1957 Ford Country Sedan mocha silver V8 4dr wagon

[Jeff Norwell]

Just Beautiful G.

[djfordmanjack]

Hurrah ! I made it to our annual summer Rod run in southern Austria. here is proof !   
I can post further pics if you don't mind showing off-topic or offensive other-brand cars...

[djfordmanjack]

Sorry for being absent and lazy in posting in past months. I was very busy with work, also  lots of bad weather which means I had to make use of the few good days to work on the property, house, helping my parents and such.
Anyways. After the very spontaneous decision to take my 57CS to said Rod Run early July and it managed the day on Alpine roads without a hickup. Was still running on dealer plates, so I made an arrangement for vehicle inspection July 17th. i wanted to get some things done that I had on the To-Do list for quite some time and also wanted to make sure to thoroughly clean and prepare the wagon.
First I mounted the og stabilizer bar back to the car after cleaning and painting all the hardware ( I had done much of that previously and so all the brackets and bar were already on the shelf).
Also gave the rubber bushings a good dose of silicone grease so the suspension and bar now work easily without binding.
I know that many of you guys frown upon the og stabilizer bar, but since I am keeping things mostly original and not racing or cornering that hard, it will most likely work fine for this Old Lady (wagon) and me.

















Also replaced the brake fluid and adjusted all 4 drums. The brakes were good before but it sure made for a stiffer pedal with less throw after adjsuting.









I also cleaned all fittings and gave all the suspension parts a good lube job.

[djfordmanjack]

Replacing the transmission pan gasket was also on the list and while at it draining the old trans fluid I cleaned up the pan a little. The old oil looked pretty ok-ish, with very little metal or brake band pigments and just a few tiny metal chips in the pan. there was some sort of spring there, but I have no clue where this has come from. all plungers/valves are still in place and the 3spd Fordo still shifts nicely through all gears and Low. Maybe somebody knows where this possibly came from ?
og filter screen was pretty clean so I reused the original one. Had to hammer some pretty heavy dents. don't know how these got into the pan, possibly from bad jacking or.... Can't see how road bumps or stones cpuld do that kind of damage.
Anyways, not wanting to take a risk after all that banging, I decided to use red/white penetrating dye on the repaired areas and it all checked out fine. Quick dose of rattle can and she was back together.

[djfordmanjack]

appointment for vehicle inspection went great. 57CS checked out fine. just had to readjust the main center tie rod end on the steering gear arm. I had left it just a tad loose, so there would be no binding at all, but another 1/2 turn and the technician was satisfied. I think they are obliged to find at least something, if anything .....
brake test worked great, emmission testing as well. Even though this is an unopened og engine, all the tune up work paid off and she has really low emission values. 4.2%CO and just 170 ppm HC. Official limits are 6% and 600ppm. I could have easily cut her down to under 3% Co, but always run her a little rich for drivability in different temperatures and elevation ( which obviously we got a lot of difference in the mountains).
The shop is new and they improved on the old shop logo...   The shop name is neat, Zündfolge translates into 'Firing Order Co'. I love the traditional woodwork on their roof construction.









So inspection sticker applied and she is good for nearly 3 years from now. July 25 +4 months thats Nov 25- yeah !
Got my regular plates back on the car.

[djfordmanjack]

While she is fully street legal again, of course it rained the whole week long and I didn't even drive a mile. 

So today I played a bit with the door panels. Usually I want to use only traditional means of soap and water or dish detergent, but that wouldn't make it on the decades of dirt. I had previously repaired the pssgr door panel and straightened and glued it to a new panel, but this cleaner really made the difference! Can't believe how bright the original door panel material still looks after 66 years ! Still need to do the rear panels and want to replace the drivers cardboard, of course keeping the og covering. I like these smaller projects. They can be done when time allows.

[CobraJoe]

Looking good Guenther! Three year inspection sticker, I wish. Here in Massachusetts it's every year, and get this, if you go past your month marked on the old sticker, they make the new sticker out for the original month! If you are way past, then you get one for the first of the year! WTF???
This country is going to hell quickly. They figure they lost too much inspection $$$ during the two years of Trump impeachment, err, sorry, I meant "Covid"
 

[djfordmanjack]

I hear you Joe ! 

The month thing is the same over here. if you're late you will lose some time. While our biannual (2-1/2 years) span may sound tempting.....it is a historical vehicle exempt ( all regular vehicles have annual inspection). we are only allowed to drive the historical car 120 days per year ( while we still have to pay taxes, road toll and insurance for all 365 days ... go figure). Miles are also restricted to 3000km ( less than 2000 miles per year). Still sounds good to you ?
 

[mustang6984]

Gunther...LOOKS GREAT!
Here in Mo we ghee two year inspections on anything we license.
Sorry Joe...I live in an American state! LOL!!!

[gasman826]

what's an inspection?

[mustang6984]

Here it is just a safety inspection re: lights, brake lights, turn signals and horn.
Some places (like West coast states) do like Gunther had to experience, smog measurements and brake inspections etc.

[KYBlueOval]

what's an inspection?

What Gary said .... X2

[Ford Blue blood]

What Gary said....X3

[RICH MUISE]

No inspections at all here in Texas IF you do the "antique vehicle" thing, which is a 5 year renewal. I looked into vanity plates after I checked and found out "Texas 57" (my HAMB name)was available, but that's an annual renewal with inspections. So, roughly 450. over 5 years vs 65. over that time with antique plates. I wasn't concerned with having to have the inspections, but the cost difference was too much.

That said, the bad side of the 5 year no inspections is I occasionally see a 80's or 90's piece of crap with antique plates. You know they're doing that just to avoid inspections.

[lalessi1]

Antique car- no inspections, plate is permanent, no fees... "forever"!