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What about PRICE differences.
As in a '$'with numbers.

Found a local guy who's going to recore it but with copper and his price is reasonable. Friend of mine is coming by this weekend to help me pull it and deliver it down there.

I'm hoping he can get it done quickly and I can get it installed by mid-November because we'll be moving from New Jersey to Utah before the year is out and having it taken care of now is one less thing to have to deal with.

Ok so it has been about 2.5 months. I got the radiator repaired by Grove Radiator in Neptune, NJ. Great guys, fantastic price. It's all installed now and seems to be running well.

First we forgot to put the drain cock back in and, well everything started to come out

Car has been in storage since Thanksgiving as we prepare to move across the country. I went and checked it out over the holiday and to start it up/warm it up. I was a little perplexed when I saw that there was a bit of a puddle of ATF under the car. So now I figure one of the seals had to have given up the ghost - that or it's just a small leak I didn't notice before on my filthy garage floor.

Car should be shipped out to Salt Lake by March at the latest.

Does anyone have any mechanic recommendations in Salt Lake? I'd like to get that leak checked out. Also looking for body shops recommendations. I have 2 panels I'd like repainted.

I hear Salt Lake has a great classic car scene.

Well the car is finally in salt lake. I'm plotting out the work for 2019 and thought that replacing the rubber for the doors and windows would be a good idea, since it's rock solid.

Anyone have any tips on replacing the rubber? I believe I saw that Kanter has a kit.

While waiting for a more detailed answer (I am just getting ready to catch a plane), I believe that BigKev's 1954 Clipper blog and several others go into it in some detail and there is little difference in the actual process between 1951 through 1956 sedan models.

Thanks, Don - BigKev's blog has been a HUGE help beyond just the weather stripping. Not sure why I didn't think to explore the blogs on the '54's & '53's, obviously they'd be rather similar.

Now for another question; my brake lights have appeared to stop working. The torsion level works, the driving/parking lights work and so do the turn signals. The brake light switch is relatively new (replaced last year) and if I'm not mistaken when that goes usually the lights stick "on" not off.

....if I'm not mistaken when that goes usually the lights stick "on" not off.

No, not usually the case. What type of switch did you install last year and what type of brake fluid are you using?

Switches can fail so they do not switch and could just keep the TL terminal active. If it is the 3 terminal switch check the plug on the switch and make sure the brake light wire (dark green) is connected. Sometimes those terminals loosen and can slide out of the plastic making poor contact with the switch posts. If contact appears good use a meter and see if the 12 volts to ground on the light green wire goes away and it switches so 12v is on the dark green wire when the brakes are active. If the brake switch is good the problem is farther along either with the turn signal switch or maybe a broken or disconnected wire in the loom.

If voltage is not present on the dark green wire it is the switch. Just my two cents but if you have an expensive original NOS type or even the VW replacement of the 3 terminal brake switch some just don't seem to have long life histories. While the 2 terminal switches can have problems too, they are inexpensive and readily available. If it were my car and you still have a 3 terminal I would consider converting to the modern replacement which uses an inexpensive 2 terminal switch and a relay to provide the switching function for the TL If you already have the 2 terminal switch and relay again check for switch output and then check that the relay is working by measuring for voltage switching at the relay. Some kits keep the original wire colors but others spliced in different colors. At the final loom connection the dark green is still the one to look for.

The drop in hydraulic kits are available from some vendors as well as the Pacific Northwest Packard region but you can also make your own for just a few dollars and some time. You could even go a step farther as many of us have done and eliminate the hydraulic switch entirely and go with all mechanical.

IMO the P.N.R. kit is the way to go. A 5-10 minute job to install, out of sight under the battery, long term reliability. And should the hydraulic switch ever fail, it's among the most common used for decades on many makes, and about $12 at NAPA.

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"Thanks, Don - BigKev's blog has been a HUGE help beyond just the weather stripping. Not sure why I didn't think to explore the blogs on the '54's & '53's, obviously they'd be rather similar."

Might you have a link to the section discussed? This blog is hundreds of pages!