1957 Ford Country Sedan mocha silver V8 4dr wagon

[mustang6984]

LOL!!! Keep that one! He will take fine care of you in your old age! Good to get him involved at a young age. A partner for life in the world of cars! Enjoy!

[billd5string]

That is looking soooo cool!  I love the shot with the dash lights on - very nice!!

That is a great idea on the dash/windshield trim. I noticed mine has some very brittle original rubber stuck on it and I had no idea what to do to replace it - your approach is perfect!

[djfordmanjack]

Rich, after reading your comment again, I think I misunderstood. You were talking about the (painted) garnish moldings around the windshield and of course they do have rubber stripping from factory. mine was brittle and I ordered replacement from Macs, which I have to wait for.
http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_mercury_late/windshield-post-garnish-moulding-to-dash-rubber-welt-84-long-ford-without-air-conditioning.html

In my previous comments I was just referring to the stainless steel trim, that was used as a paint divider between vinyl and the painted part of dash. it's the hockey stick pieces that are pictured. That's where I used foam.
of course thicker foam can be used for the windhield garnish moldings as well.

Just a side note on the foam for the dash garnish rails. My dash originally was not padded. I added a 1/2 foam padding stiffened with 3 or 4 coats of liquid rubber under the vinyl dash covering. I also wrapped the garnish rails in vinyl. I was expecting all kinds of fitment problems when assembly time for the garnish rails came around. There were none at all. The 1/2" padding created no issues with the rails at all, so apparently they were designed to be universal for padded or non padded dashes.
There is a oem rubber gasket/pad ?? that goes under the rails that I did not install of course.

[Swank]

djfordmanjack,
in reference to the photo with the happyface trans tunnel, your steering column floor seal looks to be on the engine side of the firewall (and im assuming the metal plates are off due to painting...?). 

when I was disassembling, there was nothing on the engine side of the firewall. both the seal and the metal plates were inside, and the seal was shredded.  at the time I thought it was strange to have the seal exposed to the elements because it's a fairly large hole that it covers and it's kinda close to the exhaust.   now im double guessing since I don't know what's been previously altered, and I don't have an original example.  these plates and seals go inside or outside?

[mustang6984]

Swank...mine was like your photo too in my Courier. FWIW.

[djfordmanjack]

You have a good eye !
Everything goes on the inside! I just pushed the rubber seal out so it was out of the way while cleaning up the perimeter of the opening and painting the floors. It'll slip back inside easily, once the paint has cured.

[Swank]

thanks,  ...looking good on the floors by the way.

[mustang6984]

So...that means who ever owned my car before I...put it back together incorrectly? Good to know...cause I would have put it back like I found it. Thanks!

You have a good eye !
Everything goes on the inside! I just pushed the rubber seal out so it was out of the way while cleaning up the perimeter of the opening and painting the floors. It'll slip back inside easily, once the paint has cured.

[djfordmanjack]

So...that means who ever owned my car before I...put it back together incorrectly?

sorry for being mistaken, but no!

The way it is pictured in Swanx' photo is 100% correct.  engine compartment-floorboards-rubber-steel covers-interior.

Sorry for causing that confusion with my in progress floorboard pics, Should have removed the column and steerign gear to get the rubber seal out of the way...
before removal it looked exactly the way as in Swanx car.

[mustang6984]

Yea...that's what I meant...because for some reason...my metal plate was on the outside when I took it apart. I assumed that it was to provide protection from weather/water. But does make more sense to have it on the inside. So I will print out his pic and put it in an envelope and attach it to my cover so I know when I got to replace it. Thank you sir.

[djfordmanjack]

Glad to help. I can imagine that at some point somebody would put the covers and rubber to the engine compartment, hoping to better seal the area. Not knowing that the water on the floors didn't come in from the streering column, but actually came down from the vent drains... Even though I have had my first 57 for 6 years, when I bought my second one I still had no idea about those vent drain rubbers, as they are hidden up behind the dash and under insulation padding. When I was in a good thunderstorm with the Del Rio in Buena Park, Ca. and my feet got all wet, I finally knew I was in for some trouble

[mustang6984]

yea...my rubbers are completely rotted out. I saw where they are available, which is a good thing...cause I suspect EVERYONE has had rotten ones at one time or another.
Love the work you have been doing...certainly will be trying to copy some of that for mine as well...especially when I replace the rockers...mine will get the same treatment as you gave yours. I look forward to the stuff your doing...it is all sound work to be sure.

[djfordmanjack]

That's great Hugh! Who knows and your rockers can be saved like mine. the coating will make them bullet proof for future.
Just for the record, here is the rubber seal and covers and all the pedals and dip switch as reassembled. only deviation from oem are the ss Philips head screws for the steering opening covers. I had to replace the og hex head metal screws that most were severely rusted.


added the NOS vintage tissue dispenser (now an accessory compartment for the modern sound bar, which nicely hides away)




added a 1964ish NOS Fairlane/Glaxie? night and day mirror. wider width perfectly matches the rearview out the wraparound liftgate.

[gasman826]

Repop mirror available as a '61 Thunderbird replacement.  It is really rare to find an original that isn't rusted.

[mustang6984]

Eh...my rockers have more holes than Swiss Cheese I am afraid. If I rolled a marble down the inside of one, it would be lucky to make it 1/2 way before dropping out. They will be replacement parts, along with the floor boards I am afraid.
The previous owner before me was a kid who had no idea how to cut a hole for a floor shifter, and then there is the  5 years of sitting in a front yard with grass grown up around the floors...none of which were good for any of the bottom end.