1955 Desoto 2 Door Hard Top
As seen on Bills Atomic Garage T.V.
By Moldy Marvin, Margo McKillon and Ryan Stow of M “n” M Kustoms of Littlerock California
This
vehicle is currently registered in the State of
The vehicle was in pretty much disarray when purchased two and a half years ago. The body was pretty rough at first, but with a little pounding, some welding and some major elbow grease she has been straightened and smoothed out a good 98% and she looks great!
This is what has been done: Any and all rust and excess body filler has been removed and replaced with new steel panels and very little filler has been used where the repairs were made.
The Vehicle has been nosed, decked and shaved.
Nose seams have been braised for a real nice smooth kustom look.
The trim has been straightened and shortened in some in areas.
The door handles have been shaved, the locks were left in and work independently, the driver door opens with an Old School Jimmy.
Paint: Single semi gloss (PPG Black) Base Coat over 2 coats of Evercoat Featherfill (Black) primer. The base coat seals the primer and still gives the primer look and will allow the new owner to sand and paint the vehicle any color they wish.
Brakes: New Old Stock master cylinder has been installed, the car has brand new wheel cylinders and new shoes all around, purchased from Kanter Automotive. She’s got 15” wheels running on P205/75R15 all season radials (not new but they have plenty of mileage left in them) and are adorned with brand new stainless steel lakster moon hubs.
(We are also including 2 sets of stock Desoto hub caps that are in pretty good condition, not pictured.)
Original Stock Desoto front and rear end, coil over shocks and stock rear end and running gears.
Her Mill is an Olds 403 that was taken out of a 1970’s Trans Am and installed by the previous owner. We have no idea of the actual mileage that is on the engine but it seems to be a real strong runner and has plenty of power getting this ride down the road. The only thing we have done to the mill is to put a freshly rebuildt Holly 4 barrel on it.
Electrical: HEI distributor, all new wiring throughout done with Eazy Wire wiring harness that has been installed and loomed, new alternator and new spark plugs.
Transmission: The vehicle has a freshly rebuildt Turbo 400 automatic by Valco transmissions which includes a Mojave Green heavy duty torque converter. The fresh transmission has less than 200 miles on it and works great and is cooled by an external trans. cooler! The transmission is activated by a floor shifter that was installed by the previous owner.
Dash: The dash has been painted with a very nice metallic black with several coats of clear for protection.
All of the gauges work and have been converted to 12 Volt. Except the Gas Gauge Does Not Work, all of the wiring is in place and runs to the sending unit; we would suggest that the new owner get a new sending unit and gauge if they want to know how full the tank is!
The original AM radio Does Not Work, However we have installed a motorized antenna and have run the power wire to the new wiring harness that will accommodate the antenna;
the wiring harness will also accommodate the power for the radio. The new owner will only have to hook it up.
The Speedo is hooked up but runs about 10mph faster because of the Turbo 400 ratio.
The interior was done by the previous owner and looks like it was done back in the 70’s (Old School TJ style Black with Red Piping) the vinyl is in really good shape and has a really nice pattern;
there is some very minor cracking on the upper part of the rear seat due to the sun but it is not running and still has plenty of flexibility especially if the new owner takes care of it by keeping it clean and moisturized. The package tray is new and is covered in heavy duty indoor outdoor black carpeting.
The head liner is has some puckering in the rear but is also in pretty good shape.
Other stuff:
The hood is currently being propped with a stick. It only needs one spring on the passenger side and then it will work fine. I purchased a spring and I have one but it was from a different model and is not long enough.
The trunk is also propped by a stick, both springs are in the trunk but I don’t have the tool to tension them. The trunk is lined in New heavy duty indoor outdoor black carpet and the bed was painted with a rust preventive paint prior to laying down the carpet.
The external vent really works and is activated by a leaver in the driver and passenger compartment!
In closing:
When I purchased this car a couple of years ago I set out to build a mild Kustom and that is just what we did and we just finished it up this last week.
The car is very fresh and has only been shown a couple of times during its build.
I haven’t driven it much while owning the car because we were always working on it, I’ve just taken it out on short runs not more then 100 miles round trip, but it seems to be a good and reliable driver with plenty of power. It is very comfortable and drives very nicely.
The car has been featured on Bills Atomic Garage and the build has also been submitted to several trade magazines. Actually I would like to hang on to the car but as you can see in the background of some of the photos featured in this auction I have several other projects that I need to get to and well… We need the bucks to move forward and a vehicle like this is not necessarily ever done!
Here are some of the things that the new owner might want to do to the vehicle while enjoying it.
(1) Paint
(2) Lower the car or bag the thing.
(3) Electronic door poppers
(4) Disk brakes in the front
(5) New gas sending unit and gauge
(6) Tachometer
(7) Beef up the cooling with a larger or a new aluminum radiator (not that the car runs hot, but the Olds 403 is a much larger mill than the Firedome that was in the vehicle originally.)
(8) Maybe, but not necessary, remount the engine; the previous owner welded in the mounting brackets, they are very solid (not so clean) and it was done a long time ago, but now days I would most likely purchase an after market cross member weld that in and get some nice after market motor mounts to mount the mill.
Still, like I said the car is a runner and seems to be pretty darned reliable, something one could take to events and drive around town and be proud of!
So far everywhere I have taken her people ask what she is and we’ve gotten a plethora of thumbs up! She is a real head turner, already has a little celebrity status and still somewhat of a blank canvas for the new owner to add their own flair!
Once
again, this vehicle is currently registered in the State of
We can provide you with more photos and we have a complete web area of the build along with plenty of video to include footage of Bills Atomic Garage or if you live in Southern California and would like to take a test drive, Please feel free to email us at moldy@ratfink.org with your return email address and or phone number and we will email you a response.
Terms:
Car is sold AS IS WHERE IS WITH NO WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES.
A $1000 non refundable good faith deposit is required in cash or wire transfer. Balance due upon pick up of vehicle. If the vehicle is to be shipped, the full amount will be due before shipping. Buyer to pay all wire transfer fees.
We will assist in coordination of shipping but buyer must pay all shipping costs.
WE WILL ACCEPT CASH, CASHIER'S CHECK OR WIRE TRANSFER ONLY
To Bid On this Car Click here and Go To Our E-Bay Auction!
Thank you
Moldy Marvin
