1st. thing to check is the oil in ALL 4 shocks. This alone will make a big difference the way the car rides & handles. They do have a tendency to leak. A good hydraulic oil is all that's needed. If the shocks are real leakers you can install "Heavier" hydraulic oil. If they leak the heavier oil they can be rebuilt. There are services that offer this or you can try to do it yourself. Do a search & see if it may be something you would want to tackle.
Next, if the oil in the shocks is not enough is sway bars, front & rear. Huge improvement over the stocker front bar.
Be very careful with that 5 bolt top cover trans. Especially if you start adding "More Power". They are very weak & I think the gears are made of "Glass". You could convert it to the 6 bolt top cover trans. but this can get expensive as these trans. are getting harder to find & you would have to fab up the original linkage to work. I did it on my '55 Special many years ago.
Next are the rear end gears. You will have a 3.90 ratio. Not great for highway cruising. A DynaFlow rear gear will give you better "Cruiseibility" & keep the RPM's down at highway speeds.
As for more power. The straight 8's are very acceptable to more CFM carbs. On the 320 straight 8 we ran the more CFM's we through at it the faster it went. Higher compression by milling the cylinder head, but then you need shorter pushrods. Re-curve the distributor advance, both mechanical & vacuum. Add electronic ignition for reliability. This will give the most bang for the $$$ invested.
12 volts is not a major problem. The wiring is more than adequate for 12 volts. 6 volt wiring is heavier gauge/thicker than 12 volt wire so all you need to do is change bulbs. The radoi now becomes a problem, but that's easily solvable by hiding a remote radio/CD deck/JP3 or some other device. Thre are MANY options out there today. The 6 volt starter will last for awhile with 12 volts on it if the engine starts pretty quickly. The amp gauge reads amps, not volts, so nothing needs to be done there. The oil pressure & temp. gauges are mechanical, so, again, nothing needs to be done there. You need a 12 volt ignition coil & add a resistor inline for the points BEFORE the + side of the coil if you keep the points system. Otherwise, if you convert to electronic it becomes a non-issue. The blower motor for the heaters need to be changed to 12 volts. These are simple, early cars, get a spec. book & compare the old motor to 12 volt equivalents. The only other thing is the fuel gauge. Now this reads ohms, but you need to cut done the voltage to the gauge itself. You could find a gauge from a '53 Super or RoadMaster as they would be 12 volts.
As for the brakes. There are many options you have available. 1st. is to rebuild what you have. Even though the brakes are old they can be made to operate satisfactorily if gone through properly. You could also find a '63-'70 Riv. or full size car & swap over the aluminum drums & brakes from it. You could also install the aluminum drums & front brakes to the rear & still keep your original wheel cylinders. I did exactly this on my '55 Special & it made a HUGE difference in braking. OR, you could go through the expense of converting to discs. The drums were made for YOUR CAR. The discs are an adaptation so there will be some compromises that always have to be made. Then you have the problem of the master cylinder. Not an overly difficult problem, but you need to be sure of yourself or take it to someone you trust as now we are talking yours & others lives.
As far as rust. If your not going to do it right, don't bother. If you bondo it up it will make problems worse as it will hide & hold water. On these old cars we mess with WATER IS THE ENEMY!!!!!!!!
Hope I've given you enough info for the thoughts you are pondering.
Tom T.
Tom Telesco
Classic and Muscle Automotive
12 Cook St.
Norwalk, CT 06853-1601
Day Phone 203-324-6045 ET
NailHead Mini-Starters '53-'66
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