... must have V8....famous words.  The 4180lb - yes, a literal two tons.  We weighed it at a gravel pit - hulking behemoth you see pictured below is the test bed for one of my glacially (slow) ongoing projects.  It originally had a 302 with a three speed on the column.  That engine went into a 1950 Ford 1/2 ton.  The Station Wagon has been used as a test bed for another 302 or two.  That was when my brother had it.  That's another story.  I don't know enough details to tell it, either.  Regardless, it currently holds a 351 Cleveland 4V with a C6 trans.  It started life as a two barrel engine with a FMX.  Please don't ask about the FMX trans, I don't know anything about them, and the one I got was junk anyway.  But some scrounging, a few calls to the good folks at Ford Power Parts, a set of headers from JC Whitney and a little elbow grease and Voi'la.  (Not to mention the patience and forebearance and occasional financial contribution from my family.  Thank You!)  
It's taken me a while to get it running decently, I'm no pro at tune- ups, but now that it does run decent, I think it will work great in the '53 Bel Air.  Now if I only had a job to fund such a project.
    btw, the hood scoop is my brothers doing.  It had to be done.  At the time, he was running a Weiand Tunnel Ram intake manifold and dual Holley four barrels 450cfm.  They stuck out by about 4-6 inches above the top of the hood.