1953 Allstate Photos / Parts / Refurb

[jderks]

Greetings!

My grandfather and his brother worked for many years on several K-F cars together, and I grew up with them a bit in my youth. My mother has one of my grandfather's former cars, a 1953 Allstate 4 cylinder, and I was curious if anyone had some high resolution photos of the dash, steering wheel, AM radio, and so on. This Allstate does not have an trunk that opens unlike what I appeared to read on other sites, it's a solid piece of metal in back. The car is solid, but I never did much with the Allstate, he was refurbishing the Manhattan when I was younger.

The car does need some minor work, the engine purrs and the car shifts smoothly, but I haven't tried the overdrive yet. The dash is missing some odds and ends on the buttons /controls. I'd also like to get the AM radio refurbished as it does not appear to work at all. The biggest thing I see a need to correct now is the wiring/turn signal situation for my mother. Currently the car doesn't appear to have working turn signals, which would make it a bit hazardous to take to shows. The car is also missing the large rounded chrome portion of the horn ring.

I'll probably have a thousand and one questions, but this is a start.

[Fid]

An Allstate is a very rare car and few of them exist and even fewer of them are in nice condition.  The radio that was advertised for the Allstate is actually a 3 piece unit. Not an easy one to find because often one of the three pieces is missing - usually the speaker.  Unfortunately you can't just find a speaker and hook it up because the speaker section also includes the audio output transformer.  There are other versions of Allstate radios which would be acceptable if you're going for a truly authentic restoration. Attached is a partial list of available accessories. Allstate turn signals show up on ebay from time to time and many Henry Js had them so you'd likely be able to find one. 

[Fid]

Here's some turn signals on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Allstate-Vintage-Turn-Signal-Switch-Cars-Trucks/323880337464?hash=item4b68c5c038:g:ejgAAOSwzztdTbAo

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-DODGE-PICKUP-ALLSTATE-STAT-MODEL-814-1-TURN-SIGNAL-SWITCH-RAT-ROD-FORD-F/162600801132?hash=item25dbc3536c:g:Q7wAAOSwhhVZc0Qq

[Gordie]

Many of the Allstates and Henry J's did not have a trunk and unless your car is a deluxe model it would not have the horn rim, just the horn button.  If you want to get your radio repaired by an expert contact Fid.  Also if your car has turn signals they could probably be repaired.

[joefrazer]

Here are a few photos of a 53 Allstate six cylinder car that I cleaned up a few years ago. You mentioned the horn ring, if your car is a four cylinder, the horn ring will not look like the pictured unit, it will just be the chrome ring that sits beneath the plastic button, without the horizontal "wings" and lower ring.

Hope this helps!

http://kaiserfrazercars.com/allstdash1.JPG
http://kaiserfrazercars.com/allstintdone.JPG
http://kaiserfrazercars.com/allstintdone2.JPG

I have quite a few pictures of this car - just ask!

[Corsairdeluxe]

This 4 cyl ALLSTATE is far from original,but nice just the same.
http://matthewsmemorylanemotors.com/forsale/1953-allstate-series-4-coupe/

The attached photo is of the 52 that I restored.

[jderks]

Thanks everyone, for the pictures and initial pointers. I've not had too much of a chance to look at the car per se, I just got it cleaned up after someone left it without the car cover on it in the shop for a while. So the car really needed a bath and polish when my mom called, because it was dirty, that's the first thing I took care, and getting my mom a new soft car cover. Next I want to put it up and change the oil / oil filter / and possibly the air filter, since I don't know the last time any of those maintenance tasks was completed.

This is a 4 cylinder, with overdrive, and no separate opening trunk. The car is blue, as can be seen in my K-F member photo, with a blue interior that's in pretty good shape. I have to look at the car numbers (VIN, and such) because the title (erroneously?) says Henry J, but the closest VIN series I can see for the title matches the Allstate (H330 on title - should it be A330? that's why I have to check the VIN) 4 cylinder, and it has the Allstate badges, radio, et al. Plus my grandfather was pretty meticulous and hated modifying, or buying, modified cars. He wasn't one of the restoration guys that tried mimicking paint drips from the factory or anything, but modification was pretty much a no-no unless absolutely necessary to make it run.

The car does have the turn signal handle, but right now all the lights aren't working. The brake lights definitely function as do most of the running lights. Given the age of the car, and the fact that I've seen 50 year old wires with aircraft, I'm guessing one broke or maybe a relay has an issue. Truth be told, with wiring that's over 50 years old, I might just build a new set of harnesses for the car myself with new wiring so I don't have to worry about random wires deciding to fail whenever they get jostled.

I'll try to get some more pictures as I refurbish the car the rest of the way.

One last thing, the car definitely had hubcaps even when I was a teen, and the spare tire still has the hubcap. Someone, I can't be positive of who, snagged the original hubcaps off the car. I'll get a picture of the one on the spare, but I'm guessing that finding 4 nice replacements is going to be a challenge at best. Any pointers on where to find some, even to refurbish.

[Fid]

Regarding the hubcaps, this thread might be of interest to you -

http://kfclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,11154.msg52115.html#msg52115

[Gordie]

My Allstate came without hubcaps also and I bought a second car just to get them and the emblems.  Although not correct Henry J hub caps fit perfectly and look nice on the car and are not hard to find.

[Greg]

Good luck on your rebuild! I am also rebuilding a 1953 Allstate, cardinal red.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The KFOCI HANDBOOK on  CD has a section in it on the allstate; unfortunately more detailed information (store cost-wholesale and retail pricing along with Sears part numbers, etc) is not available at present.  Those who join the KFOCI as a regular member (those who get publications) get a copy of the CD in their new member information packet.

[jderks]

The KFOCI HANDBOOK on  CD has a section in it on the allstate; unfortunately more detailed information (store cost-wholesale and retail pricing along with Sears part numbers, etc) is not available at present.  Those who join the KFOCI as a regular member (those who get publications) get a copy of the CD in their new member information packet.

I just got my CD a few days ago but haven't been able to look at it yet. I have to take it to a machine with a CD drive and (hopefully) copy the contents to a USB flash media. I haven't had a CD drive in a computer for many years