Technical A Kid's First Project: 1957 Fairlane 500 Town Victoria.

it needs the whole underside of the hood cut and welded

 

its really bad to be fully honest.

 

to me at least... unless you are really good at metal working get a new one and set that one aside for practice later on down the road. At least you will be on the road faster rather than waiting to work on the hood.

Mike

 

Three things:
1. Rust
2. Collision damage
3. Rust

 

I read somewhere where someone was able to take the rib supports off the hood/deck lid they were working on. But then you would have to reattach them and those ribs are pretty far gone.

 

There are still enough parts out there that it would be much cheaper to just buy a replacement hood. I actually gave one away recently. But check the real harder parts like the rockers and chassis parts that may rust out.

 

My '59 was not as bad as that, but I gave the front of the hood a citric acid dip for a few days. Then cut out the jagged stuff with an abrasive wheel. I was able to build up the structure with fiberglass cloth. All I had was holes, nothing rotten to the edges.

 

this is the only really bad spot on the body, the rest is acceptable rust for a northerner, minute amounts of rust here and there.

 

The hood is a common spot to rust. My '59 only had a small spot under the gas pedal that a PO fixed. It was hard to detect.

 

so apparently the push rods i ordered are not coming, as i now have the money back, that's great... anyone have any used ones i could buy?

 

Don’t know where you ordered from but there is always Mummerts, and I assume Tim McMaster and Ted Eaton sell them. Egge should also have them.

mike

 

I don't think they should be that hard to find, but my 292 knowledge is sparse.

 

this is how the car is currently, still waiting on pushrods, i might just try to straighten the ones i have with some kind of roller thing at this point.

 

To bad your so far away, I have a really solid hood that would cure your problem. As for pushrods call E.R.S. (engine rebuilders supply) in Troutdale Oregon. 503-661-5614 they are the go to used motor parts for Machine shops. If that don't work I have a back up guy.

 

We had a 57 Del Rio two door Wagon when I was growing up. 272/3 speed. As a kid of six or seven when we got it in 1958, I knew it was a special sort of car, but by 1961 it was pretty well rusted and time to trade it in for a brand new Ford sedan.

I distinctly remember poking holes in the eyebrows with my ten year old fingers, and tapping the ever growing rust perforated rocker panels with my shoe toes.

I always liked those cars, but most were pretty well rusted by the time they were four years old. The last one I remember still on the road was in 1967, and it was on its last legs, with every body panel below the belt line rusted.

Good luck and I hope you save this one.

 

thank you so much, i'll call them later tonight! and i might even pay freight shipping to buy that hood off of you if need be.

 

this car was lucky, it was driven down south only, it never saw salt, and was driven daily up until the early 80s, then it sat around mostly, and very few miles were put on per year. then in the mid 90s it started sitting in a barn, then in 2010 they moved it up here, tried to start it, but it wouldnt run, so they parked it and used some parts off of it.

 

update, i now have proper ignition key, but the trunk lock cylinder is busted, so i removed the pins and use it as a switch on the trunk, one day im gonna install a proper lock cylinder+key but thats not gonna be for a little while.

 

One step at a time….
Mike

 

Those are inexpensive and any Ford parts house has them. I got a new one for my '59 and will install it with the NOS latch/emblem assembly.

 

original owner sent me a picture of the car back in the 80s/early 90s.

 

Looks like a budding rock band.

 

so looking at the brake lines, these are gonna be a PITA to fix. They seem to be pinched into the frame. Any tips?

 

The long line is held in by clips and just pop out with a flat head screw driver. The diff line is held in by clips that are bent over and you can just unbend them. This is assuming nothing has been altered. Now the front hard line is just like the diff but runs under the engine. I am hoping to finish the long line next week.

mike

 

Sometimes you can find stock brake lines and not have to do any flaring. They come in 10" increments up to 60". Or cut one in 2 pieces, cuts the flaring by half. I did this with my front disc conversion.

Some older Fords, the rear brake lines went in before the body went on, essentially making it impossible to access.

 

For one car, I would go with pre-bent lines...
https://www.inlinetube.com/collections/all/?year=1957&make=ford&model=fairlane

 

i have tall stands i picked up 2-3 feet iirc, should make the job decently easy. and i will be doing the same, bending new lines to match the old, i will be borrowing my dads flairing/bending equipment for this. i checked for frame rust before i bought it, i smacked the sucker with a hammer and it didnt even dent.

 

My dad replaces lines regularly on our 20-30 year old cars.

 

Working on cleaning up the other head after i got the pushrods... i have determined there arent just bad valve stem seals, there are no valve stem seals.