Harder than some, not as hard as others. Last year of the flathead V8 in the USA. Nice attractive car. Front crossmember rot may be a problem from 53-56 in aford cars.
Yes, definitely check for front crossmember rustout across the lower leading edge. They rust from the inside out. Had it bad in a '56 that I did up as an oval track racer. Not that difficult to replace provided you have the front clip off and the engine out. Just buzz off the welds, knock it out and slide the new one in and weld it up. Mac's and other suppliers carry parts for them. Always liked the coupes especially! Regards, Dave.
hood hinges ****! door latches not much better..there are some good aftermarket parts for them.cost alot to convert the frontends....but they are nice cars .they made a million of them.....
i believe Dennis Carpenter has a good selection of reproduction parts. i know a guy who has 9 of them , and tons of used parts stashed away..and he will sell them
Had one for 20 years. Never had a problem finding parts. But I didn't do a nut and bolt restoration either. Bought a few parts cars along the way. There isn't much left of the original car....
53 frame is like 49-51 up rights not ball joints .changed in 54 to balljoint type front end they are like 55 56 crossmember and they are the ones that are pone to rot
I have found most of the parts I need to complete a 53 Ford convertible that I got with half the parts missing. There are lots of used parts available, and new repro patch panels.
No, sorry man! Didn't take a camera with me! I was wanting a 57 Chevy, but I don't know, that 53 just looked more "old school hotrod"! To me anyway!
And if you need more inspiration we have a 1952-56 Ford owners social group here on the HAMB and we are very active there are over 1,000 messages posted and lots of Pics and there are quite a few '53' owners with build pictures posted.
umm it depends on what your looking for, some parts are easier than others, but if you have internet access you can find everything you will need, it will just take more time tan anything from 55-58