Customs MY FIRST CAR!! 53 Ford

What's the diameter of your wheels, Jason?

 

15inch is all I know Rick! lol ..

 

Ok...good. I suspected they were 15"

Take a look at this wheelcover, Jason. You like? Or no? Be honest. I've got a set of 4. They're off a 1951 Chrysler Windsor. They're in really nice condition. All they need is some buffing to make 'em perfect. You know I'm selling most of my junk. I wouldn't get rich from selling these, though. If you'd use 'em on your Ford, you can have 'em.

And any of the rest of you guys that know if these would stick to Jason's wheels or not, please chime in. They've got the prongs that contact the wheel at the outer edge.

 

Back side.

 

I can't say 100% for sure, but I'd bet a dollar those aren't going to snap onto a stock '53 Ford wheel. The centers of the Ford wheels stick out too far, any inside dish will interfere. Unfortunate but true, I really wanted to run '60 Lincoln Premier caps on my '52 but they wouldn't fit either.

 

Might be right, Squablow. No problem on the rear wheels, but I'm not sure about the fronts. The center of these covers extend no more than an inch outside the lip.

Jason, if you're interested, see if you can determine how far the grease cup extends outside the lip of the wheel. Ya might not like 'em that much though, and that's understandable...they're not super jazzy. Shiny though.

 

how bout moon discs. huh?. anyone? their kinda expensive to buy new but im sure someone out there has got a pair they don't need. i think they come in your size too. they would look pretty cool. just throwin' it out there.

 

I'd be looking for whitewalls if I was you.

Hub caps on blackwalls? No Sir!

 

No $ for whitewalls

 

Sell your soul!

That is one of those mods that changes the entire car.

Keep working at it!

 

i certainly agree, not worth you soul, but does change the entire look of the car for the better and whole new horizons of wheel options open up. and yes they are expensive. heck, if they weren't, my truck would be sitting on them right now. but there are a ton of threads about substitutes for whitewalls around here, just do a search.

 

And if I were you...I'd be 14, and could run a mile, no problem.

But if I were you, then you'd be me, and you'd be awfully pissed off...lol.

Nothin' wrong with hubcaps and blackwalls. And finances always come into play...for all of us. Have you considered giving the wheels a nice shiny black pant job, and running no caps? Maybe with some chrome lug nuts. I used to see a lot of cars like that in the early '60s.

 

Im thinking about that to.. Im gonna talk to my Dad about the wheelcovers cause I like em! I think he might know if they will or not! Since he built a 53 vicky custom ..

 

by the way, just wonderin' what your exaust plans are, what kind of mufflers you planning on? or just open headers?

 

that studebaker was cool as it was. watching your 53 build with interest. nice to see some of the young folks still get it.

 

Was going to run Porters (To much $) but Smittys is most likely what Im gonna buy!

 

Thanks man!

 

oh yeah, smittys are great, probably what i'm going to run on mine, either that or cherry bombs.

oh yeah about the truck finally got some photos on through damageduck,
can't thank that guy enough. just look up "59 ford f100 lowering options"
should be starting a build form soon, too.

 

These are painted on, takes about $15 worth of shit and the better part of a day to do. They hold up really well too, my first set probably has 5 years on them and they still look good.

I can fill you in on the details if you want to try this on your tires.

 

I would have never known those were painted on!

 

That kinda takes the oomph outa your suggestion that Jason "sell his soul" to buy whitewalls...lol.

 

what kind of paint did you use? ive seen about seven different kinds, and if they don't cost that much i might invest in those for my ride. another good way i was thinking about is if you grind down the tire itself enough it will turn white. probably have my dad do this. only works if you have white stripes though.

 

That was Smarg's suggestion. The market on souls is pretty soft right now though, and tires are pricey, so I figured I'd suggest an alternative.

Sidewall grinding is another option, I think raised white letter tires grind out nicer, and I like to start with more of a truck tire with some meat on the sidewalls.

Mine are done with "Seal-best white elastomeric roof sealer" which is a brush-on white coating for trailer roofs. Got it at Fleet Farm for $11 and it's enough to do a lifetime's worth of tires.

Some guys will suggest Krylon Fusion but I tried that and it chips up too easily, it's not flexible like the snow seal roof coating is. The whitewall tire paint guys sell in a pint can is just the snow seal put in a smaller can with a huge markup.

I sand the sidewalls of my tires smooth beforehand, take the lettering and shit off, makes a nicer final product, and you have to clean the hell out of the tires with lacquer thinner before you brush it on. If they're not super clean, they'll get brown after a while. Helps if your tire has a nice line on it for you to paint up to. Takes at least 4 coats, looks like shit after the first couple but it does cover nice after a while. You can clean them with Bleche-Wite when they get dirty but if you scrub them with SOS they'll wear through.

Porta-walls don't work worth a shit either, this method and the sidewall grinding (if you have the right tire for it) are the only two ways of making wide whites that I've seen that actually look nice and hold up.

 

Cool car, takes me back in time. I'm now almost 62 and my first car was a black '53 ford 2dr sedan with a flathead. I was 15 and got it for $300. It had a brushed on paint job so you can imagine how nice it was. Good luck, be careful, and enjoy the ride!

 

thanks squablow. will have to check out some of that stuff.

 

Whoops. So sorry Squablow.

 

Thank you!

 

It's so cheap and easy to lower that thing 3" Blocks in the back and MOOG CC850 coil springs for the front.

Also go to a swap meet and you can usually get nice wheel covers for $10.00 a piece.

As for tires keep searching Craigslist, there is usually some guys selling a nice set for next to nothing from time to time.

I have no money at all either you just got to wait for the right part to come along. Keep on searching and don't just jump on something becuase you want it, look around first to see if you can get it cheaper somewhere else first.

 

Just for giggles, I put those caps on your car and lowered it a little to give you an idea what it would look like. What do you think??

 

oh, wow. that second one is killer! jason, start hittin' swap meets and save yo money!


speaking of which, anybody know of any good swap meets in alabama? got money and time, but nowhere to spend either!