Johan 1960 Desoto Chassis

[LennyB]

I'm looking at rebuilding this Desoto and thinking about upgrading it with a better chassis. This one is as basic as it gets. For options I'm aware of the AMT 1957 Chrysler 300 and 1957 Plymouth Fury and thinking about using one of them. Have to actually check the wheelbase on them.

 

Does anyone have any advice as to which one would be better or is there another option that I'm overlooking. Thanks.

[Mark]

The annual kit had an incorrect chassis, it's a full length frame when the 1960 Chrysler cars (except Imperial) were Unibody.  The USA Oldies reissue had a more correct chassis, though everything is molded in much as with the annual pictured.

[Carmak]

If you are looking for a level of detail that involves a better chassis I would start with a 60 Desoto re-issue so you get the opening hood.

As Mark mentioned the 60 Desoto used a sub-frame style chassis. A marginally better Mopar sub-frame is in the MPC 65-66 Dodge B-body kits.

[StevenGuthmiller]

As it appears that the ‘60 Desoto used a “Uni-body” chassis, you should be able to substitute nearly any later Mopar Uni-body style chassis, with the possibility of some minor alterations.

That might include some of the more recent B-body kits such as the Revell Chargers or AMT Roadrunners/GTXs should you want something much more detailed than a vintage kit chassis.

Here are a number of ‘60 Desoto chassis photos to give you an indication of what to strive for.

 

 

Here are a couple of engine bay photos that may help you along your journey as well.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

As it appears that the ‘60 Desoto used a “Uni-body” chassis, you should be able to substitute nearly any later Mopar Uni-body style chassis, with the possibility of some minor alterations.

That might include some of the more recent B-body kits such as the Revell Chargers or AMT Roadrunners/GTXs should you want something much more detailed than a vintage kit chassis.

I'm with Steve here.

I'm kindof a stickler for some details, less so with others. The most standout differences between various Mopar unibody chassis are the subframes and fuel tanks...and nobody but a real Mopar aficionado will catch them or much else, IMHO.

Get a unibody chassis under it that looks the part and has the right wheelbase, and don't worry too much about the small stuff.

Odds are the tooling designers didn't get all the details like stamped stiffening ribs, brackets, and bolt placement dead on anyway.

I used a Lindberg '64 Dodge 330 chassis (right, below) to replace the "correct" blobular unibody chassis Johan supplied under their '61 Phoenix (left, below), and it looks good enough for 98% of the most realism-obsessed modelers out there...including me.

Edited November 29, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[restoman]

6 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I'm with Steve here.

I'm kindof a stickler for some details, less so with others. The most standout differences between various Mopar unibody chassis are the subframes and fuel tanks...and nobody but a real Mopar aficionado will catch them or much else, IMHO.

Get a unibody chassis under it that looks the part and has the right wheelbase, and don't worry too much about the small stuff.

Odds are the tooling designers didn't get all the details like stamped stiffening ribs, brackets, and bolt placement dead on anyway.

I used a Lindberg '64 Dodge 330 chassis (right, below) to replace the "correct" blobular unibody chassis Johan supplied under their '61 Phoenix (left, below), and it looks good enough for 98% of the most realism-obsessed modelers out there...including me.

A few years ago, I used a gluebombed '64 Lindberg Dodge chassis under my '60 Desoto rebuilder. I don't have any pics, and the car is painted but not put together yet, but as I recall, the chassis was a pretty decent fit as-is, with only a few simple mods.

[LennyB]

Thanks guys for all your input. I hadn’t even thought of the unibody issue. I have some Lindbergh Plymouth’s set aside for just this occasion so I’ll go with one of them. Did it once already with my JoHan 63 Fury 

Great pics Steve, they will help a lot.  

[Shark]

Just check, the Lindberg 1964 Plymouth and Dodge have slightly different wheelbase.

[LennyB]

1 hour ago, Shark said:

Just check, the Lindberg 1964 Plymouth and Dodge have slightly different wheelbase.

Thanks for that reminder. I know the Johan 64 Plymouth and Dodge were different from one another. Wonder if that goes for the Lindberg too.

[Ulf]

This one might just be confusing but I hope it inspires somebody at MCF. The text in the magazine is pretty bland but it is a mix with Chrysler 1960. One of four 1960 DeSoto convertibles, all built outside the factory. It’s a nice car.

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, Ulf said:

This one might just be confusing but I hope it inspires somebody at MCF. The text in the magazine is pretty bland but it is a mix with Chrysler 1960. One of four 1960 DeSoto convertibles, all built outside the factory. It’s a nice car.

Nice photo. Thanks.

It shows the location of the stamped stiffening ribs for anyone who wants to go the extra miles to get all that right.

[gtx6970]

On 11/29/2024 at 10:58 AM, LennyB said:

Thanks for that reminder. I know the Johan 64 Plymouth and Dodge were different from one another. Wonder if that goes for the Lindberg too.

Yes.

The Plymouth kit is just slightly shorter in overall length and wheelbase 

Edited December 1, 2024 by gtx6970

[StevenGuthmiller]

I used the Lindberg ‘64 Plymouth chassis some years ago as a replacement for the slab chassis of my Johan ‘65 Plymouth Fury lll.

I seem to recall having to make some minor adjustments for wheel base, but I definitely remember having to basically scratch build the entire engine bay!! 😛

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

[LennyB]

Nice looking Fury Steve, I have a couple of 1966 Fury's I want to get to some day.

 

As for the Desoto it doesn't have an engine compartment at this point so I guess that's on the agenda also.

[Wickersham Humble]

I just finished a '60 Chrysler body that I salvaged from my own ineptness (back in 1961) that originally had that chassis -- funny 'torsion bars' and all -- and I used a Revell Duke's Charger chassis and interior tub with some success. It's a little narrow, and I should have lengthened the wheelbase about 1/8", but in other respects was a good fit for a 'door slammer' CHP cruiser of that era!  I like steel-axle builds, because it's harder to accidentally glue a wheel stationary; they usually roll okay with steel.  I subsitute brads on the front, cut to length, for the spindles which takes a bit of adapting, but gets past the axle-through-engine bugaboo.  

I am finishing a '62 AMT T-Bird Syline kit I began in '61 as a Bonneville/streetable special (Yellow; I call it 'Big Bird', with phantom CAT Diesel V-16 and twin-turbos in the trunk) and pressed the Chizler JoHan chassis into service, as it will be a curbside presentation.  Waste not; want less!  Wick