Thinking about getting out of Falcons and into a '50s car. The '52-'53 and '54 Fords and Mercs are right near the top of the list. Honestly, I recently realized I'm more or less trying to build a '53 Customline out of a '62 Falcon. I shouldn't have let the six-volt electrical system and lack of Mustang interchangeability scare me off. What do you like about your '52-'53, or '54 and what do you dislike?
Actually you would be surprised what early and late Mustang parts can be used in our Fords here is a bunch of examples you may want to file for later http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=18186 To drop a 302 aka 5.0 in a '54-59 you use 1984-93 Mustang motor mounts.to swap into a '52-'53 you use a Fox body dual sump oil pan,it goes on and on.
You're in the right place! I have a 54 Customline Fordor with the 239 and Fordomatic. I drive it all over the place, usually 4-5 times a week and I love this thing. Dislikes... Slow, I do have to stand on it to keep up with traffic.. Planning on a 292 which ought to fix that issue, especially as my 239 is tired. Oh and it needs some work.. But nothing glaring. Likes... This thing does great as a daily driver here in the NY City suburbs, it really handles surprisingly well for what it is (you know, a 58 year old cheap sedan) I do have an M5 if I really wanna boogie but this ****er keeps up with traffic fine on twisty roads and stops really quite well. It's surprisingly good. It's comfortable too. They are great looking cars, parts won't kill ya for the most part and they are screaming bargains, you can get a good one for really short money. I blame Skoh73 for turning me on to these
Busted!!! Scott (Skoh73) is almost as good at recruiting as Jeff (JeffB2) is and is every bit as enthusiastic! Glad to have you as a new member. Once you've got your own '52-'54 Ford or Merc, Cheeze, you'll never look back at Falcons. I have two, one Ford and one Merc, and each is as different from the other as night and day. The Fords are a little shorter and a little lighter - perfect for a performance-oriented car, but of course they make great customs, too. The Mercs are longer, lower, heavier and slinkier - not great for performance but absolutely perfect for building into a slinky, ground-hugging custom. One of the biggest advantages is that the 260/289/302 family of engines/transmissions drop into these cars like they were made for 'em. These engine/trans combos are plentiful and cheap, allowing a guy like you to put together a really great driver relatively inexpensively - even if you've never done an engine swap before and have only minimal tools. Dislikes and disadvantages: none. The '54s have balljoint front suspension and slightly different frames than the '52/'53 and are more easily adapted to disc brakes/dropped spindles. The updated suspension probably allows them to handle better as well, but the early cars - my Victoria is a '52 - are just fine, too. Two suggestions I'd make: First: Decide which make and model you like best BEFORE you jump on the first bargain that shows up. And...buy the BEST car you can afford. Don't buy a rust bucket or a stripped hulk just because it's cheap. Surprisingly, you'll be able to find a really nice builder for very little money if you look. These cars are not popular - yet - so there are lots of good opportunity for careful shoppers. Welcome to our group. Now go out and get one!
I've a '54 Customline Tudor. My likes: sleek styling, comfy ride, good handling, availability of parts, potential for customizing, speedometer, the grill, three speed, not a Chevy. No dislikes. oh, hello from Kansas.
When you start your build with one of these cars, just make sure you pick a style or an era and shoot for it. Crossing these cars up is really easy--they are a mid 50s car so you can hit a lot of different styles and the car will still pull it off. They're fine cars, and relatively cheap. They are starting to become popular though
I love my Crestline Victoria. make sure you get a 54 though if you would like to do the Granada front spindle conversion. as with pre 54 cars have king pins... retarded, but w/e Jamco can remedy that for a little over a grand, or you can try and do a Mustang II Conversion if you got the fab skills to make your own. Otherwise you lave to find a "track width specific" one and mod it, Depending on if you want to bag it. that is my only gripes, now on to the goods. looks awesome, cl***ic body lines. Hardtops are awesome. tons of stainless looks great polished up and shiny in the sun. and chick dig them.
I have 2x the fun. 54 Crestline Victoria, 312,fmx 9 inch rear, fatman drop spindles. Car has factory power windows,power seat, p/s. Add ons power disk brakes frt-n-back, Vintage air for comfort for those long hot cruises. Nice sound systems to hear all those oldies. Second 54 is being built as a heavy custom. Chop top,50 ford back gl***. Front end made up of ford,Mercury and Buick parts. Rear has 56 Packard tail lights Buick bumper,Mercury decklid. suspension: 4 link, fatman drop spindles, air bagged. Engine: 350 Chevy/700r. Car will have a/c power windows.Power steering already installed. And the list goes on. So with these car you can have endless fun building them the way you want. Or if you have a stocker it can be fun and cool too. I get a kick when people come up and say " I had one just like yours Or my friend, Brother had one" To see their faces when I let them sit behind the wheel. How it brings back memories.
I was at a car cruise Friday with over 2000 cars and there it was, a custom 54 Ford. Caddy spiders, lake pipes but most important, the perfect size! It was parked next to a modern jap luxury four door and they were both the same size.. Lately, my 64 Bonneville is becoming a handful with it's size and I've been looking at different cars.. Looking for something smaller and more nimble.. The prices on these Fords seem real reasonable too.. I do a lot of my own work but admit don't know too much about these cars.. Seems the 54 is the one to get.. Handling is very important to me, I live in Western Pennsylvania, it has more hills and curves than any other place in the country.. This thread is right on time for me, thanks...
Excellent point! The '49 -'54 Fords are very similar in dimension to the GM A-Body cars which have come to be known as "mid-size". I've always been very fond of the GM A-Body cars and have owned many(!) of them over the years...and still do. In fact, I've been tempted to combine the two on more than one occasion by channeling a "shoebox" Ford over one of the Chevelle ch***is I have in the back yard. What the Hey, it's a long weekend, I got nothing to do and I just got my cutting torch bottles filled...
uh oh, i see a new build thread starting there Eric!!!!! ?????????? ive seen a shoebox on a 78-9? Monte Carlo ch***is. fit good.
Just saw this- Ha! rld14 You crack me up man. I am stoked that you found such a great looking '54. If it's anything like mine, she drives like a dream. I had 4 knucklehead buddies in it for a ride a couple of weeks back and they all commented on how smooth the ride was. Jeff K, you won't regret getting one of these. I had no old car experience before I bought my '53 but with the help of the shop manual, I can fix damn near anything on the car. Keep us posted.
I have a 53 victoria and people always love it because its not another 55-57 chevy. . . and when you find them you can usually get them for a good price.
Lol it's all your fault! You guys would like this... I was at work today and was speaking to a customer at our Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep store. Lady was someone I knew from town and was buying a new Grand Cherokee. So she asks me "Are these things any good?". Truthfully, I said yes, the new Grand Cherokee is a nice rig... ***uming you like such things. So her next question was "So what do you drive these days?". I point at the Ford and grin. She says "oh so you don't drive one then huh?" to which I respond "nope, and I could drive one for free, nothing personal but all these modern cars are soulless pieces of plastic" She looks at the Ford for a minute and says "yeah you have a point..." Thought you guys would appreciate this
I've got a 52 Mainline 4 door with a 239 and 3 speed. Nothin special really, but I love driving it. Not a speed demon, but it does have a pretty cool growl coming from that flathead. The suspension has been swapped with an Aerostar mini van, which gives it a pretty cool stance too.
" soulless pieces of plastic". I like that. My Fox platform based sons always chide me about carbs and distributors. I tell them that when a take my 390 6V 4 spd Starliner out for a spin on the back roads, I just want me and the car, no computer along riding shotgun. A more pleasant ride. Besides, that's the view Fast Freddie looked at his rookie year. Want to enjoy it.
Funny to think that the first two years of computer-controlled Foxes are now considered antiques. They can even wear the old blue plate as a YOM plate! I hear you on the soullessness of new cars. Give me the simplicity and the mechanicalness of the oldies any day.
Bigcheese- first off, you'll have a really great group of people on here to help you out during your build/restoration. i have a 1954 ford..... i love it. the lines on these are just amazing... that "fast" bodyline on the rear quarters is just cool!!! mine has big plans in store for it right now... i originally put it together in Bakersfield Ca when i lived there and worked in a shop with a guy that builds kustom cars.... then i moved to wyoming for a job i couldn't refuse. the car just recently went back to california for some work to be done including a new motor (trying to find a Y block, and a chop ... it is going to be almost a clone of Larry Watson's 54 ford hardtop)... mine will keep the post though... it's gonna be a while before i have mine back, but i will be there in Bakersfield this summer to do some work to it. the coolest things about these cars: if you get a 1954 you can interchange parts from 52-54 very easily (i put a 53 grille in mine because it is my all time favorite grille!) but with a 54 you're equipped with ball joints rather than king pins, and it was made to have the first overhead valve V8, so it's essentially ready to go for whatever you want to put in there for power! things to keep in mind... the rear quarters that look so cool make it really hard to change a tire if you lower the car... i put 3" blocks in the rear and flipped the bottom leaf spring and as a result of the new lower stance i have to jack the car up by the frame and either use a bottle jack to send the leaf springs down from the frame, or remove the shocks to drop the rear axle lower and let the air out of the tire to get clearance inside the fenderwell... that's the biggest problem i have with mine, everything else is just peachy!!! good luck with it, be sure to share with us what you do....
If you're referring to this car, Doll, it was actually owned by Pete Angress and was painted by Watson at least twice, this picture being of the final version... It's a great choice of a car to aspire to! Anybody know what happened to it...?
yep that is the one... i've actually researched it quite a lot, i've even done a painting of this photograph... i sure do love what watson did... i was very humbled to be at his funeral and to watch the loss of one of the greats. i actually don't know what happened to the car, but i haven't seen it cloned or re-produced... so that's my goal.... i think it would be a nice tribute.
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