my 53 chrysler windsor...

well here is my chrysler, its gonna be a cruiser, im thinking ill just throw the red oxide primer to it and put all the some of the molding back on it... this car was given to me.. free,, its been restored other than the body itself. all the running gear is redone and the engine and trans are like new. car has less tahn 50k miles on it.. got a box of original parts new with it also. it had no gl*** but thanks to a fellow HAMB member, sold me all the gl*** from is donor car.. this car was mising alot of the body trim so i filled alot of the holes and used the complete sets of molding for around the windows and and the grill.. removed the bumpers cause they were shot and im working on fabbing some really nice roll pans front and rear... wish i had everything to make it orignal, but its missing to much moldings and the interior is a lil oxidized.. it will be a fun car just to drive around..

 

Body style looks very similar to those french Simca Vedette cars in some ways...

 

looks like a nice solid start for a project, should make a good cruiser

 

had a little work to do, brought it home. put new battery cables on it and the brake pedal was real stiff, got it all freed up. it runs down the road so nice and shifts very well. my grandfather has a 53 desoto. basicly same car but he doesnt have the spitfire 6 he just has a regular flat six.. his car is very nice and he always says he wishes his ran and drove as nice as this one does..
can you guys believe the guy was gonna use it as a demolition derby car........ so i nagged him till he gave it to me.. i had to have it just to save another cl***ic.

 

I had a 53 Chrysler years ago with the flat six and the fluid drive

Mechanical parts are easy and cheap to find as the engine is still used in tow motors and such and the suspension and brake components are available and won't break the bank

Looks like a solid car for a great price!

I had a ton of fun with mine and hope you have just as good a time with yours!

Cheers
Daniel

 

I like it! I like the full moons too, but a lot of people here don't, lol.
Tom

 

i like the full moons to. its better than black steel wheels..... i may make them cream colored with the red oxide, or leave it hot rod black and leave the moons......... we will see. i know alot of guys wont like it, but the car is missing to much chrome to make it nice and original so im gonna make it a driver and enjoy it.. my love for a traditional, vintage hot rod hasnt changed just cause i got an old car thats not worthy of making original...

 

Probably be better off with flat red than just primer.

 

Nice! My father had a 53 Windsor when I was little. Head got warped somehow, but Chrysler resurfaced it and no problems. But that fluid torque drive thing, he really didn't like that. One of his friends brought home a 54 Chrysler New Yorker with Hemi and Powerflite. My dad and his friend drove it around, made my dad want to trade his Windsor in on one, but never did. He sold it in 61 and got a VW bug.

Good project, keep up the good work.

 

your right on that. thank you

 

i know its not the "cool car" to everyone. but i really took a liking to this thing... its really fun to drive and that fluid drive is odd but this one works really well..
its a nice old car and i jsut couldnt see it smashed up.

 

Dont kid yourself. Thats a cool car.
The corrosion on the dash almost looks cool beins its so uniform and all.
Looks kinda intentional.

 

ok well here is day one of the project... i plug welded 46 boldy molding holes. smoothing the entire car out since i cannot find trim for it.. also looking at frenching in the headlights. it will have chome around the gl*** thats about it. plus i plasma cut my roll pans for the front and rear and got all the bumper brackets off. it will be ready for paint by friday..

my dog thinking he needs to ride in it first.. little does he know we are jsut moving it out side to sweep up...




the wife likes it...






everything works on this car.. everything! its only needs painted and some interior work...

 

does any one know who makes a master cylinder also? mine seems stiff which is why my pedal is hard. but the brakes work good and it returns well with the new spring i installed... trying to decide weather to pull whats left of the interior and try to redo it all.

 

I love anything quirky. More power to you for rescuing the old gal. Here's a picture of a '53 Plimbo Cambridge I owned for a minute. It was also "free", but cost me in arguments with the missus. My brother and I rebuilt the engine in the driveway and we push-started it with another car to get it going. I had one glorious ride down to Lake Erie near my house and back. Upon my return, I noticed the main engine seal to the driveshaft was puking oil. That was the end of that. It had to go. Fortunately, I broke even on the deal. A guy from Detroit came down and picked it up. (Gee, I wonder what ever became of that car.)
This is the only picture I have of it.

 

progress.... got it stripped and shot some primer on it, jsut to see what it would look like , i set a few chrome pieces on..

 

more progress, front and rear roll pans and more body work,

 

My 53 Windsor!

 

i wish mine had all the CHROME! i have to make do with what i have and fill the rest of the holes so it is atleast driveable and looks good... i will jsut drive mine and enjoy! THANKS FOR THE PIC! nice to see others

 

Damn! That looks like my dad's Windsor when it was new. He had it painted turquoise due to the bad paint back then. Don't recall those hubcaps.

 

He might just have a Windsor Deluxe!

 

Mine is a Windsor.

 

mine is a windsor delux, someone started cleaning it up for paint and lost alot of the trim. i got the mig welder out and fixed that problem. make it a custom that no one wants. ha...... its fun to drive thats all that matters to me.

 

getting closer... rear roll pan came out nice, spray bombed it till i can get it in and shoot it..

 

Cool cruzer kids, the most important part is, "the wife likes it". A happy wife is a happy life. It is going to look great with the minimal brite work, if you ever find a nice set it can always be put on again, but I don't think it really needs it. Enjoy the ride! ~sololobo~

 

houston......we have gl***....









first real test drive tonight..

 

Did the one piece rear window come with the car? I ask because mine is a 3 piece.

Did you replace the rubber for the windshield and rear window? If so, where did you get it??

 

this car came with all the gl*** smashed.. ball peen hammer holes in it from the guys ex wife. i pulled the rear window from a fellow hambers 54 new yorker..... only one i could find plus it looks better. i used the 3 piece rear window seal. just used a roazor blade and trimed the centers out. workd great. but what a mother FU#KER to put in being one piece like that. im on the hunt for new seals,, if i can locate them

 

Bernbaum's list gaskets for lots of things, but unless you ask you may find it is universal generic seals