Thought I'd share some of the build photos on my Custom 300, that I bought in 1998. Just before I purchased the car it had been painted Turquoise & White by the previous owner. Great period correct colors, but I believe not originally available from Ford. The car came to me with a 302 small block & T-10 4-speed, and a whole lot of oh-by-the-ways. Here's a couple of shots of the beginning. I drove it for a year and then the 302 valve train died at 35 mph, so I began the tear down & rebuild process. I'll only be able to do a few shots a day, as I have to go into Photoshop to resize and decrease the pixel count in order to stay within this web site limits. I'll show before shots one day & after shots the next, just to keep things interesting.
Bob :help1:
57AGIN
Well the first attempt only got one picture posted. Let's see if I can do better this time.
Bob
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:dumbass:
As you can see the bad news was the very serious rusting of the floor pans, front & rear, as well as the kick panels and tunnel. The good news is that these were the only areas that I found serious rust damage. This being a California car, built in Long Beach, it was never subject to the really tough road conditions leading to fender and body damage (just minor surface rust in those areas. The problem leading to the demise of the floor pans was the cowl drain rubber tube leaking over 40 plus years and the moisture collecting under the rubber floor mat.
Here are some shots of the cause of the damage and repairs done. The floor pans were purchased from Classic Enterprises in Wisconsin, have the original stamping equipment. The tunnel and kick panels were fabricated here at Specialized Street Rods (no longer in business). Unfortunately, because the car had been freshly painted, just prior to being purchased, I have no idea of what other areas may have significant or serious rusting damage. After eight years, I've only seen a couple of potential problem areas (rear splash pan and roof rain gutters on the passenger side). I also have no idea of what kind of surface prep was done, or for that matter the type and color of paint used. When it comes time for another paint job, I'll probably do a frame off restoration (money permitting).
Bob
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Bob,
That must have been a job replacing the floor around finished paint to say the least. Turned out well though.
I put a lift in when I started redoing mine. It was nice to have as the guy I paid to put the floors in didn,t
weld the braces or the heat shields back in. He thought he could do it all from the top :dumbass:
I've just about re done anything that I paid to have done anyway. Body guys are the worst for sure.
Laterr, Ron :004:
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/shopratwoody/miscpicturePicturefor57Fordemail-16.jpg)
Ron:
Yes, it was a challenge, but I'm pleased with the outcome.
I guess I can go ahead and do the next installment of the rebuild. The engine bay including the firewall, front fender wells and front part of the frame/crossmember.
When I bought the car the entire engine compartment was done in black & white speckled zylotone. It looked like a pick-up bed with a rear engine mounted in it. Very, Very ugly. When the 302 engine died on me and it was in the process of being replaced, I worked on the big ugly. Here are a couple of shots of the problems. My next post will show the refurbished engine compartment and components.
Bob
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Here is what I changed it to, while the engine was removed. I had the firewall , fenderwells, & battery tray mediablasted. Then all were painted at home in my garage. I decided to deviate from the solid white or black engine compartment and two tone it. I think it turned out pretty good and get lots of compliments at the local car shows.
Bob
Do you have a number or website for classic enterprizes?how was the quality and price? thanks,Mark
Mark:
I'm not sure how to answer your question re Classic Enterprizes, I don't believe I've ever dealt with them. Lots of dealings with Dearborn Classics, Concours Parts, Dennis Carpenter, Macs Auto, Summit & Jegs though.
I guess the next part of the project is to show the various areas of concern when the front clip was off and the engine removed. There are some areas that should probably be strengthened before you double or triple the original horsepower of your 57. Specifically the cross member welds on the motor mounts, transmission crossmember and upper rear shock mounts. I found that my 57 was probably made on a Monday or Friday, as the welds in these areas were all partial welds, at best. They held up for over 40 years with a stock six (from the factory) and a sick 302 (when I bought it). But, I feel a lot better now when I hit the pedal & pop the clutch.
I shot a couple of before pictures of the partial welda and one after the fix. I had to redo all the areas mentioned above. Check these two sad welds out and the repair..
Bob
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The next series of shots deal with some of the the repairs, other than the welds, done while the front clip was removed. The entire firewall & front frame got media blasted and then the steering parts were refurbished with new ball joints & tie rod ends. I should have also rebuilt the steering gear box while everything was disassembled, but when I drove the car it didn't seem to bad. I may still do it in the near future, but the car drives well, tracks true and holds its alignment well. But, I sure wish I had the same muscles I had when I had my first 57, a 3700 lb car without power steering is proving to be somewhat of a challenge when parallel parking.
Bob
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There have been lots of questions and responses regarding motor mounts for fitting the small block Ford engines (289, 302, 351, & strokers) into a 57. Before I tried to fit my 351 into the car I remembered that when I pulled the 302 out of it in 2001 the motor mount bolts were in only finger tight and the engine didn't sit quite right. I obtained a junk 302 and checked into the mounts with the front clip removed. I observed that the small block mounts, when bolted to the 302 would not sit flush or go far enough into the motor mount holes on the cross member. No matter how I jockied the engine block around it just wouldn't sit down into the motor mounts. I also wasn't thrilled with only having one bolt going into the motor mount on the cross member. That is when I found the Butch's Rod Shop ad in a Streetrodder Magazine. I like what I saw and decided to purchase a set. These mounts with their lower portion a triangular shape that sits flush on the angled cross member motor mount and using two grade 8 bolts to snug the mount down works very well. On top of the triangle sits a bushing with a rubber snubber inside it that bolts to a flat plate which bolts to the small block. The pictures that follow say it much better. It works great and all 400 horses are solidly mounted to the 57's motor mounts on the cross member.
There may be some differences between the original Y-block mounts on the cross member and the 6-cyl cross member mounts, because Butch's had you specify which you needed. I understand that Butch's Rod Shop is no longer in business, but I heard that a successor business still carries these motor mounts. They were/are both located somewhere in the Midwest.
OOPS! Looks like my files are too large to get all the pictures of the motor mounts into this posting. So check below and I'll do a separate posting.
Bob
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Here are a couple of comparison shots of the Butch's motor mounts vs the stock small block motor mounts.
By-the-way I hope these shots and comments aren't boring. I know I sure learned a lot when I was going through the process and getting my 57 back on the road with a 2001, 2, 3 & 4 drive train replacing the original.
Bob
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Great journal Bob! Keep it coming. I very much enjoy reading. r
Bob,
Good documentation. I don't think the 6 cyl mounts make a diff. I bolted a 427 in mine in the 60's.
It ran 11's for years with that set up. Just chained the left front down like we alll did back to keep the
mounts from breaking. Never a problem with that or the welds.
Thanks again for your efforts.
later, Ron :004:
BTW' it was a six cyl
Hey Bob. I used that same mount from Butch's on a 46 Coupe streetrod I built in the early 90's. I also liked it. The only problem I had was keeping the flathead-type biscuit from deteriorating. For some reason my Windsor would beat them into submission after about 6 months. New pair and we were ready to go.
Fordnut:
I had exactly the same problem and I thought it was due to Southern California's smog & ozone, or the 400 horses now up front. I solved the problem by replacing all the original rubber in the Butch's mounts with polyurethane substitutes I got from Energy Suspension (I can't remember the companies name, but if you are interested I can look it up tonight). The new set-up won't deterioriate.
Bob
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Well I guess it's time for looking at the next stage of the refurbishment. Brakes. After I bought my "dream" Custom 300, some 34 years after trading my original 57 in on a Mustang, I took it out on the road for a test drive. I was thrilled with the power (some what sick 302), loved the 4-speed (popped out of 2nd frequently), and beautiful paint job. But, I had completely forgotten how much I'd grown to like power disc brakes. Stopping the 57 was a chore, so during the early years of owning my "new" 57 I never drove it very far, maybe 6 or 7 miles from home and kept the speed way down. This was probably a good idea anyway as some pretty raunchy bias plys were all I had for tires.
With the front end of the car torn apart, I decided to install a reliable set of power front disc brakes on the car. I chose an ABS Power Brake conversion, which was installed when the front end went back together. It was reputed to have plenty of stopping power with a 9" booster acting on the Granada/Monarch front discs and the rebuilt stock rear drums. Little did I know at the time that my 351W was only going to generate about 12 - 13" Hg (vacuum) and the power unit needs at least 15" Hg to work properly. The people at ABS Brakes (Orange, CA) were very helpful and suggested either I get a vacuum pump or a vacuum accumulator. With the costs of a vacuum pump being a bit steep, I opted for the vacuum accumulator (a standard polished aluminum cannister that fits quite nicely nest to the power booster and is mounted on the driver fender well just under the top of the fender.
I've been very pleasedwith this setup. The car stops as quickly as any of my other more modern vehicles with a disc/drum combo. It stops straight and doesn't give me any surprises. The only time I have to be careful is when the engine has been off for some time and the car is on a slope, as vacuum hasn't had a chance to accumulate and my darn "emergency brake" isn't working as well as it should. When this occurs, the only power available is in your right leg, which might be trying to pump the gas pedal to get the engine up and running. Repair for this are in the near future and I can live with it for now.
Here's a couple of shots of the setup. Nothing exotic and there have been a number of different approaches to braking 57's submitted on the Forum. All I can say is that this was very inexpensive (compared to many of the other issues being resolved) and has worked very well for the 10,000 miles I've driven since getting the 57 back on the road.
Looks like my file size is limiting the pictures on this message to just 2, a couple of more shots will follow on the next message.
Bob
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I Purchased my disc brake set up from ABS Power Brakes in Orange, Ca. I Purchased the Rear end Conversion- Front DBC and Frame Frame mounted mastrer withBrake Pedal assembly.(want to clean up the firewall). I haven't installed yet but can't wait.
I've bought some stuff from ABS. They did my booster on my 78 and I purchased my p/valve from them.
I'm only a couple miles from them. I just don't like the way they mount the p/valve on the M/C. Don't
care for the spagetti up there. They also act like its a big secret what spindles fit the car. I got mine at
the junk yard for a hundred or so. They wanted a bunch more like they were really a rare thing. I still go
there when I need something I can't find anywhere else.
Later, Ron :horseapples:
Yes Ron, they can certainly charge more than finding it in a pick-your-part. Anyway here is the shot of the vacuum accumulator mounting and the brake booster installed. I had to go home and take a clearer picture than what I had. When I get some bucks ahead I'm thinking of getting a nice chrome hydraulic brake booster to make some room for other goodies I've got in mind (no, it never ends).
Bob
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I'm sure that a number of us would be interested. I'm getting too old and hefty to crawl under there any more than needed.
Bob,
You're sure right about the never ending thing! Nice vacuun pot and a good place to put it. That's the
main reason I did'nt go with power brakes was the size of the cam. I just use the term "ongoing". It keeps
her happier. I think She's happy we aren't Drag Racing anymore and just doesn't mention it. At least now
there is lasting results instead of thousands of dollars in time tickets. It was fun though. :icon_super:
BTW, I did get the seat back in my car. So I can drive it to Knott,s. :occasion6:
Later, Ron :004:
Guess it is time to do the engine. When I bought the car in 1998, I looked under the hood and saw a 302 small block with headers, Accel distributor, Holly carb, a set of M/T valve covers and a bit of a lope. I figured I'd really made a killing. During the first year I owned the car, I really took it easy in my driving. Between the questionable brakes, poor tires and 45 year old wiring that occasionally sparked, I knew there was considerable work ahead. I turned out that the engine was the part that finally gave out. At 35 mph in high gear, I heard some valve noise that hadn't been present previously. Being semi-prudent, drove home and put the car into the garage and pulled a valve cover. I found a valve spring retainer broken and sitting at the base of the spring, in looking closer I also found 4 more valve spring retainers cracked on that bank. A similar condition was present on the other side. And so began the rehabilitation project.
I got a hoist and pulled the engine. Since I'm not a skilled (or even semi-skilled mechanic), my decision was to have a shop do the rebuild of the engine. I talked to a reputable shop near where I work and outlined my goals and what I wanted in terms of power and how I was going to use the vehicle. When I was a 20 year old and my old 272 Y-block swallowed a valve, I had faced a similar situation. But, the best I could do at that time was just get it put back together and slap a set of dual exhausts on it. Now, however, I could afford to realize a few of my dreams. I told them I'd like about 400 reliable horse power and the car would be a daily driver, cruiser and occasionally put onto a drag strip. I was advised that getting 400 hp out of a 302 was relatively easy, but unless I opted for fuel injection, it would be running pretty much on the edge. I was advised that a 351W with Edelbrock RPM series heads, cam and intake would provide the power to meet my goals and be very reliable (he showed me an article from Hot Rod about the Edelbrock built 351W). Note: this was at a time just prior to the market being flooded with crate engines produced by many different vendors, probably any of which would have met my stated goals. I agreed that the 351W was what I wanted and the project was begun.
The engine used was a 1974, 351W, it was hot tanked, bored .030 over, align bored and decked. The stock crank and rods were sent out to be shot peened and ground for stress relief. The pistons used were TRW forged, a Centerforce flywheel, clutch & pressure plate used were purchased and all the rotating assembly was sent out for balancing. While the engine was being built, I stopped over at the shop daily to check on the progress and shoot some pictures for a scrap book. The shop I used was Advanced Engine Machining located in Huntington Beach, CA. They have been in the business for many years and do work for a variety of racing interests; the one I'm most familiar with is Gale Banks Eng.
Here it is 10,000 miles and 3 years later and I couldn't be more pleased with the engine I wound up with. Here are a few pictures of this part of the rehabilitation. The pictures will require several postings.
Bob
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Here are a couple of more shots.
Bob
57AGIN
Are you running headers on your 351W , If so what brand and application are they for.
57chero:
Yes, My 351W has a set of headers. When I was ready to get back on the road I had the car towed over to Doug's Headers (when it was still located in Anaheim, about 7 miles from where I live). Doug's used a production set of headers built for 66 Fairlanes using a small block. They only had to do a slight modification to the pipe closest to the steering box. I've got a few shots of the headers and wonder of wonders they are of a size that will fit in the attachments.
I had Doug's do the full tri-y headers, X-pipe, Flowmaster mufflers, electric exhaust cut-outs, and powder coated them from the header flange to the exhaust tips. They turned out wonderful. The system flows and sounds great. When I had the car on the dyno, I did runs with the cut-outs open and closed. There was no appreciable power difference between the runs.
Bob
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Can you get a shot from the top drivers side around the steering box, thanks looks very nice.
57chero:
No problem. Tomorrow morning I'll see what I can do.
Bob
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57chero:
It's tomorrow morning. I took three shots on the left bank one on the right bank. As you might guess, there is plenty of room in the engine compartment to work on things from above. But, the clearances are fairly tight down near the frame and steering box.
Hope these do you some good.
Bob
57AGIN
Well, the next area to take on is the drive train. While getting the engine and engine compartment ready, there remained a lot of other oh-by-the-ways to get accomplished. The braking system, floor pan & tunnel rehabs have been covered. The next in line was the transmission, clutch, pressure plate and flywheel setup.
I decided, based solely on finances and the fact that I've had success with a Borg Warner T-10 in the past, to have the T-10 rebuilt. In hind sight, I think I'd have been better off going to either a Tremac 5 or 6-speed or an AOD. My gas mileage is between 7 and 10 mpg and a tranny with an overdrive gear would increase flexibility in a number of ways. With 350 to 400 horse power on tap, the T-10 is, I'm told, marginal. If, in my rowing it through the gears, I manage to miss one too many shifts I may seek an improvement. Anyway, I had the T-10 rebuilt and it has worked very well for the first 10,000 miles driven.
I elected to go with a CenterForce Dual Friction clutch & pressure plate and flywheel setup. I've been pleased with these and I have piece of mind by having everything enclosed in a bullet proof Lakewood bellhousing.
Here's the second portion of the drive train rehabillitation.
I replaced the drive shaft with a Unitrax shaft and Spicer H/D U-joints 1330 up front (to fit onto the T-10 tailshaft) and 1350 at the rear.
The Ford 9" was given a complete overhaul. The original 3:70 gears were retained, as they had a very good wear pattern and are a good compromise street/strip gear. An Auburn positraction was installed, as were Strange 31-spline axles.
I replaced the rear springs with a pair of Eaton Detroit H/D leaf springs that were to be 1" lower than stock . Originally, I used H/D Monroe shocks, but I kept bottoming out on minor road dips. I now have a really good set of Strange Engineering adjustable shocks (the lower bayonet type mount for the shock absorbers had to be changed to an eye bolt :smtree2:type).
Bob
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Here is the final (for the time being) portion of the drive train rehab.
I mentioned starting out with the Monroe H/Dshocks, then adding the Strange Engineering adjustable shocks. Here are a couple of photos of those shocks.
#1 shows the Monroe H/D shock with the standard bayonett lower mount. #2 shows the new adjustable Strange shock with the eye bolt lower mount. #3 shows the upper mounting of the Strange shock.
Bob
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I guess it is time to do the interior. As you could see in my first couple of shots, the interior needed everything, from replacing the floor boards, kick panels and tunnel to actually bolting the original seats to the floor.
After owning the car for about 7 years and attending numerous car shows, I decided that I wanted a bench front seat with a fold down arm rest that could hold a coffee cup when I drive my car to work or the beach. I also wanted the seat to be able to lay forward or back, sufficient to in conjunction with a fold down back seat enable me to get my 10' surfboard inside the vehicle and shut the trunk (I'm still a surfer and hate surfboard racks). I could get my surfboard into my original 57, back in the early 60's, but I had to pull the back seat off of its deck support hinges and lay the seat down (it was a bit of a pain-in-the-A).
So my basic interior specifications were pretty specific, probably a lot more so than for most refurbishers. I visited several upholstery shops, including one that is seen often on the "OverHaulin" TV series. I settled on Bon-a-Rue's Upholstery located in Orange County, CA., This shop wanted about half as many $$$ as StitchCraft and I've been very pleased with the outcome. I found the front seats that I liked at a car show and went to the company that makes the seats, Glide Engineering, Rancho Cucamunga, CA. The front seat is actually for a 1955-57 Chevy, with a tapered back seat and contoured foam. They had never done a 57 Ford application, but the width is the same and since my 57 isn't intended to be stock, the fact that it was originally designed for a Chevy didn't bother me.
The fold down back seat was more of a challenge. I looked all over to try to find a modern back seat fold down set-up that would work in the 57. A few were close, but I finally gave up and asked Tito at Bon-a-Rue's to come up with a solution. He fabricated a solid wood upper seat backing using a piano hinge for the folding part and a trunk latching mechanism to hold the seat in the normal upright position. The back seat is reasonably comfortable, but that was not a highly critical aspect of the job. Usefullness and looks were desired.
I had always wanted tuck-n-roll when I was a kid so that was a requirement. I also wanted the interior to not clash with the turquoise paint job, but I was tired of the neutral grey tweeds that had become popular at the time. I was assisted by the shop in making the final selection of a turquoise and white naugahyde. I don't think the match could have been any better and like what they did with it. I also wanted the side panels to carry out the two tone theme of the exterior to the extent possible. I'll leave it to you to decide if they adhered to my desires.
I'll have to post this in several installments. The first two shots are of the Glide Engineering front seat, one at the factory being assembled and one at the upholstery shop being worked on.
Bob
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The next couple of shots show the upholstery work in progress. They show the tuck & roll theme carried out on the front seats and the side panel carrying out the exterior two tone theme of the car.
Bob
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Here are a couple of shots of the back seat construction. First is the piano hinge set-up and the second is the back seat folded down. (picture file size limitations are a real pain)
Bob
57AGIN :021: :021:
Here's a few shots of the finished product. And what counts is that it works great and I'm happy.
Bob
57AGIN :blob7: :blob7: :blob7:
Finally, here are a couple of shots of the trunk.
What do you think???
Bob
57AGIN :occasion14:
I think it looks great and works for what you use it for,Im curious about the windlace where it comes down the windsheild pillar and is pinched between the dash board, how did they get it in there without pulling the dash.I just pulled my dash out to paint it and dont see how it could be done with it in place, did you see yours being done.
Bob,
That turned out very nice. I also had Tito do my seat recently. I need to cut new backings for the door
panels and get them over to him.
57 Chero, they seem to be able to get the windlace in alright. I've had mine done in the past
Later, Ron :004:
57CHERO & Ron:
Thanks, I get lots of good comments at shows and at the beach.
57CHERO, I know that the upholstery shop didn't disassemble the dash, but I wasn't present to see how it was done.
Here's a couple of more shots of the completed project.
Bob
57AGIN
Bob...I'm finally getting around to reading the old-old-old posts. This was a great thread..must have been an exciting time for you watching and making it all come together the way you wanted. Great results. Made me miss my years in Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach again.
A super EXCELLENT thread....
what a nice ride.
Thanks guys. I love the car and it is a never ending story (project). A TKO 600 is in the works now, just a matter of getting the best price for purchase. I really want the 5th overdrive gear, so I can do some longer trips with the car. A couple of months ago I added a Paxton-Novi 1200 to the 351W and it certainly woke the engine up some more (475 hp to the rear wheels) and added a whole lot of "bling" to the underhood. Again thanks for the kind words.
Bob
57 AGIN
&
4.6 SHLB
57AGIN, great job it looks good. I have a 351w to go in my custom 300,and was wondering what ( year / type ) motor mounts you ended up using? Tarheel57 :burnout:
Tarheel57:
The engine is a 1974 351W. The motor mounts were purchased from Butch's Rod Shop (no longer in business).
You can go to page 1 of this thread and see what these motor mounts look like. Essentially, they are made from steel plate in a triangular shape, which when installed on the motor mount cross member has a flat surface on top. On this flat surface they put a rubber shock mount biscut with a flat steel motor mount plate on top of it using a grade 8 bolt thru the top of the triangle, the rubber biscut and the flat motor mount plate on top of all that. As you know the small block Ford uses a horizontal motor mount set-up, while the Y-block and FE motors use a verticaly oriented mount system. Within a year of putting the engine into my 57, the rubber had deteriorated and split into pieces, I replaced it with a similarly shaped urathane shock mount (worked great). Using the Butch's Rod Shop mount, the engine is solidly bolted (2 grade 8 bolts, washers, lock washer & nuts) to the cross member and several bolts into the block, too. I always thought this set-up was better than trying to adapt the Mustang or other motor mounts to work with the small block placement into a 57. Although, I've seen many suggestions in this forum of other combinations that are supposed to work, I never tried them.
Bob
57 AGIN
Thanks,I like the looks of them.I saved the picture you posted back then so I can check with some of the rod shops around here so I can maybe get me a set.I think some use 351 truck mounts,but I dont know what year model. Thanks!