Another Socal '53 Buildup

Thanks Deto. Yeah, I have a love hate relationship with this serpentine. I agree it's out of place for this particular build. But it should prove to be reliable since I plan on driving this car quite a bit.

Sololobo, thanks for the kind words. I dig the phrase 'no bullshit driving' that totally sums it up.

29_Bones, can't thank you enough for all your hard work man. Everything's coming out bitchin.

 

Good times!! Engine and trans are mounted, front suspension and brakes are on, column and linkage are mounted, and the wiring is started. Tri-C is kicking ass!

 

love the engine and you did a fine job on the firewall. I just finished up mine 2 weeks ago.

Rob

 

Looks great. I can't wait to watch this one.

 

Thanks Rob n Dirty. All the compliments mean a lot coming from folks with such fine rides!

 

Badass! Good job. I can't wait to see more.

 

nice when it all goes together. Looks great.

 

Thanks FTW666 and motoandy. Here are a few more shots from Friday.

Front end was hung and we discussed routing for the heater and a/c hoses. (Hence the hose laying on top of the mill) This gave me a sneak peak of things to come though. I'm diggin it.

Other side of the firewall got Dynomatted and the underdash harness is in. Frank is putting some Fosgate speakers in the factory dash location and putting in some underdash lighting while he's under there. I'm going with Ryan's stealth MP3 player setup using the factory radio. The gauges and a/c unit are at the shop and ready to go in.

 

Engine is complete. A/C is complete. Stereo is complete (thanks for the tip Ryan!), Santa brought me some Supremes to wear when I feel like switching things up. (Thanks Demonacm50)

Went a different route with the A/C and heater hoses, running them forward rather than backwards to keep the firewall clean. Eventually I'll hide the visible hoses on the core support, but for now, it looks nice n tidy. I'll post some better pics when I get a chance to take some.

The fellas are working to get things dialed in and she should be back on the road in no time. I'm yet to hear the engine purr, but I can't tell you how nice it was to sit in the car today, listening to the radio with my door open, under dash and rear interior lights blazing, looking down at a freshly restored wheel, column, and gauge cluster. Gave me that good ole fashion feelin'!

 

Man that looks good. Kinda sad. They look better on your car than they did on mine. They found their calling. Good job on the build.

 

Thanks Mark, all you were missing was some color and they would be equally as awesome looking on your ride! Your chop is coming along awesome btw. Can't wait to see em both finished!


**Update - BUMMER!! The Supremes don't fit in the rear! Posted them up in the Parts Classifieds.

 

1st maiden voyage is in the books. It was a little shaky but nice just to be mobile again. I'm sorting through some carb challenges, trying to get them dialed in. Once I can get er to idle correctly, back to Tri-C for final prep and adjustments.

This week -

Get idle ironed out and get the ole gal cleaned up inside and out.

 

Looks like a keeper to me.

 

Thanks TrailerGuy! Much appreciated.

So I found myself having issues with fuel leakage, an erratic idle, hard starts, and the engine ultimately petering out after running for a few minutes. I addressed the fuel pump, pressure regulator, and gauge on my tri power and nothing really seemed to be helping.

After removing the air cleaners and taking a good look inside the carbs I found some issues with 2 of the 3 venturi clusters. One was loose (missing a small set screw that was causing leaks from the front carb) and the other looked like it came from the bottom of the black lagoon with a hole chewed right through the edge. Ancient leather pump gaskets that were worn weren't helping the cause. Nor were two of the butterflies not seating completely.

Was able to remedy all of this and now she starts, runs, idles, and stays that way! It was a hard lesson but I've learned that there is sometimes a fine line between 'vintage' speed parts, and just plain 'old'.

Below are before and after pics of the worst cluster. Still not the sexiest looking venturis on the block, but a massive improvement!

 

So a lil update, in case anyone's still tuned in. I finally got the carbs dialed in. Incurred some costs that I shouldn't have had to buying a 'ready to run' setup, but such is life. I drove the car around town for two days and the 700 threw a spring cage and dropped 3rd and 4th gear in the pan. SO, I had to go back to the drawing board and have the whole trans rebuilt properly. Another unexpected kick in the balls. But, I have 'er back. Leon's in Santa Clarita, CA did a great job with the trans. Super nice guys too. Shifts great, finally hits passing gear and has power. So for now I'm just enjoying driving the car everyday. The weather's been perfect, so that doesn't hurt! Ironing out all the little quirks so that it gets tighter every day. Now that it's driving nice, I have to address the master cylinder and brake booster. I'd like to update the setup a bit. Maybe throw some disks in the back while I'm in the neighborhood. We'll see. It seems that if I were to lose pressure anywhere, I completely lose all braking. Not sure it's too much of a risk, but why not eliminate it anyway? Plus having this tank capable of stopping on a dime would be pretty cool too.

 

Sits nice, I like all the extra Gingerbread.

 

Thanks Tman. Oddly enough, I actually got this car from the Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.

 

hey she is on the road.....now drive the wheels off her..
see ya Matt

 

I have been man. Been loving it. I'll be bringing it back to have a few loose ends tied up, but overall she's running pretty sweet!

 

So a pretty big update here. I laid down about 50 G's over the course of the last year buying and modifying this 53. Now, without ever getting to show it, and only enjoying it a fraction of what I had planned, I've fallen on bad times and need to sell it. Check out this thread for pics and details. I need to make a video with a walk around and the car running which I'm yet to do.

In addition to everything on this thread, someone cracked my driver door glass, so I'm in the process of buying 2 new door glass kits that will either be installed or included depending on the buyer.

PM with any questions, etc. I am completely heartbroken that I have to part with this car but my home and family have to come first. I will also put a post up in the 'for sale' section of the forum.

Thanks.

 

Eh, screw it. I'm keeping it. Thanks to everyone for your interest.

I've found doing little projects on the car like replacing the side glass, and installing some 54 tail lights to be quite therapeutic in these shitty times I'm having. Plus all the positive attention cruising around town always makes me feel good!

Replacing the tail lights turned out to be more of a challenge than it should've been. One of the 53 housings was siliconed onto the car. Wouldn't budge for anything. Even trying to chisel at it from the back proved futile. So I reached for my secret weapon, Aircraft paint remover. This stuff's great for stripping away old stubborn silicone and those old melted window gaskets, etc. Apply a little with a paintbrush, wait 5 minutes, apply some pressure and freeeee.

After that it was smooth sailing. Some double filament bulbs, a couple butt connectors, done and done. IMO a vast improvement to the old gal's rear end.

 

Man that's a beautiful car! I would be smiling bigtime driving her around! Best to you man!

 

Good looking ride! Love 53's. Glad you were able to work things out to keep her.

 

Thanks for the kind words fellas, much appreciated!

That's one hell of a Coupe 39ChevyBob. Cars like yours make we want to keep going as long as I can!

 

Put a new latch and striker on my driver door, now they both close like butter.

I know a lot of people have door latch issues so I thought I'd share where I sourced the parts. I got a reproduction striker from Chevs of the 40's. Pricey lil suckers, but worth it to have 'new'. You can find em cheaper on fleabay but who knows what kind of shape they'll be in.

https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detai..._Door_Latch_Left_Front_or_Rear_Door_Back.html

Since they don't make a repro of the 53-54 door latch, the search was on to find a clean used unit. National Chevy Association was able to take care of that with a cleaned and oiled latch assembly that was in epic condition.

https://www.nationalchevyassoc.com/10045

Installation is really straight forward. I found that taking out the door glass made for easy removal and replacement. Once you get the unit free inside the door, slide it down the inner window channel and loosen the window channel screw in the door jamb. The unit will slide out of the access hole at the bottom of the door. Throw the new unit in the same way, tighten everything up and reconnect your rods, and your done.

Just have to be careful while adjusting the striker. Shine a light at the top of the door jamb and watch and feel how it catches. You'll be able to tell which direction to move the striker in for a smooth close.

Lastly, while I had everything apart, I gave all moving door and window components a liberal dose of some heavy grease. Why not? "I want to make everything silky smooth."

 

Got my rear suspension setup from Jamco. Haven't installed it yet because I'm still trying to source a nice posi 10 bolt rear end. I'm looking for a gen II Camaro/TA or Nova, 3.00+ gears, disk preferred but not a necessity. Anybody know someone who knows somebody that's selling one?

 

Very nicely done and looking good. I went with Bear Claw latches on my '52.

 

Great looking 53! Good to hear you're holding onto it.

 

Thanks GassersGarage, can't go wrong with the bear claws!

Thanks SoCal, nothing is ever certain, so I'm making an effort to enjoy the car as much as I can, and make it as awesome as possible in the process.

UPDATE: Bought a 10 bolt rear end from an 81 Trans Am. 3.08 gears, posi, factory disks, prop valve, and booster. These are not real easy to come by these days, so needless to say, I'm pretty pumped. It's being shipped from OH, so I'll get pics up when it comes in and try to snap some during install.

 

Went for a ride this weekend and was experiencing a lot of road wobble.

Turns out the princess wanted some new glass slippers. Ordered a fresh set of Coker 579400's and Summit had them on my doorstep in less than 24 hrs. That was cool. But part of me misses the blue snot that used to come on wide whites. Any idea why Coker doesn't do that anymore?