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58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card
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jpmopar
Posted 2018-03-20 8:53 PM (#560220)
Subject: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Extreme Veteran

Posts: 466
1001001001002525
Location: Southwest VA
FCA Historical Services sent a copy of my car's build card, but informed me that they couldn't decode it because they were too busy. Thought I'd go ahead and post it just to see how it compares to other build cards already submitted.



(58 FF Data Card 1.jpg)



(58 FF Data Plate 1.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments 58 FF Data Card 1.jpg (143KB - 409 downloads)
Attachments 58 FF Data Plate 1.jpg (153KB - 424 downloads)
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58DeSoDodge59
Posted 2018-03-21 12:03 PM (#560247 - in reply to #560220)
Subject: RE: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Elite Veteran

Posts: 1112
1000100
Location: Wild Wonderful
First of all, I love your car. Here is some information for you.
What I don't understand, is that, if this car was special ordered, why was it not shipped the same day as the build day?
And, Why did they put 00000 as the original dealers code?



(fireflitegroup.jpg)



(2doorequip.jpg)



(643.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments fireflitegroup.jpg (240KB - 425 downloads)
Attachments 2doorequip.jpg (239KB - 448 downloads)
Attachments 643.jpg (55KB - 421 downloads)
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jpmopar
Posted 2018-03-21 7:26 PM (#560269 - in reply to #560247)
Subject: RE: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Extreme Veteran

Posts: 466
1001001001002525
Location: Southwest VA
Thanks for the compliment and the Fireflite info. I was wondering the same thing about the 00000 dealer code and the long wait to ship it. According to FCA, the dealer code that was handwritten over the 00000 (36777) is for Leo Adler's dealership in Detroit. I was told by the second owner of this car that the original owner had purchased it near Roanoke, VA. So who knows? Also, I assume the 1094 under the SPL heading means it was special ordered. Does this mean that all cars that were special ordered by the customer will have a number stamped under the SPL? If so, what significance does the number 1094 have? Does that mean it's 1094th special ordered car from that assembly line for 1958?
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Chrycoman
Posted 2018-03-21 8:26 PM (#560271 - in reply to #560220)
Subject: Re: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Expert

Posts: 1819
1000500100100100
Location: Vancouver, BC
Interesting car. It has 999 for the paint code which means it is a special, non-production colour(s). The IBM card has "1094" for the Special Order Number. That SON wold give the details on the colour. If they still have the Special Order Number info.

Also, the order was not processed for a dealer. The Dealer Code on the IBM card ia "00000" with the region as "95". The car was scheduled to be built on the 23rd day of production at DeSoto's Wyoming Avenue assembly plant on the west side of Detroit. The Wyoming plant was the only source of 1957-58 Fireflite and Adventurer models.

1958 was also the last year DeSotos were assembled at Wyoming, with the 1959 Firedome, Fireflite and Adventurer production moved to Chrysler's East Jefferson plant. Your car was actually built on October 14, 1957, and sometime after that the car was assigned to dealer 36777 in region 70. It was shipped from the Wyoming plant to dealer 36777 on November 5, 1957. Both the dates, production and shipping, were manually stamped on the IBM card.

Now, for the card. The bottom row of the card has the column numbers. You can barely see them but column 01 is on the left side of the card and there are 80 columns. The column numbers form the first two digits of the sales code, dealer info, etc. while the hole(s) in the column give the third number. The top rows with the printouts give the important information in an easily read manner. Don't have to find the column and then determine what number the hole is punched on.

Getting to the column number, and what information they hold -
01
02 - Blank
-------------------------------------
03 - 0
04 - 2 - SCHEDule - 023 - Day of manufacture
05 - 3
-------------------------------------
06 - 1
07 - 7 - ITEM NO - 173- 173rd car scheduled on 023rd day
08 - 3
------------------------------------
09 - 9
10 - 5 - REGION - 95
------------------------------------
11 - 0
12 - 0
13 - 0 - DEALER CODE
14 - 0
15 - 0
--------------------------------------
16 - 1
17 - 0 - ORDER NUMBER
18 - 4
----------------------------------------
19 - 4 - Car Line - DeSoto
20 - 5 - Series - Fireflite ------- 452 - BODY TYPE
21 - 2 - Body Style - 2 door Hardtop
----------------------------------------
22 - blank - STYLING - Refers to paint scheme - monotone, two tone, special, etc.
-----------------------------------------
23 - 9
24 - 9 ----- PAINT (999 is Special Order - non-factory colour)
25 - 9
-----------------------------------------
26 - 6
27 - 4 ----- TRIM (Interior upholstery, seat style, and colour)
28 - 3
-----------------------------------------
29 - blank - TRANSMISSION - Fireflite had Torqueflite as standard equipment - no code needed
-----------------------------------------
30 - 1 - Power Steering
30 - 2 - Power Brakes ---------- POWER EQUIPMENT
-----------------------------------------
31 - 2 - ACCESSORY GROUP - #2 - Basic plus Radio Upgrade (with sales codes for items) :
--- 405 - Vanity Mirror
--- 401 - Mirror - Left Outside
--- 404 - Prismatic Mirror - Inside
--- 381 - License Plate Frame
--- 481 - Stone Deflectors
--- 345 - Heater with Defroster (Or Instant Heat)
--- 521 - Windshield Washer
--- 361 - Electric Clock
--- 431 - Padded Instrument Panel
--- --- - Dual Exhaust
--- 443 - Electro-Touch Tuner Radio
--- 333 - Dual Antenna
--- 327 - Rear Seat Speaker
--- --- - Triad Horn
-----------------------------------------
32 - Blank - CONVERTIBLE TOP
33 - Blank - ANTENNA
34 - Blank - AIR CONDITIONERS AND HEATERS
35 - Blank - MISCELLANEOUS
36 - Blank - CLOCK
37 - Blank - POWER PACK
38 - Blank - LICENSE PLATE
39 - Blank - LIGHTS
40 - Blank - MIRROR
41 - Blank - COLOUR SWEEP
42 - Blank - MOULDING
43 - Blank - PADDED INSTRUMENT PANEL
44 - Blank - RADIO
45 - Blank - TAXI - HEAVY DUTY
46 - Blank - SOLEX GLASS
47 - Blank - STEERING WHEEL
48 - Blank - STONE SHIELD
49 - Blank - SUN VISOR
-----------------------------------------
50 - 1 - Undercoating
-----------------------------------------
51 - Blank - WHEEL COVERS
52 - Blank - WINDSHIELD WASHER
-----------------------------------------
53 - 1 --- 5 tires, rayon ----- TIRES
54 - 5 --- Whitewall, 8.50x14"
-----------------------------------------
55 - 2 - AXLE - 3.15:1 Ratio
-----------------------------------------
56 - Blank - MISCELLANEOUS
57 - Blank - GENERATORS
58 - Blank - BATTERIES
59 - Blank - EXPORT
60 - Blank - KILO
61 - Blank - DRIVE
62 - Blank - ROUTE
63 - Blank -
-----------------------------------------
64 - 1
65 - 0 ---------------- SPECIAL ORDER NUMBER
66 - 9
67 - 4
------------------------------------------
68 - Blank
------------------------------------------
69 - shift+3 = L ---- Model Year - 1958
70 - shift+2 = S ---- Car Line - DeSoto
71 - 3 - Series / Engine - Fireflite
72 - 0
73 - 3 ---------------------------- SERIAL NUMBER - 2,017th LS3 built at Wyoming Ave. (First car off line is 1001)
74 - 0
75 - 1
76 - 7
------------------------------------------
77 - 6
78 - 0 ------ CAR PLANT (??)
79 - 2
------------------------------------------
80 - TRACERS - Tracking the car through production from beginning to end.
DeSoto bodies for the Wyoming Avenue plant were built at DeSoto's Body/Engine plant at 8505 West Warren Avenue, just NE of the Wyoming Ave complex, and trucked to the Wyoming plant. Thus the three entries for the body. The McGraw Avnue plant just east of the Wyoming plant supplied stampings and small parts for assembly.
80 - 1 - Schedule
80 - 2 - Bodies Framed
80 - 3 - Bodies Painted
80 - 4 - Bodies Shipped
80 - 5 - Car Building
------------------------------------------


Hope this makes sense.



Edited by Chrycoman 2018-03-21 8:44 PM
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jpmopar
Posted 2018-03-21 9:46 PM (#560273 - in reply to #560271)
Subject: Re: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Extreme Veteran

Posts: 466
1001001001002525
Location: Southwest VA
Thanks for the decoding! Other than the color of the "999" paint code, this is everything I was hoping for from FCA Historical. There's still a lot of the original paint on the car (so I can color match it) but it would be nice to know where the formula originated...

One question though, I wonder why the car is a special order unit and yet not built for a dealer? I thought special order cars were specified customer orders placed at dealerships. If someone at a dealership didn't special order it, who did? Also, why did it take so long to ship it after it was built? Weren't most special order cars shipped out relatively quickly? (Sorry, that's four questions... )
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Chrycoman
Posted 2018-03-21 9:50 PM (#560274 - in reply to #560220)
Subject: RE: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Expert

Posts: 1819
1000500100100100
Location: Vancouver, BC

For your body tag :

First row -

SCH - SCHEDULE _ 023
- 23rd day of production

SEQ -- SEQUENCE - 173
car was the 173rd to be built on day 023

BDY - BODY TYPE - 452
4 - DeSoto
5 - Fireflite
2 - 2 door Hardtop

ST - STYLING -
Monotone, two tone, etc.

PNT - PAINT - 999
999 - Special paint colour - non-factory colour

TR - TRIM - Interior Upholstery & Colours 643
Cloth & Vinyl


Second row :

AG - ACCESSORY GROUP - 2
405 - Vanity Mirror
401 - Mirror - Left Outside
404 - Prismatic Mirror - Inside
381 - License Plate Frame
481 - Stone Deflectors
345 - Heater with Defroster (Or Instant Heat)
521 - Windshield Washer
361 - Electric Clock
431 - Padded Instrument Panel
--- - Dual Exhaust
443 - Electro-Touch Tuner Radio
333 - Dual Antenna
327 - Rear Seat Speaker
--- - Triad Horn

GG - GLAMOUR GROUP - Mouldings, ornaments, etc.

PS - POWER SEAT

PB - BRAKES - 2
302 - Power Brakes

AH - AIR CONDITIONERS & HEATERS - (blank)
- Included in Accessory Group #2

RM - ROOF MOULDING

SS - STONE SHIELDS - (Blank)
- Included in Accessory Group #2

UC - UNDERCOATING - 1
501 - Undercoating


BOTTOM ROW -

SPL - SPECIAL ORDER - 1094
Special Order for paint colours.

CS - COLOUR SWEEP -

BG - BUMPER GUARDS -

A -

B -

C -


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58DeSoDodge59
Posted 2018-03-21 11:51 PM (#560281 - in reply to #560273)
Subject: Re: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Elite Veteran

Posts: 1112
1000100
Location: Wild Wonderful
jpmopar - 2018-03-21 9:46 PM

Thanks for the decoding! Other than the color of the "999" paint code, this is everything I was hoping for from FCA Historical. There's still a lot of the original paint on the car (so I can color match it) but it would be nice to know where the formula originated...

One question though, I wonder why the car is a special order unit and yet not built for a dealer? I thought special order cars were specified customer orders placed at dealerships. If someone at a dealership didn't special order it, who did? Also, why did it take so long to ship it after it was built? Weren't most special order cars shipped out relatively quickly? (Sorry, that's four questions... )



If you really want to see the correct shade of blue that this car was painted, remove the front fenders and look at the
fire wall under there. It was not exposed to the sun light, so it won't be faded, and, I'm pretty sure it was not painted over.

Because this car was built early in production, and because of the 00000, my guess is that the Factory special ordered this car for stock.

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bbrasse1
Posted 2018-03-23 5:51 PM (#560371 - in reply to #560220)
Subject: Re: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card


Extreme Veteran

Posts: 537
50025
Location: Upstate NY
Some really good info Chrycoman! Thanks I never knew exactly what all the codes and lines meant. Only the data tag stuff.
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oldwood
Posted 2019-04-24 11:30 PM (#581326 - in reply to #560220)
Subject: Re: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card


Expert

Posts: 2905
2000500100100100100
Location: little rock, AR
How did you find the car originally??? I was chasing a '68 Chevelle SS396 for 15 yrs. This girl was 18 when she bought it. 4 speed, bench seat, hub cap car. Her friend girl hated seeing me come by. I didn't go by last year from being hurt. She died and the friend girl was not left the car. It went to another friend girl. When I was able to find the car the girl had spent 20k. A mechanic cleaned her clock. Enough about a Chebby. Hope you get it up and running and stopping and enjoy people starring at it.
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jpmopar
Posted 2019-04-25 12:50 PM (#581343 - in reply to #560220)
Subject: Re: 58 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman Build Card



Extreme Veteran

Posts: 466
1001001001002525
Location: Southwest VA
"How did you find the car originally???"

I had met the owner about twenty years ago when he was looking for parts for his '72 Chrysler. After telling him I was a fellow Mopar guy, he let me know about his '58 Fireflite and his '60 Chrysler. He sold the '60 Chrysler a few years back to a relative, but held on to the '58 DeSoto. He felt more at ease selling it to me because he knows I'm not just trying to flip it and make a profit and he also likes the fact that when I restore a car, I try to make it as original as possible. I can't wait to get started on it this Summer...

Jim
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