Morning coffee

[lalessi1]

I flew up to Detroit, rented a car and drove 45 min. to Milan just outside of Ann Arbor. Mike is a good guy, hurt his back in motorcyle accident. He didn't know much about the car, I think he got a deal on it and "flipped it". I looked at the classifieds on here everyday for a few weeks if not months. I jumped on the car after I spoke to Mike on the phone. The price was what I wanted to spend and the car is great for my needs...solid but needed a lot of TLC. I pulled the 302/AOD and put in an FE/Toploader. The car was built in the Kansas City plant and came from Wyoming. It had apparantly been in a huge dust storm at some point... the cowl had over an inch of fine dust in it. The drains were compacted and completely covered. The  gauges had dust in them. I replaced the dash, put in an original working radio, clock, new NOS ashtray! New NOS steering wheel....repaired wiper cables, heater, 58 box, new NOS turn signal/horn contact.... Anyway we all know the drill(s). I am actually waxing the car today since the weather is so awesome for December. Todays pics

[RICH MUISE]

Sounds like the right guy got it. It's looking reallygood....and shiney!
Weather...I had planned on working on the Subie today, but too darn windy.

[hiball3985]

Awesome looking car Lynn, especially with a FE and top loader. Did you use the 58 column and wheel? I used a 58 box but had to retain the 57 column and wheel so I don't have a horn..

[gasman826]

Mike lived a few miles from me.  I provided several parts on that car.  Good to hear he's doing well.

[lalessi1]

Awesome looking car Lynn, especially with a FE and top loader. Did you use the 58 column and wheel? I used a 58 box but had to retain the 57 column and wheel so I don't have a horn..

I went on a mission to assemble a bunch of Ford parts to get my horn to work. A friend gave me an Edsel column of all things. The steering wheel was almost identical to the Ford but it had a spring loaded contact button in it that rode on a horn grounding plate in the column. I noticed that the shape of Ford steering columns in the early 60s looked the same, even the Edsel. The Edsel turn signal switch (holding the horn contact plate) was completely different from the Ford and would have worked but parts were weathered nylon and brittle. I watched on eBay for a similar turn signal. I bought an NOS turn signal switch/horn contact plate for 59 thru 62. I also found a 59 Custom NOS steering wheel with the horn button hole, it was identical externally to the 57 (the turn signal cancelling part on the back of the wheel was slightly different). The switch I bought was a design improvement over the Edsel switch as well. I wound up using the 57 column and turn signal lever, 59-62 turn signal switch/horn contact plate, 59 Custom steering wheel and the Edsel contact button. The only modification was drilling one hole in the column to match up the stuff. An added bonus is that the turn signal lever action is much more positive and "modern" feeling. Not a cheap endeavor but worth it to me. Tried to find photos....

[lalessi1]

It has been a while since I talked to Mike. I sent him an email updating him on the Ford and asking about the effect of Detroit defaults on his retirement situation, I never heard back from him.

Mike lived a few miles from my.  I provided several parts on that car.  Good to hear he's doing well.

[hiball3985]

Thanks Lynn, very useful info on the horn set up. For now I'm feeling lazy and will just use a button. Maybe sometime in the future I'll tackle the conversion.

[MrArt2u]

Hey Jim, I used the 1940's Willys horn parts Texas Ford Guy mentioned on the forum back in 2011 to get my horn to work. (shortened 1957 column and wheel/new ABS steering box.) It's a neat brush and bushing system found in Willys CJ2As and others.
The parts cost about $24 shipped from Walcks4wd.com and installation was pretty easy since I already had the column out and apart. I haven't road tested it yet but my neighbors will tell you it works fine in my driveway.

Let me know if you need part numbers or more info.

Art.

[hiball3985]

Thanks Art. I seem to recall that article and will try to locate it and read it again. I'm just trying to avoid pulling the column again after rebuilding all the 3 speed shift linkage and installing it and the 58 box, I'm old and getting lazy 

[MrArt2u]

Jim, I don't blame you. I have no desire to pull out my column again!

But, just in case you decide to, here's the link to the post:

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=2800.0

I'll add to his progress since the thread was never updated. The outer, spring loaded contact plate does fit the curvature of our column perfectly. However, the rubber isolated brass sleeve that slides on to the shaft is a bit bigger than our shaft. I ended up welding some beads on the shaft to grip a soft metal"spacer" ferrule I found at the local Ace hardware store. (.825 id p/n AMF 7334  a $.50 solution) The Willys sleeve was then a nice tight fit on the "spacer."  It's not going anywhere.

A hole needs to be drilled in to the hollow shaft to pull the wire through so it could be soldered on to the isolated sleeve (as far away from the brush contact area as possible.) And that's about it. Put her back together and wake your neighbors!

You're just up the hill from me, let me know if you ever want a hand with it.

Cheers,
Art

[hiball3985]

Thanks Art, thats the one I read before. I should have taken the time to think this out when I had things apart but I was to anxious to get it on the road and wasn't going to let a little thing like a horn stop me  I'll look closer at that post but I'm not sure that would work with a 58 box, the 58 shaft is solid as compared to a 57 which has a hole through the center for a wire.

[RICH MUISE]

Gas dipped below 2 bucks this week in Amarillo....Saw one place at 1.84. This is a good time for a long roadtrip...wish I could get the darn ignition problem figured out on the daily.

[RICH MUISE]

Went to Oklahoma Friday. The cheapest gas I saw on the trip was at a station a mile from my house.
I may have figured out my ignition problem...The Subi finally threw an engine code, and I had it checked out at Auto Zone...crank position sensor. That is one of the things "in the loop" for the ignition start. Got a new one, haven't had a chance to put it in yet...should have done it today while the weather was warm enough...got a cold front coming in tonight. I've got my fingers crossed that'll solve the ignition problem, although a mechanic/friend doesn't think it will.
Hopefully in a few more days I can get back to the wiring of the '57. I've been turning our spare bedroom into a closet/storage area. My wife and I are finally living alone after 25 years....her neice has lived with us since Connie and I got married, and she bought a house...moved out a few weeks ago. We live in a small house, and the clutter has been driving us nuts, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone...and have NO room for long term guests.

[lalessi1]

I have felt your pain. I swapped out playing with cars for playing with houses some 25 years ago only to return to my true love when I retired. "When I put the key in my house, it won't start!" was my cry. i have a lot of time invested in my my home having done most of the stuff on my own over the years. Quite a while back my mother-in-law moved in and when she passed I was faced with remodeling remodeling....so.... I bought my Custom , something I wished my Fairlane was in "67. Still have a list of house things to do but I don't post about sheetrock, plumbing, (today I changed a door knob and a thermostat) etc. I look have looked forward to "NO room for long term guests" for a while. Gas last week...$1.79 at Costco. 

[canadian_ranchero]

the furnace in my garage stopped working on monday,almost -20c monday and today[about 0f]checked it out and found the fan control not working.was able to wire fan so it is on all the time.getting parts today.was hoping to get my garage done today and start on the 57.maybe tomorrow