My "new" 1958 Ford Country Sedan - Project!

58's are the best looking Ford of the 50's my uncle had dozens of them,2drs,4drs,convert,retracts,ranchos,some wagons,that body style really grows on ya-fast!

 

Thanks. I'm a little bit limited, since its just me today. I dont know how to hot wire a car from under the hood yet - so to get it to turn over, I have to be in the cab.

I guess I should learn some other way.

But I confirmed the rotor is spinning. The points are moving. I cleaned them up a bit.

I just noticed that one of the wires running to the coil may have been eaten through, by some sort of varmit. So I am going to fix that. Hopefully that's the issue - and it'll be an easy fix.

In the mean time, I'm cleaning up years of sludge with some over cleaner and a hose. This stuff is caked on thick!

 

You can cross the starter solenoid across the lead from the battery to the small terminal nearest to it with a screw driver to start it or hook up a remote starter button with alligator clips on it.

 

Nice wagon, going to be a great project.

 

A '58 Country Sedan is on my bucket list. We had one when I was a kid and some of my favorite memories are of all eight of us piling into it and hitting the road!

 

thats like a cool lookin dash there ....

 

Just make sure it is in neutral before you go jumping it, hot-wiring it or playing with the starter solenoid. You really don't want to start it and then have it roll on you!

 

run a wire from the +battery terminal to the + side of the coil . if it isn't marked on the coil or you just can't read it . the + side of the coil is the side that does not have a wire running to the distributor. that will energize the coil .

 

No chit! been there-done that!

 

the points still have to open and close before the coil will do what it is supposed to do . like i said before you need to make sure that the points are not stuck and are doing their job

 

Are you sure you even have spark at the points? To test that, Cap and Rotor removed, Points closed, Key on, Take a screwdriver and manually open and close the points. They should spark and with the coil wire laying on the manifold it should jump a spark also.
The Wizzard

 

Yah, I was getting sparks earlier when I cleaned the points. The points are not stuck.

 

I think I am done for the week. Leaving on vacation tomorrow. Will resume next week.

Thanks for all the ideas and great input!

BTW - I noticed this was a "Mark Lester" car. He is/was a hamb'er - but hasn't been active since 2009. Anyone know about him?

 

Nice wagon, good luck with it

 

I love those late 50's Fords.

 

More pics! Cause, in lieu of progress, pictures are a close second!

















Found the fourth hubcap!

 

Would just like to add always work from the side when starting or running a car . You never know if something can go wrong and move on you.

 

Thanks for reading it!

From your pictures, it looks like you've got a real solid wagon. I look forward to seeing your progress on it.

 

Sweet ride man!!! I really dig the wagon!!!


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Back from vacation and did just a little more diagnostic work yesterday.

I figured how to crank the engine from under the hood.

Learned that my remote gas feed was not pressurized and therefore won't work.

Determined that I have no spark from the coil.

Can someone describe the process to determine if the coil is getting power?

Should I go ahead and do the points, or wait?

 

You don't need pressure like a FI car. Only about 4 pounds so your gas rig should work if yo have it higher then the carb. If you are not getting fuel throuh the needle valve in the carb then the bowl will not fill and no fuel will be vacuumed into the throttle area.
Are you seeing fuel when you look in the carb and open the throttle?
Getting spark should be the first priority. You shoukld have voltage at the coil with the ignition key in the on/run position.
If not then you need to start checking fuses and battery etc.
Have you checked the plugs and cranked the engine.

 

Yah, I set up my remote fuel system as a gravity feed. I don't think it's enough.

I will start going through the electrical to see whats going on.

Good news is a buddy of mine runs a mobile mechanic service and he's been providing me phone support and is coming over later this week to help diagnose and provide me a little training.

It's all good - just taking longer than I expected.

 

Time and money, a fact of life. Took me 35 years to build my SR.

 

IT STARTS!!

So fired up. My buddy Randy came over today. He actually knows what he's doing. He runs a full shop - with a remote onsite service (in addition to his normal shop).

So he shows up in a big ass truck with all the parts, tools and widgets needed to work on cars in the field. .

And began doing many of the same tests that I've been doing to the car. Checked the cap, rotor, etc. Checked the points. Sanded the points. All the stuff I've been doing.

Not sure what he did different - but we were able to get spark. Up until just a few hours ago I was thinking I had a wiring problem.

Apparently that's not the case.

Then he went back to the truck and got some starter fluid. Immediately you could hear the engine trying to start.

I had butterflies in my stomach.

Randy told me based on looking at the car that it probably hadn't run in 30 years.

All the parts were original. And it's all covered in crud.

We checked the oil. Checked the water. Checked the carb. The carb was full because of my work earlier in the week.

We hooked up a remote starter switch.

We went at it with the starter fluid.

And what do you know?

The damn thing fired right up!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du6xm9KX3VQ&feature=youtu.be

So he gave me a list of things to do before he comes out again.

Get the gas tank done. New belts, hoses, thermostat, flush everything, etc.

Then we're going to tune it up.

We're making progress and I'm fired up!

 

This weekend I was able to change the belts, both radiator hoses, thermostat, air filter. Flushed the radiator and water jacket.

The water jacket was filled with crud. It was really bad. I scraped the thermostat housing with a flathead - cause the rust was a good 1/2" thick in parts. There were chunks of rust and grime in the engine. I ran the hose through the engine for a good 10 minutes or so. Enough till the water ran clear - but not enough to break loose anything that was really stuck.

I dropped the gas tank and will have it boiled and cleaned this week.

after that I just need to re-install the gas tank, clean the lines and do an oil change before starting her back up and see how she does. I'm super excited.

 

Here's some updates and more pics. Since getting the car I've done the cap, rotor. Points, wire, plugs, converted to an inline fuel filter, dropped the tank and am getting it renewed, replaced all hoses and belts. Replaced the thermostat. Flushed the radiator and water jacket. Replaced the rear tail light housings. Replaced the air filter. Cleaned years of grime out of the engine compartment ( no small feat- this stuff was straight up tar) cleaned and painted the air filter housing , valve covers and oil fill top. And polished up some chrome.

Here's more pics with some before and after of the engine compartment.

 

Just stumbled upon your thread. Wagon looks great, glad to hear you got it started up.

I use a 58 Ford Wagon as my daily driver, so I am a bit partial to them. Looks like you have a nice car there. The Country Sedan trim is my favorite.

 

Good news!

I would bypass the heater core until you can replace it. You can't trust them when they've sat that long. It is now the weakest link in the cooling system and will spring a leak at the most inconvenient time.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

MAC's has the heater core, and a conversion kit to get rid of the goofy vacuum setup for the heater control valve. I wish I would of found their conversion kit before I started piecing together my setup, it would of been cheaper and quicker in the long run.

Heater Core:
http://macsautoparts.com/1949-59-fo...ord-b7a-18476-a/camid/F50/cp/9P0H7EDI1000018/

Cable Conversion Kit:
http://macsautoparts.com/campaign_product.asp?camid=THU&pn=JS0R3CHL1119403

They list the cable kit only on their T-Bird Site, but when I called them they said it should fit the passenger car as well. Original heater core and control valve are the same on passenger car and T-Bird for 58. I did not use this, I kind of have a franken heater setup using half vacuum/half cable parts.

 

Thanks for the tips, guys! I installed the rebuilt tank Friday after work and all I had to do before firing it up was an oil change and fill the radiator. Wouldn't you know it, the radiator sprung a leak!

So, I drained the oil ( couldn't do a full change as I had the wrong filter). I'm ordering a new radiator today. And I will order those part from Macs, as well.