ok..iv had this 54 coronet for a little under a year. an di CAN NOT find anyone at all that is ratting one out. if anyone has one, or knows of someo one that is kustomizing it. please let me know. im having a hard time finding parts. thanks.
im looking fo ranyone that is restoring/rat roding/tinkering with one. i have a coronet with the factory red ram. and i am having problems with the parts issues. this is my first car to fix up. so i dont know much on where to get stuff.
I have a 53 Dodge Meadowbrook with the flathead six in it. Hears a link to a thread I started on it. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142342 www.robertsmotorparts.com is a good website for parts. 53-54 Dodges do seem to be pretty rare. Got a pick of your car?
Use the search fuction on this sight. There is plenty of people using the small Hemi's in there hot rods. Buddy of mine has a 315 Redram in a 47 Dodge PU. Its sweet. These cars had the same basic chasis for many years. There seem to be a lot of the 49-52 bodysles on here.
hahaha i dont know if you've heard all the shit on the news about farmers branch texas. but i work for them, and we have an in house napa store..and maybe its diffrent where you are, but they SUCK here. here's a picture of when i got the in houston. i put it on jack stands and put a disk convertion on the front. the car was inspected and legal in july of 2001. sence then it sat, and it developed a missfire. so im going to run some cleaner through it and see if the hydrolic lifters are just a little gummed up. but the real problem is the rear brakes. i havent had it over about 10MPH, so i dont know how well the tranny is. i had to drive it around the teachers parking lot at school(where i kept the car) with out any brakes. do you have the pressed on drums as well?
Yeah I got the same drums have you gotten them off yet? There actually held on with a taper. The wheel cylinders always leak on these things when they sit for long periods of time. The brakes are a pain to adjust. Get a shop manual, it will be your best friend. I have a MOTORS manual 40-53. I replaced all my wheel cylinders and shoes and I ended up replacing the master cylinder too because the brakes wouldn't release. Or since you already converted the front to disc a Jeep Cherokee or Comanche axial with newer style drums drops right in. If it is a 4X4 you have to flip the spring mounts. Are you still in HS? I graduated last year.
i had gotten the drums off a while ago. i have a already got a new m/c and i replaced the w/c and shoes on the rear, but im just going to get away from that system. there is a reason why it isnt used anymore. i have a motors manual. the 53-61. and its amazing. i love it. are you saying the whole housing will fit right in? i was looking at a 8 and 1/4 rear end. they are pretty strong. im going to rebuild the redram next winter and procharge it, get more than the stock 150HP out of it. if so that would be awesom. and yeah im in the last semester of my sinior year. FINALLY.
Just drop a 331 hemi or a 318 slightly built in it. That is what I am going to do with my '54 Chrysler coupe soon. KNUX!
If ya want to do it the easy way on getting the car lowered, take a leaf spring out then throw in 3" blocks then cut like a coil and a half in the front so ya don't take all the play out of the spring. KNUX!
i was offered the 318 out of a 70s magnum for about $200. but i chose to stick with the hemi. its just one of those motors you need to keep. i want a little more power out of that motor and make it a cruiser. im going to bag it to the rockers soon.
lotsa luck finding parts. i cant find much for mine either, well at least parts that dont cost a fortune to get anyways. mine is exceptionally rusty. the whole friggin floor was pinholed when i went to clean it up. likewise the rockers are a masterpiece in bondo and the drivers rear taillight was done in lead, poorly at that. like the other guys have said, i have had good luck with napa for small mechanical type stuff, but sheetmetal, i believe you will find youre on your own. every once in a while something comes up on ebay but hopefully you have decent salvage yards in your neck of the woods. keep trying though we dont have enough of these cars on the roads after 52 years.
I just milled me up some 4 inch blocks. (2X4) And put them under there. I had to take the snubber out that is above were the drive shaft connects to the rearend. With the 4 inch blocks it was just bottomed out so I milled them down to 3 1/4 and now it has a little traval. The driveshaft hits the tunnell when it bottoms out. I am in the proccess of replacing the rusted floors and raising the tunnel now. I drove it for a few months and broke the rear leaf spring. They were sagiing bad before I lowerd it. I just got a rearend out of a 53 Dodge Hemi and those springs have one more leaf. I willl have to see how much higher it will sit when I get it in. BTW your car has a 3:54 gear ratio in the rear end. I am just replacing the floors with sheetmetal that I am bending by hand and welding in. The whole Jeep rear axial is the same width as yours so it fits real nice. I cut one ciol off of the front springs and I am planning on getting drop spindles from Fatman fabracations. Did you look at my thread? What kind of parts are you looking for anyhow?
I don't have a hemi for you, but I do have a few Meadowbrook parts. I have a complete dash that is damn near showroom perfect. The Meadowbrook badge and clock delete are perfect. I have both front and rear bumpers, very clean and straight. I've got the front apron, and the turn signal setup. And I have the stainless trim for the outside from a 4 door. I have them posted on the classified page. PM me if you could use them.
i thought about doing the blocks for the rear, actually. but just havent done it. i think i might hold off on that bc i am going to put in a trianglated four link, and bag it to the frame. i might have to c-nitch the frame a little, but youve noticed that the rear frame rails go up so far, but i dont think its far enough. im looking up a local scrap yard for that rear end. i cant thank you enough for that idea. i have just joined a race team, and my car budget just got a little a little smaller. the parts im looking for is pretty much like the drivers door handle. im not going to use the sock tank anymore, im going to make a kegtank and strap it in the truck right behind the rear seat. but my hemi is misfiring, so either i just have a stuk lifter, or i have something more fucked up. so i need a coumpany i can turn to when i find out. see if they sell parts for my motor.
i have gotten lucky for those parts. i bought the car for $2000, froma guy in houston that just wanted to get rid of it. the upholstery had already been done in it. gauges work (so far, iv said up there already that i olny got it up to 10MPH without brakes in the parking lot at school, haha) the only real rust is on the bottom of the doors, and just surface rust on the frame. ALTHOUGH, my trunk has alot of holes. it needs replacing. thank you though.
I've got a 53 dodge 2 door wagon that a kid started to customize and gave up on it. I've got 2 241 hemi's and a 270, a few new windshields. just sitting in the orchard going to waste.
...oh damn. what condition are the 241's in? do you know if they will turn over or are they locked up?
sorry, the wagon is going to rust, the hemi's are part of my dodge,desoto and chrysler hemi whoard, they all turn over and are ear marked for projects. I'm a motor whore-der!! I will how ever trade a running 241 dodge for a running 392 chrysler, being the nice guy I am haha!
haha well that is a sweet deal, my friend. but there is no way i could part with an all stock running red ram. its music to my ears. (running a huge rust hole in the exhaust, sounds purdy) tell you what..if you happen across a good ol' flat head. that is in pretty good condition, let me know. i have a few connections to some motorsyou just might like. nothing like a red ram though.
nickles street, I'm parting a 53 4door that has door handles and such . Send me a P.M. telling me just what you need and see if I can help you out.