1951 DeSoto Suburban Owner's Report


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Posted by Matt Wilson [162.158.69.102] on Sunday, January 08, 2017 at 02:01:19 :

Maybe some of you have seen this. It is truly a great read, detailing one family's experience with their 1951 Desoto Suburban with a 251 engine (later rebuilt with a 265 crank and rods). The article was written in the mid-1970's. The owner drove it all over the country for at least 25 years, hauling a travel trailer and cruising at 3200 rpm, often at full throttle. His article implies that he even took it up to 3600 rpm at times (near the bottom, he says the engine is "mentally redlined at 3600 rpm"). The gross combined weight of the car, trailer and cargo was about 8400 lbs.

At the time of the writing, the car had 175,000 miles, with one engine rebuild occurring at 82,000 miles and one engine disassembly (I don't think he stated whether or not he replaced anything) at 85,000 miles. He had to make a few mods in the very beginning to address overheating issues, but aside from that, the car provided great service and it's a testament to the durability and reliability of the car and of Chrysler engineering of the day.

Near the end of the article, it's mentioned that many technical aspects of this car are covered in greater detail in Southern California's "Free Wheeling News," Volume IV, No. 3, postmarked October, 1974. I don't suppose anyone has a copy of this article? Supposedly it discusses further details that would be useful to someone embarking on a rebuild of this type of engine.



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