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1950
DeSoto Suburban - Owner: Rob Shapiro
Rob called me several months after I had left
a business card on another of his cars While replacing the wheel
cylinders on his '66 Chrysler Newport, we got to talking about his
DeSoto. He had been toying with the idea of selling it, or possibly
restoring it. I guess I helped him come to his senses!
Ready
to Conquer
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Rob has a band called Populuxe, and thought
that the DeSoto here would make a great band vehicle. See,
the Suburban is a nine passenger sedan. It has a long wheelbase
and three bench seats. The third seat folds down to expose
a wooden floored cargo area that reaches back into the trunk.
It's a lot like a station wagon with a traditional, albeit
stubby, trunk. It's two front doors open conventionally,
and the two rear doors open "suicide". It's a
way cool ride, and when it pulled up on the flat bed, I
knew that I'd been hooked. |
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Apparently, there are but a mere 23 of
these cars still in existence, which makes for an extremely
rare ride. It's equipped with a 251ci flathead six, coupled
to a Fluid Drive semiautomatic gearbox. Semi, in that it
has a clutch. The gauge faces in the dashboard are painted
with luminescent paint, which is illuminated at night via
black light! Time to bust out those groovy Jimi Hendrix
posters. |
Our first order of operation was to remove
the engine, which was seized up tight. Tearing it down was
no easy feat as two pistons were stuck hard in their bores.
I had to remove the crank first to allow me to get them
free. Needless to say, it was a difficult task and to top
it off, the whole engine was covered in 50+ years of grime.
Not a pretty sight.
Once I'd gotten it apart, I delivered
it to the |
The
Boat Anchor
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machine shop for inspection and preparation. I planned to have
all the rotating mass balanced, the block decked for a boost in
compression, and all the other things necessary to make for a
solid rebuilt engine. I delivered the camshaft to ISKY Racing
Cams who will be coming up with a suitable regind to gain more
torque to help with the car's hauling duties.
Rob
Hard At Work
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While
the engine is at the machinist, Rob and I have taken on
the duty of restoring the suspension. We removed the whole
front clip in order to do the job properly. Once all the
sheet metal was gone, I toredown the front suspension while
Rob tackled the job of cleaning and beadblasting the suspension
components. Once I had a bare frame, I donned the goggles,
mask and grinder with a |
wire wheel and brought the frame down to bare metal. We will be
treating the frame and suspension components with POR-15, which
can be painted directly over rust. This will be my first experience
with their products, so I'll be sure to let you know how they
work out for us. Today, I used their Metal Ready to etch the bare
metal parts. POR-15 works differently than other paints, so having
a properly treated surface for it to adhere to is key.
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another front, we decided to remove the dashboard and inner
window surrounds to prepare and paint them. Rob and I took
a field trip to the paint store and Rob spent some time
looking through old paint chip books looking for the colors
that he wanted to use. The outside of the car will be finished
in Air Command – a deep burgundy/maroon. The interior
parts will be sprayed Topaz Tan |
Prepped
Frame
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Metallic. Rob will tackle the stripping, once again, while I start
the reassembly process of the suspension as soon as the parts
arrive.
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