I heard this was the best forum for these cars so I'm excited to learn from you guys... I'm reading through the entire forum and taking notes now. My family is p***ing down my Great-Grandfather's 53 Customline... It went from him, to my grandfather, then to another grandfather to prevent it being sold outside the family, and now to me. Im in my 40s now... Ive turned a few wrenches in my times on all sorts of vehicles - ground up rebuilds on CJs to bobbing motorcycles to tuning japanese cars to adding power to late 80s/early 90s F-bodies... BUT for this one I'm looking forward to cleaning it up, having some fun, and taking my young kids for many rides - and then p***ing it down to one of them some day. I dont plan on chopping it or dropping a big block in it Haha, but I will put a personal touch on it where I can... Its been stored in a barn for a bit now. It started last year. The only work that I know 100% that has been done to it is new rockers were welded in and original color paint was resprayed maybe 20 years ago. I see it has coolant overflow bottle attached under the hood. ... Some cheap carpet mats on the floor and Mice droppings too. ... 1. What do you see on the car that is not original? Any original parts missing? 2. Anything that I should jump on first for reliability, driveability, safety? 3. If this was your car... what would you upgrade/change? Any thoughts or ideas welcome. Thanks guys!
That is a REALLY nice car, and it having family connections makes it better. Storage is hard on brake parts. Make sure they are sound before the kids get a ride. Storage is hard on fuel related parts. I'm sure new fuel tanks are available, and a good clean up, internally, of the rest of the system. Ethanol proof kits are available for the carburetor and the fuel pump. It sounds like you have the experience to make it a dependable car. Good luck. Thanks for the pictures.
When a car has sat that long without being run you should do a complete flush of all fluids oil,brakes and fuel system. The car looks to be all complete,when was the last time it was driven ?
Thanks guys. I'm excited to have it and continue the family tradition with this one. Full fluid change... great idea. I'll look into the ethanol proof kits. How long has it been since driven? I honestly dont know... I was just told it started last year. My grandfather is up in age and isnt driving anymore, but maybe someone else took it out? Best case scenario it was driven last year, but worst case could be 5?10? I will have to ask to get more info... but with it sitting on concrete in the barn the tires could be suspect for sure.
Welcome to the ‘53 Ford club! Beautiful car! It looks pretty original to me except for the temp gauge. The rest all appears correct. Seems to be missing the oil bath air cleaner unless you took it off for the pics? Like the others said, clean the tank! Mine has 90k original miles and the pickup got clogged so now she sits. I have the POR-15 gas tank repair kit but still need to do it. Next on the list is adding power steering and power brakes to make it more driveable! Check out Butch’s Cool Stuff for some parts. Also get the Mac’s catalog ... it is a great reference tool.
Awesome car! However far it is from the barn to your place ISN'T too far! Good thought on the tires. Regardless of what it sat on, age is a big factor. If they're 10 years old, definetly replace them regardless of how new they look. Some will say even sooner. The big tire stores say 6 years, but I'd take that with a grain of salt, lol. Welcome!
no way Hudson. Haha. barn is about 45 minutes from me... depending on what I find on next inspection I may just hook up a trailer to my f350 grab it. oil bath air cleaner... I found it on the barn floor full of oil. Surprisingly nice shape. The aftermarket temp gauge - good eyes. I forgot about that. I'm not a big fan of its mount location... I need to clean that up.
Speaking to some family this weekend and heard some stories on the car... One said, that after the rockers were repaired the original Ford color wasnt used because they couldnt find the original paint, only the letter "H". The paint was matched to the door jambs to get the closest match possiblem but possibly a "Buick" color was used?... Who knows haha. So, I know the work done was early internet days, but a 30 second google search pulled up Carnival Red Metallic for the paint. The car was painted at a professional shop so I would ***ume they had the same information. .... This story sounds incomplete to me. - from comparing pictures the red look dead on. A second said, that when the car was resprayed, they painted the roof Red even though it was previously white/cream like the top part of the doors. ... So, I ***ume the roof's paint was either scratched/damaged or it was simply a personal choice in style. Another incomplete story. ... 1. Does anyone know if the car was truly a factory two-tone original car, would that not be noted on the doorplate instead of just "H" ? UPDATE: Yes, the car's paint code should read HL if it was factory two tone... first letter is bottom paint and second letter is top paint. 2. What correct paint color/code would the white/cream be? UPDATE: most likely Sungate Ivory which is "L". thanks for the info.
Saw an old black and white photo of the car from when my grandfather owned the car and mom was young... the top was definitely not red... still will probably never know when car was painted two tone.
Thanks Bobss396. The more I'm learning about the car and its condition the more I'm moving that direction. Enjoy an original car.... I really need to control the mod bug on this one... maybe buy another car for that !! Haha.
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