My new 57

[sprink88]

That's a great story Wayne.  Welcome from Minnesota.  Happy you got another 57!

[thumper]

Thank you all for the nice comments on the car. I adjusted the valves today, cranked it up and watched for some oil to start finding it's way up and it did, not copious but nice and it was nice and quiet, tomorrow i will change the oil and filter, also will add some Lucas zink additive in as well. The engine is very clean internally and this will be my 2nd oil change since i obtained the car. looks like only 2000 mile on the engine since rebuild. They bored it 60 over so i have a 301, i'll just call it a 302.

[djfordmanjack]

what a sweet car ! This must be one of the most beautiful color combos on 57 Fords ! Great Model also with the chrome door glass frames!
Glad that you managed to stop the valve train noise with a simple adjustment. a little oil up the rocker shafts sounds great already and is all that is needed to keep the rockers from wear and squealing.
Although a 351 is a good engine choice for a 57 ( had one in the Del Rio), from what you tell us, there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to pull the Y block from your sweet and original car. Let me be the first this time, to say 'DON'T PULL THIS CAR APART !'
The boys on here kept telling me that and I didn't listen and still blew the Del Rio apart and it has been in a thousand pieces for 4 years and will be for many further. A transmission overhaul doesn't necessitate a drivetrain swap. For a beginning, who knows what ATF is in the trans. Why not just drain, and refill with correct type ATF and see what happens. cheap insurance before you dig any deeper. JMHO. Did I already say this is such a sweet, SWEET car ! 

[thumper]

Thank you for your comments, nope, i am not gonna tear it all apart, it just needs some TLC, from setting idle for so long. Horn does not beep, put new sending unit in tank, needle still  flies past full mark when key goes on. it has electric wipers and they try to work only move about an inch and a half back and forth. Am going to replace all 4 shocks, anyone have any suggestions on a good shock in today's world. I used to know all this stuff back in the 60s. Engine is running great, took it for a spin today, temp stayed around 170, oil pressure was over 60 at 55 mph, holds at 35/40 at hot idle, 14.4 on charging. I have installed a 3 gauge set-up  for those items. I have also installed an aluminum radiator, it does great.

[RICH MUISE]

Did you match up the sender's ohms range to the oem gage's ohms? Can't remember offhand what the range is, but I can check real quick.
I checked.....it's 73-10. Here's a link to a great troubleshooting guide for fuel senders/gages, and they go into what to check if your gage reads a certain way, like always full, etc.
https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=159/mode=cat/cat159.htm

[thumper]

Thanks for tips on fuel gauge settings, much appreciat

[RICH MUISE]

My wording on my last post was ambiguous. What I was saying is that new sender you put in won't work unless it's pre-set ohms range matches that of the gauge. I'm assuming stock gauge when I gave you the 73-10. The Tanks inc troubleshooting guide comes in real handy when everything matches up, but still doesn't work.
Don't throw away your old sending unit. On some aftermarket sending units, like the really well built/sturdy Tanks Inc one, the mounting flange is not compatible with the '57 tanks, so the old unit can be cut up to donate it's old mounting flange to be adapted to the new unit.

[thumper]

Thanks for the great tips on the  gauge ohms, I worked on these old Fords from the late 30s all the way up to 59, when i went in the service in 59 these 57s and 58s were just a couple of years old and i don't remember ever having a gauge issue to deal with. The new fuel gauge was identical and fit right in, so your info should be correct. Maybe you could offer some input on wipers. Mine are electric, the wipers are only making an inch and a half swipe up and down. The cables are tight, i have not looked at the motor. I only ever worked on the vacuum type and i remember wrestling with the cables.
Thanks,
Wayne

[RICH MUISE]

I'd start by pulling both the wiper arms off and seeing what the pivots do without them on. Maybe they were just installed when the wipers were not in the park position. A great tool for removing the wiper arms is a hose plier that's just a bit bigger that the pivot. You can close them up under the wiper arm's hub and pull. If I remember correctly, the circular fingers of the piers will also depress/push the little lever thingie that keeps them from coming off.
Easier than prying them off and chancing scratching the paint.
If that shows not to be the problem, I'd pull the motor and see if it goes thru the normal range of back and forth. I vagley remember reading those motors having an adjustable stop/park. That may be something to look into.
I'm guessing the more likely culprit is the cable and pulley assy. Good luck with that, lol. Does it look like they've been off/played with? I do know that the diagram showing the cable routing in the Ford Manual shows the cable wound the wrong way on one of the pulleys. Others will have to help with that because I've never messed with them, and I don't even have the cable and pulleys on my car anymore to look at. (Yes, I do have wipers, but you won't want to get into what I did)
Others with an electric set up like yours may have had similar issues and chime in.

[thumper]

OK, thank you sir, this will keep me busy for a bit. I have a really nice car, interior is redone to original, exterior is nice, has a nice set of radials, after some routine work on engine it is purring like a kitten. Engine and trans. were rebuilt in 2002, odometer at that time showed 34k it now shows just over 36k and it works. As i have mentioned before the car sat inactive for 16 years. Front end parts seem nice and tight but need lube job. I figure that through the winter months i will have it ready for the street this spring. Oh, i forgot to mention------it has an air conditioner-------in the trunk !!

[SkylinerRon]

The hard shifting is probably the throttle pressure adjustment. It's the rod from the trans up to the linkage at the back of the intake manifold.

The p/b master cylinder is very hard to find so somebody probably thought they could just use a regular one. If you can find a core it can be sleeved back to 1.125" bore.

2X on leaving the drivetrain stock, Y-blocks have good torque and run well. A pair of T-Bird aluminum valve covers look great on them too.

Good luck,

Ron.