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Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459    Location: So. Cal | |||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ----------------  56Firedome Tail Light Droop.jpg (143KB - 94 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922  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) Attachments ---------------- 56DesotoTailightsFrom56DesotoBrochure.jpg (96KB - 88 downloads) | ||
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| frwl |
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Expert Posts: 2282  | |||
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| frwl |
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Expert Posts: 2282 | |||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Rear Bumper Fitment.jpg (166KB - 95 downloads) 56 Firedome Rear Bumper Questions.jpg (163KB - 75 downloads) 56Firedome Rear Bumper Bracket Gap.jpg (94KB - 75 downloads) | ||
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| RDP |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1102  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) (56ch.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56des.jpg (112KB - 83 downloads) 56ch.jpg (113KB - 81 downloads) | ||
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| RDP |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1102 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 (C1.jpg) (C2.jpg) Attachments ---------------- C1.jpg (117KB - 90 downloads) C2.jpg (112KB - 72 downloads) | ||
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| frwl |
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Expert Posts: 2282 | 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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| RDP |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1102 Location: PL / EU | |||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Dual Master Lines.jpg (165KB - 78 downloads) | ||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Extended Line Mount.jpg (137KB - 79 downloads) | ||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Disc Bracket Mounted.jpg (150KB - 70 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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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| 57burb |
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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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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Disc Hub.jpg (148KB - 55 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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) Attachments ---------------- AAJInstructionsForKItNo313.jpg (107KB - 53 downloads) ComparisonOfAAJandScarebirdFrontDiscKitsFor56DodgeD500_Rev1.jpg (69KB - 59 downloads) | ||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Cordoba Rotor.jpg (96KB - 59 downloads) AAJ 12in 55-56 DeS-Chry Disc Parts List.jpg (65KB - 59 downloads) AAJ 12in 55-56 DeS-Chry Disc Instructions.jpg (58KB - 58 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Disc Conversion Complete.jpg (143KB - 49 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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. (56Firedome Chrysler Front Bumper.jpg) (56Firedome Chrysler Front Bumper w-Overider.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Chrysler Front Bumper.jpg (210KB - 62 downloads) 56Firedome Chrysler Front Bumper w-Overider.jpg (190KB - 57 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 Location: So. Cal | |||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 Location: So. Cal | |||
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| RDP |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1102 Location: PL / EU | |||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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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| RDP |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1102 Location: PL / EU | casting numbers are only on the driver's side - 1617986, sorry for the poor photo. (1617986.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 1617986.jpg (35KB - 72 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 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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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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 (56Firedome 331 Spitfire Engine.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome 331 Spitfire Engine.jpg (178KB - 46 downloads) | ||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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. (56Firedome NOS Tail Light Lens.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome NOS Tail Light Lens.jpg (149KB - 57 downloads) | ||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Fireflite Lens Mount Mods.jpg (186KB - 37 downloads) | ||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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? (56Firedome Dual Quad Air Cleaner Installed.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Dual Quad Air Cleaner Installed.jpg (161KB - 39 downloads) | ||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Truck Rim.jpg (148KB - 33 downloads) | ||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 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) (56Firedome Rear Window.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Window Rubber.jpg (172KB - 28 downloads) 56Firedome Rear Window.jpg (165KB - 31 downloads) | ||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 Location: So. Cal | The '56 Adventurer engine in the first picture clearly has offset pods on it's air cleaner on both sides. But he chose to offset the driver's side toward the carbs. I wonder if it didn't fit the other way? But the second picture either doesn't have an offset or he offsets it toward the outside/front instead. (56Adventurer Engine Offsets.jpg) (56Adventurer_60k_engine3.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Adventurer Engine Offsets.jpg (169KB - 17 downloads) 56Adventurer_60k_engine3.jpg (180KB - 17 downloads) | ||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 Location: So. Cal | I tried to install the windshield on this car 3 times using 3 different methods, and wasn't successful. The windshield seems to be a very tight fit to the opening, and that coupled with the new gasket that needs to be stretched a little to go around it makes it very difficult to get it installed. I gave up, but at least had it sitting in place before 3 days of rain came our way. I tried again yesterday and this time lubed it up very well beforehand. I used a similar approach to the back window by putting the gasket into the car and inserting the corners into the gasket first (which don't remain seated on body channel in the process). Because the gasket needs to stretch around the window, it came up from the lower body channel while working it in place. So I had to run my plastic implement down the rubber from the outside to get it back into the body channel. It's sitting mostly where it's supposed to now, but it's not very impressive. It seems to not fit very well at the corners as it isn't sitting flush to the body there. I'm not sure what could be causing that, but I'm hoping that once I lock it in place, that it will push to where it's supposed to sit. Maybe a lot of vibration & heat will move it where it needs to be? But I can't seem to make it better than this by hand. This one was a lot of work & trouble, so I'm hoping that I won't have to deal with it again. If I do, I'll probably pay someone else to have fun with it.  (56Firedome Windshield Install.jpg) (56Firedome Windshield Rubber Gap.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Windshield Install.jpg (159KB - 8 downloads) 56Firedome Windshield Rubber Gap.jpg (99KB - 16 downloads) | ||
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| 22mafeja |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 748 Location: Finland | |||
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| 58coupe |
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Expert Posts: 1785 Location: Alaska | |||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10922 Location: Lower Mainland BC | . Watch them (two guys) install a windshield on a 55 Plymouth on the assembly line. The nice new pliable gasket is already in place and one of the team is lubing up the groove with something on a brush while the other guy grabs the windshield from the rack, walks it over and stabs it into the top part of the gasket. Starts at 20:20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6L0ykX9lPU Edited by 56D500boy 2025-12-29 5:35 PM (WindshieldInstallationInWishesOnWheelsVideo.jpg) Attachments ---------------- WindshieldInstallationInWishesOnWheelsVideo.jpg (101KB - 14 downloads) | ||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 Location: So. Cal | |||
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10459 Location: So. Cal | After I locked the gasket in place, the corners seemed to fit to the body much better than they did before doing so. However, there is still something funky going on with it because there are a couple of places that it isn't sitting where it's supposed to. I haven't had a chance to examine it closer on the inside, but I will do that at some point. This really shouldn't have been a priority, but my brain just hating seeing that ripped out hole in the hood. So I straightened the hood around it, made a small piece that fit the hole well with the required peak contour, and then welded it in place. It started to sprinkle on me after welding, but I put a cover over it to keep the rain off until the sealer dried. I won't spend too much time to make it perfect because I still need to put the proper hole back into it to mount the hood ornament. Once that's done, I'll spend more time on it. (56Firedome Hood Rip Repair.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 56Firedome Hood Rip Repair.jpg (106KB - 36 downloads) | ||
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