57 Fairlane Budget Build

[hiball3985]

No, the carbs are correct........I think it's the intake that's backwards.   

Thats a good one 

[Ford Blue blood]

They are correct.  The linkage was on the passenger side on both the Galaxie and Thunderbird tri's.

[akusler763]

Wish me luck, hoping to spray the frame with primer and top coat this weekend. Need to clean the shop as much as I can, and get set up. Going to be 30 degrees here which is warm for MN, so need to run the furnace while also having the bottom of the door open and a fan blowing fumes out. Really wish I had gotten to this before winter so I could have sprayed either outdoors or with the door wide open.

Andy

[59meteor]

Do you have any shot of the Sanderson headers in the car? I have the FPA headers on my 428CJ FE powered 59 2 door sedan, they fit the engine and car great, although I did have to modify my clutch linkage slightly to work with the headers. I did not have to modify my transmission crossmember at all, I modified the original trans mount to work with the toploader 4 speed, and the FPA headers allow the exhaust pipes to be routed above the trans crossmember, like OE. Concerning rear brakes, not sure if the Explorer drum brakes use the same axle end bolt pattern as the discs, but on my 59, I elected to use early explorer drum brakes, which are 10" x 2 1/2", compared to the factory 11" x 1 3/4". So, although the diameter of the  Explorer drum brakes is an inch smaller, the extra width actually give a bit more swept area. And the smaller diameter drums makes taking the larger tires much easier. Anyhow, the Explorer backing plate pattern was different than either the old style large, or small bearing 57-59s. Since I wanted to use 31 spline axles, and narrow the rear axle housing slightly, to make the 275/60R15s have a little more clearance, I ordered custom length axles, and had my buddy weld on the Explorer/ "late model Torino" housing ends while he was narrowing the housing. So I believe that the 57 large and small bearing housing ends are different from , at least the drum brake Explorer.

[gasman826]

Early and late big bearing bolt patterns are slightly different.  The OD and ID of the bearing is the same and can be interchanged.  The Explorer caliper frame will bolt to Early Big Bearing but a couple of the holes will need modification.  I bolted two holes with an old bearing race aligning the axle and caliper frame.  Drilled out the other two holes.

[akusler763]

Frame painting went relatively well. I was able to get it close to bare metal on 95% of the frame,painted the inside of the frame with rust converter paint, then primed the frame with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator Platinum. After an overnight drying I sprayed 2 coats of Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black Satin. Looks nice, but a few spots have a different gloss sheen. Hoping it cures away, or else I'll likely not care since it is under the car 

Once again the 2 post lift made doing this solo much easier thank if I had to flip the frame on my own.

Andy

[akusler763]

Do you have any shot of the Sanderson headers in the car? I have the FPA headers on my 428CJ FE powered 59 2 door sedan, they fit the engine and car great, although I did have to modify my clutch linkage slightly to work with the headers. I did not have to modify my transmission crossmember at all, I modified the original trans mount to work with the toploader 4 speed, and the FPA headers allow the exhaust pipes to be routed above the trans crossmember, like OE. Concerning rear brakes, not sure if the Explorer drum brakes use the same axle end bolt pattern as the discs, but on my 59, I elected to use early explorer drum brakes, which are 10" x 2 1/2", compared to the factory 11" x 1 3/4". So, although the diameter of the  Explorer drum brakes is an inch smaller, the extra width actually give a bit more swept area. And the smaller diameter drums makes taking the larger tires much easier. Anyhow, the Explorer backing plate pattern was different than either the old style large, or small bearing 57-59s. Since I wanted to use 31 spline axles, and narrow the rear axle housing slightly, to make the 275/60R15s have a little more clearance, I ordered custom length axles, and had my buddy weld on the Explorer/ "late model Torino" housing ends while he was narrowing the housing. So I believe that the 57 large and small bearing housing ends are different from , at least the drum brake Explorer.

I do not have any pics of the headers in the car, but since I start reassembly I'll post some. The passenger header was very close to the frame, so we notched the frame and welded in a piece of 1/4 channel steel so that the flange and collector can have more space. I also had to trip the upper control arm of some excess, and the Steering box.

I did modify my transmission crossmember for the C6, notching for the pan. I could have moved it farther back on the frame and drilled new hole for it, but decided  notch and weld was easier than that. Once I am setting the engine and transmission back on the frame I'll take a few pics of what I did, maybe post those in the Transmission swap section.

[mustang6984]

The frame looks really nice. You did what appears to be a very fine job! Congrats! Good pics...keep them coming as you progress. 

[RICH MUISE]

Man....... that's down to bare bones! I like the color of the Eastwood middle coat.lol.....I would have been tempted to leave it at that. Love following build threads...as Hugh said, keep 'em coming.

[djfordmanjack]

beautiful work on the chassis. As has been said so often it's really annoying stripping a 57 to this point, but once it's down to that and the first parts are getting coated, that must be a superb feeling !

[akusler763]

Man....... that's down to bare bones! I like the color of the Eastwood middle coat.lol.....I would have been tempted to leave it at that. Love following build threads...as Hugh said, keep 'em coming.

The silver did look really cool, I was tempted to keep it that way, but decided it would get dirty on the road, plus I already purchased the black.

[gasman826]

The most enjoyable step of the rebuild.  Its the first step that feels like you're moving forward.

[akusler763]

More progress. I was able to get most of the front suspension in this weekend (press in bushings, install control arms, Ball joints, springs). Currently resting on the old spindles/drums as my disc brake spindles are not ready quite yet. Notice the 2x4 center link so I can roll it  Rear end and leaf springs went in as is so I can roll it and test fit driveline, I'll pull again soon to strip and paint it.

I have also been spending a lot of time on the dash, decided to make it look one piece. A lot of work to fill and blend the seam for the end wings, not sure it was worth it, but looks nice. Have also been sanding all of the rust off of the interior steel trim so I can prime it. Amazing how a 65 year old piece of trim that was out in the weather for almost 40 years can come back with some elbow grease.

Thanks for listening guys,
Andy

[mustang6984]

I like the dash...had been thinking off and on about doing same. Seeing yours...makes me think about it again.   

[RICH MUISE]

That's a hard area to get into to sand........as you now know. I started out with a similar idea then as usual got carried away.
Frame is looking great.
I missed the primered dash pic the first time....looks great Andy!