Reassembling 57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Nice job on the drain hose routing, btw. I was studying the pic trying to decide if I wanted to reroute mine in a similar fashion. Instead, I think I'm going to seal off the cowl under the grille (with a removable cover so I can access my wiper arm assy's.). I'm thinking for those of us with dealer installed heaters, or aftermarket heat/air, that don't draw air from the cowl,there's not any reason to keep it open, letting water in in the first place. I've already eliminated my fresh air vents.

[gasman826]

Closing off the cowl...super idea!!!  I have an extra cowl panel.  I think I will keep it removable for wiper service but smooth the louvers.  Its unfortunate to close off these fresh air vents.  They worked so well.  Remember going down the road in the spring.  Opening the vents for the first time...blowing the dust off the floors...blowing girls skirts over their heads...ya' being a kid again!!!!!!

[57AGIN]

Gasman:

Nice to know that there are others that remember some of the better things from our youth.  If my body could only bend and twist the way it did back then and Drive-In Movies were still around, the back seat would get more attention than it will in the world of today. lol

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Hi Again:

The 57 didn't make it to Santini's yet for the final touch up on the side trim paint.  I picked up the front nose piece from Pete and when we started to mount it on the front of the 57, to tie together the fenders, core support, & grill, we found that the paint along the top of the piece where the hood rotates needed some more painting attention.  The wiring is just about finished, except for the final mounting of the headlights and parking lights.  Rick has put good ground straps all over the car, to ensure really good connections throughout.  The cowl drain tubing on the passenger side was installed after being routed around the power antennae.  Finally, the MSD box and an upper fender cover plate I had made to mount the MSD box and hide wiring was installed, finishing up the engine wiring.  The only wiring left to make up is the battery cabling (2.0 gauge) and routing it out of sight.  (see photo) While I had the camera out I took a shot of the air intake opening cut in the upper part of the front cover mounted below the headlight on the driver side.  I'd had some questions asked from people who looked at the blower setup and asked about where the system got it's air from.  (see photo #2)   

Other than that the car is just about ready for the upholstery shop.  We've tried to get a close match to the the blue, but haven't had any success. I think instead of trying to get a match with both the pewter and the blue, I'll settle for matching the pewter and having a darker grey used as an accent on the seats and door panels.  Lots easier to use neutral colors.

Bob
57 AGIN   

[512Fairlane]

I love this car! I wish I was this close to having mine done.

[RICH MUISE]

LOL ditto!

[57AGIN]

Well Guys:

No pictures this time, just an update.  Santini finished the side trim fade and IMO it came out perfect.  He still has the hood, front piece above the grill where the FORD letters go on the Customs and all of the interior window trim pieces.  These will be finished while the car is in the Upholstery Shop jail.  It went into that jail today.  Silver Gray leather hides are being used for the seats.  Hopefully I'll have some photos to share in a few days.  We are making a still to be done list so we can plan our time remaining before the Knott's Fabulous Fords Forever Car Show where I'm hoping to debut the car with it's new look.  I ran into a small snag yesterday when trying to hook up the heater hose connections (CoolFlex); seems like moving the engine forward about 1" didn't help the fit of one of the heater hose connections.  Ordered a new piece today.  Fix one thing and now we are fixing another. lol

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Here is the latest resting place for 57 AGIN.  And the beat goes on, and on,& on...

Bob
57 AGIN

[shopratwoody]

Sure looks good Bob. Is it a Tito's?

[57AGIN]

Ron:

No, this time it is more local to me.  Wahl's Upholstery in Los Alamitos.  Since I know I'll be over there nearly every day and the family has had both house furniture and my God son's 94 Caprice done there and he does good work, it made sense to me.  He's done a number of cars, that have shown with great success.  He did the recently completed nostalgia Shirley Muldowney Top Fuel Dragster, too.  Also, he says he can meet my time frame to get the car to Knott's, which would be a problem for Tito's very busy shop. Nothing against Tito's work, just a whole lot more convenient for me.  I'm sure hoping I didn't mess this up.

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Here's the latest on 57 AGIN:

The wind lace and headliner are in and again from MHO looking pretty darn good.  The trunk is ready for carpet and the package tray's basic design is done (there may be some stitching on the package tray to coordinate with the rear seat).  The design of the seats upholstery is pretty well in place, and should be completed during next week.  The upholstery shop is really moving on my project, they have two or three working on it full time.

On another front (LOL).  I picked up the front panel and the valance behind the bumper from Santini's and we will probably go over the the upholstery shop  and install them on Tuesday after I get off work.

This weekend I went over to the tire and rim dealer that has supplied my tires and rims for years to check into a possible change in rims.  Santini has just about convinced me that the Carger SS rims aren't the ones to go onto the car in it's new Resto-Mod configuration.  Black walls, mounted on a rim with kidney bean shaped holes (the old Halibrand mag look).  I'm still not 100% convinced.that blackwalls mounted on the Cragar SS's wouldn't be a good combination with the Car and it's new look.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Here's the latest on 57 AGIN:

  I'm still not 100% convinced.that blackwalls mounted on the Cragar SS's wouldn't be a good combination with the Car and it's new look.

Bob,
   Your roots are tugging on your heartstrings. LOL.  As long as you don't have the car dragging the ground and you've not altered it's sheet metal I see no reason why anything wouldn't look good on that car. Until someone sticks his head inside the window it's a 57 Custom with a nice paint job. Jim  PS  That's a nice car.

[gasman826]

Don't start second quessing yourself now!  The car is coming together because you have made it happen.  Satisfy yourself.  Screw everybody else.  It's your car.  Make yourself happy.


PS -- always liked the Cragar SS wheel and kidney beans are for drag cars

[RICH MUISE]

Bob....everything is looking great. I agree with Gary...I'm having a hard time visualizing the wheels you're talking about..but who knows? I'm kinda in the same boat you are with the resto-mod look. I originally was thinking torqu thrusters until I changed my color to the tarnished silver from the original red idea. Mine is probably a little more emphasis on the "mod" as far as interior and body modifications, but I'm still not oposed to my original torqthruster/crager look. There are so many options it really makes it dificult. Bottom line is your Cragers at the very least "work" with the new scheme.
Wouldn't it be great to have a "wheel seller" site to go to where you could insert a photo of your car and just click on different wheel options. We're probably not to far from someone doing that. last week I was trying to pick a color for my kitchen remodelling job (my latest distraction). I went to the Behr site and downloaded a picture of my kitchen and was able to fill in any selected areas with any of their paint colors.

[bossguy]

Rich and Bob, try the Jegs site. They have a wheel selector that lets you enter your car, color and wheel. Not sure if 57 Fords are in there though.