1953 Coronet Hemi

[TheC5Surgeon]

New to the forum. I have wanted to get into mopars for awhile and finally got the opportunity last week. I got a great deal on this running and driving 1953 Dodge Coronet with the 241 hemi and gyro-matic fluid drive. The body is extremely straight and it has little to no rust. I have been doing research and will continue as time allows on various aspects of the car. For now it is in my father in laws barn but when I can I will get up there an perform some maintenance before really taking it for a long drive. I plan on draining fuel (hopefully the tank has a drain plug) , flushing the brake fluid, possibly rebuilding the carburetor replacing the points and plugs.  It definitely needs 4 new tires also.  I will be posting much more frequently when I can actually get my hands on it and start driving/wrenching but was eager to share the good news. My other vehicles include 95 f250 99 corvette and 76 C20 suburban so this is by far the oldest and honestly possibly the coolest. Any pointers for other things to look out for in these old cars and good resources of transmission and other parts other than the obvious big ones like  mopar mall and Andy Bernbaum? Thanks

 

Matthew 

[39Al]

I've found lots of New Old Stock NOS parts on eBay. There are people who post and sell parts from old repair shops and parts suppliers.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Beautiful car. Welcome to the forum.  Tod Fitch has a list he made up on his website. Look up Plymouth the first decade and it will pop up. The IPad will not let me copy the address to paste it here but it is easy to find. Another good suppler is Vintage Power Wagons for items that are shared between truck and cars. A few salvage yards like French Lake Auto Parts and Moores on South Dakota also are Mopar centric. 

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2024 by plymouthcranbrook

[TheC5Surgeon]

Thanks for those suggestions. Are there any particular kinds of parts that are needed and ppl cannot find? I have been flirting with the possibility of getting into reverse engineering/ 3D scanning parts for reproduction. 

[Ivan_B]

Congrats! 😀

The car looks great from far away. We need more pictures. There are plenty of hard-to find parts, but the repro-ones will be as expensive as the scarce OEM stuff.

[kencombs]

Great cars.  Dad had a 54 with powerflite that I used as my fancy date car in high school.    Same engine, same body with slightly different trim and grill.   That little hemi is surprisingly strong.

 

Sure wish I had one for my 56 pickup.   But they are getting really hard to find and even more expensive to machine and buy pistons etc.

[Sniper]

Not too sure vintage powerwagons is going to be a source for a lot of stuff, not sure many PW's came with the Hemi.  But, here's a link to a source for engine stuff.

 

http://hothemiheads.com/dodge/index.html

[TheC5Surgeon]

Thanks for the replys. Would yall recommend any specific part to start looking at for scanning/reproduction? Like I said I am just now flirting with that idea but really want to see what it would take and if it would be feasible to reproduce something. I know that probably sounds crazy 

 

[Ivan_B]

I would recommend getting your car to a good-operating condition, and starting using it, first 😉

[TheC5Surgeon]

1 hour ago, Ivan_B said:

I would recommend getting your car to a good-operating condition, and starting using it, first 😉

A better way frame my last post:  I am interested in making parts in general and wanted to see what experienced owners of these cars, like yall, think is missing from the market or needed? There are many easier vehicles to restore like my 1976 C20 suburban. I can open up a classics industry or lmc catalog and find tons of parts.

[TheC5Surgeon]

Some more pics.  Pretty amazing the condition of this thing honestly. Especially since it seems that it was from NY. Tried to upload a video of it running but file size was to large.

[Sniper]

2 minutes ago, TheC5Surgeon said:

Tried to upload a video of it running but file size was to large.

 

I usually put the video on You Tube and post a link here.

 

For our YT challenged members, I'll host their video on my YT account.

[Ivan_B]

1 hour ago, TheC5Surgeon said:

Some more pics.

Is that original paint? What does the car look like from underneath?

 

For parts, you can start by casting and machining some brake drums. If you can do them for less than $500 a piece 😉

Also, some good quality replacement dash knobs and radio buttons would be great (at least for the 40s models).

Edited December 27, 2024 by Ivan_B

[TheC5Surgeon]

On 12/27/2024 at 2:05 PM, Ivan_B said:

Is that original paint? What does the car look like from underneath?

 

For parts, you can start by casting and machining some brake drums. If you can do them for less than $500 a piece 😉

Also, some good quality replacement dash knobs and radio buttons would be great (at least for the 40s models).

I appreciate those suggestions. Ill see what it takes to make a pattern for something like that. I bet the dash knobs would be easier but would have to look into what material they're made of. Definitely more of a long term goal but like i said something that I'm very interested in and will have much more time to do things like that in about a year. 

[TheC5Surgeon]

On 12/27/2024 at 1:07 PM, Sniper said:

 

I usually put the video on You Tube and post a link here.

 

For our YT challenged members, I'll host their video on my YT account.

 

[TheC5Surgeon]

Underneath vid

 

 

[Ivan_B]

Oh yeah. that car does look great, based upon the videos. First thing I would do (after making sure it is ready to drive) is put on some regular mufflers. Them loud ones are just silly for an adult on a classic sedan 😉

 

The original knobs were some sort of cellulose plastic, I believe, that's why they tend to disintegrate completely with time. These can be lathed out of hard wood, or even 3D printed and polished... There are a few sets on e-bay, for some cars, but they use different mounting hardware and not all knobs are available. Also, what I think could be really awesome - is to line all the faux wood panels with a thin layer of real wood...

[TheC5Surgeon]

On 12/29/2024 at 9:12 PM, Ivan_B said:

Oh yeah. that car does look great, based upon the videos. First thing I would do (after making sure it is ready to drive) is put on some regular mufflers. Them loud ones are just silly for an adult on a classic sedan 😉

 

The original knobs were some sort of cellulose plastic, I believe, that's why they tend to disintegrate completely with time. These can be lathed out of hard wood, or even 3D printed and polished... There are a few sets on e-bay, for some cars, but they use different mounting hardware and not all knobs are available. Also, what I think could be really awesome - is to line all the faux wood panels with a thin layer of real wood...

I think quieting down that hemi would be one of the last things I would do. Those glass packs sing to the hot rodder in me. 

Thank you for those suggestions though. If you or anyone else can think of any other parts worth looking into reproducing please let me know

[Dodgeed]

Beautiful car you've got there. Plus, seeing the cobwebs underneath makes me think this car has been sitting for many years. Is that the case? Great looking Coronet.