53_Suburban

Here's my dirty old engine compartment. At least the headers, oil filler cap, and battery hold down are clean.

Welcome. I've got the cast Langdon split manifold on mine, sounds good even with regular mufflers but probably would sound great with glasspacks.

Thanks for the replies. I have decided to have the wiring repaired and drive the hell out of it at least thru the summer.

My '53 has the factory in bumper license mount and you can see the plate just fine with the gate down.

Hello. I need some advice on what my '53 Surburban (base model) wagon is worth. The other evening someone knocked on my door and asked me if I wanted to sell my wagon, Since I'm not getting any younger or richer I'm actually considering letting her go. I would like to get an idea of how much the old girl is actually worth. Brief history of the car: Purchased in fair condition in 1976. Body a little rough and needed u-joints. Replaced the u-joints and got a tune up right away. Car had a rebuilt motor with about 30,000 miles when I bought it. Completed all the bodywork, and did a complete acrylic lacquer paint job circa 1982. Also had the front and rear bumpers, hood ornaments, turnsignal bezels and horn ring rechromed. Complete new interior installed about 1984. Re-did the entire brake system including new emergency brake lining and master cylinder. replaced all four shocks, 4 tires, and rear trans seal about 3 years ago. Had front bumper and guards replated again. Installed Langdon headers and complete new exhaust. New outside mirrors installed left and right. To the best of my knowledge this has always been a California car. I have always kept it in a garage or carport since 1982. Current condition: Paintwise it's a "10 footer". Paint chipping and lacquer checking in some areas. Lots of chips touched up. Rear bumper and guards have some minor blistering and light surface rust. Some rust starting to appear at the bottoms of the doors. There are a few rust spots in the front floorpan but could be repaired with patch panels, complete floorpan replacement would not be required. The old cardboard heater duct has decomposed and I rigged it with duct tape. I also had to bypass the heater because the grommet to the heater control unit on the firewall started leaking into the passenger compartment. All the original old cloth covered wiring is deteriorating. I was having a great time driving her until one night last summer I went to use the turnsignals and they didn't work, the ammeter went crazy, and I noticed some smoke coming from the back of the hood. I pulled over, opened the hood and saw the flasher unit smoking. So currently rear brake lamps and turnsignals aren't working. I have checked/repaired all the accessable wiring to the rear lamps . Suspect a short somewhere in the pillar or behind the headliner. Tailamps, headlamps and parklamps are working fine. This is the only reason I am considering letting her go. Just don't have enough money or time to deal with it anymore. So I'm hoping to get some input on the value from fellow members here. Photos can be viewed in my "IndividualMembers" album. http://p15-d24.com/gallery/album/256-53-suburban/

I've got an old Sears 6 and 12 Volt trickle charger thats at least 30 years old. Still works like a charm. Can't say I'd recommend their new stuff though.

Welcome back. I've had my '53 Suburban since 1976 and am still lovin' it.

My 53 Suburban (the base model) had the black rubber mats when I bought it.

Three people bid actually bid up to $6000 and the reserve hasn't been met yet? My God, I guess my old Suburban must be worth twice that. Oh well, maybe not, it has paint and a nice interior, and Langdon headers and only 2 doors. Guess it's not worth anything then. ... I had some "patina" on my passenger side floor pan after the grommet in the heat control valve went south. Here's how I dealt with it:

Here are some pics of my Suburban

My favorite, seen on a rusty and dented allover 70 something Ford LTD in San Francisco: "My other car is a REAL piece of sh!t."

Yes, they are 1:43 scale. Don't have any boxes etc. He just gave me a box of them wrapped in newspaper. Most were in really good condition.

I got some pretty decent used ones for my '53 from Turners Auto Wreckers in Fresno CA. They have a lot of old Mopar (and other) stuff and do ship. For $35 each plus shipping it sure beat the price of the repops out there. A little cleanup with hot soapy water and some Pledge furniture spray wax made then look really good.

A couple of months ago my boss gave me a bunch of Franklin Mint cars including these two:

Don't know how far you'd be willing to travel, but L&M Transmissions in Redwood City might know something about this. They've been around for years and are reasonable and honest. Last time I was in there they were rebuilding a '55 Caddy transmission. Try giving Scott a call at 650-366-7185. If he can't help you he probably knows someone who can.