Projects The Wagon Ford shoulda' built, so we did!

You purchased the air cleaner from me. I am so impressed with your car.
Glad the air cleaner went to such an impressive project.
Maybe I should sent your money back---- maybe not.
Ernie[/QUOTE]

I thought I got a good deal on the air cleaner. I was looking for one for over a year so you came to the rescue by offering up yours. Thanks again!

 

Beginning to figure out the back window. Again we where really lucky to have the wrecking yard close by so we could go out there, study original cars, how they functioned & then try to back yard engineer things.



We had looked into possibly using some sort of donor qtr. windows early on in the build but nothing was quite right. We talked with a company about making new "acrylic" windows for the car. The nice thing about going this route is we where free on the design & could make things look the way we wanted. We had to make aluminum "plugs" for the quarter windows & back window. They use these to make the new "glass".


After shaping the new window plugs Mike constructed window frames to house the windows.



We wanted the windows to have a divider to look stock rather than a modern street roddish one piece window. You can also see the new structure stuff primered red.

 

Filled the gas tank door. The filler is now behind the driver side tail light.

 

Now's a good time to show the rendering by @Jeem

Note the custom tail lights, side trim & '56 rear bumper.

 

Great stuff!

 

Like we figured out earlier the roof started to curve about halfway through the door jam. After we straightened everything out it required modifying the B-pillar trim & "Terra"

 

Things that would take a long time to figure out by just looking at it.......

Sent from my SM-G973U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

It's the little things...

 

This is looking great! I have not seen the finished pictures yet but I look forward to following along in this thread and seeing them in the end. Some really masterful metalwork and also good use of junkyard/donor parts to keep it looking like a factory build.

The guy who did the bumper looks like Cary Elwes from the Princess Bride.

 

Nice work! Thanks for posting your progress.

 

DAAAAMN nice work! Thanks for posting!

 

By far the most challenging part of this build is all the customized & hand built stainless trim. Mike became a master at welding & finishing out the original stainless.

As the renderings depict above we wanted to modify the side trim on the car. We used 4 "V" shaped door moldings cut in half & flipped to the other side to make one. The front fender trim is modified stock Ranch Wagon trim to flow into the new door molding.

 

Pretty much everything from the B-pillars back was either modified or custom made. We made our own dies for our Pullmax machine to form the trim above the drip rails from the B-pillar back. Also for the interior trim coming off the inside tiara molding, the molding above the back window & finally the molding on top of the quarters that extends from the B-pillars.

 

It's nice to have a cool build thread to look forward to seeing updates every day!

 

I knew there were a TON of modifications that went into this car, but I wouldn’t have figured out half of it without all that you are posting. And, I agree that I like following along in anticipation of what is next daily!

 

Waiting to see more of this build. Y'alls craftsmanship and ingenuity is awesome. I'll wait to see the finished product once this build journey is finished.

 

I saw this car in a fleeting moment on a different post...I am glad I found this thread before going back to look in depth.
Thank you for taking the time to post all of this....'55, '56 Ranch Wagon has always been a favorite in my book. You cemented that as the case for sure.
I am glad that you took to this project and I am sure the outcome is going to be stellar... Kudos to the team of craftsmen along with your vision. Carry on!

 

Switching gears back to the tail gate.....


Fitting the full size wagon inner structure & power window mechanism. Test running before the skin in made and on.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2684629658251390

 

We made up a buck for the new tail gate skin. The crown need to change allot at the top by being flatter but stay the same at the bottom to match the tail pan.



Next up was shaping a new gate skin on the hammer. I'm no expert metal shaper so I need to make it in 3 pieces due to my lack of skills.

 

You can see how much flatter the new skin is compared to the original skin. The original car was really round & "bubbly"



Next was trimming the skin & tipping the flange to fit to the structure.



First test fit.


Donor gate that'll sacrifice some of it's mechanical parts & the bump deal for the power window switch.

 

that sure is some nice work goin' on !!

 

the term "lack of skills" does not belong anywhere near this thread
you skillfully used the tools you have to create an impressive part

 

Look forward to each new post, thanks.

 

Yea...what Anthony said...no where in this thread should be the phrase "lack of skills". You likely make the rest of us (or maybe it is just me) feel like a hack...

 

Wow, impressive work. Thanks for sharing.

 

That power tailgate window is neat as are all the other mods on the wagon.
If I was closer to you I would have had you do the power rear window for my 66 Suburban that was planned, was more work than anticipated and the skills were not there either so that plan was scrapped.

 

You´re bullshitting us, right? Hahahahaaa

 

I see crazy talented guys like Jimmy Hervatin & Josh Bulloch who make very large panels to perfection and am envious.

 

What he said!

 

My experience is that the really skilled and knowledgeable guys like you are pretty humble folks. In my opinion the reason for this is, the higher your level knowledge and skills are, the more you know about your limits and what would be possible and within reach with a few more years of training and experience. Where a less skilled and experienced person can not see what would be possible , having less views and opportunities. Last time I met Gene Winfield 1 1/2 years ago he told me that " everyday´s a school day!" That´s the fun in it, right?