moparmonkey

Shipping, even from Canada, shouldn't be that much. Are you talking about the grille, or the entire front shroud?

According to the factory standard equipment list, the truck rims are also 4" wide until the later years. Perhaps your rims were upgraded at some point? I'd offer more direct proof, but both my trucks are '53's and have the 4.5" wide rims.

It depends on the year. '48-'50 were 16x4, '51-'53 were 16x4.5.

If he doesn't take it (his post after all), I'd be interested in the whole grille for $150. I'd need shipping to California though.

Not good! A pressurized container as a chock! That'll leave a mark...

Up until the very recent reprinting, they were out of print and pretty hard to find. Which is why they were getting $150-$200 on eBay. Now since the reprint its easy, just order one up. But I don't think all the eBay sellers realize the book is now back in print. I lucked out and waited, so I got mine on the reprint. And I agree with Hank, if you've got a B-series you should have this book.

While it might be more difficult to warp because of its thickness, it can definitely still be warped by a shoddy sandblasting. Not to say at all that it can't be done and done right, but it is still possible to warp it, and badly, if the blasting is done incorrectly. Beautiful truck! I didn't know that you go DeSoto's over in Australia, I thought they were pretty much for the South American market. Well done!

Here's a few that I've found on the net. Not sure who they belong too, most of them are from Flikr. Also, most of our trucks were two tone from the factory. Unless an option was ordered, the bed sides and fenders were black from the factory.

Hey Dan, do you have more info on that brake setup (part # etc)? Looks like a pretty decent set up. How much custom work did you have to do to get it to fit?

Thanks for the input guys. I ended up not even going out to see the engine. The seller just wanted way too much for it considering the lack of information. He was asking almost as much money as it would cost to rebuild one, and I don't mean on the cheap either. I really don't think it would have been worthwhile to haggle with him, to even get in the ballpark I'd have to get him to go for half what he was asking originally. I'm just going to go back to cleaning up the 218 I have, and hope I can getting running for a bit while I continue to collect parts. It seems like NOS 218/230 parts show up on eBay on a fairly regular basis, and seem to go for pretty darn cheap. I think if I collect parts for a bit I'll be able to rebuild it for less than what the seller wanted for his supposedly rebuilt engine. And then I'll know that it was done right.

Thanks Dave! I totally agree with the "running core" philosophy, I have no way to know how the engine was rebuilt. Obviously, since I can hear it run, I can have some idea of how it runs now, but that's no guarantee of a rebuild, or how it will do in the future with a few more miles. Unless I can get the seller to come closer to the price point I'm thinking I doubt I'll be buying it. It'd be nice, since I suspect the engine is in better shape than the one that I have. But I think the engine I have will run too with a little work, so its really not saving me anything unless it really is a complete rebuild.

Always partial to fire engines...

Thanks Dan! As soon as I found out I could hear it run I was thinking compression check. It won't tell you everything, but it's a good start. Although if it was rebuilt to stock specs the dynamic compression won't be all that high anyway, at least compared to more modern engines. I think I have the spec somewhere. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure the seller isn't on the same page with regard to the price. He's asking quite a bit more, which is why I asked. I was thinking pretty much the same thing you were, and wanted to make sure I wasnt missing something...

A running, "rebuilt by a previous owner" '55 230? I may have a chance to buy a running, supposedly rebuilt, 1955 230 with a '53 head on it. Still in the truck, so I'll be able to hear it run, but there are no receipts and no info on the rebuild, just the previous owner's word it was rebuilt prior to the seller buying it. The truck the engine is in did sit for a few years, but the seller cleaned it up and has it running now. He never pulled the head or anything, but says the engine runs well and has low miles since the rebuild (parked longer than it was used). Assuming it was actually rebuilt, and lets say to stock specs, what's it worth?

Nice! I love the old sweptline's. I'd widen a set of the stock rear fenders and put a step side bed on it. Might take a little custom work, but truck bed's are pretty straightforward.

Actually, the engine is still in the truck, and I hope to keep it that way for now at least. If I'm going to go through the trouble of pulling the engine and popping the pistons out of it, then I'm going to have the machine work done and rebuild it. No point it tearing it all down to put it back together with worn out parts. But at the moment I have a 340 and 4 speed that are about ready for me to put into my '72 Challenger (my daily driver), as soon as I get the 318 for my '71 Dart off to/back from the machine shop (so it can be my daily). And I'm just getting started. I certainly appreciate what you guys are saying though. I spent over $500 trying to get my '71 Dart running. I bought it with a "blown head gasket" that turned into "skipped time and bent a bunch of valves" that turned into "flat cam" and an improperly installed timing chain by the PO (not keyed to the cam!!! Looked kosher, was held in place most of the time by the bolt tension). Of course, I found out that last bit after tearing it down for a rebuild, after I had already bought new valves, lapped them in, replaced the head gaskets, tried to get it running without success, etc, etc. So, I do see what you're saying. But, I can spend a little time cleaning it up and seeing if it will run while I wait for my other projects to need my time. I'll only be out my time, and a couple of gaskets (bought for cheap on eBay). I fully expect to have to rebuild the 218 in the near future. But, I would like to see it run first. If I can spend a couple days cleaning and have it run, then I can tool around with it a little and work on some other small stuff. If after a few days I put it back together and it won't work, it will have to go on the shelf for awhile until I can invest more time/money into it. To be honest, at the moment all of my engine stands have engines on them, and my work benches are full!

Something like this Merle? What grit would you recommend? Looks like they come in 120, 180, 320, 400, and 600 grit...

MB- It had the standard green antifreeze in it, actually looked pretty new/clean. I see what you're saying about 5-6, looks like more scale than the others on the block. The drain is already out of the engine, I was actually surprised how clean the coolant was coming out. Not sure I want to pull the distribution tube at this point, but I guess I should probably think about it. I have a gasket kit for it already, my hope was to clean it up, hit the cylinders with a 3 jaw hone and see if it'll run. Supposedly it was "running when parked" because of electrical issues 5 or so years ago. Obviously sometime in the near future the engine will have to be gone through and rebuilt, but I already have a couple projects going right now so I'd like to be able to run it, as is, for the summer at least... Hopefully today I'll get time to pull the manifolds and take a better look at the valves.

Well, I finally got around to working on my new '53 again. I pulled the head, actually managed to get all of the grade 8 bolts out of the head! The pistons seem pretty tight in the bores, not a whole lot of rock, and the pistons and cylinders are still standard bore. The engine turns pretty easily by hand too. Unfortunately, it wasn't as clean inside as I had hoped, the bores are a little rusty. I'm hoping I can hone them by hand a little to clean them up, but I'm not so sure. Here's the engine, and close ups of the worst two cylinders... What do you guys think? I'm not looking for a lot of performance, I'm just hoping to get it running without having to rebuild it. I'd be ok with it if it smoked a little as long as it ran. But as it sits I think I'd break the rings if I tried to run it without any cleaning up. Also, the area where the valves sit in the block is pretty crudded up with deposits and some rust. Any ideas for cleaning it up? I'm pulling the pan, so anything that drains past the valves won't stay in the engine...

The bare blocks are actually almost the same exact size, the heads are what makes the difference. The Hemi valve set up makes the heads a bunch wider (and heavier!). But the LA small blocks (273/318/360) were based on the "A" small blocks (318 poly), which were based off the hemi blocks.

Interesting. I don't see any reason why he had to move the wheels 5" forward though. You don't need to mount the engine to the cross member, and it comes with its own steering rack. I don't think that's going to work out very well set up like that.

Track width on the Crown Vics is 62.8, the Pilothouse is 58.625. So, its a little wider, but not too bad. Actually, the rear track on the pilothouses is 61.25. You could address it with a little backspacing on the rim, you're talking about just over 2" per side. Most modern rims have more backspace than the stock rims anyway. As far as the suspension drop, I don't think it would be as extreme on our trucks as it was on the Ford from the article. You can see on the Ford that the frame rail arches up a bit to where the Crown Vic crossmember is mounted, so that's additional drop. Our straight frame rails wouldn't do this, so you might be able to get away with it. It would definitely lower the truck, but you could lower the rear a little to keep the geometry decent. As far as the width, it wouldn't be hard to add some additional width to the frame in that area. It wouldn't be a bolt up operation by any means, but it would definitely be a swap to consider, especially given how common the Crown Vics are. You'd still have to box the front section of the frame rails at least, but compared to a full frame swap, or clipping the front end, or even doing the Volare swap, I think this set up would be easier. As far as handling, I think even with some additional rake it would be an improvement over stock. After all, people have been bolting up mustang 2 front ends on hot rods for years. Definitely worth considering. A quick look on the PickNPull website shows several possible donors at yards local to me. Here's a video of a set up on a '53 F100, a lot closer to our trucks than the '67-'72 F100's... !

Actually Reg, that's pretty cheap!!! I've seen some of the 18" versions go for over $1k. All the rage on both "traditional" hot rods and *shudder* rat rods these days. I bet a few years ago people were giving them away. Funny how that works.

I was looking for a set for my latest '53. I bought a set already from another member here. Still, I'll probably keep an eye on this set too. And they are stainless steel.

Welcome to the forum! That's a pretty nice looking truck to start with. As far as your build, it sounds to me like you'd benefit from just swapping the entire frame with a Dakota. That will give you everything you want, V6, upgraded steering, suspension, brakes etc. Using the floor and firewall makes some things easier, but its a lot of welding to do. I would guess that its easier to just use the stock floor and firewall and fabricate new mounts, but I could be wrong. I did a frame clip with one of my '53's, and I would have to say its probably easier to use the whole frame. As far as what Dakota's, the first gen Dak's are probably best. Made from '87 to '96, they have a 111.9" wheelbase (reg cab short bed), 87-88 are 68.4" wide and '89 to '96 are 69.4" wide. Second gen Dak's (97-04) are the same wheelbase for the regular cab/short bed, but are 71.5" wide. Either way, you'll have to take a few inches out of the length of the frame (or extend the length of the bed, or cab if you're adventurous), but there's a pretty easy place to do this. Plus, if you buy a donor truck, you'll get the electronics too. Good luck with your project!