Hot Rods 57 FORD Build #2... Glutton for Punishment.

ANOTHER great build!

 

Spectator here. Glad you’re sticking with the sleeper concept, too cool!

 

Now you need a case of likker in the trunk!

 

I will be watching to see when project creep attacks.

 

Great things are happening in Palookaville...is this the Saturday or Sunday driver?...your gonna be tossing coins to decide...and no matter heads or tails you win...Bring it on Jeff...

 

Way cool, always enjoy seeing pics of your shop as well!

 

Jeff; We must have some distant relatives. You are aware of my 500 hardtop and all it's hurdles. Well it finally got it's headliner in and all the upholstery put together, not fully installed yet. With the final stretch in clear sight and the F-100 project on hold I found myself in the Storage room walking around my 57 Ranch Wagon and it's parts car sizing up my next move. Like you there are shelves of N.O.S. - repro and quality used "Stuff" and in my Minds eye a very easy project. I thought about moving it into the Build stall and just bolting the motor in, doing the brakes and a driveshaft so it would move under it's own power. Nothing like a small distraction. Instead I moved my Coupe in just dying to hear the new Music coming from it. Heck I should have it running in just a couple days. Oh, and that 57 Vert of mine will be getting it's new exhaust just any day now. Glad I retired a couple years ago or I'd never get anything done. Best of luck on your new adventure. I'll be watching.

 

Nice.....now get er done !

 

Something to do in your spare time.

Lee

 

Don't hide the tach, remove it ... just shift when the oil light comes on.

 

following along o n this one Jeff. My 2nd car back in the day was a 57 x trooper special with a healthy 312, 3 on the tree and a set of 411's out back. Just what a 17 yr old needed or at least I thought that then.

 

i have two extra beat up wheel covers, they have some dents and are colored colonial white.

 

Is the crossmember in the '57 as hard to put back as the '59 is? I have had mine out 3x and each time I have to spread the frame rails maybe an 1/8" to get it back in. Takes a porta-power and 2 sets of hands. The next time I have to reconfigure the damned thing before it goes back in.

 

I have found this to be the standard program. Let me know if you find a better way.

 

I know all about body shop jail!!!!

 

Been there, tried that. No room to swing a BFH while on jack stands. The issue is that in that area, the frame rails are not parallel. Even getting the porta-power to bite on the frame is a chore.

 

Your right, you can't just go strait across. My program is to set the Crossmember up and put 2 bolts in one side. I have an extended L foot for my Porta-power and I set it at the fastened end of Crossmember. I then use a C clamp on the far side frame rail about 16" back from where the crossmember mounts on the other side and with my V foot on the other end of the Porta-power set against the clamp and lower edge of frame. I don't take much push to get the Crossmember in place.

 

I had to stare at your photos for long time trying to figure out what I was looking at. Finally got it... floor space and room to move... I haven't seen that in so long I forgot what it looked like.

Have fun Mr. Norwell, we're expecting great things.

 

You have a sickness.....

 

I'll try that the next time, but am thinking of strapping the damned thing on a jig table and dissecting it, make a smaller drop-out section. I have already knocked a few captive nuts out of the frame rails wrestling with it.

 

Before you get into that take a long look at how the Frame is built. There's really not much there. Think about lateral twist. Changing the crossmember may end up making more changes than you want. I've had to repair many of the captive nuts. What I do is take a piece of 3/8" X 1" wide plate drill and tap it as needed and cut a slot in the bottom right at the edge and push it up inside. Bolt in the Crossmember then weld the tang of the 3/8" plate into the lower corner and grind away all the witness marks. I have actually done all 3 at once using one larger piece of 3/8". On that one I drilled a couple extra 3/8" holes and plug welded the plate to the rail also to keep it tight against the inner wall of frame.

 

@Jeff Norwell , just realized I drive by TWO of them at the vintage lot on my way to work most days. The owner must have just moved them so they stuck out this morning. I will try and snap a pic.

 

I already made up nut plates to fix the factory ones I busted. I forget if there was an access hole or not, but they are in solid. I screwed them to the frame rail with a flat head screw.

I planned to keep the crossmember, just make a section in the middle that comes out. A couple of flanges would do it. Or I could take one existing flange off, skim an 1/8" off one side, make up some steel shims if I had to.

The engine may have to come out in the spring, I can leave it in, no reason to take it out.

 

Whoa... your fix up Mopar stuff and you seem to be offering up parts of a Meteor?! I think you’ve worked hard enough on your truck to deserve a reward so restore that great Canadian Meteor! LOL

 

This one is past restoring, it was destined to be crushed so I hauled it and a few more home this summer, I sent a bunch of stuff to a Hamber in Texas earlier in the summer. It does still have the yblock and the 9" in it though.

 

Alright then, you get a pass on that one....

 

Here’s the car, and it looks better in the pictures….
It’s extremely rotten…