Projects My new 53 chevy 4dr daily driver!

NICE! Looks just like my car - only your is a bit nicer. Congratz!!

 

Thanks to everyone for the compliments! I just finished up a bunch of stuff.

Installed functional lake pipes! Took me three nights after work. It was fun though and I just took it around the block twice. MAN!! I wasnt expecting it to be a lower baratone, but it still raps hard! Once it warmed up and I goosed it in first, RAAAAAP! and then let off on the decel to shift to second, BLABLAPBLAP! hahahah! Man, this is so much fun!

I finished a chrome strip idea that I had been kicking around for a while. Turned out really cool. Ill take some pics later on.

While it was up in the air I topped off the 3 speed with oil, so, shes happy and runnin strong

Hell, I may just run these lakes open all the time! haha!
Till next time...

 

Oh yea, and for those of you that didnt see my 12v wiper motor idea, heres a video of it in action, 2 speed!
The used motor only cost a few bucks, not like the $250 jobs they offer. Yea, its not a bolt in, but I love coming up with my own ways of getting around problems, and its different!
Enjoy!

 

can you post some pics of your wiper motor conversion? I have been needing to do that for about... oh.. i dunno... 7 years... i cant drop 250 bucks on a 12v wiper motor.

 

Hey brass, check out this thread I did on the tech build of the wipers. This should explain how to do it pretty easy. Let me know if you have any questions!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=530519

 

got one too!!! they are a blast

 

update!

So after tinkering around, adjusting timing, fine tuning and all, I found some bad news.

I have a nasty clunkity-clank sound coming from the bottom end. Good news is that I have great compression and the upper end/valve train are all solid.

I dread the thought of taking everything apart again to pull the motor, but it sounds like it will have to be done.

So needless to say, the title of this thread STILL isnt a reality yet. But... Im getting closer!!!

 

Awesome car man, I like four doors.
Seems as though the two doors are becomming as common as a 57 chev at a car show, So it's nice to have something different!
I'm currently in the process of selling my '60 Four door to buy a '38 Four Door!
Haha, Sometimes... Four doors are just so much cooler.


Jackson

 

Bummer! Get some beer and make a HAMB party of it?

 

Updates and pictures! So lately my 235 was making a bad clunkity-clank noise from the bottom end while maintaining speed. I narrowed it down to a bad con rod bearing and decided to pull the motor. Well after pulling it and realy tearing it down, I found more and more stuff I wasnt happy with. Long story short, its getting completely rebuilt, and Ill have it back in about 2 weeks! YAY!

While it was out, I decided to POR-15 the engine bay. Once it looked so pretty I thought, damn, might as well pinstripe it! And, as you can see in the pics, the cars name is 'Crypt Kicker', so I lettered that on my cover. I really like it!

The last pic shows some of the parts Im getting together, cleaning up and painting in prep for the fresh motor. When I saw this color at the parts shop, I had to have it! Its a classic Pontiac blue with metallic flake in it. Ive NEVER seen an engine paint, good to 500 deg. that has metallic in it! Its a really dreamy color. I think itll look awesome with chrome stuff all over it!

Anyways, other than that, I cut the mounting flanges off my split steel headers and Im going to weld long pipes down and turn them into long tube headers. That way the mount flange isnt under the intake and a pain in the ass. Itll be under the car, just like other long tube headers. Much easier! Plus, while Im at it, Im going to weld in flanges before and after the glasspacks. This way, I can try out different exhaust combos and play around with the sound! Also, Im going to run both pipes down the driver side, I already cut out the "S" that put one pipe over on the passenger side. Now theyll both exit out the back on the drivers side of the license plate.

By the way, the lake pipes sounded like garbage to my ears. Sounded like a destruction derby car or something. Totally lost the split six sound. So, I still have them on the car, just not funtional anymore. So now Ill be one of "those guys" with fake stuff, like dummy spots or gear drives! haha!

 

Nice! Dunno if you have enough pinstripping in the engine compartment tho

 

Just caught your thread bro...looking good, great car!

 

Great work. Keep it up. I have a 53 four door. Good times!!!

 

For all who dont know. You can have 12v wiper motor even with 2spd and be a dirrect bolt on with factory stuff. Here is how you do it. Un bolt the old vacumn motor. Bolt on a 55-57 chevy car motor. Hook your control cable from the vacumn up to the new one, sme cable and screw. Run a wire to a keyed ignition sorce. Twist the knob and wipe the rain!!! Did it on all of my 53-54 over the years. Works great!

 

By the way. My first ride was a 54 4dr Belaire. Skirts, wing tips, power steering with a glide, and drum roll please....... power windows. Converted to 12v and slammed it. I used to work for Joe for awhile. Old car parts rocks. Cant find a nicer bunch of guys that know everything. Nice ride man. Keep it going and drive it like ya love it!!

 

Great color. my pontiac was that color originally... ive been working hard to get it ready for paint again!

 

UPDATE!

So... after almost 2 full months of finding out the bad news with my 235, Im back in action!

Turned out the main cap bearings and connecting rod bearings were all hosed. #3 was the worst of the bunch. I was just going to get my crank turned and get new bearings for everything, but the machinist said that it looked like a failure from excessive heat. Heat built up from not enough oil.

I already knew the block was not in the best of shape, regardless of what the previous owner had said about it being rebuilt 2 years prior. I had found bloated leaves in the block when I replaced a freeze plug a while back. Long story short, I opted to get the 235 completely overhauled! The reground my cam, bored 60 over and reground my cam and trued up my connecting rods. After that everything internally and valvetrain is new. Im so pleased!!

Ive been working on getting it in and rewelding and rerouting the entire exhaust system.

I just broke in the motor this afternoon. Well.. this afternoon and into the evening, haha! What should take 30 minutes to break in the motor took us 6 hours! But, I couldnt of done it without my brother, he sure did help me out alot!

We took video of the break in and Ill put it on youtube later on and link it here. Heres some pics of the motor! Dig that sweet color!!











.

 

Sweet! Glad to see the '53 getting back on the road

 

Nice! Very Nice!

 

So true like the more doors better than 2 drs actually

, diggin the ride man ya did good for gettin a daily that is in great shape...

 

motor looks killer...

 

Killer ride. Looks like a ton of fun. My daily is a 4 door also. I get a ton of compliments on it still, and it's not even painted.

 

Good for you. I have been trying to find a tri-5 checy 4 door for a while now that is in my budget. I'm going to call it a crew cab hot rod. Congrats.

 

Thanks for all the kind words! I just drove it around the block about 8 times tonight with the hood off and it was killer! Still need to fine tune the timing, but over all it sounds and runs rad! Sure does have alot of compression when you let off the pedal, I almost hit my teeth on the steering wheel, haha!
And I finally washed it for the first time after owning it for a year now!

More to come....

 

what a cool daily driver! lookin' good!

 

Very cool car, but hey I'm biased

 

What year is your transmission from, and what floor shifter are you using.

I have a 53 thats a 3 speed and a Mr.Gasket floor shifter kit but it only fits 55 and up 3 speeds.

 

Very cool project. That mysterious valve cover looks to be from a BBC.

 

Sweet ride!

 

Bodge Deep: WOW! What a clean car! That looks just like what mine must of looked like new. Even the same paint! BTW, I found out the name of the top color..."campas cream". Thanks for sharing

NotNuRodz: I think all these 3 speed trannys will fit from 53 to 62, but dont quote me on that. Im not sure what year it came off of. Just get familure with it, things to look for when looking for one. As far as the Mr. Gasket shift kit, they are just universal. They didnt offer a floor shift option for 53-54, so theres no original brackets to be found. My shifter is a 3 speed Hurst shifter with a different shift arm welded to that. As far as how I mounted it all up, I fabbed my own shifter support housing that bolts to four spots of the tranny. You can make your own as well, just design it so its stout from left to right and front to back. You want zero movement from your support. I then made my own shift linkage and welded extra long hardened bolts to each end so that I could fine tune the shift throw and placement. I also flipped the gear selector shaft brackets upside down. This reversed the shift pattern to my liking. So, instead of 1st being forward to the dash, its now back at the seat. 2nd is forward and 3rd is back. I liked this better because when I take off from a light, I like my back flat agains the seat, rather than leaning forward. Just personal preferance.

Ibanez616: The valvecover indeed was off a BBC and I sold it at the April swapmeet. Good eye!


Now Im going out to fine tune the timing, wish me luck! lol