Features Bought myself a '53 Ford

My '64 ignition key I have to wiggle it and hold my tongue out of the left corner of my mouth right or forget about it.

 

Congratulations on a fine 53. Happy motoring!

 

Aha, yes we do have another name for those steel wool pads with soap.
Will give it a try.

 

I had a 54 Ford years back ,paint looked about like yours all original paint just weathered and a little surface rust like yours.
I first presure washed it ,then mixed up a bucket of hot soapy water and as I went around the car , from the top..down ,I put some comet cleanser on the wash mit and washed a area ...shook some more on the mit washed more ...repeat.
keeping the area that you have already done rinsed off, work your way around the car also do the same to the chrome, windows , rubber ...when done fire the pressure washer back up and rinse the car well , dont forget the wheel wells and the stainless trim to get the dirt and tree needles out from under it .
when done dry it off.
then finish up with a quik trip over the car with a buffer and its done.
also if you take some fine wet /dry sandpaper with you as you make your way around the car and get to a area of surface rust ..lightly wet sand it, not to metal but just enough to make the orange rust stain come off and the paint shine through...when car is all dry then you can hit them areas of rust with some rust kill, the rust will turn black then you fog a little primer on tne area ...that will hold you till you deside what your going to do with it ....it worked for me and it was several years before the "patina" thing hit...I was just trying to make the car a little more percentable to drive around as I worked on it.

Sent from my SM-T307U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Great tips @rudestude , thank you.

 

So, I got the trunk open and have figured out that one key is for the doors and the other for the trunk.
The one for the doors should be the one for the ignition too, right?

Also tore down the front brakes, a bit dusty but not bad at all and everything moves freely.
Hose and cylinder is getting replaced. Still have to decide if I'm going to replace the shoes and springs since I already have new ones or save those for the future.
Picture before tear down.



Trunk was full of different parts (which I already knew) and I found this manifold in there.
Tag says LH so I'm guessing this is for use with dual exhaust?

 

That is at least the case on my 56.

 

Probably is here too since the car seems pretty unmolested.
Sprayed some penetrating oil in the iginition to let it soak, then wiggle the key around a bit in a few days.

 

As previously pointed out, 1 key for ignition and doors and the other is for trunk and glove compartment. Unless someone has changed something out, in which case, you could possibly have 5 different locks! lol

 

Yes Sir you are correct. That manifold will replace the drivers side that currently exits out of the front and crosses over underneath the engine and re-connects to the front of the right side manifold. When using that manifold for dual exhaust you will need to fabricate a block off plate for the front of the right manifold where the crossover now connects. 1/8" plate will work but 1/4" will pretty much insure it will never warp and leak. While going through your brakes be sure to tear apart and clean the adjuster. Those fine threads will corrosion up with brake shoe dust, water, and road dust and lock up. Take them apart, wire wheel the threads, lubricate the threads with "Never Seize" or an equivalent also the end that just sits on the end where the male end goes into the female part. Once you take it apart you will see how it works. Anti Seize is a silver grease that when you get it on you it has to wear off. So be careful.

 

Got the front brakes together with new stuff.
Discovered that one of the wheel bearings need to be replaced.

 

How bad did the race look? That is a big chunk out of that roller. Did you find the chunk while cleaning everything so it cannot damage the new bearings. Brakes are looking great!

 

I am not sure I have seen a roller come apart like that before.

 

Uh, no "self-adjusters" on a '53, although you are correct about cleaning the threads on the manual adjusters. I have a '51 with the same brakes, and adjust them yearly. (That's what the funny looking "bent screwdriver" thing you found in the bottom of the tool box is for).

 

^^^^^^ No shit to both!

 

Please do not post mis-information on the H.A.M.B., especially where foreign members that may be unfamiliar with American vehicles are concerned.

Watch this video :

Do you see any parts in it that are not present in the O/P's photos?

 

Take a hike back to where ever you came from tubman. And I have reported your dis respect.

 

The missing chunk from the roller fell out while I was cleaning the bearing.
No damage to the race in the hub so I ordered a new bearing today that will arrive tomorrow.

Also got the front wheels painted, put on some new Firestone's and did a testfit on the car along with the hubcaps, I like how it looks and can't wait until it's back on the ground.

I had already decided that I was going to paint the wheels red before the car arrived here, and apparently some previous owner had the same idea as I since the outer lip had been painted red sometime long ago.
So it kinda feels like this was meant to be.

 

Looks great!

 

Forums are great sometimes.
Posted the picture of the brakes over on Fordbarn and a guy pointed out that I got short shoes both front and rear but the rear is supposed to be longer.

Will need to swap a shoe with the other side.

 

The wheels look great!

 

Nice '53! I've had two '53s, a super original '53 convertible with a new Genuine Ford top and then 10 years later a nice gennie 1 owner Victoria hardtop, which I customized with some mild facelifts: Shaved hood, deck, door handles, '55 DeSoto grille, frenched headlights/taillights, '55 Olds lenses..Foxcraft skirts and Aerostar springs front, de-arched rears, mild engine mods, stick-O.D.
Oh, and now I'm on my 11th '54 Ford COUPE. (all 11 were Coupes)

 

Got the new wheel bearing today, swapped the brake shoes so I got the one with the longer lining towards the rear of the car, adjusted the brakes and down on the ground to have a look with the wheels.

Looks like it's been lowered a bit, haven't even settled yet from driving.



Installed the new master cylinder too.
Next step is rear brakes and refurbish the rear wheels, then on to fuel system, cooling system and try out the electrics.



This is fun, luckily easter is coming up and with that a few days off work so I can spend some more time on this.

 

Rear brakes all done and bled, still need to bleed the front brakes.



Put the rear wheels back on and let the car down on the ground.
Looking good in the garage atleast, we'll see how it looks from a bit of distance later on.



And then I just had to pour some gasoline in the carb and turn the key.
Didn't take many turns on the starter for it to fire up, so fun even if it only lasted a couple of seconds.
Cranking was really slow even for 6 volt so I'm going to replace the battery cables with new ones and see if that helps.

 

Nice car!! the larger gauge cables you can find the better. Also cleaning all the grounds will help maybe running a couple of extra grounds. I got my heavy duty 6 volt cables at a place called tractor supply not sure whats equivalent in Sweden. Ive also seen people make them out of welding cable. If down the road you decide to switch to 12 volt from 6 the starter should be fine as is. I converted my 52 F1 to 12 volt and the starters been fine for at least 5 years since I did it. Enjoy that fine 53.

 

Thank you.
Yes I've heard about using welding cable too, I'll see what I can find around here.

 

Pulled the gas tank today, it's getting a good clean both inside and outside before a coat of paint and a new sender.
Amazing how rust free this car actually is, I'm not used to that with old cars with the climate we have here.

 

Tank is still out of the car because I'm waiting on a new fuel level sender, which should arrive next week.


So I started looking at the wiring and a lot of it is still in pretty good condition so I have decided to repair what is needed and just replace the headlight/park light/horn wiring with new stock looking harnesses from Dennis Carpenter, atleast for this season.

Some of the bad wiring I replaced during this weekend.



The thermostat housings gaskets needed replacing so I made my own gaskets for that, came out pretty good I think.
Brushed some Permatex on them before installing, should keep the water in the engine I hope.

 

Guys in the 1952-59 Ford Group have added self adjusting brakes to 1952-54 Fords as they use the same front and rear brake shoes as 1967-70 Ford Mustang V8 cars you use the Mustang hardware and self adjuster kits like you see in this video.

 

Good to know, but not pertinent here.