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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
 
Location: So. Cal | Another stray followed me home yesterday. It was local and too cheap to pass up. He advertised it as a Fireflite, and still thinks that it is, though it was obvious when I got there, that it's actually a Firedome. I think it's the Seville option, though I don't know what that means. The car has lived it's whole life in the North part of Los Angeles, and was built in Los Angeles too. The body is really clean except a little rust in the right side rocker and a couple of small dents in the hood & trunk lid. I believe it was originally Pearl Gray with Crimson Red roof & sweep, but I haven't decoded the body tag yet. The interior is that gunmetal gray with a white dash.
I'm thinking of painting it Pompano Peach (that's the Plymouth name, but it's called Emberglow by DeSoto) from 1955 with a charcoal roof & sweep. Lavendar poly with charcoal accents might be nice too, and keep it with '56 colors, but I really like the peach. I'm also going to try to make it look more like a Fireflite if I can find the parts. It's missing the bumpers and I have '56 New Yorker bumper parts so I might convert the back end to use the much better looking Chrysler tail lights & bumper. But I haven't decided for sure yet. The '56 Desoto rear looks nice too. I have the missing glass, but the windshield is broken, so I need to get a replacement for it. The drivetrain is missing, so I'll probably drop in a 392 temporarily, but I am thinking that a 354 marine engine would sit nice in there and look more like a DeSoto engine with it's wet intake. But I don't like the weight of the cast iron timing cover & intake, so I may do something else. If anyone has '56 Chrysler engine mounts, DeSoto trim or '56 Fireflite/NY headlight bezels for sale, please hit me up with a price.
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 56Firedome LFs.jpg (122KB - 325 downloads)
56 Firedome Home.jpg (239KB - 329 downloads)
56 Firedome Body Tag.jpg (203KB - 334 downloads)
56 Firedome Body Tag2.jpg (128KB - 326 downloads)
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 745
 
Location: Finland | It is good to see another stray get a new home and some attention.. |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Nathan: Not sure if congrats or an intervention is in order.  (You got a problem - not that there is anything wrong with that). Love me anything 56 Mopar. 
I can't help you too much with the LA cowl data tag but I did find the paint code info:
416 = Crimson (sic) Red upper and Iridescent Gray Metallic Lower
Edited by 56D500boy 2024-03-26 5:49 PM
 (56DesotoPaintCodesDupont_4.jpg)
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56DesotoPaintCodesDupont_4.jpg (209KB - 358 downloads)
56DesotoPaintCodesDupont_1.jpg (253KB - 355 downloads)
56DesotoPaintCodesDupont_2.jpg (222KB - 358 downloads)
56DesotoPaintCodesDupont_3.jpg (259KB - 341 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Nathan: I have Canadian Colour and Trim Book for 56 Dodges and Desotos that I bought off eBay. I can't quite match your ideas perfectly but these are close(ish):
REFERENCE: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=68046&...
 (Nathans56Desoto_ColourOption_OE.jpg)
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Nathans56Desoto_ColourOption_OE.jpg (75KB - 342 downloads)
Nathans56Desoto_ColourOption_1.jpg (67KB - 349 downloads)
Nathans56Desoto_ColourOption_2.jpg (63KB - 330 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
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SG – 4 – Accessory Group No. 4 – see attachment below
M3 – 1 – ?
M5 – 2 – ?
M6 – 2 – Sweep Moulding and Colour Insert
M8 – 4 – ?
M9 – 8 – Delivery Route
 (Data Plate.jpg)
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Data Plate.jpg (128KB - 328 downloads)
Accessory Groups.jpg (64KB - 335 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks Dave & Ralf. Yeah, that pink/gray is a great looking combo. Much better than the red/gray that it came with and peach/gray is even better. The reason why this color topic is important for me is because the body on this car needs very little. So I plan to paint it before doing much else to it. Unfortunately, I found quite a bit of bondo on that small dent in the hood, and it ends up being a rather large dent. To fix it, I need to separate the spot welds to get to the complete underside, or I may try to just replace the hood. The dent in the trunk lid is smaller than I thought and should be easy with decent access to the backside. I also found about 1/2" of rust at the bottom of the left rear quarter that's filled with bondo, but everything else is very solid, including the entire floor & trunk pan. After fixing those minor areas, this thing is getting painted in my garage & on my driveway. Doin' it right! 
I don't want to install the newly rebuilt 392 into my parade green New Yorker because the car is far from being drive-able. But I don't want to let it sit indefinitely in my garage either, so hopefully this car is a good place to put it in the mean time. And I have 2 newly rebuilt push button 727's that I can use for the trans. They just need new cables for them - all three expensive cables.  The interior is also in surprisingly decent condition, considering. It should be usable as-is after a lot of cleaning, though the door panels & stainless trim are MIA. I didn't realize that the dash was padded. It's in decent shape too. The dash was originally white. The blue one was swapped in for better gauges, but I still have the original one in the trunk. Odd that the underside of the dash was painted red. I'm missing whatever panels go at the bottom of the dash.
Edited by Powerflite 2024-03-26 3:14 PM
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56 Firedome Dash.jpg (123KB - 320 downloads)
56 Firedome Seats.jpg (85KB - 320 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks for the info Igor. I didn't think this car had an outside mirror. But I looked again and found 2 holes that were filled with bondo. So it did, after-all. It does have solex glass as well, but I am unable to determine the rest of the options in its current state. |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
S23 from the tag is obviously Firedome.
Here is some brochure images, including one with your car's original 416 paint scheme and another with reference to "Seville" which looks like a lower trim level, e.g. less C pillar stainless. (??)
Edited by 56D500boy 2024-03-26 9:21 PM
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56DesotoBrochurePage_1.jpg (82KB - 324 downloads)
56DesotoBrochurePage_2.jpg (106KB - 313 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
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Nathan, tell me please: It looks like the right side drip rail moulding still on the car, and the left is missing. Am I right?
Does the car have an outer sun cap visor (windshield upper moulding)?
Thanks.
Also, according to the trim code 565, the car had originally all-vinyl upholstery - white bolsters and gray inserts... |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | No Igor, it has both drip rail moldings still on the car. The picture of the left side is just hard to see it. The car also came with 2 extra drip rail moldings, though they would need some work before you could use them. The car does have the wide upper windsheild molding. I placed it on the car so you can see it. Unfortunately, I am missing the A-pillar moldings for it though, so I have to round those up, hopefully from BigM. That's weird, about the upholstery. It currently has all-vinyl in it, in a style that looks original. So maybe it's the original upholstery in there? But it's in great shape for being that old, if it is.
I have all the DESOTO letters for front and back, all except for one "O"; but I have an extra "T". I found my 3 speed Loadflite shifter that I will use in the car. I'll probably just use the Dodge bezel in it until I can fabricate one in the DeSoto style. If it doesn't work great, I may just keep the Dodge version in there.
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56 Firedome Frontend Parts.jpg (210KB - 317 downloads)
Loadflite Push Button Shifter.jpg (113KB - 337 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
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Factory Crimson over Iridescent Gray paint with BLUE upholstery, as on the pictures?
Hmmm…
I don’t think so. White / Gray upholstery would be most correct…
Could you show an “EXTRA” drip rail mouldings photos?
Thanks.
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Expert
Posts: 2266
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Unfortunately I have not factory pictures of upholstery code 565;
Digging in my docs, I found a fragment of 1956 upholstery codes book;
The Trim Code 565 definitely GRAY…
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1.jpg (68KB - 317 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | frwl - 2024-03-27 11:41 AM
Factory Crimson over Iridescent Gray paint with BLUE upholstery, as on the pictures?
Hmmm…
I don’t think so. White / Gray upholstery would be most correct…
Igor: I am guessing that when Nathan cleans up his Desoto seats, they will show up as grey and white. Remember that they might be 68 years old.
Everything can fade over 68 years.
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | The fabric on the seats are gray, not blue. The camera just gives it a blue tint for some reason. Just like the car itself looks blue-ish, when in reality it isn't at all (first picture isn't from my camera). Everything is gray. The colors also perfectly match the rear door panel. I'm not sure if the pleats are sewn or molded like they are on the '58 DeSoto. You have to look at it very closely to figure it out. If they are sewn, that would likely mean that it has been replaced, but I don't know what is correct for a '56 DeSoto. |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I was very happy to find the '55-'56 Chrysler engine mounts in my stash of hemi parts. I didn't think I would ever use these, but kept them around in case I wanted them for some custom mount application. I'm glad I kept them. Does anyone know what the difference is between '55 and '56 mounts? I have no idea which one I have here. There is also a difference between left and right in the part numbers, but I don't really see a difference between these two mounts. One mount had the studs cut off so I welded blobs to them and extracted them to replace.
The trunk latch had one lobe of the star wheel broken off and wasn't screwed down tight, making it useless to try to latch it. But I lubed it up and was able to rotate the broken lobe upward. The screws were jammed or rusted stuck, but was missing the upper screw. So I installed anther screw to tighten it enough that it now works OK and latches. I'll work on it more when it's on my driveway with access to a torch to remove those screws without stripping or breaking them.
 (56 Firedome Engine Mounts.jpg)
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56 Firedome Engine Mounts.jpg (164KB - 305 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Nathan: I don't know the difference between the motor mounts (aka "Insulators") but you could use the two or three PNs below (1611011 and 1630685 and maybe 1630684) to search the internet.
If the 55/56 Desoto/Chrysler motor mounts are like the 56 Dodge/Plymouth V8 mounts, the PN will be stamped on the mount in at least one or two places. That might help you confirm what you have (or not)
Edited by 56D500boy 2024-03-30 11:31 AM
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55-56V8MotorMountPNs_1637610DodgePlymouth.jpg (193KB - 332 downloads)
56DodgePlymouthMotorMounts1637610.jpg (137KB - 345 downloads)
1637610MotorMount_2ndPNStampingLocation.jpg (172KB - 323 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks Dave. I found this thread about '56 Chrysler mounts from R. Main, that shows the same mounts; and they seem to be the same, left vs. right, just like mine. So that makes me feel confident about them. There are no numbers stamped into the mounts, but I did find numbers on the rubber insulator, just like on his. The number is 1630384 and corresponds to '56 Chrysler. Perfect, just what I need. Just makes me wonder why Chrysler used two different part numbers 1630380, 1630381 for the full mounts on left vs. right, when they look pretty much identical.
http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=34712
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| Powerflite - 2024-03-27 1:50 PM
No Igor, it has both drip rail moldings still on the car. The car also came with 2 extra drip rail moldings, though they would need some work before you could use them.
Can I see an "EXTRA" drip rail mouldings, please? |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Here they are. I found that if you cut a bit from the front edge and bend it slightly at the rear, they could be used on '57-'59 2dr cars, which makes them potentially more useful to me.
 (56 DCI Coupe Drip Rail Moldings.jpg)
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56 DCI Coupe Drip Rail Moldings.jpg (154KB - 333 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I'm in the process of building Firedome wire covers for my 392 Chrysler engine. First, I sourced a set of plain Chrysler truck valve covers and I am cleaning them up. I haven't yet decided if I am going to paint them dual quad gold or single 4bbl silver. Next, I have to extend the Firedome wire covers 1" total length to make them fit well on the longer Chrysler valve covers. At first I was going to just insert a 1/2" section at each end so I only had to cut up one Chrysler cover, but I quickly found out that the extension part at the rear of the Firedome covers isn't long enough to allow the wires to exit properly with the Chrysler valve cover underneath it. I assume that DeSoto put the mounts closer to the edge of the cover to make it work out. I don't want to move the cover mounts so that means that I have to weld the entire Chrysler end to the DeSoto wire cover and I have to destroy one Chrysler cover for each DeSoto cover I want to make. There are other possible solutions, but I figure this one is probably the easiest.
Most people don't realize that there is a left and right version of the DeSoto wire cover due to the direction of writing on it. I checked through my stash, and I have 5 rights and 2 lefts (all Firedome, no Fireflite). So I am cutting up 2 rights since it doesn't matter in this case, as long as I weld it with the proper orientation. I guess two wrongs don't make a right, but two rights can make a proper pair with welding skills.
 (Chrysler Firedome Cover Differences.jpg)
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Chrysler Firedome Cover Differences.jpg (138KB - 330 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| Powerflite - 2024-04-01 7:38 PM
Here they are. I found that if you cut a bit from the front edge and bend it slightly at the rear, they could be used on '57-'59 2dr cars, which makes them potentially more useful to me.
Thanks for the picture, Nathan!
One more question, please:
Are these drip rail moldings installed on the car ALONG with EXTRA drip rail moldings?
Or the EXTRA moldings just went with the car in addition?
Thanks.
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Yes, these are extra moldings from a different car, in addition to what is already on this car. This car also came with extra rear window trim from another car.
This is my welding jig for the right side wire cover. I decided that I don't have to waste the rest of the chrysler cover. I'm going to convert the remainders into a Dodge hemi wire cover, which are harder to find. So I should be able to use all the pieces that I cut apart.
 (Chrysler Firedome Cover Jig.jpg)
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Chrysler Firedome Cover Jig.jpg (91KB - 366 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 3976
Location: DFW, TX | Awesome that you're going to put Desoto wirecovers and plain valve covers on a Chrysler engine! Very cool.
"Seville" as I understand it was primarily an upgrade interior package only available on Firedomes. Two things I have noticed about Seville examples I have seen over the years: they all have two-tone paint, and they are all hardtops (sport coupes/sedans). |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks, I was wondering why some have Sportsman and some Seville.
The wire cover came out pretty well. All the effort goes in the cleanup process. I had to get out a small grind stone on a dremel to get some of the inner ledge done. I've decided that an all silver engine with red letters is too boring. At least the Chrysler painted the wire covers black to break up the monotony. So I am going to paint these wire covers black with red letters, and the valve covers gold, just like the Adventurer engine. That means I'm on the lookout for a batwing air cleaner without the ribs, like the Adventurer used. I believe the DeSoto used the same carb spacing as the Packard and Chevy, but the Chrysler uses the Cadillac carb spacing. So a Cadillac air cleaner should work perfectly with its rib-less top.
I was thinking I got really lucky with these truck valve covers as they didn't seem to need any body work on them. Most of the truck covers I get are heavily abused. But as I was cleaning them up, I noticed one had 2 areas that had been rubbed by something pretty hard and wore away most of the metal, leaving it really thin in those two spots. So I had to weld them up and rework it back to the proper thickness there.
Edit: I just found out that the '55-'56 Chrysler batwing air cleaner was indeed on a 9" carb spacing, along with the Cadillac & Packard, but that the '57-'58 Chrysler dual quad is on 7.5" centers, just like on the Chevy & DeSoto. I don't have a '55-'56 Chrysler dual quad intake, so it looks like I'm going to purchase a Chevy batwing instead. The originals were likely the most rare of all, but they have been reproduced for a while, so that makes it a lot easier.
Edited by Powerflite 2024-04-05 4:54 PM
 (Chrysler Firedome Cover Primed.jpg)
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Chrysler Firedome Cover Primed.jpg (152KB - 316 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Nathan: Great job on the "392" extended Desoto wire covers. When you shorten the actual Chrysler 392 covers for the baby (Dodge) hemis, remember that
the 56 315 and the 57 325 wire covers had cut-outs for the lifter adjustment bumps. And there were left and right covers as a result.
REFERENCE: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=79122&...
Edited by 56D500boy 2024-04-05 4:25 PM
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks for the diagram Dave. Are those cutouts round or are they "roof-top" shaped? Unfortunately, I only have one valve cover with the bumps in it, and it was quite mangled; but I was able to weld and straighten it out quite well. All the rest of my covers are flat, so I would need another one to go with it.
 (Mangled Dodge Hemi Valve Cover.jpg)
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Mangled Dodge Hemi Valve Cover.jpg (221KB - 319 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | This is the color scheme & look I am considering for this car.
 (1956_DeSoto_Firedome_2_door_Hardtop2.jpg)
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1956_DeSoto_Firedome_2_door_Hardtop2.jpg (170KB - 326 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I attempted to make a Dodge wire cover, but ultimately failed because quality control for the early "Red Ram" valve covers is quite poor. This wire cover that I tacked in place, won't work well on any other valve cover. I tried my untouched wire covers on four different valve covers (all Red Ram embossed) and they were all a little different. One valve cover had the lug mount bent over quite a bit, so I straightened it, only to find that it's necessary to bend it in order to get the wire cover on because of where they welded the lug to the valve cover! Also, putting the wire covers on the left side of the car gives you good room for your wires to exit, but putting them on the right side gives you very little room. Very unimpressive to say the least! 
So I give up on these and will just leave them tacked in place, so I don't lose the parts, until I actually need to use one; and make it custom fit that particular valve cover. I'll make both of these hacked up covers fit well on the passenger side of the car by either moving the hole or adding material after it, so I won't crimp my spark plug wires. I'm also going to have to remove a couple of the lugs on the covers and weld them in different positions to make them work. I hope the later valve covers are better designed & made than these are.
 (Dodge Wire Cover Tacked.jpg)
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Dodge Wire Cover Tacked.jpg (178KB - 360 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | My new batwing air cleaner came in the mail today and actually fits on the engine well. It's beginning to look more like 1956. This was made as a reproduction for a rare '57 Chevy air cleaner, but is an exact replica of the '56 DeSoto air cleaner because they share the same carb spacing, and neither of them have ribs in the top of it. The '56 Chrysler air cleaner used a larger carb spacing with ribs on the top of it, but it turns out that the '57 dual quad has the smaller carb spacing like the DeSoto. I purchased one that can swivel the right side element on an offset to avoid hitting the heater, as it looks like that's what DeSoto used.
They were supposed to have included a "V" emblem with it, but didn't include it. Fortunately, they didn't drill holes in the top for it. I would rather not run oil as an air filter, but I don't know what can be done with these without cutting them apart. Does anyone know of a paper filter alternative for them?
 (56 Firedome 392 Batwing Air Cleaner.jpg)
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56 Firedome 392 Batwing Air Cleaner.jpg (222KB - 324 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I met a couple guys at Spring Fling who brought '56 DeSoto parts to sell to me. I picked up a front bumper, park lights, one painted headlight bezel, upper grill bezel, and the lower dash parts I was missing. He promised me that he would sell me the second painted headlight bezel and the trim rings for them. Hopefully he follows through on it. That front bumper fits really tight in there. It's like a jigsaw puzzle the way it all fits together. I also found the fender ornaments for it on Ebay. I still haven't' decided if I'm going to go with a Chrysler rear bumper & tail lights or not.
 (56 Firedome Bumper Park Lights Trim Added.jpg)
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56 Firedome Bumper Park Lights Trim Added.jpg (253KB - 320 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Nathan: I too am a fan of the 56 Chrysler taillights. That said, the 56 Desoto taillights are not terrible. And you could make both top and bottom red taillights function as running, stop and signal, or add that to the middle "reverse" location and provide an alternative reverse light, e.g. license plate surround.
As for the headlight "doors", I think the painted ones for the FireFlites are better than the chrome FireDome ones. Provided your seller comes through with the fragile chromed pot metal headlight
door trim. In the past, I have hunted for good trims for my 56 Dodge Custom Royal headllight doors. Hard to find good ones *OR* pay for rechroming less than good ones.
Just an opinion (or two)
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56ChryslerTaillights.jpg (51KB - 331 downloads)
56DesotoHeadlightsAndTaillights.jpg (103KB - 321 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I think it's the rear bumper ends on the DeSoto that I really don't care for. I'm also considering trying to adapt a '55 Desoto rear bumper on there. We'll see how it goes.
I just realized that I have to swap the oil pan to a rear sump in order to use the 392 engine in this car. That stinks, I didn't want to have to open it up again. That may incentivize me to just build a 354 for this car instead. |
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Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: So. Cal | I purchased this rear fan control knob, which I believe is for the rear defroster. According to the part number 1648981, it is used on Plymouth, Dodge, & DeSoto for 1955-1956. But I can't figure out where it would be mounted on the dash. Does anyone have a picture of where it would mount on any of these cars?
 (1648981 Rear Fan Switch Knob.jpg)
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1648981 Rear Fan Switch Knob.jpg (41KB - 284 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I found this picture of a '55 DeSoto dash with A/C. That knob has BLOWER on it, so this rear fan knob wasn't used for the rear A/C system. But maybe it was located in the same place as the A/C switch? It seems that you wouldn't have a rear A/C setup with a rear window defroster at the same time, so that might be a possibility.
 (55 DeSoto Dash w-AC.jpg)
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55 DeSoto Dash w-AC.jpg (133KB - 311 downloads)
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Veteran
Posts: 158
Location: Wyoming | In case you are interested in seeing a 56 DeSoto that sounds like it was pretty similar to yours for paint, I thought I’d post mine. I really like the color combination.
I apologize that the pictures are not viewable. Hoping someone can help. The posting process is not intuitive to me and I’ve not taken the time to investigate further.
Edited by wheelcover 2024-09-15 7:02 PM
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IMG_0605.jpeg (110KB - 300 downloads)
IMG_7180.jpeg (97KB - 299 downloads)
IMG_0606.jpeg (94KB - 297 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks for the pictures! You have them saved as .jpeg. You can access them in that format, but it won't show them. I put them here with a .jpg extension instead. Mine had the same red color on the body, but with silver on the sweep & roof.
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IMG_0605.jpg (79KB - 294 downloads)
IMG_0606.jpg (68KB - 295 downloads)
IMG_7180.jpg (52KB - 301 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I received the new Fireflite headlight bezels that I purchased. I wouldn't really consider owning a '56 Chrysler, DeSoto or Dodge without these bezels. So much better looking than the chrome versions.
I was also able to get a radio in really nice condition. Unfortunately, it's from 1955 with a black background and runs on 6volts. I wasn't planning on running it anyway, but I'll have to take it apart and paint the background off-white & the numbers black to match the rest of the dash.
 (56 Fireflite Headlight Bezels.jpg)
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56 Fireflite Headlight Bezels.jpg (167KB - 285 downloads)
55 DeSoto Radio.jpg (102KB - 274 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I purchased a reproduction plastic hood emblem for the car. I was told this was purchased from Emblemagic by the DeSoto club. They bought in bulk to get a better deal. It looks really nice. Does anyone know how it is mounted to the bezel from the inside? There doesn't seem to be anything there to hold it in place. Or is there supposed to be just some foam pads that push on it from the hood? If so, it seems like it would be very difficult to keep everything in place as you install it.
 (56 Firedome New Hood Emblem.jpg)
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56 Firedome New Hood Emblem.jpg (151KB - 282 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I purchased a rear bumper from a '56 Imperial from John at BigM. My plan is to put '56 New Yorker tail lights & bumper on this car as I like the look much better than the DeSoto. Since I don't have a DeSoto bumper, why not? I just got around to removing all the parts from the bumper and straightening it. It had 2 large, deep dents in it that required a press to remove. My press is in a location that would make maneuvering a large bumper around it impossible. So I used my vice with a large 1/2" thick backing plate instead. This is a really nice vice from the 40's, made by the early Starrett company in Massachusetts. I had to apply a considerable amount of force to get it to work. I used a long bar on the handle to make it easier. Don't try that on a Crapsman or other Chinese vice! Afterward, I placed the bumper on a flat surface and hammered it to get the final shape.
The Imperial parts aren't what I need so I mounted '56 New Yorker ends onto it instead. Unfortunately, the bumper bracket was about 2 1/2" too short to mount it! What the? I looked it up and found that 4 dr bumper brackets are different from 2dr bumper brackets! Why, oh why would Chrysler do that? Oh well, the hunt begins. I'm hoping that I don't have to modify the tail light section to get the Chrysler tail lights to mount up. The '56 DeSoto tail light bezels mount on both sides of it, whereas the Chrysler tail light mounts in the middle. It looks like I just need to drill 3 holes in the center to mount it, and make a large access hole for the reverse light. The tail light itself lines up with the DeSoto upper light quite well.
I also purchased the V8 & roof emblems for the car and mounted them just for fun. I also mounted the one quarter panel trim that I have just to get it out of the trunk and prevent it from getting bent. I need the other side, as well as the lower quarter trim on both sides.
Edited by Powerflite 2024-10-27 12:48 PM
 (Straightening 56 Imperial Rear Bumper.jpg)
 (56 Firedome Rear Bumper - Wrong Brackets 2.jpg)
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Straightening 56 Imperial Rear Bumper.jpg (214KB - 266 downloads)
56 Firedome Rear Bumper - Wrong Brackets 2.jpg (170KB - 295 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | A big thank you to Dave for selling me his AAJ disc brake conversion for this car. Brakes (and steering, if needed) are the first thing I work on when I start a project, so it's good to have it squared away when I am ready to get going on it.
 (56 Chrysler AAJ Front Disc Conversion.jpg)
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56 Chrysler AAJ Front Disc Conversion.jpg (155KB - 230 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Good to know that the kit finally arrived. I've been tracking the parcel since last week. For a moment, I thought that it would have been delivered Saturday or Monday
but it seemed to get hung up in BELL GARDENS and/or the CITY OF INDUSTRY CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER for longer than I would have imagined.
At one point, I sent you a copy of my Rock Auto receipt for the 77 Cordoba 11.75" rotors, bearings and seals. Let me know if you need me to send that again.
Good luck on the install. If you happen to take photos, I would appreciate one that shows where the spacers get involved.
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks, I received your email about the rotors & seals. I'll take photos when I get to it, and post them up on this thread. |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Benny Buckner has a '56 DeSoto with dual rear antennae on it. I'm not sure if it's an Adventurer or a Fireflite, but he measured the position from the end of the fin for me. The antenna is located 9 3/4" from the end of the fin body, not including the tail light bezel. My new bezels should be here in a week or so, and when they arrive, I will put a set of them on this car - and many others too. The shape of the '56 DeSoto/Chrysler fin is very similar to the '57 up fin and they mount the antennae at the same angle as the newer cars. For that reason, the bezels are interchangeable. The only difference between the original '56 DeSoto bezel is that it was a little bigger around at the base end, but not enough to make a noticeable difference.
It's interesting that none of the '56 Chryslers came with these dual rear antennae. At least, that's what the parts book says. It was exclusive to the DeSoto for some reason.
 (56 DeSoto Dual Rear Antenna Position.jpg)
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56 DeSoto Dual Rear Antenna Position.jpg (158KB - 184 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I purchased a new hood for this car from Ryan in San Diego to replace the heavily dented one that was on it. It was repairable, but you would have to remove the inner structure first to get to the back side, and then spend many hours on it. This one was from a '56 Imperial and just needs repair to an enlarged hole at the peak of it, which isn't covered by the inner structure. Ryan helped me mount it on there, but I didn't spend any time to align it properly. I need to find my spare hood catch so I can latch it on now. Other than this, the only body work this car requires is an easy to fix, small dent in the trunk lid and a small amount of rust in the lower rear quarter on one side. Not much before it can be painted for real.
 (56 Firedome Replacement Hood.jpg)
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56 Firedome Replacement Hood.jpg (241KB - 84 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I pulled the rear axle from this car to swap in an 8 3/4 from a '67 C-body. Why, you may ask? It's not because it has bad brakes, because it doesn't. The 11" brakes likely work fine. It's not because it isn't strong enough, because that's not true either. It's not because it's too much of a pain to remove the hubs, because if you use the right tool, it's never hard to do. It's not because it uses a non-existent u-joint because I can just swap out the yolk. It's because I like to run good highway gears like 2.76 or 2.93 and I am unable to get those for these '55-'56 rears. So I swap them all out so I can get the gearing I want. All the other "benefits" are just a bonus. But I don't swap out '57-up rears because there's no reason to do so. I can just shorten the axles by 1/8" on those to run the newer gear sets in them. Either that or find an older spec 2.93 gear set and run that in them.
The original rear is an 8 3/4 size, but not the same as the '57-up version. It uses 11 nuts to hold the 3rd member in place, instead of 10 like the later ones. It measures 60.625" from drum to drum and 46" perch to perch. '57-up rears have a 45.5" perch to perch measurement. Not sure why they changed it slightly like that. But the drum to drum measurement is exactly the same as '57-'61. The C-body rear is 1 1/8" wider than this, so I *might* need to add 1/2" of backspacing if I want to use really wide wheels in the future.
I was surprised to find that this axle had vibration dampeners installed on the leaf spring. Should I put them back in? I am thinking not to. I think I would prefer to have a more solid attachment to the spring. But I don't have experience using these things on there to know what the difference would be.
 (56Firedome Original Rear End.jpg)
 (56Firedome Spring Pads.jpg)
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56Firedome Original Rear End.jpg (239KB - 69 downloads)
56Firedome Spring Pads.jpg (236KB - 79 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| frwl - 2024-03-26 2:26 PM
SG – 4 – Accessory Group No. 4 – see attachment below
M3 – 1 – ?
M5 – 2 – ?
M6 – 2 – Sweep Moulding and Colour Insert
M8 – 4 – ?
M9 – 8 – Delivery Route
SG – 4 – Accessory Group No. 4 – see attachment below
M3 – 1 – Sun Cap Visor (Windshield Upper Moulding) and Drip Rail Mouldings
M5 – 2 – ?
M6 – 2 – Sweep Moulding and Colour Insert
M8 – 4 – ?
M9 – 8 – Delivery Route
Does your car have a Windshield Washer? While a Rear Air Foam Seat Cushion?
 (Data Plate.jpg)
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Data Plate.jpg (128KB - 68 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| .
The foam rubber in the seats was standard on Fireflites and optional on Firedomes…
The sun cap visor was standard on both Firedome and Fireflite Sportsmans and optional on Firedome Sevilles, Wagons and both FD and FF Sedans…
The windshield washer was optional for all…
Here the ’56 DeSoto body codes (yours has code 22):
FIREDOME:
25 – 4-Door Sedan
22 – Seville 2-Door Hardtop
24 – Seville 4-Door Hardtop
26 – Sportsman 2-Door Hardtop
21 – Sportsman 4-Door Hardtop
23 – Convertible
20 – 4-Door Station Wagon, 6P
FIREFLITE:
35 – 4-Door Sedan
36 – Sportsman 2-Door Hardtop
31 – Sportsman 4-Door Hardtop
33 – Convertible
43 – Pacesetter Convertible
ADVENTURER:
40 – Sportsman 2-Door Hardtop
 (airfoam.jpg)
 (sun cap visor.jpg)
 (windshield washer.jpg)
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airfoam.jpg (19KB - 53 downloads)
sun cap visor.jpg (40KB - 73 downloads)
windshield washer.jpg (41KB - 74 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| .
 (1.JPG)
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1.JPG (58KB - 79 downloads)
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Veteran
Posts: 156
Location: Simi Valley, CA | Hi Nathan,
Its Ernie Baily. Are you planning going to the Fall Fling Oct 18th? If so please look for me I'm entering my Red 48 Plymouth. I would like to talk to you about my issue with the neutral safety switch on my 55 Dodge. Hope to see you there! |
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Expert
Posts: 4196
Location: Connecticut | Chrysler had a 3.36 gearset available in '55-6. Wouldn't it be easier to swap that in, rather than going through all the mods necessary to install a later rear end ? Is there really that much difference between that and 2.93 ?
Ron |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Sure Ernie, I'll be there and I'll talk to you then.
Ron, yes there is a big difference, especially depending on where you live. Where I live it's almost entirely freeway driving with very little surface streets. Not only that, but my go to ratio is 2.76, and there's quite a difference between how they drive on the freeway at 70mph or even greater.
Igor, yes it did have the windshield washer. I'm not sure about the rear seat cushion, but I can check when I get back home. |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | One of the main things I don't like about the rear of a '56 Desoto is the drooping tail lights. They do help to straighten them out because of the sloping curve of the rear panel, but it still looks like it droops to me. Even with them obviously pointing up too high, it somehow looks better to me. But I am likely going to convert to using Chrysler tail lights instead, as their design is really beautiful. It'll be a bas***d combination, but might look good that way.
I picked up a rear license plate for this car from BigM while I was up there the last weekend. I also got a transmission crossmember for my '60 Dodge, but failed to get one for this car. I don't know why I didn't think about it, but now I am on the lookout for a crossmember for this one.
Edited by Powerflite 2025-10-10 11:49 AM
 (56Firedome Tail Light Droop.jpg)
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56Firedome Tail Light Droop.jpg (143KB - 70 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Nathan: I too prefer the 56 Chrysler taillights over the 56 Desoto tailights.
I am not sure why your 56 Desoto taillights do NOT protrude from/sit on top of the trim plate as the designers intended.
https://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/desoto/56dde/bilder/2.jpg
 (56DesotoTailightsFrom56DesotoBrochure.jpg)
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56DesotoTailightsFrom56DesotoBrochure.jpg (96KB - 65 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| Powerflite - 2025-10-03 5:25 PM
Igor, yes it did have the windshield washer. I'm not sure about the rear seat cushion, but I can check when I get back home.
Could you check the rear seats?
Front will be appreciated too...
Thanks
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| .
My interest is directly for M5 = 2:
I have some info about it, which needs to confirmation:
2 – Windshield Washer
2 – Air Foam
Dave’s 1956 Dodge D500 has M5 = 2 too;
It has optional W/Washer for $10.80, but airfoam was optional too on all Dodges for $9.45
These cars were built at LA plant, so, I can guess M5 slot was general to those
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Igor, well this car does have the windshield washer, but doesn't have foam seats. No foam seat in the front or back. Both are standard type of materials, which is a good thing because it means that they still work well. Other than the top of the rear seat which is blown out because of the sun exposure, all the interior materials are in surprisingly good shape. Unfortunately, I don't have the door panels though.
The rear bumper on this car has me really confused. I looked in the parts list and find that all the '56 DeSoto/Chrysler/Imperial bumpers use the same blade 1634075 (except for the Crown Imperial, which is based on the '55 body). But this blade seems to interfere with the triangular mount thingy that is welded to the body. It sort-of works with it there, but it needs to push right up against it to fit properly. I guess that's how it's supposed to work? Also, the cutouts for the inside of the taillight area are square and don't look to be large enough. It seems that you would scratch the crap out of your paint if you were to mount the bumper onto the car, and the edge pushes right into the body panel. Doesn't seem right. This particular blade is from a 4dr '56 Imperial.
There are also numerous rear bumper brackets for these cars. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for them to be different from each other - especially given that they all use the same bumper blade, but apparently they are. The 4dr Imperial brackets that I have are around 1 1/4" too short to be able to reach to the frame properly. The 2dr brackets are different from the 4dr brackets - OK. But why are the 2dr DeSoto brackets different from the 2dr Chrysler brackets?? Makes no sense at all! Why would Chrysler do this to me? If I put a Chrysler bumper on my DeSoto, do I need 2dr Chrysler brackets or 2dr DeSoto brackets?? Why are they different?!
Here is the breakdown of the different part numbers for rear bumper brackets:
Right side only. Add 1 to get the left side number.
1956 DeSoto 2dr 1636122
1956 DeSoto 4dr 1636120
1956 Chrysler 2dr 1636126
1956 Chrysler/all Imp 4dr 1636124
Edited by Powerflite 2025-10-16 4:30 PM
 (56Firedome Rear Bumper Fitment.jpg)
 (56 Firedome Rear Bumper Questions.jpg)
 (56Firedome Rear Bumper Bracket Gap.jpg)
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56Firedome Rear Bumper Fitment.jpg (166KB - 78 downloads)
56 Firedome Rear Bumper Questions.jpg (163KB - 58 downloads)
56Firedome Rear Bumper Bracket Gap.jpg (94KB - 58 downloads)
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1097
Location: PL / EU | The only difference in the rear to be the light panel (which is why you can't fit Chrysler headlights to DeSoto without modifying this part).
But that can't be the reason for the different brackets.
Edited by RDP 2025-10-17 1:57 PM
 (56des.jpg)
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56des.jpg (112KB - 62 downloads)
56ch.jpg (113KB - 57 downloads)
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1097
Location: PL / EU | Chrysler has an extra panel between the body and the bumper. Does DeSoto have one too? I can't see it in your photos.
It's a poor photo, but there's not much space with the bumper installed. The bumper is far enough away from the paint.
Edited by RDP 2025-10-17 1:58 PM
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C1.jpg (117KB - 64 downloads)
C2.jpg (112KB - 45 downloads)
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Expert
Posts: 2266
| Powerflite - 2025-10-16 4:03 PM
Igor, well this car does have the windshield washer, but doesn't have foam seats. No foam seat in the front or back. Both are standard type of materials, which is a good thing because it means that they still work well. Other than the top of the rear seat which is blown out because of the sun exposure, all the interior materials are in surprisingly good shape. Unfortunately, I don't have the door panels though.
Thank you very much, Nathan
By the way:
Robert, your car does have M5 = 1 on the tag, and you told that you car equipped with the W/Washer included in the Accessory Group;
Tell me please: Does your car equip with Variable Speed Windshield Wipers?
Thanks. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1097
Location: PL / EU | frwl - 2025-10-17 8:44 PM
By the way:
Robert, your car does have M5 = 1 on the tag, and you told that you car equipped with the W/Washer included in the Accessory Group;
Tell me please: Does your car equip with Variable Speed Windshield Wipers?
Thanks.
yes |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks for the pictures Robert. It looks like that triangular mount thing sits higher up on the Chrysler. That makes sense, since it is clear that the DeSoto mount prevents the Chrysler bumper ends from being installed. But I still don't know what that thing's purpose is. Nothing mounts to it and it seems to just get in the way. My only assumption about it's function is that maybe it provides a stop for the bumper to hit against to ensure that it is mounted in the proper location. Otherwise, I don't know what it's good for.
Yes, DeSoto also has that extra filler panel between the body & bumper. Mine is missing like so many other parts. That filler panel is wider for 4dr cars, than it is on the 2dr's.
I installed a dual reservoir brake master in the car yesterday and bent up new lines for it. I hope that long diagonal line doesn't interfere with anything once the inner panels are in place and the engine is installed. I am going to attempt to get the brakes working with the original front drums at first. The reason is because I only have 1 more wheel that will work with disc brakes. If that doesn't work for whatever reason, I'll convert it to discs and purchase a new tire.
 (56Firedome Dual Master Lines.jpg)
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56Firedome Dual Master Lines.jpg (165KB - 60 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | I didn't want to take the time to tear apart the rear axle to move the brake line mount, weld up the old hole and make new lines. So I purchased a long hose and made an extended frame mount for it. Much easier. If I ever have to tear the rear apart, I'll probably move it at that time.
I was trying to get the front drum brakes to bleed out, but not having any luck. The bleeder screw was stuck on the right side so I heated it up with a torch only to have the left side hose burst, I guess due to the excess pressure created? But it sounds like it was weak because it shouldn't have blown like that. Anyway, my efforts to get them to work is failing miserably so I will bite the bullet and convert to discs now.
 (56Firedome Extended Line Mount.jpg)
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56Firedome Extended Line Mount.jpg (137KB - 55 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Dave, the AAJ disc kit that I purchased from you had the wrong hardware in it. It had spacers that go between the bracket & spindle that were 0.69" long with qnty(8) 2" long bolts. Those belong to the 10.7" disc kit, not the 11.75" version like this one. I called up Roger at AAJ and he told me that it should have come with 0.14" spacers and qnty(4) 1.5" bolts. Fortunately, the original bolts are 1.5" and the lock washers are around 0.14", so I just put it together with those. I have the rotors and will assemble them today, but I don't have the calipers so I will have to order them.
But I might need to reverse the bolt from where I currently have it. Put the nuts on the other side instead so it is less likely to hit the rotor. It's probably OK as it is, but I'm not certain.
Edited by Powerflite 2025-10-23 12:16 PM
 (56Firedome Disc Bracket Mounted.jpg)
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56Firedome Disc Bracket Mounted.jpg (150KB - 46 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | Nathan: If you remember, I asked you to show me some photos of how the spacers were supposed to work because I couldn't figure them out. Now we know.
I sent you all the hardware that came in the AAJ kit from Roger except I kept 4 huge bolts that made no sense to me for the 56 Chrysler application. Again now we (I) know.
Now I understand. Whoever packed the hardware kit for the 56 Chrysler brackets grabbed the wrong hardware kit (the 10.9 Dodge/Plymouth kit would have the bolts for the bolt-on steering arms and, I guess, spacers).
Sorry about that but it wasn't my mistake, it was Rogers. I am happy that you were able to reuse the OE hardware to make it work.
What is still very important to this conversion is Roger's spindle adapters. Somehow I believe that they are correct for the Chrysler spindle.
Good luck finishing the conversion.
(I am still running a single pot MC and it works fine (enough))
Edited by 56D500boy 2025-10-23 1:26 PM
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Expert
Posts: 3976
Location: DFW, TX | If possible, I would definitely turn those bolts around the other way, for a couple of reasons.
I absolutely love the '56 Chryslers and Desotos. And you know I'm a fan of mixing and matching parts to get the best looking combination possible.  I like the idea of Chrysler tail lights in your Desoto. I suspect the brackets are all a little different to space the bumper out as necessary to line up with each combination of quarter panels and tail lights. |
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Thanks Danny, I am planning to run the Chrysler front bumper on it too. 
Dave, even those spindle adapters don't belong to this kit. They really messed up the order. This kit is supposed to use the original hubs, new studs (that used to be included, but now they say you have to buy them), '72-'78 Dodge 1/2 ton truck 4x4 rotors, and '71-'76 Caprice/Impala calipers. I separated the original drums from the hubs and installed the studs yesterday. I used 610.287.1 studs and I had to drill the hub out to 5/8" first. That was much harder than I expected because it's really hard to hold the hub while drilling, and the large drill bit wants to grab it and fling it around. I ended up having to hold it in my vice while drilling by hand, and it still wasn't fun to do. If I made up custom fixturing to hold it to my drill press table, that would have worked, and I probably should have done that.
After drilling, the studs went in easy by using a handle extension on my 20 ton press. But the only thing I had to back it up from the bottom was a socket with a thin ring of contact area, so it left an indelible impression on it - mostly in the paint. I'll work on making up new lines for it next.
 (56Firedome Disc Hub.jpg)
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56Firedome Disc Hub.jpg (148KB - 30 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | ,
Nathan: I am surprised/shocked/confused that you have had to go to so much work to get those AAJ 56 Chrysler front disc brackets to work on your 56 Desoto. There
is something wrong with this story (but I don't know what it is).
Before I decided which kit I was going to use, I checked both the AAJ and Scarebird spindle adapters on my "spare" 56 Chrysler spindles. They were within a few thousand
of each other. Moreover, from the information that I had received from Roger (or his wife), the rotors to be used with his bracket and spindle adapters were originally on a
77 Chrysler Cordoba (which turned out to be the same as the Scarebird kit needs). Complete bolt on, no messing about. Bought them from Rock Auto as Raybestos 7038R
(but they don't seem to carry them any more)(??)
These rotors (still available from other sources):
https://partsavatar.ca/raybestos-front-hub-and-rotor-assembly-7038r
Testing the sizes of the AAJ and Scarebird spindle adapters:
AAJ:
Scarebird:
Raybestos 7038R rotor on a 56 Chrysler front spindle and upright with the AAJ spindler adapter:
REFERENCE for the above: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=76959&...
Some (incomplete) info that I received from Roger and then my comparison AAJ vs Scarebird table:
 (AAJInstructionsForKItNo313.jpg)
 (ComparisonOfAAJandScarebirdFrontDiscKitsFor56DodgeD500_Rev1.jpg)
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AAJInstructionsForKItNo313.jpg (107KB - 34 downloads)
ComparisonOfAAJandScarebirdFrontDiscKitsFor56DodgeD500_Rev1.jpg (69KB - 37 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10420
Location: So. Cal | Yes, there seems to have been a lot of confusion surrounding it because your instruction sheet & parts list are for the 11" kit, not the 12" kit. But he has labeled the instructions with the same #313 when it is completely different. No wonder he was confused. He even gave you the 11" hardware & spindle adapters, but gave you the 12" caliper bracket. The 11" bracket is completely different.
I have a set of Cordoba rotors hanging about that I purchased for my '57-up cars, so I tried them out, thinking that's what it used. I put it together with the 0.14" spacers that Roger told me it needed, but these rotors required a much larger spacer to move it back further. It did seem like it *might* work with a 0.55" spacer or more, but it placed the calipers very far back and required the bracket to be heavily clearanced so it could sit back that far without hitting into the spindle. That's when I called him and he gave me the proper parts list for the 12" kit. Basically very similar to the 12" kit he sells for the '56 Dodge/Plymouth. Since he no longer supplies the studs, the kit wouldn't include anything except the bracket itself and the 0.14" spacers that could be replaced with the lock washers that come off of the car. But I think he sells it for the same price as the 11" version.
 (56Firedome Cordoba Rotor.jpg)
 (AAJ 12in 55-56 DeS-Chry Disc Parts List.jpg)
 (AAJ 12in 55-56 DeS-Chry Disc Instructions.jpg)
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56Firedome Cordoba Rotor.jpg (96KB - 38 downloads)
AAJ 12in 55-56 DeS-Chry Disc Parts List.jpg (65KB - 38 downloads)
AAJ 12in 55-56 DeS-Chry Disc Instructions.jpg (58KB - 32 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 10840
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Wow. I am so happy that I bailed on the AAJ brackets for my project 56 D500 and went with the modified Scarebird 57-61 bracket. I too spent time on the phone with Roger but I was never able to fully figure
out how the spacers were supposed to work with his "56 Chrysler" 12" brackets. Turns out the ones he sent were never going to work (for me)>
Two sets of instructions both labeled "313" kit even though the are for two different kits. Not the best.
On the upside for you, I think you like the separate hub and rotor set up (as opposed to the 77 Cordoba rotors that have the hub and rotor in one unit). Additionally, you get to run the larger 3" piston
caliper (whereas I am only able to run the 2" V6 Chevy Celebrity calipers).
(That said, the new owners of Scarebird seem to be still offering a larger 2.75" "Monster" caliper that fits where the 2" Celebrity caliper goes)
https://www.scarebird.com/shop/mst-sb1027-monster-caliper-3150#attr=
Hang in there. It looks like you are getting to the end of sorting this out.
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Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: So. Cal | Yes, I like this conversion because of the large truck calipers and thick truck rotors. It does push your wheels out by 1/4" on both sides, but that isn't hard to account for. One odd thing about this conversion is that the calipers route the hoses toward the front. I generally will move the lines to mount at the rear of the spindle when I do these conversions, but with these calipers, that would put the hoses through a contortion act. In theory, routing to the front saves time, but I had to make up new lines anyway, so it didn't save me much.
One thing I don't like about this conversion is that the caliper will hit the upper grease zerk in the spindle as you turn the wheel. That's why he provides plugs for them, to plug it off. If you ever want to grease it, you'll have to keep a zerk handy to screw into it temporarily before putting the plug back in. But I guess that's an OK tradeoff. I made my new line and finished the conversion yesterday. So now I can concentrate on installing the engine & transmission into the car (temporarily for moving).
 (56Firedome Disc Conversion Complete.jpg)
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56Firedome Disc Conversion Complete.jpg (143KB - 31 downloads)
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Nathan: With your AAJ conversion (and whatever truck caliper you are running), does the caliper and pad end up concentric to the spindle center? With the Scarebird conversion, it ended up that the caliper/pad
were slightly c*cked across the rotor. I don't think that is a problem per se because it actually increased the swept area on the rotor.
Just curious:
The Scarebird bracket with the Celebrity caliper(s) and pad(s) (one inner tip of the pad is closer to the center of the rotor than the other inner tip):
Edited by 56D500boy 2025-11-07 7:06 PM
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Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: So. Cal | Dave, no, these calipers are well oriented to the hub center. I don't remember seeing that on my other Scarebird conversions, but I didn't look closely either. I have 2 new conversions from them that I haven't installed yet. I'll keep an eye out for it when I install them.
I drilled the required holes in the Chrysler front bumper to mount the upper DeSoto turn signal pods and checked out how the bumper looks on the car. I originally thought I would hate having the overider in the center of the bumper, as it would clash with the "V" in the grille and look cluttered. But after checking it out, I kind of like it better. It's hard to compare them really though, without the license plate bracket for the bumper without it. I'm hoping that a license plate bracket from a '56 Windsor will work on it so I can see what it would look like.
The inner DeSoto bumper bracket looks to be identical to the Chrysler version, but the outer bracket is different. I'll need to get a set for the Chrysler to make this really work. One nice thing is that the missing DeSoto corner trim is irrelevant with this bumper. It would be completely covered up by the bumper wings.
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56Firedome Chrysler Front Bumper.jpg (210KB - 42 downloads)
56Firedome Chrysler Front Bumper w-Overider.jpg (190KB - 36 downloads)
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | Powerflite - 2025-11-08 2:16 PM
Dave, no, these calipers are well oriented to the hub center. I don't remember seeing that on my other Scarebird conversions, but I didn't look closely either. I have 2 new conversions from them that I haven't installed yet. I'll keep an eye out for it when I install them...
Okay. Actually I think the non-concentric c*cking of the caliper and pad(s) is a good thing. It results in the pad covering more swept area than it would have other wise (so hopefully a bit more braking).
If your 56 Desoto is still sitting like that on jack-stands, can you (please) snap a photo of the casting number on the king pin upright. Mine is 1617 986 (??)
I have an over-rider for my 56 Dodge but I haven't drilled the required holes in the bumper guards to mount it.
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Location: So. Cal | I looked all over the king pin spindle and I don't see any numbers cast into it anywhere. |
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | Powerflite - 2025-11-08 6:00 PM
I looked all over the king pin spindle and I don't see any numbers cast into it anywhere.
I guess I used the wrong words. Whatever I said, I meant the upright to which the steering knuckle and spindle (one unit) are attached. In my case, the bit with the 1617 986 number cast into it.
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Location: So. Cal | Yes, that's what I was looking at. There are no numbers cast into it that I can find. |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: PL / EU | Dave, I'll take a look in my car tomorrow.
Nathan, that bumper looks better on a DeSoto than a New Yorker. I like it. |
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | RDP - 2025-11-09 9:49 AM
.Dave, I'll take a look in my car tomorrow.
Robert: That would be great. Thanks.
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Location: PL / EU | casting numbers are only on the driver's side - 1617986, sorry for the poor photo.
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | RDP - 2025-11-10 8:48 AM
casting numbers are only on the driver's side - 1617986, sorry for the poor photo.
Robert: Thanks for the photo (it is just fine). I was hoping that Nathan (Powerflite) would find a similar number on his 56 Desoto's
uprights but apparently they don't have a casting number that he can find.
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Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: So. Cal | Odd that Robert only has a casting number on the driver's side and not on the passenger side. I only looked on the driver'side and didn't see anything. I'll check the passenger side as soon as the rains stop enough for me to get under there without getting too wet.
I had half a day to get some work done on the car before the rains came in for the whole weekend. It gave me enough time to install a fully assembled 331 Spitfire poly short block that came out of a '56 Windsor. This engine probably would run if I put it together for real, but it would have low compression with the poly pistons in there so I have little interest in doing it. I put 354 hemi heads onto it and mocked up the dual 4bbl setup. Unfortunately, the air cleaner is unable to sit flat because it is sitting on top of the both the heater motor and the brake booster. The engine isn't sitting flat yet, because the transmission isn't installed and it is sitting too low. However, I am afraid that I might need an offset oil bath pod for both sides. I hope that isn't the case as this one just has one offset pod on it.
This isn't the engine that I want to use in this car though. I have a 354 marine engine that I will eventually build for this car. I put this one in here because it's fully assembled and so I wouldn't have to move it separately.
I tried to fit Hot Heads shorty headers on it to see how they might work or not work. They *almost* fit if you remove the studs to get them in place, but they interfere with the top corner of the engine mount. You could clearance that out to make them work, however, the outlet comes out right on top of the idler arm or pitman arm on the other side. You can probably make it work with a very tight bend, but it isn't ideal. I'll try out the Hot Heads full length headers, some random custom full length headers & the Chinese shorties when I get a chance. But right now, I have to wait for the rains to stop....
Edited by Powerflite 2025-11-16 7:28 PM
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Location: So. Cal | I purchased an NOS tail light lens the other day. These aren't cheap, more than double the price for the'57 versions. Now I just need to do it 3 more times for the other lenses on the back of this car.
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56Firedome NOS Tail Light Lens.jpg (149KB - 22 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: So. Cal | I modified the tail light insert in the DeSoto to be able to mount the Chrysler tail lights on there for real. You have to modify that insert quite a bit to make it work. I ended up cutting 2 large holes into it, as well as bending what remained there in 2 places. I drilled a hole for the upper mount, which had an indicating dimple in the insert, but was undrilled on the DeSoto. So locating that position was very easy. The 2 lower mounts end up in the middle of the large holes for the DeSoto tail lights. So I used 2 very large washers to cover the area to bolt them in place. Eventually, I would like to pick up a Chrysler insert, drill out all the spot welds and swap it out, but what I have here, although it isn't pretty on the inside, it does work well.
I also cut off that triangular structure near the bottom that was preventing me from mounting the Chrysler bumper ends. I am getting impatient trying to find a set of 2dr bumper brackets so I have decided to just replace the 9/16" -18 studs (already removed in this picture) with much longer versions that I will use with large 1.5" spacers to make it work. I don't think it'll be OSHA approved, but good enough until I find the proper parts.
 (56Fireflite Lens Mount Mods.jpg)
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56Fireflite Lens Mount Mods.jpg (186KB - 12 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: So. Cal | I got the transmission installed and used a crossmember that I purchased from Ebay. So the engine is sitting in its proper position, but the air cleaner still wouldn't fit. The main body of the air cleaner was hitting the top of the blower motor, so I had to install spacers under the carburetors to alleviate that problem. After getting that done I determined that two offset pods are definitely required to avoid colliding with the power brake booster & blower motor. I emailed the seller of these and he told me that no extra pods were produced and he was unwilling to swap a straight pod for an offset one. So my only option to getting another one is to buy another air cleaner, and try to resell it with straight pods on it.
I found that I needed to scoot the engine all the way forward in the slots on the frame, but even after doing that, even the offset pod was still hitting the blower motor. It went on, but just barely. So even if I had 2 offset pods to put on here, I would need to add a 1/4" spacer to the motor mounts to move the engine forward a little more. I wanted to keep this air cleaner all in one piece, so I decided to remove the blower motor and put the offset pod on the driver's side. I will keep it like this until I come up with a good solution.
One thing I am going to look into is to see if there is a shorter blower motor available that's compatible with these cars. That sounds like a much less expensive solution than purchasing another air cleaner. Does anyone know of something like this?
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56Firedome Dual Quad Air Cleaner Installed.jpg (161KB - 4 downloads)
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Location: So. Cal | My last 2 15" disc brake wheels were truck wheels, one chrome, and one painted. Unfortunately, the chrome one had a terminally bad tire on it with 225-75 size. So I had to purchase a new one. I got a 235-70 size instead to match the height, but give a better profile. I played around with putting a dog dish cap on these rims. I actually like the way it looks. If I end up with 4 of these rims, I'll try it out for real. But until then, I'll just put a full wheelcover over them.
I'm now ready to move the car off my driveway to work on something else, but I may try to get a couple of other things done to it first. I purchased new window rubber for it so I can install the windows before moving. If that comes in on time, I'll get that done first.
 (56Firedome Truck Rim.jpg)
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56Firedome Truck Rim.jpg (148KB - 5 downloads)
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Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: So. Cal | I received the rubbers for the front & rear windows from Steele Rubber. They are very nice quality. I wish these were available from them for the '57-'61 cars. I made an attempt to install the rear window by following the instructions - inserting the window into the bottom first and working your way around. That failed miserably and it was difficult to keep the rubber sitting in the channel. Also, the lock strip would remain locked unless you had the window pushing on it, so you had to continually mess with it. After the 4th attempt, I tried inserting the corners in first and working around from each corner, up & down. That worked much better. It wasn't easy, but at least it was possible. With the window sitting on the outside of the rubber, I then was able to extract the lock strip out around the bottom of the window. That helped to prevent the rubber from falling into the car while I was working on the corners.
There is a small section where the lockstrip is remains uncut - solid. I'm not sure where that was supposed to go, or if it matters. I put it near the top, but I didn't get it centered. There doesn't seem to be any corners to this weatherstrip and it looks the same all the way around it. I should check it over again to be sure.
I don't have the lock strip locked in yet. I am temped to leave it out since this isn't the last time that I will be taking this window in & out. I hoped to be able to paint the roof before this day came, but that didn't happen. I am installing them now so I don't have to move them separately, and to prevent the weather from doing more damage to the inside of the car. I found out that this window isn't original to this car. The previous owner must have purchased it from a wrecking yard because it had a "SOLD" tag attached to it with paint marker writing all over the corner of it. The front windshield that he had was broken before I purchased the car, so I bought another one from BigM a while back. I'll put that in next.
 (56Firedome Window Rubber.jpg)
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56Firedome Window Rubber.jpg (172KB - 4 downloads)
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