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 Another 1958 Firedome ConvertibleModerators: Lancer Mike Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
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Lancer Mike |
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    Location: The Mile High City | Allen Faltus sent me a few pictures of his "Seacoast Aqua" 1958 Firedome Convertible - which is absolutely fantastic in its every detail. Other than Mr. Faltus' convertible, Gary Gidman's, and my own, I don't know of any other Firedome convertibles remaining in the U.S.A. I bet there are more hidden in various locations and states. The last one I know of that left the U.S.A. was a eastcoast salvage-yard escapee that looked to be very rough. Among 1958 convertibles remaining in the U.S.A., the Fireflites are rarer still and the Adventurers are down to a precious few. Luckily, our Scandanavian fellows had the foresight to save several examples of each! Too bad they are so far away - maybe they should conquer Mexico and move in! Enjoy. (Faltus Firedome 01.JPG) (Faltus Firedome 02 Seacoast Aqua.JPG) (Faltus Firedome 03.JPG) (Faltus Firedome 04.JPG) (Faltus Firedome 05.JPG) Attachments ----------------  Faltus Firedome 01.JPG (124KB - 254 downloads) Faltus Firedome 02 Seacoast Aqua.JPG (115KB - 242 downloads) Faltus Firedome 03.JPG (108KB - 229 downloads) Faltus Firedome 04.JPG (83KB - 238 downloads) Faltus Firedome 05.JPG (98KB - 225 downloads) | ||
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| wizard |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 13055   Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Gidman |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 452 Location: Southern California | |||
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| Gidman |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 452 Location: Southern California | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | As it relates to moving my car along, I called for underground utility locate this week in preparation for breaking ground on the new shop. I actually did some digging and have been doing some mental gymnastics on how on Earth I am going to juggle all my junk out of the current garage long enough to build a new one ! ... all before the snows fly. Lock me in a shop with some tin and the right tools and I will pound the rough work out with great pleasure. My great distress is in once the body is all buttoned up again, having to disassemble it down to the last nut and doing the final "frame-off" work to put it back together right. It is kinda like 20 steps backwards in order to move forward. I think I'll be alright with it, so long as I have that shop in which to have it all spread out in and to do more work is as easy as opening the door and turning on the lights. I would dearly love to drive it again. I'll meet you in Fairplay or Buena Vista any time ! Maybe Boise would be more central to Gary, Alan, me, and yourself ? But I'll take the South Park over Boise any day.  | ||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Flagga |
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Member Posts: 30 Location: Sweden Varberg | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| Gidman |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 452 Location: Southern California | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Gidman |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 452 Location: Southern California | |||
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| Gidman |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 452 Location: Southern California | Definitely Torqueflite. And you're right about B&W being an odd color combo for the fifties. I wish I had pics of the original interior. I remember when my dad had it redone in the 70's, but cannot recall the original combination. A get together of 58 Desoto ragtops would be special indeed. Date and place is always a good starting point. I'm including a photo of a friend's Fireflite out of Georgia, part of the Great Race when in Grand Island Neb. Original interior. Plus one of a sad reminder... (Great-Race-2.jpg) (Great--Race-3.jpg) (Desoto-in-Junkyard.jpg) Attachments ---------------- Great-Race-2.jpg (39KB - 235 downloads) Great--Race-3.jpg (33KB - 237 downloads) Desoto-in-Junkyard.jpg (104KB - 236 downloads) | ||
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| MorePar |
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Location: Colorado, Pike's Peak | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| phins |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1172 Location: bradenton florida | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | In all my years of chasing such cars, I think just about every Firesweep I have ever seen was white with a red sweep. One that showed up for sale at the NDC National meet in Sacramento in 1992 ? was straight white with no lower bar to the side trim ! The interior was solid black vinyl that looked like the school bus seats we rode on as kids .... can you say "spartan" ? By contrast, I do not think I ever came across a Fireflite or Firedome that was white with red. Odd. 57, yes, but not a 58. Makes me wonder what the marketing strategy was. The white car with red sweep was pretty "flashy" and maybe was used to denote how cheaply one could by a DeSoto-badged convertible for .... you know, kind of a "more bang for the buck" idea ? By contrast, the big body cars tend to be more sedate or conservative in colors. I have seen several that were beige or tan ! I know my car was an expensive hunk of junk when new. A person could have bought TWO 57 Bel Air ragtops for the price of my car and had change left over. These were not being sold to kids and soda jerks. More likely bankers, lawyers, and insurance types who preferred a more conservative profile, even if set upon the frame of a pretty glitzy canvas. It is a shame that there aren't some readily accessible old DeSoto salesmen we could talk to that could shed some light on the "attitude" of the times as it related to the colors and models. Fun stuff to ponder though.  | ||
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| phins |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1172 Location: bradenton florida | |||
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| phins |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1172 Location: bradenton florida | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | Allen just sent me some new photographs of his DeSoto - this time of the engine. His car is a beauty inside and out! (faltus data plate.JPG) (faltus engine 2.JPG) (faltus engine 3.JPG) (faltus engine.JPG) Attachments ---------------- faltus data plate.JPG (51KB - 231 downloads) faltus engine 2.JPG (133KB - 229 downloads) faltus engine 3.JPG (103KB - 238 downloads) faltus engine.JPG (124KB - 215 downloads) | ||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | I really like the look of the black valve covers on the 361 (whereas mine are silver)! As you might expect, Allen's manifolds look as pristine as the rest of the car. | ||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | That data tag needs a couple more coats of paint !!!! Last w/e I put hands on some of my DeSoto paper .... including two photo albums of my Fireflite and various others, including a couple convertibles still sitting in fields with weeds growing through them. Also found the Ross Roy book for 58 DeSoto. Thought you guys might enjoy seeing them. Gotta figure out how to scan them and load them to my computer, as I do not have a scanner linked to my machine. B. | ||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Sounds like you are suggesting I start shooting "girls gone wild" videos as part of getting photos scanned ? I guess the guy who did those films is currently tied up in legal hassles so someone needs to step in, right ? I have one more technical hurdle to get over and I start ground work on the new shop. I have been working 14-16 hour days for weeks and when not on the phone, running around getting sewer locations or meeting with the power company guys. I may have to squeeze the scanning / girls gone wild filming in between sewer trenching and concrete pours ! Looks like the DeSoto will have a dedicated shop before the snows fly ! | ||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | That is great news, Doc! Imagine what you will be able to accomplish with the Fireflite when the shop is complete this winter! Our open air DeSoto rally may not be as far off as we think! I have a question for you about my convertible top latches: A few weeks ago, it rained like crazy here in Colorado. That day, I drove the DeSoto from Grand Lake over trail ridge road to Denver with the whole family. When everyting finally dried out, I let the latches loose and put the top down. When I put the top up again, I could no longer lock down the latches! I figured maybe the top shrunk a tiny bit in all the rain, so I loosened the allen screws and backed out the hook screws a bit. Even after doing that, I can't get the latches to lock down!!!! Please prescribe some magical Doctor DeSoto Rx for my "don't quite fit anymore" latches! Maybe Gidman or Johnson have the answer? Calling all Garys! Calling all Garys! Come in Garys! | ||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Mike ~ I'll have a look at my car and see if there is anything obvious about those latches / pins. I have never had such a problem, so this is new to me. I have to go up where I keep it to swap out a couple kayaks later today. I'll try to remember to check the car. I am doing the scale drawings of the shop today to submit to the City for permitting on Wed. Tuesday is too busy, with holiday catch up and meeting with the backhoe contractor after work to layout plans for all the dirt work. I put the existing garage and carport on Craigslist yesterday. My brother-in-law wants all the fill we'll remove from the site, and the power company will remove an overhead drop - they said "within two weeks" a week ago. All is looking "green lights" ahead. Got me thinking about the lift I have on line and doing the final metal work. I leave 9 Oct. for Big M's yard to retrieve the rear clip I'll use to finish the job. I have vascillated forever on how to restore this car. Do I slap it back together because I want it as a driver, or do I take the body back off the frame and do a total ? I am leaning toward the latter since it has come this far. The frame and chassis is the easy part after fabbing the whole body back. And then there is color. Spring Rose and Charcoal ? Anyone seen Victor's 58 Ply in this color ? Drop dead gorgeous ! The original Haze Blue Metallic with white ? I hate the grey interior that goes with this, but I love the blue. Scream Dream turquoise and charcoal ? I love that stock turquoise they had in 58. Bronze and charcoal ? One of the most striking FL cars I ever set eyes on was a bronze and black Regal Lancer. So many decisions !  | ||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | Hi, Doc: Sounds like the new shop is going strong. My only advice on the Fireflite, if worth anything at all, is not to think about it too much. Indecision over big or little details can be paralyzing. And that's just no good at all. I would say do the frame off so you know everything is just the way you want it - but keep going and just do what you feel like doing that particular day; don't sweat it too much. When it comes time to paint, pick the paint out that day and go with it. The main thing is to get back on the road so you can enjoy the ride again. Around here, painting your car is like naming your baby - don't tell anyone beforehand or you get second-guessed into never-never land. Show us the photo after the paint is dried and we all gush about it, no matter what we think of the color! Whether you paint it orange and green metal flake or go original, it does not matter. The fact that you paint it is the accomplishment to celebrate because you are one step closer to the road. That little pin is a steel peg about one inch in length. If you are looking right at the latch, there is a concave chrome part that forms the outer frame of the latch. The latch itself sits within the concave piece. The latch is composed of the handle and the hook. The latch is attached to the outer frame by the chromed steel peg, which allows the latch to pivot. When the latch is in the closed position, you can't see the peg whatsoever. If you fold the handle down as far as it goes, you still shouldn't see the peg, but you can see where the lever attaches to the frame. The peg, or hinge, holds those two together. You will also notice a gap between the inside edge of the frame and the lever - somehow, my hinge peg is loose enough to slide into that gap and prevent the full operation of the hinge. Easy to fix, but an annoyance! If that still doesn't do it, let me know and I will take a picture. It is funny - if the latch operates correctly, you should never even see that hinge peg because it should be flush! M | ||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | For gosh sakes, don't paint it orange and green metal flake! | ||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | I saw this on jaxed: It shows how big the wrong color choice can be. Like you said, the Regal Lancers - available only in black-copper or eggshell-copper - were so striking. Here, a Regal is repainted in turquoise and bright white. Even though it is a classic '50's scheme, it just doesn't fit the Regal. (01010301040201161420080812cfd6ae866a290f6f93002d8d.jpg) (01150901160101040420080812bd9b8de0f3c6a68e1b008943.jpg) (0101020116090104032008081273c704abe0152d5c6e0099fb.jpg) (01021101040801161120080812007206e2f02280135f000867.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 01010301040201161420080812cfd6ae866a290f6f93002d8d.jpg (7KB - 217 downloads) 01150901160101040420080812bd9b8de0f3c6a68e1b008943.jpg (7KB - 217 downloads) 0101020116090104032008081273c704abe0152d5c6e0099fb.jpg (6KB - 226 downloads) 01021101040801161120080812007206e2f02280135f000867.jpg (6KB - 227 downloads) | ||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| MorePar |
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Location: Colorado, Pike's Peak | |||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | The copperglow and black (or charcoal) combo is a nice, masculine kind of look. Many of these period colors were decidely feminine, and most of the "classic" color combinations of the fin era come from this group. I guess this is why I like something different .... just because it is out of the ordinary. If I were to go with the Spring Rose, I would do it with charcoal for a more contrasting and unusual mix. Pink and white is just too typical, although one could hardly call any FL car "typical" in the field of old or even finned cars, if you do see a pink car, it is usually complemented with a light color like white. Same goes for turquoise. Most times it is teamed up with white. That bronze "copperglow" with black is absolutely jaw-dropping gorgeous. | ||
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| MorePar |
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Location: Colorado, Pike's Peak | |||
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| Chrispy |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 520 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | |||
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| Doctor DeSoto |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Chrispy lives ! Glad to hear you and that car are still around. It remains my favorite 58 Plymouth for colors ! | ||
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| Lancer Mike |
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Location: The Mile High City | Doctor DeSoto - 2010-07-22 8:56 AM Chrispy lives ! Glad to hear you and that car are still around. It remains my favorite 58 Plymouth for colors ! I second that! I have never met Chrispy, but would sure like to! I remember your posts from long ago and not so far away. What a great Plymouth! | ||
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