What a great car! I remember trying to convince the salesman that my dad was going to buy me one but in the meantime I sure would like to take a test drive, he didn't buy my story. So I just hopped on my bicycle and rode away.
firengine103: Thanks for the comment of the car. I had one back in the early 60's and am enjoying bringing this one back to road-worthiness.
I'm not usually a fan of pre-muscle era Chrysler products, but I must admit the '57-'58 Desotos have an overwhelming amount of style. '60 Fireflite is another gorgeous car.
midnightrider78: Agree with you for sure. I am of the opinion that the '57 models were the cleanest of the forward look Chrysler products. In the later years, Chrysler stylists added more doo-dads that I think took away from the new look. I'm sure many will disagree, but...
Weather was great today, so some time spent painting wheels, inner fender panels, and some other parts.
Baker, I would make sure your rocker shafts are getting adequate oil. They are notorious for plugging. Ago
After bench bleeding the new master cylinder, I installed it along with the brake booster. I then bled the brakes and had great pedal, but found I was engaging only one shoe on the right front. I pulled all four drums and found that 5 of the 6 wheel cylinders were stuck. Also, the shoes looked pretty thin. Rather than install kits in the cylinders, I ordered 6 new wheel cylinders along with new brake shoes, new flexible hoses and new steel brake lines. Hopefully, all that stuff will get here this week. I also took the drums to get them turned and they should be ready soon. I have new bearings sets for the front, so I'll put them in as well. Maybe within a week or two I will have brakes on the Firesweep.
Be sure you set - up and adjust the brakes by the book. If you do they work great. But they are more finicky than the loose leaf brakes featured by other makes back then. Your car should have the Centerplane brakes, the best brakes on the market at the time. If they are like the earlier Chrysler brakes, there is a major adjustment done when you rebuild the brakes, and a minor adjustment to take up wear. Helps to contour the shoes to the drums for full contact.
My landlord has owned this one since late 70's. Really neeto cars. Last year we made these lowering spindles. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=683282
scrappybunch: Quite a project you took on. Looks like you achieved your goal very well. The chop on the Desoto is looking good.
Been working on the brakes today. I have the front and rear assemblies completed and now waiting on delivery of new steel brake lines. The drums were still at stock specs and I had them turned to true them up and remove the rust coating. I used new wheels cylinders and installed the new brake shoes as well.
Spent yesterday and today putting the engine bay back together. Still more to do before start-up, but making some progress. I added an idler pulley onto the A/C compressor bracket to provide more belt contact to the compressor's pulley.
Bill, Kool car! Going to be real Nice car. Back in the day 60's, I bought a 58 or 59, 4 door hardtop for resale, rusty car, ran great, sold engine and tranny for double my investment at the time. I seem to remember it was a HEMI w/2-4's ? motor w/ push button auto. Bought and sold a lot of cars back then, Did they come that way or is my CRS winning? John
Red letter day for me. Finished assembly of the engine bay and started up the '57 Desoto Firesweep. Engine sounds great, no tappet noise or other bumps in the night plus oil pressure is excellent. Temperature gauge works as well as the ammeter. The fuel gauge is not working, so I'll have to investigate that issue. BTW, I am really impressed how quickly the engine started. I spun the engine for about 5 seconds to fill up the float bowl in the carb and it started right up. I pressure tested the cooling system with my tester and no leak down, so it looks like all is well so-far. The new steel brake lines should arrive today so forming and installing them will be tomorrows project.
wicarnut: Yes indeed, there were a number of them fitted with 2-4's. It was an option on many of their models. Thanks for the comment on the car.
Nice build going there, Baker. I had a 57 Dodge Coronet with twin rear antenna mounted in the valleys of the fins behind the rear glass. What was odd about this car was that there was also an antenna on the right front fender....maybe there was a problem with the co-ax from the rear ones. Don't know; radio worked fine, so I didn't mess with it. I always wonder why Chrysler cars had the rear-view mirrors planted on the dash. Seamed kinda strange. My '57 had it on the dash, too. A "safety feature" ??
The brake lines came in a day late so I got busy bending them using the old ones as patterns. The brake assemblies and drums are all mounted and pre-adjusted. Tomorrow I'll install the new brake lines and bleed the system. Also, FEDEX delivered a NOS '57 Desoto muffler which will be going on in the not too distant future. I used the old steel brake lines as patterns for the new ones. I figured after 57 years on the car, they were about due for replacement. I found this NOS Desoto muffler for the car, but decided to put dual exhaust on the car, so this one is up for sale.
Brake lines installed and I bled the brake system. All good with the brakes up on jack stands. After a few more under the car chores, I'll put the wheels back on and go for a maiden test trip.
My parents had this car as a 9 passenger station wagon. It's the car I got my driver's licence in, 1961. Ours had the 2x4 set up, and my sister and me tore up the streets of Northeast Dallas with it. It was stout enough to get us both in trouble..
Put the wheels back on and took a test drive. Engine and transmission seem to be working well. I need to do some more work on the brakes though. Seems like the shoes are not centered in the drums and the brakes pulsate a bit. It got better after driving a bit, but still needs work..
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