59 ford 300 custom 6 cll

6

63CoupeDeVille

New member
Hi,, new here,,, the above boat came up on an internet sale site near me,, I'm a sucker for big boats, (63 coupe deville, 73 eldo covert and 76 mark 4)

engine wise,,,,, what is the availability and accessibility to engine, transmission, electric parts on this model 300,, its a 6 cylinder in the car,

do these have alternators, or generators,, are they 6 volt or 12 volt,,, what would be the most likely thing to look for if it get over and look at it,, what should i be looking for as a big red flag, other than old oil everywytere? are gaskets, hoses, fittings typically available....?

I have been fooling with the above cars as a new, 55 plus yo taking on a new hobby for about 5 years, so i have lots to learn and the only way i know how is to ask what to look for,, seems each generation of engine decades brings on new things to look for and be award of..any thoughts would be appreciated,,,

oh,, i like to drive my cars,, not sit them in garage and polish them,,
 
Welcome to the Ford Six site 63CoupeDeVille, yes these 223 cu. In. six'es were used from 1954 to 1964 in Ford & Mercury cars as well as Ford trucks and industrial applications to 1965. They are still very popular engines that are very easy to work on and simple to repair. The replacement parts, gaskets, fittings, electrical parts are readily available in most places or can be ordered quickly too. There are also some performance parts made for these strong little engines. The 1954 and 55 cars and trucks were Six volt electrical systems from 1956 to 1964 they are all 12 volt systems. All years were generators but it's quite easy to upgrade to a later model Ford Alternator from 1965 up and there are many that swap on one of the GM type one wire Alternators.

Stock these cars ride, drive, and handle quite well. There are many other upgrades that can be made such as electronic ignitions, disk brake kits, or the larger Ford 3 inch front & 2 1/2 inch rear drum brakes that were used on the Police, Taxi, Station Wagons will also bolt right on. Plus a few other chassis items for steering and handeling, newer transmissions can be adapted etc. to make them even better dally drivers. When looking at one listen to the engine when in good condistion they run super smooth a good stock one can idel down to 450 RPM. All of these engines have solid lifters so there can be some rocker arm clatter it's not unusual for the rocker shafts and or rocker arm bushings to be worn on very high mileage engines. Parts to repair them are also available as well as compleate rebuilt rocker arm assembles. Some of the later engines had a zero lash rocker arm system. Check the block and head Casting numbers if you want to know if the engine is still original to the car. Check the body condistion for rust or other damage though most anything can be fixed and there are repair panels are available, but it all depends on your skills and how much work you want to do. These cars have been around for a lot of years now so that's a testament to their build quality. Stock type Interior upholstery kits are also available reasonable. I could go on and on about how much I like these era Fords, but will stop here for now, Best of luck (y) :nod: Edited
 
thanks for all the detail... lot to look into,, I may ride over and take a look,,, if parts are available to fix these things,, may make an offer ,, sucker for these big boats
 
still kicking this 300 around,, how about the transmission,, I'm guessing that if the motor can be reworked, the trans can too.

interior has been done,, he said he painted the thing,, I'm a little concerned about hiding more rust than he admits,, but this is the listing,
https://bozeman.craigslist.org/cto/d/bu ... 44626.html

i have been looking at a 59 saratoga,, in what seems about same condition, but not the rust ,, at about same price,,they seem quite similar in style, bit and roomy, but the chrysler is a bit different,, from what i read
 
Looks like a real solid car with a realy nice interior and the exterior isnt that bad, truck lid could probably be straightened back out by using the paint less repair TECnique. The lower fenders could be repaired with patch panels and then the paint blended in being on the bottom of the car if done right wouldn't even show. Seems to be very complete with mostly all the correct parts as much as I can see in the pictures, hub caps are the 1957 Ford Fairlane Deluxe full wheel covers that were also used on the Thunderbird's, which dosen't mater all that much unless you plan to show the car in companion, I personally think they are better looking then the 1959 caps, but probally not to hard to locate the correct hub caps. You can still find the fender skirts new for these 1959's to dress them up a little bit more too, if you like that look as I do. Dosen't look like it needs much work except maybe under the hood a little minor cleaning, and paint detailing, repainting the engine in the correct factory colors and be ready for the car shows or if you want to just drive it then it's ready to go.

Yes the stock 3 speed manual transmissions are decent and some of these cars even had an Overdrive unit which works great, my 1954 Customline did. The parts are still available to repair or rebuild the 3 speeds since they were used for many year models from about 1949 to 1963. Like all cars of that era they will have the syncrows for the second and third / high gear and shift nice as long as your not in a hurry and come to a compeate stop before going into first gear or reverse. The 1964 up Fords got the stronger bullet proof 3.03 Top Loader 3 speeds that's all syncrow if you found that 1964 223 bell housing you could bolt in one of the 3.03 3 speeds, a T85 3 speed with overdrive or even a 4 speed top loader trans or the later T5 with an adapter plate. If you could find a 1961 to 1963 Borg Warner T10 4 speed it would bolt in easy into the a 1949 to 1960 Ford if you didn't mind having a floor type shifter, if you wanted to keep the colum shifter than the 3.03 or T85 OD is a good pick. There is also a way to bolt in one of the newer T5 5 speed overdrive transmissions (from the 1980's and 1990's Mustangs) can be used with your existing bell housing by simple mods to the bell housing that one company offers for a reasonable cost.

I had a 1957 to 59 Plymouth back in the mid 1980's that I picked up to repair was really in nice condition (had been restored) but it needed a compleate front clip (due to collision damage) and then a repaint to match an easy repair for me to do. Searched for awhile but couldn't find the correct front fenders, hood, grille, and bumper, someone seen it and wanted it from me real bad as it was so I let it go. Good luck (y) :nod: Edited
 
attached is a screenshot of some rust,,, is there any significance repair wise to the part under the rear door. it looks sorta bad,, or is it more likely a pre cursor to more hidden stuff,
 

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The Rockers (Under the doors) consist of the outer panel that shows in your picture and an inner panel togeather with the bottom of the door sill's forms a strong box like structure, plus there are some body support braces these are mostly all below cars floor sheet metal. The first two you can easily see the signs of rust damage from the top the latter two you will need to either go under the car to see from the back side or use a mirror to see with. Most times this type damage can depend on the local area condistions the car is used in and in some part how the car was constructed. In my experance on these Fords the rockers can get dirt inside and then rust out the outer rocker panel from moisture being trapped inside. The last one I was doing (that had quite semular looking damage) this was a while back was on my 1954 Ford Customline Fordor Sedan that's in my signature. Again without an actual in person examination of this particular car, but as an example the cars I have repaired over the years usally only need the outer panel replaced or a partial section of the outer rocker panel patch welded in and a good cleaning & some rust incapulation plus paint protection. That said there are many cars with this type damage driving around that aren't even repaired its usally just a cosmetic's issue rather than structural. Personally I wouldn't go through all the work of doing one of my paint jobs without doing those type repairs first.

The cost of these outer rocker patch panels and other body patch panels is very reasonable (see below link for example of the outer Rocker patch panel) on a small section i make a repair panel or find a section that can fit in the local junkyards. However I can't say how much the labor cost is to do the job of cutting out the rust damage, welding in the new metal patch panels, and then painting the repaired sections to match in your area of the country or if you have the skills and plan to do this repair yourself. While your inspecting the inner rocker area and the braces from underneath be sure to examine the cars floor sheet metal and lift up the trunk carpet or mat to check the floor too. I don't think I have ever worked on any Montana area cars or trucks to know what you'd expect to see however my first car that I bought was in North Dakota (was a 1928 Model A Ford) it had also had a partial restoration and was repainted were it looked fairly decent, it also had a few rust issues that I needed to repair while doing a compleate disassemblely for a full restoration of the car back in the mid 1960's. I took this car and competed in the Model a Restorers Club car shows and driving skill & touring events as well as some other small car shows. I have been doing body work and paint since I was 13 learning those skills on that first Model A, for me these type repairs are fairly quick and easy to do so they don't faze me. If you can't do the work required then you should try to get some kind of a body shop estaminet so you know what the actual costs would be this may also help you in the negotiations on the cars price too though the asking price seems quite fair to me compared to the cars in my area. Hope that is of some help to you best of luck. :nod: Edited Due to a Lighining Strike Here.

One Cost Example 1959 Ford 300 4 Door Outer Rocker Patch Panel, There are Many Other Companies That Have These
https://www.walmart.com/ip/1959-Ford-30 ... d101fa3180
 
thanks for all the detail. I have nowhere near that experience or tools to do body work,,, he had it sort of heavily over coated, and you could see the old paint under neath flaking. like it needed t be scraped, on a house,, you can see the old layer,, i am a bit leary of it,, it rode good, needed a solenoid rebuilt to use the over drive. probe;y pass, but again, thanks for al the valuable information,,
 
For sure it needs the old damaged sheet metal cut out and replaced but these cars have strong full frames supporting the body it's not like new cars were it would weaken the structure. You could always have a body shop do the repairs or there are even school students at collages or tech schools in some areas that will work on them just for the experience its somthing that can be repaired without having the car down for a long period of time.

As far as the trans overdrive solinod besides having it rebuilt the 12 volt units are also still available used or new ocationaly on eBay and other places at reasonable prices because these Borg Warner Overdrives units were used on most every other car brand of that time frame. It only takes a few minutes to replace one they have a two bolt mounting to the tail housing and unplug the wires, replacement can be done right on the car there is no need to pull out the trans. Very simple units that are easy to trouble shoot with only a few parts that can cause any trouble most often it's just a wire harness or switch problem. Best of luck. (y) :nod:
 
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