Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Victor, Victor, Victor... Looking AWESOME!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

That is gonna be one sweet looking ride:metal:

-Sam

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Dude.. I am soooo going to have to take a drive... or better yet you can do a good shake down cruise to Winfield

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. I sure can use them! I hope I get it running in time for some shakedown runs, Dan. Sure don't want to leave on a 2500 mile trip without a thorough checkout.

I've been nailing down acoustic deadener. But before I could start, I had to pull the driveshaft and dolly the tunnel back up. Between me and the upholstery guys, there were dents in the top of the tunnel from behind the shifter all the way to the back. Long ago, I traded some paint and bodywork for the tunnel work and some other mods. I think they must have used 22 gauge sheet for that stretch. All you have to do is look at it and it bends. Used a big piece of round Delrin and got it back in shape. While I was under there, I topped off the gear oil in the rearend and reset the preload and track on the rear suspension. I had a quarter turn of preload in it and decided to return it to neutral for the trip.

The deadener is taking longer than I remembered. I don't like using a roller on it, so every square inch gets nailed down with a spatula and then all the seams get covered with aluminum tape. I found out the hard way that the black asphaltic material will ooze out when it heats up. To keep it from doing that, I completely seal all exposed edges. Of course, most of this gets covered by carpet anyway, but they'll be tracking around in it before that happens and that stuff sticks to shoes, clothes and especially exposed skin.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nice progress! I like the paint combo. It's going to look really good!

I found this out the hard way too... No fun trying to chase little spots around the shop floor and the wife really likes it when I track it inside the house (NOT! :lol:)

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Same goes around here, Duane. ;)

I think I'm gonna call it good on the acoustic deadener. I didn't cover the entire trunk area, but it gets padding and carpet, so I doubt there will be heat or noise issues. Picked up the separator panel that Keith Daleen rolled an offset bead into and the guys at Sure Coat powder coated for me. It looks great and will hide the springs in the back seat.

I got one of the quarter windows in, despite the fact that the factory service manual recommends putting the glass in before installing the glass runs. I had to install the retainer clips onto the channel using a homemade tool and it took some finesse to get the entire contraption snapped into place. Didn't want to remove it once it was in place, so I took the roller tracks out and installed them after the window glass was in and tucked into the glass run.

I finally committed to the location for the fuse panel, so tomorrow I can start routing the wires to their destinations. Precision had my doors ready, so I went down there this afternoon and picked them up. They had the bumpers, front valance, hood and truck lid ready to go into the booth so they should be in color by now or tomorrow morning at the latest. Only the front fenders are left waiting for their turn.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Everything looks great Vic.
As far as the exhaust noise goes if it's worse than expected and you find it unacceptable you can always add in resonators.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Doors are cool Vic! That thing's a knee-knocker :lol:

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

I just noticed the valve cover paint. Nice touch, Vic!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Thanks, Brian, will do.
Thanks, John! Got your care package and the engraving was freaking great! Photo below.
Thanks, Mike. Like just about everything else on this build, they took three tries. ;)

Taking a little mid afternoon break and thought I'd post a quick note. John offered to do some laser engraving for me, so I sent him the stainless pieces that fit above the knobs on the dash. He knocked them out of the park. They add just the right look to the dash without being too much. Thanks, John!

I've been dealing with the universal wiring harness trying to make it more '57 friendly. I was just about ready to terminate the brake light switch wires and got to looking around for the switch. We all know where it's located on our trucks, but it seemed to be missing on the Ford. Not necessarily a surprise, but after searching high and low thru all my boxes for the switch and coming up empty handed, I finally looked in the manual and found that the switch on these old cars was a hydraulic pressure switch that threaded into a port on the end of the master cylinder. That wouldn't fly here anyway, so I picked up a brake switch for a '68 Chevy C10 at the local parts house. Nothing like some Chevy parts to tune up an old Ford, eh? ;) So anyway, I removed the pedal hanger assembly and drilled and tapped the top of it for the new switch and I'm in business. Time to get back to work!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Looks soo good! That taping sure is tricky , came out great

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Thanks!

I realized the photo I showed of John's engraving didn't display very well. Here's a better shot...

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Those do look sharp on there Vic and you're very welcome! I'm glad I could return a favor :c2:

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nice touch with the c10 brake switch, that actually made me laugh out loud, I love it! :lol:

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Looking good Vic. Those knobs give it a nice look.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Wow! You are building one heckuva ride. Beautiful car, cant wait to see the finished product.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Wiring all done? :lol: When do we fire that bad motor?!!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Nope, still hacking away at it, John. I'm gonna have to start working longer hours. I pushed the upholstery shop out to next Monday and I'm not sure I can make that.

Thanks to everyone that's taken the time to look at where we're headed with this. I appreciate it very much.

Most of the decisions have been made about the routing for the wires. I've bundled them with Techflex, sealed with shrink wrap at both ends. I still have some terminals to install which goes slow when you tin the wire ends, crimp the connector (after having removed the plastic insulator), solder the bare crimped connector to the tinned wire, then finish it off with heat shrink tubing. Using Weather Pack or similar connectors isn't much faster as each style requires its own special procedure. Then there's all the revisions when you discover part way thru that you overlooked a wire you'll need. I've been taping the front to back wire runs down to keep them flat and make sure they don't get pulled out of place when the carpet goes down. I'm fairly close to putting the dash back in. Just need to mock up the a/c lines while everything is out in the open.

Spent part of today under the car doing fuel pump, fuel tank and battery wiring. Years ago, when B-I-L Rick had a salvage yard, I scrounged a fuel shut off switch out of a wrecked Ford. It trips in the event of a crash and shuts off the fuel pump. Sounded like a good idea so it's now officially part of the build.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Took a little time away from the wiring and put the trim on the quarters. Laid out some 4" wide application tape so I could line up and adjust all the trim clips in the moldings without marking up the fresh paint. Applied the carbon fiber tape to the area that previously had a gold anodized filler panel and then tightened down all the clips. Makes a big difference.

Also installed the tail lights. The two tone lines are much less obvious now with the hardware in place.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

WOW it looks phenomenal Vic.
Lets just hope you don't get sued for giving people neck injuries from whipping their heads around on a swivel to look at your car as you go by haha!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Vic... I admire your Eye for Detail... I only wish I lived 200 miles closer to you... That way when I start going together with "Raymond" I could drag you kicking and screaming to help wire it and install the Vintage air, and, and, and, and... LOL... Looks great Vic...

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Holy Snikes! That looks awesome!!!!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Looks awesome Vic! Super clean and tidy work. Let me know when I can assist with the dash.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

WOW, she's looking really good!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

I cant wait to see the rest of this beauty ,you are doing it better than old Henry ever did .

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

WOW! I knew you'd been killing it Vic. Great detail on the wiring - well done! The trim and all those fixin's sure bring it together.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Thanks, guys! It's looking more like an actual car... slowly but surely. I dropped by Precision today and picked up the bumpers. I don't really need them for the upholstery shop, but I'll probably hang the rear one just to keep my head in the game. All the decisions for drilling holes and routing wires can lead to vapor lock. I need an occasional break to install trim or other parts. I took some time yesterday and today to plumb a/c and heater hoses and route the pigtails for the Vintage Air evaporator. I had to order several o-ring beadlock fittings because the kit I bought didn't contain all that I needed. I may still need more when I mount the condenser and drier up front. I keep adding to the time estimate for wiring as I uncover stuff like the trinary switch that ties into the electric fan. All the front end wiring will have to wait until it comes back from upholstery. I have GOT to get it there by the first of next week.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Wow... That Carbon Fiber insert is AWESOME!!!!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

I spy a Christmas tree and hot water tank... Running out of room? :lol:

The inserts and moldings look awesome Vic. Great choice in colors! Can't wait to see it all together.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Thanks, guys! I looked for a long time to find a carbon fiber material that actually looks like real carbon fiber. After ordering a number of sample pieces, this was the closest I found. It's a foil backed material, so it doesn't like to stretch very much. You have to be very careful laying it down to avoid bubbles. If you do get a bubble, you can pierce it with a needle or sharp Xacto then work the air out. Typically, bubbles under vinyl tape will disappear after a few days in warm weather, but this foil backed material is a little sturdier. I had a couple of spots on the dash that gave me fits.

Sort of appropriate to store parts under the Christmas tree. Every time UPS or FedEx shows up, it's like Christmas all over. Kathy is going to be sooo happy when I get all the parts on the car. I used to store parts in the breakfast nook at one of our houses. When I finally got that car together, she went out and bought a table and chairs to put in there before I could start filling it up again. Just give her a half second and she'll reclaim her space. ;)

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

That carbon fiber looks fantastic!!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

x2

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Haha, you should see my guest room! I run out of space in my garage... :)

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

So it's been wiring and more wiring and I've still got 4-5 days of it left if you count the front clip harness, senders, electric fans, a/c and etc. All that will have to wait until it comes back from upholstery. I had hoped to make it by Tuesday and that may still happen, but it's looking more like Wednesday. Believe it or not, I burned the better part of a day on the rear bumper. When I removed the bumper for paint, I left the tabs on the frame thinking it would be a 15-20 minute job to reinstall it. For the life of me, I could not figure out how I removed it and there were some serious interference issues with the brackets. Thanks to the lathe and the mill, I was able to fix everything but when I stood back to view the result it looked terrible. The paint gave it a completely different look. I will need to modify the brackets to raise the bumper an inch and forward about 3/8". I took it off and set it in the other room and will have to address it later.

Meanwhile, up front, I got the evaporator plumbed in. Sent Kathy to Inland Truck with the mocked up hose and she returned shortly with the ends nicely crimped. And the best part was... it was free! Ivan and his crew are great guys. After the hoses were installed and the wiring to the point I could install the dash, I called up Scott and he came by after work to help me. After a false start, the dash went in, but with all the ductwork, the radio and the a/c hoses it was an extremely tight fit. The main problem was the defroster manifold. After tossing and turning half the night, I decided to remove the dash one more time, remove the manifold and use the universal defroster ducts that came with the Vintage Air kit. Much much better. Also, when I removed the dash I found one wire that I must have snipped with the air ratchet and two bulbs pulled out of the instrument pod. With everything fixed, Kathy and I set it back in place and the difference was remarkable. I did have one hiccup, though. While checking the a/c wire harness, I plugged the heat control pot in and forgot to disconnect it while trying to snap the hoses over the defroster ports. Put too much pressure on it and snapped the little printed circuit board coming out of the pot. So it's ruined beyond repair. Summit sells a replacement, but it won't be here in time for me to install it before it goes to the trim shop. Yet one more thing for the punch list.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

The passenger door is on and the glass, power window lift and door solenoid installed. The stainless trim was way off, so I had to loosen it and reposition it for a better match. Little things like that can really eat up the time, though. Tomorrow I'll get the other door hung and maybe even have time left over to start testing the wiring. Need to make sure the doors function before the trim panels go on.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

I can only say WOW!!!... I am having to wipe the drool off of the key board...

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Wow!!! The car is looking awesome Vic! Thanks for having me over, it's always cool to get to see your work in person.

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

Call me jelious.... comming together nicely!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

The quality of work you do both inspires me and makes me want to quit. keep it up, Vic!!!

Re: '57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan
 

That is a TON of work you've done Vic. Farting around with that big bumper with everything being painted must be a PITA too. The vinyl inserts look cooler with each photo you post! Goes perfectly with the paint colors you've chosen. Looking great!!