1957 Country Seday restoration

[mustang6984]

Progress...the elixir of success!   

[terry_208]

The weight of the bare frame surprised me.  I could lift the weight but couldn't manage the length.  That flimsy frame is the backbone of the unit.

I found, after replacing the rocker panels, that the lower edge of the door and the lower edge of the fender slightly over-hung the rocker panel. Please, check the alignment before welding the rockers solid.   

I replaced the toe boards and also the entire front floors, back floors, inner and outer rocker panels and more.

[CobraJoe]

Nice work, looking forward to seeing MORE pics of the project!

[RICH MUISE]

Moving along nicely. I'm envious of your garage! Very nice work. Do you have the body mounting kit?

[djfordmanjack]

great to see father son teamwork ! I really like your approach of cutting down patch panels to the minimum size needed and leaving as much as possible good og metal in there.

I case you are wondering, that stack of upper control arm shims seems normal to align proper camber, if special lowering- or cut down springs are used. on 57 Fords they had slight pos camber with bias ply tires and it may be difficult to adjust to sufficient negative camber for radial tires, because of the great number and thickness of shims.

[lalessi1]

Guenter,

The shop manual says the maximum thickness for the shims is 9/16". It also states in italics that "the difference between the shim stack thicknesses at the two bolts should not exceed 1/8". That if followed severely limits the caster adjustment. I was able to get about 3 degrees by using '59 upper arms, shafts and bushings and moving the arms rearward. The bushings are similar to early Mustang ones. The best way to solve the problem would be to modify the frame but that is another story...

Lynn

[gasman826]

Just modify everything!

[gasman826]

There may be other technical issues but 1/8" shim pack difference limits the bind stress on the adjustment bolts.

[cokefirst]

Thanks to all for the advice.  This car is in pretty rough shape to start, so I am not expecting a show winner.  I know it can be done with enough money and time, mostly money!  I appreciate the advice to modify the vehicle, but in my experience, I find that I like the original cars the best.  No slam on those that modify and change things, it is your car and you need to do whatever makes you happy.  My philosophy is LITFA!

[lalessi1]

I get that. I sometimes cringe at the thought of modifying my car so I try to make the changes easily reversible". I was really trying to point out that that the way those shims were stacked is potentially unsafe as it specified in the shop manual to NOT do it that way.  

[cokefirst]

Hello Lynn,  No offense intended.  I bought this car in the early 1980's with the intention of just using the engine.  The alignment must have been done long before that.  I painted the old shims 4 different colors for the location.  My alignment guy wants the front end with the shims in as it was the last time it was aligned.  So, when I put it together, I am going to put those shims in before I take it to the shop.  He will replace it with new shims.   This car was driven by a friend for a couple of weeks back about a year after I bought it.  Since then, it has been stored outdoors with no love for most of 40 years. 

I am glad I did not try and drive it anywhere.  we pulled the plug on the rear end and it had NO fluid.  The plug was loose, so it apparently leaked out over the years. 

[cokefirst]

After a few months of disassembly, we are now starting the rebuild.  The frame and suspension have been powder coated and we are now ready to start building up from the bottom. 

Update on the rear end.  I pulled it apart to have the housing powder coated and found there was about a quart of old liquid rear end grease in the unit.  The reason that nothing came out when the drain plug was removed, is that about a fist side amount of the rear end grease had congealed and was blocking the fluid from coming out the drain.  The gears look good, if just a little black from the old fluid.  I am now looking for the red paint to color the pumpkin like the original rear ends.

Here is a photo of the foundation for the build.

[RICH MUISE]

pretty! Another one being done right!

[gasman826]

I paint them with red oxide primer from a rattle can and finish off with a matt clear.

[Edd505]

I paint them with red oxide primer from a rattle can and finish off with a matt clear.

WOW I know what I'm doing with mine