|
 1961 DeSoto - AudreyJump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| Forward Look NON-Technical Discussions -> Members Rides | Message format |
DeSoto DeVille |
| ||
| I know I've made a post about her before, but I figured I'd make a new one since the "restoration" officially starts this month. I am the (extremely) proud owner of a 1961 DeSoto four door hardtop. 103,780 miles, all original except for paint. As Original - Glacier White (Code WW1), with the Blue (Code 101) interior. Standard 1961 DeSoto 361 V8 with 2 bbl Stromberg carburetor. Options and Accessories Push-Button Radio Push-Button Heater-Defroster Deluxe Steering Wheel Power Steering Power Brakes Push-Button TorqueFlite Transmission Back-Up Lights Sure-Grip Differential (not 100% sure about this one) Remote Control Outside Mirror Safety-Padded Instrument Panel Wheel Covers 8.50 x 14 Tires Undercoating Safety Seat Belts Safety-Padded Visors Child-Guard Rear Door Safety Locks Outside Right Mirror Rear Seat Speaker So now that you're up to date with what she's got, lets get to it. I'm an almost 22 year old guy that lives in Maine, over the last 3 years I've gotten her to run and drive around the yard a few times. This is the year that she gets back on the road. She runs pretty darn good, but there are absolutely no brakes to speak of. I've had someone look her over for me, and the prognosis is brakes, tires, and a tune up would get her going pretty nicely. Body wise... that's a different story. The roof rubber around the passenger side windows is gone, and has been since before I bought her. The floors have rusted from the inside out on that side, so that's first. (Just a few holes, no Flintstone car, but I'm not letting it get any farther than it has) The plan is to pull the motor and transmission, send the body off to be repaired/blasted/primed/undercoated with truck bed liner (maybe painted, $ permitting), and tune up the motor on a stand while the body is gone. The wiring is suspect at best (less and less parts of the car light up as time goes on, and the last time there was a burning smell), so while she's all apart, I'm going to rewire at least the dashboard --> forward. New weatherstripping, and 1-2-3, we've got a daily driver. Long term plan is to repaint her Glacier White or Bahama Bronze with a Glacier White top, reupholster the blue interior. Eventual fiddling might include dual rear power antennas, put on a dual exhaust (with 2000-2005 Cadillac DeVille quad tips if everything works out) and maybe glasspacks or something to make her sound just a tiny bit meaner, possibly a four barrel carb too. (audrey.jpg) (interior.jpg) (fins.jpg) (grass.jpg) Attachments ----------------  audrey.jpg (139KB - 135 downloads) interior.jpg (113KB - 158 downloads) fins.jpg (105KB - 150 downloads) grass.jpg (159KB - 136 downloads) | |||
| |||
| Lancer Mike |
| ||
     Location: The Mile High City | Awesome!  Thanks for sharing the story and pictures - well done. | ||
| |||
| FIN ME |
| ||
Expert Posts: 2788 Location: USA - KY |  Welcome, DeSoto DeVille, and congratulations. Very awesome! I suspect that you likely hear this all of the time, but it's so great to have a young person taking care of a classic car such as this rare, old '61 DeSoto! At your age, you may just have this car for 60 or 70 more years if you keep it for the rest of your days, which would be so cool. So many (all) of us here recall old cars that we have long regretted selling. (Most of us got talked in to selling our old cars by significant others...so beware.  ) The National DeSoto Club is also a good place to find info on these cars, the last model year produced by DeSoto, and I know that some (many) of their members post here. The NDC also has "Technical Advisors" assigned to help owners with every model year. You've come to a great site here at The Forward Look Network, the folks here know their stuff!  Edited by FIN ME 2017-05-10 11:06 AM | ||
| |||
| mikes2nd |
| ||
Expert 5K+ Posts: 5006 | |||
| |||
| b5rt |
| ||
Expert Posts: 2519 Location: central Illinois | |||
| |||
| DeSoto DeVille |
| ||
| Thanks guys I've got quite a ways to go, but she'll be worth it. I intend for her to be my daily driver, as my '95 Fleetwood just crapped out on me, and $1500 to get her on the road looking ugly is better than $1700 to fix that. (Don't worry, I refuse to drive in snow, and I live right near where I work, so she'll only come out on bare pavement days.) Below are the parts of the floors that are rusted out... not too bad, but still not good. I'm having a heck of a time finding a body shop that'll repair it... guess they don't want my money. (rust.jpg) (back floor1.jpg) (back floor.jpg) Attachments ---------------- rust.jpg (125KB - 132 downloads) back floor1.jpg (482KB - 123 downloads) back floor.jpg (309KB - 143 downloads) | |||
| |||
| DeSoto DeVille |
| ||
| Well, after 3 long years, I finally did it; I took her for a drive! She runs beautifully, only problem is still no brakes and now none of the gauges seem to work, which is odd because they worked in January when I started her up for a bit... I'll sort it out when I redo all the wires. Here's a link to the video if you would like to see it... sorry it's a little crappy, but I don't use my phone at all while driving normally, so I'm not very good at filming. I'll take some better ones tomorrow when I go work on her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyJ0m7gCjoA | |||
| |||
| Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] |
| Search this forum Printer friendly version E-mail a link to this thread |
| (Delete all cookies set by this site) | |
