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“Born in 1952, I thought it would cool to pick a 1952 car. I am retired and always have been a car guy. I chose a Ford because it was always my Dad's choice of cars. My choice has always been Chevy, and that’s why it ended up being GM powered.”
What is it?
The car was originally a 1952 Ford Crestline 4-door sedan (Fordor), but converted to a 2-door coupe. Frame taken down to the metal and painted. The roof was cut off from the center of the car and shortened by 8 inches. The two rear doors were welded closed. I removed the original Ford motor and 3-speed manual transmission, and replaced it with a 350 V8 GM small block with headers, a 4-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust. All interior refinished in black leather. All new brakes, tires, and gas lines.
I spent 3 years working on it. Princess Auto was my best friend during my project. It made my life much better.
What design/build challenges did you overcome?
There were many challenges with the restore/rebuild. The car came to me with no grill. The best I could find was half of the original grill for that year, so I had to be creative. I made the grill that you see: it’s a plastic shade/grill from a 2 ft x 4 ft fluorescent light fixture.
I made a cardboard template of the grill opening in the car, and then cut the fluorescent fixture shade the same size. Then I used a small cutoff wheel to shape it. Painted it and presto, a very unique plastic grill.
Another one was when I changed all the lights to LED. For example, the sealed beam headlights. I decided to cut a piece of hard plastic the size of the headlight chrome ring and insert a LED bulb into the centre of the hard plastic, then secure it into the front fender and it worked very well.
Another challenge was installing the front electric, heated seats from a Lincoln town car. It was a brain teaser figuring out the wiring for them. With help using a battery pack, one wire at a time, checking out each wire as to what function it would control.
With a lot of patience, I mastered it and they work great!
Another was the rear windows. Remember they were shaped by hand and not something you could buy of find in a recycling yard.
Once again a made a cardboard template of each rear window and had cut automobile safety glass. To install them, I used a combination of spacers and silicone to make them work.
The last one I will share with you is the nightmare of the windshield. During the project I decided to remove the windshield. Not a good decision on my part. The windshield shattered in the process.
Oh my, what do I do now? Searched the internet. Found a new one in the US and the cost with delivery was over $1,000.00 Canadian. On top of that, no shipper would insure the windshield to arrive to me not broken.
I decided to try another plan. I put a picture on the internet of my project car. Headline read: “I am a 1952 Ford Crestline and I need a windshield.” In 3 days, I get a call from a guy that tells me he has the same car in his yard and the windshield is in good condition. I ask him if he takes it out and it is in one piece to let me know and I will make the 8 hour drive to pick it up. It worked and that is the windshield that is in the car now.
Which Princess Auto location do you visit most? Dartmouth, N.S.