Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Hey Kevin, distributor is a Mallory Unilite and yes, the coil is mounted to the head. MSD recommends mounting it vertically, but I didn't have room for that and I've seen a ton of them laying flat from the factory. I originally planned to run a MSD box with a RPM selectable rev limiter. Built a mounting plate for all of it and even ball end milled the bottom to act as a quasi heat sink. I've abandoned that for now in the interest of getting the car on the road. Maybe later.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

WOW! THAT is how you make a mounting plate friends. It's all looking superb Vic. Keep it coming!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

As always Vic... Beautiful work... I wish I lived closer to you... I would love to be part of this build...

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Are you going to install the keyless start from RCLS into the Ford? I'm really wanting to see someone do this install before I cough up the cash for the kit.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

You can do that sort of thing when your build timeline is 25 years, John. ;)Me too, Dan. I very much appreciate the help I get from the local guys. Scott and Brian are always good to come over when I call. It's nice to be able to brainstorm ideas with other builders ...and pictures can only tell part of the story.
Nope, no plans for that, Mike. The shaved door pop locks have their own box with key fobs to open the doors. Plus there really isn't a good place to mount the start button that comes with the kit. So it will have to wait till summer when I pick back up on the Crusty.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Lookin great as always! Good to talk to you the other night.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

It's too soon to be running out of steam, but all these hours can take a toll. So Kathy and I went to Sedalia on Wednesday to visit Dad and hang with Steve for a while. Gave my fingers and aching back a chance to heal up a little bit. Steve enlarged the drawing we used to laser cut the stainless trim pieces for the valve covers and drew it out on the plotter. Laid it out on the door panels to get an idea of how the charcoal insert will look. My upholstery guy is finishing up a Mustang in his shop and will hopefully be ready for me to haul the car to him next week. I made a quick trip to Eagle Stripping and picked up the front clip and bumper pieces. They were supposed to primer the parts, but apparently had a mixup in communication, so I dropped them off at Precision for a coat of self etching primer and a couple of coats of 2K. Should be ready for mud by Monday.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to get a few things finished up. The e-brake is finally done and functional. I was having fits getting the Lokar cable routed with the exhaust in the way. I finally decided to come in from the side and build a pulley to turn the cable 90 degrees. It fits in the original location where the stock lever mounted. Had to triangulate it with a brace to keep it from bending but it's good and solid.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

The guide rods for the e-brake cable disappeared somewhere along the line, so I needed to make some new ones. Kathy made a quick trip to Metal by the Foot this morning and picked up some 3/16" rod. Setup some pins (couple of punches work great) to make the tight radius bends. The plastic eyelets fit in the hook and smooth out the action.

I also mounted the arm rests and mounting plates for the rear speakers so I'm good for whenever the upholstery shop calls. I need to start slinging mud.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Looks nice and clean Vic, nice work.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nice looking work Vic. I've been eyballin my park brake cables and this is inspiring.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

The shop is looking a little bare this evening. Scott's buddy Russ showed up this morning early with his rollback and loaded up the '57 for the trip to the upholstery shop. Snow was in the forecast and we had a very small window to get it there, but we made it in good shape. Russ gave me the buddy deal on the tow, which I greatly appreciated. As soon as we unloaded, Jeff (the upholsterer) and I went over the details and sketched out the design for the side panels. One of his guys said it looked like the "leanback" for the backseat needed more clearance between it and the bottom cushions. We decided to remove the bottom rail which would give them another 1.25" for the foam. Took it out and back home with me for the modification. By lunch it was snowing heavily, so I threw the completed part into the Ranger and returned it to them. Nearly didn't make it home the roads were so slick. People stuck going up the hills which creates an interesting obstacle course. Twenty minutes later and I'd have had to wait for the snowplows. Couple of buckets of sand would have helped a lot. ;)

Anyway, the good news is that Jeff plans to get the side panels cut out and the foam on the seats and then he says I can pick up the car while he covers it all. That should speed up things greatly. I got the front clip back from John and Mike at Precision, sealed and with a couple of coats of 2K primer on them. While the car is at the trim shop, I'll mud everything up and when it returns, I should be ready for final assembly before going to paint. Lots to do.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nice stuff Vic... You are rolling right along...

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Looking good Vic.
Let the dust fly!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Plenty to keep you busy while the car is away. I spy a Speed Glas helmet. I remember yours went bonkers a while back but don't remember you getting a new one. Rolled through the '67 thread looking and got lost in the candy-land photos. Speaking of... What's up with them stainless exhaust clamps (sorry, CRLS)? Do they make them to go over a slip joint so you could actually get it back apart one day?

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Yep I still have the Speedglas, John, which now has two functional lenses. Thought the original had failed, so I found a new one on eBay that was reasonably priced and bought it.
Swapped them out and then :cuss: discovered the problem with the original was a defective battery holder which you can buy for about $4.
I now have a pricey paperweight on my desk. May come in handy one of these days, though, you never know.

The band clamps come straight or stepped for joining two same size tubes or a slip joint. Walker makes some nice aluminized versions that are little less expensive than the stainless ones.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Jeff at the trim shop called a couple of times today with a few questions. Late this afternoon he called for my cell number so he could text some pictures. I was forced to admit I only have a prepaid cell and I never have it on me unless I'm on the road. Plus it has a screen about the size of a postage stamp, so pictures are impossible to view. Gave him my email address, but I guess he's not setup for that on his end. So... no new interior pics, but I do have a few front clip shots.

The bumpers are done and the header panel is ready for final sanding so the last big mod I needed to make was to the inner fender panel on the passenger side. It had a lot of rot where the battery sat and about 10 or 15 years ago, I scabbed some fiberglass over the area. Times have changed and that doesn't work anymore, so I ground out the last of the fiberglass and made a pattern for a metal filler piece. I removed the recess where the battery sat and now it looks like the driver side. Or it will when I get it welded out. ;)

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

When I read the post about the fiberglass I had to chuckle a bit ... Younger guys might not appreciate the humor in it but that was a viable fix "back in the day" & a very expectable form of repair.

Now a day ... your re-repair is the only real acceptable form of repair. No one I know of, unless it's on a corvette, would do the old stuff now.

Nice repair.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Solid work Vic. Can't wait to see some fabric and paint!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nice stuff! Gonna look so niiiiice!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Thanks, guys. Just a quick update, not a lot of pics, but most of what I've been doing is pretty boring. I finished the patch on the passenger side inner fender and welded up the holes in both panels. Both are ready for a couple of heavy coats of Slick Sand and then 2K primer. I'm currently working on the lower valance and interior garnish moldings. Took off a bit this morning and went to the upholstery shop to check on their progress. The backing boards for the side panels are basically done and they were breaking down the front seats while I was there. Good progress, I'd say. They plan to replace some of the tie wraps I used when I cut down the seat frames with the correct metal clamps, as some of the ties already turned loose. I'm guessing it won't be long before I can pick up the car and bring it back home. They'll sew the covers and trim it all out after they get the foam in place and won't need the car there for that part. I've got a few more days of work on the clip, so that should work out well.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nice work on the inner fenders Vic.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

This morning, I mocked up the front fender trim on the driver side. I know the car has had a few scrapes in the distant past, and apparently, the driver side front fender was replaced at some point. It has a dual pattern punched for the upper trim strip. I needed to see which ones to fill since I don't want moisture coming in from behind. Plus, some of the unused holes peek out below the trim piece. Fairlanes had different trim, but the fender is likely meant to fit it as well. The original gold insert panels would have covered the holes, but I'm using a metal backed carbon fiber printed vinyl in place of the original panels. Don't want the holes to cause problems.

It warmed up enough this afternoon to shoot Slick Sand over the inner fenders, the header panel and the lower valance. I also prepped some of the interior garnish moldings for primer/paint. Not sure if I mentioned it, but I plan to paint all the interior parts myself. We should start to see an occasional day suitable for painting in the next few weeks.

I received the replacement glass for the quarter windows today. I was right to be worried about it. The "smoke" tint is quite a bit different than the door and vent window glass. It has more of a green cast to it, whereas the rest of the side glass is more of a blue gray color. I contacted a glass company off the internet and they're working on a solution for me. To compound matters, the windshield has never looked right. Corners seem tucked in too tight. I bought it from an individual a long time ago and my suspicion is that it's for a Fairlane. So I'm hoping the glass company can put together a package that has the correct windshield and matching tinted side glass. Nothing that cubic money can't fix.
:waah:

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

"Cubic Money"... :lol: Bummer on the glass Vic.

How have you managed to keep a windshield in tact for that long? I've busted two "keepers" in the last two years and never moved them. :dohh:

The trim work looks tedious and welding all those holes is going to be tricky. The result with that vinyl should be pretty cool though! Can't wait to see this interior come together too.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

If it had been the correct windshield, I'd have busted it years ago, John. ;)
I figured I didn't really need to weld them up. A little trick I use for small holes is to use a foil tape patch on the backside and epoxy to fill the hole. Afterwards, I primer the backside and then undercoat (or paint) it. The hole ends up being sealed on both sides so no worries about corrosion. I've never had any issues with witness marks showing up later due to the different expansion coefficients of the materials, but I usually reserve this technique for those hard to get at, out of the way places.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

And cue up the pictures...

Jeff called this morning with a few questions and asked if I could come down and preview the work. Hopped in the truck and made a beeline for his place. The side panels are basically done and the foam is on the rear seats, Front seats have been sewn but not smoothed and straightened like they will be after the final fitment. You get the idea, though. He said I could pick up the car tomorrow and they wouldn't need it back until after the paint is done. I'm a happy camper! This is going much faster than I expected.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

See, tricky! Well done.

Upholstery is going great! What about these painted bits you've got cooking?

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Still being prepped. According to the weatherman, the next couple of weeks are going to be the coldest we've seen this winter so far. Which means spraying anything is problematic. I'm hoping the car will be at the paint shop by the end of the month and maybe by then there will be some better weather. Having the car out of here will also make it a lot easier to rack all the stuff I need to squirt. Every time I think I'm on or ahead of schedule, I run across some parts that still need attention. I wake up in the middle of the night with a punch list running thru my head. Seems to be getting longer instead of shorter. :lol:

Anyway, as soon as I post this, I'm headed to the upholstery shop to meet the rollback driver. We'll load up the car and bring it home for the final stretch of body prep, then on to paint ...hopefully within the next two weeks.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

You weren't kidding when you said this one is a lot closer to being finished than the pickup, it seems like it's being completed at breakneck speed, the upholstery is nearly finished and it will be ready for paint in two weeks, wow!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

It's much closer, but there's still a lot to do, Brian. Days like today remind me of that. Russ transported it back to the house this morning and helped us push it into the workshop. I had to take off for a while this afternoon as we changed internet providers and I wanted to observe and then tidy up the wiring after they left. So between the sideshows, I didn't get as much done as I wanted.

I did get the driver door gutted of the glass, glass runs, power lift and the latch / pop lock hardware. It's been probably 7 or 8 years since I installed it, and in typical "Vic style" the mechanisms are heavily modified and fit together like a Rubik Cube. Figuring out what I'd done all those years ago took awhile and made me feel really old. Also removed the trunk lid and repaired some of the places I hosed up when adjusting the gaps. Removed and disassembled the billet arm rests then wrapped them for the trip to the anodizer. Still need to remove the dash and the glass / hardware on the passenger door. That's what creeps me out... taking stuff apart at this stage.

The fenders have a bunch of low spots and after chasing a few of them, I did what I should have from the get go and blocked them with a flat board. I thought I could run my hand over them and feel the depressions, but some were so shallow only blocking identified them. So I'm neck deep in plastic filler. It's good to have it home though.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

I sympathize with you Vic... I have a OEM hood and running my hand over it I thought it was really nice with only a couple of "light hail" dents... man did I get my eyes opened...

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Jay called this morning to see if I was still sucking air. Said he figured I was more bowed up than a Halloween cat. True that.

I've just about got the body work whipped. John called from Precision to let me know the trucking company had delivered my windshield, so when I went to pick it up, I quizzed him about his schedule. Naturally, the shop was as full as I've ever seen it, but he said he thought they could start on it Monday. We agreed that I'd drop off the front clip to start with and the rest of the body in a few days.

They'll need to squirt a couple of coats of 2K primer on the parts and do the final blocking with 500 grit. Between now and then, I have to apply Slick Sand to the fenders and the areas on the trunk lid that I had to revisit (my original lines weren't up to snuff). I'll block everything before delivering to Precision and that way I'll know if there's anything I missed.

It's been a real treat getting all the original lines straight. Back in the day, people didn't think anything of jumping up and sitting on a fender or the hood. The cars were sturdy... but not that sturdy. The cumulative abuse from over a half century just kept on popping out. But it's pretty much in the rearview. Except for the shop cleanup. You may notice I've covered some of my stuff in a futile attempt to keep the dust at bay.

Got lots of stuff to do while the car is out for paint. I'll be painting the interior sheet metal and I have to replace all the side glass. I'm dreading that as I used urethane to install some of it and that crap doesn't even want to turn loose. Research says heat is about the only effective way to deal with it. I know from recent experience that a hot knife doesn't begin to cut it so I guess I'll break out the MAPP gas.

After getting the car back from the upholstery shop, I finished installing the trans cooler and made the piece to hide the back of the rear seat. Steve was here yesterday and he took it back to Sedalia so our buddy, Keith, could roll a 1/8" step into it. Then it goes to Jonathon at Sure Coat for powder.

I also had to remake yet another brake line. Thought I had the leak fixed, but noooo... there was a droplet on the floor after a few days and sure enough it was coming from a different connection. I'd already tightened it more than it should have been, so the only recourse was a new line. I haven't seen a fresh leak yet, but it's a sneaky bast@#d. Time will tell.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

What brand of 2k do you use

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Yikes, side glass too?! Is that seat back visible through the trunk? Bet it'll be nice to be done with the sand paper and get a broom down :)

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Hey Dan, I use SPI (Southern Polyurethanes, Inc.) products. You can browse their stuff on the web, but you'll need to call them with an order. I don't know what Precision Collision uses, but it smells different when you sand it than the SPI. Having been in the body bidness, I'm sure you're like me and don't want to risk mixing product lines too much. That said, modern 2K primers seem to tolerate a wide range of topcoats and I've never had an issue with SPI.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Thanks Vic .. so it is a high build?... what tip do y out spray with.. .3 or .5

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Yeah, the quarter glass I planned to use that matched the front door and vent glass had to be replaced. One was delaminated and the other was cracked. The tint on then new pieces was way different than the old so it wouldn't look right. I've ordered the door and vent glass to match the new quarter glass I have. While I was at it, I was concerned that the windshield might not be the right one. Test fitting the one I had into the opening led me to think it might be for a Fairlane. Rather than risk it not working, I ordered a new one that is specific to the '57 70A/70B body. Set the two side by side this morning and measured them. Of course, the new one is exactly the same as what I have.:banghead:

The seat back springs show thru the opening at the front of the trunk which is why I made the panel. It will hide them from view. The trim shop wants me to finish out the trunk in matching vinyl and carpet including side panels that hide the insides of the quarter panels. Not sure about that yet. May have to wait until we get back from from Power Tour and see how much is left in the piggy bank.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

They offer a regular build and a high build. I've tried both and like the regular build better but YMMV. I use a 2.0 mm tip which works reasonably well. Years ago it would have been too stingy, but these days, the reduced volume cuts down on the runs. With primer, an occasional run is nothing to worry about, but I still prefer to avoid them if possible. As I enter my second (third... fourth?) childhood, my attention span ain't what it used to be, so I need all the help I can get.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nice work Vic, and thanks for the help on the lug nut spacers and blocking tutorial crash course. I can really appreciate how much time and skill goes into blocking any fender but especially those fenders you have with all the contours on it. That inner fender you repair looks great too.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Man I understand that attention span deal... at 60 I have ADDHDD plus more ADD... LOL... I get bored WAY to easy...

Thanks for the info... I have been using Dupont Uro-Prime but the changed the formula a few years ago and it just isn't the same...

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Looks like you'll be taking care of another one for a while. That's a drag Vic but at least you'll have a spare.