The old timer has needed paint for a long time. Wanting to do it right, I decided to remove the trim and glass. Of course since I'm doing that much, I figure I should fix up the interior and replace the headliner that's been missing for the last 20 years. Well, can't do all that and leave the dashboard looking faded, so that's coming out next. We all know how that goes.
Fortunately, other than the holes in the lower fenders, the car is as solid and rust-free as they come. Not a surprise actually since I bought it 30 years ago in California, so I know it's never been out in a New England winter.
More pics to come as I get deeper into this.
Finally started stripping the paint. Happy that so far things look good underneath. Since I know absolutely nothing about factory painting techniques, I was a little surprised to find green paint between the white and the factory primer. I guess they would shoot the whole car in the primary color, then spray the two-tone.
Hoping to have it ready for paint by the end of next week.
:unitedstates: It looks great.What kind of paint will you use.I have been leaning toward the Dupont.
Mark Ford did weird things while painting their cars. The Ranchero has the cream all over with the gold (what is left of both) over it. My Edsel, built at the Louisville plant has a yellow body with coral coves and a white roof. As I stripped the paint I found the body was painted coral, the coves taped off and the yellow sprayed over it. The fenders and hood were only yellow, the doors and trunk lid were coral under the yellow. The roof was only white. All of this was factory paint as I did the first re-paint of the car. Kinda weird huh?
Not sure what paint to use yet. I'll be discussing that with the guy who's actually painting the car. My bodywork skills are pretty much limited to removing paint.
That does sound pretty weird how the paint process varied. Mine's a San Jose car. Each plant likely used whatever method they believed worked best for them. I'm used to the aerospace world, where every last thing is standardized.
The inside of my trunk is white, so it makes sense that the white was the last color applied. Other two-tone owners have said the inside of their trunk is not white but I dont know which plant those cars came from.
The old timer went off to the body shop last week. Very happy with what I found under the paint. Other than the rot in the bottom of each fender and a variety of small shopping cart dings, it all looked great except for a hole someone had drilled in the rear panel and had since filled with bondo. When I bought the car it had a tremendous hitch welded underneath, along with a length of cable running from the generator to the rear bumper. Somebody in this car's past must've towed a pretty serious camper, and I'm guessing they drilled the hole to run wires out to it.
Had a little free time so I took a shot at installing the quarter trim. The plan was to use original-type clips from Mac's, but I'm not thrilled with the quality, plus they were just fighting me the whole time. I know they're supposed to be simple but I guess I just don't have the "touch". So I decided to use the universal-type clips.
Anyway, I ran down to the hardware store, picked up a handful of big washers (to cover the square holes and spread the load), and some 10-24 nylon locknuts.
I put a bead of strip caulk around the studs, and also covered one side of the washers with caulk. Once the studs were aligned with the holes, I hung the trim on, and snugged down the nuts. Very happy with how it came out, and for me anyway it was much easier than using the original type clips.
Looks great Marc......Yea.On my Texas 57. the car was Black and a white 2 tone over that.....strange how Ford painted these cars....
I looked thru my Ford sheet metal manual. and all the fasteners used on retaining the body trim are illustrated how you have done it.Great idea and looks much simpler!..fantastic.
x2...did the same thing. Ordered a couple of boxes from auveco.com and installed with pieces of butyl tape careful not to over torque. It is surprising how little torque it takes to dimple the sheet metal.
I'd never heard of auveco.com. Looks like they've got a great selection of clips and hardware.
you can still get a hard copy catalog!!
Finally got around to taking a few pics. Still have a long way to go but at least it's close to firing up for the first time in a year.
and a few more...
Looking good, Like that you went with silver on the front valance instead of body color. If you need any side trim pieces I might have some miscellaneous 4dr. stuff.
Wow,she looks incredible,looks like Colonial White and Cumberland Green?
My old wagon was the same colour.
I acquired a 4dr custom 300 but its Willow and Cumberland,the Willow is going for sure!
Did you spray the dash body colour?
Cheers!John :canada:
You obviously have a ton of work in your car, and very picky to boot....very well done. Thanks for sharing it with us. Keep them coming.
Rich
Thanks for the kind words.
You're correct, it's Cumberland Green & Colonial White. I had the interior trim & dash painted in Cumberland green as well since I just liked that better than the original green that was in there.
I've got all the trim, just need to buy a new set of gold side pieces. The old ones were just too faded and looked like hell against the new paint.
Glad to see you have given some love to your more door !
Some 4 door cars aren't good looking but as far as I'm concerned the 57 is a beautiful car in a 4 door configuration .
Your colors and the Crager wheels make it a stunning car, nice work.
Quote from: Marc on 2017-04-19 12:39
Had a little free time so I took a shot at installing the quarter trim. The plan was to use original-type clips from Mac's, but I'm not thrilled with the quality, plus they were just fighting me the whole time. I know they're supposed to be simple but I guess I just don't have the "touch". So I decided to use the universal-type clips.
Anyway, I ran down to the hardware store, picked up a handful of big washers (to cover the square holes and spread the load), and some 10-24 nylon locknuts.
I put a bead of strip caulk around the studs, and also covered one side of the washers with caulk. Once the studs were aligned with the holes, I hung the trim on, and snugged down the nuts. Very happy with how it came out, and for me anyway it was much easier than using the original type clips.
Can you remember the part# for the trim clips? And how many?
I will order mine now before someone says squirrel!
Thanks,John
For the rear quarter trim I used B7A-7029120-A clips from Dennis Carpenter. I didn't use the nuts that came with them though. I ended up using locking nuts and stainless washers from the local hardware store.
Quote from: Marc on 2017-04-19 12:39
Had a little free time so I took a shot at installing the quarter trim. The plan was to use original-type clips from Mac's, but I'm not thrilled with the quality, plus they were just fighting me the whole time. I know they're supposed to be simple but I guess I just don't have the "touch". So I decided to use the universal-type clips.
Anyway, I ran down to the hardware store, picked up a handful of big washers (to cover the square holes and spread the load), and some 10-24 nylon locknuts.
I put a bead of strip caulk around the studs, and also covered one side of the washers with caulk. Once the studs were aligned with the holes, I hung the trim on, and snugged down the nuts. Very happy with how it came out, and for me anyway it was much easier than using the original type clips.
Marc........could you please measure the body of the clip that is pictured. Length, width. And the stud size and length, as well.
I've got the Au-ve-co Catalog and with the measurements I should be able to identify it with an Au-ve-co Part number for all of us.
Thanks
John
Wonderful work Marc.. Your car looks amazing!!!!
John, I wish I could measure one but they're all installed. I haven't yet ordered retainers for the rest of the side trim but when I do I'll be sure to include the numbers here.
The Ford number I used for the rear quarter "spear" retainers is B7A-7029120-A. Not sure if the Au-ve-co catalog has a cross-reference feature. Searching Dennis Carpenter's catalog will turn them up.
This is the stock retainer used at the front & rear of the spear. I just used them along the whole length (8 per side) because they were much easier to use than the stock clip-on types that were there.
Any more updates?
Cheers,John :canada:
Nothing new. I haven't touched the car in weeks other than a few things under the hood. This time of year it seems I spend more time picking up leaves than anything else!
Your car looks great Marc, then again, I thought it looked great the first time I saw it at our first 57 Ford gathering at Columbus. Just a well taken care of car.
I would be interested in seeing the clips too. I am looking partiucularly for the ones that secure the tips of the Custom trim at the front of the quarter window.
Thanks James. I got in touch with the son of the original owner a while ago, and he told me how fanatical his dad was when it came to taking care of the car. He was a little extreme, as in he would leave the doors cracked open when the car was parked overnight so the door seals wouldn't be crushed. He owned it about 20 years. It had 2 more owners over the next 9 years before I bought it, and of course the whole time I've had it the car's been garaged so you're right, it's been a pretty well taken care of car. I consider myself extremely lucky to have picked up such a well maintained vehicle.
I haven't bought the new clips for the rest of the trim yet other than the rear spear but when I do I'll post pics of them. I think I know the particular clip you're talking about. I took some pics of the old clips as the trim was removed. Give me a chance to sort them out tonight and I'll post them with a description of which clips go where.
Here are a few pics of the original clips, as well as the clips I used to install the rear spear.
James, the first pic is the one I think you're talking about.
My plan is to use the same clips everywhere I can, as they come in different sizes and are really easy to work with. Those clips are available at Mac's, dennis carpenter, and probably a bunch of other outlets I haven't checked. I discarded the nuts that were included and picked up nylon insert locknuts and wide washers at the local Ace.
The front fender trim used some kind of springy clip. Not sure if I will reuse the same type of opt for the universal clips there too.
more pics...
and the new clip
Those oddball clips at the ends that take a screw look to be available online as well, so I'll either reuse mine or buy new as needed.
Quote from: Marc on 2017-11-20 08:36
and the new clip
Marc, could you please post the measurements of this clip. Width......Length.......and the Length of the Spring Wire. I ask as there are many similar looking clips that are different by their measurements.
Thanks
John
Hi John,
I wish I could give you those measurements, but they're all installed. Here's a pic of this clip from the Dennis Carpenter website where I ordered it, hopefully that'll help you out.
Keep in mind that this is the clip I used for the rear quarter spear. I'll need others of varying sizes to install the trim for the doors and fenders. As I get those figured out I'll post pics and measurements of what works.
Ok its finally warmed up enough to spend a little time working on the car. Ordered a bunch of clips to continue installing trim, and did the front door yesterday. Pics show the clips I used for the upper and lower pieces.
I used strip caulk behind the gold trim, stretched and rolled out thin, and wrapped the bottom of the studs with strip caulk as well. Plus a little on the backside of the washers to help seal all the holes from water.
Gotta be a bit of a contortionist to get to the forward-most studs but its not too bad with the window tray rolled up. Yeah it probably would've been easier using the original snap-on type clips, but my own particular experience so far has been that I like working with these types of clips better.
And one more pic.
The clips at the ends that use a small screw were in really good shape so I just reused them instead of the new ones I ordered. I learned the hard way that the screws were not included. Tried the local hardware store but could find nothing with a head as broad as what is needed.
Installed the trim on the back door too. Pretty straightforward.
The forward-most stud comes really close to the pocket for the upper hinge. I ended up sticking the washer in place first with a little strip caulk, and using a thin nut.
Got to go back in and add a dab of something to those threads to ensure the nut doesn't back off.
I reused the original end clip again since it was in great shape.
And a few more pics of the back door....
For the fender, I was planning to use the original spring clips on the upper trim piece. Sure enough, the ones I ordered don't fit, not even close. So I decided to go with universal clips again here. One problem I ran into, the clips at the back end of the upper and lower pieces are pretty much inaccessible from behind the fender. Will probably try to find the right spring clip for the upper piece. Still not sure how I'm going to approach the clip at the back of the lower piece.
and 1 more.....
This is the clip that doesn't fit.
Marc, great photos and great information. Both will be an enormous help when I get to that point. One question, where did you purchase the clips?
Thanks
John
Glad to be able to help. All the clips came from Mac's and Dennis Carpenter.
The front seat was loaded with busted springs, but I was lucky enough to find a decent seat frame just 2 hours from home (thanks 357bella!). Started tearing it down today to salvage what I could use on my seat.
A place called upholster.com has new clips to attach the springs, and a pretty pricey pair of pliers to close the clips. I decided the aggravation and time saved by using pliers made specifically for this job was worth the expense, so I ordered them.
The seat back wasn't too bad except for a couple of busted springs. I stole two off the donor seat and have them tacked in place with tape until the new clips arrive. It still had a tag attached showing the date of manufacture.
the bench was a little more beat up. Several broken springs, including the perimeter spring. I was happy to see the perimeter spring on the donor seat was still in good shape. There are a pair of coil springs installed at each end. Not sure if they're original, since the donor seat doesn't have them, but they look to be solidly installed and a little extra support can't hurt, so I'm leaving them there.
It looks like some repairs were attempted whenever the seat was last re-upholstered, which would've been over 30 years ago. Pretty sure they approached the repair with a "you'll never see this mess once we put new vinyl over it" attitude.
The pics show the broken springs marked with tape, and finally the replacement perimeter spring installed and tacked in place with tape until the new clips arrive.