morfing a 58 custom into a 57 custom 300

RICH MUISE · 2011-12-31 20:50

I bonded my taillight housings in and am not anticipating any problems. I think there is sufficient mating area for it to work, and additionally the mechanical fasteners are pretty strong. My car has been in near zero temps as well as 110 temps since the bonding and paint and shows no indication of the bond area cracking.
The front fender eyebrows are a different story however. The mechanical fastening is weak, and there is very little bonding surface. After paint, I stored the fenders outside in the sun just covered by a terp. One day I pulled the tarp when the temp was over a hundred and could see a line in one area of one fender where the eyebrow was expanding at a different rate than the fender. When it cooled off that night it moved back to where it was with no cracking...but I'm anticipating a problem down the road.
Rich

Zapato · 2011-12-31 21:54

On my 51 ford I frenched my headlights, passenger side got done the old way. lots of tacking for what seemed forever. Passenger side got done with panel adhesive. Used panel adhesive made by Kent,, not sure where anyone can buy that brand sold mostly directly to body shops and OEMs. Every major auto manufacturer uses panel adhesives with a very high success rate. My boy used to sell it and we tested it by taking a piece of scrap plate and cutting a window into it, Then we bonded a piece of 16 guage steel to it. After sitting over night we clamped it in my vise and tried to bust it loose by hammering thru the window. Metal eventually ripped but didn't break loose. On a vertical surface (gravity comes into play) so you'll need to hold it in place till it sets. Duct tape comes in handy. There are several brands out there some better than others but they all work and I've never heard of any issues with any primers or plastic fillers. Any good paint supplier will sell some, get ready for sticker shock when you price the gun.

57 imposter · 2012-01-01 17:15

Thanks for the replies. I now feel a little more confident going ahead with my plans for the tail lights. Had to order a new tail pan which should be here by the end of next week. so ,hopefully, I should have the tail lights installed by the week of the 9Th.

Roger, the pictures kind of explain the process, but I obviously don't understand everything I know about the headlight housings. I've got to get my hands of one of them. the look on the red car is very close to the look I am after. I am going to goggle this process and see what comes up.
Thanks again to all you guys for the feed back

Roger · 2012-01-02 08:32

Do a search on this forum for frenched headlights and you should get plenty info.They covered them in a few posts and gave links to the hamb forum.

57 imposter · 2012-01-09 18:26

I got my 57 tail pan from EMS last week. It was 1/8 of an inch too wide to slip in between the rear fenders. Not really a big deal and we just massaged the lip on the pass side and got rid of the extra. other than that it fit very well as far as the fit to the trunk floor and the 57 tail light panels blended in perfectly. Overall, when compared to other after market panels I have used I would say that the quality is excellent. If I were to lodge one complaint it would be that the panel had three rust spots about the size of a quarter on the painted side surface. They have etched the steel enough that they will require some spot blasting and skim coat prior to painting. Not the end of the world, but they are getting a premium price for their products and I didn't expect to find rust. Having vented on that I will say if I need any other panels for this project, I will still order them from EMS

RICH MUISE · 2012-01-10 06:37

I believe ems puts a coating on their panels that most of the other manufacturers don't...keeps them from rusting away just sittin on a shelf somewhere....you're bound to have rub marks and some rust on any non painted panel. Sounds to me like ems did a remarkable job reproducing those panels..and who knows..on an actual '57 they may even fit better (or worse). Thanks for posting your findings...good info to know.

Ford Blue blood · 2012-01-10 08:10

Be nice if they were "electro etched/plated" (don't know the actual name) like many of the GM parts are. I would pay the extra just to know the rust will stay away.

57 imposter · 2012-01-20 19:18

Finally got to start on the rear clip conversion. The job turned out to be easier than I had thought as I only had to replace about the last 11 inches of the rear fender tops and the tail pan. the purchase of an EMS tail pan really simplified that part of the project.
We are snowed in so getting the car to the media blaster is pretty much out of the question for now. I have located all of the front clip but need to wait for some better weather to go and remove it. I'm going to try and post a couple of pictures that will show the process.

Well I got one out of the three I tried to attach.

JPotter57 · 2012-01-20 20:02

That looks great....Can't wait to see the rest of the photos.

suede57ford · 2012-01-20 21:48

Great Job! I looked at turning a '58 into a '57 years ago, as I could not find a '57 custom anywhere. I had fourdoor parts car ready to use for the conversion. Finally, I found a good running '57 tudor and then I found all the other ones in my area. Can't wait to see you finished work.

Zapato · 2012-01-20 23:13

looking great! any more shots? added bonus you get the ribbed roof of the 58. and I'm sure there has to be many other minor improvements from the 57 model year.

Zap-

57 imposter · 2012-01-21 11:20

Whoa..I might have just figured out how to add more than one picture to a post. I am going to take another run at it and see if it works.

57 imposter · 2012-03-24 21:10

Once the decision was made to install power windows I bought Dolphin front kits $115.00 with free freight on E-Bay. I was just going to eliminate the rear regulators until I remembered how often my dog goes with me and the need to open the back windows a bit for her. Checked on power rear regs. because power front and manual rears would never do. I discovered that NU-Relics wanted $412.00 for rear regulators. Don't get me wrong, there are very few things in life more important to me than that dog but Come on! $115 to get me fresh air and $412 for her? There had to be another way. I ended up buying a pair of 6" stroke liner actuators off E-Bay for $149.00 with free freight and after about five different failed design ideas We landed on one that appears to work. I cut the roller arm off the stock regulator, made an adapter to attach it to the actuator piston installed the roller in the stock location in the window channel and installed the actuator parallel to the rear edge of the front roller guide to a bracket mounted inside the rocker panel. I made a yoke mount for the bottom with a threaded stud that will allow final length adjustment when the windows go in for the last time. The system seems to work fine didn't mess with it too much since it all has to come back out for final welding. The other side is going to go much faster. Just posting this in case anyone is now or has been in the same situation maybe it will save some head scratching time.

JimNolan · 2012-03-25 08:04

57 Imposter,
For $412.00 you could have someone teach the dog to roll the window up and down. LOL Jim

RICH MUISE · 2012-03-25 09:05

I went the stationary route, but I'm still curious as to why the dolphin unit you got for the front wouldn't have worked for the back. I'm assuming they are generic units rather than model specific.

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morfing a 58 custom into a 57 custom 300