1951/53 De Soto Canadian delivered Ute help

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum, however have seen discussions over time. My questions are centred on a supposed 1953 De Soto Ute, of so called Canadian origin, delivered to Australia, that I'm looking to purchase. The ute is in need of a full resto but have some stumbling points that need addressing before I hand over the cash.
The ute was stripped some years back then sat for nearly 5 years. In that time parts have been lost and the resto needs to start over again. Bits and pieces can be sort over time, but the item of my concern is there are no compliance plates of any type as I've been told they have all have been lost. I've tried to find the serial number on the chassis with no result. Help locating this would be appreciated. However, I have found an Engine Number and I was told it is the original engine. The Engine Number starts with SP24 2 ***** which I believe is a DeSoto Plymouth of around 1953. Therefore, any assistance tracking the engine number to a serial number or any other assistance would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Welcome aboard, we take all sorts here, a de soto might be a challenge. Compliance plates for that vintage should not be a problem because they were only manufacturers plates back then compliance plates for government regulation came in around 1970 I think. The old rego number would be the best thing to know

What state are you in?

The De Soto like all Chrysler products should have the vehicle serial number either stamped on top of the firewall under the back edge of the bonnet or commercial vehicles on the left hand side of the chassis rails beside the front wheel. These chassis stampings can be very light and a thin coat of paint can disguise them.

I have been down this road many times. Model T Fords for instance never had chassis numbers but went on engine numbers but of course they all were replaced at some time! Other vehicles have light surface rusted chassis rails sufficient to obliterate stampings.

Suggestion 1. In Queensland (and I believe other states) a pre-VIN vehicle that the roadworthy certificate people mark down as "Not found" in the VIN/Chassis Number box on the certificate will be allocated a "VIN" number by the Transport Department after they have checked the engine number is not on the stolen register national data base. As this only started in the last 20 years they will not find yours.

Suggestion 2. To save all this hassle, after you scrub paint off and look over every inch and find nothing, a set of metal punches from Trade Tools will soon have an eye-pleasing number on the chassis rail.

Suggestion 3. If you are really precious and wish to spend money an authorised engineer can allocate a number on a blue plate.

Lang

PS Just looked at a DeSoto site and see two more possible places for a number. Firstly on the chassis rail just before the kick-up over the back axle. Secondly (and most likely) in the door jamb on the pillar either left or right front doors.

Thanks Sarge, I understand the DeSoto is the half sister to the Dodge but it has good bones. I asked that question but as this ute has had 2 different owners doing the resto, no one has any idea of a past rego, except to say they think it was a Qld Farm ute at one point. I'd be happy to have it rebirthed and given a new manufacturers plate but just wanted it to be as accurate as possible. I was told this could be done easily if I found the serial number on the chassis but just can't find that either. Hence my dilemma.

Oz

They never had detachable ID plates (apart from model/paint code etc). The vehicle serial was stamped "somewhere" in the body or chassis.

Lang

Correction: They did have detachable plates but for ease of reference in accessible places. These were backed up by permanent stamped numbers on the chassis or body.

Thanks Lang for this and the previous reply. I'm in Qld and your 3 suggestions are noted and agree #1 is a long shot. I did roll around under this ute for an hour with a piece of sand paper and as you said I could be there all day taking paint off. I looked at the Chassis on the front left and right and found nothing. Didn't spend allot of time on the back so will look at that next time. It seems all ID plates were taken off to soda/sand blast 5 years ago and nothing done since. Nothing on the door jamb either. Thanks for the replies.

Sorry, I got so excited I posted the DeSoto info on the Dodge 775 thread. Here is a good way to officially christen your DeSoto.

Firstly. This is probably what your missing plates looked like. Good info but nothing to identify the chassis number.


Now for the christening. These are 30's to 50's Chrysler ID plate designs all ready on Ebay for you to sprinkle with holy water. The serial number one on the left will get you past with flying colours without stamping body or chassis. The first thing they look for these days is a data plate.

Here are the proper VIN's for your era DeSoto. Canadian numbers in last column. Your vehicle would have been a base sedan of some sort and ute bodied by Richards in South Australia so pick the closest car to your model. Any number in the series would work. The chances of you picking the same number as another DeSoto registered in Australia are about as great as winning Lotto 3 weeks in a row.

I am presuming you have a car based ute. If it is a light truck based ute all the same info but I will give you the truck numbers to choose from.


Lang

Here are the DeSoto truck numbers. Last column tells you if USA or Canada Build.

These are serial plates for easy reference and from my reading they back up the stamped numbers "somewhere" on the body or chassis. If you only had a new, sorry refreshed, plate you would have absolutely no registration problems.