I'am looking for a little info. on Desoto grills. I know '51 and '52 grills are the same but are the teeth on '53 grills the same as the earlier or different? Also is there a center tooth and then left and right teeth or are they all the same? Are they all the same height too or does that very also? Any help or info from you guys would be great!!
My buddy has a 52 and a 53. From what I can tell they are the same except the 52 has the turn signals in the last tooth of each side. The 53 has the turn signals separate. Everything else seems to look the same.
I have a '53,,they are different, approx. 7" outside to 8 I/2" in the center ,,,there are 11 of 'em total. Not sure about L & R.
OK I had a guy tell me on the '53 grills that the center 7 teeth are the same height with the 2 on the ends being shorter like you said Scrapiron. He did also say there is a left and right, but didnt know if the teeth were the as used on the earlier grills. Does anyone know about '51 or '52 grills? What I am lookin for is the is the 3 center teeth for '51 or '52 grill, a center and a L & R tooth.
'51-'52 grilles are the same, having 9 teeth total with the 2 end teeth having park lights attached to them. '53 has 11 teeth total, with the outer 2 on each side now taking the place of the park light. There is a designated center tooth on both styles. With that being said, the "center" 7 teeth on the '51-'52 are the same as the ones in 53. The center is the tallest, and they all progressively get shorter as they make their way to the fenders. I know this because I was crazy enough to piece an entire 11 tooth grille together!!!
The leading edge of the bumper pan is not straight, it's got a curve, so the angle at the very front of the teeth, where the teeth meet the pan just behind the bumper, are angled left or right to follow the pan, except the center, which is flat. I have a whole pan with bumper and teeth in my shop if you need any dimensions. I don't think the height changes at all on a 51-52 grille, I think the only ones that change height are the outer two on each end of a '53 grille.
I have a Plym-Dodge-DeSoto-Chrysler parts book for 1951 -52. It shows the grille as the same for 51 and 52 DeSoto but each tooth is a different part number. There is a center #1, left #2, right #2 etc. all different.
Thanks that answers alot of questions. Now I know for sure. Could I get those part numbers that would help in my search. I mainly need the 3 center teeth.
Here's the part numbers for a '51-'52 desoto grille. 1346792LH (park light) 1346790 8911 1346773 8909 1346760 8907 1346758 8905 (center) 1346759 8906 1346772 8908 1346789 8910 1346791RH (park light)
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