Thread: 53 Is back from the Body Shop

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Nice work. I plan to put belts in my 40 too. I really liked the fact it did not have them when I first got it. But who knows how a roll over or head on would turn out without them. The back seat will for sure have seat belts for the kiddos. No skimping out on safety now.

[QUOTE=40FordDeluxe;569031]Nice work. I plan to put belts in my 40 too. I really liked the fact it did not have them when I first got it. But who knows how a roll over or head on would turn out without them. The back seat will for sure have seat belts for the kiddos. No skimping out on safety now.[/QUOTE

I think the law of averages rules in favor of seat belts/shoulder harnesses, however, if I had been strapped in when I rolled this car in college, I doubt I would be writing this right now....

Originally Posted by randyr

I think the law of averages rules in favor of seat belts/shoulder harnesses, however, if I had been strapped in when I rolled this car in college, I doubt I would be writing this right now....

Good Grief that looks awful, Cars of today are defiantly more crash friendly. I had to look at the second pic for a bit to figure out what was what. How did it happened ?

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Good Grief that looks awful, Cars of today are defiantly more crash friendly. I had to look at the second pic for a bit to figure out what was what. How did it happened ?

This happens sometimes when mixing youth, speed, and alcohol! Dropped my date off at her parents rural location after a big fraternity party. Speeding back out to the highway, the car started fish-tailing. I lost control, spun around 180, rolled, airborne and smacked a tree at the driver's door. I was thrown to the passenger side during the roll or else the roof would have been on my head! By grace, I hobbled away with a sprained ankle, cut on my head an slightly separated shoulder....

I can see it now, I couldn't figure out how it was a roll over and most of the damage was to the drivers side. It's amazing you walked away from that one. I sent a 71 Camaro to the bone yard to due to the same reasons you rolled your yours. Frosty roads, too much to drink, speed and field driveway. Mine wasn't nearly as bad as yours though. It's kinda funny though, today you have a Tudor your working on in your garage and I have a 71 Camaro on deck for my garage. I guess we never really get over those first cars.

I was really thinking about not putting anything in but on the fourth of July I hear on the radio a couple got killed in an accident, they were both thrown from the vehicle, that was enough for me. That and with 1/3 or more of the people I meet on the road are looking down and not forward.

While belts are helpful, they won't stop your head from hitting the steering wheel. I put a 3-point harness in my car, with two shoulder straps.

In the early 90's my brother was nearly killed in a roll-over accident with his newly completed steel '33. The cruise control malfunctioned and went to wide open throttle. My brother hit the brakes instead of turning the ignition key off and the result was a spin and roll over into the ditch. He was thrown out (no seat belts or safety pins on the suicide doors). He's got a titanium rod running most of the length of his right femur.

He had his wife and kids in the car, too. The wife had facial fractures, but the kids were not hurt.

Originally Posted by daveS53

While belts are helpful, they won't stop your head from hitting the steering wheel. I put a 3-point harness in my car, with two shoulder straps.

In the early 90's my brother was nearly killed in a roll-over accident with his newly completed steel '33. The cruise control malfunctioned and went to wide open throttle. My brother hit the brakes instead of turning the ignition key off and the result was a spin and roll over into the ditch. He was thrown out (no seat belts or safety pins on the suicide doors). He's got a titanium rod running most of the length of his right femur.

He had his wife and kids in the car, too. The wife had facial fractures, but the kids were not hurt.

Yes it will be a face plant into the wheel, it shouldn't hurt my looks much though I'll bet your brother was sick about the 33 yet thankful everybody made it alive. I've only been in one roll over and it wasn't nearly as bad as your brothers, I just got a few cuts. Mine was also a freshly done project, an 84 Dodge and I think I had it out for the 3rd time and the rear tires hydroplaned on a black top road and I went sideways and caught the ditch, round and round I went. That was on a Sunday, I was going to get new tires put on Monday. Here is the only pick I have of it, b/f it was finished of course. I started on the 53 right after the Dodge.

I had a true LS6 70 Chevelle that I got running after high school. It was a rusted out hull that my old boss and I repaired. I wrecked it heading to a party I was late for one night after work. I was clearly going way too fast. A deer ran out in front of me so I swerved to miss it but hit the next one, went in the ditch, caught a field entrance and rolled it who knows how many times. It destroyed the car, even the numbers matching 454. I had the lap belt on and walked away with a few small cuts, and some bruises. Had I really known how valuable that car would have became, I would have kept it........

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I had a true LS6 70 Chevelle that I got running after high school. It was a rusted out hull that my old boss and I repaired. I wrecked it heading to a party I was late for one night after work. I was clearly going way too fast. A deer ran out in front of me so I swerved to miss it but hit the next one, went in the ditch, caught a field entrance and rolled it who knows how many times. It destroyed the car, even the numbers matching 454. I had the lap belt on and walked away with a few small cuts, and some bruises. Had I really known how valuable that car would have became, I would have kept it........

That's impressive that you had a lap belt on, I never wore seat belts at that age, I was invincible. That really sucks about the Chevelle, I think that was the fate of a lot of those cars. What kid ever bought one of those cars and drove it nice. I don't know how fast a T/A is going in 4th gear at 5500 rpm but that's how fast I've gone in mine. My BIL rolled a 69 Super Bee, then he decided to fix it and put a new roof on. After that he lost interest never finished it and brought it to the junk yard. He has kicked himself in the butt for about thirty years now about that one.

Stop doing that!!! I traded my 72 RS 396 4 speed for Corvette parts like a moron. I also found a 70.5 SS 396 gold/black auto I found for $600 once when I was baling hay with a friend's Dad. I came back the next day with the cash but the man's wife sold it for scrap that morning. I went to the scrap yard and it was already too late. I've also had 2 rusted out ones that I sold off. I quit looking for one because the prices are just stupid on them right now in project condition.

That's just about therapy stuff, especially loosing an SS 396 to a scrap yard, that's terrible. And I do think the price might be softening on them a bit though. I see a nice one listed on eBay for $18,000. After knowing what I have into the 53, 18,000 don't seem so bad.

Lol, yea the ls1 is already is stretch with bumping up to 400 horsepower then having to get a 4 L 80 transmission and a Ford 9-inch rear end so I don't twist my Chevy 10 bolt axles off. On other days I might just stick with the 5.3 and tone it down to about 350 and spend a lot less money. The good news is I have a bit of time to figure out what I'm going to do.

We'll the 53 just clicked over to 2000 miles since we got it "finished". It's been pretty reliable for the most part. I've been fighting what seems to be a vacuum leak on the motor since the beginning and I'm pretty sure I finally found the problem. I think I have a warped intake manifold. I spare you of all the details of the events unless your really curious but I'm going to swap that out on Sat. If you remember my A/C episode from about a month or so ago with my patch job just to have A/C for a weekend, that ended tonight. I was going to give it a small shot of freon cause it wasn't cooling very well. I drove it in the shop and thought what in the world is leaking under the pickup now, it looks like 80-90. My pos vintage air condenser line decided to crack and it was leaking the nastiest A/C oil I've ever seen with a system still working. So now I'm going to fix it right. Going to a cruise night friday so that should be a good time

Sorry to hear about the condenser. What do you plan to replace ti with? A VA kit is one of the next things to get for my 40. I may have to piece things together if this is a common problem?