what Steve said about WW and wires.another opinion on top I feel with a red that is not as dark much like the suggestion on firemist would I think not look as stark as red shopped now.as with any opinion this is only an opinion.
Not being a red fan, I would choose another color (from a guy who drives a pink car). But, the way you guys make changes, it's just paint and subject to change if YOU don't like it. As for the wood, as we say at the woodworkers guild, "it's an opportunity for a design modification". It happens, and I think the extra effort will be well worth it in the long run. It' one of those things that I think you would have picked up on as the project progresses. I love the wide whites and the wires!
Love the red. A lighter background would help define the top for a better perspective. Right now it blends into the background and tends to look like the top is chopped off at the drip-rail. I would vote for no vinyl top but I'm like HRP, it's not my car and you guys are doing just fine without my input.
Springs on th lift gate.As you hpefully can see, the spring attaches to the arm you have. But you seem to be missing the little angle bracket that attaches to the drop gate arm.
Thanks for that photo! I found the springs, but couldn't figure out the lower attachment point. That cleared it up. You don't have an extra front seat laying around do you?
Gary,over on the '54 Ford Club of America has a FREE front seat,,kinda rough but all you would have to do is get it to your shop. HRP http://1954ford.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3614 If that don't pan out you might try Bob Owens,I'm sure he has a seat or two. HRP
The wood-grained Ranch Wagon (Town and Country) was a top of the line wagon. Chrome wires and wide whites would be appropriate. Take a look at the top while red, without the black vinyl top then make the decision. A vinyl top when necessary is appropriate but, a fake one? I know... MYOB
Ok, I hate to criticize somebody else's build, but Madfish's photoshop is so perfect I can't help myself... I do have training in this (three years of art school, but the term 'starving artist' proved to be all-too-true so I ended up picking another vocation) so please take this in the spirit in which it's offered, which is to tie the design elements together into an organic whole and make it look as good as it can. My training was long before computers came on the stage, so my photoshop skills are nearly nonexistent. With his rendering, you have three main colors, all 'warm' (the wood) or 'hot' (the red) which is why they work together. The chrome accents only offer reflections, which are mirrored in the paint/wood so they don't 'compete' for attention color-wise. This is what make the wood stand out so well. I understand what you're trying to accomplish with the vinyl top (bringing back the 'flavor' of the early woodies) but one reason it doesn't work IMO is your 'simplified' wood layout (lacking the additional vertical/horizontal light wood bracing found on older woodies) doesn't have the 'busyness' to offset the distraction of the black top. Plus the early woodies had mostly flat roofs, so the 'reveal' above the windows is much smaller, reducing the impact of the black further. Your simplified design is very elegant, showcasing the lines of the car and looks exactly like a 'modernized' design that would have come out of the factory design studios of the day with the only jarring note that awkward bend at the front wheel opening (which you're addressing). As to wheel/tire choice, like I said I'm not a big fan of either wire wheels or wide whites but they really work on this car. The wide whites work for the same reason the black top doesn't; they don't distract from the main colors, 'filling' the wheel openings with a minimum of black showing. I like the chrome wires because they add some 'detail' and more elegance to an otherwise very clean design without a competing color or distracting from the overall design. I'd avoid any painted wheel, keeping the focal point on the body/wood. If not wires, then some sort of chrome wheel or full wheel cover; non-reversed chrome wheels with spider caps would look great, or maybe some early Corvette wheel covers. Some sort of wheel/cover that has detail, not too plain. But the wires will really give it that 'concept car' look. Definitely avoid any alloy wheel... One last note; if you could lower the rear to match the front, that would be perfect. Again, that photoshop is simply stunning....
Thank you all for keeping the discussion civil. So often these things turn into an internet brawl. This one feels like a bunch of guys hanging around the shop, having a beer , and just saying what they think would look best. There's been some great input, and we do appreciate you and your comments.
Why don't I have a beer.......? I personally dig the chrome wires. I think the car NEEDS chrome to offset the wood. The black vinyl top is... just.. wrong? It just doesn't "flow" like the rest of the car. The wagon is so... subtle, then WHAM! Black vinyl top. Maybe one of the photoshop guys can show you different colors, but... black makes it nearly impossible to take in the whole car. Beer please?
If you want it you can have mine. Ranch project is getting buckets in the front. The Seat is in Florida. Cheers, Don
We've been struggling with getting the rear door/hatch to fit correctly. It's been tough. We'll post again on Sunday with the latest...........
Love your wagon, especially the wood additions. My comment on the paint is yes to the red body however the red roof looks like too much red. On our wagon we went with a Ford red and a vanilla shake off white roof.
The chop on the top rear hatch door is perfect. The tailgate is just about as nice, but when you put them together in the opening it looks like crap. There's a VERY noticeable gap difference between the left and right rear. Apparently when we rebuilt the rear pan, it ended out of square a bit. There's about 3/16 ths of an inch difference on the gap from right to left. So we ended up grinding off all the paint and filler in that area and welding a 1/8 inch rod across the top of the lower sill to even the gap. It just sucks to have to do all this when you already thought you had done a good job. It probably wouldn't have been noticed with the wood trim on, but we wanted it to be correct. It took quite a while to get the lid, tailgate and body opening to look right. I hope all this work was worth it. Another thing that has bugged us a bit was the tightness of the hood gap. We'd like a bit more (1/8inch) clearance on the rider rear side of the hood. We accomplished this by cutting a long narrow wedge out of the hood, closing it up, and welding it back in place All this minor adjustment crap takes a lot of time. Before we knew it the day was gone.... I know it was the right thing to deal with these little things, but it sure can be depressing.
now we can concentrate on the finger prints on the glass.all kidding aside this is the cost of perfection.now get some rest
The hours spent fixing this will soon be forgotten, but had you left it, it would have haunted you forever.
I agree wholeheartedly you guys have worked wonders leaving it was not in the cards.I am sure easy and good enough are not in your vocabularies looking forward to updates
Wondering what's happening with the wagon. A lot of critique a couple of weeks back and I hope it didn't curb your enthusiasm, which I'm sure it didn't. This build has been a highlight to quite a few on the board and we dig the bejizzle out of what you are doing. Can't wait till the next post!
Chuck,are you guys on strike? It's been several weeks since the last update on the wagon,throw us a bone! HRP
Sorry for not posting the past few weeks... We have been working, but I've really been pressed for time recently. Nick has re-styled the front fender wood trim. You cant even see where the cuts and modifications were done. It really does look a LOT better. Thank you all for your input. When we first installed the engine it was just dummied up so we could fabricate the motor and tranny mounts. Now its time to remove all that, Install the flexplate, torque converter etc. and prep it for startup. It also is now time to start some detail painting. Steve and Dana spent the day prepping the engine compartment for a coat of black enamel next week. Here it is, all ready for that coat of black. We'll aso spray some red around the hood opening then. The shop hoist makes an easy job of pulling engines.It was out in a half hour. I know this doesn't seem like a lot, but the thought of actually spraying some paint next week has us pretty excited.
Chuck I was afraid you,Steve,Dana and Nick had been abducted by aliens and knowing that they have a preoccupation with annal probes you & your crew were spending a lot of time on those little round inner tubes. Seriously,the reshaped wood on the front fender looks much better,good job guys! HRP
I agree with Dan the wood looks so much better.the time spent now will pay off.you guy's will appreciate when done that you will not be saying we shoulda coulda.
Dude or should I say Dudes, the wagon is looking great of course. So nice to see progress. As always the wood is exceptional and it's a great build. Always anticipating the next post.
Chaz, How far are you with this one now??See picts for inspiration! Stu OK, For those of you with a long memory, over a decade ago I got this Ford Ranchwagon. I started on it, and slowly let other projects get in the way.... Well, the Strange Days crew brought it out of storage today and moved it to the front burner. HRP here on the Hamb has one of these and its an eye popper! It was kinda weird going over it again and planning a course of action. We'll start by replacing the front floors, and go from there. Its going to have a 1 1/2 inch chop, be turned into a woodie, have rounded hood and door corners like in days of old, and some kind of custom grille. It has a Fatman front end with 2 inch drop spindles. I'll post updates each week as we progress.[/QUOTE]
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