New member with awesome 2dr Custom

[RICH MUISE]

Some of you Hamb members may have seen Lorne Udys's photo album on the Hamb earlier this week. He had been having trouble with error codes trying to join on with us here, but I noticed this morning his name (LAUDY57) on the "newest member"..glad to see you made it in Lorne..welcome. Lorne is from British Columbia.
Last year I saw his car in person when it was for sale in Phoenix. I had seen it on Auto trader, and went to go look at it when I realized it was where I was headed for vacation. The car I was told was originally built in Washington state by a man who passed away shortly after moving to Phoenix. It's an awesome car, I was really impressed with the build on it.
Rich

[LAUDY57]

Thanks for the kind words, I'll have to post a couple of pics to see if any Wash. members know anything about it.

[rmk57]

 I've got a couple friends that live in Gibsons. I live in North Van and also have a 57 Custom. If you ever make it over to the mainland I would'nt mind checkin that Custom out.

Randy

[57 Ford Kustom]

Laudy,
   Welcome to the site! Your car looks like one that was on evilbay a short time ago.
Welcome,
Tim

[LAUDY57]

Yeah it was on evilbay, the dealership was good to deal with in Dec. but with the Scottsdale auction coming up at that time they would only give a little bit. Still, I couldn't have built the other one I have to the same level for what I had to end up laying out for it. Glad I did though!

[sprink88]

wow, nice looking car! And welcome!

[57 Ford Kustom]

Laudy,
   I think you are right on about the purchase price. I was watching it out of simple interest, but it did seem reasonable for a ride of that quality! Agian, Sweet ride!
Tim

[RICH MUISE]

Lorne..I'll be leaving for a week in Phoenix in about 3 weeks. I planned on stopping by the classic car dealer you bought that from just for a look around..it's like going to a little car show. I'll see if I can find out anything else from the salesman. Privacy laws will prohibit them from giving you the previous owner's name, but maybe they can pass your info on to her and you may luck out with a call. Also, I'll be going to the Scottsdale Goodguys show, and the Saturday night Pavilion cruise. I'll bring some pics of your car and ask around.
I'm finding other car stuff to do around Phoenix from the Hamb also..looking forward to it again.

[LAUDY57]

Thanks Rich. I think I found her name by going back thru the original carsonline ad and I snooped around her faecbook page and found an old email address which didn't work. I didn't try to contact thru facebook until I knew more about the circumstances of his death? or divorce? it wasn't talked about there- maybe I didn't have the right person, just a work phone number. I've even been snooping thru divorces and obits in Arizona and military.
The dealership said they asked if I could contact her and was told no and that she had destroyed all records (either divorce or she was p-o'd about not getting what was originally asked for it). I've thought that if it was military, I would finish the car and dedicate it to the former owner as a tribute to his service but, I just don't know.
Maybe if you buy the 80k 55 ch*v there they'd tell you!
I know I'm going to have to get used to be bummed out when someone asks "did you build it" and I'm going to have to say no but it would be nice to answer eg. what r&p it is or what cam it has. I don't want to pull the motor down yet- maybe next winter after I've at least got some cruisin' done. That reminds me, I haven't even checked for proper seat height so I can hang my arm on the window sill -argh-h!

[RICH MUISE]

Seat height..that is a major thing isn't it. I hasled with mine for a while...think I got it right.
Your rack is probably a Cavalier if he bought it as a kit...seems to be what most of the kit builders used. Two of our members here, Yellowagon and his brother-in-law, Wildhog, are involved in building the kit most of us here have used recently. It's STFabrications, and is where I got mine from. His kit includes the double joint shown in my pics. I got the shaft from Borgenson, and a matching SS single joint from...I forget..not important. Being a rear steer set-up, the choice of racks is limited, which I think is why a Ch**y rack is used.
As far as your previous owner is concerned, I tend to agree with you..sounds like more of a divorce thing than a death. I would think maybe your best hope of finding any details on it would be friends of the builder.

[LAUDY57]

Yeah you're right, the builder would be nice- I could ask about the paint prep etc- some underhood paint is lifting in corners, again maybe it's the move to a more humid climate.
The clutch linkage is tight, I had to replace the throwout arm and its support so I made a new adjustable pushrod and it's tight. I didn't know at the time to look at the back of the block for an ID letter, darn! The z linkage has about 2 lbs of weld on it I'll get to it sometime. In fact everything underhood is tight, with the present valve covers there's no room for a brake booster.

[gasman826]

BOOSTER!!!  We don't need no room for a stinking booster!

Those racks are made by Saginaw not Ch**y.

[LAUDY57]

I need to try a hi speed stop to see if my old chicken legs can push hard enough, seems ok at low speeds. Car's on blocks until I finish more work underneath, tailpipes, some wire routing etc. so I can register it.

[gasman826]

From the picture, best guess is that the master cylinder is OEM.  So piston size is only a guess.  Aftermarket masters are better marked.  When you get a chance, post a picture of the front brakes and we can guess the manufacturer.  Same with the rear brakes.  The old rule of thumb was that disc brakes require a larger volume of fluid so the master cylinder had to have a larger piston which requires higher leg effort and thus requiring power assist.  There are other options that involve pedal ratio and pedal travel that may help the situation.  There are dual diagram small diameter boosters as well as the hydraulic booster(previous picture) that may clear the valve covers.

[LAUDY57]

Thanks, I'll do that when I get home. I kinda like the tall valve covers so it'll be nice if what I have is good enough. I'll include a pic of the R&P as well.