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!
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.......
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!
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 Iwas 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?
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