1957 Ford Country Sedan mocha silver V8 4dr wagon

[djfordmanjack]

Rich, I am self employed and like any other person I have to work (hard) for a steady income. I must confess that I did push the situation to the limit lately. Lots of customers work is waiting and originally I intended spending a day or two a week on the floors. it would have taken 1 or 2 months to get the floors done. Finding out about the quick progress while I was at it, each day got more exited about finishing, so I figured better keeping at them and getting the dirty work done all at once. It also means that there will only be little steps from now on, as I have to keep at regular work again. would love to keep working 12hrs a day 6 days a week on the CS until it's all pretty and tuned up
next steps will be sealing and finishing the rockers, repair a posts (doglegs) and a few other smaller problem areas and then sealing/painting the floors inside. upper portion of dash needs painted as well ( where the padded dash sat and collected moisture).

anyways, cleaned out the shop floors and put the wagon on the lift, dressing most all of the welds under the car. put a little primer over the bare metal spots. managed to start the engine cleaning procedure and changed oil and filter. upon inspection of the cut open filter and drain pan, I found no magnetic or metal debris whatsoever. Just plain old dirt...
the engine has loud (in my opinion) valvetrain. possibly just the huge backlash used on Y blocks. some of the rockers and the shaft are really worn and have excessive play, possibly due to high milage, as I couldn't find anything wrong with topend lubrication and there is no discoloration are other signs of overheating.
Next oil change in spring/summer the rocker assemblies will come off for cleaning and inspection. some of the valve stem seals have crumbled and need replaced. There were pieces of them lying next to the valve springs. engine does not use oil though so I reckon I am good for now.

[djfordmanjack]

pics of engine cleaning.
that little debris is non metal. just dirt.






some of the broken valve stem seals. hardened rubber.


rocker area sludge build up is not so bad.





#1 cyl valve adjusting screws are much further in than #4 (rocker shaft has more wear to the front valves)




for now I have ATF/50 grade mix in the engine and hoping it will further clean out the old dirt.
very traditional oldschool procedure...

[Jeff Norwell]

Watching in awe G..... fantastic .

[lalessi1]

Ditto that. Guenter, I am starting to run out of superlatives that express my admiration (jealousy) of your skills and proficiency. If I don't say anything I am speechless!!!!

[djfordmanjack]

Thank you very much guys! A little praise is always appreciated . I hope you know that I am not doing this to brag or show off. watching other's build threads is always fun and motivating, so I think it's only right to let others see what you are doing yourself.

[djfordmanjack]

Since they might be of interest to some obviously, here for reference is what the og heatshields under the front floors look like. I undrilled the remaining spot welds and removed them from the car for now. Gives me better access to clean up and paint the floors. Heat shields are in quite decent shape and will get blasted/painted and eventually put back in the car, but this time using rivets or screws, So I can get them off any time for sealing and waxing the floors again if needed. the shields are a dirt and mositure trap.


As per Jay's suggestion I cut open the front rocker tops and removed the debris and dust. which is mostly what came down from the rusted tops. rockers are totally solid except for 2 little spots and I hope that the remaining surface rust will provide a perfect foundation for Rustoleum to work with. since these pics were taken I already soaked the seams with Owatrol and llet it dry for 2 days. next will be repairing the few small sections and sealing them inside with Rustoleum paint.

[mustang6984]

SHEESH! That thing will be better rust-proofed when you get done with it than it ever was when it was first built, or than cars today are either for that matter! LOL!!!
Nice job!

[hiball3985]

Just catching up on this post G but had a thought about the rocker arm adjusting screw length between #1 and #4, someone may have replaced the push rods on #4, there were two different lengths available depending on year, 57 had the shorter ones..

[djfordmanjack]

Jim, thanx for that hint ! wouldn't have thought of it. next oilchange early summer the rocker assemblies will come off for further cleaning anyways and I will pull the pushrods to see if they are mixed or if it's just the usual wear and tear of the rocker shafts.
I will check my stash of used shafts until then and see if I can find any better.

[hiball3985]

That engine looks typical of old engines run with old Quaker Sludge type oils, hope the oil passage in the head isn't plugged. Never knowing what was swapped over the last 60 years you will need to verify what heads you have to get the correct push rods. #4 almost looks better then the rest 

[djfordmanjack]

Jim, I forgot to mention that the rocker pics were taken before cleaning and flushing the engine. showing as I lifted the cover approx 1300 miles after last oil change in England. I think the sludge isn't bad for an old engine that hasn't been rebuilt in years, if ever.
the 292 appears to have all og paint, even on pan and oil pump. there is lots of decades worth of crust, oil and dirt all over it, so I assume it hasn't been rebuilt in at least 40 or 50 years. that said, the pushrods and/or some of the rockers could have been easily replaced before.
The engine has the correct 1957 ECZ-G heads which were factory specs on the 292 Thunderbird Special engines of the year..

[hiball3985]

OK, then it doesn't look as bad as many others I have seen. Not unusual to find the rockers replaced they were always the first thing to go back in the day..

[djfordmanjack]

crazy thing, restoring the speaker grille hardware. acid dipping, bead blasting, zinc paint...

[djfordmanjack]

working on the a pillars. where did the last 12 hours go ? seems like 2 hrs worth job.

[mustang6984]

Looks good now. Well done sir!