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The building of a hotrod, any car for that matter, involves a series
of steps necessary to transform a rusty pile of parts into a
polished street machine. This
`57, being no different than any other long neglected `50’s relic,
came to me minus glass, interior, and a host of other little pieces.
The body, though reasonably solid and sound, has its share of
bumps and bruises. Fortunately,
rust is limited to the passenger rear floor pan, drivers front toe
board area, and a quarter-sized spot on each rear lower quarter
panel. No rust in the
inner or outer rocker panels and rear tail pan mean that the time
usually spent repairing those areas, can be used on another
subproject.
The
worst part about this `57 was all of its broken glass. Every window in the car had been either shot out, or had a
rock thrown through it. New
windshields are available now, and good used glass is still out
there. All of the side
glass is flat, and is easily obtained from any local glass cutter.
Since I am completely stripping this car, removal of all
interior trim, rubber, and window trim will be necessary.
Once
I got the `57 unloaded from the trailer, I spent a couple days
inspecting the car, underneath as well as inside, and of course the
exterior. Once I got
the interior and trunk cleaned out, I saw that the floor pans and
trunk floor were in really good condition.
There is something to be said about Western cars.
To
give a little background on this car, I will have to backtrack a
little. When I picked
the `57 up, the fellow I bought it from told me some of its history.
A friend of his had bought it from the original owner in `67,
and drove it daily until `68. He
then decided to make a drag car out of it.
He started by welding the hood and front fenders together
into a flip unit, discarding all of the inner fenders, pans, splash
pan, etc. Apparently,
he soon lost interest in it, for that is how it sat, outside, until
the windows were smashed. Then
the car was stashed in a shed, where it sat until 2005, when he sold
it to the fellow I bought it from.
They pulled it from the barn, then it sat at the new owners
home until he decided it was too much work, at which point, it was
placed on ebay, where I found it.
The tilt front end was poorly cobbled together, and nearly all of
the supporting tin was gone. The
radiator support, however, was cherry and rust free. The upper grille panel was rust free, but had a nasty dent
which was filled about ˝ inch thick with bondo.
That was the bad news in the front end of the car.
Of course, like all `50’s cars, this one came with four
wheel drum brakes. The
standard manual steering is in good shape, still reasonably tight.
The
rear of the car looked somewhat better, with the worst body damage
being the decklid. The
outer skin is good, but the lower center at the latch is bad, like
most of the Custom/Custom 300 sedans.
The trouble spot on these decklids is that around the
perimeter, moisture and dirt become trapped, and begins to rust the
skin away from the frame.
The
lower quarter panels on the driver side had been hit, and instead of
working the dent out properly, the “drill and slidehammer”
method was used, followed by a liberal slathering of body filler.
Consequently, when moisture and dirt combined in the trunk
floor and drop off, rust began forming, and the bondo loosened, and
a 1” hole formed. The
passenger side quarter panel has similar damage, though not caused
by any collision repair. The
rust there was caused by one of the many “dirt pockets” provided
to us by the Ford Motor Company.
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After filling the shopvac at least twice, I was finally able to get
a good look at the floors. I
expected the worst because of all the leaves and dirt that was
packed in the floor. What
I found, however, was surprisingly solid metal.
The passenger rear floor pan at first looked solid, but once
cleaned and blown out, showed signs of weakness, and proved to be
when I knelt down on it to reach the back seat area.
It will be replaced when I get to that part of the project.
The driver side front area has the common rust underneath the
accelerator pedal, and will be patched.
The transmission tunnel had been cut to clear a floor
shifter. I had intended
to use a Toploader 4 speed, with an inline shifter, but since I have
chosen to use turbochargers, I will convert to a C4 automatic with a
floor shift. I will
have to cover the hole, but instead of welding it up, I will dress
the hole up, and fabricate an aluminum cover that I can rivet in
place, so I can use a 4 speed later, without any more cutting.
The
dash had been drilled and fitted with a tach at some point, now
missing. The large
holes, however, remain, waiting to be filled.
I may end up swapping the dash out with one from a parts car,
or I may modify this one, still thinking about it.
The instrument cluster out and I will be restoring it, no
aftermarket gauges like the last one.
The radio, heat controls and clock are already missing, so I
will be replacing them with a full set of delete plates from a parts
car I just bought. I
will be using a `59 Ford steering box and column, and am still
working on finding just the right steering wheel for it.
I want to use a stock appearing wheel, but smaller diameter,
maybe 15 inch instead of the OEM 17 unit.
After
disassembling and inventorying the parts, I turned to the roof. Apparently, in the past, some kids broke out the side glass
with some pretty big rocks, or cinder blocks.
In the process, they made a couple of pretty nasty dents in
the roof, one on the driver side front edge of the windshield, and
the other on the passenger side above the quarter window.
The first was easy to knock out.
I also straightened the forward drip rail over the
windshield. The
passenger side dent was pretty big, but most of it popped out with
the smack from a rubber mallet.
Tapping the front of the crease with a flat body hammer
released the tension from the dent, and it relaxed and lay in place.
Very little filler will be needed here.
Also of note on the roof, at some point after the first
repaint, a vinyl roof was added.
Why, I don’t know, as that is the worst accessory I can
imagine adding to a `50’s car.
The
car was originally Doeskin Tan and Colonial White, a homely
combination at best. Later,
it was painted some kind of red-orange, along with the black vinyl
roof. Portions of the
vinyl remain. Finally,
someone painted the car a sort of pine green, probably with a brush.
It is now getting ready for a total strip to metal.
As of now, the `57 is nearly disassembled to a rolling shell.
After the car is stripped, I will be sealing the car using
PPG products. The body
will wear a neutral shade of sealer and sanding primer, in
preparation for the new screaming yellow paint.
That
will wrap it up for this month’s installment.
I have picked up the 292 block and steel crank, as well as a
set of B9TE heads, which are identical to the factory supercharged
312 heads. The parts
are on the stand, being readied to send to the machine shop this
fall. It will be
getting the full treatment, as I plan for this puppy to make about
500-550 at the wheels with plenty of boost.
Stay tuned, the insanity is only beginning.
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