57 Del Rio Ranch Wagon SEMA Show 2017 Build

[arpbob]

Hello everyone,

I am a new member to the forum, my name is Bob Florine and I am building a "Shooting Brake" styled Ranch Wagon to display in my booth at the 2017 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It is a high end build by my good friend Steve Strope at Pure Vision Design. The Comp Was penned by Steve Stanford, although we have made some significant changes since then. Even though there is extensive modification, we are trying to keep all the parts in the Ford family and as close to the 1957 production year as possible. Take some time and look at the photos and see how many modifications you can spot. I have many, many more photos and may post more later. Thank you for visiting and I look forward to further discussions in the future.

[Wirenut]

Welcome, keep posting the photos. I just see the taillights are different, the eyebrows are metal and welded in instead of the pot metal ones, I like the v on the tailgate in the rendering. I'm not a wagon guy so I'm not familiar with a lot of the details. Looks great.

[RICH MUISE]

Welcome to the forum. That's going to be an awesome build. I'm anxious to see it in final paint, especially with the mod to the leading edge of the fin.

[KYBlueOval]

Hello everyone,

I am a new member to the forum, my name is Bob Florine and I am building a "Shooting Brake" styled Ranch Wagon to display in my booth at the 2017 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It is a high end build by my good friend Steve Strope at Pure Vision Design. The Comp Was penned by Steve Stanford, although we have made some significant changes since then. Even though there is extensive modification, we are trying to keep all the parts in the Ford family and as close to the 1957 production year as possible. Take some time and look at the photos and see how many modifications you can spot. I have many, many more photos and may post more later. Thank you for visiting and I look forward to further discussions in the future.

Bob..........first of all welcome to the Forum. Second..........very impressive!
As to "further discussions in the future".......I have a question or two regarding the hood scoop. The scoop looks like  a '61-'63 T-Bird Scoop. Is that correct?  If I'm correct in identify the scoop can you please tell the distance from the front edge of the hood to the point on the scoop. And did you use the entire T-Bird "Skin" on the '57 Hood substructure? Or perhaps the better question is "How did you do it?"
I ask, as last week I acquired a '63 T-Bird Hood for the  exact same purpose. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
John

[djfordmanjack]

Fatastic build! T bird scoop, filled upper doorglass frame, raised fins, filled grille, F100 rings, Galaxie taillights and all. looking forward to see more build pics !

[RICH MUISE]

Not sure about the tailight lenses as to their origin,maybe Fairlane early 60's, but I'm guessing the outer ring on them is not oem..looks to shiney for what would have been oem plastic. Nice job on the elimination of unneeded seams, and body panel fitment. Impressive to see all that top notch work in bare metal. Pixel count on the photos is low, so it's hard to zoom in for close look. I suspect the leading edge of the rear wheel well has been modified.
Your tag/forum name, Bob.....ARP fasteners??

[arpbob]

Bob..........first of all welcome to the Forum. Second..........very impressive!
As to "further discussions in the future".......I have a question or two regarding the hood scoop. The scoop looks like  a '61-'63 T-Bird Scoop. Is that correct?  If I'm correct in identify the scoop can you please tell the distance from the front edge of the hood to the point on the scoop. And did you use the entire T-Bird "Skin" on the '57 Hood substructure? Or perhaps the better question is "How did you do it?"
I ask, as last week I acquired a '63 T-Bird Hood for the  exact same purpose. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
John

John,

Actually it is a 1959 Thunderbird hood scoop and understructure grafted onto the original Ranch Wagon hood. I have included some photos below to help explain.

Bob

[KYBlueOval]

Bob..........your photos are VERY HELPFUL!!!!  Not to mention impressive. A Big Thank you. Anxious to see more of what you have done.
John

[arpbob]

Thanks for all the complements guys? I really appreciate it! Here are 4 more photos to show, more to follow later.

[arpbob]

The last post shows changes to the B pillar, lengthening the door 4.750 inches, integrating the 57 Thunderbird door handles and blending the fin into the new door handle features.

This post shows how the tail light rings were fabricated and after welding and smoothing with the 1961 Galaxie Starliner tail lights integrated.

I hope you are all enjoying these photos. I will post more later. Thank you for your interest!

Bob

[arpbob]

Not sure about the tailight lenses as to their origin,maybe Fairlane early 60's, but I'm guessing the outer ring on them is not oem..looks to shiney for what would have been oem plastic. Nice job on the elimination of unneeded seams, and body panel fitment. Impressive to see all that top notch work in bare metal. Pixel count on the photos is low, so it's hard to zoom in for close look. I suspect the leading edge of the rear wheel well has been modified.
Your tag/forum name, Bob.....ARP fasteners??

Thank you for your response. Tail lights are 1961 Galaxie Starliner and the outer rings are fabricated, I have posted pictures to show the process. sorry about the low pixel count it kept bouncing my post and I had to keep reducing the photos, I think the new posted photos are better... maybe?? Yes ARP fasteners, I am the V.P. and one of 3 owners.

[arpbob]

Not sure about the tailight lenses as to their origin,maybe Fairlane early 60's, but I'm guessing the outer ring on them is not oem..looks to shiney for what would have been oem plastic. Nice job on the elimination of unneeded seams, and body panel fitment. Impressive to see all that top notch work in bare metal. Pixel count on the photos is low, so it's hard to zoom in for close look. I suspect the leading edge of the rear wheel well has been modified.
Your tag/forum name, Bob.....ARP fasteners??

Rich,

The rear wheel openings have been moved up 2-3/4" to provide easier access to the wheels in case of a flat tire. I will be running a 19 X 11 rear wheel and 18 X 10 front. I have included a photo to demonstrate I changes made.

Bob

[arpbob]

Bob..........first of all welcome to the Forum. Second..........very impressive!
As to "further discussions in the future".......I have a question or two regarding the hood scoop. The scoop looks like  a '61-'63 T-Bird Scoop. Is that correct?  If I'm correct in identify the scoop can you please tell the distance from the front edge of the hood to the point on the scoop. And did you use the entire T-Bird "Skin" on the '57 Hood substructure? Or perhaps the better question is "How did you do it?"
I ask, as last week I acquired a '63 T-Bird Hood for the  exact same purpose. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
John

John,

Here is a shot of the hood scoop from the 59 Bird simply clamped to the top of the hood. It is back of hood to back of hood as far as your placement question, hope this helps.

Bob

[djfordmanjack]

Hard to believe that you could improve on so many details of a 57 Del Rio, but yet you did. They say the customizing is best when hardly noticable. WOW !
The slant b post is ace and lengthening the door... I see widened wheel tubs. those raised rear wheel openings were not visible until you pointed out. Incredibly skill and tasteful work all around!

[arpbob]

Hard to believe that you could improve on so many details of a 57 Del Rio, but yet you did. They say the customizing is best when hardly noticable. WOW !
The slant b post is ace and lengthening the door... I see widened wheel tubs. those raised rear wheel openings were not visible until you pointed out. Incredibly skill and tasteful work all around!

Gunter,

Thank you for you generous complements. From reading some of your post I have found you to be very knowledgeable about the 1957 Fords, especially the wagons!

You have a great example yourself, very clean and appears to be unaltered for the most part. I bet it is great driving it around the Austrian countryside, it is beautiful there!!!!! I was fortunate enough to visit once, I flew into Vienna and then drove to Bruk to see Pankle and then back to Vienna, even saw a rally race when we stopped in a small town for lunch!!

Bob