'56 DeSoto conversion

[customline]

This project is actually finished but I think it's important to point out that if you reeeeeeeealy want a scale model of your favorite 1:1, and neither a resin nor a styrene kit exist ☹️, you might still be able to have it.  Such was my situation. 

Back in the early '70s my personal transportation was a '56 DeSoto Firedome Seville 2 door hardtop. I loved it. It was a pretty cool ride for a car nut like me.  It came to a violent end!  ?.  Some idiot stoner ? rear-ended the Gray Ghost at a red light. Split the trunk wide open and bent the frame.?

After searching many sources, I could only find a promo on Ebay and I won it for $70. But it was a four door. I figured I could settle for that. Years went by and it sat in its box while I built other projects. Then, one day, I discovered Moebius had re-tooled their '55 Chrysler 300 into a '56 300B.  I bought one figuring it was the same body as the DeSoto with different side trim, tail lights, and grille. The engine was found in the AMT '53 F- 100 kit -the only source of a DeSoto Firedome engine. All I had to do was a little kit bashing!  So, here we go....it occurred to me that the easiest way to accomplish this was to convert the Chrysler body by swapping the nose and tail lights and modify the side trim. Also, the trunk letters and chevron would need to be transferred. Just a cut and paste operation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by customline
Re-ordering photos

[customline]

The interior from the Chrysler was used and painted like a DeSoto. The dash had to be re-made to look like the DeSoto. 

[bisc63]

This is a cool conversion. I love projects like this. Good work!

[Spex84]

Very cool. That interior looks convincing, can't wait to see more!

[customline]

The AMT '53 F100 kit provided the DeSoto Firedome engine which was "weathered", as was the undercarriage. 

[customline]

I won't bore you with all the minutiae,  the body work was just the usual - lots of CA and Bondo Pro. glazing putty. Filing, sanding, etc.  Tail lights were transferred to the Chrysler and trim was modified.

[customline]

Metallic gray and white was on my 1:1 so I used Krylon gloss white and Duplicolor "Precision Gray", (a Nissan color.) 

[customline]

I Added a little rust for authenticity and there she is ?the end.

[Modlbldr]

Nice conversion! I have a resin two door convertible and had the idea to use the 56 Chrysler interior for a starting point. I'll be checking out your pics more for some references.

Later-

[bisc63]

Better and better! That chassis is junkyard perfect; looks like one you'd see rolled on its side in the ol' salvage yard back when they were junkyards! Loving this build. I got my eye on an extra Moebius '56 to convert as well, but I'm shooting for the '56 New Yorker convertible ( only 921 built ) after seeing one on the web. What a great body style!

[ewetwo]

Amazing work. Beautiful!

 

[customline]

12 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

Nice conversion! I have a resin two door convertible and had the idea to use the 56 Chrysler interior for a starting point. I'll be checking out your pics more for some references.

Later-

That convertible body you have looks like a top of the line Fireflite. You can use the Chrysler kit for the chassis and engine but your rocker covers will say "Chrysler Fire Power" . Not a big deal. The interior will be where the fun is, ? especially the dash. The DeSoto dash is totally different. There are some really good photos on the web to use as reference and you want the Fireflite version. The body differences are subtle,  it's all in the trim and that includes the interior.  My interior won't help you much, being a low end model.

I liked the Moebius kit so much I bought another one to build as a Chrysler! It's a really nice kit.

I would be very interested in seeing that build you are planning, Tom.  If you want to step up to an Adventurer, that would be awesome. See below:

[customline]

13 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Better and better! That chassis is junkyard perfect; looks like one you'd see rolled on its side in the ol' salvage yard back when they were junkyards! Loving this build. I got my eye on an extra Moebius '56 to convert as well, but I'm shooting for the '56 New Yorker convertible ( only 921 built ) after seeing one on the web. What a great body style!

Having spent much of my youth in junkyards, I must agree with you. The 1:1 I owned only made one trip to the junkyard and,  after arriving, thats probably how it looked ?. 

Those cars were big, roomy, beautiful riding cars. I had a buddy drive it once with me in the back seat to experience it first hand. You could be quite comfortable back there with miles of foot room and the cushy ride. I bought that Desoto from a friend of a friend for $175.00 around 1974. The body was showing a little rust in the usual places and the bottom was, a dirty, greasy mess like any 18 year old car. The interior was in nice shape, it had been well treated by its first owner.

Anyway, the New Yorkers differ from the 300B and there are 2 distinct versions. Is it the Saint Regis or the regular NY you want to build? 

[TooOld]

Excellent work on the conversion , really love seeing this kind of work !

[customline]

1 hour ago, TooOld said:

Excellent work on the conversion , really love seeing this kind of work !

Thanks, Bob. I really love doing this kind of work, but it can get expensive. I like to use what's "in stock" but if it's really special you don't have that luxury. It takes what it takes and I just can't do much of that sort of bashing. I had to destroy a nice promo to build it, but it was that special to me. I'm trying to figure out what to do about building a '39 Plymouth P7 coupe powered by a 330 Olds w/ Jetaway. ? 

[bisc63]

9 hours ago, customline said:

Anyway, the New Yorkers differ from the 300B and there are 2 distinct versions. Is it the Saint Regis or the regular NY you want to build? 

This is what inspired me:

[bisc63]

Very Thunderbird-ish front end, Chrysler tail.

[customline]

3 hours ago, bisc63 said:

This is what inspired me:

That's the St. Regis. Very sporty.. You may find a promo, but if you modify a 300 B , there will be some side trim work along with the obvious grille but you'll have a roller instead of a curbside promo. Oh, and the front bumper. It looks like the bumper on a '58 Plymouth. A dead ringer.  The 300B is different.  I guess they had a bunch of these bumbers left over and dumped them on the Plymouth division. Crazy, huh? If you have the 300B kit and the '58 Belvedere kit, you can check the bumper situation for fit. Wow, you got me going now.  I have both kits. Hmmmm......

Edited February 15, 2022 by customline
Added text

[customline]

Nope, I'm wrong, Rusty. The bumpers are not the same but you may be able to "marry" the Plymouth with the 300B using those massive ends and then create that little thing over the license plate and then do an Allclad II job ?.  Simple.?

Edited February 15, 2022 by customline
Added photos

[espo]

These bumpers look as if Chrysler used a three-part setup. The end parts look very much the same. The center section looks like the part that they made changes too for whatever model they were using them on. This would have been a great cost savings to produce.  

[customline]

1 hour ago, espo said:

These bumpers look as if Chrysler used a three-part setup. The end parts look very much the same. The center section looks like the part that they made changes too for whatever model they were using them on. This would have been a great cost savings to produce.  

My eyes, now, are telling me the bumper ends are not identical ( it could be my eyes ? ) but you may be able to make a fairly close replica using the  both bumpers. Those Chryslers had some ugly --- bumpers ?. 

[bisc63]

3 hours ago, customline said:

Those Chryslers had some ugly --- bumpers

I agree. The "wings" on the bumper ends don't add a thing in my book, that's why I'm omitting them on my 58 Plymouth build. I don't yet know if that was an option on these New Yorkers. I may omit them anyway, as I tend to build models to suit me, the way I'd do the car for myself if it were real, and not as strict replicas. I'm OK with 95% original! In side view, it sort of works to give visual similarity to the rear bumper, but the front view is vulgar.

[customline]

14 hours ago, bisc63 said:

I agree. The "wings" on the bumper ends don't add a thing in my book, that's why I'm omitting them on my 58 Plymouth build. I don't yet know if that was an option on these New Yorkers. I may omit them anyway, as I tend to build models to suit me, the way I'd do the car for myself if it were real, and not as strict replicas. I'm OK with 95% original! In side view, it sort of works to give visual similarity to the rear bumper, but the front view is vulgar.

Yup, I'm OK with personalization,  and vulgar is not an overstatement ?. Personally, I don't like bumpers, period.  If you need bumpers, you probably shouldn't be driving ?

[Mr. Metallic]

Nice conversion work. It helps having firsthand knowledge of the car too. Well done

[oldrevellfan]

great job!

I love the idea to modify the moebius 300 into a new-yorker !

I had the same idea with the windsor Nassau but I didn't do it.

I think the 50 ford convertible kustom grille surround should do the work, and the rear upper tail light should come from the buick 62 from AMT too...