keithb7

Still checking a few things out on the brakes, I discovered something else. There are 2 wire connections on the brake light switch, one connection is quite hot. Too hot to touch after I park the car. I am thinking there must be a short there somewhere. I have a new brake light switch on order. It's not here yet. I will change it, as well as the entire brake lights wiring.

As there are a few young men posting here are following along, I thought about being 16. Or 18, and being into vintage cars. I have not read through all 7 pages of posts so far, so I am not sure if my topic has been discussed. I think any vintage car owner, no matter how old, if they have limited mechanical experience, needs a mentor. Old cars that we get attached to, need regular maintenance and attention. Everything in them was designed, in many cases 60, 70 years ago. Or more. The principles of vehicle operations are the same in many instances, just tons of improvements. Some questionable, mind you. The old parts are bound to wear out. Old work practices are disappearing. I am not sure where I would go in my area for mechanical work on my '53. Except for the internet, here like this forum. There are many helpful people here who are enthusiastic about vintage cars and maintaining them. Inexperienced owners would do extremely well to have a Big Brother or Big Sister, guide them along in learning how to maintain their old car. I learned out of necessity when I was a teen in the 1980's. I had little money and could only afford worn out, tied cars from the 70's it seemed. I had no hand tools when i was 16. My father is not mechanically inclined. My older brother who was 18 at the time, was. He had been through 2 years of real actual shop class by then, in high school. He had a few years up on me in school, so he became my mentor. From 16 to 19 I think we rebuilt 3 car engines, and I completed at least 2 clutch jobs in my old cars. Not to mention every smaller thing that went wrong. We did this in the back yard on the grass with no cover. I distinctly remember laying on a piece of plywood, in a downpour, under my 1974 Pinto, installing a new clutch. I was lucky my big bro guided me when I had questions. I poured a lot of time and money into buying bad cars and having to park them shortly after, due to a major break down. Then I'd work my but off in the kitchen of a local restaurant, to save for parts. Then bust knuckles for a week or two of late nights out in the yard, assembling. School of hard knocks taught me many important skills that fortunately carried me through the rest of my life. I have been acquiring tools for 30 years. All along the way doing my own repairs. From cars to lawn mowers, ATV's, dirt-biles, Motorcycles, Jet-Skis, whatever. Young kids today, (around here) don't have the same opportunities in High School it seems. The 3 years of shop class that I was able to take gave me skills for life. A real garage that we worked in, fixing each other's cars in High School! That program is long gone from our schools sadly. One could say that new cars today deter people from doing their own work. In many instances yes. However the principles are the same, as I mentioned. I drive newer vehicles yet I still do my own repairs. I try to teach my two sons, who are 18 and 20 how to do things themselves on their cars. Often I bought the parts when they were younger. They did the repair. I stood over their shoulder instructing and guiding them through the task. However I don't believe they'll ever get the experience that I did in shop class. I honestly believe that classic and vintage cars have great potential to allow young generations to learn these skills. They are easier to work on. One can easily get their hands in and around almost any part under the hood of an old car. Old cars are an encyclopedia of experience and skills, waiting to be opened. Learning these skills is extremely rewarding. When you pull up to the store in your old car, people turn their heads. They approach to talk. You'll be pretty proud. Your hours and hours of labor and busted knuckles may be what have kept the car alive. It's very satisfying. You can save thousands and thousands of dollars maintaining your other newer daily driver, car over it's life, by applying the same skills you will have learned, working on your vintage car. Time brings experience. Decades later I look back and have to remind myself how I acquired my mechanical skills. I often forget that the mechanical frustration I experienced when I was 16, makes a repair job way easier at 45. There is no need to shy away from the work or expense needed to keep old cars running. If you have some space to work on them, the desire to want to learn, a little money to spend, and a mentor to guide you along, the sky is the limit. You will meet enthusiasts by joining a local vintage car club. There will be many old guys there who have decades of time and experience. You will hopefully meet someone who would love to feed your enthusiasm and help guide you. The T-shirts I have seen are right, "Old Guys Are Cool." They were 16 in the hey-day of cool cars. If they still have a vintage car today, odds are, they know how to maintain it very well. Get out there and invest some time networking. Meet these silver haired gear heads. Pull all the info you can from them, respectfully. They are a living library of info and experience. You cannot buy this experience today. You can pay a mechanic $100 an hour to work on you 2012 Ram truck, but odds are he/she has no interest in working on my 1953 Chrysler. I am lucky enough to not need their services. Here's an related example: My son's 2008 Honda Civic. I got in it with him for the first time in over a year. I heard an awful howling as speed increased. It almost sounded like an exhaust leak. 30 seconds from home I said, "Turn around and go back home. This car has a bad rear wheel bearing." He laughed and thought no, it's tire tire/road noise. Like many at 18, he often thinks he knows better than his father. We shopped around for new rear hub/bearing assemblies. We saved a ton of money on the two hubs. We installed them at home in the driveway last night. I estimate the repair bill at the Honda dealer would have been $800- $1000 Canadian dollars. We did it for a total cost of $190 Canadian. Now he has some experience and there's extra money saved to buy more parts for my 1953 Chrysler! He's getting it, and probably my rolling tool box too someday. LOL.

I'd certainly consider the ignition route, however you'll need some tools. The wires can be removed and jumper'd. The car will run. I am not sure if you are into Facebook or not. There are very many vintage car enthusiast forums on there. I would immediately join a few in the Boston area and start posting. Ask for help. Someone will surely come an help out a fellow vintage car owner. If I were there, I surely would pack up some tools and be on my way within minutes. Good luck. This is a good reminder to stash an extra keys in my old Chrysler. Up under the chassis somewhere.

1953 Windsor Deluxe: Dragging brakes I think... I recently acquired the car and I am learning about what it needs. I have noticed that the rear brake lights are staying on when I park and shut off the car. I got to thinking about the brake light switch, maybe it's sticking on. I ordered a new one. It's on the way, still in the mail. Tonight I went out for a cruise and parked the car in the garage, a little too close to the wall than I like. I got out and noticed the rear brake lights were still on, as I have seen before. The car was shut off. I put it in neutral and thought I 'd just roll it back a foot or so from the wall myself. The car is not that heavy, I know I can roll it as I have done so. Nope, not moving. Now I get to thinking the brake hydraulics are dragging maybe. Maybe that is why the brake lights are staying on after I shut off the car. I leave the car alone, go back 20 mins later and I notice the brake lights are off. I can roll the car. Hmm. Master cylinder rebuild time? Something in there might be binding up. I see there is a valve inside the master cylinder. Does anyone know if this valve would come in a master cylinder rebuilt kit? The previous owner changed all 4 wheel brake cylinders. Do not know if he resealed the master cylinder. Any other ideas, comments are appreciated.

I have not yet researched nor learned what the parts shown, are for. I can tell you that torque drive tranny has electric shift solenoids. If you happen to be cruising along in 4th, if you lift your foot off the gas and then floor it quickly again, it'll down shift to 3rd. I suspect the wires and board shown are part of this system.

It will not be a daily driver. Just a cruiser. However it seeing a fair bit of use since we bought it as the weather has been great. The car runs well. It's not responsive like a modern car. This one has the L-head six cylinder. It will require some regular maintenance like point gap setting, brake adjustments etc. It feels more like a tractor engine type power. I am early in the vintage car game however not new to car maintenance, repair or rebuild. I like 50's car looks and simplicity. I like wrenching and tinkering on cars, trucks, motorcycles, Jet-Skis, whatever. So this car fits the bill nicely. I expect to be working on this car regularly for as long as I own it. Some for required maintenance, some just for the love of tinkering. She turns a lot of heads in town. Its an inviting car. Complete strangers like to approach and ask about it. Talk about it. I like that. The world needs more face to face human interaction, and less texting it seems.

Sure, I love showing the car:

I can't really comment on the regulator repair as I am learning myself how to troubleshoot the 6V system. Fo you have a full shop manual? My '53 Windsor manual goes into great detail on how to test and set up a voltage regulator. I skimmed through the info. It was quite good. My ammeter was doing the same thing. Battery not charging either. A new regulator was $81 so I ordered one.

I'll be 46 next week. No spring pup, but I am head over heals with my 1953 Chrysler Windsor. Fortunately so is my 18 year old son. He has really taken to the car. Mind you he has $0 invested. However he has been bit hard by the vintage car bug. I suspect he'll be into this stuff for life. He's always been a automobile nut since he could walk. I agree with having a positive infectious attitude when greeting people who show interest in your vintage car. I get waves and thumbs up everywhere I go it seems. I wave back, smile and blast those tugboat horns. Big grins abound. My son and I recently attended the Viva Las Vegas car show in April. I met some great owners. The experience was very positive. I came home and 4 weeks later finally bought my own first vintage car. Yes, we are still in the honeymoon stage but intimidated we are not. I have years of mechanical experience. I think I have what it takes to keep my old car alive and drivable. Here she is, as I can't seem stop sharing pics:

Video walk around of my 53 Windsor Deluxe: https://youtu.be/DFcZ869HiFc

Today, we found a loose battery cable anchor. The cable worked itself loose from the post. Car would not start. Got a call from my son. He was at the gas station. Not enough go-go juice. Battery had discharged enough. Quickly googled how to jump start the 6V with a 12V system. I pulled off the loose negative battery cable off the 6V in the Chrysler. Used good jumper cables from other 12V vehicle. 12V Positive to ground on the old Chrysler. Used hood hinge as ground point. Negative from 12V battery to starter solenoid, while my son cranked her over. All lights and any electrical were turned off. No problem. Flashed right up. He worked the throttle while I pushed the loose battery cable back on the 6V. Got it tight as I could and drove it home. 10 mins later in the driveway, the 6V battery was charged up enough to start the engine on it's own already. That tells me the Generator is doing it's job. I will solder on a new battery cable ends, both cables , to be pro-active. The 6V charger will stay on the battery overnight tonight, should be go to go again in the AM.

Sure, here you go.

Hi everyone. I just took ownership today of a very nice 1953 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe. It has mostly been reconditioned by a very loyal Chrysler owner. It remains mostly stock, just maintained as far as I can tell. I drover her home on the hi-way tonight hitting 70 Mph. She floated like a butterfly. What a great cruiser. Everything seems to work as it should even the original AM radio. We still have 1 AM station left around here and they play some great oldies. The owner was 80 and took wonderful care of her. A retired Chrysler dealer mechanic, he knew just what it needed. Included were all the original manuals. The proper owners manual, full shop manual and supplement shop manual. Bias ply whitewalls. She's turning heads everywhere we go. Tonight my 18 year old son is out with his girlfriend out for a cruise. Her family went nuts over the car. Her grandfather got a little emotional when they turned on the AM radio and the MLB game was on. He grew up in a 1952 Windsor Deluxe, as a his father bought one new in 52. I'll be a regular here looking for tips and help from other other owners. I look forward to getting to know you all a little bit. First question: What do you recommend for seat belts? I want to install 4 lap belts soon. Thanks. Notice the plate? 53W. 53 Windsor. It seemed "meant to be" when we walked in to register our new car and were given the license plates. My son a I hollered and cheered. Pretty exciting day. Not sure when I'll get to drive it. I'll have to arm wrestle my boy for a turn. To say he's excited is an understatement.