1953 Windsor

Big_John

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Ok... It's kind of a C body. C-60 Chrysler to be exact.

I bought the car on ebay a couple years ago.






I really liked that this was still on the car.


 
Got it home and started to work on it. The first order of business was to get the car running. I knew there was some issues when I bought the car. The wiring was toast and it turned out there was a bad condenser in the distributor. Rebuilt the carb and fired it up... No oil pressure.

Got to looking closer... The engine had been kinda thrown in. Nothing was bolted together right.



The fluid drive wasn't even bolted to the crank. Clearly the engine needed to come out.

As I said, the wiring was toast.

 
The "dog house" came off.



Engine out... Fluid drive not bolted together!



Found the oil pressure problem. This home made gasket was blocking the oil passage.


 
What a great looking project. Please keep us posted on the progress.:eek:ccasion14:
 
Interesting project from the K.T. Keller years before Exner's design exercises caught on. I like these early post war designs as well but I'm a bit biased towards some GM models of these years. Keep us informed.

You're going all the way through a complete resto or just making it a reliable driver ? I'd tend to the latter with this car.
 
For those who think the paint stamps were only done in the sixties.



Removing the trim revealed a touch more rust than I thought in the dog leg by the back door.

 
I farmed this part out. The rockers were replaced and the floor patched.

 
That instrument panel and steering wheel is very cool!!! Keep us posted on your progress. It's a very nice project! Is it a 6 volt system?
 
If he's going on with the pics in that pace, the car will be ready by tomorrow morning. :)
 
The engine was disassembled and the block sent to my favorite machine shop. Bored for new .040 over pistons. Full floating pins from the factory!



I double check everything!

Setting my bore gage (yes, it would be better to do this with a ring gage)





Fitted the rings.

 
The block in the car turned out to be a 1950 251 cubic inch block. It's close to the same as the 265 block the car should have (full flow oil filter etc) but the 265 block has reliefs for the extra crank throw. I found a 265 crank and rods from a combine in Seattle. Yes... I said combine. They used these engines in lot's of industrial and farm applications.

A few minutes with a die grinder and we were good.


 
Checked the main bores and bearings. This bore gage has a right angle attachment. Only one I've ever seen.



Checked the lifter bores too.

 
I decided I didn't want an oil bath air cleaner so I cut it up.



The top.



The inside had some sort of coarse hair in it.





I cut the top and sandblasted it.


I then made this piece to set in it to give the filter a place to seal against. It was MIG'd in place.

 
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The bottom was easier. The new K&N filter set into place nicely.

 
The oil breather was next.

Cleaned it out using the old school method that Chrysler dealers used to use. Seriously.... This is the way they did it.



Side and bottom vents were plugged using sheet metal soldered in place.





New brass fitting mounted in oil filler tube.

 
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A new decal and some paint.



I forgot to take a picture here. The road draft tube was removed and a PVC from a later truck was fitted in it's place. We now have a modern PVC system to keep the oil a lot cleaner.
 
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