1957 Ford Country Sedan mocha silver V8 4dr wagon

[mustang6984]

Looks like a masterful solution to the challenge!    BTW....I love rootbeer floats. YUM!
I am seriously thinking about once I get fully settled here in MO bringing my car over there to do a European tour. Can't be any worse than Aussies and Kiwi's shipping their Mustangs up for Mustangs Across America. ANYTHING for free rootbeer float! LOL!!!
You coming Jim?   

[Ecode70D]

Günter
     That's a neat tool.   It's even better that it can be used on the Y block heads also.
      I have known about the rope trick, but have never had to use it because fortunately whenever I had to open Y valves in place, it was in the shop where I have air.  Seems like the only time I have had to do it was to replace the seals on customer cars.             
    I hope that you are keeping track of all the root beer floats that you owe. HA HA
Jay 

[djfordmanjack]

I will have to work a few weeks and earn a lot of money for all the root beer floats I owe you, Jay. You hold the high score for spoken rootbeer floats... one or two more for Jim and Hugh won't matter any more....haha

I do have air in the shop, but will try the rope trick, just for the sake of it. I am sure it will work like Jim and Hugh say. it might even be faster than putting the air plug in, connecting hose, open the air valve , get engine to BDC or block crank pulley and all of that again for the 7 other cylinders. inserting and pulling the rope and turning the crank back and forth a tad sounds a bit quicker.

I hope that the 292 in the Countrysedan will really benifit from this repair. Maybe you all remember that I had to put a top oiler kit on it because of clogged oil passages. I can literally see the blue smoke from burnt valve train oil, when I open the oiler valve. when I close it the smoking stops. so some oil is being sucked in from the intake valves and blown out the exhaust valves. Most of the valve stem caps have hardened and some have even crumbled and gone missing (probably down in oil pan).

On my German Ford I have had huge improvement on how engine runs in idle and low rpm range with new valve stems. Although the Y block runs nicely, I think I have the carb set on the rich side due to the vaccuum leaks on all 8 intake valves. I hope to improve fuel economy along with less spark plug blackening. I am looking forward to get this job done, as this is something that I had been delaying and also kept me from driving the 57 more.

[hiball3985]

Thats excellent G  I'll be there for the float. I hope the rope trick works for you, I used it a few times back in the old days when owning an air compressor was a luxury I didn't have.

Can the angle of the handle be changed to possibly fit under the master cylinder?

[djfordmanjack]

Jim, if I did cut my tool and reweld, it would go under the m/c. but the pssgr side is worse with the huge factory heater blower.
I'll cut some shim from 1/4" metal and grind it down bevel shaped. it will go inbetween the pry tool and the valve retainer. that way I will be shimming up and out the pry tool lever and hopefully gain enough travel to clear said items. luckily , the factory springs are not so hard to compress.

[mustang6984]

How about making it a handle with a hole drilled in it that would mount at different angles to the spring pry? You could bolt the handle to the desired angle and tighten it down. Just thought.

[hiball3985]

Maybe you could bend the handle backwards to clear the heater box?

[djfordmanjack]

Jim.....!!!!!!! What did you do ?? I just left you alone in the shop for a minute because I had to get the root beer floats from the fridge, and now you ruined my pry bar tool .....Why did you have to bend it....C'mon...!?!

Frankly speaking there is a much simpler solution hopefully. this is just a quick mock up, but shows how a stack of shims, or rather one wedge shaped thick shim will chane the angle of the tool handle and hopefully clear the heater and m/c.

There is really a lot of tension in that lower part of the tool and I would rather not cut and reweld it anymore. Also the pry tool is working nicely as is for the other 14 valves and on the German 4 cyl.

[hiball3985]

Well that just goes to show you I'm no help at all, and dangerous. Don't leave the door unlocked 

[Ecode70D]

Jim
     Shame on you!    What did you do to Günter's nice tool when he wasn't looking?
Jay

[hiball3985]

Jim
     Shame on you!    What did you do to Günter's nice tool when he wasn't looking?
Jay

I just bent it a little , I'll go hide

[djfordmanjack]

Jim must be a magician. he bent that tool from 7000 miles away !

I have some very interesting trivia for those interested in model designation and especially wagons.
I purchased this excellent og. 55-57 chassis parts catalog from a gentleman in Oregon and it is nearly mint. I just love the addition to my all og 57 Ford manuals and brochure collection. upon closer inspection, there are some interesting details in this Sept. '56 issue.

First the 2dr (Deluxe) 300 Wagon is still missing its later 'Del Rio' designation.

Even more interesting the 4dr Country Sedan and Country Squire are listed as Fairlane 500 models !!!



Of course we know that all wagons are based on Custom wheelbase chassis and Custom (300) trim.
I have never before seen the 4dr wagon models refered to a Fairlane 500!
Has any member here ever witnessed such a thing in brochures, let alone seen a Fairlane script on a wagon hood panel ?

[Ecode70D]

Jim
     Do you remember the old days when we could buy a Craftsman tool form Sears, take home and really abuse it and then take it back?   They would give us a new one , no questions asked.
       In 1959 I clearly remember trying to remove the rear main seal bolts on the first Y block that I was rebuilding and I needed a 12 point socket.  We hammered a 6 point onto it and kept breaking sockets and bringing them back.  After about 4 of them, the clerk finally asked what we were doing and gave us a 12 point one. It worked like a charm.  I still have that socket after all these years.      Snap on had a good deal also.  The problem was that we had to wait until the truck came by the shop.

      Günter
Why don't you take the wrench back that Jim bent?   Maybe you can get a new one.
       

[Ecode70D]

Günter
     Those Fairlane 500 wagons are very rare.    They should be worth a lot of money if you can find one.  Jay

[djfordmanjack]

here is another bit of 1957 Ford Trivia. A local Ford collector that I know for 20 yrs brought this German built 1957 Ford Taunus P2 over today. it is said to be the oldest surviving registered P2 Taunus in the world! (the P2 was the predecessor of my white P3 wagon. the taunus P2 was also officially sold by Ford America, but only a few thousand were imported).

kids were having fun and we decided we have an impromptu longroof party in the back of the property. 
Interesting to compare the size and style of these 3 different Fords !