Reassembling 57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Well Everyone:

57 AGIN is back home, actually a couple of blocks from home in Rick's driveway.  Some of the pieces are still at Santini's: front fenders, hood, deck lid, etc.  But, we finally have the car where the reassembly process can begin.  The first things done was to clean up the frame and inside the cowl.  We bagged the car up and started the job.  Rick took a couple of looks at the front suspension and thought it might be a good idea to disassemble that to see what might need replacing (as well as to get it out of the way so the frame could be cleaned up better before adding the Black Satin Rustoleum treatment).  After looking things over I decided to just go ahead and replace everything that showed wear including my sagging front springs.  Sure hope we guessed right on the replacement springs.  Here are a couple of photos of what's going on at this time.

Bob
57 AGIN

[Frankenstein57]

Lookin good, that car should really gleam in the sun when its all together, Mark

[JPotter57]

Cant wait to see it back together, Bob, looks awesome.  I love the blue.

[shopratwoody]

Really looks good Bob.
The fun begins

[57AGIN]

Guys:

Here is a little update on my 57 project.  57 AGIN is going back together slowly, but steadily.  Rick is doing just about all the fine assembly work at this time, while I'm under the car removing the exhaust system and transmission cross member, in preparation for further degreasing, cleaning & repainting the frame & suspension.  Rick's had a wealth of experience in refurbishing 1957 Ford parts and reinstalling them properly and better than they came from the factory.  I'm learning so much, but also realizing that my respect is growing for all the guys on this site who have been taking their 57's apart and restoring them on their own, without benefit of a master mechanic like Rick Crawford to show them how and why things are done in a certain way. 

Santini is working on the front splash pan, fender wells and other miscellaneous pieces, while we are working on the 57 at home.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos of the reassembly of the rear quarter window felt trim.  I think you'll find these interesting, I know I did.

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Here are a couple of more photos of the rear quarter window felt replacement being done at this time.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Bob,
   Looks like you're staying busy. The window whiskers is one of the things I didn't like but the slower you go and more thought you put into it says alot for the finish work you'll have to look at once the windows are in. One of the tricks I used was dimpling the holes and using countersunk pop rivits. You'll never see a pop rivit that way. My Galaxie is pretty well finished on the outside. I'm laying Hushmat in it now. My fingers are cut up from pushing it into the indentions of the floorboards. When you stretch it the aluminum breaks and the foil cuts up your fingers ( I never could use gloves and do a good job at anything). Have fun and don't forget to have a good holiday season. Jim

[Zapato]

Couple of jobs that make me glad I have a business coupe and stationary side glass.

Zap-

[57AGIN]

57 AGIN is going back together steadily.  The door windows, wind wings & rear quarter windows are installed with all the felt and mechanisms looking better than a factory installation.  While Rick has been busy reworking and cleaning up my 2004 Painless wiring installation, I've been busy cleaning and painting suspension and frame parts getting them ready for reassembly.  During the process of reassembling the suspension we found some of the  parts I had ordered from Concours did not fit (they'll go back).  Fortunately, I was able to get NOS upper control arm bushings from a local Ford parts business (C.W. Moss) and Tuesday I'll go back to them to see if I can get a couple of upper ball joints that fit the 57 upper control arms.  This is one of the very few problems I've encountered with either Concours or Dennis Carpenter.  I'm optimistic at this time.

Here are a couple of shots of the frame before, during and after being painted with Red Oxide Rustoleum and Satin Black Rustoleum.  Happy New year.

Bob
57 AGIN

[Ford Blue blood]

Nice work Bob!  Looking really good, this is the fun part!

[57AGIN]

Here are the latest photos of the work on 57 AGIN:

The front fsuspension has been reinstalled, upper & lower control arms, tie rods, springs, etc. The new front disc brakes, 2 piston instead of single piston, drilled & slotted rotors.  But the most exciting part was the fitment of the 351W with the new Canton road racing oil pan.  We were concerned with clearance issues on both the lower control arms, the motor mount cross member and the oil pan drain plug.  We thought we'd be having to do some clearancing with the grinder. NOT!!!  It all fit by reversing the Butch's Rod shop motor mounts around to move the motor slightly forward.  This also solved a problem we discovered when disassembling the car, the Z-bar for the clutch was angled due to the motor being slightly to far back, now that alignment is perfect..  WooHoo.  Here are the engine fitment photos.

Bob57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Snug as a bug in a rug!!..looking great Bob. Hoping to get back to mine on a regular basis soon. You'll be tooling around the beach areas before you know it.
Rich

[57AGIN]

Here are a few photos of the brake system, as modified.  New spindles (full size Ford), which helped straighten out some rubbing issues I used to have with the 15" Cragar S/S rims and to upper control arms (ultimately I had to get some 3/8" spacers to get clearance). These will also raise the front a bit, as I was having ground clearance issues (seems like in going over a speed bump a little too fast caused me to hit the passenger side exhaust cutout hard enough to bend the moving knife blade rack system so much it no longer would open or close, Bummer).  New Kelsey-Hayes calipers & drilled/slotted rotors (Yes, the 4 piston calipers actually fit in the 15" Cragar S/S rims, so I don't have to go with the larger rim sizes, which I really don't like on vintage vehicles).  Also, seen in the two brake photos are new springs and there, although hidden, new ball joints, bushings, etc. through out.  Rick suggested that now might be a good time to install a "anti-roll control" system (in the good ole days it was known as a line-lock), so that is a new addition.  When I went to the drag strip I used to just stand on the brakes and try to light up the tires, this was OK on the front brakes, but played heck with the rears. Finally, a photo of the location of the ABS electric-hydraulic pump mounted to the frame under the driver (this really helped with braking the 57, as the vacuum produced by the engine, even with a vacuum accumulator, just wasn't enough to ensure good braking every time).

And the re-assembly goes on, and on, and on...

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Just my ignorance,I'm not sure what you're talking about here:
"Rick suggested that now might be a good time to install a "anti-roll control" system (in the good ole days it was known as a line-lock), so that is a new addition. "
At first I thought you were talking hd sway bar, but can't see one in pics

[Ford Blue blood]

I thought they were just "Roll Control"......anti roll is what I used to kick Camero a$$ in B sedan road racing!