Projects 54 Ford Customline daily driver

Thats another reason i wanted to get ahold of the owner of that blue car. Ive heard some dudes have major issues with only blocks and other guys seem to be lower and dont have as many issues. Wheel offset and tire size seem to be huge part. Air shocks seems like a great idea too, a few guys riding low said it made a big difference in ride quality doing air shocks in the rear, if they help get the tires off thats even better

 

Reminds me of an old friend's fiddyfour- his son was big into 427 Cobras and such in the 70s and 80s, had 3 Cobras and two genuine race GT40s, a MKI 289 car and a MKII 427 car, and always had his fingers in things- mom had a 69 Boss 429, used to drive it to Safeway. So the son bought a truckload of stuff at one of the Holman Moody sales in the late 70s, and the old man ended up with a new 427 side oiler block and LeMans rods, nice set of medium risers, and a Shelby Dominator intake, with a stock 306/500 chugger cam. Added 65 LTD disc brakes, a 65 Shelby 31 spline rear with 3.91 TracLock, and a 3 spd w/ OD, all wrapped in faded olive drab and poverty caps. More than one smartass kid in a Camaro got smoked by a 70 yr old guy in a helluva sleeper- would have made a great likker car...

 

I've got 4 inch blocks and naturally dearched springs and can attest that fixing a flat on the side of the road is a PITA. Changing a rear tire whenever is a pain, but it's nearly impossible on the side of the road. Plan on stashing a spare, a bottle Jack to put between the frame rail and the spring, an air pump to reinflating the replacement tire and all the tools to knock the shocks loose.

When doing the T5 swap, you may run into clearance issues with the trans tunnel. Some persuading with a hammer will fix that. Since your car is a Tudor, you won't have to deal with a k member interfering with anything. At least my brothers '54 Mercury did not. The mummert adapter is a godsend, and a first gen mustang clutch disc is the solution to your new spline needs, if memory serves. I had a custom disc made, but did some research and I'm pretty sure a 65 or so V8 Mustang nets you a 10 inch disc with a 10 spline by 1 1/16 center. Pretty sure that's right, but double check before you sling money around. I haven't done one of these swaps in a few years.

 

Thanks for the info bud, i appreciate it. Whats your wheel tire size on the rears if you dont mind me asking. The adapter for the t-5 really simplifies things since it allows you to utilize the stock clutch components. Saves alot of hassle and time

 

I'm running f78-14s and I'm not that into them. I stumbled into these vintage chrome 14 inch wheels, so I was kind of stuck. I should throw down and buy some 15 inch repop chrome wheels, but I need to buy wheels for my new Galaxie first.

Yeah! Using all the stock stuff makes everything so great. I never had the chance to try my t5 behind my old 239, but I will say it made my 292 much more drivable.

 

I like 14's....run them on my 61 sunliner

 

Is there any advantage to these instead of the Monroe shocks recommended on the Aerostar threads?

 

GG, great looking car. Other then the wheels it looks just like a time capsule from back in the day. BTW, I'd leave it all green.

Gary

 

or you could go a different direction.

This is my cousin's car. I recall it in primer in the 70s racing my dad's Charger on South 11th in Abilene, Tx.

It went through many versions; entry level show up to National show champion, then a into a fast car. I haven't seen it in 20 or so years, but I am sure he has it. Hot Chocolate

 

I dig 14's, ran reverse supremes on my 62


Country sedan thats a rad car, sweet picture too

 

Im driving to posies in the morning to pick up a pair of 3" drop springs for the rear. Im just gonna make my own blocks like i did on my apache. Ive decided to do the spindle/disc kit up front. Heres my question. Drop n stop offers either a 1 1/2" or 2 1/2" drop spindle. Should i go with the 2 1/2" spindle and trim stock springs to my liking, or go 1 1/2" spindle with the aerostar springs ? Opinions ?

 

Better quality and handling for about the same price. Use the Aerostars and the 1 1/2" spindle using cut 60 year old springs The Aerostars are a progressive wound spring= better ride.

 

Thats what i figured, i was thinking if i did the 2 1/2" spindles id get a new pair of stock springs to cut, but cut springs have never rode to well in my experiences

 

Can anyone tell me if a crestliner front seat with the split back is the same as a customline front seat. Ezboy only has a 52 crestliner with a split front bench in there seat patterns. They look the same from pics ive seen

 

The Crestliner was only made in 1950 and 51. 52 could be a Crestline

 

Crestline then. They have patterns for a 52 crestline, im assuming the seats are the same ? Split back front bench?

 

I've had many different 52-54 Ford cars over the years and I have never seen a different front seat frame. Crestline, Customline and Mainline all share the front seat frame in 52-54 (with 2 and 4 door cars being different, of course). I got a bench seat base from a '54 Customline sedan and used it to repair a seat out of a '52 Mainline coupe, they interchanged parts for me.

 

Front seats not a problem, 1952-54 hardtop and convertible rear seats are different and narrower because of the rear door panels built in arm rests.

 

I appreciate the seat info guys. Im not sure what happened but somehow i got two threads going for this build. I use the HAMB app to post this stuff and its been acting incredibly strange. Ill add the posts to this thread that are missing

 

So i took the car to the shop today to start tinkering with a few things. Heres a few more pics










I am not a fan of the interior, the seats are in solid shape but the tweed...... Gotta go. Im planning on a pleated or tuck n roll style interior like i did on my 62 belair. Heres a pic of that. All EZ-Boy upholstery panels and seat covers, some rattle can attention and elbow grease. I had around $1100 ish dollars in this interior




Im trying to figure out colors to go with the brown paint. Im thinking maybe a deeper pale gold for the pleats and piping with a white outer, similar style to the seats above. I have a bunch of carpet and vinyl samples coming

 

I could see gold and white with the rootbeer brown outside, would look nice, and the seats in the '62 turned out nice, I did a vaguely similar set in my '52.



Although I was replacing some 1980's era velour seats out of another car so there was no way I was keeping any of it. Your current seats aren't bad looking as-is, even with the tweed. The two tone vinyl will be better for sure, but I could live with what you've got now for a while.

 

If @ModelAPunk doesn't mind, here's a shot of his brown '53 wagon with gold wheels, I love it.

 

Squablow where did you get your seat upholstery from ? Im trying to find different options. The brown tweeds not my favorite but its in solid shape. Ik gonna tear the headliner out asap because its torn and raining dust and old crap down. But the seats and door panels will get switched out whenever i get around to it. No big rush as of now

Those gold wheels look sweet on that wagon !!

 

I got a clean old 54 plate for MD. Colors are pretty rad, black with yellow letters. Looks a lot better than modern plates


I also pulled the rear bumperettes. The fronts will need to be cut off. The nut on the inside of the front bumperettes is spinning and the bolt is rusted over. I have an ad up in the WANTED section looking for front and rear bumper in better shape. You can see where the bumperettes used to be the chrome is clean and the rest is oxidized and cracked real bad. I tried quick glo chrome cleaner which is amazing stuff but it didnt help. The front bumpers even worse. Its all flaking off

 

I got mine from onlineupholsteryandmore.com which I would guess is the same place that makes the JCWhitney ones. Quality is decent, price was dirt cheap, I want to say like $450 for the set front and rear, maybe not even that much. They'd be better if they had the little listing channels sewn into the bottom edges so you could put a rod in there and hog ring them in place instead of just a fold over but they've been in my car for years and still look good, and the price was right.

 

I dont mind! Thanks. I thought the Gold looked good with the brown. Kinda makes it pop! I had hubcaps on it... But i think it stood out better with all gold showing.

I think the 54 in this thread would look bitchin with some gold wheels! haha but maybe i'm partial...

 

Can anyone tell me if the 4 door rear seats differ from the 2 door rear seats. They look identical in pictures

 

The upper section of the back seat will be the same but the bottom is different, the bottom of the seat is rounded off for rear door access where as the 2 door seat bottom is squared off on the ends.

 

Good looking car,I have a soft spot for '54 Fords. HRP

 

Looking good man! Did you ever try out that EZboy seat cover? I have a '54 that needs new seat upholstery, seems like a great option if it would fit. Mine's a business coupe, so I only need the front seat.

Regarding the lowering, another thing to consider with the rear blocks (aside from the tire changing issue) is if you go much lower than 4", you'll start having drive shaft clearance issues, especially with saggy old springs. I know on mine. with the original saggy springs and 4" blocks, I would rub the driveshaft on the tunnel when hitting dips. With 4" blocks and new springs, I don't have any issues. I do have to remove my blocks to get the wheels/tires out, but it's pretty easy to do. Just make sure you have AAA.

If you're planning on running a T5, check out this link for the mounts I used with mine. No tunnel modifications, and uses the stock trans crossmember in the stock location. I'm also using the Falcon 260 motor mounts, which set the engine a little lower and with plenty of clearance between the valve cover and the stock firewall throttle lever.