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

I have no idea why Ford changed that spec, but I would check the bolt rating before committing. A grade 5, I'd tend towards the lower number; 30 lbs is the max 'generic' recommended for a grade 5. If it's a grade 8, go for it.

 

I'll add that I've seen more rocker stand bolts broken on the early motors than the later ones, that may have been the reason for the increase.

 

Had to move the car for other cars maintenance, had my dad and brother's help, was a lot easier and only a 5 minute job, rather than a 3 hour struggle to do it alone.

 

thanks to @Jeff Norwell my high beams will have a proper mount for a switch, and im still trying to get the brake master out to rebuild it.

 

If you are looking to keep the single master, look at the jelly-jar type from a '64-ish Ford. Lots more fluid capacity and still has the port for the brake light switch. The OG one in my '59 was fossilized... no way to salvage that. If your bore is badly pitted, it may tear up the new rubber parts.

 

That looks like a better than average '57 in terms of rust. The front crossmember is not as prone to rust out as the '54-'56 crossmember. What's the third character of the serial number on your '57? That indicates the assembly plant. If it's an A, that indicates Atlanta plant where my father worked from '52-'82 and tells you that my father leaded the seams on your car.

 

its an Atlanta car, built on august 26th, 1957. i bought it on about its 64th birthday.

 

I assume that you know that the oil bath air cleaner is not the correct one for a 57. But if it fits and works go for it. As for the rocker bolts I would stick to around 30 lbs. They are 5/16 if remember right and there is a lock washer so they should not back out.

Mike

 

Im planning on keeping it as its what the owner used. Im assuming is the reason i posted (iron mill)

 

turning the engine trying to get oil flowing, i need to remove that starter so i can crank it over easier

 

Take the spark plugs out & spin it with the starter.

 

i have removed all my plugs, and im turning it by hand, i need to get a decent battery that doesnt die the moment the solenoid engages, and the gear is stuck out, not retracting.

 

On the y block starter the gear engages in from the back towards the starter

 

i can hear it click when it turns, i will need to pull the starter and free it up

 

Pay close attention when removing (if you can get it out) to the 3 bolts, the upper 2 are shoulder and must be in there to align the starter. If the bendix is stuck engaged or partially it may not come out easily as in it could require separating engine from bellhousing

 

You won't get a lot of oil flow by turning the engine over by hand. Get the starter out, get that one rebuilt so it will endure some cranking as you sort things out.

 

how bad of an idea would it be to get it to the point it idles with the valve covers off so i can pour a bit of oil on them while oil starts flowing?

 

If you want to test oil flow, mark and then pull the distributor (if you have not done so already) and spin the oil pump with a drill. that will pump oil up to the rockers and you will see what pressure you have. You can run the engine with the covers off as the oil is in the rocker tubes.

Mike

 

It may be a gamble, who knows what is in the oil pan. The car has been sitting for a long time, is the oil screen on the pick up clear? 1930artdeco has the best advice.

 

i need to drop the pan, how difficult is it to do that with the engine in the car?

 

I saw someone do it with a '58 Ford with a 292 MANY years ago to replace a rod and piston. Raise the engine up enough, block it up safely. Got a manual handy?

 

yep, bought a reprinted ford shop manual, couldn't find anything about oil pan removal

 

If you have the space and some help, maybe pull the engine and transmission? That way you could clean it up and put new gaskets on everything. Work like a gentleman at every opportunity.

 

so i tried to use this battery charger to start the car, my dad says it was old 30 years ago when he stopped using it, so I don't know its age, but it doesn't work, car gets no volts, will have to use the "lawn mower battery with a newer charger on it" method. apparently, trying to use only old tech isn't as good of a plan as i thought.
(also I know its off in this pic, I turned it off because it wasn't doing anything)

 

Using old tech is great and most of the time a better go to than new tech. But...that means the old tech has to be working first. That looks like a great charger and worth fixing in the future. Head over to the Garage journal and ask about that there, I know someone can tell you how to do that.

Mike

 

We used to have those exact same chargers at work. (Circa 1984) There may be nothing wrong with that charger. For it to turn on it has to sense a voltage in the battery. If the battery is completely dead it will not turn on. All of that is assuming nobody has let the smoke out of it first.

 

the fan started to run, but nothing else happened.

 

Hook it up to a known good battery. If it charges your golden, if not then you know there is a problem. Truthfully we used to let the smoke out of those on a pretty regular basis or the switches used to burn out. We switched over to Schumacher chargers. Much better.
I think if I were you at this point I would change the oil and filter (fill the new filter with oil) and hook up an external gas can. Get a new battery and hook it up. Pop in some new spark plugs, make sure you have spark and try to fire it up.

 

I need to adjust the points... I think I want to get it running in the air, so I can test the gears without it moving