Update: got the car home safe and sound, and its just as good as I remember it. The aerostar coils and front camber kit I bought for it were still in the trunk with all new shocks, and it now has a working radio. The goal is to rebuild the front suspension and possibly put a new steering box in, rebuild the rear brakes (dont know when the last time they were done) and new tires, and then possibly exhaust. It's a tight squeeze in the garage now. 5 bikes and the car.. Funny story about my first real test drive after getting it back: took the new girl out to a brewery for a celebration beer for 1 year at my job (it's been 4 years, but it's a leap year) and parked it outside the window so I could stare at it. 10 minutes in, a hefty gentleman goes out and looks the car over, snaps a couple pics... and then slams his car door into the side while wedging into his plastic honda. No harm done to my car (luckily) but leaving the parking lot something fell off under the car, slid across the pavement and barely missed hitting a guy on the sidewalk. Got out and retrieved the piece, luckily the gentleman was VERY nice and liked the car. And it was some sort of small air dam piece I think is probably non essential. New girl thinks I need a "honk if shit falls off my car" license plate frame.
looking good - nice to have a ride made out of real steal that plastic beer can cars just bounce off of
Hey Ferdy, Sorry if I missed a previous post that explains it, but Id like to hear the story behind the separation and reuniting with your 53'. I'm happy you're back together whatever the circumstances were.
It's got an 87 302 roller motor with an AOD. Shorty headers, and a performer 289 intake and a edelbrock 600 carb.
I bought the car back in 2016 to be my daily, and shortly after I got it my ex wanted a harley to ride with me, so i traded the car for a bike for her, got home and she hated the bike. So I ended up trading a few bikes (evo sportster bobber-survivor 1972 digger-newer sportster-panhead basket case) and a few pickups (54 f100-78 f150) and cashed out in the end. Randomly saw my car on instagram a year and a half ago, ended up becoming friends with the guy that had it, and bought it back a couple weeks ago.
I'm gonna try and keep up with the car on here. It's a solid driver and I'd drive it cross country tomorrow, but I think it's probably about due for some freshening up. Needs tires and exhaust and some suspension work. And after the air deflector fell off while driving the other day, I need to give it a good once over.
To add to the story of the car, I originally bought it from the Deacon of a church somewhere around hollywood who was covered in tattoos, and drove it over the grapevine at about 90mph (no speedo and no gauges) and got home, looked over the paperwork and it was built in 04, body modifications were done at hollywood hot rods, and I have receipts for a lot of other stuff. Cleaning out the car I found marines discharge paperwork from the early 70s, and figured I may look the guy up to show him his old car and it turns out hes doin life in prison for murder, and since I got rid of it, I guess the car was in a few weddings, and photo shoots for clothing companies and such. And now it's back to me. If cars could tell stories, I bet this one would have one hell of a story to tell.
I like it!! Sounds like you're a California boy. Where you at? Our cars are in the same family tree. I'm building a '54 Customline with a 5.0/AOD combo.
It's a pretty cool old car. I believe shoebox-central.com has most of the suspension parts for these.
Well: drove the ol girl to work today and it drove fine other than the trans has a weird shimmy going into overdrive. I got the fluid and filter and even one of the fancy neoprene gaskets with the steel core (I love those gaskets) and figured I'd jack everything up and check it out tonight. Turns out the front wheel bearings were LOOSE and likely ruined. I'm not gonna chance it, so it's off to the parts store for me tomorrow for bearings and seals. Once I got that far into it, I noticed I was 2 bolts and the sway bar away from replacing the front springs, so I figured I'd throw the aerostar springs in. While replacing the springs, I noticed almost all the dust seals in the front end are done for, and most of the zerk fittings wont even take grease anymore. So it looks like a rebuild of the front end is in the near future. Kingpins seem tight, and all the bushings seem tight, but for $400 or so and a days work in the driveway, I'll re do the front suspension soon. While ordering front shocks, I ordered all new bushings and such for the rear suspension (it was cheaper than the front suspension at the moment) and figure I'll re do all that next. Maybe even throw in a new tranny mount and u joints for good measure. But for now shes sleeping outside in the driveway for a couple days.
Most of the rubber boots on suspension parts are junk Chinese rubber and can fail within a year,cheap fix : https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/universal-dust-boots.asp. Lot's of '53 Ford owners are here too: 1952-59 Ford Social Group hope to see you there.
That whole circle shows why she is an "EX" Glad you got it back man... Now don't let go of it for a while this time. Cool car man..
I'm gonna have to look into that when I go to rebuild the suspension. Theres a kit I've found that has all new bushings and pivot points and it looks like basically everything to tighten up the front end, but quality dust boots would be an added bonus for the longevity of the rebuild. And I'm going to re do all the zerk fittings and put the covers on em to keep em servicable.
Word... good thing the Chinese don't make condoms.. or do they? I did the front end in my Ford and it sat for almost 2 years while I worked on the rest of the car. Guess what? Not even 1 mile driven and the boots split on my tie rod ends and ball joints. I have done the tie rod boots with Energy Suspension boots that Pep Boys had. I have to look up the ball joint boots, give me an excuse to whack another 1/2 coil off my springs.
a little before and after. Got the car on the ground last night and it got raised up about 2" in the front. So far I've replaced wheel bearings and seals, front springs, motor mounts, front brake rotors and pads, and checked the front end over. I still have to flush the trans and the rest of the fluids, rebuild the rear suspension and possibly replace the radiator, and a basic tune up (plugs, cap, rotor, and wires) and I figure she will be about dialed in!
When you service the trans add a quart of synthetic fluid in there..... The convertor will really like it.
I took a break for a trip, but should be back to the car soon. I'm thinking about swapping out the front bench seat to some t bird buckets (possibly back seat as well) and an early falcon center console. Likely going to swap out the 5 foot long rat fink swan neck shifter for something a little more reasonable as well.
I got a bottle of that lucas transmission stop leak and anti slip. I actually dumped a bottle of it in with the old fluid and it seems to have tightened the trans up, because I'm contemplating putting a pan on that has a drain plug. But I'm trying not to spend the money at the moment.
If you have joined the 1952-59 Ford Social Group check out this interior: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/52-for-sale-on-facebook-interesting-interior.1184035/ Post #3
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