I bought this lovely ride home with me on 8/31/12. It has the 331 hemi in it. My father and I started working on it on tuesday. Actually im cripled and he's doing most of the work. Got it to run tuesday, just had to clean the contacts on the dizzy and hook a gallon gas can to it. We played around with the brakes and they all look pretty good. Need to rebuild the master cylinder. Had a few questions. 1. Does anyone have a good centerlink for this car. It has powersteering. The only thing i can find is one for $300. 2. Does anyone sell an exhaust kit for these that would be close, or what size is the flange on the manifold? 3. I think the headliner has some black mold. Any way to get rid of it without killing the headliner. I have attached pic of the car and headliner. Thanks Eric
If you mean what I think you mean, you need a steering arm pivot repair kit, $89.95 from Andy Bernbaum. http://www.oldmoparts.com/parts-front-axle.aspx You could try Bernbaum for the exhaust as well. Or just take it to a local muffler shop. Mold can be cleaned but I will leave that to those more experienced in detailing and upholstery cleaning.
cool project - for more info & parts search here and online: imperialclub.com & www.1954sale.com/chrysler-parts/ & oldride.com & rareparts.com
Nice car, I have a 54 NY deluxe and the engine still runs like a champ. Powerflite is rebuilt and shifts great. I would be very careful with dealing with Bernbaum. I bought rear axle seals and wheel cylinders. Seals were fine, but the wheel cylinders were incorrect and were for 57 Chryslers. I returned them and got my money back. I ended up with buying the cylinders from Kanter and they were fine. So be careful when ordering from Bernbaum. Good luck with the project.
Not sure if that is what i need either. lol Local muffler shop wants $450 to do the exhaust. Kinda on a budget so I was hoping to get a kit we can weld up. Thanks for the links! We both had a big grin on our face! Thanks Thanks for the heads up. The speedometer shows like 22k miles and the way this thing looks it very well could be all thats on it.
Actually '54 was the only year for a wet 4 bl intake, where the wet 2 bl was 51-3, some '54, plus all years truck & Ind engines. You checked out the Hemi Tech Index yet?
Cant blame a guy for trying Yes I have checked out index. A ton of awesome info there. Maybe one day i can get through it all
Thought of another question. The stock transmission calls for 10w oil. Is there any modern oil i can put in instead. I cant find 10w anywhere in my town. thanks again Eric
Regarding exhaust kit. I checked at the local muffler shop that I deal with and they had the card for the bending and making an exhaust system for my 41 Chrysler. So you might check around and get lucky. I can check here if you like.
yea, my local has the info too, and they want 450 to do it. was just looking for something cheaper or a kit that we could weld up ourselves.
Great looking car..........one of my favorites! Congratulations on your find and best wishes with it. Ray
kyp39 is my son. He caller Roberts this morning, they say they don't have anything for a V8 car. Everything they have is for 6 cylinders and the V8 stuff is more heavy duty. Son, did you see the master cylinder posted in one of the links for $69.99 for a 51-54 Chrysler? I looked at the steering part he needs, its hard to see real well on the car, but it doesn't look like it might be rebuildable to me, it looks like a worn out tie rod on both ends of a long, bent, one piece shaft to me. It also looks like its going to be a pita to replace to me, I think I would like to have a replacement part laying here when I pull this one off. Anyone have any thoughts about the mold in the headliner? What about the 10 w oil in the transmission, can we safely use 10 w 30?
Wish I knew what part was worn out on the front end.Starting from the steering box you have a drag link, a big bell crank called an intermediate arm , and 2 tie rods. You seem to be describing the intermediate arm. It pivots on tapered roller bearings and mounts to the center of the front crossmember. The only moving parts are the bearings, Bernbaum sells a rebuild kit for $89.95. The worn out tie rods are part of the drag link or tie rods. Not part of the intermediate shaft. Bernbaum lists tie rod ends but not the drag link. You could call and ask 617 244 1118. Your car should have the Powerflite automatic transmission. That was Chrysler's first true automatic transmission. It uses Type A transmission fluid or Dexron. If your car has a clutch pedal it has Fluid Drive which is the one that uses 10W motor oil. But they were last used in 1953 models. So should not be on a 54. They do not use 10W30. Use TDH tractor oil ISO22 or ISO32 grade but ONLY If you have Fluid Drive. If you have Powerflite use Dexron. For a master cylinder and other parts try the link to Andy Bernbaum or your local NAPA or other auto parts dealer. See if you can find an old dusty parts store with old gray haired or bald headed parts guys behind a rack of paper catalogs. The parts are available you just need someone who can find them for you. The shiny new parts store with a purple haired computer whiz behind the counter, they won't even know what you are talking about.
Rusty O'Toole The worn part is between the pitman arm off the steering box and before the bell crank. Must be the drag link (our local store called it a "center link".) Through that local auto parts store, we can order that part, but the price tag is over $300. The transmission is the Powerflite, no clutch pedal. There is nothing touching the dip stick and we were told it needed 10w motor oil, but you say it needs Dexron auto trans fluid? Dexron it will get. Our NAPA says they can only get a master cylinder kit, not a complete unit. The one on the car has a consistent drip but holds pressure, hopefully a kit will stop the leak. The last old auto parts house around here was updated about 5 years ago, they still have the books, and the old guys are still there, but to get them to actually look up anything nonstandard takes an act of congress. NAPA and Orilley's are the best chance around here. We also need a Y pipe (or a dual exhaust setup) for the 331. We have 1 guy here local that has the info to bend pipe, but he wants $450 to install an exhaust system. Do you know a source for exhaust pipes? The car came to us without any info other then the ***le. Its only been here since last Friday afternoon. I have dealt with 40s Mopars, and 60s & newer Mopars, these 50s things are all new to me and this car is 2 years older then I am. Any info we can get is helpful. Gene
In post #22, second paragraph, he says "no clutch pedal"......... However, I am curious about your comment regarding the 2 bbl equipped 331's having Fluid Drive. I have read/heard the rumor that some early 54's had long bell 331 w/ Fluid Drive. Is there any consistent or reliable basis for which got installed in what...other than..."some early '54 s got .......etc." ? Ray
Gene, If it is a 2-bbl then it is either a 51-53 style block with the attendant trans or, someone swapped the oem 4-bbl for the earlier 2-bbl. Best at this time to look at the back of the block to verify which. BTW, great looking car! .
The Standard NYer was supposed to get the long tail 2 bl 331 & FD, the Deluxe NYer & Imp was supposed to get the new 4 bl short tail & PF. The '54 shop manual covers both engines. It could be that the 4bl engine & PF was so much superior that orders for the Standard NYer came to a screeching halt & they started putting the new engine in them also.
If you examine the Powerflite youtube video, which shows being coupled to a long tail hemi and is used on a 53 Imperial, it has a very thin bell housing to transmission plate. No more than 2 inches thick. Point is that I have heard that the 54 Standard NY's used long tails up. But I have heard that Powerflite was used in ALL 54 V8 cars. So it might be possible that this very thin adapter plate is how they did it.
You sure that your master cylinder is leaking. In my case it turned out to be the Chrysler Vacu-ease power brake unit, which is mounted to frame right behind it. The setup takes the master cylinder pressure and feeds the vacuum booster, which in turn feeds mechanical pressure to another master cylinder (mounted with the power brake unit). That master cylinder then feeds the wheel cylinders. Mine leaked for along time, then the seal went bad and started ****ing brake fluid up into the engine. I pulled the booster off and made a new piece of tubing to use only the separate master cylinder (pedal fed one). No, I don't have power brakes, but at least I have brakes.
I have only the manual brakes, there is no vacu-ease. We found the engine number it is c541-8-14538. Is this the long tail hemi?
Many parts can be bought from your local parts store. Wagner brake parts, spark plugs, fan belts, oil filters, tune up, etc. You just need an old time parts man who can find a good number to order. You would be surprised what all is available. For more obscure stuff try Andy Bernbaum. He lists complete new master cylinders for $145, rebuild kits for $29.50. If your master cylinder is not rusty or pitted you can clean it, hone it and put in the new kit and it will be like new. Yes, for Powerflite use Dexron fluid. I don't know why the drag link costs that much but Chrysler parts are high quality, it was an expensive car. In 1954 your New Yorker was selling against Buick Roadmaster, Cadillac, Packard and similar cars. None of those are exactly cheap. You could try Andy Bernbaum. He does not list the part but he may be able to help you anyway.
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