1960 Desoto

I just picked this up from a friend, his uncle had started on it but passed away a few years ago. What is the front suspension he has grafted in it?

'76 K Car or some such?

The motor mounts look to be v8 and appear to be factory and not added so maybe Volare or Aspen maybe?He retained as much of the factory frame as he could so the core support will bolt back on in the stock location

Its an F,M & J, k member, pretty much all the same from a 76 & up Volari/Aspen (F body), or the 81-88 5th Ave/Diplomat (M body), or the 81-83 Cordoba/Mirada (J Body).

Had different motor brackets for the slant 6 or the 318/360 small block (only motor choices, your K member is a V8 K member), and some had bigger diameter sway bars and bigger brakes. The famous Dodge squad cars of the mid-late 80s had this suspension.

They gave a nice soft ride (unless you upped for the biggest sway bay). They were not a bad option for updating an old car/truck about 15 years ago. Gene

Not so sure that the FMJ is appropriate for such a heavy car. You might want to do some investigating before doing much of anything.

All FMJ's had the same sized disc brakes, only the drums varied and it's NA for this thread.

You can add the larger 11.75" discs if you want.

It'll handle the weight just fine.

It'll handle the weight fine and it's not hard to toss a big block in if wanted......

Does beg the question why...

Kevin

15 years ago, the FMJ subframe was the easiest option if you wanted to upgrade the front end brakes and suspension and keep it all Mopar.

The 60 Desoto would have had a torsion bar front suspension, but the original power steering unit left room for a lot of improvement. There was no easy way to accomplish that improvement. If the car was a non-power steering car, given the original power steering units draw backs, clipping the front end was about the only option back then, which brings us back to my first statement: 15 years ago, the FMJ crossmember was the easiest option. Gene

Did that on a 66 D100 truck a couple decades ago. Like Gene said, only way to do it back then. I had a big block in the truck, no issues.

So would the inner fenders be part of the front structure on these early cars? Do I need to maybe add a support from the front of the rail to the firewall? Car will have a 440 in it

It does need a windshield. Bobs classic auto glass from Oregon has them,any other options? As far as a rear bumper,what years are the same? Does the Chrysler,Dodge or Plymouth from that year share any parts?

My son has a 57 Dodge, and we had a 62 Chrysler here for a short time, both have pretty substantial front frame rails, I doubt the inner fenders add much support. On my son's car, the inner fenders are basically curved tin that fills the gap between the outer fender and the frame rail. The passenger side holds the battery, and the passenger side holds the air cleaner assembly.

Can't help on the windshield, but from what I've seen most of the brands have their own version of bumpers, and some are more narrow then others. Others may bolt up, but won't match the surrounding sheet metal. The sort of good news for you is that the Desoto line was nearing the end of its production (I believe 62 was the last production year), that would mean that the bumpers may have carried on for a couple of years unchanged, or slightly changed. A lot of Chrysler stuff was nearly the same from 1960 through 1962 model years. Gene

A 60 Chrysler bumper should work for you if you can't find a Desoto bumper.

Kevin

1961 was the last year of Desoto.

The inner fender wells are not structural. But they mount the battery box, starter relay, and voltage regulator on the left fender well. The wire harness has wires that go to ground at the voltage regulator bolt.

The rear bumper shape is the same on 1960 Chrysler but they had different or deleted bumper guards, not that big bumper guard in the center like that desoto picture. I have a 69 Chrysler I can measure or take photos of the brackets underneath to see if it will fit your car.