New member with lotsa pic's and a small request

[Limey57]

See below, first photo is with the tape run from inside to inside of the door pillar as in your photo (running over the top of the transmission tunnel) and comes out at 61 3/4", the second is run from rocker to rocker and is to the "step" part which measures 66 1/8":

[57AGIN]

410ranchero:

When I bought my 57 back in 1998, it had no floor boards to attach the front seat to.  I found a seller in Hemmings Motor News, I believe he was in Wisconsin.  He had some of the original dies Ford used to stamp out the floor pans.  I don't know if he is still in business, but I was very happy with what he sold me back in 1998.  The business was called Classic Enterprises, located in Barron, Wisconsin.  Hope this helps. Here are some photos of the before, after and current repairs to my 57's floor boards.  The tunnel has been partially rebuilt in order to install the Tremec TKO 600, so it doesn't look like the last photo any more.

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Bob...I had no idea of what you started with. What you've done with that car is just amazing...always has been, but even more so now that I see the beginnings!

[jrw429]

I don't know if he is still in business, but I was very happy with what he sold me back in 1998.  The business was called Classic Enterprises, located in Barron, Wisconsin.

http://www.classicent.com/ford.php
Specializes in retractable and convertible, but says the floor pans should fit any model car, 57-59.

[57AGIN]

Rich:

Some day when I finally make a motorhome trip towing the 57 back East, I'll share my build book with you.  First I have to strengthen the coach's frame and towing setup, as it is only rated to 3,500 lbs. and the 57 weighs 3,700 lbs.  When I bought the car it had cracked bias ply tires, drum brakes, a 4-speed T-10 that popped out of 2nd gear and a front seat that couldn't be fastened to the floor.  Every major structural cross member weld was a blow through (motor mounts, rear transmission mount and upper rear shock mounts) done by someone who probably started work the day before doing my car (photos attached). lol  But, it is better now than when it rolled out of the factory at Terminal Island in Long Beach, CA, on September 27, 1957.

Bob
57 AGIN

[Zapato]

sure kills they built them better back in the day arguments. and makes one appreciate robots welding.

Zap-

[hiball3985]

WOW! I have never seen one that bad, it looks like someone who didn't know how to weld tried to repair it themselves.

[410ranchero]

See below, first photo is with the tape run from inside to inside of the door pillar as in your photo (running over the top of the transmission tunnel) and comes out at 61 3/4", the second is run from rocker to rocker and is to the "step" part which measures 66 1/8":

Wow I am an inch narrow on this. That buckle in the floor board really screwed some things up. Thanks for the measurements. I'll have to get the wife to help me with the rocker measurement

[RICH MUISE]

Quote: Bob....."But, it is better now than when it rolled out of the factory at Terminal Island in Long Beach, CA, on September 27, 1957."
Happy Birthday!! I didn't realize they were still building the '57's then...wern't the '58's being introduced about then? I don't know when the first '57 rolled off the assembly line, but we gotta have some '57's that are 57 years old, or pretty soon

[hiball3985]

I always thought the new production for the following year started in August and they hit the dealers in September?

[57AGIN]

hiball3985 & Rich:

According to John Gambles site my 57 was produced on the last day of 1957 production in the Terminal Island plant Long Beach, CA.  My VIN number indicates it was #247 from the end of the 1957 production line at that plant.  My guess is that they might have been celebrating the last day with a little (or a lot of) brewski and not paying a great deal of attention to quality control.  What the heck, it came off the line with a 6 cyl., so they weren't worried about their welding.  But when I had the front clip off and was going to install a built 351W and saw what they had or hadn't done, I knew it had to be fixed.

Bob
57 AGIN

[hiball3985]

Bob, that's interesting, I didn't know there was a plant in Long Beach. I wonder if production continued late if there were enough orders that had not been filled? The welder must have had more then a few brewskies , my wife can weld better then that. I noticed a few things in the photos as strange, the notch in the hole on the motor mount pad and the none stock nuts that hold the upper A arm pivots to the frame bracket. You never know what you find after so many years and who knows who worked on it.

Sorry, off topic again..

[410ranchero]

/back on topic/

Any one around middle Tennessee a want a free lunch? I need to comb over another 57, preferably a ranchero. My rear floor pan is so buckled I need to measure the entire cab to make sure I get mine back to where it needs to be. The driveline hit the floor brace as well. I almost have all of this cut out, but then I need to pull everything back out to where it needs to be so I can brace and then weld in the new floor pan, or a complete floor hopefully.

Limey your measurements confirmed what I was afraid of, with the buckling of the floors from the impact it has pulled the back of the doors in, now I am wondering just how far front and rear this "pinch" goes. I think this would be very difficult to explain all the measurements I need over the interwebs, seeing how its a series of tubes and all 

Also on the front valence has an odd issue. There is a small triangular piece that bolts to the front/bottom of the front fender. On one side it is welded to the valence, on the other side it is only bolted to the bottom of the fender. Which is correct? I know from looking the right front fender has been worked on, and has a patch panel in it already, unfortunately it does not look to be done very well.

Thanks
Troy

//end on topic// HAHA

Who's watching the Titans game today?

[Limey57]

The difficult bit is going to be understanding if both sides have pulled in the same amount or one side more than the other.  What I can do is take a series of measurements from underneath, from the outer edge of the chassis rail to the inner rocker panel, starting at the back of the inner rocker, working forwards to the front of the inner rocker.  Doing that every six inches will give you a series of dimensions to compare with yours to allow you to see where your problems start.  As mine is currently up on stands it shouldn't be difficult to do.

[410ranchero]

That would be great! I was just looking as I just cut out the rear pan, and the inner rocker to frame rail gap doesn't look to be far off. But the body mount bolts that would be in the floor in the middle of the door were both missing. I did get the rear floor cut out, and trying to get the other mangled piece out of the bed floor. I need to dig through your pictures and see how the front bed piece comes out.

I/m open to the process of removing the piece my grinder is setting on. I'm removing the pan that my air hammer is sitting on, its the last of the mangled sheet metal from the driveshaft.


I know I should have braced the cab first, but there was literally nothing left of this part of the floor, and what was left was buckled so bad it is pulling the bottom of the car together. If anyone has the brace that is shown in complete and usable condition shoot me a message. Mine took a direct shot from the driveline and the passenger side is beyond my skills for repair.