Aaron65

Well, my '53's just about done with paint, and it looks great! Unfortunately, my door weatherstripping had to come off to do the jambs...and with all that old glue on there, I'll need to replace them...again. Unfortunately, they're $240 a set from Steele...has anybody used any weatherstripping alternatives? It's for a '53 Special Hardtop. Thanks! Aaron

Hydraulic lifter cars have oil passages in the ball studs that the solid lifter cars don't have...they have a horizontal passage to feed the lifters. You could pull one out to check...if the car has a stick, it's probably got solids. Dynaflows had Hydraulics.

Yeah, I bought it from some guy on ebay...it's a VHS, so I'd have no idea how to post it.

Thanks all! My shop guy has a buddy with a local junkyard that has the part, so hopefully it's the right one!

I have a video of them hot adjusting them with the engine running...this was for the '40 model year. Can you imagine how those guys' triceps, wrists, and hands must have hurt after an 8 hour shift?

Mack, I sent you a PM...

Thanks for the replies! The body shop is trying to get the hood to not hit the fenders before they paint the car, and the whole hood fit is a bit puzzling. This missing piece is just a question mark...looks like we may have a line on a used part locally. Thanks again!

Calling all '53 owners...do any of you have anything on the center rear edge of your hood, like a bumper? My hood has a space at the rear edge with two bolt holes, and something on the cowl that lines up with the area, but nothing mounted there. If you do have something there, a picture or description would be nice, and a source for the part. Thanks in advance!

Calling all '53 owners...do any of you have anything on the center rear edge of your hood, like a bumper? My hood has a space at the rear edge with two bolt holes, and something on the cowl that lines up with the area, but nothing mounted there. If you do have something there, a picture or description would be nice, and a source for the part. Thanks in advance!

I'd bet on the master cylinder...I bought a NOS one and rebuilt it...mine needed to be resleeved and the NOS one was cheaper. Keep an eye out on ebay or you can send yours out to Apple Hydraulics to get resleeved. Good luck on the sale! My '53 is out getting painted as we speak...should be done in a few weeks...can't wait (even though I have to get everything put back together before I can drive it!)...

There's a For Sale board right on this website, or there's always craigslist or ebay.

I think you'll find the door handle will come out very easily. Remove the cover over the large clip that holds the handle on. The clip will be in plain view now, so just pry it out gently with a flat screwdriver until you can grab it with pliers. It should pop right out...hang on to the door handle, as it will now be free. As far as the trim is concerned, there are little screws that hold the trim on the back side of the door. You will have to remove one bolt that holds one of the middle window channels in to allow the window to roll down far enough to get to them. I'm not sure if there is a vent window to remove on a 4 door to get to it. Once the screws are out, there are just clips on the other side that hold the trim on, so just carefully pop it out...A picture is worth a thousand words here, but my car's out getting repainted, and it's a 2 door, so hopefully you can muddle through it...good luck...it's pretty intuitive once you look around a bit.

Really, you should disassemble the whole unit and look for scoring. With what these things cost rebuilt, a tiny bit of scoring is probably OK, big gouges probably aren't. The problem is that it is probably gummed up with sludge, and the shaft needs to be cleaned. You should also take the adjusters out of the rocker arms and clean all passageways in both. I cleaned my shaft with a 12 gauge shotgun cleaning kit that I bought at the store, and I used small drills to clean the rocker passages by hand.

Yes, you must, and if I'm understanding you correctly, it does.

Oh yeah, once you get the door panel off, you'll see the bolts for the door.

http://forums.aaca.org/f162/window-crank-removal-tool-272089.html Here you go!

All beautiful cars! Gosh, how do I not own one of these yet???

Now can I make that with my welder and some sheet metal???

I would like to go back in time and buy that Riviera new off the showroom floor, for whatever resale was at that time, and then I'd bring it back (somehow).

I think I remember seeing that maroon '40 at Gilmore in 2006...my dream car! A car that's meant to be driven everywhere!

At least we won't need the radiator anymore.

Thanks Pete...figured out the rest...I was labeling the window track "rollers" incorrectly. They don't roll! They just insulate the regulator channels from rattling. I found a strip of 1/8 in. felt and cut them out with scissors and a hobby punch. I bought some felt for the rear channel too...it's just regular width but should be OK...there's nothing but bare steel in there now...no wonder the windows were rattling!

My '53 Special Hardtop is going in for paint in a month or so, and it's in a billion pieces. Right now, I'm fixing some things inside the doors...I need to replace the rubber rollers that roll inside the window tracks. The ones in the car don't look like the ones I got from Bob's...anybody use the ones from Bob's? They're smaller, and I'm not sure exactly how to go about using them...Question 2...I have all new sweepers and window channel felts. The channel at the back of the door (the hinge side) has no felt or anything inside it, or any holes for rivets. Is there supposed to be any channel felt there? Hopefully someone can help, I realize these are somewhat obscure questions! Aaron

Looks great!

Does anyone know where I could get a few rocker molding round clips for my '53? They're 1 1/4 inches in diameter, and are just a little round clip the the lip of the molding slips behind before it's screwed in. The clips have a screw going through the middle of them to hold them to the rocker panel. Bob's doesn't have them, and some of mine are rusty from water hanging up behind the molding over the years...any help's appreciated...Thanks! Aaron