57 Fairlane Budget Build

[akusler763]

Last night I was able to get the engine and transmission permanently joined and mounted in the car! Feels very good to see things coming together. Also here is a picture of some of what I am having to sand on some of the interior trim. Next week I get to roll the chassis out and clean up the underside of the body, wish me luck...

Andy

[mustang6984]

Looking good. The trim looks like it is in pretty good shape too. Lucky you! Progress is always a pleasant feeling!

[akusler763]

It's been a while since I posted but progress is happening. I just finished completing the underbody work, painting the underhood sheetmetal, and cleaning/protecting the interior. I ended up replacing a portion of the passenger front floorboard, and having to refabricate portions of 6 floor braces. I also fabricated some small patches in the trunk. I have started with insulation panels. Yesterday I swapped the body (mounted on the rotisserie) for the chassis in my shop and will be doing engine break in during the next few weeks. Lots of other small items accomplished and am doing my best to be driving this summer. Thanks for all the info guys, love reading the posts.

Andy

[RICH MUISE]

Looking really good, Andy......nice thorough job on that underside. Feels good I bet to see progress!!!! What model Fairlane is it?

[57chero]

Very impressive, wish I had room for a lift and rotisserie back when I built mine.

[akusler763]

What model Fairlane is it?

It is a 500 Club Sedan (64B)

[akusler763]

Very impressive, wish I had room for a lift and rotisserie back when I built mine.

I purposely built the shop (in 2019) tall enough for a lift. It was well worth it. I picked up the start of the rotisserie that someone had made on Craigslist this summer and had to fabricate the brackets and rotating assembly. It is a wonderful tool to use, makes things so nice to have in front of you.

[akusler763]

I was able to test run/break in my engine this weekend, verify transmission shifting, etc. I don't think I can post a video here, and nothing to exciting to see. But here are a couple of pictures, one getting it ready (see my fancy core support brackets) and also one overhead when it was running.

Things went great, once we adjusted the timing a bit ran like a top. Great oil pressure, good temperature, etc.

Moving onto Brake lines and fuel line before switching back to a little remaining work on the body before I mate the body and frame together again.

Also got to go purchase fabric for door panels this weekend and starting that planning in my mind.

Andy

[mustang6984]

Makes ya' feel good to HEAR progress yes?! Congrats!

[CobraJoe]

Working on a rotisserie makes the job come out so much better and makes work a hell of a lot easier; nicely done!

[akusler763]

Been a while since my last update, but I have been working almost everyday on it. Trying to be on the road for a show in late June.

Brake lines, fuel line, brakes, and gas tank have all been installed. Still running down some brake issues but nothing I can't solve. I have front discs from a 1984 Grand Marquis and rears from a late 90's Explorer. Been working on sound deadened inside, seat installs, and replacing rocker panels. Exhaust is in and sounds great. I also used the solid linkage from a 1958 for wipers and modified an electric motor from a Mazda pickup mounted inside. This led to having to modify the defrost ducting a bit, but should be great to have electric and no more cables! I'll throw some pictures up for folks.

[akusler763]

Also, I definitely understand that my thread title is misleading as this is not the budget build I thought it would be 

One other bit of fun has been the install of the window whiskers and side glass replacement, about 50% done there.

Thanks for all the help and encouragement,
Andy

[RICH MUISE]

Very impressive!! Tell us about the seats....I'm really liking that back one. Yeah, I did the hard arm wiper, but never thought about/realized  a '58 had them, so I went the hard way, and also ran into the need to split the defrost plenum. Inside wiper motor............making me think you have plans to clean up the cowl??

[akusler763]

Rich - The seats are out of a 2001 Pontiwreck Grand Prix at the local U-Pull it. When I got the car the seats were just rusty frames/springs and I decided I did not want to go through the pain of cleaning and re-upholstering them, plus I don't love the bouncy bench seats. I looked at the way our floors are (mostly flat) and the height off the floor we'd need and spent a few hours looking for some front buckets I could modify. I found this Grand Prix with seats that had no tears, no stains, or smoky smell and the backseat was only about 6" narrower than ours. I remade the transom they sit on out of wood and was able to insert the GP retainer assembly. They are taller than ours with the headrests and I'll be customizing by package tray for speakers and the seat height. I also plan to find a a way to mount the 57 seat emblem in the center at some point to tie into the rest of the car, pls Ford crests are cool.

As for the cowl, no plans to change the set up right now, putting the wiper inside on the center of the firewall was just the best way to utilize the 58 linkage since that is where they had the vacuum motor. For a switch I grabbed one from a late 80's F150 as anything newer have the wiper controls on the turn signal arm or somewhere on the column. I just got the linkage and wiper motor mounted over the weekend, electrical is still a work in progress.

[mustang6984]

Everything looks very Very VERY nice! I especially like the work done on the undercarriage. Absolutely beautiful!
Good work!