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Location: North Australia | Another great 4dr ht Exner Mobile. Just needs the tail light lense Chevrons glued on and drive that beast.
Steve.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1960-DeSoto-Fireflite-Base-Hardtop-4... |
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Expert
Posts: 2002
Location: Branson, MO | Yeah buddy - this is my kinda car - original and complete. If I didn't have my '59, I'd be all over this one. I was looking for a '60 Fireflite 2HT before I got my '59 Firesweep 4DR but nothing like this one ever was available at a reasonable price. If this '60 and my '59 were available at the same time, I'd have the '60 now.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1155
Location: somerville mass | i just asked if hed take 10000 for it flawless orig. car orig. interior look at engine paint
air cleaner chrome wheel covers trim - wow! all i'd add is a square steering wheel!!!!!
whats this about chevrons? get your gas at chevron or cities service shell mobigas
or you can trust your car to the man who wears the star - the bright red texaco star!
Edited by moparsteve 2016-12-05 10:21 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 988
Location: Kansas City, Kansas | moparsteve - 2016-12-05 9:19 AM
whats this about chevrons?
I doubt there is a single '60 DeSoto that still wears it's original, from the factory, set of chevrons. These brittle plastic parts glued to the tail lights just didn't last. The repro'd tail lights have them cast into the lens, as I understand.
http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=37760 |
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Location: Parts Unknown | When I had my 60 DeSoto, I made new chevrons out of brass
and had them plated. Clear silicon keep them where they were
supposed to be.
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Location: North Australia | I think a guy here in Aus makes the chevrons. here they are.
Steve.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CHRYSLER-DESOTO-DODGE-PLYMOUTH-FIREFLITE...
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 769
Location: Oley, PA | It looks like a pretty nice car. I'd want to inspect it up close, but with bidding currently at $9,100.00, it may sell for a reasonable price.
It's a little hard for me to determine if this is a mostly original car or an older restoration.
A couple of things I noticed. The steering wheel is showing red paint under the blue. The engine is pretty but it's the wrong color. The turquoise color didn't appear until 1962. The upholstery looks nice and the seller claims it's original. To me, the stitching and the fit around the seat back has the look of a reupholster job, but I don't have enough experience with '60 Desotos to say for sure.
One thing I'm curious about are the backup lights or lack thereof. Are those the correct blank-off panels for cars that didn't come equipped with backup lights? I've never seen a '60 Desoto without backup lights, though I know some cars were delivered that way. It seems like a funny way to save money, though it is a base model Fireflight, it's possible. Still, as a hardtop with radio, it wasn't the cheapest way to go. I did notice that it has no outside mirrors and that fits the theme. It would be interesting to know the whole story on this car, but that info may be long gone.
Edited by Greg P. 2016-12-08 11:54 AM
 (60 Fireflite rear.jpg)
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 60 Fireflite rear.jpg (97KB - 73 downloads)
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1155
Location: somerville mass | bizarre no side mirrors or had them body work paint done not reinstalled never seen a car
w/o side mirrors you need them here for yearly inspection... |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 769
Location: Oley, PA | moparsteve - 2016-12-08 12:18 PM
bizarre no side mirrors or had them body work paint done not reinstalled never seen a car
w/o side mirrors you need them here for yearly inspection...
It seems weird by today's standards, but I've seen a number of FL cars, usually the base models, without any outside mirrors. It's not the kind of thing you actually notice at first glance. They definitely optional and not standard equipment. My 57 Firesweep did not come with any, but had aftermarket mirrors installed, possibly by the dealer. I also had a 61 Belvedere with no outside mirrors. In the 2 years I owned it, nobody ever noticed except for me.
As far as safety inspections go, I guess every state is different. Here in PA, for vintage cars, safety equipment is required only where it is original to the car. For example, seat belts are not required on cars that did not come equipped with seatbelts.
Edited by Greg P. 2016-12-08 12:47 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | Outside driver mirror became Federally mandated for the 1965 model year.
Prior to that, all were optional. I ended up court over this when the Anti-
Old Car Harassment Bureau raised the issue on one of my cars.
I removed the aftermarket mirror from my Plaza. It will have none, in
keeping with it's bare bones status.
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7206
Location: Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island, Canada | Greg P. - 2016-12-08 8:51 AM
It looks like a pretty nice car. I'd want to inspect it up close, but with bidding currently at $9,100.00, it may sell for a reasonable price.
It's a little hard for me to determine if this is a mostly original car or an older restoration.
A couple of things I noticed. The steering wheel is showing red paint under the blue. The engine is pretty but it's the wrong color. The turquoise color didn't appear until 1962. The upholstery looks nice and the seller claims it's original. To me, the stitching and the fit around the seat back has the look of a reupholster job, but I don't have enough experience with '60 Desotos to say for sure.
One thing I'm curious about are the backup lights or lack thereof. Are those the correct blank-off panels for cars that didn't come equipped with backup lights? I've never seen a '60 Desoto without backup lights, though I know some cars were delivered that way. It seems like a funny way to save money, though it is a base model Fireflight, it's possible. Still, as a hardtop with radio, it wasn't the cheapest way to go. I did notice that it has no outside mirrors and that fits the theme. It would be interesting to know the whole story on this car, but that info may be long gone.
How are you sure that those backup light housings don't have lights in them? It's very hard to tell in the pics. I have pics of a couple of 60 DeSotos with no backup lights and the there are no holes and no phony housings. In other words there is nothing in place of the housings, just sheet metal. Since the units on this car don't quite look stock, perhaps someone installed some similar lamp housings from a different vehicle. The originals are prone to breakage.
Edited by imopar380 2016-12-08 1:25 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 769
Location: Oley, PA | imopar380 - 2016-12-08 1:23 PM
Greg P. - 2016-12-08 8:51 AM
It looks like a pretty nice car. I'd want to inspect it up close, but with bidding currently at $9,100.00, it may sell for a reasonable price.
It's a little hard for me to determine if this is a mostly original car or an older restoration.
A couple of things I noticed. The steering wheel is showing red paint under the blue. The engine is pretty but it's the wrong color. The turquoise color didn't appear until 1962. The upholstery looks nice and the seller claims it's original. To me, the stitching and the fit around the seat back has the look of a reupholster job, but I don't have enough experience with '60 Desotos to say for sure.
One thing I'm curious about are the backup lights or lack thereof. Are those the correct blank-off panels for cars that didn't come equipped with backup lights? I've never seen a '60 Desoto without backup lights, though I know some cars were delivered that way. It seems like a funny way to save money, though it is a base model Fireflight, it's possible. Still, as a hardtop with radio, it wasn't the cheapest way to go. I did notice that it has no outside mirrors and that fits the theme. It would be interesting to know the whole story on this car, but that info may be long gone.
How are you sure that those backup light housings don't have lights in them? It's very hard to tell in the pics. I have pics of a couple of 60 DeSotos with no backup lights and the there are no holes and no phony housings. In other words there is nothing in place of the housings, just sheet metal. Since the units on this car don't quite look stock, perhaps someone installed some similar lamp housings from a different vehicle. The originals are prone to breakage.
Good point. I assumed those were blankoff plates I was seeing, but it's really impossible to tell. They could be lenses of some sort. I do know that the original equipment backup lights were prone to breakage as you mentioned. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 988
Location: Kansas City, Kansas | imopar380 - 2016-12-08 12:23 PM
I have pics of a couple of 60 DeSotos with no backup lights and the there are no holes and no phony housings. In other words there is nothing in place of the housings, just sheet metal.
I would like to see these photos. I know this is the case as Dr. DeSoto has mentioned this in the past, but I have never seen such an option-less jewel. Please share! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 341
Location: Wisconsin | slimwhitman - 2016-12-05 9:50 AM moparsteve - 2016-12-05 9:19 AM
whats this about chevrons? I doubt there is a single '60 DeSoto that still wears it's original, from the factory, set of chevrons. These brittle plastic parts glued to the tail lights just didn't last. The repro'd tail lights have them cast into the lens, as I understand. http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=37760
I beg to differ - all original, 43,000 miles.
Edited by Fireflite56 2016-12-08 8:56 PM
 (Fins E.jpg)
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Fins E.jpg (70KB - 81 downloads)
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Veteran
Posts: 234
Location: Chambersburg,PA | Hey, that's our old Fireflite, just look at the albums under my user name! From what I see the has new tires, carpet, trunk mat and the 361 was painted the wrong color, should be silver etc.
We bought it from the orig' owner's family in Pittsburgh, PA, it had almost 49k on the clock and had sat from 1988-9/2011 when we picked it up, did the usual things to revive something that's sat a while, pulled the valve covers soaked the top end w/PB blaster, popped the top of all the valves w/a brass drift to make sure they were not stuck, pickled the engine w/ATF for a month, shot PB blaster in the spark plug holes a few times and turned it over by hand several times before starting it, rebuilt the carb, replaced the water pump, T-stat, all hoses, serviced the complete cooling system, fuel pump & lines, gave it a tune up (Still had the factory ignition parts but the plugs and wires) I installed all new wheel cylinders, front brake hoses, shoes, repacked the ft wheel bearings, had the drums turned, serviced the transmission (Cleaned screen & replaced fluid w/Dex III)
It ran and drove very well, didn't even smoke after the blaster wore off! Sold in 2013. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1155
Location: somerville mass | did you sell to the person who has it now? and what happened to the side mirror? and did it
have back up lights? |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7206
Location: Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island, Canada | slimwhitman - 2016-12-08 12:54 PM
imopar380 - 2016-12-08 12:23 PM
I have pics of a couple of 60 DeSotos with no backup lights and the there are no holes and no phony housings. In other words there is nothing in place of the housings, just sheet metal.
I would like to see these photos. I know this is the case as Dr. DeSoto has mentioned this in the past, but I have never seen such an option-less jewel. Please share!
No back up lights.
 (100_2793.jpg)
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100_2793.jpg (62KB - 74 downloads)
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Location: Parts Unknown | As I remember them, my backup lightless 60 Fireflite was not smooth
like seen here, but had sheetmetal inserts (with seams) that screwed to
the same tabs as the light assemblies did. I took them out, straightened
the area a bit and reset them in place with some Au-Vi-Co body sealer,
which it appeared was how they were originally done.
I would suspect this very smooth car has had a nice coat of body filler
laid over the whole area to make it nice and "tidy".
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Veteran
Posts: 234
Location: Chambersburg,PA | I sold it to a fella near Orlando named Joe in early 2013, not sure if he is the seller now?
When I saw the E-bay listing today I noticed the wrong back up lights and missing front bumper guards, I knew it was our old car :o)
The steering wheel had red showing through 4 sure, the seats had old dry & torn, clear but yellowed plastic covers, the front seat had a little split on the bottom, the rear seat was near perfect, the back up light lens were replaced sometime long ago, they had a hint of chrome left on them but not much, I had the orig' lens but one was broken and the chrome worn off both as well, it had been repaired/repainted at some point (Not too great of a job!) but it cleaned up well, there is heavy mud in the eyebrows (Look up above the headlight bezels) some in the lower fenders, quarters, doglegs etc, the trunk floor was there but had holes in it around the supports behind the rear panel (From back up light and trunk seal leaking I'd say, has the drain tubes installed in the lower corners of the trunk lip that is very solid) but not bad, the main floors were perfect, still had the factory single exhaust hanging there.
The car had a cheap side view mirror that was worn out, I was going to buy a proper Mopar mirror for each side and the chevrons but never got around to it.
The car is pretty decent, fairly orig but for body repair and repaint! As I said earlier, it runs/drives very well, didn't need much to get her back on the road, when I buy something I believe would run again, I am very careful about things like dry starting, sticking valves, sticking rings, old fuel lines etc. I always drain the old oil, fill the cylinders & intake runners (While rebuilding carb) w/ PB blaster then pop the valves to make sure they don't stick then I pickle the engine w/ATF till it comes out the oil fill!
I let sit a wk, spray more blaster in the cylinders and intake runners then turn it over by hand to get lube around everything, after a month of doing that over and over I drain the ATF, fill w/ the proper oil 10w30 with ZDDP (Zinc) new filter, spin it over w/starter w/plugs out, install plugs and viola- fire! The lifters in this car only ticked lightly for about 15 seconds after starting and only smoked a minute or so, she runs strong (It's begging for a nice dual exhaust system w/Smithy's mufflers) shifts great, stops well! I MISS IT!!!
PS the add states the "ALT" worked great LOL! It should, I had the generator checked at a local shop, BTW all of the parts I needed were from the NAPA store that I worked at, looked and looked for old USA stock till I found what I wanted through many other NAPA stores, I don't buy the yellow crap!
Edited by Desotorandy 2016-12-09 4:19 AM
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Expert
Posts: 2002
Location: Branson, MO | After reading the above, I'm glad I got my '59. I'd pass on this one now knowing the history. It looks good in the pictures though.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1155
Location: somerville mass | its up to 9300 now is it worth it? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 988
Location: Kansas City, Kansas | Doctor DeSoto - 2016-12-09 1:26 AM
As I remember them, my backup lightless 60 Fireflite was not smooth
like seen here, but had sheetmetal inserts (with seams) that screwed to
the same tabs as the light assemblies did. I took them out, straightened
the area a bit and reset them in place with some Au-Vi-Co body sealer,
which it appeared was how they were originally done.
I would suspect this very smooth car has had a nice coat of body filler
laid over the whole area to make it nice and "tidy".
imopar380 - Any chance you have a photo of another backup-light-free Fireflite that can help us here. I have always wondered this. I make sure to check this condition on every Fireflite I see (or see photos of). I have yet to see one without backup lights. |
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Location: Bjorneborg, Finland | I checked out '60 DeSoto pics in my hard disk which I had photographed and found 3 Adventurers without backup lights, but no Fireflite pics
from rear at all.. All cars located in Finland. Similar as imopar380 posted above, nothing in place of the housings, just sheet metal. One Finnish
Fireflite without backup lights is here and it has a Chrysler taillights. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7206
Location: Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island, Canada | spinout - 2016-12-09 11:43 AM
I checked out '60 DeSoto pics in my hard disk which I had photographed and found 3 Adventurers without backup lights, but no Fireflite pics
from rear at all.. All cars located in Finland. Similar as imopar380 posted above, nothing in place of the housings, just sheet metal. One Finnish
Fireflite without backup lights is here and it has a Chrysler taillights.
Yup, Chrysler tail lights and stick-on reflectors at the far ends of the panel. Euro regulations ? |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Somewhere on my computer is a photo of what appears to be the same
no-back-up-light set up as I had on my car. I gave a cursory search last
night, but could not find it. I will give it a harder look tonight.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1155
Location: somerville mass | up to 11.160 now wow |
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Location: Parts Unknown | I found a photo of my old car, but it is too far away to see any detail.
This other photo is one I pulled from this site showing another car
without backup lights. This one is hard to see any detail, but it does
show the proper rounded profile below the trunk lid that the car Ian
posted has had a bit of a crease added to.
Edited by Doctor DeSoto 2016-12-10 8:25 PM
 (58 Ply's and 60 Flite.jpg)
 (60 desoto no b-u1.jpg)
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58 Ply's and 60 Flite.jpg (48KB - 75 downloads)
60 desoto no b-u1.jpg (91KB - 70 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2002
Location: Branson, MO | Sold for a tad over $15K. |
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Veteran
Posts: 234
Location: Chambersburg,PA | $15K No kidding? I have been busy, wasn't able to keep up w/the bidding. WOW! |
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Location: North Australia | That's a good price for that old bus. I hope it went to a passionate caretaker.
Steve |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 988
Location: Kansas City, Kansas | Perhaps I just found a backup-light-free '60 Fireflite? Take a look:
http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/5964933555.html
 (60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-rear3.jpg)
 (60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-rear2.jpg)
 (60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-rear.jpg)
 (60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-dash.jpg)
 (60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston.jpg)
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60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-rear3.jpg (38KB - 71 downloads)
60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-rear2.jpg (33KB - 74 downloads)
60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-rear.jpg (36KB - 73 downloads)
60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston-dash.jpg (31KB - 72 downloads)
60Fireflite 2drHT-Black_no backup lights_houston.jpg (49KB - 61 downloads)
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Nice 60 Fireflite
