I have a 57 plymouth, and have done several frame swaps. On these forward look cars, it would be very hard. The frame is a ladder style that closely follows the contours of the floors, and has a very shallow rear kickup, so no modern frames are close. They cars are wide, but the track width is around 61" which is pretty common, but the monster 126" wheelbase will interesting to find. Caprices are 116", Crown Vic's are just a smidge under 114", and B body based caddillacs are 121.5". The only real way to go is what you did, and get another 59' desoto frame.
RacerRick, thanks for the info! I wondered if there was anything that was close enough and almost bought a Crown Vic frame because a couple people thought it might be close enough, glad I didn't. I saw your '57, nice save!!
For those who are following along... if you need a new frame or suspension for your old DeSoto, they are practically identical to the small Chryslers. By that I mean the Windsor or Saratoga, not sure about the New Yorker but if they are the same wheelbase they are the same chassis (this is not the case on the old straight eight models but may be true of 53 up). Last year for a full frame DeSoto/Chrysler was 1959. After that they went to a unibody with front subframe.
Wow, while I was reading through the thread, looking up a 59 Desoto 4 door on Google to figure out the specs which are a 126 inch wheel base 78.7 inches wide and 221 inches bumper to bumper you swapped frames, did the body work and painted the car. That is one big honking car and way bigger than most we deal with . I did find out that a person could probably put a 71/76 Olds 98 frame and floor pan under one as the Olds has a 127 inch wheel base and that could probably be compensated for or shortened rather easily. That Desoto is looking good, keep us posted on the progress.
Lol, yep it is a BIG honkin' car! I bought it sight unseen and had been told it was rusty and better off a parts car. But, needing something to learn welding and bodyworking on, I couldn't go wrong-plus I couldn't make it worse right? Because I'm impatient, I did all the stuff myself using basic hand tools, a small jack, and some jackstands. I had made rocker/sills out of 14 ga rectangular tubing so they came in handy when I had to jack the body up. The leaf springs were broken so I hacked them until the rear axle was resting on the kickup. I put a little rolling jack under the rear diff and started rolling it out from under the body. Man was I relieved when the frame came out of there. Now if I could only learn how to tune a carb and fix the leaky steering box
Hey congrats Phinney! It looks great all one color...would look even better with some bigger pics lol! So how close to bein roadworthy are you?
Steve, I hope to get it on the road in a couple of months. I gotta get that steering box leak fixed. It currently has no power steering and the brakes need adjusting so it will stop without me standing on the pedal. Maybe bigger pics when I get it outside, if I can figure out how, lol.
If I can figure it out (bigger pics) anyone can ! I am really impressed how quickly you turned the ol rust bucket into a car again,you must have devoted alot of time and should be justifiably proud
Steve, I'll try to get bigger pics, just don't laugh at the witness lines I'll have to tackle next winter, lol. And yes, I worked tons of nights and weekends on it! Thanks Saxman, I'm just relieved that I didn't have to hire anyone yet-I only have a shoestring budget. I almost gave up and turned it into a couch because I had no idea where to start. Thanks to the HAMB and the great build threads, I kinda dove in. Plus, the more people that told me it couldn't be done, the more inspired I was!
There's few things in life that make me happier than someone taking a destroyed, rotted out car and saving it. Outstanding work!
It's finally on the road!! I have built my own exhaust to the mufflers (Cherry Bombs), have wet sanded the thing like 19 times mounted seat belts, and used the rest of my money for a new intake and carb Also, all the taillight sockets were changed for new ones and the brake light was switched to an electromechanical one under the dash The next area to learn on will be the interior. My girls want a "fuzzy" (hairy) headliner And yes, they still want flames...thanks for all the encouragement, I appreciate it!
FWIW, '57 DeSoto and Chrysler are all long wheelbase, then 58-59 the base models got a Dodge chassis and nose (hood, fenders, headlight eyebrow chrome) that's a few inches shorter. From what I've seen it's very common for the rear of the frame to rot, but it's just C-channel and flat after the kickup. The problem is they also like to rot at the front of the kickup for the rear axle and you'd have to fab that in pieces to repair it. The last one I sold the frame cracked under the rear seat, too, my buddy nicely tugged away at it while the tires were frozen to the ground. And I've seen photos of them rotted up in behind the coil springs, so the front isn't immune either.
and the brake light was switched to an electromechanical one under the dash View attachment 1687192 Lisa - GREAT work! I'm impressed! BTW, where did you get the brake light switch, and what's the part #? I ask because I'd like to do the same conversion on my Galaxie. Thanks... Chris
Ditto here what is the number for the switch Lisa, I have a 59 Desoto Firedome sportsman with a bad brake switch and would like to fix it like yours. I've read your entire thread. The student becomes the master. Nice job!
Yep, even my replacement frame had been repaired. The rear of both frames were boxed all the way back to the crossmember. Maybe that was a Desoto specific design? Either way, I am keeping an eye on the rest of my frame. Thanks guys! I keep trying things I haven't done before after reading the posts here, you all are very inspiring. The part number for the brake light switch appears to be SLS62. It also has GP Sorensen and Standard Motor Products, Inc. on the box It was originally purchased for my OT '78 Jeep CJ