Day Dreaming

[ProTouring442]

Playing hooky for a minute (I should be working on the house) and I thought I would share a "fantasy build" and seek comments on it.

1952-54 Ford 2-door sedan

The concept is Pro-Daily Driver

MN-12 Thunderbird chassis. Literally remove all of the exterior of the Thunderbird, including the roof, leaving only the floor, side rails, and the main components from the cowl forward and the rear bulkhead back.

Lengthen this stripped chassis as needed to accommodate the wheelbase of the 52-54 body.

Gut the 52-54 body to accommodate the Thunderbird uni-body chassis. Reinforce the upper body with tubing, channel, etc, as needed to accommodate reasonable protection in the case of an accident. Such modifications could include things like an integrated "roll bar" designed into the current structure of the 52-54 body, or the addition of an "impact beam" in the door attached at the front via the door hinges, and at the back via the door latch.

Build the interior to be as safe as possible while attempting to keep it looking fairly minimalist. Creature comforts would be fairly common, yet not overbearing like a modern new vehicle. I am thinking that the normal host of power accessories such as windows, locks, and seats, tilt wheel and cruise control, A/C, and a nice stereo with some sort of built in navigation would be all that were needed. Of course the dash would house a full compliment of gauges, and the seats and doors would be clad in leather.

the drive-train is where I am having the most difficulty. In my mind, this begs for a nice inline 6, with a 5 or 6 speed manual behind it. The problem is, which one? Ford doesn't have a modern I-6 in the US, and I really don't think it would be a good idea to import an engine for which I cannot get parts.

Next up is the Chevy 4.2 I-6. Looks like a good choice, but I don't know much about it. Any thoughts?

Any other suggestions on engine?

OK, so there is my fantasy build. Please feel free to mock, pick apart, or add to it!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill