Hi all, I used to work on cars in the 80's as a teenager, and I also used to work as an independent airbrush artist for several years in the 90's. I am hoping the dust and rust from lack of using those two skills goes away quickly. I have always loved old cars. My mother always referred to my cars as "Hunka-Junkas." Needless to say, as a teen with very little disposable income available, the cars I brought home were old and rusty. But in my eyes they were cool as heck! My very first car was a '57 Chevy Bel-Air. My next car was a '69 Nova, then a '67 Mustang Convertible, and finally a '65 Chevy II before I left the car scene somewhere in the early 90's. They were all "project" cars, but I got them running and driving. I can't weld, but will be taking a MIG/TIG cl*** at a local community college starting January '09. I will be getting started with a '53 Ford Customline soon. It has a 239 Flathead V-8 (110 hp) and a transmission with the gear shifter and overdrive lever on the column. Right now, I am keeping the car in one of my old barns, but I will need to build a better facility to work on it. I doubt I will do anything with it over the winter, but I plan to learn how to weld and also come up with a plan for what I want to do (and can afford to do) with the car. Right now, I am planning on lowering it. I don't want to lower it by cutting the springs and ending up with a poor handling car, so I will probably seek help and cut the frame to acheive the desired result. I also thought about chopping it, but I think that is way over my head, especially for my first car. My biggest concern with chopping is how to get the gl*** cut to fit right. I want to rebuild the engine and make some performance improvements to it as well. I would like to see ~200-250 hp if that is possible. I won't be supercharging it, but will probably port/polish the heads, install a different intake manifold and carburetor(s), and a dual exhaust system. I know I can get an adaptor for a C4 transmission, and I will probably swap out the ******. I'm not sure what to do about the driveshaft or rear-end, but I have all winter to investigate my options there. Maybe the stock stuff is good enough, maybe I need to switch it out. I don't know right now. I will probably be putting 4-wheel disc brakes, and installing a modern seat restraint system. I will very likely be completely rewiring the car, but I am planning on keeping the 6V electrical system. Hmm...maybe I went into too much detail about what I would like to do. We'll have to see what I can actually afford to do and what I have the ability to do.
Welcome Hunka Junka I like your car and its the right color! Last time I was in your neck of the woods I was "where it's at in Cadillac." Good time from what I recall. Good Luck with your project. Billet
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