1957 DeSoto Fireflite

This is a 1957 DeSoto Fireflite convertible that came home with me on February 26th, 2017. I had known about his car for years as it belonged to a friend of mine. I absolutely love the car but unfortunately the Sunbeam Tiger had to go to make room for it in the garage. It wasn't an even trade as the Sunbeam was 13 feet long and this monster is 18 feet long! I had to do some serious rearranging. This DeSoto has a 295 hp 341 hemi and a 3 speed push button Torqueflite transmission. Immediate plans call for a good clean-up and detail and then figure out what it needs long term.

There is nothing nicer than a finned car.

Seats are a little dirty but otherwise in great shape.

Canvas top is new and also in great shape.

Pictures below are the day the car was loaded up to come home with me.

This is where I found the car. Sitting under a carport. It lived here for the last 6 years.

The car was rarely if ever driven as it was buried behind a couple of other cars.

That's my buddy Dave Lawerence on the left. Couldn't have done any of this without him. When I say "we did this" on the car it usually means Dave did most the work. The car hadn't run in a while so we came equipped with a can of gas and some tools. Poured a little gas in the float bowl and it came right to life but soon died. Put a gallon in the tank and then tried again and it fired up again and idled nicely. That was a big break because we didn't want to have to use a come along to get it up on the trailer.

That's Dan Driskell on the left and me on the right. Dan owned the car from 2011 until I bought it from him.

Dave making sure it's tied down.

Home at last.

I'm the third owner of this Fireflite. The car was originally purchased new on May 27th, 1957 from Arndorfer, Inc in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the sum of $3,800. That was a high priced car back then. 36 monthly payments of $99.39 were all it took to become the sole property of Joseph Kramasz. I'm still gathering all the facts but I know the car was originally delivered to a dealer in Erie Pennsylvania with the name of Champion Auto Sales, Inc. on May 9th, 1957.

As can be seen below the car was heavily optioned. This is the info that was received from FCA Historical Services that verifies the authenticity of the car.

I'm hoping to install one of these steering wheel watches in my car. I have the clock but can't find the correct original mount.

3/5/207 updates: Had Detail Dave come over and polish the car. Looks a lot better. The color varies in these pictures but the car looks great now.

This is what the engine used to look like.

Getting a little paint in the correct color.

5/25/17 updates I've torn apart the underside of the car to do brakes, exhaust, and suspension. I've managed to find NOS ball joints, bushings, tie rods and just about everything else needed to rebuild the front end.

All 4 drums were turned true and wheels were powder coated. 8.00" 14" Goodyear Super Cushions were my tire of choice. Bias ply tires are not my favorite but they didn't make a bias look radial in the correct size

It was a lot of work but I cleaned and painted the complete underside of the car.

I must have removed 20 pounds of dirt from the x frame.

The torsion mount anchors and bolts were in good condition and just needed a good cleaning.

The gas tank was removed for cleaning. I was amazed how clean it was inside. No rust at all. I had tested the sender and it registered correctly but have since found the float is sunk so the tank needs to come back out.

Brake backing plates were powder coated. New shocks all the way around

All the brake lines are stainless steel from Classic Tube. Rubber lines were also replaced and were sourced at Napa

New ball joints were installed on the powder coated control arms.

9/6/207 update The brakes are coming together. All hardware was cleaned in Evaporust and brake springs were replaced with NOS pieces. Shoes were radiused to match the drums. Wheel cylinders were all replaced with parts from the local Napa store.

Rear 5 coil brake springs above go in the loop while the front 4 coil springs below go in to the hole

Finally got the Benrus steering wheel watch installed. It winds itself as you turn the wheel. It will keep time for about 8 days if you don't drive the car.

Slowly getting the engine compartment back together. Have a new battery and cables, all new hoses and belts and the various brackets and pulleys have all been powder coated. The radiator was removed and rodded out and cleaned.

For the first time in years the power top operated. Had to add a little ATF but it works well and is now in the down position where it should be for a convertible.

Love the look of the bias ply Goodyear Super Cushion tires

The radio didn't work so it was removed for repair and cleaning. This is the 7 button radio with search tuning. Press the button and it will search and find the net station.

Believe it or not its pretty crowded behind the dash with not a lot of room to work on wiring. Having the radio out allowed me to remove the brown contact cement residue seen above the radio opening.

I think I need a new speaker.

Radio pod was painted correct shade of Argent. Below is a video of the working radio. Radio looks and functions as original but sounds amazing! Using SAE-quality components designed and built by Detroit's automakers, this conversion will far outperform and outlast the original radio

FMR-2/BTU-2 Conversion

AM/FM Stereo. Tuning knob, buttons, seek bars, etc., operate as original but performance is digital.
Cutting-edge Class S audio amp is cool and efficient, provides up to 180 watts (45x4).*
Switchable Loudness contour improves fidelity at low volume levels.
AM/FM switching, balance/fader, other adjustments are performed easily with front panel controls.**
Rear-mounted Audio Input jack lets you play accessories through stereo.
Stereo is fully protected from extreme cold/heat, voltage transients, and improper wiring.
Warranted for one year -- although PCB failures are virtually nonexistent.
Bluetooth: Fully integrated with the FMR Stereo, FCC Certified, supports the new 4.1 format. Includes Voice Command for easy operation.
USB: Allows playback of MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis from flash drive. Can also charge cell phone.
BTU-2 Option includes Bluetooth AND USB
Line Outs for adding external amps. Jacks include front left/right, rear left/right, and mono subwoofer.

https://youtu.be/OOSvAYXUItM

Clock was removed for repair and cleaning

Rear ash trays were rusty to begin with but after a soaking in Evaporust they look much better.

Sometime the small projects are the most rewarding. Got the courtesy lights working again. Someone had really messed up the wiring.

Don Allen aka the Gener-Nator converted the generator to an alternator. He does it using the original Auto-Lite case and pulley. Looks and works great and as you can see his work is second to none. The alternator is internally regulated so the old regulator can be bypassed. Initial tests show I'm getting 14.4 volts even at idle.

https://www.gener-nator.com/

Took the seats out to do some wiring. This is just a sample of what was removed. Some of it was for a trailer and some was extra wiring for the tail lights.

The dark green carpet below will be replaced with the correct lighter green loop carpet. It's on the way.

These are the colors the interior should be covered in. Future projects will include redoing everything in the correct trim code 642 vinyl.

The original AM radio has been converted to an AM/FM, Bluetooth, Hands Free device.

I recently refurbished the ARC Automatic Record Changer that came with the car. Below are a couple videos of the record player. I haven't had a chance to try it on the road but when it was playing on my work bench I moved it around and it never skipped. It plays 12 45 RPM records.

https://youtu.be/7DHhH4SQCns

https://youtu.be/3IWJPqLNmNE

All 4 hubcaps have been polished and look like new again

Here is a video of the exhaust coming through the bumper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqUdJWmvMM8

New carpet going in. Most of the original paint is still in the power seat troughs. These sections are often rusted out on old Mopars.

That red wire is for the power seats

Reproduction power seat trough is exceptional quality and came from Sweden.

That's Joeseph Kramasz below. He bought the Desoto brand new back on May 27th 1957. He had to wait a couple days to get the car because it was scheduled to be in the Milwaukee Memorial day parade. It was in the parade on the 27th and then picked up by Joe. He got pulled over on the way home for no license plates. He was able to explain that it was a new car that he was just taking home so he didn't get a citation.

Nanci Kramasz told me how she used to love to drive the car. She washed and cleaned the car often. She had 5 boys and the little ones would climb up into the convertible well when they wanted to take a nap.

This is the California home where the Desoto resided from 1961 until 2011. I had the fortune of going there this last Saturday (July 28th, 2018) to meet the Kramasz' and hear many stories about the Desoto. Joe even was able to point me in the direction in the garage where I could find some Desoto pieces. I found all four original hubcaps, a speedometer, and the porcelain spark plug tubes. Joe sold me the additional parts for a quarter. A few day later I helped him purchase a new Chrysler Pacifica. Joe says that he's so pleased with the car and the buying experience that he may even consider giving me back that 25 cents.

The above picture was one of the last before the steering wheel came off for replacement. I found a wheel on eBay that was advertised as being for a Studebaker but it was really a Desoto wheel. I had that recast so I could save mine in original condition. It came with a really nice horn ring so I saved that and had mine rechromed.

The wheel was recast by Quality Restorations in Poway California. Dennis Crooks is his name and his work is exceptional. When he does your wheel he asks you about what color you want. You can have it done to match the current color as seen on the outside of the wheel...which will have faded over time. He can also match the wheel based on the inside color that is exposed when cutting apart the original material. I had him match the unfaded original color. He has to ask because the wheel color you get back will not look exactly like the wheel color you sent him.

My last update showed the correct carpet going in. As of July 2018 I had put the seats back in.

Below are the SMS samples of the fabric colors that should be in my car.

I went up to see John Fowlie at Big M in Williams CA. He had some original green door panels and the backs seem to be unfaded. The SMS samples are a great match so I ordered enough to do my car. The picture above has the sample layed over two original door panel edges. The colors look different depending on the angle the picture was taken.

I took the Desoto to the Taste of Morgan Hill car show. Had a great time. No other Desotos of course but there was a 58 Dodge which you can see in the background.

http://www.dougscars.com/1957-desoto-fireflite.html

http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=64813&start=1&highlight=1957+Fireflite&highlightmode=1