Are we done yet? [John]

Body work and paint on the Firedome wagon are about done. The rust repairs went well--I can't see any flaws in the tailgate, lower doors, or around the windshield. While the car was apart and being worked on, we had the rear bumper straightened and chromed, two of the grille teeth rechromed, stainless stone guards on the rear fenders straightened and polished, and the gear selector and turn signal levers refinished also.

Comments on the past several months of progress

For much of this project, Phil and I have functioned sort of like general contractors. We did some of the tasks, usually where we had tools, expertise, and interest, but much of it we subcontracted. Here are our notes.

Body shop was excellent. There are dozens around San Diego. This one was recommended by the machine shop that did our first repair on this car, the power steering box rebuild. Armando does some conventional collision repair and takes on a few hot rod and restoration projects. A high-end El Camino body restoration was ahead of the Desoto, and a '62 Lincoln after us. Both of these jobs went to full disassemble and were stripped to bare metal, and I think they were expensive. This Desoto will never be worth the 5-figure prices some other cars bring, and we wanted to keep our costs down. Armando recommended rust repair and full blocking of the car but not stripping. Exterior chrome was all removed, but not windows. Fenders stayed on. The refinish turned out great, Phil and I think, and took about half the labor of the El Camino and the Lincoln. 

After soliciting opinions and advice on the National Desoto Club website, we decided to go with Armando's recommendation. He has painted a lot of cars and he's an expert. We all went to the paint store and selected a single-stage paint in a period-appropriate color. Like Johnny Rivers' secret agent man, the paint color has a number, but no name. Not to worry however, women who have seen the car universally describe the color as periwinkle. (I don't personally know what that means.) Armando recommended a white top, and we selected the Ford off-white used for years in the 60s, as I recall, Corinthian white.

Armando recommended a chrome shop in Tijuana, and took care of delivery and pickup of the parts for us. Results are fine for this car, and prices were reasonable. Rear bumper straightening and chrome was $300, which seems much less expensive than stateside shops can do. There are said to be some substandard places, but we found going with a good guy's recommendation was a pretty reliable way to find a good shop. 

Finding suppliers

Tapping into a network of small shops who recommend others has proven to be the best way for us to find good, affordable, and prompt places. Richard at the machine shop recommended Armando for paint and body. A parts store clerk told us the best carburetor guy in East County was Rick, now retired, but still doing a few jobs. Armando knew dependable, affordable chrome shops and upholstery shops in TJ. Ramon, at Tony's radiator shop, had a high school classmate who was now retired from a well-known upholstery shop and was taking on occasional projects. If we continue with the fix-up hobby, referrals will continue to be our chief resource in tracking down suppliers and experts. And yes, I've already purchased a '36 Desoto Airflow to work on.

I'm a little shy of publishing detailed contact info for the people who have done great work for us on this open web site. But I'll be happy to put you in touch with any of them if you email me at drjohn96 at me dot com. 

Results and outlook

What's left: interior. A few things don't work yet, like back-up lights, horn(s), wipers. Clock and radio. (How badly do we really want an AM radio?) Also still in the Maybe category is driveability. Driving styles have changed since this car was built; we drive 70, not 50. On freeways this car's engine seems to run faster than it needs to: 60 mph is 3000 rpm. Engine speed could be reduced by swapping the differential and speedometer drive for those from a salvage sedan. But I'm not sure it's worth it, given the amount of driving we plan for this car. Around town it's pretty good as is.

Here are some recent some photos of the subject 1953 DeSoto Firedome Estate Wagon.

Fresh paint, parked in front of the local pizza carryout.

Presbyterian church parking lot, overlooking La Mesa skyline.

George Laurie provided a new Hernando De Soto for the hood ornament. I found Australian George through the National Desoto Club web site at desoto.org. Nice site, run by a great club, with an interesting newsletter.

Sitting in the driveway after its first wash.

Tailgate detail. The hinge pads were junk. Fortunately, my son-in-law has a laser cutter and is a skilled engineer. He took photos of the hinges, tweaked the dimensions and cut new ones from 1/16" rubber. I like the slight oversize -- but it's not original. Does this make the Firedome a hot rod? 

Charissa, daughter of a friend. She approves and is ready to go for a drive. All she needs is a license and about 6 more years.

Interior in work. More on this in the next post, but you can see the next project in the background on stands, patiently waiting.