Customs 53' Victoria Build Thread

Good evening HAMB! This is my 1953 victoria that I am going to start tearing into.

100% stock, running flatty, 3 speed. interior is in all there, knobs you name it.

I'm thinking of a static drop. 3 inch blocks in the rear and aerostar springs in the front.

First up is a paint strip and rust repair. Floors are in good condition. Trunk is solid, Rusty rockers and fender corners.

Clearing out the garage to have space to have all the parts laid out. ( wife aint gonna like that )Once i start the tear down this weekend ill post more pics of it.

thx

-Chris

 

Also know where i can find patch panels of this old girl?

 

Best of luck to you on your project ,by the look of those rear quarters you have some major repairs to do...

 

That's gonna be a beauty. Looking forward to more pics. When I got my 56, I could put my hand through the holes in the quarters.
Join the 52-56 Ford group on here, it's the most active group for that year Fords.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=332

EMS has patch panels for your car and they're HAMBers.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=22626

 

thanks! for the links! this is going to be a fun time with my welder and cutoff wheel.

 

Its not much but im still on crutches so... pulled the trim on the front fender and took it to bare metal to see what was under there.

then hit it with flat black rust-o paint. Gonna work it a little at a time. From to back left to right.

should hit the door tomorrow.

 

don't push yourself too much so you can get off crutches sooner. cool project

 

forgot to attach the pics.

 

Very nice, I really like '53's. The last of the flatties. Keep up the great work.

 

thinking about putting 54 trim and keeping the 53 rear trim on... thoughts?

 

There's a '53 Victoria in our local junkyard I keep wanting to get. These are great looking cars.

 

My very first car back in 1958 was a 53 Vicky, great car. I dropped the front by flipping the spindle supports and de-arching the rear springs. Went through a couple of flat heads and several three speeds. Loved that car.

Rex

 

Beautiful Ford Rex! Thanks for the pictures.

 

The great 50th Anniversary Vicky, looks like a sweet ride, please keep the 53 grill, the worlds most beautiful ribbed for your pleasure, bullet center grill bar. Rex, great to see the red Vicky, was always one of my faves in our old Grand Island cruzin days. I have a buddy with one that he is stalled on and talkin about sellin. Rock on dudes. ~sololobo~

 

Here's my High School car about 1963 or so. I loved that car but hated the flathead.

 

Nice 53 ford ! Really cool cars!

 

im gonna keep the 53 grill i just would like to replace the 53 trim with 54 trim and still keep the rear trim as well.

update! its going to the blasters this week. wife came out complaining about the dust and with a new born in the house... she told me to buck up and spend the dough and keep the dist outta the garage!

 

My new score on CL. picked this set up, owner bottles 5 different tips from cutting to welding tips. face shields and rods.

gonna be used for leading the body.

also scored some vintage body files and curved sanding blocks and a snap on DA. all for the grand total of 100.00 god i love craigslist.

still trying to find some paddles.

 

3 inch lowering blocks just came in super stoked! thanks to everyone on the H.A.M.B. that recommended the 3 inch over the 4". and where to get them from!

-Chris

 

Nice Car Chris, Looks Like It'll Be A Lot Of Fun For You & Your Buddies., Great CL Score Too!

 

Yea you better be helping me lol. wife's already got a room for you to crash in.

 

You have blocks for the rear, what are you planning for the front? Or is it going to be a tail dragger?

Rex

 

i have aerostar springs for the front. from the threads i have read here it should get me down another 3 inches. Also the reason I went with the 3 inch blocks instead of the 4" is i dont have to tunnel the rear yet.... i'm still debating on going bags.

Thoughts?

-Chris

 

Chris,
There are actually a couple of ways that are fairly easy, one is to knock out the rivets that hold the lower spring plate to the lower A arm, then add a 1 to 1-1/2 inch spacer block between the A arm and the plate, replace the rivets with good grade 8 bolts and "Bobs your uncle"!

The other way, which I did on my 53, is to take off the spindle supports and turn them upside down and then put the left side on the right and the right side on the left. Now getting alignment can be a challenge, I had a friend that worked at an alignment shop and he used the "blue wrench" to heat them and bend into alignment. I put over 75,000 miles on the car with that set up and never had a problem, except it was damn low.

Your springs sound like a good idea also, especially if you can get 3 inches out of them, you will have to trim the bump rubbers.

Rex

 

Rex,

Thank you for the information!. i wonder what it would look like with a flip spindle drop and 3" inch lowering coils.

UPDATE: i finally got off Crutches and am no mobile!

let the paint stripping begin.

 

Also looking for a 56 buick bumper *hint hint.

 

here's my old Vic....a HAMBer has finally got it now and has 'er back on the show road...

 

Dude what a great start. Nice work going to keep up with this post...

 

Always had a soft spot for 53 Vics. I owned one back in the 70's that was customized by the Clarkaiser shop in Detroit in the mid fifties. That one was chopped. The Rikster has pics of it on his custom site. Glad to say that the car is still around even though I no longer own it.

 

I've got a '56 Special parts car with bumpers, you need a front or rear? Shipping might kill it, but not necessarily, I can check.