I know this is a ford forum but I think this is something I thought I should share.I bought a 1954 scruby 3100 from a fellow who said he rebuilt the engine but could not start it ,there was no compression . I bought the truck figuring I had to take the engine completely apart.  When I got the truck home I took a compression test and found  Zero in some cylinders and 20 lbs in others. I took the valve cover off and adjusted the valves I now have 160 across the board. The guy was really done with the truck so he sold to me cheap.  My wife was not impressed so I had to tell someone.Thanks 

That’s a good one. When I was in high school a buddy worked at a old style gas station with a couple full time mechanics. A local guy towed a car in, said it wouldn’t run, and he’d just rebuilt the engine. On the way out he said “there’s some parts in the trunk. I think they’re wrong, they don’t fit”. It was the piston rings. He didn’t know about a ring compressor.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

My first car was a 54 scrub hand me down. It was the first engine I rebuilt. The stick trans cars had solid lifters and the auto trans had hydraulic, more GM insanity LOL. The 235 was actually a pretty good engine

no rings THATS a good one

My father was well known for bringing home stray Fords.  Wish I had some of them right now. 

Anyway, one of his coworkers had a '64 Fairlane with a 260 V8.  Seems it wasn't running right and had low power.

So Dad bought it for little or nothing.  When Dad got it home he checked a few things and soon figured out the guy had put the spark plug wires on the distributor cap incorrectly.

Once that got remedied it ran fine.   He ended up giving it to his father to replace the 57 Custom that had thrown a rod bearing.  (My grandfather never could get the idea of the automatic transmission so I don't think he drove the Fairlane much.)  The '57 came home to the farm, which my brother and I rescued about 1973 (before the tenant, without permission, sold the other 15 or so Fords for scrap!).

That '57 (that came originally with a 223, 6) now is sporting a 390 and is still in the family 65 years later!

Where is the 64 Fairlane now?

When my grandfather passed it went to my uncle.  Who was not a nice person.  He drove it for many years - it may have been  washed once in that whole time he had it, but if I had to bet, I would say, no it never was.

It was a 4 door.  So not super desirable these days.   I was kind of hoping it my be my teenage car at the time, but it went another way.  So I went through many castoffs and iffy vehicles.  I always say because of that, I can drive anything.

The ‘53/‘54 scrub HAD to be one of the ugliest body styles ever made.  It galls me to see the custom car/auction/resto tv shows where they fawn over it. The ‘52-‘54 Fords, though so much better, were not quite my favorites.  GM really made the leap in ‘55, when their styling was then much more competitive, but still rather dowdy compared to the T-Bird-shared FoMoCo masterful creations (Crown Vic especially), AND the beautiful ‘55 Merc..  The ‘56 Corvette was really GM’s first styling winner.

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

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NO WAY!!!  I LOVE those 53/54s!  
As far as I'm concerned, the 50s car that gets the LEAST amount of respect is the '57 Fords.  SOOOO nice looking.  

Before I was born, my dad bought a new 52 Belair 2-door hardtop, powder/baby blue/w white top. He sold it to my uncle, who gave it to my grandmother. When she /my grandfather bought a new 64 Impala, my grandmother continued to drive the 52 and left the 64 in the garage. The rear bumper and trunk of the 52 were rusted pretty badly from my grandmother's putting buckets of saltwater containing fresh-caught fish in the trunk. It eventually went to my older brother, who later sold it to his "best man." When my grandparents passed away, the 64 went to the same uncle who had bought the 52 from my dad; I don't remember the year, but the car had to be about 40 years old, and it had 49,000 miles.

Personally, I don't think the 53-54 body style was an improvement over the 52.