Rocker Panel Replacement...And Beyond

[RICH MUISE]

Wimberly............in Texas, in the Austin area?

[jumping jack flash]

Yes , Rich. Close to Austin, and my favorite ,New Braunfels.

[petew]

:icon_bigsmurf:Just read the whole thread. My Mom had 2 cars that I really dug. One was a 57 Ranchwagon, just like yours, except it was an automatic. Same coral and white too.The other was a 59 El Camino. It was setting on the lot right next to a baby blue and white Ranchero. (1957). I wanted my parents to buy the Ranchero but they got the El Camino anyway. Later I got my own 57 Ranchero, and have had one off and on since 1969. I've owned 10 57 Rancheros and just bought a 58 last Saturday.Most have been parts cars and I'm currently building the one of my dreams. All the right stuff, and adding difficult to find parts to it all the time. I too am working from a dirt floored garage that was placed in the wrong place on 6 acres. When we have bad floods , here in Wimberly , a river runs through my garage. With 2500 square ft. of space that gets wet, some day I may build on higher ground. Meanwhile everyday I get older and not any younger. Hope I get this one done before the reaper comes knocking.....Great work on a great car. I'm a bit jealous.

Thank you sir, It has been a pretty car since I finished all of the cosmetic stuff a couple of years ago and is finally coming together mechanically.
I have been chasing mechanical issues and am finally getting all of that squared away.
The transmission had balky syncro's and a worn tailshaft bushing which led to a little grinding when up and down shifting and a rumble at highway speeds , that's fixed. I had driven the car prior to the resto and was convinced that the trans was ok but I was wrong.
Next big issue was an oil leak , I just couldn't find it. Finally put dye in the engine oil and looked around with a black light , bingo found the leak. That dye system is the best thing since sliced bread.
The leak was the rear main seal. Now any dope should be able to figure that out but this seal leaked in a non traditional way.
What would happen is the oil would pool in the bottom of the bellhousing dust cover but the front of the flywheel was dry.
Upon disassembly I found that the oil was leaking between the bottom half or the seal and the seal retainer itself, never seen that before .
The seal was a loose fit in the retainer allowing oil to pass between the two.

The new seal was a tighter fit and although they say not to I put a very thin coat of RTV silicone on the bottom of the seal where it meets the retainer. The result were no more oil leak.

I hope to put a lot of miles on it this Summer .

Pete