Projects 1954 Ford Wagon project

Here are some shots of my project, a 1954 Ford Country Sedan Wagon, This car was almost gone but I think it can be brought back, Floors were almost gone and I have almost finished patching them. I took a break from the floors to pull the 1969 302/ 3-speed manual combo and tear it down, I also picked up a '78 302 with a 3-speed auto and tore that motor down as well. Both sets of heads are out getting cleaned and inspected. The '69 seems to have less cylinder wear than the '78. When the '69 was in the car it would turn with a wrench but would stick at a certain point, with the heads off it turns freely. I guess I'll sell whatever I don't use. Other plans call for drop/disc spindles and power brakes w/ 1978 master cylinder (came with the motor), possibly replace the Dana 44 that ended up on the car and lower the back to match the front.
Lots more to do and I will try to keep posting photos as progress is made.
Thanks!

 

Here are some photos...

 

A couple more shots...

 

looks good

 

Nice. Body looks pretty solid too. What are your plans for paint?

 

I like wagons. It looks like a great starting point.
The sliding back windows are way cool!

 

Nice Project, but I'm a little biased. That Dana 44 did'nt end up there, that was original equip. Should have a 4.27: 1 ratio in it. They get around good with that. All the wagons and Couriers had the Dana axle.

 

I see you're new. Nice project ya got there. Join the 52-59 Ford social group.. Click on this link:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=332

LOTS of good info there.

 

doing good with a cool project. if rear gears 4:27 as stated above will need to get higher ratio.

 

Thanks for the input 10bucks. I haven't scraped the crud off the rear axle yet, I may swap it out anyway for a 9".
I am dealing with the motor at the moment, I have a '69 and a '78 302, both have the heads off and both turn freely. the '78 has a definite ridge at the top of the cylinder and seems to have had a head gasket leak into the rear, driver side cylinder. The '78 supposedly has 80k on it.
The '69 has a very slight ridge at the top of the cylinder and in general was much cleaner than the '78.
I have both sets of heads getting magnafluxed and inspected. I would like to put the '69 heads back on the block and just run it. I know I am taking a chance doing this and not tearing down and rebuilding the bottom end of the motor but originally I wanted to keep this project on the low budget. Of course the motor is out and apart and this seems like the right time to rebuild the whole thing but the cost difference is quite a lot.
Any suggestions on what to look for with these bottom ends to determine if I should just put the top end on and go for it would be greatly appreciated!

 

I like '54 Ford wagons but I just might be a little predigest having just recently finished our 9 year long project '54 Ranch Wagon.

I will be watching for progress.

You might also want to check out the '54 Ford Club of America website along with the social group here. HRP

 

Thanks HRP! I knew I would see your reply here soon! I found your site a while back and let me just say that I have spent countless hours looking at your build photos! It is almost like having a step by step manual to follow. I am still in the early stages here, and I spent a lot of time just standing back, scratching my head wondering if it's even worth the time. Of course it is worth it and this will be a running, driving car that I can barley wait to enjoy, every time I would get overwhelmed, I would go right to your photos and remind myself that it can most definitely be done! Thank you and you did an amazing job on your wagon! So much attention to detail and just a beautiful wagon!

 

I need to repair the front driver side body mount as it is rusted pretty bad. It appears to be 3 seperate pieces, 1 being the piece that attactches to the firewall above the toe board and extends down to the frame. 2 being the piece that connects to the bolting point on piece #1 and extends back to the floor where the toe board begins, and 3 I think is a dished thicker rectangular piece that sits on top of both with the bolt through it and washer and nut on top.
The bolt is rusted on pretty good and I managed to strip it attempting to remove it.
I'm thinking of cutting the bolt off and then cutting the body mount above the rust and repairing it on the work bench. Hopefully I can then remove the rest of the bolt out of the frame. I figured I could use a shim when I put everything back to make up for the gap made by the width of the cutting wheel and then weld it back up.
Again, I am getting a little discouraged with the rust factor on the body of this car. My original plan was to patch the floors and call it good for the time being while I took care of the mechanical end of things and then, after I have a solid running car, address the body issues.
I want to make sure this car is safe so i need to make sure my body mounting points are solid.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks again!
Mike

 

Mike,,I didn't encounter this problem with my wagon but hearing your solution I would probable do it like you described,,I believe it would be a fairly ease fix,,after all,,,you already know these wagons put up a good fight! HRP

 

Man, I am frustrated! I cut out the front body mount and repaired it. It came out OK, and is now in much better shape than it was. All new metal on the bootom piece that extends back to where the floor meets the toeboard. I replaced the metal on the vertical piece that connects to the firewall just above the toeboard as well.
Here's the issue, I could not get anything in to the tight space to cut the stripped nut off of the bolt/stud so I ran my sawzall under the whole thing. This left me with only a couple mm's of stub sticking up from the frame. I tried welding a nut to it so I could back it out but it is fighting me all the way! Not sure what to do here. I'm taking a break and I will go back and try again, but what a PITA!
I'm just getting frustrated because I have a really nice drivetrain almost ready for this wagon and I want to do the best I can to make the body safe and solid and worthy of the quality of parts that I am spending money and time to bolt up to it. I am considering sending it to a body shop to adress the rusted body mount situation. This may be the point where the previous plan to NOT seperate the body from the frame goes out the window!
Anyone know any good body guys that specialize in early Fords in the ustate NY area?
At least I know that the rust issues that I have encountered with this wagon seem to common to these Fords so It's nothing new to those who specialize in body repair/restorations!

 

Believe me,my project wasn't a walk in the park,sometimes you need to walk away,,do something else and think outside the box.

Is it possible to get to the bolt with a right angle drill?

Another thought is drill a hole from the bottom of the frame with a 1-1/4" hole saw and then use the appropriate size bit through the top about a inch in front or to the rear of the offending bolt,,,I know your going to have to use a longer bit to reach the top of the frame but they are available.

Then you could just drop a bolt in the hole and use a deep well socket to tighten the nut. HRP

 

Yeah, I gave it another shot but no luck with the small amount of stub I have to work with. I think the right angle drill is the way to go. I have to buy the drill, but I will get back out there later and prep the spot at least tonight. I like the hole saw idea, too! HRP, do you know if this is a threaded stud into the frame? I figured there must be a welded bung there as well. Before I read your reply I figured I would drill and tap but only tapping the thickness of the frame seems a little weak. An access hole underneath and a real bolt sounds much more solid.
Thank You!
-Mike

 

Very good work so far! I don't know who was responsible for shooting all that black goo on these cars at the factory in 1954 but they sure put it on thick. It didn't stop the rust and I think trapped water in the crevices.

 

cool car man. i had a 54 customline with a 239 y in it and 3 on the tree. still hate myself for sellin it

 

I had this problem with my shoebox and broke off the welded bung in the frame trying to get the bolt out. Be careful

 

wagons are good,yes?

 

To be perfectly honest I don't remember there being a stud but there might have been,,,,my body was off the frame for a few years and when I replaced the body I just used bolts.

This is a photo of the bare frame,HRP

 

looking forward to seeing progress.

 

keep at it. it can and will drive you nuts, i can promise you that.lol but when its all said and done its worth it. now get busy, i aint got all day.lol

 

Checking in...
Not a lot of progress but I did manage to finally remove the broken front body mount stud. I drilled up through the frame and was then able to see the two spot welds that hold the bolt carriage to the inside top of the frame. I shortened a long drill bit so I could get at it (front of car is still on the ground) and drilled out the first spot weld. I then took a quick 1o minute break to flush a small piece of metal out of my eye and went back for more, this time with my safety glasses AND face shield. Took a shot at the second one and ground it up a little, the working angle was tough and an arm burner! I put a 6" C-clamp with a small socket on top of the broken stud and a piece of 1/4 scrap metal between the botton of the frame and c-clamp and popped the well- drilled side off. the other side didn't break but the clamp/press did bend it down about 90 degrees. Put a small pry bar up from the bottom and worked it back and forth 'till it broke. Finally!!
I am glad to be able to move on but I am concerned with the hole in the bottom of my frame. I feel like I had to do it, since the body is on the frame and doing anything from the top was not much of an option. If the body was off, I would have just drilled it out from the top and welded in a threaded bung, but....
As HRP suggested above. I could use the new hole to put a socket through to tighten down the new bolt. I think though that I will weld a large washer to the new bolt, drill a couple small holes on either side of the hole on top of the frame, and weld the bolt/washer combo to the frame, and then weld the bottom of the frame back up.
New Parts!! I did manage to score 2 very cool and much needed parts for my wgon this week. Thanks to fellow HAMB'er Venturesomerite(!) for hooking me up with a '57 9" rear end ( it is all cleaned up and ready for paint and some new brake parts!) and a bench seat ( off the same '57). I will be brushing some POR 15 on my frame and leaf springs, and most likely spray canning the rear end while I wait for my new shackle and bushing kits. Also gotta head up to SHAW( exit 17N-NY I-87) and get some fresh, extended u-bolts as I will be adding blocks.
I have seen in a few photos of '54 Fords, the leaf shackles flipped upside down. Mine were hung down from the hanger. Can I flip these? How much will that drop the rear of the car? Are there clearance issues as the spring moves?
I have been back and forth with myself as to the extent of what I want to achieve with this project. Everything is apart right now and sometimes it's hard to want to put pieces that are not in perfectly restored condition back on, especially when you are spending time and money on other parts. But I think I have come to an agreement with myself. I will finish patching my floors. They are far from perfect, or what I would expect to get had I payed someone to do them, but they will be solid and I did them myself. I will wait until phase 2 to do any more body work. ( mainly the inner and outer rockers, rear left 1/4, front fenders are not so great, ). Phase 1 will have a cleaned and painted frame and suspension, with a rebuilt 302, t-5, and 9" (3:56), rebuilt brakes( new wheel cylinders and shoes all around(keeping the drums up front), new springs and hardware, all new lines, and a '69 mustang power booster and master cylinder) new wiring, I plan on painting all the interior tin (dash included) a medium tan ( or a light tan with root beer flakes!) and cutting new door panels out of some nice ply with a gloss varnish finish, need some kind of seat covers, too! Then, I'm gonna drive it!
I figure since I am spending so much time on this car now that when the time comes to do the body work, I will be able to completely disassemble the whole thing in a couple of days. No rusty bolts or suprises because I will have pretty much gone through every inch it.
I am also going to put an early VW bus wood slat roof rack on it. The curve of the rack follows the curve of the VW's roof, which looks a lot like a 52-54 ford wagon roof!

 

That thing looks pretty good for New York!

I see you have at least pieces of the 2nd seat,
but did you luck out and get the 3rd seat cushions with the car?

All the 4-drs had them, and the upper and lower cushions are a *&^$% to find!

Seems like there are no '52-'54 4-dr wagons being worked on anywhere...subscribed.

 

I don't have the rear seat cushions, it does have the folding platform and the complete 2nd seat, so I can fold the 2nd seat down and have a flat surface to stretch out in or load up or make a nice spot for the dogs when it's time to road trip!

On a side note, the '51 Pontiac in a couple of the photos at the beginning of this thread is now up for sale. I hate to do it, but it's time to go longroof!
I put an ad on the Albany, NY Craigslist, I need to take some more pics and I will put an ad up here in Cars for sale. We'll see what happens...

 

Good luck with the wagon.

It's good to see another 54 being revived. They're one of the truly great sleeper make/models of 50's era cars. They're beautifully styled, came with a modern IFS from the factory, and even though the first-year y-block was crap, the 272's, 292's and 312's will sit right down in there.

And....302/AOD combos will also sit down in these cars like the engineers saw into the future and intended for it to happen.

 

I found a bunch of photos that were taken the day I bought the car but I am having trouble uploading. These were taken with a different camera from the one that I took all of the other photos that I have uploaded on this forum. That is the only difference that factors here that I can think of.
The page says something about "security tokens", the last time I tried the upload screen just went blank white. There's some cool photos I want to share!

 

Get a free Photobucket account,,HRP