What's up all. It's been a long time coming and after lots of lurking, reading and a few posts I've got me a project on my hands that I should be able to handle with enough patience, learning, bleeding and spending. I picked up this 53 T&C wagon a few months back for a pretty good deal IMO. It's had a respray many, many years ago. It retains the OG interior with the exception of the front seat bottom being recovered. Spitfire 6 that has a knock and the fluid drive trans. It's mostly complete and the plans are to clean it up, make a few updates for LA traffic and make it a daily driver. These include an engine swap (360/727 combo), 12V negative ground conversion and disc brakes up front for starters. The rest I'll figure out as I go. Yesterday I scored a complete (less engine/trans) '54 from a fellow HAMBer which has all the trim and the windshield that I need. Now comes the fun part of cleaning the hell out of the 53 and diving into the engine swap. Hopefully I've done enough reading to at least get me started down the right path. Here's a couple of pics I'm sure I'll be hitting you all up for questions so thank you in advance! NAES
rumour has it the windshields are different between wagon and sedan. would be interesting to find out for sure. that looks like a real clean wagon. my '54 is a bit rougher, but it's coming along.
i need both front door windows from the parts car if you don't have a need for them. maybe other stuff too. keep me in mind.
Got a little work done on the 53 the past few weeks. It's parked at a friends house so driving there is a major PIA but what are you gonna do? I'm also working in the dirt which is pretty ghetto but I've done it before and I"m sure this won't be the last time! Got the 360 stripped down, scrubbed and painted the block. Forgot pics but I'll do it next time. Still trying to figure out what to do for the oil pan, valve covers and air cleaner. I'm sure it'll come to me eventually. 727 trans is getting built at Astromotive thanks to a few recommendations. Seems like a straightforward build with no frills. Today I yanked the Spitfire 6 and trans without too much headache. I didn't mash any sheetmetal pulling it but I did get it fairly nose high which required airing down the tires to get it to clear the front end! Ahhh, lessons learned. Took a few minutes to scrub down the firewall and frame rails. Probably needs another session or 2 before laying down some black on the frame and figuring out what to do with the firewall. Also a couple of patch panels will need to be fabbed to clean up some rust holes. A few pics of where I'm at on the project. It kills me to see the hood off and the engine bay empty. This is where I've seen all too many projects stall and I don't want to add myself to that list. About ready to gut her. If anybody is familiar with this conversion, please chime in. I'm looking for a set of weld in mounts for the engine. I got a few tips from some fellow HAMBers which has helped. I was thinking of just buying universal mounts and tweaking them as needed. More progress next week. NAES
I used universal mounts from chassis engineering when I dropped the 360 in my 1950 dodge.... Im not sure how your steering is, but I absolutely had to use a drivers side exhaust manifold off of a pre 66 dodge dart/ plymouth valiant so I could squeeze the small block in.
Move the motor 1 to 1.5 inch to the passenger side, A body fwd dump exhaust to clear the steering box...plydo conversion mounts, if they are still in business. Or a R&P conversion manual rack to get rid of steering/space problems. Good luck
This is a '54 chrysler windsor that I put a Dodge red ram in. Down under. It is RHD, but had no clearance problems at all. Engine is still centered in the engine bay. But it is probably a lot different to a 360 small block. The only cutting I had to do was inside the LH chassis rail for clearance for air cond compressor as the owner didn't want it seen on top of the engine. I used a 727 with hot heads adapter plate. Hope this helps. I need a steering box if you have one spare from your donor car. Please let me know as I have never seen another one of these models in Australia. The aust. model was completely different.
Love the T.& C., the interior is awesome. I like your plan and wish you the best in your project. You can do it! Thanx for sharing. Another MoPar nut! ~Sololobo~
John there is a difference for sure The wagons take a ..................DW 282 2dr. &4dr post cars take............DW 279 Hd Tp and conv take.................DW 281 Limo's take.............................DW 280 they are all different. as far as I can tell no one has ever re-popped these windshields and I don't know of anyone in the country that has any new ones left. Except for Me. I have 6-8 brand new NOS PPG 53-54 Chrysler, Desoto windshields in my OLD STOCK STASH. Problem is I know what they are, but the numbers are gone so I need to know the height in the center and if yours has square or round bottom corners............Jim
Well it's been a couple of months since my last post but work has been steadily getting done even though it doesn't look like it! But engine mounts are here, engine has been scuffed and painted. I got a 4bbl intake and carb to throw on her, etc. Got my Trans this week and started trial fitting stuff in the engine bay. First order of business was to take the rest of the grill off. Easier said than done when bolts are 50+ years young! I think it was worth it though because it affords me tons more working room than before. It'll also allow me to get to the brakes and install dropped spindles or disc brakes or whatever else I decide to do. Here's what she's looking like these days. It's a little scary because there are so many intricate pieces holding it all together. Hopefully I'll get it back together without too many headaches. Time for the question list. 1) One of the above posts said to use a forward dump exhaust manifold on the drivers side. Was that supposed to be rear dump? 2) How much space between the radiator and fan? 3) I read somewhere that early radiators were lower pressure and cannot hold up to later model engine pressures. True or rumor? Can I just swap the radiator cap and get the radiator pressure checked? 4) Is it possible to tell what the rear end ratio is by the castings on the diff? There is no tag to help ID it. If not, is there a way to figure it out without breaking into the rear end? (I attached a pic with the casting info) 5) Anybody have a trick to square the engine and rear of the trans to the pinion of the diff side to side? I have a couple of angle finders to set pinion angle and engine tilt but can't wrap my head around the lateral. 6) The car was/is 6v positive ground. I'm going to gut the old wiring and use a new wiring harness 12v negative. What gauges do I need to rewire or jump for positive ground? The rest I was going to use a Volt-a-drop. I think that's it for now. As always, there will be more questions. Gutted like a fish!! Getting artsy fartsy Thanks as always everyone, NAES
Once again, the rear axle needs to go away...you do not have an e-brake. http://www.rosevillemoparts.com/reference_enginetrans.php?SID Here are some Ford numbers, both 8.8 and 9": 65-66 Mustang 57.25 inches 77-81 Granada/Versailles 58.50 inches 64 Falcon 58.5 inches 66-69 Torino, Ranchero, Fairlane 59.25 67-70 Comet, Cougar, Mustang, 59.25 inches 71-73 Mustang 61.25 inches 70-73 Ranchero, Fairlane 9" 61.25 inches 70-71 Torino 61.25 72 Ford Van 3/4 ton 68 inches 73-86 65.25 inches 57-59 Ranchero and station wagon 57.25 inches (narrowest 9" housing) 66-77 Bronco 58 inches but has 5-on-5 1/2 inch diameter bolt circle 79-93 Mustang 7.5 and 8.8 57 inches Lincoln Mark7 LSC, SVO Mustang and Fox Body Saleens use a 59.5 inch wide rear axle 94-98 Mustangs use a 58.5 inch wide rear axle 99 and newer Mustangs use a 59 7/8 inch wide rear axle .
^^^^^ Thanks again for that input 73RR. I'm pretty sure the rear axle has been swapped for a later one. I don't have the car in front of me so I'm not 100% but I'll check again to see if there are E-brake provisions. I've seen that list before and it'll be helpful if I end up swapping it out. There's some rear frame issues that need handling anyway. Hopefully the engine can be tacked in next week. NAES
HUGE day for me today!!! My first engine swap!!! OK it's not exactly finished but the 360/727 is in and the mounts are tack welded. But, it's offset 1 1/2" as required and I've got about 3 degrees down on the tailshaft which puts me right in line with the rear diff. I've got a buddy who will be coming by to finish weld for me as I only have 110V and limited welding talent. Next will be to fabricate a trans crossmember and get that all finished. I'm planning on making it a bolt on deal with the ability to shim it up or down and laterally in case I need to. Afterwares I'll pull the engine/trans again and do a final detailing and painting of the engine compartment. Hopefully for the last time. But as far as I'm concerned this swap is the biggest hurdle I've yet to jump. Of course there are a million other things that I'll have to tackle. Pics as required Problematic part is the stock fan hits the lower radiator hose outlet. I need to see if the radiator is any good before I get too worked up. The 2 solutions I see are having the rad shop make the outlet horizontal instead of making a vertical 90 degrees up or finding a suitable smaller diameter fan. As it stands now, the fan has a larger diameter than the radiator so I should be OK sourcing a smaller one. Hope you all enjoy. NAES
Sweet ride... I saw that on Egay and drooled over the nice leather and woodwork interior, color combo and the fact that it's pretty rare... My wife arm wrestled me for the last spot in the garage... Guess who won? Doh foiled again... Good luck with it. Forgot: You can get the voltage converters from a place in Arlington Heights Illinois and they're called RUNTZ converters (Search Egay and call them they're really cool) and there's also a thread on here for a cheaper DIY solution as well... Steve
Yeah, the guy was local and I knew who he was so I was able to see the car in person before buying it. Honestly though, the pics made it look a whole lot better than it actually ended up being so my dreams of owning an all original cream puff vanished pretty quickly. I appreciate the link for the voltage converters. Forgot to link this in the thread. Talk about getting beaten to the punch!! http://http://www.dupontregistry.com/AUTOS/BLOG/post/2010/11/19/Meet-the-Derelict.aspx The Derelict totally stole a little of my thunder!!! BUt is a mean ass wagon! NAES
Put in a little time today and got the frame prepped for engine installation. Wire wheeled like crazy and threw on a little Rustoleum Semi-Gloss. It looks shiny because it's wet. Sort of goes against the running theme of the car but it just makes everything look a whole lot neater. Front suspension will get a similar treatment when I get to the brakes. Here's a few pics. NAES
I like the look of that wagon keep up the good work. If you need to change the rearend try 8 3/4 " from a late 60's Dart I would bet it would bolt in. Rob.
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