Breaking the rules - 1958 Edsel Bermuda

[Ford Blue blood]

The pressure switch was a notorious leaker and was by-passed on many a car.  When it went out it would dump tons of tranny fluid all over the place!  Most of the "Tele-touch" problems were from total lack of support (thank you McNamara) in the Ford system.  It is bypassed on my Edsel, heat shields are all in place. 

After spending considerable time studying the linkage on the transmission I believe one of the problems was the geometry of the motor and shift lever.  A simple slight raise in the motor mounting point made all the difference in the world.  Going into park was always easy, coming out was the big issue.  It has lasted three years now......may have "fixed" it?

[iamflashman]

I was able to take her for a spin.  Of course, I screwed up putting on intake and it leaks out of the rear!  Those cast iron intakes are a real chore.  I was just so dead set on keeping the original breather and not drilling holes into these E-400 valve covers.

[Ford Blue blood]

I use a cherry picker to put those bad boys on!  My days of benching 300 multiple times are long gone! 

Yup, need to keep the covers cherry, my Pacer is a first day car, has only one cover with the "E400" on it.  Not sure what happened but I am 100% sure it is as it came out of the factory.

[RICH MUISE]

Bill.......there's a guy on the Hamb from Birmingham with a tannish Edsel. His tag is Bedwards.

[Ford Blue blood]

I have talked to him via this machine, don't think he is interested in hooking up. 

[iamflashman]

Finally got exhaust on her and she is street legal.  My redone teletouch is working as well as I hoped.  I even tested putting it in and getting it out if park on a steep grade.  I went ahead and integrated the nuetral safety and backup lights internally so it is a one stop shop for shifting.

I also installed vintage air and carpet.  I still need to pull out the dash to put the AC registers directly in the dash and get it repainted.  I temporarily put the controls and louvers under dash to enjoy some cold air.

Next up is applying the new woodgrain to make it look the part of a Bermuda.

Shifter in action (click to see video):
Flashtouch shifter by James Fleischman, on Flickr

Engine:
20200610_222118 by James Fleischman, on Flickr

Body:
19611 by James Fleischman, on Flickr

[djfordmanjack]

That teletouch is so coooool ! and it's a real sweet wagon ! 

[Marc]

That is really cool!

[mustang6984]

Very nice. Beautiful workmanship too. 

[Jeff Norwell]

Gorgeous James.

[RICH MUISE]

Great work, James. Thanks for sharing it with us.
PS.a few months back I posted a pic I took at an intersection in Amarillo. Across from me was your old black Ranchwagon turning onto the street your dad lives off of.

[rmk57]

  I like the sunset coral. It would be a nice family cruiser. It looks like your dash pad is low on air.

[Ford Blue blood]

James where did you get your carpet from?  Mine is identical, it was in the car when I rescued it.

[iamflashman]

It is Sunset Glow from ACC.

It honestly was too short for my wagon and left a gap when you open rear doors.  I reported to ACC and they sent me a 4 inch finished strip of carpet to splice in. 

I had my brother check his ranch wagon and it has the same issue but is not noticeable in a 2 door wagon.

[iamflashman]

After some vapor locking issues and crap in the tank, I decided rather than just fix that, go extreme and try out Holley Sniper EFI.  The first step was to upgrade my fuel tank and with the help of my neighbor, modified the gas tank to accept the tanks inc EFI pump.

Modified fuel tank for EFI by James Fleischman, on Flickr