little more. I'll use the '52 gauges in the Model A roadster that's getting the original Hemi.

 

Very nice. I'm a sucker for dash components. Lots of details and design that is often overlooked.

 

They did a bang-up job on those gauges

 

Agreed. Electronic speedo, 12V temp, Ammeter to volt meter (it'll swing in the + direction, it's really more for looks), original oil, new fuel gauge and sender, and the clock is digital 12V. The work is first rate. They polished the chrome bezels and really did a nice clean up and detail of the original faces and graphics.

 

Wow, that stuff looks great. I prefer the DeSoto gauges over Chrysler’s for those years.

 

I find it interesting that these taillights favor the ones you went with Brian.

 

They kinda do, don't they? I'm anxious to get back on the car. Just finished a big, 6 week long re-model of our house, but that's all done, and I bought a scissor lift to get the car up off the ground so I can get the body work done. No more working on jack stands, crouching on my knees to do bodywork!

 

Gauges look remarkable ! Isn't it strange how something like working on your knees becomes a major pain in the ass when you used to never think about it ?

 

I really like the slimmed down bumper and grill treatment as well.

 

Thanks! The first project (after painting the door jambs) is pulling the rear bumper in about 3” closer. I don’t know what I was thinking...


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I'm watching this with great interest --- My fiancee and I have been looking at a 1956 DeSoto Firedome 330 Hemi wagon. It runs and drives, but needs.....like they all do. I'm definitely looking at rear ends - and want to keep it all MoPar. Will be opting for disc brakes in the front and a dual master cylinder to keep it safe. My future missus wants to retain the PowerFlite but I'll be moding the Hemi to 400 HP. Thanks for all those updates and inspirations on this thread.

 

We may need a new HAMB thread for 330 installs. We can call it "Beyond Firedome"

 

I’m getting busy! Buh-bye bad bodywork!


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I pulled the rear bumper in as far as I could l in order to keep the Reese hitch workable . Sectioned the gravel pan the same 2 1/4”, looks much better.


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Looking at my photo, it dawned on me that I'm making the car look "stock" (especially given the simple Imperial grill and Chevy front bumper), not "custom", although I'm going to a huge amount of effort. The DeSoto styling, to my eye, was heavy, overwrought, bulky, and really clumsy. A lot of work to make a MOPAR look like a Bowtie product!

 

You are making it look like it should have looked from the factory with better styling, excellent job by you, Brian! That is what I feel many of the best customs have going for them!

 

I agree with Dick Stevens, the best custom touches are the ones that do not jump out at you but the subtle ones that blends in and looks better than factory.

 

Such a cool cruiser!

 

Your wagon's big sister was at NSRA Knoxville back in October. Strange coincidence on the color?

 

I agree. A well done custom, you look at it and know it’s different, but you have to keep looking to see why. It’s the small details, smoothing, rounding corners, removing emblems, etc. I’d much rather look at one like that than one with goofy headlights, toothy grilles, and fins where there were none before. Just my two cents, I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, even though I’m right.

 

That's pretty. REALLY pretty. I'll admit that in some light, the color combo is OK, but the job on my car is just so terrible, it makes me want to run as far from that as I can. The colors I picked are still in that (sort of) family, being dark garnet pearl (sort of brownish) and white pearl. The stance of that Chrysler is exactly like ours, they look really good setting like that.

 

Fixing holes, saving souls.


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I'm making progress on the wagon's bodywork. Lots of grinding out old filler, doing my best to make the sheetmetal underneath as good as I can before a skim coat of filler. There had to be a gallon on the rear fender alone. It looks like a lot now, but there's less than 1/4" anywhere. Likewise the door.