Projects The Adventure of a Boy and His Edsel

The adventure continues...headed to Wichita, KS for the weekend. Praying it is one of those uneventful adventures. Silas, Samuel, and I are on a men’s weekend I suppose headed to a youth conference.

 

Made it with no issues so far. Flushing out the radiator seems to have made a fairly big difference in cooling, like about 30 degrees cooler. And, getting the exhaust rerouted is nice since now there is more room for the axle and nothing crashes. Heat would be nice...

 

More snow in Kansas than we had in Oklahoma.

 

Took a quick trip to El Dorado, KS today while we were close by to see a good friend, B-Scott that does all our Hot Rod Hundred t-shirt artwork for a great visit and to pick up some 461 casting sbc heads for another project. Always great visiting with him and Ed Jennings who also happened to be hanging out. They were working on B-Scott’s cool Essex pickup. And, since all posts are better with pics, one more of the car that is going to need a good bath when we get home...

 

I continue to think that you guys got the stance just right.

 

Road trips are fun, I bet it was a kool sight rolling down the highway.

 

Any time that February weather allows a road trip is a bonus!

 

No new news to report I suppose. Lack of having heat is becoming less of an issue now, so we can put off fixing that for a while. We do need to do some work on wiring and also need to check the u-joints. Sounds like one may have just started making noise. Will check that tonight before he drives it to Tulsa tomorrow.

Pic is following Silas down the road the other day in a slightly OT car I was working on.

 

we need Essex pickup pics, please.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/albums/1929-essex-pickup.14155/

 

Thanks @Sancho! I didn’t even have to go searching for the pics.

 

Silas is still driving the Edsel daily and we are continuing to fix little things. A couple weeks ago, he mentioned that we needed to adjust the brakes, so we finally got to that the night before we had to leave for Springfield, MO the next morning for the SWMO Hot Rod Hundred. When we got it up on the lift, we found several things that needed attention and the night before a trip didn’t seem like the best time to tackle it all. I thought one of the wheel cylinders was leaking which caused us to pull the right rear wheel and drum. What we found was that the wheel cylinder was new, but that the wheel seal was leaking pretty bad. So, we ordered new seals since no one had them in stock. Anyway, ended up just driving my 56 to Springfield, but got the seals and knocked several things off the list when we got back.

We are now trying to do a few things before the StrayKat 500 coming up in a little over a week. So far, we are thinking of painting the wheels, putting some 56 Mercury full caps on, touching up the paint in a couple spots, then maybe getting it pinstriped while at the show. He also needs to finish up his school before then, so we will see how it all turns out.

And, a recent pic since all posts are better with pics.

 

Looking forward to seeing y'all!

 

Well...decided to last minute do some bodywork and paint on the hood before the SK500. We don’t have the “S” in “Edsel”, and the front edge of the hood is rough, so welding up the emblem holes and repainting. Also, there was a loose chunk of bondo about to come off since he got the car...just pulled it off. We will see if we can get the bodywork and prime done tonight and maybe paint tomorrow or Sunday afternoon. Oh, and we will also be painting the wheels this weekend. He really wants to try to get the car striped at the SK500 next weekend, so fixing the area of the hood that makes the most sense to stripe seemed like a good idea.

 

Found some “traditional” bodywork that needed attention. Silas welded up the holes and I stripped the area where the bondo fell off to straighten it out some to prepare for the first thin coat of filler. We never make as much progress as planned. But, should be able to get in primer tomorrow.



Oh, and part of why we didn’t make as much progress as we should have is that Silas mowed and we had to catch a swarm of honey bees in the middle of working on it. This was our fifth swarm to catch this week.

 

More progress...

 

Sand and paint tomorrow.

 

Pardon my dumbassery, but what are the bees doing on that tree? I’ve never seen that.

 

Good question. My wife and I are hobby beekeepers and often in the spring, the bees will quickly fill up their hive box and swarm. Swarming means they basically move out and go look for somewhere else to live. They will all stay with the queen and will typically land in a tree for about 24 hours before finding some enclosed structure. We try to catch them while in the tree and help them find the next house...another hive box. A guy I work with once saw it happen and thought they were harming the tree. They don’t hurt anything, just need a temporary place to stay. Pretty interesting hobby actually.

 

Hello,

Bees in trees is a common thing here in So Cal. In our coastal area, several miles inland and elsewhere, those random bees land in trees and swarm. They are quite noisy and the neighbors are usually up in arms, calling for the local bee keepers or the county animal control services if they are too close to the homes. (like in their yards...) We have had bees in lemon trees, and pepper trees of our own backyard that surprised us to no end.

Jnaki

We do not know if the same swarm knows this huge ficus tree in the community is a great place to stay, but we have seen several swarms surrounding one of the higher up branches for a few days in the same tree. Then some neighbor calls someone to come and get them out. Liability and all is important, just in case.

Both swarms of bees were not as large as the photo posted, but for the uninitiated, it was a cause for alarm for some folks. More power to you and your efforts @guthriesmith YRMV

 

Yep, they can be alarming for sure. One bit of education is that when they swarm, they gorge themselves on honey since they don’t know when they might get their next meal. So, they are almost always very calm and will rarely sting anyone even if they mess with them. I was standing about a foot away from the swarm when I took the pic I posted...in shorts and t-shirt...with no bee suit.

Not sure what any of this has to do with the Edsel story other than apparently I tried to use it as an excuse why we never get as much done as planned.

 

Bees are special, and important. Thank you for caring for them.

Excellent progress on the Edsel! One of my favorite cars on this site.

 

Love the wheel color. Should look great against the car color!!

 

Thanks! I like it too! Silas is still a little apprehensive, but I think it will work well especially with the full Mercury caps he will also be running.

 

I really like the wheel color!

 

Nice still night after a rain yesterday to paint outside...

 

Two more days left to get three cars ready to go to the StrayKat 500... Thankful we were able to get the painting done on the one day we had this week that it wasn't supposed to rain before we head out Friday. Now, we just need to put this car back together and do a few things on the other two. Oh, and we may go ahead and sand and buff the hood to get a few small pieces of trash out. It turned out fairly clean for painting outside though. I was able to dig one bug out and blend that area in while it was wet. Looks plenty good for what the rest of the paint looks like. Painting outside was easier than covering everything in the shop to keep the overspray off.

If it weren’t for a full time job for me and school and work for the kids, we sure could get more done in a day...

 

Sneak peek pre-wheel covers. He is in a hurry to get the caps on to cover up most of the wheel color. I really like the color.