1957 Ford Del Rio Rock'n'Roll Ranchwagon

[lalessi1]

Marine birch plywood? Thickness? Where do I look? I have been looking for a decent material to replace the Masonite panels...that sounds perfect. In awe of your metal working by the way!

[RICH MUISE]

Lynn. If you can't find the marine stuff, I used 1/8 oak and it worked out pretty well. After I did all my cutting I gave it two coats of polyurathane, plus glued on a sheet of plastic on the backside after upholstering. You can probably find that at Lowe's or HD.

[djfordmanjack]

Yes I will glue a plastic sheet into the inner door and rear quarter areas before putting in the panels. just to be safe.
I got the water resistant plywood from carpenter supplies. a good camper or boat shop will probably know a supplier or stock the plywood. Easy to work with.

[djfordmanjack]

Didn't like the thought of more seam rust left so off came all the reinforcement brackets and threaded plate cages too. now 100% apart, not a single spot weld left. next is sandblasting and chemical rust remover for the skin. hopefully will be able to save it.
tailgate lock cylinder will be shaved and I have to improve the inner structure. I feel that when you put heavy load on the open tailgate it sags some, even so much that the skin is touching the bumper guards including little dents in the tailgate. sides of the gate are flexing when heavy load is on the struts. I will tie that into the hinge area with a bracing bracket.

[lalessi1]

I have yet to see 1/8" plywood (of any kind) anywhere except a hobby store. Their sheets were too small. I will start looking again. Gluing a plastic sheet on the backside is also a great idea. I will renew my search... thanks guys.

Lynn. If you can't find the marine stuff, I used 1/8 oak and it worked out pretty well. After I did all my cutting I gave it two coats of polyurathane, plus glued on a sheet of plastic on the backside after upholstering. You can probably find that at Lowe's or HD.

Yes I will glue a plastic sheet into the inner door and rear quarter areas before putting in the panels. just to be safe.
I got the water resistant plywood from carpenter supplies. a good camper or boat shop will probably know a supplier or stock the plywood. Easy to work with.

[RICH MUISE]

bad memory, but I'm thinking I found 36" wide oak for reskinning doors....Mahogany would be easy to find...the prefered birch or oak a little more difficult. The door skinning sheets would probably be in a different area than plywood sheets.? Some guys use pcv plastic sheets as well..3/16"...whoops...I just realized I misspoke on the oak veneer...I used 3/16, not 1/8.

[djfordmanjack]

That is some nice woodwork, Rich ! I haven't been doing this since my days of model plane flying and building.
I like the 1/8" (3mm) boards, they are more flexible and about the thickness of the cardboards, so you won't run into trouble with the interior moldings, windlace and lower panel chanels. I hate using the cheap furniture boards and they get stuck everywhere because they are too thick. Here in Europe we get the plywood boards 5' x 10' (1.5x3 meters) so I managed to cut ALL the panels from that one board. I had it pre cut into 5 pieces from the supplier, so I already had all the perfectly straight lower edges of the panels.
I will be customizing the rear cargo area panels with small 8"x8" doors to get access to the inner rear quarters. quite some unused space there for tools, oilcans, small parts, maybe a small compressor for rear air shocks. otherwise it will get cramped in a wagon, since I don't want to carry anything in the cargo area and want to use a full size spare wheel in the compartment.

[lalessi1]

3/16" makes more sense to me, luan plywood is easy to find, just too thick to me. I am using a fiberglass composite, it is a little too thin, not as rigid as I would like and it's textured on one side.

A quick google, 3mm 30" x 48" birch sheets $15.99...thanks for the info. I didn't even know there was such a thing!

[BP57CUSTOM]

Whether you go to Lowes or HD ,be careful when you are leaving and watch out for those Girls we read about on here a while back!

[lalessi1]

I've been going more often since I heard about this scam. No sign of these ladies so far! 

[djfordmanjack]

We ain't got not Sears or HF here, not even Auto Zone or Pep boys....what a shame...
Did repairs on the speaker cuts in the rear tailgate










fitting the stainless strips. that is soul candy.

[djfordmanjack]

Jay told me I rather have a handle, so here I am...( and he might be right)

[djfordmanjack]

working on taillight to make it into a fuel filler door. the og filler door got to go, it is just plain ugly

[RICH MUISE]

Clever design on the hinges along with your normal excellent workmanship. Your last few pics would be a few weeks work for me.

[djfordmanjack]

Thx Rich. I had a loooong day yesterday to come up with that. I had been thinking about this before, since I wanted to improve on the design from my first 57. That was a pull design like on Caddies and Lincolns, but this time I wanted the light to swing inside. looks much cleaner and it's easier to reach the filler neck. I will only attack the rear quarter on the car in spring, that is a major task, removing and cleaning the filler door and inner structure, repair the wheel arches and lower rear quarters and the rear corners.