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Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-22 1:26 PM (#590547)
Subject: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		I purchased another DeSoto recently. This one was getting ready to be painted in North Hollywood, close to me. The owner either died or lost interest so the body shop sold it off to the previous owner. Unfortunately, because of how it was acquired, it has been completely stripped on the outside. The only part left on the outside of the car is the right door handle so they could still open one door.But the body is in pretty good shape for one of these cars. It's not as good as it first seems though. There is quite a bit of rust on the roof that needs to be addressed, as well as rust on the front right part of the quarter panel & wheel lip. There is also a littlle bit of rust here and there, but the floors and trunk are almost rust free as far as I can tell. The inner rockers are also rust free, but the outers have a cover over them, so not sure how bad it will look once I remove those, but they will likely need to be replaced properly. It looks to have been a spring special because it has the mounting holes and outline of the trim on the dented up trunk lid. I have most of the parts to put this back together except the rear bumper, the spring special trim, and the fireflite specific stuff, but the interior is mostly complete so that's good.

The original color was French Turquoise, not the lighter green re-paint that's currently showing. However, I can't verify it because the body tag is missing. I'll have to get an IBM printout so I can get a repro made. Fortunately, the VIN tag is still there and in good shape! The interior has been redone with new black vinyl everywhere, including the dash & door panels. I am not thrilled about the color choice, but am glad it is at least usable. The motor turns so there is a very good chance that I can get it running. It seems to be the original motor with a L-360 code, but is painted blue so it has likely been rebuilt before. I'm not sure what all those dots on the head are supposed to indicate. The dual exhaust system is also relatively new and in good shape. If I can get the motor running, I will spend my time finishing all the body work that needs to be done and then paint it before I put it back together. One good thing is I can't lose the parts during the paint process because there aren't any!



(58Fireflite LF.jpg)



(58Fireflite RF.jpg)



(58Fft Motor.jpg)



(58Fft Dash.jpg)



(58Fft Headliner.jpg)



(58Fft Seats.jpg)



(58Fft Trunk.jpg)



(58Fft Engine No..jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments 58Fireflite LF.jpg (273KB - 10 downloads)
Attachments 58Fireflite RF.jpg (287KB - 9 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft Motor.jpg (225KB - 9 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft Dash.jpg (137KB - 9 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft Headliner.jpg (127KB - 8 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft Seats.jpg (171KB - 8 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft Trunk.jpg (162KB - 9 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft Engine No..jpg (190KB - 10 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-22 1:30 PM (#590548 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		Nice radial tire! There is some bondo here but not bad. Most likely there is a little rust hiding under there, but probably not terrible. The right side is another story and will require quite a bit of work to remake that wheel lip properly. There is also a lot more rust on the sides of the roof than I would have expected there to be, probably caused by the wide roof trim. Since I don't have that trim, maybe I should delete it?

Edited by Powerflite 2019-11-22 4:10 PM




(58Ft Tire.jpg)



(58Fft RtR Quarter.jpg)



(58Fft Rt Roof.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments 58Ft Tire.jpg (160KB - 7 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft RtR Quarter.jpg (213KB - 9 downloads)
Attachments 58Fft Rt Roof.jpg (189KB - 9 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-22 1:36 PM (#590550 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		The trunk floor is practically in perfect shape with the original paint still showing on much of it. There are the remains of a very brittle original black speckled DeSoto trunk mat too.

Edited by Powerflite 2019-11-22 1:37 PM




(58Fft Trunk Mat.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments 58Fft Trunk Mat.jpg (226KB - 10 downloads)
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jboymechanic
Posted 2019-11-22 2:24 PM (#590557 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		How many vehicles are you up to now Nathan?
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-22 3:59 PM (#590562 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		I find it's best not to count. But I am selling a '33 Chevy coupe and the '57 black/white Windsor coupe if anyone is interested.
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2019-11-22 7:05 PM (#590576 - in reply to #590562)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: The Mile High City

Nice, Nathan!  Even all stripped out, it still looks good!

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1960fury
Posted 2019-11-23 7:04 AM (#590597 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: northern germany		Just GREAT. You can't have enough FL's. I guess I'm alone with this, but I prefer cars in this honest, unrestored condition over overrestored clinical-clean wire wheeled trailer queens.
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-24 12:56 AM (#590637 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		Thanks Mike, I agree. Yeah Sid, I see no use for trailer queens, but I should probably start painting something now.

My son helped me un-bury the front bumper to mount onto the car as well as the headlight bezels. I painted the bezels silver to go with the '58 DeSoto theme. Putting the front end together keeps the zoning police at bay and it also moves that bumper out of my backyard, which is great. We also mounted the extra set of bumper guards I had to it and installed a couple of missing parts in the interior, including the horn ring, turn signal stalk, some '59 A/C vents, a rear-view mirror and a glove box door. The glove box has a Chrysler emblem on it, but it is painted black to match and looks better than having the two holes there. I didn't install the mirror yet because I will paint it black first to match the dash pad.

I spent the rest of the day getting the motor ready to fire. I tried it out with the original points first. The starter worked, which was really nice and built up good oil pressure, but there wasn't any spark and the water pump started to leak out it's weep hole. That's about as much patience as I have for the original points setup so I pulled it out and started getting an electronic ignition distributor & coil ready for it. The oil in the motor looked brand new. Not sure what that means. Maybe it hasn't been run much since it was rebuilt?

Edited by Powerflite 2019-11-24 1:00 AM




(58Fft Front Bumper.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments 58Fft Front Bumper.jpg (251KB - 9 downloads)
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ToMopar
Posted 2019-11-24 9:20 AM (#590649 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Powerflite - 2019-11-22 6:26 PM
I purchased another DeSoto recently.


Congratulation Nathan ! my envy be with you

Powerflite - 2019-11-22 6:26 PM]
One good thing is I can't lose the parts during the paint process because there aren't any!


good Joke !
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56D500boy
Posted 2019-11-24 12:51 PM (#590667 - in reply to #590637)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: Lower Mainland BC		.
Why am I confused about the hood?



VERSUS:

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firedome
Posted 2019-11-24 2:55 PM (#590672 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: NY & VT		Nice find! My red & white '58 coupe was originally French Turquoise, and I wish it still had been original, it's a beautiful color, I would have painted it back to that color if I'd have kept it. There was a pic of a '58 in that color combo here sometime in the last year... gorgeous.
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Paul Hettick
Posted 2019-11-24 6:19 PM (#590689 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe


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Location: California		Details on the black and white 57 Windsor coupe please!
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-24 9:46 PM (#590705 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		Tom: You have nothing to be envious of! Your cars are awesome!
Dave: Not sure, only difference between them is more parts installed on it and paint.
Roger, yeah, I agree. That car is my inspiration. Jaw dropping gorgeous!
Paul: I sent you a PM, and the thread on the car can be found here: http://forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=49893




(French Turquoise 58 Fireflite.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments French Turquoise 58 Fireflite.jpg (199KB - 11 downloads)
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Doctor DeSoto
Posted 2019-11-25 1:57 AM (#590712 - in reply to #590705)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: Parts Unknown		So, the car goes in for paint, .... who took the trim off, and where did it go ?

Fireflite 2 doors are pure unobtainium. Great find, great car ... I look forward
to following along on this one !
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-25 9:25 AM (#590718 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		Thanks Doc. I assume that the body shop would have included the trim with the sale of the car, so maybe it remained at the original owner's place? Who knows what happened to it, but it is gone now.
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57burb
Posted 2019-11-26 10:06 AM (#590779 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: DFW, TX		A new mare in the stable!! Lots of good bones in this car, but it's a real shame the trim is missing. Maybe you can find a rusty coupe with all the trim for a good price?

Or you could just make a custom out of it. You're halfway there with that black interior...
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Powerflite
Posted 2019-11-27 3:16 AM (#590813 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: Re: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Location: So. California		The custom part of it will be all the missing trim - especially the wide roof trim. but I don't see that as a big loss. That trim doesn't add to the design all that much. The side trim I will eventually get by welding 4dr trim together. It's a pain, and time consuming, but it works. Until, I can find the Fireflite fender medallions, I am considering machining some '55 DeSoto horn buttons to fit there. Might look OK if I paint them in a similar fashion.

I got the electronic ignition installed, swapped a good carb onto it and gave it another go. After fiddling with the timing a bit, I got it to a point that it would fire a full revolution or more, and then suddenly stop, like it hit a wall. It did this over and over. Very strange. I had the fuel line feeding out of a gas can, but the fuel pump didn't do anything as if it wasn't connected. So I had to prime the carb every time. I was messing with the timing more, and then the starter completely died. No movement at all, and no current draw out of it. Maybe the reason it would only run 1 revolution had something to do with the starter stopping it once it picked up some speed. So I'll need to fix that before moving forward. I don't want to do this in the dirt, so I'll set it aside until I get the work on the Savoy finished and free up some driveway space for it.
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60 Imp
Posted 2019-11-27 6:04 AM (#590816 - in reply to #590547)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe


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Location: North Australia		Nathan, have you considered cloning your Wife??

You would get a good price for them I recon!

Nice looking DeSoto you got there.

Steve.
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1960fury
Posted 2019-11-27 6:34 AM (#590820 - in reply to #590712)
Subject: RE: Turquoise '58 Fireflite Coupe



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Doctor DeSoto - 2019-11-25 1:57 AM

So, the car goes in for paint, .... who took the trim off, and where did it go ?

Fireflite 2 doors are pure unobtainium. Great find, great car ... I look forward
to following along on this one !


I'd go with the 57 trim anyway. The 57 lower sweep was perfect and much nicer looking.
The side trim was just altered because they had to change something for 58 and the result was,
like with Plymouth, not an improvement of the original design.

Edited by 1960fury 2019-11-27 6:34 AM
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