put a merc grill on your desoto, then put the desoto grill on your chevy...if you have a good steering wheel and gauge cluster I will be interested in those parts, also a steering box if its manual. parts are heavy bastards to ship....oooh but if you can afford it, dont part it out. sell it whole.
Does it run/drive/stop? Grab the stuff you want & sell it as is; hang the plates w/ some wire, LOL. Put it up on craigslsit...
I almost bought a 52 Desoto not to long ago just for the grille, If i were you id take what i needed and sell the desoto
It's your property, do whatever you see fit. two more things coming to my mind, randomly and possibly negligible: 1) unmolested, complete cars are great. That 52 DeSoto, despite its "square" four doors and "boring" six cylinder engine may be worth up to 5k in Europe in its current condition, and up to 20k when completely restored. That'd be "rad". 2) The next time someone on this board whines about "there should be a law against crushing classics", he or she should look at the current opinion posted here. Parting out is just one step closer to crushing what is left over. (not that I'd be innocent, I have robbed parts off good cars before, too)
And there you go. Not every car is junk just because *you* don't care for it. If it was a rotted piece of shit that would break in two if you pulled on it too hard, that would be one thing, but a complete, solid car is another. I see plenty of early '50s Chryslers at local shows, there are guys who are into these things, but it's hard to see them if your head is up your ass. Even if you sell it to some kid who wants an old car and needs to start somewhere, better that than tearing it up.
I've seen better cars than that Desoto hacked up because the owner wanted to make something different outta them or use 'em for parts. I took a restorable '56 ford 2dr hardtop that I got for next to nothing and used it for parts to restore another one. That way, both cars live on. Unless you're all sentimental over the Desoto, I say make it an organ donor. It's legacy will live on in the car it saves
Wow..thanks for all the replies fellas, I surrounded by non car guys around here, and its nice to get opinions from real hot rodders!! Trust me; at the top of my priority list is to get rid of the painted bumpers/grill!! I wasnt really looking for another project at the moment, but I got a really good deal on it. We'll see how long I can wait....
Once upon a time hotrodders wouldn't have thought twice about hacking up a four door 32 Ford for the parts and tossing the rest. Would you do that now? Even more recent no one would ever have considered building a four door Merc or Fleetline. See em everywhere now and they are cool! Don't we all wish there were more of these around. Know why there's not more? Who needs to find derilicts beyond saving for parts or looking for parts in swap meets? It's all about right now, who cares about having hotrod projects in the future. Go ahead and destroy that very complete Desoto-after all they're building new ones every day, right?
everyone that wants to save this car and thinks it's rare etc etc..come see me,i'll sell you 2 or 3 or 4. hell i'll sell ya about 500 rare cars ......we have cars here that sit and sit,then when we finally do something with them , we get told how bad we are..well tuff ...if a part can be used ,use it...otherwise the tree hugging hotrodders will shame you into keeping it till it's rust. they won't ever come get them.
Hell yeah. Get what ya need and sell off what ya don't. If a restorer wants it, they'll find a way to replace what's missing, or use parts from it on the one they already have. Been hitting the yards lately, seein a bunch of stuff way beyond salvation. It's almost horrifying sometimes, but I have no problem pulling what I need (or think I need) off of 'em. How many people have seen a '54 Kaiser Manhattan, let alone know what it is? A buddy of mine was on the verge of tears when he saw one sitting in a local yard (next to a Willys Aero Ace, too, heh heh). I'm going back for the hood just so I can cut that neat lookin' scoop out of it. Don't know what I'll use it for, but it'll be there when I figure it out. The grille might be pretty damn cool in my girlfriend's sectioned '49 Ford, too.
$3500? Not to rag on you, but to put it in perspective, Cliffy here on the HAMB has a '53 Desoto 2 door with a running Hemi engine and the more desirable '53 grille in it, which is in the same condition body and paint wise as your 6 cylinder 4 door, and I think he's asking $3800 for that, hasn't had any takers yet and it's been for sale probably 6 months now. Don't quote me on that price though. So I have to wonder what kind of value you're placing on this grille and bumpers. Because once they're gone you'll be lucky to get $500 for what's left.
OK, so it's actually $3600, here's the ad. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379320 And I have personally ridden in this car, the engine runs great, car was supposedly from Texas. Again, not trying to bag on you or anything, just saying that even the most ideal of these cars aren't selling for big money, and there are plenty of people out there who will tell you that you should save it or that they'd love to have it, but those people are no where to be found when you want to sell it. I certainly wouldn't blame you if you decided to keep it all together, its your car to do what you'd like with it, but I wouldn't let anyone stop you from taking what you want either.
Yeah, now that Ive done some research, I figure its worth more like 2500 maybe a little less, but Im in no hurry. Ive posted it here and craigslist, and im gonna see if i get any interest at 3500... ya never know. Its only worth what someone will pay for it!
its a quiet little town with a high school and one shop. its nice the wife and i got married there down by a lake.
Man I had a complete decent shape 50 Dodge 4 door on here for 600$ forever with zero interest. I decided to keep what I want and part out the rest and I have already made my money back plus I can keep what I want!! Lots of people will say its worth this or that but the fact is you can still get decent shape running condition 4 doors pretty damn cheap and I think 2500 is way high for that car. I would keep the grill and caps for that clean 52 of yours and sell the rest. Your car would look killer with some chrome up front for sure, stick that desoto grill in there now!!
Well I've got a pile of cars at home and I can tell ya everybody told me to sell them in one peice.. But nobody wants 'em.. And when I start tearin' in to 'em I get bitched at... But all the little parts make me a hell of alot more than the $500 I could've got for the whole damn thing.. Example: I had a '36 Olds 4dr with a straight 8... I had 50 people tell me not to part it out.. So I put it on craigs and put it on eBay with a reserve of $500... The bidding got up to $258 and change.. I made over $2000 on that car by parting it out.. If I remember right the grille sold for $480 on eBay and the chrome was trashed, and it needed some repair work... If I were you I'd take and strip that car down to a shell and sell everything.. You'd be suprised what you can sell.. From the engine, to trim, to little clips that hold shit on.. Just my opinion..
i actually like the desoto better then the chevy, try pulling parts off your chevy to get that desoto on the road.
So whats the problem with taking the hubcaps if you want em???? I can understand being hesitant about taking the grill, but hubcaps???? I would say that if you didnt overpay for the car, take the caps and grill and sell the rest for a couple hundred bucks.
This guy has a point..tough call all the way around. My mopar -loving heart hates to mix with anything else though. It is worth what someone will pay for it but DANG...
Good luck w/whatever you do, but if you can get ANYWERE, and I mean ANYWERE near $3500 for that...let me know, cause I have several you can sell for me!!!! If some would make an offer over $800 for it I'd take it and run. I hate to see a car robed of parts that can be found at a swap meet, but like others have said, it's just not a high demand car.
A lot less, like maybe $600 as a complete car. For $2500 I can get decent running driving and stopping 4 doors. Take the parts you need and move it down the road.
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