CaptainGTX

I'd suggest getting it running first. The baby hemi is a neat engine and you hardly ever see them anymore. I have a fully restored 69 Plymouth GTX, and guess which attracts more attention, that or my unrestored 53 Coronet convertible. The convertible of course. I prefer my cars stock.

I'm with Plymouthy. Looks like a floor pedal for a windshield washer. If so, and if it was ever functional, you should have nozzles on the cowl directed toward the windshield.

Welcome to the site, John. Would like to see some details & photos of your 53 convertible.

What you have is either a 1954 Dodge Mayfair (Canadian) or a 1954 Dodge Coronet or Meadowbrook (US). In either event its a 54. You can find pictures of all three online.

A couple months ago I had my 53 Coronet convertible's left rear quarter repaired due to rust on its wheel well, using a NORS quarter panel. The 53-54 convertibles and hardtops use the same panels, which I believe are different from the coupes & sedans. The NORS panel was marked convertible & hardtop only.

I currently own an all-original 53 Dodge Coronet convertible Red Ram Gyro-Torque bought locally from the family of the original owners in 2009 and a 69 Plymouth GTX 440 4-spd bought in 1998 and since restored. Like many of you I bought these particular cars in a futile attempt to reclaim my youth (lol). You see, my first car was also a 53 Coronet with the Red Ram albeit in a 4 dr sedan because that was all I could afford at age 16 in 1964. After that car and a 59 Chevrolet Bel-Aire, came my first new car. It was a special ordered 69 Plymouth Sport Satellite 2 dr 383 auto with A/C (same body as the GTX). Ironically, the Sport Satellite's MSRP was higher than the GTX, but also more reasonable for a college student to insure and feed.

A very similar, perhaps the same, mirror on my 53 Coronet convertible. Believe it came on the car originally, as the original owner (from whose son I acquired it) kept everything stock. Don't know the part number, but these are hard to find also.

Thanks, James, for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your comments regarding your experience with convertible tops. I plan to contact Bill Hirsh again about the top. I had contacted him some time ago but decided to keep the old top as long as possible. Also didn't think about asking if they knew the color codes. So far as I know the top is original, although I was told by a local upholsterer that the rear plexiglass window has been changed out. I'm confident the rest of the top is original because the original owner kept detailed notes of all work done on the car, as well as most receipts. By the way, it has only a single zipper for the rear window. Fortunately, since I have the original top, I can always have someone replicate it. Rich

Thought some might be interested in seeing my 53 Coronet just before I bought it. Original red wheels and all, just like in the brochure.

According to the Mopar 1954 and prior year Passenger Car Parts List published in April 1955,all 1949 - 54 Plymouth steel wheels were 15 x 4.50. Part No.is 1320042. Spoked wheels were available, but no size is indicated.

Same car. The photo shown then was taken after I had powder coated the wheels to match their backsides, but before I had reapplied the red to the rims with red overspray on the centers to match the originals. All five original wheels had the same pattern of red & overspray. Dodge obviously didn't want to waste paint (and money) painting what wouldn't show. Similarly, Plymouth did the same thing on my 69 GTX by painting just the front side of the brake drums red where it would show through the Magnum wheels. I don't know why you have such a problem believing Mopar did this for certain cars. Take a look at this brochure for 53 Dodges.

Just a reminder that some Mopars, especially some early 50's models such as my 53 Coronet convertible, came from the factory with red painted wheels. Here's a photo of what I took off the car before I repainted them & replaced the threadbare recaps with wide whites. The car is a factory original Shoreham Ivory.

Does anyone have a Salesman Data Book for a 53 Coronet that gives the ordering codes for the color of the convertible top? Brochures indicate they were available only in black and taupe, however, my original top is a grey color, even down the sides where it was protected from the sun and pollutants (it was stored inside for 45 years). The code indicated on the IBM build card obtained from Chrysler Archives indicates a code "1", but Chrysler says they don't have a copy of the decode sheets for 1953. Any help would be appreciated, even from a nearby Mopar year as I'm needing to replace the top. Thanks, Rich

I bought mine several years ago for my 53 Coronet convertible (should be the same shock) from Andy Bernbaum Auto Parts. Don't buy from Kanter as they incorrectly say (or at least used to say) the same shock fits on both front & rear and neither look anything like originals (which I still had on the car). Rich

I own an original 53 Dodge Coronet convertible with the 241 Red Ram hemi. It has an extended block connecting its Gyro-Torque semi-automatic transmission. I don't know for a fact that all 241s had the same block, but this combination obviously did. (My first car, was also a 53 Coronet hemi but with a 3-speed, and if I could go back 56 years, I'd check.) That said, adapters are available to connect these longer 241s to more common transmissions, so I wouldn't give up if you run across one. They're great little engines.