Mike's 1929 DeSoto Modified

This is a 1929 DeSoto modified I am working on for my friend Mike. The car was originally built by Kirk Jones (known to some as Kirk!). The car was never completed and when Kirk decided to build the Legion Special he took all the pieces off of this to run on the Special. He then sold what was left to my friend Mike. Mike brought it to me a few weeks ago to get it rolling. 

 Here is how it looked when we first brought it over to my place

Kirk built the perimeter of the frame consisting of front and rear crossmembers. The front runs a suicide perch. None of the suspension, motor, trans, etc has been mounted yet.

The car was originally set up for an inline six. Mike found this nice 250 Chevy to run and it will be mated to a 350 transmission. 

After figuring out what kind of stance he wanted and getting the motor tacked in its proper place I commenced on making the motor mounts. Mike wanted something simple and this is what I came up with. Here is one side in progress.

And here they are all done 

The left side mount took a little more time to make due to the offset mounts on the motor

All bolted up

Next up is building the tranny crossmember.

While my tank gently weeps

Finally finished up the tank. You can see what it started out looking like HERE. 

Finished the first of the patches after hammer and dollying some life back into it. This patch had four different curves to it took some time just to make.

Next of the patches. I wanted to get the nose of the tank to sit a little lower. You can see my pie cut to achieve this. Lowering the tank however created some clearance problems with one of the bolt heads on the motor so I shortened up the bead on this side of the tank. I love the little mods you see on bikes and cars that 99.9% of people would never notice until you parked it next to a stocker.

Next up. Eliminating where the original tank mounts were mounted. 

After some hammer welding.

When I tore a part the tank the inside was covered with rust after years of neglect. I got rid of a lot of this with a wire wheel. I then let it soak in a molasses bath(1 part molasses/5 parts water). It cleaned it up really well and I definitely recommend it. I will line the tank with a tank liner so the rust won't come back.

Welded up. You can see how the bead on the right is about 2" shorter than stock and the new mounts.

Mounted up

During the surgery I lowered the tunnel about 3/8" and took about another 1/4" off the bottom of the tank to get it to look "right" in my eyes.

Still playing with ride height.

Lowered 2.25"

Heavy Metal

Jesus Christ Superstar, Ritchie Blackmore, Steve McQueen and Mickey Mouse. Nuff said.

Larry Watson

I just had to feature a few photos exposing the work of Larry Watson. The man had an eye for detail, style, and color. He definitely paved the way and pushed the boundries. Photos are courtesy of Rik Hoving. Enjoy!

The first known lace paint job done on a car

One of the first veiling paint jobs

The Master himself. RIP.