WUP, WUP, WUP! NEAR MISS!!

This blog post may be a little disjointed due to so many pieces to cover in any kind of accurate time line. It includes: The beginning of the pandemic, numerous vendor delays, international trade, supply, labor issues, hurricanes, negotiations, irony and international car show participation.

Something called Covid-19 was starting to come into all our collective lives in early spring!

Well, the weather was great for early March 2020! The engine, rebuilt for the second time, is running GREAT SO FAR!. Temperature is mid 70s and bright sun. Time to roll the car out and start breaking it in with a slow cruise getting ready for the car show season. I get about twelve (12) miles from home, light traffic, never over 35 mph. Get stopped in traffic at a light. As I roll up I hear a very light wup, wup. I don't think too much about it. Was it the music or probably that slammed Civic pulling up behind me, fart can and all? Light changes and we all move. Oil pressure, oil temperature and cooling ALL OK. Move on, go a couple of blocks no noise. The Civic passes and at the next light wup, wup,wup a little louder. What the hey! 

As the light changes and we all move, the Civic is in front of me now and I hear the wup, wup multiple times. The sound is behind me and coming from the car! I AM CONCERNED! Gauges ALL OK. Growing concerned I start thinking about the quickest way home.  More lights, now I need to turn. WUPWUP WUP! as I turn. I am in a cold sweat as my mind races. I need to find a place to pull off and check things.

I find a flat and open space, get out with the engine running, (car has no parking brake). Everything looks and sounds ok. I open the hood, look and listen, pull the throttle cable to rev a little. Nothing. I shut it off. What next? I grab each of the wheels pull and shake them. Nothing! What else? I slide under the car, grab and shake anything not hot. Nothing. Visually, nothing loose or hanging everything is straight. OK what do I do? I've got about eight (8) miles to go to get home. I plot the best way with the fewest turns and slow speeds without causing traffic problems.

Those eight (8) or so miles were some of the most increasingly stressful I have ever driven. The WUPWUPWUP was increasing in frequency, noise and now shaking the entire car! Should I stop? Call a tow truck? The further I went the worse it got! My mind was racing! It felt like something in the driveline. If I threw in the clutch everything seemed ok. That lead me to think something in the engine or transmission was not right. The noise was from the middle or rear of the car. Clutch? Throw out bearing?  Remember in MO MO POWER DEUX the entire drive train was out for rebuild for the second time. When the car came home I had gone over it and did find a few loose items which I easily corrected. 

The closer I got to home and with each turn or curve the VIBRATION and WUPWUPWUP got worse. The shift lever was swinging back and forth wildly. I was staying in second gear (2nd) accelerating to maybe 30 mph, clutch in, coast, accelerate, clutch, coast to cut down on the vibration. Putting in the clutch seemed to help the most! The last two (2) miles were the worst! Pull over and park it or continue?

I got it home SWEATING BULLETS!! I knew then and there it was going to the shop on the hook!

The following day I called the shop that had done the rebuild and shipped the car on a flatbed. Needless to say they were shocked. They told me due to the new state rules for Covid, it would be a short while and they were short a few people. They did call a day later with a very definite diagnosis. Have you figured it out? After they told me light bulbs went on all over the place! It brought back a vivid memory from my teen years.

They told me they had put the car on a lift inspected and run it without finding anything. The next logical step was to drive it. They left their shop and got about a mile down the road and aborted the drive and headed back to the shop! 

They have a a football field length driveway. About three quarters of the way back in the drivers side rear wheel tore off; ripped off the wheel spacer, gashed the tire, dropped the car and crushed the brake caliper, elongated the brake rotor bolt holes, bent the backing plate, shearing off the lug bolts, brake line, damaging the last few inches of the rocker panel and inner wheel body flange and bent the mag wheel. Their driver was not hurt but he said it was a REAL SHOCK!

Had this happened to me or their tech on the road, at any speed, it could have been a DISASTER to us or others! A NEAR MISS!!!!

My teen memory involved towing a boat; getting a flat, leaving the boat on the side of the road, fixing it in a rush, not tightening the lug bolts properly, having them pull loose and shaking the trailer, car and me silly until I got it stopped and figured out what I had done.. 

Before I go further, THERE IS A RAY OF SUNSHINE in this tale of woe and dark clouds. I will reveal it at the end.

Now my story devolves back to that shop that cost me an engine rebuild. If you remember in the blog     MO MO POWER the Dana 60 rear end had to be modified to fit the alignment of the DeSoto drive line position. The "moto head" repeatedly made mistakes and caused delays to the point that I finally cut ties with it: but not soon enough as it turned out!       

I  had given the shop a very detailed drawing of the original DeSoto rear end. The owner claimed he "lost" it. I gave him another one, and as I did, he found the original in a pile of papers on his desk. It took over a year to complete the work with numerous mistakes. The spring perches were put on wrong. Couldn't tell until I was trying to install it. That required a removal, rework and reinstall. The housing offset was done wrong with the old wheels rubbing the springs. He just cut the housing down without adding anything. Another rework including axles and bearings! The new axles had the wrong splines, a mistake made by the shop and Curry Axle Co. The third set of axles came with extra long lug bolts. Not knowing what lay ahead you can see a picture of them in the blog MO MO POWER.

 I knew the extra long stud bolts would be incompatible with any mag wheel that I was thinking about. I asked that they be replaced. The shop response was a sharp NO! He said use wheel spacers, he was tried of it. As I have since learned the hard way, wheels put over spacers are a NO NO. If they are used, check the lug nuts before every drive and they must mount  absolutely flat against the wheel and brake/axle! 

                                                Below you can see the remains of the spacer.

You can see here what's left of the wheel studs and a piece of the brake caliper. Not readily visible is the axle bend and backing plate being bent.

Remember the paragraph above? Currey Axle did the splines wrong. Well, eight (8) years later they did it again! Gave the shop a bunch of grief over the number of splines in the rear end and wanted to charge for another set of axles. Caused a  six (6) week delay.

Now lets insert international business and trade. The shop informed me that they, and other known builders and dealers, had been invited to Saudi Arabia to show a couple of their creations and possibly auction them off in early summer. It was supposed to be a huge all expenses paid affair! Everything the shop was doing was focused in that direction; therefore my car would be dealt with as time permitted. I said ok. For them the show turned out to be a disaster. No auction, cars damaged, refusal to reimburse, late return shipments. 

Here I back up 8 years and look at wheels as they play a part in this blog. During the original build I had to figure out how big a wheel and tire package I could put on the car. The original DeSoto tire/wheel set up was a fifteen (15) inch by five point five (5.5) inch wheel and an F series tire. That equates to about a 75 or 80 series tire height and a 195 width in todays dimensions. Tall and skinny! Standard Chrysler and Ford five by five and a quarter inch bolt pattern wheel bolt pattern.  (15 X 5.5 wheel, 5 X 5 1/4  bolt pattern). 

I researched wheel offset, backspace and width. Offset is where the backside of wheel touches the brake or axle. Backspace can be either positive, zero or negative in relation to the center of the wheel/rim width. 

After I installed the brake system, pictures which can be seen in my WHOA! blog.  I made a "wheel disc" using two sticks; one cut for wheel size and one nailed on top, a ruler which I could rotate for tire width and wheel offset. I placed the disc on the brake rotor/studs and allowing for the 3/4 inch wheel spacers in the rear due to the long studs I arrived at 17 X 8 inch wheel size with a positive offset of roughly two (2) inches.

  At the time the wheel market had many 17s as very common and lots of "wagon" wheels. 18s , 19s and 20s were just starting to appear on new cars, trucks and for the after market. Same with tires. Remember from the blog FRAMED the front suspension is a Dodge Dakota. Dakotas used 6" x 5 1/4" inch bolt patterns. That limited my choices for bigger wheels as I needed two 6 x 5 1/4 and two 5 x 5  1/4 wheels for the rear.  Limited by the Dakota bolt pattern my first choice was a Millani wheel in chrome but I found it was no longer made. My final choice was Millani Stellar 17 x 8 with 2.5 inch positive offset. They can be seen in the ITS DONE OR IS IT blog pictures.

During the course of damage assessment it was determined that the wheel was bent beyond repair. It gets worse! The wheels were no longer made and NONE AVAILABLE internationally! That meant I was stuck with one 5 bolt wheel and two 6 bolt wheels. My choices were severely limited.. Run with two different wheel sets, use the bent one, or change all four wheels. It gets worse 17 inch wheels are no longer common, and 6 bolt patterns no longer made in 17s. 

The upper picture shows the cuts and gouges on the offset face and back side of the wheel.The lower picture shows the elongation of the bolt holes. Not visible to the eye is the rim and center distortion.

In the original selection process I chose General Grabber HTS 275 x 55 x 17 v rated tires.  I felt their load rating, speed rating, wear rating and size were appropriate for a two (2) ton car. That and nothing bigger would clear. I had found they were used on big Mercedes SUVs as factory equipment. Piling on, tires evolved the same way wheels did. The 275 x 55  x 17 tires made by General are no longer made and there are only one or two major brands making V rated tires.

SOOOO.... 

Decisions decisions! In searching for replacement wheels I found a small company in the deep south, 1320 Wheels, that converts Dakota and some Chevy hubs and rotors from six (6) bolt to five (5) bolt 5 x 5 1/4 inch bolt patterns. That opened up a world of wheel options IF I wanted to spend $$$ for the conversion and labor or do it my self. After a lot of thought and a government assistance check coming for Covid relief to nearly everyone I decided to make the purchase. 

More problems in the works! Two (2) hurricanes and major flooding hitting Louisiana and Covid restrictions in the workplace would delay the modified hubs and rotors for three (3) months.  

I chose a 17 x 8 wheel made by MHT with a near zero (0) offset/backspace. They own or hold over 2,000 brands, most made in China. A picture of the car on the new wheels will be at the end of this blog. I thought the Milanni wheels looked "rich" on the car. The new wheels give the car a more 50-60s hot rod contemporary retro look. It think they better match the overall look of the car!

It is recommended that you never use mismatched tires. The tire on the damaged wheel had an eight (8) inch gash to the cord. That meant a new tire or two (2). The brands available were unheard of Chinese, Hankok, Kumho, Michelin and Nitto. I went with the Nitto NT 421 Qs as there were a lot of negative comments about Hankok and Kumhos being noisy and wearing out prematurely. 

For those not familiar with Nittos they are a division of Toyo Tire and come on some high performance new cars. Covid played a role and foreign trade raised its head here too. The major local and national distribution tire centers had none! Factories shutdown! Lucked out and found 'em at Tire America and had them in two (2) days.   A picture of the damaged tire is below.

The driver side caliper was basically smashed to bits. The rear axle picture posted above shows part of it. It had been part of a Ford Racing brake conversion kit. The only way it could be replaced was to buy another full kit. Anything else would have required reworking mounting brackets AND there was parts availability issues. As it was, the kit is made in Brazil and took a month to get through the Ford supply system.

                  Bits of the caliper are seen the center and center bottom of the following picture.

Now the body work. The torn inner wheel flange surprisingly was able to be bent back into position using a pair of 2" (2) inch wide jaw pliers, a body hammer and dolly. The break was ground and spot welded to full width of the tear.  In the course of bending the lip and the welding the "dent" on the rocker panel popped back. Grinding, light filling and painting the panel followed using standard procedures. The paint was mine, basecoat, pearl clear coat so it is a "perfect" match.

                    A picture of the tear is below. It is difficult to see the lip bent down 90 degrees, 

Remember near the beginning I said there was a ray of hope? I have classic car insurance.

Not the usual Haggerty. They are twice as expensive. I have American Modern Insurance. I thought what have I got to loose? I called and they gave me a claim number and said a field agent would call in a few days.  At first the agent wanted to sue the old shop. After ALOT of EXPLAINING and REXPLAINING he understood the time frame involved. He took the new shop number and after roughly of three (3) months of back and forth, vacations, trips, quotes, and invoice exchanges the insurance actually covered most of the expenses. I had to pay for the front hubs and rotors, one (1) tire, three (3) wheels and some labor. 

I got the car back on 9/21/20. Since then I have been able to run it about 300 mikes with no problems. KNOCK ON WOOD. It's now in storage for the winter. You can see the car with the new wheels below. What do you think?

NO "EXPERT" ADVICE! DUEX

 You remember in my last post I had said it was a battle between me and the car as to whether it would get done, or the car would beat me. That comment was meant as a joke. Well, the winner is, STILL UP IN THE AIR!

 2019 started pretty smoothly. We, my wife, kids, and other family attended roughly 30+ car shows over the spring, summer and fall! As I mentioned in other posts, shows that give awards are heavily prejudiced towards 60's Chevys and pro-builds. The number of cars at the shows attended varied from roughly 50 to over 3,000. I actually WON AWARDS at two (2) shows! Second Place for Best of 1950 - 1965 Class and Best in Show for Resto-Mods! As I mentioned earlier in "OK, ITS DONE" was rather humbling and at the same time, I felt as justly deserved. The car went about 1,000 miles in '19, after the rebuild, with the only "problem", OR SO I THOUGHT,  running hot when stuck in traffic, at lights in 90 degree plus temperatures.  

I wasn't really concerned as I had learned Vipers run hot by design. Generation 2 Vipers, which my engine is, came from the factory with a 190 degree thermostat! Most cars have a 180 degree thermostat and start warning about overheating at 190 degrees.  I found Vipers run at a track, often ran at 210 plus! The factory service book said 240 was acceptable under racing conditions! Viper owners in the south and southwest often switched to a 180 or even a 170 degree thermostat. To do that means pulling the entire air and intake manifold on a Gen 2 engine  I wasn't going to attempt that. So my solution was to shut it off at lights and when stuck in heavy traffic on 90 degree days. Rarely went to 220.

Remember in the post titled "MO MO POWER" I mentioned that I had removed the oil pump plugs for an oil cooler and added an engine cooler? That was done at the end of the show season at about a 1,000 miles. During the early course of the build, a number of people recommended that I consult and have any engine and mechanical work done by "motor heads", a local shop, run by an "expert" on hemi and other engines. As part of his work and advice he said that I WOULD NOT NEED AN ENGINE OIL COOLER when I asked.

By late summer 2019, at about 1,600 miles on the engine since the rebuild (the first one) and 600 miles since adding the oil cooler I started hearing a light "Tap". Somewhere down deep and near the rear of the engine or transmission. At first it was at startup only. As time progressed and miles driven rose, it became more progressive and I could feel it through the gas pedal. Then hear it too. I tried everything to isolate it. I used a stethoscope across the engine, valve train and on the transmission. Nothing. The sound was intermittent. I started asking questions and researching. For a while I thought it was valve train. I did a compression test. All OK. As it got worse and more steady I finally drained the oil and cut the filter. The FILTER and OIL WERE FULL OF BEARING MATERIAL! AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! You could actually see it in the oil.

More bad advice or lack of knowledge to ask the right questions? As I said in "Mo Mo Power" the local auto repair shop I found to pull the engine; and engine machine shop, newly staffed by the son of the deceased owner, to pull and rebuild the engine failed mention or recommend the need to boil or flush the block to remove bearing material as part of the necessary rebuilt.. He also failed to tell me that the hydraulic lifters should be replaced as the camshaft had been replaced. The cleaning and flushing of the heads and oil cooler lines should have been recommended as well. I had never blown an engine and knew none of this. MY BAD for proceeding without knowing or asking what I should do.

At the very beginning of the restoration in "I SMELL A RAT" I said get advice before you jump in. I didn't follow my own advice! In retrospect, I questioned myself a number of times for the need of a cooler as the project continued. As I found, even supposed "experts" don't know everything! The more exotic or different your project is, the more you need to find someone qualified on the subject/problem you are working on. In hind-site, I should have let Arrow Racing do the work. Their cost would have been the same as local shops. NEGATING THE NEED FOR A SECOND REBUILD.  Remember that old Fram oil filter ad? PAY ME NOW OR PAY ME LATER! In this case I did in fact talk to the original factory engineers and shop that did development work for the Viper; AFTER IT WAS TOO LATE!

After all the above I had a choice. Either let it sit, or buy a rare, new factory short block, various and sundry pieces, parts, labor and shipping plus $$$$.$$. I just couldn't let it sit. I bit the bullet. But this time the shop that did the rebuilt is known locally and nationally for reliable work on exotics, restorations and custom work. I  requested a 170 thermostat as part of the rebuild. I also changed a homemade pipe fitting that was a restriction in the cooling system. Due to delays and schedules I got the car back in an unusual, rare early March 2020 mild spell. I parked it until late March. Using the nice weather started breaking it in. By that time the early car shows were starting to be cancelled due to Covid 19. In the 300 miles driven  since the rebuild, the car has run much cooler and even tolerated long traffic lights in 80+ temperatures without too much temperature rise. 

The only good to come out of all this was having the car back and ready to show and go. But it very quickly became a NO SHOW SEASON due to COVID 19. Like the TV commercials "BUT THERE'S MORE" on my blog! See "WUP WUP WUP".

OKAY! IT'S DONE! OR IS IT?

After I got the car home I did a what is missing inventory list. Missing were: the doors, some kind of sound system, the interior kick sides, the door panels, carpet and a ton of bits and pieces of dash trim, exterior mirrors, door windows and vent wing windows, door handles, window cranks to name a few. Lots of work to be done.

For those unfamiliar with old cars, vent wings were a triangular window in front of the door side glass. They had a separate lock and would rotate roughly three hundred twenty degrees (320) degrees from the closed position. They acted as mini air scoops. They could be "aimed" at the driver or passenger and aiding the rear passengers comfort; Air Conditioning!

Most of the above was "done" and ready to install. Some of the above went back in with a fight. NATURALLY! Why would things suddenly be any different? The doors and side glass fought the hardest! Chrysler two door cars had extra length doors to ease access to the rear seat. Many other brands did not. That made the doors extra heavy, bulky and difficult to handle. Being by myself made it extra challenging but I managed. The hard part was getting the doors hung so they would not hit the fenders and body. Course everything had to be taped and protected first. That meant many, many attempts at adjusting the hinges on the doors, body mounts for the doors and door latches. It took hours! At some point the drivers side door latch rotor wheel broke with the door in the closed position! I had to beat the broken latch wheel out to open the door through a quarter inch (1/4") opening without bending the door skin or damaging the paint. Three months hunting for a replacement latch!. NONE! There were lots of four door latches available. I had two! Only problem, Chrysler used different latches for two doors and convertibles and there were right side and left side! One guess which one failed most often. There were NONE available  nationally through old car salvage yards. Finally through the local JVS,  I  found a local CNC machine shop that could scan the broken rotor wheel, correct the measurements and make a new rotor; then I disassembled the old latch and rebuilt it. The "new" latch works perfectly. Door on and it opens and closes!

Then the glass. Both side windows have a huge heavy floppy metal X which lifts and drops  raising and lowering the glass. We broke the passenger side during tear down. A local shop specializes in old glass replacement so it was repaired and stored. You guessed it! During the install I flipped when I should have flopped and broke the drivers side!

My son picked components for a sound system with a high spec AM/FM/CD connectable radio,  four 6" X 9" 3 ways, a 10" sub and an 800 watt amp. I did all the wiring, drilling and fitting. It sounds GREAT when the car is not running! When the car is running, the engine and exhaust kind of nullify the sound. It sounds almost like a can and tight string phone we made when we were kids. That surprised us.

Okay. Its done! Or is it? Door interior upholstery and other bits were still not installed to allow further door fit adjustment with my son helping. Early spring of 2017 the car moved under it's own power on the street! My son and his girlfriend were home and made a video of it. You can see it at YOU TUBE DeSoto Viper First Drive. I am going to try and have my son put a direct link next time he is home. The hood was too big for the two of us to install so we decided to go without it. HEY its a VIPER motor. How many people have seen one? Much less a DeSoto!

After several successful test loops around the neighborhood the car as you see it was deemed ready to venture forth.

During the spring and summer of 2017, with varying head counts, my wife, daughter, son and his girlfriend attended seventeen (17) cruise-in car shows.







 One thing I have learned about the cruise-in shows is GET THERE EARLY. If they say registration starts at 9 AM  There will be a line at 8:15! If there is free coffee & donuts its even worse! So what are cruise-in car shows? They are gatherings of cars and owners showing (off) their pride and joy. The vast majority are free to the public. They are sponsored by restaurants, businesses, churches, festivals, unions, schools, cities and parks. More than three-quarters of them sponsor various charities and organizations. They may benefit children's hospitals, cancer associations, APL, veterans and on and on. They usually have 50's-60's & 70's music, some source of food, some sort of judging and trophies.  Many of the shows have door prizes, mini auctions and 50/50 raffles. In point of fact I WON a 50/50 at a large festival! First time I've ever won anything! I used the money for gas and entrance fees the rest of the summer. One thing that puzzles me is the fact that the car owners are the ones that are charged a fee to show their pride and joy. We have spent a ton of $$$$$ either buying or building.

A SHOW OBSERVATION ASIDE: Winners are usually 60's muscle GM, Fords and PROFESSIONAL restorations. Occasionally a rare model or brand will win.. Builder and restorers like me don't stand a chance. We are TOO DIFFERENT and this comment has been made to me a number of times. There is also brand knowledge prejudice!

At the very first show we attended, sponsored by a national specialty car parts supplier with more than 120 cars in attendance, the car fought me. It was hot and sunny. We had loaded in five (5) folding camping chairs, water and shade umbrellas. When we got there we went to unload the trunk. IT WOULD NOT OPEN! We tried everything, the key, NOT LOCKED! Pushing the release, pushing down on the trunk lid, pressure side to side, front to back. NOTHING!  For all intents and purposes I gave up! Then out of frustration, again pushing down on the trunk lid and pushing in the release button... I PUT A DENT IN THE TRUNK LID!!! But it did open... A regional car magazine, CRUSIN' TIMES thought enough of the car to included it in their show coverage pictures!

A year plus later I still haven't figured out the problem. There is limited adjustability in the lock and latch and I have tried that. I strongly suspect the the STEELE rubber weather seal is too thick and puts too much pressure on the lid lock/latch mechanism. Its squishy enough to close then forces the trunk lid up with enough pressure to wedge it closed. I think the added pressure then binds the release.There is no way to trim it, and until I get my son here and have him close the trunk lid with me inside with a light and tools I am using a bungee cord; and the dent is still there.! PISSES ME OFF.

Showing the car has been in effect, VERY HUMBLING! The majority of people attending the shows are the builders, restorers and family.  All knowledgeable car people who appreciate what they see.  At least once a show I hear "HOLY SHIT!" when they realize there is a Viper engine in the car. More often I hear "That car is beautiful!" Or "Man that thing is REALLY DIFFERENT!" "You really did that?" "How did you get that engine in there?" "You painted that yourself?" How long did it take to build?" "How did you do that?" "How fast is it?" "Have you run it?" I still get a laugh at this one. "Is it an ITALIAN car. I never heard of it?"

 At the biggest show we attended, a county park, more than 2,500 cars showed up in perfect weather. To get in or out of the park, the roads are narrow, you run a gauntlet of cars and owners lined up very close to the road. They view and acknowledge the unusual, different, exotic etc. When we arrived and left  they hopped out of their chairs and crowded the edge of the road to see and peak over the fenders, listening to the engine and to see what was in the car. Not having a hood was a plus. After the hood went on the car became a STEALTH RESTO ROD! Only the Viper Snake Head emblems on the front fenders or the 10's on the rear fenders give a hint. That response has become common at the shows where there is a long entrance way. Just the sound at idle or crawl draws attention! As I said you can see and hear it on YOUTUBE DeSoto Viper first drive. A lot of show attendees will just mouth "WOW" without a sound! It is humbling!

If you have looked at all the "pages" of the blog you have seen the car in various stages of build. Late in the fall of 2017 my son came home and with two (2) of his buds the hood went on.
SOOOOO.......

The following pictures were taken in the early fall. The car had been out a couple of times with the hood on. It DEFINITELY ran hotter!
There were no shows scheduled so my wife and I went out crusin' and picture takin'.
This turned out to be the last run of the season as it semi-broke down as we were crusin!

It stunned me! The car was staggering and missing. It felt rich then lean. It missed and lurched. It shook and then suddenly jerked like the clutch slammed in. It was semi-violent and SCARY!!
I nursed it home. It would run ok then all hell would break loose.!

                                                                             

It took me several weeks to figure out. First I went online, then I rented a OBD code scanner and plugged it in and scanned the PCM. I got three(3) codes. Two I expected, as the trans lockout and skip shift were by-passed.
I had to go online again to get the meanings of the codes.

The third was MAP sensor voltage.  A MAP sensor translates to Manifold Atmospheric Pressure Sensor. It measures the atmospheric pressure inside the air intake manifold, sends that signal via a voltage reading to the PCM (computer) which then adjusts fuel and ignition.

Going on line and searching the Mopar club and Viper clubs I found all my symptoms listed in their descriptions. Then searching for Viper MAP sensors I found out that a Dodge sensor on several models would fit. EXACTLY the same part number and a hundred bucks cheaper than a VIPER! Found one in Florida even cheaper, ordered it and then had it delayed by three (3) weeks due to hurricanes and damage down there! That pretty much killed any remaining good weather. I was able to get it, install it and make a test run. It seemed to run OK.
Two screws, a small molded vacuum tube and a wire plug and its off and back on.


Spring 2018 seemed to take forever to arrive.
First things first, was a couple of road tests to  check the car out. I was still seeing higher engine temperatures with the hood on but within an acceptable range. Because of that, I removed the engine oil loop we put in after the engine failed and added a full engine oil cooler.
                                
I was seriously thinking about louvering the hood to lower the overall temperature. If you recall by late June and after attending eight (8) shows the radiator failed!
                                                                                     

After loosing the whole summer cruise season I
was able to get the car back on the road for one
cruise. Everything went ok. KNOCK ON WOOD!
With the new radiator the temperature seemed lower and steady, not raising when stopped for traffic. Need 90+ to know for sure.
Now I'm chompin' at the bit for spring 2019!

DONE?

Remember what I said about either I would finish it or it would it would finish me?

Right now I think its a DRAW? What do you think?

MO MO MO POWER ALMOST JUNK

I am going to add a lot more detail to the Mo Mo. I got some REALLY BAD ADVICE from a supposedly knowledgeable engine building, service and machine shop called "motor heads.". The advice was that I should not and or would not need an engine oil cooler..ie a radiator for oil cooling. I was told just plug the fittings on the engine. The logic was, I would not be racing the car or pushing it hard enough to heat the oil to the point of breakdown. I believed what I was told and basically did just what I was told. I got a couple of plugs to fit the threaded fittings on the block and put them in.

Since this was a used engine from ebay a logical question is, Was the engine bad to begin with? I have asked that of myself a number of times. During the purchase process I asked the seller this several times. He assured me each time that it was sound, undamaged. When I received it I went over it as much as possible. I saw no signs of tampering or disassembly. It was shipped dry ie no oil so I could not check that.

I still don't fully understand the mechanics of the oil pump and flow, but in essence I partially starved the engine of oil after I got the car to the point of being able to start it and during the course of the build for testing and shuffling in and out of the garage. Total run time was probably less than one hour but no more than an hour and a half and NEVER near full throttle.

 Early in the spring of 2015 I was actually preparing the car for its first on the road test and drive. You can only imagine how pumped I was. I was checking all the fluids, lights, clutch and brakes. I had the car running. I still did not have the hood on the car as it was too big for me to handle alone. The doors and interior were ready but not installed.

As it was running, above the exhaust noise, I thought I heard a deep rumble or THUMPING. I set everything aside and started looking and feeling with my hands. The sound was such that I thought something was loose, bumping something. I kept looking over, under and around the car feeling and listening. I basically isolated the sound to the driver side front of the engine. Man did I have a knot in my stomach. I shut the car down! No knock, no thump, no nothing. Remembering an old mechanic's trick I got an OLD very long screwdriver. It has a full metal shaft with mushroom head and wood handle. The trick is to put your ear to the mushroom on the shaft, place the shaft of the screwdriver on/against the possible source of the sound as you touch and listen. Today there are stethoscopes for this.

I got a stool, a fender cover and started the car. For a bit of time there was no obvious noise. I set up the stool and cover and started down the valve cover on one side. Nothing! Re positioned to the other side. There was the noise without even using the screw driver! It sounded deep down. Did the screwdriver test down the other valve cover. Faint sound, but sounded deep down. Now what? I slipped as far under the car as I could fit and managed to get to the oil pan.

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP. Nearly sick to my stomach I shut the engine off. Through discussion and learning later about Viper engines the engine "grows" as it warms up. On a cold start, oil pressure is usually near 75-85 psi! Fully warmed up it is around 25 psi. What I was hearing was bearing clearance issues as it fully warmed up.

Not knowing the why at the time, I went to the shop that gave me the bad advice. I described what I was hearing. They said bad bearings or engine damage. Best way to find out was to remove the oil filter cut the shell off and drain it into a super clean pan.  Then look for and feel for particles of metal. Also, put a magnet in the oil and pan to see if it there was iron based metal or non-metallic bearing metal. They said bring the filter in,  they had a filter cutter. I did, they cut it and we found a fairly large quantity of non-magnetic grey particles and a a very few shiny metallic particles stuck on the magnet.

SCREWED!

The engine had to come out!!!! And I couldn't do it!! I installed the engine and transmission with no front clip. ie. no hood, fenders, inner fenders, radiators, core support, wiring, headlights, bumper, grill, turn signals, rock shield etc. Even worse, I had sold the engine hoist crane figuring I wouldn't  need it. Even if I had it, it would not been able to lift the engine high enough to clear the core support. Further, the transmission was installed attached to the engine. Now it had to be detached from the bell housing and lowered down and out. Then the bell housing and then the clutch and pressure plate. I had no car lift and transmission jack/lift. Talk about a kick in the teeth!

I started looking for a competent shop that could do the work. I was shocked! There are very few shops today with the knowledge and equipment to do this kind of work. Today you plug in a computer and change a part or just scrap it. Today's engines last so long nobody bothers to fix them when they fail. Then there was the MAJOR problem of who had the knowledge, equipment and could tear down a Viper engine, analyze it and make the necessary repairs.

 I found Arrow Racing, located in Auburn Hills, Michigan, could do the engine. I also found another racing engine builder near Arrow that could do 10 cylinder engines if Arrow couldn't. Arrow is literally an adjunct/contractor of Chrysler. They complete and dyno test EVERY Viper engine before it is installed in a VIPER. The people had all been Chrysler designers and builders before the bankruptcy. Their work would COST! In the end they did perform some of the work and it was through them that I learned VIPER and the reason the motor probably failed. My son and I also saw the preliminary test pieces/parts for  Viper ARCs, including a full race test bed Viper, Drag Pack engines on the dyno, and Jeep 4 wheel drive differentials intentionally abused for the coming Trail Hawk/SRTs/Hellcat powered Jeeps. We saw a bit of video with a Jeep chained to a LARGE pipe cemented in the ground, in four wheel drive, FULL throttle!!

By phone Arrow basically said the following. Once the engine is out, tear it down. Look at the rod bearings and crank. The crank could probably be polished and oversize bearings could be installed. The problem was the camshaft and oil pump. The Viper engine was designed with the block as the bearing surface material for the cam shaft. If the damage was heavy enough it would have to be bored out and a custom camshaft with oversize bearing journals used. They said this was a common racing failure. They had replacement cams available. They also said many times a simple light grind and  polish would take care of the cam bearing surfaces. A "standard" cam left slightly over size would work and they were available. The problem was who could polish or bore the cam bearings locally.  If the oil pump was damaged the entire engine was toast.

 The answer was ultimately no local shop had the equipment that could handle a V-10 engine.  The other shop near Arrow said the same thing regarding salvaging the engine. They made the cams in house and would be as least a grand more.

 So the next steps were to find a local shop equipped well enough to remove the engine and transmission, tear down the engine and assess the damage. Obviously a Plan B was needed if the engine was junk. There was a lot of running shop to shop and searching on the internet. The internet yielded some three appropriate plan B engines at 6.5k to 8k! All  would require parts from my engine as well as new parts. None had the accessories, headers, brackets etc.  All required additional shipping, none had any assurance that they were any good. They only reported mileage before salvage. One had been test run before removal from the wreck.

As for local shops after many referrals I found two. I should have been less impatient. less cost conscious and gone with my gut feelings. The first shop was a restoration shop that specialized in foreign, premium car re-powering and restoration. They had an impeccable reputation. Their pricing was firm. They could not give me a firm date when they could start on my car. All they could give me was an approximation.

I should have stuck with my gut feeling. The other shop was a two man operation, many years of experience and knew of a local small engine machine and rebuild shop competent enough to tear down the motor, diagnose it  and rebuild it. It did mean two shops involved. Based on a verbal quote and hourly rate he was cheaper and could start immediately. He also had a back barn for storage so it would not tie up his two (2) bay shop. SOLD. MY BAD DECISION. The impeccable shop called the two days after the car was moved!

Beginning from the moment the car was picked up the whole operation went down hill. In my mind, I kind of wonder if seeing my home and neighborhood (middle class, newer development) as the car was being picked up had anything to do with it. So as soon as the car was loaded up, the shop owner was talking about MORE MONEY. He was also pissed that I had removed the exhaust system, disconnected the wiring, radiator, floor piece, drive shaft and anything else I could see to facilitate easier removal of the engine and transmission. NOTE: The early Gen 2 Viper had a two part headers. By removing the turn out section it then became a lifting lug for engine removal. The later Gen 2's did not have that. I had fabricated two plates and lifting lugs which bolted up to block when the headers were removed. I had put then back on.  My reasoning was that I had put this thing together, that was so unique in many places that I was helping speed the process. Anyway, he and his helper had the engine and transmission out in two days.

He demanded that he and I go to the machine shop. I said sure. Once there, he and that rebuilder started in on money! We talked about a replacement motor versus rebuilding this one. They were both pressing money issues. We finally agreed that the shop would tear the motor down at his standard hourly rate lay everything out, access it and call me with the findings.

 On the way back to the mechanic/owners shop I was informed that he was no longer interested in the job and wanted the car out of storage ASAP!! I was SHOCKED AND STUNNED to say the least! When I got home I called the machine shop to be sure he was going to continue with his end of the bargain. He said yes. At a minimum, WOO!

Within a day or two I had the car back at home after being forced, approaching ugly, full section by section inspection and a crudely written form acknowledging the car had no damage. The owner even gave the tow truck driver grief even though they knew each other.

A day or two later the machine shop called and said he wanted to see me, to review what he had found. I went and we reviewed his findings. He was doing his best showing me various parts and explaining them to me as if I knew nothing. I did not take offense as most guys have never seen the inside of an engine.

 The news was bad but not as bad as it could have been. As suspected the bearings were shot. The cam was scored and not usable. He did not have the equipment to do any repairs on the block/cam bearing surfaces. We went over the oil pump, it was OK. The crank needed polishing and his equipment could do it. I told him about Arrow and their services. He said he was more than willing to do the engine if they could do the block/cam work. We both thought the best course of action was to rebuild rather than get another salvage motor.

 I contacted Arrow, got a quote with a low and worst case scenario and set a  time and date.  I drove the three plus hours up to Auburn Hills and dropped off the block, crank mains, bolts and other parts they requested. Within minutes of arriving several techs had checked the cam bearing surfaces, block and other parts and said a light grind/hone was all that was necessary. As I said we, got a full tour, written estimate and delivery date. A day or two later, they called and said they found a cam in inventory, a little cheaper and a little better than stock that they hadn't known they had on the shelf. They said they were going to do some other block work and checking gratis. They ended up five weeks later than promised. Mid-October versus early September. I went back up and brought the block back to the machine shop.

Now with no shop to reinstall the engine and transmission what do I do? First, I gave the machine shop the go ahead to do the rebuilt. I gave him a list Arrow had provided with all the clearances for bearings and torque specs for the nuts and bolts. They were in some cases different from those published by Chrysler. They also gave a list of part manufacturers with better stuff and possibly cheaper as well as phone numbers. They also said call this number at their shop if he need help or had questions during the reassembly! WOW!

Now for a reinstall shop. The original plan was for the engine to be rebuilt and reinstalled by the first shop, then test started and checked top to bottom. Rather than start over I went to the shop that was two days late responding. They said they would be more than happy to do the work NEXT SPRING! They had taken in several cars for rebuild and had no space. After a lot of discussion and them asking questions we agreed on price and time table. Their primary concern, and mine too, was the engine. Ok, it is rebuilt but was it done right? Since it could not go in the car when rebuilt what could be done? It couldn't sit for six months or more then call the machine shop and say something was wrong.
I gave them my Viper Crate Engine book and Chrysler Viper Service Tech books. They did use them,
I also gave them the ARROW number if needed.

 As soon as I picked up the completed engine I took it to the new shop. They set aside other work and started the inspections almost soon as I dropped it off. The new shop said they had an engine test stand they could alter and put the Viper engine on and run it testing everything. As it turned out they couldn't use the stand as planned.. Wrong computer and the Viper does everything in the opposite direction and they couldn't run it. They came up with plan B. They had the necessary equipment to oil up the engine, use the starter and an electric motor with pulley to spin it, check oil pressure etc. (Arrow had recommended a high zinc oil for the break-in. They used Shell Rotella or Valvoline Racing. I got a good price on the Valvoline.) When fully oiled do a full valve train check followed a cylinder by cylinder compression check. They called the machine shop who agreed to the inspection/testing and then we waited for parts, assembly etc. There were delays including needing an additional intake manifold gasket set. I found out later that those gaskets slip down during installation and are instantly ruined. The shop had to wait two weeks for a set. They are normally sold as part of a complete rebuild set.

HURRY UP AND WAIT! Six months.

When it was finally time to move the car to the shop I was really pumped! What could go wrong? The car had been "up and running" I got a local flatbed to haul it over to the shop and followed it over.  The guys (owner and chief helper) wanted all the parts I had, starting with the transmission, clutch etc brought over. The following day I loaded and moved everything for the car to the shop. Along with that I had loaded much of the all smaller stuff in the trunk. I asked for permission to work on the car since I knew the quirks, ins and outs. To my surprise they said yes!.  They did say, not until the engine and transmission were in. That was more than ok with me.

Within two days they called there was a problem. Come on over. The engine was in. The transmission bell housing would not fit. The dowel pins for the engine/transmission were missing. That was minor. The bell housing was misaligned by .050. It was bent or distorted. When I mated the transmission on the engine I did know there were supposed to be dowel pins. The bell housing had come with the transmission. I had thrown away another housing that had been loosely bolted to the engine. It had a HUGE crack and chunk missing. When I put the transmission on the engine sans dowel pins it had bolted together just fine. The shop using my books and their sources found a used bell housing that would work. The restoration shop I hooked up with was a TREASURE TROVE of knowledge and connections, domestic and foreign! BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

In the meantime, as I said I had learned a lot about VIPER power trains. Remember the transmission came from an '06  Ram SRT 10 Viper engined truck? The transmission is a newer version of the Viper Tremec 5660.

I learned all of the following during the reinstall when things would not fit together. American Power Train the supposed premier aftermarket Tremec seller knows nothing about Viper Tremec transmissions. The original Viper Tremec transmission was designed from scratch specifically for the Viper and later adapted for Vette, Mustang, and Ford. Tremec was bought, sold and combined during the recession. None of the other Tremec specialized sellers knew anything either. The after market slave cylinder manufacturers folded as well in the slow down. Their phone numbers were useless.  .

In the truck, Chrysler used a smaller clutch and pressure plate and a smaller plastic bodied slave cylinder in the Tremec 5760 transmission. They also used a smaller bore master hydraulic cylinder for the clutch. When everything was given back to me when I was "thrown" out of the shop I was told the slave cylinder might be leaking. He wasn't sure. He also said the pressure plate needed to be refinished as there was overheated spots. I took the pressure plate to a good transmission shop and they checked it, said they could grind and polish it for $35.00. I left it and had it back in two days.

I could see no obvious leaks on the slave cylinder. I looked at Roe Racing, a Viper specialty racing parts/shop in Florida. They had a kit for $600.00 + for the trucks to replace the slave and master cylinders. Looking and checking carefully they were the stock Viper/Mopar parts. At a higher price! Of course! A Viper specialty shop near Buffalo told me as much and they had a list of cross compatible brands.. After a lot of thought, for and against replacement I ordered an aftermarket brand name viper slave cylinder after seeing Truck and Viper owner comments on their respective club sites.

What NO ONE SAID OR KNEW was that switching these parts required the Viper hydraulic line and that it had different factory fitting. On either master cylinder the line was permanently connected to the master cylinder. This lead to a lot of consternation and LOST TIME when it was time to reinstall everything in the car. I had a truck master cylinder and a Viper slave. The line had a different factory fitting at the transmission! We figured this all out laying on our backs during the reassembly: and lost more than a week trying to figure it out.

Originally, I had purchased a Ram SRT clutch master cylinder from a local Dodge dealer who was giving me discounts before Chrysler's bankruptcy. Ultimately Chrysler forced them to close. I had built the brake booster mounting box to accommodate the Ram clutch master cylinder size and length. The viper master cylinder has a bigger bore for more pressure for the clutch and pressure plate. It is longer and uses a remote fill tank. It would not fit in the space I had created during the brake booster install. Remember in WHOA I described the box and fittings for the brake booster and clutch pedals.

Not previously mentioned in this blog was the fact I had found a Viper Car and Parts Salvage Yard in Minnesota. I had ordered a number of parts from them. After I/we figured out the problem with master cylinder line fitting I called Minnesota and got a super cheap price on a very low mileage  Viper master cylinder and line. Knowing full well it would not fit, I replaced the truck clutch master cylinder with a Wilwood Compact Kit master cylinder. The bore is one (1") inch. Bigger even than the Viper bore. Plenty of pressure to activate the clutch. It fit like a glove behind the brake booster. The kit included bits and pieces for a hydraulic line. When the Viper part arrived I cut the line and used the kit pieces and had a working line. Scrapping the truck master cylinder and replacing it with the Wilwood unit and buying the used viper piece was the cheapest way out and required no major rebuilding or fabrication.

With all this out of the way and ALOT  of $$$$ spent, we successfully started and ran the car in the shop. To this point, I don't think I mentioned the doors weren't on and the interior wasn't complete either. I got a flatbed truck and had the car loaded up and brought home in the early spring of 2017.

Friends and family along the way would often ask me when the car would be finished? I would laugh and joke that either the car would finish me or I would finish it!

WHO'S WINNING?

WHOA!!

I have tried to keep some kind of time line as I write this. While writing the cooling rant I realized I had left out a critical component of the build. BRAKES. Under the title FRAMED I said I had, with professional help, subbed the DeSoto frame with a Dodge Dakota front sub with all the suspension components. Brakes were not included with the frame chapter So.....

First step, get the necessary parts for the front brakes. First I went to CAR- PART.COM for local salvage parts and prices. When I found a power brake booster for a Dakota I went and pulled the unit complete with master cylinder, reservoir etc. All the local yards immediately remove the calipers for rebuild so back to the internet.

I found a pair of Dakota salvage calipers for $34.00, shipped free. Inquiring around, the local NAPA had rebuilt calipers including heavy duty pads, both guaranteed for life for $70.00 the pair. They also had a core charge (discount) of $25.00 per caliper with caliper exchange. I jumped at that! Two (2) rebuilt calipers and pads for a net of $20.00! They also had rotors on sale, again guaranteed for $29.00 each. Load me up. Also got the flexible lines and lock clips to hold them. I have to add with no front clip on, the work was rather simple. I would pay for that later. Read on.

The Dakota frame had majority of the brake line retainer clips and junction blocks, which were still held the brake lines, chopped and sealed. Using clothes line, I laid out the path of the front brake lines then took measurements for the brake lines. I could have gone cheap but I chose stainless lines. I called the two biggest sellers got the best price and placed my order. They come in a big tube and you bend to fit as you go. I did buy a tubing bender which was a great help.

I used a Dodge Viper manually adjustable pedal assembly installed where the DeSoto pedals would have been, utilizing all existing firewall holes and openings. I had to fabricate a box extension for the power brake booster to firewall connection to allow space for the clutch master cylinder hydraulic unit. Then I welded in carriage bolts to mount the booster. Good idea not so good on the welding as the torch had to fit through a small opening and a couple of the welds broke through the repeated course of assembly and disassemble. The bolts often flopped around and the hole was too small for my hand. Tape and a screwdriver helped with that. Then I used marine grade turn buckles for the clutch and brake connections to master cylinder connecting rods. Degreased the calipers, masked them and sprayed them red with caliper paint.

For the clutch master cylinder I used initially used a Ram SRT 1500 Viper unit. Fit like a glove behind the the Dakota power brake booster. Ran into grief with factory cylinder to slave booster cylinder in the transmission which will be covered in an addendum to MO MO MO Power.
                                                     
                        
                                                                           The Dakota power brake booster and master
 cylinder located in the upper right on the
firewall..   

Above and behind the brake booster tank is the replacement Wilwood compact clutch master cylinder and small reservoir. See the addendum already  mentioned above for a complete explanation.

The best shot of the Dakota power brake booster and the Wilwood compact clutch master cylinder. Also seen is the corrected brake line routes. The front line heads to the rear and the rear to the front brakes.
Semi hidden, but view-able, is the "spacer box" bolted to the the firewall which allowed me to use all the existing firewall holes as explained in the narrative.

Dodge Dakota front disc brake, caliper and flex line installed.
Access was a snap with no front clip to contend with.

With all Ford fittings on the rear end as described in Mo Mo Mo Power, I started looking for Ford rear disc brake kits or salvage. I found a Mustang racing rear drum to disc brake conversion kit on ebay. Price wasn't too bad. Also found the same kit through a small local Ford dealership for $65.00 dollars less.  Owned by a local man, pro basketball player, they were sponsoring / owned a race car team. They were more than happy to sell the kit. Even offered instructions and tips for the install. The body to rear end flex hose coupling and junction were recommended by the hard line supplier. Again, degreased and painted the the calipers.

 The Ford racing disc and caliper installed.
I had not yet removed the rotor protective coating.

The flex line and junction from the body to the rear end. Also seen are the hard stainless steel lines to the calipers.












When the time came for the front clip, the first pieces to go on were the inner fender/wheels. The passenger side went on great. The driver side inner fender was a an unanticipated goof up. The Dakota power brake booster is so large, the vacuum chamber completely blocked the inner wheel well. I had made no provision for such a large part! After a lot of frustration and may be a few choice words I laid a tape pattern on it and cut a LARGE opening to clear the body of the booster. After several trial and error fittings and cuttings, it fit. The multiple curves and sloped wheel well drove me craaaazy! Then I had to fabricate, paint and coat a "box" that had to be shallow enough to the clear the wheel and tire in the wheel well. The "box" is attached by heavy duty sheet metal screws. Just in case I made a provision for a small drain hole. I used screws as welding would have required a repaint.

 The underside to the brake booster after the wheel well/inner fender was cut.

The inner fender/wheel well showing the "box" and wheel/ tire proximity. UGLY, but can't be seen with the fender on.












When the front clip was finally complete and everything was in place to start the motor I ran the necessary hose from the manifold to the brake booster. Now it was time to fill the brake lines and bleed them. I started from the passenger side rear, the usual starting point farthest from the master cylinder. I have a small hand brake bleeder kit. I started the usual pumping and squeezing and squeezing and squeezing!!! Little to no fluid. I worked for what seemed like for ever. Finally started the engine and got my wife to pump the pedal still almost nothing. Moved to the driver side near nothing. Disconnect lines and blew them out.  Restarted the whole process. Nothing! Started researching and calling friends. Figured out two problems.

The master cylinder was defective. More NAPA. Still no progress but SOME fluid. More calls and research. Can't remember who or where but....... I had applied logic when hooking up the brake lines to the master cylinder. Front brakes to the front hole, rear line to the rear hole. NOPE!!!! For what ever reason the front brakes connect to the rear hole and the rears connect to the front hole!!! To make matters worse they have different fittings so I had to rebend and reroute the lines  to the first junction block. Then everything worked.

To date the brakes have worked as expected. Pedal pressure is not excessive feel is good. Haven't had to make any emergency stops, but have tested them a bit to be sure. The red brake caliper paint isn't worth a crap. Its peeling and flaking.

THAT NEW CAR SMELL!

I am not even going to try to say I know anything about sewing, cloth or different types of materials. What I will do is cover what I did and had done .

First and foremost, I researched the hell out of DeSoto interiors and vintage material suppliers. I found that for 1956 DeSoto upgraded most of their interior materials and offered a multitude of colors, designs and materials all aimed to look as luxury, high end, fit, finish and feel designs. And based on the research they succeeded as written in the automotive press of the time. The materials leaned to multi colored brocades color matched to the exterior colors. For me, too old school. What I envisioned was more '70s style, subdued whites and my addition of blues to match the car, using as much of the original trim as possible. Before I go any further lets see what will be pitched.

 

Back in the day power steering was almost never heard of. You had to have a lot of leverage, hence the LARGE steering wheel. Look carefully on the left side of the dash. See that cluster of four (4) buttons? That's for the automatic transmission; Park, Neutral, Drive and Reverse.  Very unique and very Chrysler design through the mid 1960's.

 Seen from the passenger side, the rear seat and
side trim panel. The seat covers when I purchased the car were not stock from the factory. Back in the day you could get replacement seat covers from Montgomery Ward, Sears, Western Auto and others. As far as I could determine the side panels were original.  Note the crappy replacement red carpet somebody added later and used to hide holes in the front seat floor area.

 The driver side door panel. The bottom is heavily damaged by water and wear. One of it's trim stripes has fallen off. It looks blueish but is faded blacks and grays.

 The passenger side rear, with the driver side front seat tipped forward. The front seat tilted forward on both sides to allow access to the rear. There were NO tilt safety locks in the event of a crash! Seat belts were still eight to ten years away Two door Chrysler Motors vehicles had asymmetrical front seat splits which allowed easier entry from the passenger side. It was also considered safer due to enter from the curb side.

The passenger side door panel. Again look at the heavy water damage.

 One of the rear seat side panels. Just below the white color is an arm rest. Although hard to see, there was an ash tray for smokers in each arm rest. I tried to convert them into cup holders but the arm rest was too small.

I considered bucket seats, power seats, heated seats,  and a console but decided that the extra fabrication for floor to seat track structures, wiring, control switches and panels was just too much. I did know that I wanted leather or at least high end vinyl and or naugahyde.

Then I started going to shops that do automotive interiors and spent hours looking at materials and colors. What I found out was kind of a SHOCK to the mind and to the wallet. Six (6) to eight (8) K for a complete interior. And that was considered cheap! The best automotive interior shops were forty to eighty miles away, required the car in the shop AND WORST OF ALL they had a one and half to two year WAIT TIME to get in. In the meantime, I kept working on the car and looking at materials. On a parts run, I was lamenting the above, and the parts guy said there was a new person right here in town who had just moved back from Florida and did car and boat upholstery work. He gave me her card. I kind of figured what did I have to loose and gave her a call.

 She invited me over to her shop(her parents garage and barn) and we went over what she could do, showed me around and said she could start as soon as I decided on the colors and materials.  She gave a bunch of material samples to take home and layout with the car colors. She assured me that she could have the car done within a few months and her PRICE WAS RIGHT! About half of what I had found elsewhere! She did say this would be her first complete car top to bottom. She had pictures of car seats, panels, furniture and boat interiors but not a complete car.

I continued to go to local furniture upholstery shops looking at materials as well. One shop had leather and recycled leather backed urethane that matched the leather. Researching, I found urethane is cooler to sit on, lasts and tests just as well for wear as vinyl and might be a smidge cheaper. The colors were perfect for the car. BUT, the shop would not sell it unless they did the work. I memorized the name and company, looked it on line, then passed  it on to "my" upholstery person. I asked her to check to see if she could get it.

A few days later she said she could, if she jumped through some hoops, filled out business papers, provided state business numbers, state tax forms  etc. She said she need to pay a fee upfront but it was refundable on her first order. I said I would pay it, as a down payment for the work as long as she wrote it up as a down payment. Which she did. We were on the way.

Reading the 1956 DeSoto repair manual section on interiors helped me and my son deconstruct the interior without destroying it when we disassembled the car.  We stored everything in the rafters of the garage, where it laid in the heat and cold for ten years. It was now time to retrieve it all and take it to the upholstery shop.  The headliner was dry rotted when we took it down, rolled it up with the bows still in place, and stored it. It was now crumbling. I carefully laid it out, removed the bows one at a time and numbered them front to back. Good thing too as each bow is a different length front to back. They also had a "hook" some what like a number 7 on each end. The bow slipped into it then plugged into a roof frame body hole.

 The DeSoto manual said to replace the head liner required that all the glass, rubber seals and metal window window tracks had to be out. FYI, in today's cars, most don't have a rubber seal for the windshield or rear window they are glued/caulked in place. Removal wasn't problem as everything was all out before sandblasting. I cut, fit and glued a recycled aluminized  insulation two (2) piece roof pad.  That was a real trip, working it up overhead all floppy, sticky and damp with glueby myself! There was none in the original car. Just bare metal. The book said working front to back the installer would slit the headliner at each stamped hook or "tooth", press the material over the tooth and move to each "tooth" in turn. That then down the sides inserting the bows, slitting and gluing as necessary.

 My upholsterer had never done a headliner before. She used the old 'liner" as a pattern, added extra material based on experience sewed in the bow pockets etc. We picked a common newer car cloth and vinyl headliner versus the all cloth original. We both liked the perforated versus solid material. When done, she brought the liner over and we installed it together. It took both of us to handle, unroll, slide in the bows, slip on the hooks, "bend" them into their respective holes, spray glue, slit,  poke, pull and tug the liner into place. At the rear roof line she had to cut the final contours as the original was most rotted and missing there. She and I also had to cut openings for the rear roof pillar interior lights and then I installed them.

It took us more than four (4) hours to complete the head liner. If you look carefully at the nearest upper edge of the windshield opening you can see the hooks or "tooth" the "liner" had to be slit, glued  and pushed over. In a couple of stubborn areas we used clothes pins to hold the "liner" in place while the glue set up. Visible on the  rear side roof and quarter panel are the stock coat hook and interior light.






While work continued on the other interior parts I prepared the dash board top for the tachometer and wires. The dash top is a full size "cover" over a double layer of structural steel.. It also serves as part of the duct for defrosting the windshield. Sitting on a milk crate I guessed as to a good location for the tachometer, marking it for location and drilling. With no glass, it was a snap to drill the holes for the layers. I then took it the upholstery shop for covering.

As I said the front and rear windshields as well as the side glass could not be installed until the headliner was in. Not knowing how to install glass or the rubber seals I looked high and low for an automotive glass shop who could. After a lot of phone calls and a couple of shop visits I found a guy who specialized in what I needed. Separately I had ordered several glass and body rubber seal kits mostly from STEELE Rubber. They specialize in that kind of stuff. ASIDE: Their stuff is high quality BUT mostly made for GM . A lot of their stuff is thicker than original causing fitting issues. Nothing you can do about it!

The glass guy came and together we spent a full eight (8) hours installing the rubber, glass and trim for the front and rear windows. The trim and clips drove the glass guy CRAZY. He was so frustrated with one piece remaining he almost left! I kind of talked him down and on the last attempt the trim piece snapped in place. WHEW!And of course it was blazing hot. I had salvaged the necessary trim clips. Originally the trim clips and some of the upholstery was factory installed using factory 1/4" inch long flat head spiral nails. They were a bitch pulling them out! I/we used 1/2" number 6  and 8 stainless steel sheet metal screws to reattach the trim and later upholstery.

 Most interesting for me was the rubber seal. A piece of rope was inserted into the groove where the glass would go. The you or the installer would then pull the rope out opening the grove and the glass would drop in. I followed along applying pressure as directed.

Later I installed the roof line side window trim and seal with door window "flipper". The door window "flipper"is a hinged metal and rubber window seal that "flips" up about forty-five (45) degrees when the door is opened. When the door is closed it flips down creating a seal against the window 's metal frame.

 The front windshield and trim installed. Also seen installed is the side glass roof trim seal and door "flipper."

The rear windshield now installed.  Also visible is the roof line side window trim and seal with door "flipper." If looked at carefully, the upper side window trim is bright, polished, then seems abruptly cut off. That is where the "flipper" begins and is in the up position when the picture was taken.









I installed the rear quarter side glass next. They were a royal pain. It required a pivot pin be inserted
into the lifting mechanism while partially raised but not bolted into position. It also had a tracking wheel that had to sit in a curving track. Several large and heavy pieces flopping around, limited access and only two hands!

The quarter window glass installed.

Next up for description purposes is the door panels and rear seat side panels. Each door panel had a metal upper quarter with the rest made of cardboard or other paper type material. As the above pictures show they were heavily damaged. The upholster tried several methods for patterns and had her father cut untempered 1/8"inch board. NOTE: Most car upholstery shops use some kind of weatherproof  thin plastic or rigid foam board I found out later. I picked up several attempts at the door panels, bringing them home to check for fit on the doors. None were any good. I finally got more material, attached them to the upper metal section. I then laid them on the doors, locked them down in their door slots and traced then out. Rough cut, I then relaid them marking them for the holes for the panel push lock clips. Even then I had to "guess" as to the hole size for the push clips. They then went back to her for padding, trim location and covering. When they were done they came back to me so I could install the window opening "fuzz" pieces which act as spacers and weather seals on the door panels and doors. They are stapled into place on factory new builds or were "nailed" with those odd nails I described earlier. Not having any type of stapler that shoots through metal I called around and including Steele was told use small sheet metal screws. There were holes in the doors and door panel metal which worked with # 6  X 1/2" sheet metal screws. The doors even had stamped holes for inserting tools/screwdriver to reach across the window slot structure and screw holes for  the screws.

The rear seat side panels were less troublesome in that they were all metal. The had large tabs for screws to attach them to the body. Throughout the restoration those tabs snagged my pants or cut my legs. I finally got smart and covered them in duct tape. The window "fuzz" strips went on as previously described.  Overlooked was the position, of the screw holes for attachment.  The upholstery was wrapped over and on the reverse side covered the holes. Very careful positioning and use of a hat pin located the holes on installation.

Windlace is a 1/'2" inch or larger rope like appearing upholstery piece used in older cars to cover and provide a seal at the doors, windows and other body structures. The upholster made roughly tent (10) feet of it for the door and body openings. It was a bit of a trip gluing and installing it, especially around the door/windshield body curves. Those curves came unglued so I had to drill a few holes for the stainless screws. In a few places I had to pull it out, and reposition it, as the panels and trim pieces went back on as we had done it wrong.

The seats front and rear have blur rolled and pleated leather. Each roll is a separate piece, then each roll is sewed together forming the panel. The rest of the upholstery material it is urethane backed with recycled leather. I wanted a "french" stitch. She said she did not how to do it and that her sewing machine wouldn't do it. I was disappointed but accepted it. A week or so later she called and said she had gone to the best local shop, a former Amish man, in the area and he would teach her to do it using her machine!  When all said and done she made a number of trips to his shop learning a number of techniques.

At some point the upholsterer said the interior need just a bit of "POP" to go with the rest of the car. That 'pop" wound up costing her time and money! She said a friend of hers had an computerized embroidery sewing machine. She suggested doing something utilizing it. At no additional cost. I scrambled around looking for pictures of what might look cool. I wound up with the Ferdinand DeSoto head logo used by DeSoto and the latest Viper head logo for the Viper. We both agreed the red snake head was COOL!  That lead to a disaster! The first go round her friend laid them out wrong and embroidered them crooked!! Needless to say this caused a lot of consternation for her and a major material replacement and redo for her.

The rear seats also had their problems. The Viper heads were the first. The second was the seat back and seat cushion panels were shifted an inch or more. They did not line up back rest to seat cushion. Worse, one went left the other right. That required more rework on her part.

The rear package shelf and dash went pretty much as planned. The only difficulty was the multiple curves on the package shelf trying to pop up and unglue. Then later I had to cut it for the stereo speaker openings.

In all her few months turned into over a year to complete. You can be the judge as to what was done as you look at the interior. I am more than happy even though I know where all the flaws are.  In truth it didn't matter as so much as the restoration work was not done and I was found to have lymphoma cancer. That was almost four years ago. The prognosis is and continues to be good.

During the built I laid in and glued an insulated, recycled and aluminized floor pad. I also purchased a factory automotive type floor carpet. I cut and fit it then took all the pieces to a local shop for edge binding.

The last pieces were the front "kick panels" under the dash. I had run the battery cable, ground and lighting wires inside the car. I had to cut the bottom of the side panel and add a metal "tunnel" to accommodate the wiring below and behind the panel. There was a bit of a valley just inside the door and the floor. I used the insulation pad to make the valley deeper. The car has full length aluminum floor kick plates at the doors which successfully and protectively cover the wiring.

 We won this steering wheel in a contest on line. My son entered our incomplete car and they thought it was so cool they gave us the choice of their Forever Sharp steering wheel line. Note how much smaller it is.










The back side with finger slots for added grip

and comfort.

Front and rear seats with the asymmetrical passenger side seat folded forward. Driver side rear panel is also seen along with rear quarter window and driver's door window.

Front and rear seats with windows down.

 The complete dash. Note the old school "gasser" tach location. All gauges are Auto Meter Ultra Lite II.  Also seen is the retro bench seat shift lever. The dark stripe on the door frame is the windlace that runs floor to top of the door frame. It kept coming loose following the curves until a few well placed screws were put in. The side kick panel is also visible.







A full view of the dash.

The manually adjustable Viper pedal assembly.
Carpet was hand cut by me and sent out for edge binding. The transmission carpet cover folds back to allow access to the transmission/ floor panel. It is removable for access to rear of the transmission bell housing bolts engine and coil mounting bracket. Not complete at the time of the picture, was the shifter boot and trim plate.

The finished trunk. The original DeSoto had a bare floor or optional cheap mat floor. Visible is the relocated battery. The "hole" on the right side of the floor was where the spare tire used to reside.