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Veteran
Posts: 127
 
Location: Minneapolis | Hello all, I'm new to the site and a new forward look owner. I picked up this not so little lady in beautiful Bismarck ND at auction last weekend. I had been eying her up online for a few years on the Hernando's Hideaway website, when I heard they were auctioning all the project /parts cars I had to jump on it. I was bidding against a fellow who's plan it was to strip her and crush the remains. I think she's way too nice for that fate so I'm glad I saved her. My plan, obviously, is to return her to her former glory. In the short term I'm going to just get her on the road. She's got the 341 Hemi 4 barrel dual exhaust, which turns over like butter. The engine bay is all present and accounted for, besides the generator and belts. The floors and rockers are rock solid and the trunk seems fairly solid too. The body is pretty nice, some minor rust around the rear wheel wells and headlight buckets. The stainless is mostly there, I'm going to need a front bumper, headlight mounts/surrounds and hood ornaments - so if you guys have a line on any of those parts let me know! The interior is complete and restorable, the headliner is really nice besides one mouse hole (little bas***d). Anyway, enough blathering - without further ado -
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 982
Location: Upper Hunter NSW Australia | ..........
Hey there Groucho Dan, welcome on board, good on ya for saving another one from being stripped and crushed, hope you get it on the road where it should be ( not enroute to China ).
Love those 57 rear end shots , make sure you keep the pics flowing as you get on with the rebuild.
Cheers from Australia,
Terry.
P.S You don't look too "Groucho " in the selfie shot !!   
......... |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1120
Location: Brisbane, Australia | Good for you Groucho all you need is a cigar!
Great potential,
Loved that another 57 has been given a new chance. please keep those photos coming
Bob from Brisbane, Australia |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1172
Location: Georgia | Great score, Dan! Welcome to the forum here and keep us updated with your progress with the old girl!
Pete |
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Expert
Posts: 1488
Location: New Castle PA | Yep, she's a keeper, Dan! Thanks for joining us. Please consider also joining the National DeSoto Club, where I'm the tech coordinator for 1957 models. I also sent you a personal message on this board, which you can check by going to the top of a page here, to where it says you have a message in your inbox. |
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Veteran
Posts: 188
| Welcome and congratulations for saving one beautiful car from the crusher.
Good luck with the restoration and with finding the necessary parts.
This is the right place to find advice and parts for the De Soto.
Regards |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | You couldn't have paid me to look the Groucho part that day Terry! I'll definitely join the desoto club, I can use all the help /knowledge I can get. I'm glad you all like her! I just made the road trip from Minneapolis to Columbus for the Mopar Nats, drop me a line if anyone is going to be out here and I'll try to find you. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
 
Location: bishop, ca | Nice!
Welcome aboard.
Hope that you restore your ride.
Do you know about SMS auto interiors, and Original Auto Interiors?
The latter has had complete upholstery sets, dunno about right-now, or what they might have in stock.
SMS sells OEM upholstery pieces, but also creates complete door trim panels.
Edited by d500neil 2014-08-07 9:47 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Oh I will definitely restore the Flite, it just might take a while. B-) |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 500
Location: Upper East Tennessee | Very nice! Congratulations! Don't get too frustrated if parts aren't readily available. We'll try to help out. That's an awesome save! |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | I am not familiar with them but that's why I'm here. Thanks for the heads up, I'll check them out for sure. |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Thanks for the complement Tim. I'll try not to get too frustrated and I appreciate the help. |
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Expert
Posts: 2905
Location: little rock, AR | I really like 4dr HT's. That a great start on a great car. Most of started with less than what you bought. Great save!!! |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Oh yeah for sure, the four door hardtop is exactly what I was looking for. |
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Expert
Posts: 3967
Location: DFW, TX | Nice ride! I have a front bumper/grille assembly for that car if you're interested. Going to be a hassle to get it there from Texas, though.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress! |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Yeah, I'd be very interested. I think you're right about shipping though. |
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Expert
Posts: 2905
Location: little rock, AR | Greyhound bus
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Does the OEM brass tag still exist on the carb?
One extremely rare component that your ride still has is its 'masonite' type headliner.
We call parts that are very difficult to find :"Unobtanium".
The 'cardboard' sunvisors can have their vinyl selvage be replaced and re-stitched; be very careful about protecting the headliner & sunvisors.
Also, 4-door hardtops are rare-survivors due to the careless-heavy daily "family-type" wear and tear that they sustained.
They are very prone to having rattles and leakages, both of which you can address during the restoration.
Job-1 will be getting it drivable, in whatever physical condition it may be in.
Driving it will allow you to understand its rattles and leakages and panel-alignments situation.
Restoring a 4-door hardtop is not a simple easy thing to do, in making it tight and leak proof.
But, it can be done and we are here to help you along the path of driver-ness...
Edited by d500neil 2014-08-08 1:46 AM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Also, there will be some discussions, later, about your courage in having the exhaust pipes exit through the bumpers, like God
and Exner intended.
There are easy ways to allow the exhaust to exit through the bumper 'pods', without having corrosion occur to/on the exhaust pipes
or to the bumper.
You and others will love seeing the exhaust flowing out of the bumper pods!
But, that will have to occur a long time from now.
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY | 
Congratulations, 57Groucho!
You have great taste in cars, my friend!
I really like the last photo - that is one happy DeSoto owner sitting in the driver's seat!
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7807
Location: Williams California | Good to see another one saved. Looks like a decent builder, too!
---John |
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Expert
Posts: 2596
Location: Upplands Väsby, Sweden | Very Nice DeSoto Project
Edited by Windsor59 2014-08-08 4:53 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Neil, I'm not sure about the brass tag, I'll have to take a look next time I'm out to where it's being stored. I was impressed by how nice the headliner was when I got it. There is a hole behind /above the passenger visor though, Is that going to be repairable? My plan is definitely to get her on the road and see what I'm dealing with. Not to mention it'll be fun to get to play with her for a while before starting the serious restoration. I appreciate your willingness to help me out. We can fight those blue avatar people over the unobtanium together. It is definitely part of my plan to have the exhaust exit through the bumper pods as it should. I'll have to pick your brain about that later.
Fin, thanks for the complement and I am very happy with my purchase. I've been dreaming about exactly this car for a long long time so I'm thrilled to finally have one!
John, my sentiments exactly. I hate to see them crushed and unappreciated. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Dan, if it is merely a 'hole', you can scour the various national wrecking yards, even Big M, on this site, and see if they have any
57 DeSoto headliner remnants.
Also, a good headliner panel can be cut/formed, and stitched to create new sunvisors...but that would have to be done by
a dedicated shop, familiar with the process.
Since the hole is hidden by the sun visor, you probably can, carefully, cut out a matching area of the headliner remnant and white-glue it
into place.
You are also fortunate that the hole is unobtrusive, so that you have the luxury of not having to be in a rush to try to find that headliner
remnant...which may not be easy to find (or not; you never know..)
The existing headliner panels probably-all match each other's general appearance, so you would not want to (have to) replace one or
more entire panel-pieces.
Briefly, on the exhaust ports: you will install corrosion-proof "aluminized" exhaust pipes (which look like new OEM steel)....and you can coat
the inside of the pods with high-heat 'aluminum' paint; the inside-parts of the pods should be stainless steel, or, you can have a shop
make up stainless steel walls/panels as necessary inside the pods, to replace any vulnerable steel parts/pieces in it.
Edited by d500neil 2014-08-09 3:11 PM
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY | 
I do admire your goal to have the exhaust exit through the pods, 57Groucho! I had planned on going that route too...until I had to pay for the re-chroming of the rear light towers, and for a set of reproduction rear light lenses. Ouch!  I'm ashamed to say that I totally chickened out after that...squawk!
The exhaust pods on my car had already been re-chromed by the second to last owner (over twenty years ago) who routed the exhaust to the underside of the car at that time, and they still looked good, so I left them be. The oily grime from back in the day, was still stubbornly clinging to the inside of the ports. I left it there as a homage to the history of the ports...historical grime?...ah well, I like it.
I was also lucky when it came to the shape of the light towers; all they needed was a good, cosmetic overhaul. Hopefully the light towers on your car don't need much work; they look to be in good shape, judging from your photos. Some folks have removed the rear light towers from their '57 DeSotos only to have them practically crumble in their hands. (57desoto (above) came up with a great solution for one of his cars when he needed a new light tower.) They are rare-ish and expensive items to replace, IF you can find them.
The rear antennae on your car also look good, so it seems? You are lucky if that is the case. They can also be rather pricey little items to replace, IF you can find them too.
Hopefully you will be able to find a replacement panel for the front of your car's headliner. It seems that most '57 Mopars leaked more often in the rear than they did in the front, although I've not confirmed that with an official poll. LOL So you might have some luck finding a donor front end panel IMHO.
You have found one GREAT car, 57Groucho!
Edited by FIN ME 2014-08-10 11:10 AM
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Neil, I'm glad that there is an option for repair seeing as how the headliner falls in the unobtainium category. It is just a hole but a rather ragged one. I think for the present I'll go with the option of letting it be hidden behind the visor. The material that's falling off if the visors doesn't look to be damaged, seems like they fell apart at the seams so I'm hoping that they're salvageable.
Fin, I don't blame you for 'chickening' out on the exhaust pods. It is currently my plan but I may end up chickening out too. It sounds like Neil has some simple plans to keep everything looking nice though. In any case, I've got plenty of time to think about it. I like the historical grime, I'll keep that at least. Lol The light towers are going to need some cosmetic work but they are solid, hopefully they stay that way when I take them out. Where did you get replacement lenses from anyway? I'm going to need a few. Looks can be deceiving, the antennae are there but not in great shape, one likes to fall out. Hopefully I'll get lucky with those and the headliner panel. Thanks for the complement, I think she's pretty great myself. Lol
I'm already getting good advice /information from you guys, I appreciate it.
-Dan
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Don't chicken out, Dan!
One primary reason that the bumper pods rusted out was due to the cars' daily short-trip usage....in all kinds of nasty weather.
Same thing with the 57-58 Dodge exhaust extensions.
Suffice it to say that all we hobbyists should fully warm up our rides every time that we take them out to exercise them.
It is the residual exhaust condensation and acids that corrode our car's mufflers, exhaust pipes and bumpers.
In the winter time, I never turn off the engine until the exhaust condensation goes away, and, even then, I'll gun the throttle just to
ensure that no liquid crap goes out the pipes.
I'll also reach under the bumper and happily burn the finger tips, to confirm that, if the far-end of the pipes are hot, the mufflers gotta be
dried out internally.
With aluminized pipes, you'll have no problems with corrosion occurring at/on the end of the pipes, where they rise up to the exhaust pods.
High heat 'aluminum' paint looks like unpolished chrome, and the interior of the pods will get all-sooty but the hi-heat aluminum paint will keep them
from corroding.
Let's see your headliner and visors' condition.
Fortunately, you don't need a perfect-condition, complete headliner panel, but each marque has a different paint-pattern on their headliners.
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Expert
Posts: 2633
Location: Minor Hill, TN | Very nice and good luck with the restoration , all of us here at the foward look site would like to see before , during and after photos . |
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Expert
Posts: 2633
Location: Minor Hill, TN | Very nice and good luck with the restoration , all of us here at the foward look site would like to see before , during and after photos . Other foward lookers are also willing to help out. take things 1 step at a time
Edited by 1961plymouthfury 2014-08-12 5:51 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1488
Location: New Castle PA | Dan, did you get my PM? |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Steph, thanks for the encouragement. I'll definitely be taking tons of pictures along the way. Unfortunately the car is being stored in Bismarck where my father lives and where the auction was (that was a happy coincidence) so the pictures might be a bit far between but there will be plenty, I assure you. Lol
Edward, I did get your PM. I'm just a little slow and didn't realize that I should scroll down the message. Oops |
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Expert
Posts: 1737
Location: Hay Lakes, Alberta, Canada | Congrats on the '57 DeSoto! I'm a new DeSoto owner this week too!! |
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Member
Posts: 18
Location: Marina, Ca | Love it! |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Congratulations to you too Brad! |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Neil, sounds like it shouldn't be too hard to keep the tail end nice, I'm sure I'll end up routing the exhaust through the pods. I'll take some more pictures when I'm out to where it's stored again, it might be a couple weeks though. It's killing me not being able to work on it every day! |
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Expert
Posts: 1488
Location: New Castle PA | Here are some pics to help you understand how the exhaust ends are made. Not quite as easy to route things up there as you might think, since the space is limited and the bends are tight. The "new" pictures are how my local shop made the tailpipe extensions, and obviously, the rusty but unused extensions are originals. The gold-painted (yuk!) venturi are what physically fit into the bumper ends, and to which the tailpipe extensions clamp. Then the exhaust "main" pipe slips into the bell-end of the extension. The rusted-out versions are what was on my Adventurer.
Edited by 57desoto 2014-08-13 11:38 AM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | YUP, the tail pipe rusts out because it was formed from steel, and because there was/were not sufficient "weep holes" cut into the bottom
of the up-turns, so that condensing water could leak out, instead of collecting in that depression.
The far-ends of an exhaust system are obviously the coldest/wettest area of the entire system.
The INTERIOR of the snorkles...and the inside of the chromed-steel exhaust pods (and the bumpers, too, WTH...) should be heavily painted in high-heat aluminum; you can see how rough their un-finished inside surface area is/are.
Edited by d500neil 2014-08-13 4:02 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1384
Location: Ocala, Florida | Nice car! Did Groucho send ya? |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Edward- thanks for the pics. It does look pretty tight in there. I'm going to send away for the build records from Chrysler as soon as I remember to print the form out at work. I'm pretty stoked about that. I'm hoping that I have the original drivetrain in there.
Neil - It definitely seems that the engineers could've put more thought in to this system, but that would've made things too easy for us!
Randy - That's what I told em!
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | The chasses/drivelines were engineered.
The bodies were designed (and quickly, too; the 57's were brought out with only two years' lead time...and it 'showed' quickly).
By 1959, the bodies were relatively very well constructed.
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | I have heard that the build quality wasn't up to par in '57. You said these rattles can be addressed during the restoration though, right? |
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Veteran
Posts: 279
Location: Klein, TX | Wonderful project you have there. I look forward to seeing the progression of the restoration. I am new to the FL group, but sure have enjoyed seeing all the great work the various members have done. Have a great time with your '57.
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Thanks Bill! I will surely have fun and I look forward to seeing the progress too! |
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY |
57Groucho, I got the reproduction rear lights lenses from Gary Goers. I think that they might have been the last set he had though?
I think that these lenses are still being reproduced in Scandinavia? Some of our Scandinavian pals might know for sure; folks such as "Wizard"?
Great thread!
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | You got the last ones huh? Oh well, I'll be making a few posts in the hopes of scoring some parts here shortly. Everyone get ready to open up your bag of goodies for a fellow FL'er in need! |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Yeah, Dan; during the restoration, just make sure that any and all moving-connections get greased or tightened down (use Loc-Tite
sometimes, because you do not want to have to go back inside some panel or cavity to eliminate some squeak or rattle)..the window
mechanisms will loosen up, over time.
You can apply extra sound deadener to the doors and cavities, to prevent resonances; even sprayed 'styrofoam' insulation and fiberglass batting...
once the panel-cavities are closed up, by/with the interior trim panels, only you'll know what lies beneath all of that silence and solid-ness.
There are sound-deadening mats that go under the carpeting, which will keep the interior cooler and quieter, too.
All kinds of things that get 'hidden' up...
You want the doors to close solidly, with a 'thunk', and not a 'clatter'
Edited by d500neil 2014-08-19 12:17 AM
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Very good thinking Neil, I'll definitely keep that in mind. In fact I'll probably go way overboard with that, I'm something of a perfectionist. Which I suppose lends itself to this hobby. |
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Veteran
Posts: 154
Location: Mandan, North Dakota | Welcome to the site and congrats on getting the car! Has to feel great to get it after watching it for so long. Good luck with it!
I just found out about the auction YESTERDAY. An auction that close to home, and I hear nothing... Frustrating! I had a few friends saying "yeah, we were surprised you weren't there" None of them thought to tell me about it, or even call me during, but all were surprised I wasn't there... #%$@%^ !!!!
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | That would definitely be frustrating, I'm glad I didn't have another bidder to contend with though! Thanks for the warm welcome.
Edited by 57Groucho 2014-10-15 8:01 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Minneapolis | Well, I finally got my build card info from Chrysler historical. Most of the information I already knew but there were a few interesting tidbits in there. I was excited to learn that my car still has its original engine. It was a North Dakota car it's whole life which means no salt. I picked it up in Bismarck ND but I live in MN and once you cross the state line into ND there is no rust at all. It seems it was shipped to Main Motors Desoto Plymouth in Minot ND on March 26th 1957, one day after its birthday lol. I was able to find a couple pictures of it on the interweb, one in the "cars in old photos" thread, if anyone has any more information on this dealership I'd love to hear it. Anyway, here are some pics.
-Dan
Edited by 57Groucho 2014-10-16 7:40 AM
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57 Fireflite Sportsman 4DHT
