New Project '54 Windsor

I joined up a while ago, but haven't had much to post. Just bought a new project from a friend who is moving to the southwest. It's a 1954 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe Coupe. 265 flathead 6 with a 2 speed auto. She needs some work, but looks to be a good start for some fun. I drove her a few years ago and had a blast. Last inspected and registered in 2007. I'm still reading up a bit on these.

Thanks,

Erich

 

cool sled

 

nice

 

great project driver - a Hemi sure would look nice under the hood, maybe some day?

 

Some chrome bumpers and some hop up parts for the flat 6 would do wonders for that car. Nice looking model that's mostly overlooked by the custom crowd. What are your plans for it?

 

Great looking car you got there. The '54 was the last year that Chrysler got the flathead 6. Chrome bumpers, lowering, and some pipes is all it needs!

 

Thanks,

My plans are to make it a decent looking runner. First step is to get the mechanicals straight. It smokes a bit, and needs the brakes sorted. I'm looking to keep the 265 at this time, been looking into the possibility of a twin carb set up, some minor hopping up of the motor. I'm still trying to find what all is out there for these motors.

The white paint is flaking off the bumpers exposing the original chrome. I need to find something that will help strip the rest off and assess the condition of the chrome. Don't know why they were painted. They appear pretty much straight with the exception of the rear overriders which have a few dents in them.

After that, the rockers and rear fenders need some attention due to rust. I'm no welder, so need to find a good shop in the New England area that has some experience with repairs.

From there, I'll probably paint it myself and run it. Probably a darker blue with Ivory for the top.

Erich

 

Hard to believe it has been almost 4 years. Time goes by fast. I'm still working on the Chrysler, and plans have remained mostly the same, with the thought of shaving some of the trim, and going a bit more custom/rod route. There was more rust than I first expected, so that became the priority. I've been keeping up taking pictures, but not posting. So will post some updates:

First was poking around the sills,



and the drivers floor:



more to come...

 

Gutted the interior, and poked around a bit.





New floors added, body mounts replaced:

 

Man, I would have never guessed there was that much rot looking at the first pics. Props for taking care of it all.

 

Good lookin car, that body style has alot of potential.
subscribed

 

Holy lack of inner rockers! Glad you're tearing into it to fix it properly, repairs look good so far.

 

Maybe a slightly obscure Lee Petty tribute racer...?

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...car-daytona-beach.986906/page-5#post-11422971

 

Nice. I also like the '54 Panamericana race car. Found this image on the web:

 

That's a dandy, too! And a hardtop to boot!

 

Thanks again. A few more pictures of the rebuild.
To start, I found another '54 2 door in a salvage yard about 50 miles from home. The car had been sent to scrap because they could not find a set of doors for it. Apparently sedans are much more common.



The rear quarters just behind the doors were pretty toasted, so a local shop made some replacements. (I don't have pic of the drivers side, so added a pic of the passenger side):



Things on the driver side still need some tweaking, but are looking better.






Next, on to the rear of the car....

 

view of rear drivers quarter:



Trunk had 2 decent holes and a number of pinholes. Luckily the parts car had a good trunk, so some cutting and grafting...

 

Update. Things have been progressing slowly. All of the rust has been removed from the passenger side, and metal is starting to go back on. The front end has been removed and sent off to media blasting in order to see what is usable or needs replacement. The rear fender flare that was made off the car doesn't quite fit, so it needs some love to get into shape. While the front end is off, I hope to be able to get in and paint some of the motor while accessible. I started stripping the firewall for paint as well, and have blasted and repainted some of the smaller items that could fit in a friends blasting cabinet. Still, nice to see some progress...

 

Nice I like the old Chrysler.I miss my 56 Chrysler Windsor. Bruce.

 

So as this build has progressed, I have been thinking more about the overall look and theme. I have some ideas of what I'd like to do (getting rid of most of the badging), but have always liked to keep things close to period correct. I have been thinking it would be nice to build this like someone from the late 50's early 60's might have built it. I am curious if anyone had ideas or thoughts on how somethign like this would have been customized. [EDIT: I have been searching and looking through the Traditional Customs forum, Great info, just thought I'd ask here as well]

I'm cool with the 265 flathead 6 (it's a heavy car, so won't win any drags), but I have someone who might be willing to let go of a mid 50's Desoto firedome hemi for it. Not sure if I want to open up that can of worms just yet, but it's still a possibility.
Thoughts?

Thanks,

RSD