'57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan

[Low Elco]

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

[Vic1947]

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.

[Vic1947]

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.

[sduckworth13]

Looks nice and clean Vic, nice work.

[jlsanborn]

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

[Vic1947]

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.

[Elliot949]

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

[Xeen]

Looking good Vic.
Let the dust fly!

[jlsanborn]

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?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

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?

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 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.

[Vic1947]

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.

[ratty 46]

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.

[jlsanborn]

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

[Low Elco]

Nice stuff! Gonna look so niiiiice!

[Vic1947]

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.

[sduckworth13]

Nice work on the inner fenders Vic.

[Vic1947]

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.

[jlsanborn]

"Cubic Money"... 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.

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.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

...How have you managed to keep a windshield intact for that long?

If it had been the correct windshield, I'd have busted it years ago, John.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

... welding all those holes is going to be tricky.

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.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

The result with that vinyl should be pretty cool though! Can't wait to see this interior come together too.

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.

[jlsanborn]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

A little trick I use for small holes is to use a foil tape patch on the backside and epoxy to fill the hole.

See, tricky! Well done.

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

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

...What about these painted bits you've got cooking?

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.

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.

[Xeen]

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!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Xeen

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!

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.

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

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.

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...