Shifticus

Congratulations! These first drives are extremely gratifying, aren't they? At the time of my cars first run after years of sitting, I lived on a hill too. Had a brake return spring go on my first drive... Made it down fine but sure wasn't going to make it back up! You and your buddy will always have the story of its first drive and how you had to keep it running. Oh, after ten years of sitting, I'd recommend getting the tank boiled out and recoated along with that carb rebuild.

If you aren't already aware, Leno has a youtube channel where he takes all sorts of interesting cars out on a drive and gives an entertaining talk about their history and driving dynamics. The focus is one car per episode, and range from his early 1900's steam cars to new exotics. Recently, I stumbled upon this episode from 2012; I think you guys will enjoy it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd5qq9e3apk

Anyone else get a kick out of the 140mph speedo?

Capt. GTX: Beautiful unrestored example, and I commend your efforts in preserving and documenting your rare '54! You're in good company with plenty of other 53/4's on this website, myself included. Robert: Thanks for posting up that Leno video, it's great!

Hey everyone, You may remember this car, which belongs to my dad. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=5144&highlight=shifticus I recently gave it a bit of a tune up and got it rolling after a bit of a hiatus. Unfortunately it began leaking oil quite rapidly, from what appeared to be the block/bellhousing interface. I suspect an O ring for one of the Hydrive oil passages. My question: does anyone have a suggestion for a transmission shop that may be familiar with mopar semi automatics of the era - say, Chrysler Fluid drive cars? I have replaced clutches and changed out automatics before, but the idea of tearing apart both a clutch setup AND dealing with a torque converter really does not excite me. Thanks so much for your help. Brian

I second checking the brakes. Jack the car up and try to spin the tires by hand; if one takes significantly more force to spin than the others, you've probably found your problem in that wheel's drum. If both rears take a lot of force, check your ebrake. I had a return spring break in one of my fronts; the brakes would drag and cause similar symptoms to what you describe. One more thing: change both sides, or else one side will pull when you're stopping. Don't ask how I know.

Mine is a business coupe, where as yours was a 2 door sedan. The difference is between the trunk lid and the B pillar; the sedan was geared for more rear passenger comfort and has a longer roof.

Very rewarding and worth the effort, especially if we're talking about saving original paint... just do a panel at a time. Did the original paint on mine, by hand. The paint would rub off on your finger in the as-found condition!

I was having similar symptoms with my 53, except the car would not stay running without giving it gas. I bought it a new ignition coil and crimped new connectors on the coil ground wire, which only improved the problem slightly. I then pulled off the cap, hit all the terminals (including the rotor) with steel wool, and sprayed the inside of the cap with carb cleaner, and the car seems to be better.. just got back from a good 40 mile drive. Give your ignition a look see... I started with the fuel side of things but have discovered that it's ignition in my case.

While not my favorite body style, that 59 looked like it was in decent shape. I find it unfortunate that they felt a need to do this... I think any competent human being could've told you what the outcome would be! Despite my upchuck reflex, I still had to watch the whole thing through...

That was my engine you were speaking about. To answer your question about how it ran, well, it ran fine. Decent power, acceleration without any misses or hiccups, and didn't lose or consume much oil. At idle, however, it had the occasional "piff piff" sound that you mention. I wanted to shave the head for more power. plenty of carbon..

Thanks for the input. My local speed shop referred me to these guys for my head which is currently in their posession, so I might sit down and have a chat about the motor. http://www.lnrengine.com/ Have a shop to reccommend in SoCal? Anyone had a bad experience with the guys I listed above? I'd love to hear it..

I pulled the head to get it milled .060", however I came upon a nasty little surprise in cylinder #3 Now, the loose pieces are carbon buildup, and I poked at what I presume to be the top ring revealing that it was present and intact (atleast through the big hole). I wanted to show you guys some more pictures illustrating the condition of the valves and such, and wanted your advice concerning my next course of action. The motor leaks very little oil, runs pretty good-and reliably at that. I figure option one is to drop the pan and replace the pistons, or I could really dive in, pull it and contract a rebuild. My preference would be to mess with as little as possible. Let's hear your two cents.

high and mighty, anyone?

Neat looking. How's it perform, and what did you have on it before?