Projects Just picked up a family project

Dadgum that is a beautiful car! Keeping it in the family, kudos to you and your wife!

 

Beautiful car. With the paint and interior work already done.....$7500 is an absolute steal!
You'll need to get on the '52-'59 Ford social forums here on the HAMB. A bunch of like minded guys that can answer any question you may have.

 

Cool car! I personally like the club coupes better in the shoebox years. Kool story as well, Good Luck.

Pat

 

Congratulations, nice car! I prefer the Club Coupe over the Sedan, I like the top/body proportions better. AT $7,500, I'd say you got a good amount of bang for your buck. Skip the flames..... Change the stance a little, maybe change wheels and tires, and enjoy it!
PS: Spend some time checking out the threads about bringing old engines back to life before you attempt to fire it up. Might save some frustrations.
Good luck, and enjoy!!

 

Good deal. Glad it stayed in the family. Can’t pay too much for memories.

 

It can be a bit confusing on old car body styles. The club coupes were a bit scarce and gone by 1954.

 

I looked through all the different social groups and couldn't find that one. I'll look late when my hand are less greasy. Thanks

 

I'll see what I can find. I've never played with a flatty Ford but I've broughtany engines back from the dead. Motorcycle engines, car engines, tractor engines etc... But it's good to know details about your specific one you are playing with. Any suggestions of solid resources for vspecs and stuff or type of manual?

 

Nice score on some fine family history!
When ya get it running, make everyone in the family drive it.
Spreading the good family memories around...

 

Nothing specific, as I don't own a flathead and it's been over half a century since I messed with one, but... try to track down an edition of Motor's Manual that covers 1953. Also any owner's manuals or Ford Service manuals you can find. These may take some time to find and study, but I think the knowledge you can lean will serve you well and increase your interest and pleasure in the project, while making your life easier and less frustrating. Slow and steady wins the race (and makes it more satisfying/less frustrating). God luck, and enjoy that gem!

 

Very nice!!

 

Very nice. Worth the money, especially to keep it in the family. It'll always be special.
100% no vote on flames. IMHO, that would ruin the
car .

 

Great looking car enjoy it with your family you will be riding with the old boys happy memories

 

We got her into the shop after a fight and got right to work!
I started making mental notes of what I was seeing to further dig into bu my goal was to see how feasible it was to have it road ready by the end of April for Vintage Torque Fest. Step 1 was to throw a battery charger in and see if I could revive the battery. While that was cooking I started to try to work the stuck wheel loose. There was beating, heating, and pb blaster and no luck. So I sprayed it really good and let it soak.
While the pb was doing it's thing I wanted to see why there was no pedel pressure on the brakes. Well there was no fluid! Possible it has a leak somewhere or something. I've never seen brake fluid evaporate and I've pulled some really old smelly brakes before. A little fluid and a few bumps and the brakes are back to life. Will still go through each wheel but for today this made me happy.
Checked the battery at this point and the second you pulled the charger the bolts were dropping off fast, apply any load and ot would dump to 0. So I tossed a new battery in. Only 6 volt battery in stock, same CCA as the old one.
Since my battery was solved I decided to pull the spark plugs, lube the cylinders with a bit of ATF and try to rotate by hand. That went perfect. No resistance at all, so I have her some cranks with the starter and she cranked over perfect. Tossed the old plugs back in and tried to give her a crank with starting fluid and I got nothing. No spark, so I pulled the cap and found the point contacts dirty. Cleaned them up with some cloth and solved the spark issue and heard her roar for the first time in a long time!
Now I pulled the fuel pump glass, cleaned it up, poured some fresh gas into the float bowl, and put about 3 gallons in the tank. Car will started on its own but it's not pumping fuel and the carb needs to pulled for sure. It will only stay running if you nurture the throttle and that only last for about 5 seconds. Plus the gaskets are leaking on the carb so that's due. As far as not pumping fuel I might as well pull the pump inspect it and drop the tank to clean out whatever old crap is in there.
Back to the wheel, I finally got it to spin but it's still very tight. Now it's spinning I spent another session trying to get the drum off and failed. I'm letting it soak tonight and I'll be back at it in the AM. My goal is to push it out and wash it today. She got a salt bath from our lovely Midwest weather. I'm sure she hasn't seen salt in a very very long time. So I'll give her a bath and let her know I'm a good daddy

Mental notes on areas that need attention.
Entire fuel system
All 4 brakes
At least 2 tires
Several odd wiring ideas
Noisy electric fan add on

 

You may want to check out the sister site FordBarn.com, links at the bottom. Is more along the lines of as yet unmodified Fords.

 

This is the social group evintho mentioned. HRP

HERE

 

Very cool! Looks like a great car and even better that it was family. Congrats! I’ll be following along!

 

Nice car ! Often times someone will park a car with the parking brake on, and after sitting for many years they stick on. Usually the cable is rusting, or the shoes can rust to the drum also. Try to pull the inner cable back towards the drum. Some abuse with a hammer on a wood block to the backing plate will sometimes get the shoes loose too. You gotta get them loose or you will never get the drum off.

 

Yeah the rear one busted loose easy. The front randomly locked up pulling it backwards into the shop. I released the tensioner from the back and hit it a few times after soaking in PB and it came free. The drum is still stuck on as of now. That'll be an after work project this week.

 

Please do not put flames (and I like flames) on that car, no scallops, or any kind of crazy paint. Some pin striping would be ok. Beautiful car, If it was mine, I'd lower it, dual exhaust, wide whites with the edge of the wheels painted orange, and Lancer 4 spoke hubcaps. She'd be done.

 

A lot of what you said is what I'm leaning towards. After washing it the color really grew on me. Polynesian brown. I hadn't thought of oatange but I was liking a blonde color on the wheel. I'll Photoshop some orange and see what I think.
I think the back might be lowered...or the springs are sagging lol. I was looking at the travel and I'm not sure a static drop would ride well. I've done air before but I won't be able to pull the body for a c notch until next season. Any experience with mild static drops on these girls?

 

I don't know if my wife's grandpa answered me or if he was just thinking ahead but I found a box of parts in the trunk buried under a lifetime supply of shop towels. If it wasn't for the mice smell I would have jumped in.
water pump, generator, starter, 2 fuel pumps, 2 points, condenser, coil, skirts with rubber but not painted, wiring schematic, and atlas from 1990.

 

Nice car, just some minor maintenance type work, and you and the family will be stylin'.
VanPeltSales website is a great source for diagrams, service procedures, and parts.

 

Mild static drop is what would be best on such a nice old car especially considering the family history. Pretty sure the Aerostar front springs (Moog CC850) and some blocks in the rear are the least expensive and best way to go on a car like yours. That is what I have in my 56 as well and it rides and drives nice.

 

Pretty good RuleHard, you are heading in the right direction.

Pat

 

Looks good after a bath. Paint is good for a driver. I'm glad it isn't perfect because I won't feel bad driving it and using it now. Some areas where you can see cracking under the paint..idk if it Bondo or what. A few spots it's obvious it's been re painted.

 

Man, I wouldn't do anything to that except drop it a little, put new wheels and tires on, maybe hop it up a little (maybe more than a little) and drive it! That is sweet, even has the stickers inside the trunk lid!

 

Yeah I'm doing some research on drops and stuff. Just need to find my way. This will be my first "custom" so I'm just feeling stuff out. A drop will happen for sure, I'm already looking at flathead parts. I just want to make sure I can do some part hunting with my daughter so she can experience that fun.
The problem.is I'm a metal guy so my first reaction to everything is to cut it up. Not going to happen with this anytime soon. I like the idea of continuing her grandpa's vision with a little bit of our own families twist on it.
I sent some pictures to my powder coated this morning to see what he has for "blonde" type colors. I like that with the brown, I also am going to look at some orange as suggested.
To satisfy my metal working needs I'm going to do something cool with the exhaust tips and probably make a filter cover or something.

 

Beautiful family heirloom.

 

A great looking car. My second car was a '53 Ford two door Mainline, no side chrome. It was the same color
as your car. V8 with an overdrive transmission, great car. I live in East Texas and bought the car there.
New Mexico license plates were on the car when I purchased it from a used car dealer. This car had a 20
gallon second gas tank mounted in the trunk behind the rear seat with a change over valve under the hood.
No idea the reason for the extra tank unless the car was a Texas - New Mexico borderline car,
and gas was cheaper in Texas. Being a high school student, gas money sometime was how many coke
bottle deposits could be gathered up. I never put gas in both tanks at the same time, but once put gas in the
spare tank and it worked perfectly. I dropped the rear, added skirts, dual exhaust, three deuces, Mallory ignition,
Mercury four bar hubcaps, and '55 Ford side trim. Drove the car hard for over four years, never any motor or transmission problems.
Keep the car as is if it suits you.
Ernie