1952-59 Ford Houston 54 Build Thread

'I'm thinking the same thing. The element dimensions are 7" od by 1.25 tall. My carb has no stud at the top, the filter hsng has it. All I can see without getting all of the paint off is " H H " on the bottom. I have an old Cars & Parts magazine with a 6cyl Mainline in it, that will pretty much settle it. Thanks Joe

 

Air cleaner conversion looks very neat! Were you able to convert it to fit your new 4bbl as well?

 

Eric...the 4bbl conversion was much more radical. What we basically did was gut the whole inside of the housing and just left the outer shell. Then we attached a bottom piece from a 4bbl airl cleaner.

I still haven't gotten it back from my dad's house. Hopefully soon though.

 

So what's a guy to do if he really wants to install his transmission but he doesn't have a transmission jack cradle (and doesn't want to buy one) and his neighbor who always helps with the heavy lifting just left for vacation?

Well.....as they say.....neccesity is the mother of invention. So, I sat there and mulled it over for a while and came up with this. I ran a nylon ratchet strap under the bell housing and knocked out the two rubber plugs in the transmission hump.

Then I ran the nylon strap through the two holes and anchored them to a beam in the garage ceiling and....viola!....instant transmission hoist. I used a floor jack to jack up the tailshaft end of the transmission. It worked like a charm, and the transmission is finally installed.

 

Very clever...do you have rubber plugs in your roof, too?

 

Now all you need is a 1986 Crown Vic driveshaft and a conversion U-joint (NEAPCO 2-0291) and you can hook it up the the '54 rear.

 

Eric...I currently have no windshield so I ran the straps through there.

 

Jeff, I looked at Neapco's website and it doesn't look like they sell direct. Do you know of a vendor that they use?

 

My AOD came from a Lincoln so it has a 1" longer tailshaft and I had these guys shorten my Crown Vic shaft 1" and supply me with the U-joint www.****sdriveshaft.com the NEAPCO 2-0291 comes with all the retainers and new bolts also.Try a Ford wrecking yard for that shaft, the front U-joint and yoke will work with your AOD.Since you did not use the Lincoln MK VII front mounts that I did when you contact ****s' they can tell you the proper way to measure the shaft length just to be safe.That Crown Vic shaft also has the correct rear yoke to use that U-joint.

 

Spent the day working on my air cleaner.

Here's a shot of it mounted on the carb after the first coat of paint. After I sand and hit it with another coat, I'll apply the sticker.

Check out my thread on the 54 Ford forum for more detail.

http://1954ford.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=524&p=3555#p3555

 

Lookin' really good! Keep up the great work.

 

Ahhh... I hate to get all technical on 'ya, but how's the air get in?

 

no problem Eric....the lid is just sitting on the body for the quick photo shoot.

In the finished version, there will be a filter (or a couple of them stacked on top of each other) inside the body and the lid will sit on top of them and will serve to hold the hold thing down to the carb base. There will be a nice gap there for air flow.

Before I apply the final paint coat, I'm also thinking about drilling a series of holes in the back where the body faces the firewall to allow some additional air flow. Gotta let that 4 barrel breathe.

 

Here's my 302, fully in drag as a 239 Y-block.

 

Wow! That looks great! The air cleaner looks perfect! Nice work!

 

those are some of the coolest valve covers ive ever seen

 

Looks gorgeous! Nice work, man.

 

I appreciate the kind words guys....thanks.

I've had this concept in my head for several years for this car.....it's fun to see it finally fleshing out. Now to get it running and roadworthy.

 

I've been posting most of my build updates over at 1954Ford.com, but here's a recent photo of the build for my fellow HAMBers.

 

Very nice job! That's gonna have folks who don't know better, scratching their heads & wondering if that's the original engine. Keep up posted on progress.
Ron

 

Car looks awesome. I really like what you've done with the engine and air cleaner. I generally don't like the way sbf's look in these cars, but you got it looking really good. I like how it resembles the ol' "Y". Sweet...

 

How many times have you been asked how your gettin along with that "old chevy".

 

10bucks....haha....plenty! That's too funny.

What I like is when people say, "what is that....a 57 Chevy?" Of course those weren't car people. Those were people who saw it back when it was on the road, and usually at a gas station.

 

I've been neglecting the 54 for a couple weeks and paying attention to my newly acquired Valiant. The little car is just remarkable....super clean, super straight, original paint. (I feel like I should get in it and dodge a fuel tanker on a desert highway).

I pulled the head off of the slant six and verified that the head gasket is blown. So...I think I'm gonna drop in another slant motor as a temp engine. and do a rebuild job on the original.

I've got some garage time slated for the 54 this afternoon though...gonna make some progress on the dashboard and the hood hinges.

 

DANG, that Valiant is clean! What year is it? I've seen a few of those looking real nice. Nice ride.

 

It's a 76 model...it's the cleanest, most unspoiled original 34 year old car I've ever seen. Luckily, the head gasket was blown when the car was still pretty new and then it was parked, in Texas, in a garage. It's pretty wild....the interior is just as nice.

I've never messed with a slant six, but they have an almost legendary reputation for being bullet-proof (unless, of course, you run them without coolant and warp the head!)

It's not as neat looking as a mid-fifties Ford, but for a guy my age, these were the common cars of my youth and the look and feel of the funky 1970's interior brings a smile to my face. It's just so horribly brown and frumpy and well....1970's. I love it. But I think you have to be a car guy (my age) to understand it. My wife hates it, but she's quite a bit younger than me. She REALLY won't understand when I add an 8-track player to it.

And then, of course, there's the fact that I paid less for the car than most people pay for their monthly electric bill. That just sealed the deal for me.

Now if I could just find a m***ive early 70's station wagon, with the rear facing rear seat that folds into the floor and the electric rear window....ah yes....that would be cool.

 

I spent some quality time on the hood hinges on my 54 yesterday and did some nice prep work on my dashboard.

She's coming together....all this little stuff adds up.

 

I love the 8 track idea for your Valiant. I had those in a couple of my HS Fords. I can still hear the "KaLunk" when they switched tracks. Tapes are getting hard to find now though. The last two I had that still worked were Linda Ronstadt and Bachman Turner Overdrive. Ha Ha

 

The BTO....that's cool. I don't know if I'd admit to the Linda Rondstadt though

:-O

 

Linda who??? lol