keithb7 Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Hi folks, New member today from Western Canada. I just found this site. It looks pretty active. I am happy to contribute to this group. I own a 1953 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe. Flat head 6. Fluid torque drive. It's new to me, I bought it about a month ago. Still learning about the car. I am very happy to have found another resource here. Looking forward to getting to know you a little. Here is the car. The car is down for a week or two. Waiting for parts to arrive for some valve work. I am pretty comfortable working on cars/motorcycles/boats etc. However this old car is new to me. I have learned a ton already. I enjoy working on it. It is as fun and rewarding to work on for me, as it is to drive. - Keith 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Here's how it looks under the hood tonight. The engine could use a full rebuild soon. I am hoping to nurse it along until this winter, when I'll pull it and get to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper50 Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Welcome Keith. Very nice looking car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Looks like the manifolds were off not too long ago.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb1949 Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Nice car, great start. Driving is the most fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortimer452 Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Very nice car. Lots of great help here on the forums. Intake valve on the #5 cylinder totally looks like the stem is broken or bent but maybe it's just a trick of the lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 #5 intake appears to have suffered a collision with either the wrong plug or compression tester adapter.....that is my take on the crime scene... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worden18 Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Welcome! You'll find the members here very knowledgable and helpful; this is a great site. Nice Chrysler! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Thanks for the warm welcome folks. I can see already that I'll like it here. I sense some good knowledge and experience in the forum. I find these forums extremely valuable in enabling me to service and maintain the car. Using my own to hands, my experience, along with some guidance from others. I have yet to meet another owner of the same car, so the internet with these groups, put in contact with you folks from all over the world. As @Plymouthy Adams mentioned, #5 intake valve suffered a collision. It is bent and stuck open. The story on the valve goes like this: Last Saturday, 1 week ago, I wanted to go to a local car show. The car has only been in my possession for 1 month so far. I have been working a little on it almost everyday. Checking things over. Fixing little things. Finding problems and improving them. The previous owner had missed some simple things that I found like, 1 missing exhaust flange nut at pipe to manifold. 2 missing manifold nuts at head. The 2 carb mounting nuts were coming loose. Little stuff, no big deal. I have put about 400 miles on the car so far, but still had more work to do, to earn its trust. I had yet to pull and inspect the spark plugs or do a compression test. I pulled the spark plugs one at a time. I inspected, cleaned, gapped them and re-installed them. After that the car ran like crap. I was struggling to understand what I had done. I have pulled and installed plugs many many times over my life. Such a simple task. There was nothing complicated here to cause a problem. I began thinking about what I had done, racking my brain with no solution. So I began throwing parts at it. I installed new spark plugs, new coil wires, new points, new condenser, all with no improvement. I checked TDC against the distributor. All good. The primary and secondary ignition systems all seemed to be in good shape. I had to take a few breaks as the frustration mounted. I took my time and tried to stay calm, but still things were not adding up. Time for a compression test. I found that the spark plug holes in the head are recessed quite a bit. A bought some adaptors for my compression gage so I could safely seal up the hole and not plunge to deep into the cylinder with the adaptors. I pulled all plugs on Wed night and took a compression test. All were fairly low, with 5 and 6 holes dead, at 0 psi. I proceeded to pull the head, and what you see above is what I found. a bent valve on #5. Also #6 valves are coated pretty good with carbon and not sealing great either. In fact all the valves need dressing up. Which I believe is why I measured low compression readings. The car did not burn any oil that was visible. I racked my brain further to figure out what caused a bent valve. After pulling the head, I removed all the built up carbon with a brass wire wheel in a drill. I found slight bruises in the combustion chamber of the head/ Something went into the cylinder and took a merry go round ride. The cylinder walls are fine. no scoring. I am lucky there. I can only assume what happened. I suspect the previous owner dropped a small nut or washer and could not find it. It landed right down in the dish beside a spark plug. It sat there for some time. Until I changed he plus. Leaning over the fenders to pull plugs, I did not see it on the back side of a plug. I proceed to pull the plug, and it drops in, unknown to me. It sits on the intake valve, which is directly under the plug hole. As soon as I attempted to fire up the engine, contact is made as the valve rises to open. The small fastener gets bounced around a few times and the bruises the combustion chamber. I have ordered parts to replace all valves at #5 and #6. I will pull all valves, de-carbon them, and deck area of block. I hope to lap in the new valves and re-seal all the others. The parts won't be here for about another week. Today, I will proceed to hopefully pull all valves and start cleaning. I have not found the culprit fastener yet that went through the spark plug hole. I am hoping to find it in a manifold today. I heard someone in another form, mention that the water distribution tube may also be suspect. If you look, you'll see #5 and #6 valve are carbon'd up more than any other cylinder. If they are not getting the cooling, this may be a contributing factor. I suspect 5 and 6 were in need of service, then this valve collision happened and was the final nail in the coffin. Here you can see the build up on 5 & 6 valves. That light scuff mark in#5 cylinder is of concern. It appears to be up into the top ridge area. I am not sure what would cause that. It does not feel excessive. The walls are still smooth to the hand. The top ridge does not appear excessive. Hoping I can patch it, and run as is for a while. Oil pressure is good. No smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 The #6 cylinder wall finish is srange too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 I suggest you drop the oil pan and remove all pistons for inspection. I have seen piston ring failure as pictured below in high mileage engines especially if they overheat. This might also account for the bent valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) The perpetrator has been located, hiding down in the intake manifold. At #5 intake. A small screw. I can only suspect the previous owner, or a helper dropped this down in the spark plug recessed area in the head. Could not find where it ended up and moved on. A new step is now burned into my brain, compressed air will be blown around all spark plug holes before any plugs are removed. Edited June 10, 2017 by keithb7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Roberts Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Good detective work . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 2 hours ago, keithb7 said: The perpetrator has been located, hiding down in the intake manifold. At #5 intake. A small screw. I can only suspect the previous owner, or a helper dropped this down in the spark plug recessed area in the head. Could not find where it ended up and moved on. A new step is now burned into my brain, compressed air will be blown around all spark plug holes before any plugs are removed. Yes that is a good step. The plugs always collect gunk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLK Posted June 11, 2017 Report Share Posted June 11, 2017 20 hours ago, keithb7 said: Hi folks, New member today from Western Canada. I just found this site. It looks pretty active. I am happy to contribute to this group. I own a 1953 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe. Flat head 6. Fluid torque drive. It's new to me, I bought it about a month ago. Still learning about the car. I am very happy to have found another resource here. Looking forward to getting to know you a little. Here is the car. This looks just like a 1953 Windsor Deluxe (even the same color minus the nice wide whites) my Dad debated purchasing in 1958. Instead he bought a 1953 Buick Special (it had a V-8 and much more pep) and put in two rebuilt Dynaflow transmissions in 4 years. He made a bad decision. At the time even as a 9 year old I lobbied for the Chrysler since he was selling a 1949 New Yorker with the scotch plaid interior us kids loved. But he wasn't listening to a little kid. I love your car! The car is down for a week or two. Waiting for parts to arrive for some valve work. I am pretty comfortable working on cars/motorcycles/boats etc. However this old car is new to me. I have learned a ton already. I enjoy working on it. It is as fun and rewarding to work on for me, as it is to drive. - Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted December 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2017 (edited) Digging around in my '53 tonight I found a piece of paper under the rear bench seat. It is a Vehicle Registration for state of Massachusetts. Dated 1969. A 1953 Chrysler Sedan. Owner was Bert H. Webster of Bulkeley Road, Littleton Mass.01460. Registration fee was $6. I googled Bert to find his obituary, date 2009. He was born in 1929 and seems he lived most of his life in Littleton. He served 4 years in the Airforce during the Korean conflict. After his service, he worked as a truck driver his whole life. Pretty cool to find this... Edited December 16, 2017 by keithb7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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