Anyone know if there is any parts to tune up my engine a little? Or does the parts for other mopars of the early 50's work on my engine? All help i get is good help i think?? Thanx, Halle
I purchased any part I ever needed for my 230 flathead from NAPA.. The best and easiest upgrade I did , was an electronic distributer from Tom Langdons stove bolt in Michigan. There is also Andy Burbaums as well.
Andy Bernbaum: http://www.oldmoparts.com/Default.htm http://www.egge.com/ http://www.robertsmotorparts.com/index.html http://stores.ebay.com/AMS-Obsolete-Formerly-Mitchells There is plenty of companies who deals with old Mopars. It's a truck site but most of them have car parts also. http://www.sweptline.com/lit/parts.html#body Lot of parts at Rock Auto. You can pick your car and model. Sometimes it dont show all the parts with some model, so look for other model or year. Also Chrysler-Desoto engine is normally same, it might have more parts at Chrysler than Desoto, or other way. http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php
Buy tune up parts from napa not roberts motors or andy bernbaum .The napa stuff is good the others have stuff from the china place the will leave stuck on the side of the road,ask me how i know.
Points made neither from Tungsten nor Platinum. Looks like the same white-iron Chinese tooling is made from. And the contact springs: laughable. I've heard of nuns with hearts that were harder. (they taught at my school) Gaskets...carb kits...If I didn't know better, I'd suspect this was a government conspiracy to rid the U.S. of old cars that couldn't be maintained! (WWll strategy: Bomb the bearing factories, bring Germany to a grinding halt.)
Norrland. Your engine is the same as used in Chrysler and DeSoto 1938 - 54. Also used in some Dodge trucks to 1962, military vehicles to 1968, and in industrial and marine engines to 1972. So, parts are not hard to get. It was a very popular motor. You need to be a little bit careful on your car. The distributor design was changed that year. The model of distributor is marked on it, either 1AP or 1AT. They use different points, cap, and rotor. NAPA is an American auto parts store chain. In the US and Canada most parts for your car can be ordered from any local auto parts store. Brakes, tune up, steering, etc. parts are that common. As you live in Sweden it might be easier for you, to order parts from old MoPar specialists Andy Bernbaum or Roberts Motor Parts. There is a company called Vintage Power Wagons. They specialize in Dodge Power Wagon ( 4 wheel drive trucks). But the Power Wagon used the same engine as your car, and they have lots of engine parts. The engine in your car is not high horsepower but the long stroke design, with accompanying high torque, means on the road performance is good and it will run fine on the cheapest regular gas. Mileage about 17 miles per gallon, typical for a heavy car of that day. The best thing you can do is to get a repair manual and tune the engine to factory specs. Do a compression test, if compression is low you will have to overhaul or rebuild the engine as necessary. Do not think about changing anything until you know the engine is in good condition and running at its best. If you still feel like adding horsepower there are ways of doing this, but chances are if your DeSoto is in good condition and running as it was meant to run, you will not need or desire more power.
Halle - if this is your first US produced car, you might wish to find others in your immediate area that have US produced cars. Shipping costs for parts is going to be one of your worst nightmares. If you and several friends who need (or are going to need) parts can go together and find one supplier that will handle most of your needs, you can collectively save a lot on individual shipping. Even if you cannot find one supplier that can supply all your needs; there are forwarding companies here in the US that will accept shipments from a number of sources, and then forward one shipment to you. We try to educate our customers on this issue. Often, a single customer will have to pay more for shipping than for the item being shipped!!! A little homework will pay off in a much more enjoyable purchasing experience. Jon.
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