New to 57 Ford

Jerry Box · 2012-12-29 22:24

I am new to the 57 Ford and just bought one for a project. I would like to put front disc brakes and power steering to start with. Not sure if I should buy Drop'em n Stop'em disc brake kit or buy the the Ford Granada spindles and all the parts myself. Will I save any money or just waste my time buying all the parts myself. What about power rack pinion what rack pinion do I buy. All help will be appreciate it.

57AGIN · 2012-12-29 23:18

Jerry Box:

Welcome to the site and to the world of 57 Fords. That is a mighty nice looking Custom. It has been a long time since I saw chrome reverse rims with the baby moons, I think they give the car a great nostalgic look. If you mount disc brakes, you might end up having to replace the rims. I think the Granada discs are a bit smaller than most of the others. They are a single piston design. I used them on my Custom 300 for about 8 years and the car stopped like a "real" car. Nostalgia is great, but not where the brakes are concerned, discs make these cars stop like a modern car. IMHO I recently went to a 2 piston Kelsey Hayes set up front, but am still running the drum brakes on the rear. Probably going to put on rear discs this Winter though.

Anyway, great looking ride.

Bob
57 AGIN

Frankenstein57 · 2012-12-29 23:22

Jerry, go back to the home page, scroll down to steering and suspension, click on that. You'll find tons of posts on this subject, one of our members, Tom "wildhog" along with his brother have a nice power rack for a steering option. You can do the same on the brake section, or use the search toolbar. Then if you still have questions, post away. I myself have used the torino spindles and an aftermarket power booster, with good results. Mark

RICH MUISE · 2012-12-30 00:09

I agree with what they both said. The link for the r&p setup is on our list of parts and suppliers, and is STFabications. I installed it on mine, and hasn't been tested yet (no drivetrain), but nothing but good has been said about it...quality, service,support,low pricing,shipping...all top notch.
HOWEVER...it looks like your front suspension is already dropped. The Granada setup will lower a stock suspension by 2 1/2", so you need to do a little research into how your car is lowered now. You may get into additional things like springs (if that's how the current drop was achieved), ect to keep the height where you want it, and additionally check with John @ STfabrications, to find out how the R&P will work what you'll end up with. The R&P is no problem with the Granada spindle drop, but as I said, I don't know what has been done to the car already, and I believe there are other methods of dropping front end height that ARE a problem with the R&P.
I went with drop n' stop's kit..easy install and not that expensive. They're also on our supplier list.
Rich

57 Ford Kustom · 2012-12-30 05:28

Nice car, What is the drive train in that baby? Are You going to keep the hood scoop? Sorry or all the ?
Welcome,
Tim

6cyl57 · 2012-12-30 06:58

Jerry, welcome from another newbee. I haven't been here long, but this is the place to be with a 57.
A lot of good help here. That is a fine looking ride you have.

Jerry Box · 2012-12-30 09:46

Quote from: 57 Ford Kustom on 2012-12-30 05:28
Nice car, What is the drive train in that baby? Are You going to keep the hood scoop? Sorry or all the ?
Welcome,
Tim

The drive train is a 351 c with a c4 and no need to get a new hood I don't like the scoop

Jerry Box · 2012-12-30 10:59

Quote from: 57AGIN on 2012-12-29 23:18
Jerry Box:

Welcome to the site and to the world of 57 Fords. That is a mighty nice looking Custom. It has been a long time since I saw chrome reverse rims with the baby moons, I think they give the car a great nostalgic look. If you mount disc brakes, you might end up having to replace the rims. I think the Granada discs are a bit smaller than most of the others. They are a single piston design. I used them on my Custom 300 for about 8 years and the car stopped like a "real" car. Nostalgia is great, but not where the brakes are concerned, discs make these cars stop like a modern car. IMHO I recently went to a 2 piston Kelsey Hayes set up front, but am still running the drum brakes on the rear. Probably going to put on rear discs this Winter though.

Anyway, great looking ride.

Bob
57 AGIN

did you have power disc or just a bigger master cylinder?

Jerry Box · 2012-12-30 11:01

Quote from: Frankenstein57 on 2012-12-29 23:22
Jerry, go back to the home page, scroll down to steering and suspension, click on that. You'll find tons of posts on this subject, one of our members, Tom "wildhog" along with his brother have a nice power rack for a steering option. You can do the same on the brake section, or use the search toolbar. Then if you still have questions, post away. I myself have used the torino spindles and an aftermarket power booster, with good results. Mark

Thank you

Jerry Box · 2012-12-30 11:07

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2012-12-30 00:09
I agree with what they both said. The link for the r&p setup is on our list of parts and suppliers, and is STFabications. I installed it on mine, and hasn't been tested yet (no drivetrain), but nothing but good has been said about it...quality, service,support,low pricing,shipping...all top notch.
HOWEVER...it looks like your front suspension is already dropped. The Granada setup will lower a stock suspension by 2 1/2", so you need to do a little research into how your car is lowered now. You may get into additional things like springs (if that's how the current drop was achieved), ect to keep the height where you want it, and additionally check with John @ STfabrications, to find out how the R&P will work what you'll end up with. The R&P is no problem with the Granada spindle drop, but as I said, I don't know what has been done to the car already, and I believe there are other methods of dropping front end height that ARE a problem with the R&P.
I went with drop n' stop's kit..easy install and not that expensive. They're also on our supplier list.
Rich

I like the way the car sets but ride not so much. Some one cut the coil springs so I need drop spindles and new coils. Thank you for your help

Jerry Box · 2012-12-30 11:09

Quote from: 6cyl57 on 2012-12-30 06:58
Jerry, welcome from another newbee. I haven't been here long, but this is the place to be with a 57.
A lot of good help here. That is a fine looking ride you have.

Thank you

robhaerr · 2012-12-30 12:53

Welcome Jerry...very nice looking car!

I have looked to these guys for a bunch...the r&p set-up and beyond. I am still using the stock front spindles, but went from crappy cut coils to 1990 Ford Aerostar springs. You can see the part number and photos here...it is an inexpensive ride height fix. This thread also covers the r&p conversion and a bunch of videos over the past year-plus if you go back to the first page...

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=3081.msg21873#msg21873

Cheers...
Rob

Jerrys Kars · 2012-12-30 17:39

I have a nice 57 ford hood. But too far away. Do you ever come to Carlisle, Pa?
Jerry
P.S. I'm amazed at how many Jerrys in the 57 Ford hobby.

Zapato · 2013-01-01 16:51

Jerry welcome,beautiful car. can't really tell on my notebook are you cowl vents filled in? the scoop doesn't look bad to me specially if it was painted body color, is it bonded in or just a bolt on as they were when offered in later fords?

Zap-

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