'57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan

[Low Elco]

I like the frenched lights. Sorry your bumper didn't work out. Go Vic Go!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Man do I understand that getting older stuff

Originally Posted by Low Elco

I like the frenched lights. Sorry your bumper didn't work out. Go Vic Go!

Blessing in disguise, Chip. Using the stock front bumper and outsourcing the grille sped things up considerably.

Like many other parts, I'd sent the bumpers out for straightening and de-chroming years ago. When Charlie Smith did the front end design, I decided to sell the stock stuff and make a few bucks. Figured if they were gone, it would force me to use the Desoto/Pontiac setup. Hauled them to three or four swap meets and never found a buyer. So luckily, I still had them on hand. (Can you say lucky, lucky, lucky?) However, the fit was not what I expected. I knew I'd need to narrow it, but turns out, the bumper had taken a light hit on the driver side. Found a small telltale kink in the same general vicinity as a ding in the valance panel. After pressing, beating and prying it out, it was straight enough to slice and dice.

I cut it in two places outboard, since the inner curves had to match the valance. Took a total of 1-1/4" out of it to get the fit I wanted alongside the fenders. Slight modifications to the bumper brackets and I was in business. Plan is to paint the front and rear bumpers to match the lower body color.

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Blessing in disguise, Chip. Using the stock front bumper and outsourcing the grille sped things up considerably.

Like many other parts, I'd sent the bumpers out for straightening and de-chroming years ago. When Charlie Smith did the front end design, I decided to sell the stock stuff and make a few bucks. Figured if they were gone, it would force me to use the Desoto/Pontiac setup. Hauled them to three or four swap meets and never found a buyer. So luckily, I still had them on hand. (Can you say lucky, lucky, lucky?) However, the fit was not what I expected. I knew I'd need to narrow it, but turns out, the bumper had taken a light hit on the driver side. Found a small telltale kink in the same general vicinity as a ding in the valance panel. After pressing, beating and prying it out, it was straight enough to slice and dice.

I cut it in two places outboard, since the inner curves had to match the valance. Took a total of 1-1/4" out of it to get the fit I wanted alongside the fenders. Slight modifications to the bumper brackets and I was in business. Plan is to paint the front and rear bumpers to match the lower body color.

Hey Vic... what would happen if you tucked that bumper back a few inches... might sleek it a little more without to much difficulty...

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Hey Vic... what would happen if you tucked that bumper back a few inches... might sleek it a little more without to much difficulty...

Probably more difficult than it would appear at first blush, Dan. The tips of the bumpers are already at the leading edge of the front fenders so they'd need to be shortened. Plus, they're tapered, so sectioning 2" out would entail pie cutting the ends to make them match up. Maintaining the outer curve of the valance after sectioning out 2" would be tricky. And then there's the bumper brackets. No real room to move them back that much, so you'd have to start from scratch.

I did a lot of work on the rear bumper to make it fit closer to the body. It's off of a '58, so it's close, but I had to cut up the inner bumper bracket structure off the '57 to make it fit. Didn't have a bracket for a '58, so I was forced to do the modification. Had to section a tapered piece out of the center of the rear bumper to make it tuck in closer. Lot's of work to get the angles correct. Bought the bumper 8-10 years ago and never unwrapped it. It had a nice kink in it where a PO had hooked a chain to it to either pull or be pulled. The 12 ton press, 2 lb. sledge hammer, dolly and I all got a workout.

[Elliot949]

Very nice...

[Xeen]

Helluva good job on the headlights Vic they really change the way the front end of the car looks for the better.

[jlsanborn]

Looks stout, top notch welding Vic! You made the headlight bucket trick look easy and it came out sharp

Re-chrome outta the picture? Saw over on Losh's thread where they wanted $750 or something to re-plate a grill Sure like the look of your first plan up front but the custom grille and what you did with the lights will still look great. I actually think it looks a little cleaner. Imagine you'll still tweak it somehow from that anyway

Lots more questions but I don't want to kill your morning schedule. Get on it!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Very nice...

Originally Posted by Xeen

Helluva good job on the headlights Vic they really change the way the front end of the car looks for the better.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Looks stout, top notch welding Vic! You made the headlight bucket trick look easy and it came out sharp
Re-chrome outta the picture? Saw over on Losh's thread where they wanted $750 or something to re-plate a grill Sure like the look of your first plan up front but the custom grille and what you did with the lights will still look great. I actually think it looks a little cleaner. Imagine you'll still tweak it somehow from that anyway
Lots more questions but I don't want to kill your morning schedule. Get on it!

Thanks, guys.

At first, I planned to re-chrome the bumpers, but got talked out of it. From a practical standpoint, the rear bumper especially needs a lot of work and to make it look perfect would require big bucks. I can paint them both for a fraction of the cost of chrome, plus I don't have to ship them off and be at the mercy of someone else's schedule.

Over the weekend, after finishing up the bumper brackets, I blew apart the front clip and loaded all the pieces in the little truck. Hauled them to Eagle Stripping yesterday to be blasted clean. On the way home, we stopped at the upholstery shop to check their schedule. They're slow right now, so I plan to drop off the seats tomorrow so they can get started. He prefers to do the door panels on the car, so the seats are it for now. Went ahead and removed the tracks and trim pieces from the buckets I'll be using. Also, I needed to modify the rear seat frames to clear the tubs, so I removed the ancient covers, welded in new stiffening ribs and cut out the old frame. The frame is in amazing condition for as old as it is. Should finish up on them today.

Seeley, my little helper from down the street, kept busy cranking the wheels on the lathe while I whittled on the seats. Kinda dark over in the corner because the fluorescent ballast in that fixture died for the third time. Ordered several LED replacement tubes ($$$) but they're supposed to last forever and put out a lot more light.

[Low Elco]

Ha, Trans Am seats. Had some in my Cutlass in HS. They go all... the.... way... back. Who's doing your trimming? Them bumpers is a PITA, I've straightened a couple. They look good!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Ha, Trans Am seats. Had some in my Cutlass in HS. They go all... the.... way... back. Who's doing your trimming? Them bumpers is a PITA, I've straightened a couple. They look good!

Yep, 82-84 versions. Had them for 22 years. We're talking with Jeff Riddle at Gladstone Custom Upholstery. Plan to go in tomorrow with the buckets, pick out materials and then see if we can schedule the car in the first of next week for the back seats, door and quarter side panels, package tray and console. All those pieces can come back out for paint and it only leaves carpet, headliner, windlace and mouldings for later.

[sduckworth13]

Nice work on the headlights Vic. I went to Gladstone Custom Upholstery when I was looking for someone to redo my buddy buckets. I thought the guy was so far from reasonable on his prices. I ended up having them done at The Interior Shop in Kansas City 5x cheaper than the quote he gave.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Nice work on the headlights Vic. I went to Gladstone Custom Upholstery when I was looking for someone to redo my buddy buckets. I thought the guy was so far from reasonable on his prices. I ended up having them done at The Interior Shop in Kansas City 5x cheaper than the quote he gave.

We haven't discussed price, just the scope of the work. Kathy and I are going there tomorrow to pick out materials and once we do that, he should be able to give us a ballpark estimate. My gut tells me this falls under the "Good, Fast, Cheap - Pick One" principle. If you want good, it probably won't be fast or cheap. That said, if it falls too far outside my comfort zone, I'll look somewhere else. Did you actually get the work done at The Interior Shop or just get a quote?

[sduckworth13]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

We haven't discussed price, just the scope of the work. Kathy and I are going there tomorrow to pick out materials and once we do that, he should be able to give us a ballpark estimate. My gut tells me this falls under the "Good, Fast, Cheap - Pick One" principle. If you want good, it probably won't be fast or cheap. That said, if it falls too far outside my comfort zone, I'll look somewhere else. Did you actually get the work done at The Interior Shop or just get a quote?

Yes, I had the work done at The Interior Shop. I was really impressed with the work they did and actually piped them, used a perforated simulated leather on the inset and bolstered them for free. I gave the guy a general idea of how I wanted them to look and when I went to pick them up I seriously about fell over. I do know the guy in Gladstone does show quality work, but I just couldn't see giving $2500.00 to redo my seats. I want to add that I told him to take his time and get to them when he could, because I wasn't in a hurry. It took three weeks, I figured that if I didn't rush him he'd cut me deal. I think I got a great price, I've also read some reviews for the shop and everything I read they are fair to everyone.

[texasld]

This is my favorite picture of the car that I snapped when I was checking out CRLS the 460 next to the 460V. Hehe The two extremes of the automotive industries!

[JayMc46]

Cost of operating,low cost small thrills, more cost BIG THRILLS. Gas is cheap for now. Keep on keeping on.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by texasld

This is my favorite picture of the car that I snapped when I was checking out CRLS the 460 next to the 460V. Hehe The two extremes of the automotive industries!

Polar opposites for sure, Mike!

Originally Posted by JayMc46

Cost of operating,low cost small thrills, more cost BIG THRILLS. Gas is cheap for now. Keep on keeping on.

If that's the case, Jay, I should be thrilled beyond belief when this is all done. Just hoping gas doesn't zoom back up to $4 a gallon by June.

Kathy and I went to Gladstone Custom Upholstery this morning (and again this afternoon). We picked out vinyl colors, headliner and carpet. Jeff's ballpark estimate was right where I thought it should be, so we left the front seats and visors with him so he could get started. Looks like we will be trailering the car to him the end of next week for the back seats, package tray and side panels. After paint, we'll return it to him and he can do the carpet, headliner and console.

We discussed the rear bench seat issues and decided to cut the bottom seat into two smaller sections. The mini-tubs and the custom driveshaft tunnel made it nearly impossible to maintain the full bench seat. So I've been hacking it to bits today. Should have it all back together by tomorrow night.

[Vic1947]

I had planned to be done with the rear seat mods by tonight, but it didn't pan out that way. I did get the driver side finished which is more than half the battle since I can use it as a guide for the other side. I reckon the rear seats will mainly be for show anyway. I doubt they'll be comfortable enough to ride in for any distance.

[sduckworth13]

Nice work Vic on the seat! I'm always amazed at everything you know how to do and how well it looks when your done with it.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

When cars like this were new in the fifties that door gap was fine. Funny how they looked so perfect when they were new, back when matching numbers and inconsistent gaps didn't matter.
You are doing some great work on this car, and that a/c control is beautiful.

Ain't that the truth. Somewhere along the line, keeping up with the Jones'es became a national pastime. The first bodywork I ever did was using aluminum screen wire and Bondo to fix rust holes. Thought it looked positively professional way back then. My how things have changed.

Too early for a punch list and rather than focus on a plan, I've been settling for getting small stuff done. I keep telling myself it all has to be done eventually, but I'm leaving a lot of half done tasks in my wake. I did manage to get the brake leak fixed and now have working four corner discs. Cut and fit the hoses and spark plug wires and mounted the coil on the engine.

The e-brake came in from Jegs and I decided how to install it. Because of the work I did to the firewall, I couldn't use it for the forward mount. Had to make an angled bracket to bolt to the side of the cowl. There are fifteen bolts that hold it together and due to the tight spaces, it goes together like a Rubik's cube. Each bolt has to be installed in a certain way and in the correct order. But at least it's going to work. I machined the mounting pads for the remote trans cooler today and marked the location for the holes, but will have to finish up tomorrow. Keep having to order parts I forgot, which contributes to the "half fast" pace.

Speaking of parts, the tube grille and the halo headlights came in at the end of last week. Both look great. The lights will require some mods to the buckets as the locators don't match up, but that's an easy fix. Also received the billet knobs for the wiper and headlight switches and re-drilled them for the correct shaft size. Like I said, lotsa little stuff but it all adds up. I have to take a day tomorrow and put brakes on the Ranger. It failed inspection and I choked on the quote to fix it. Bought more stuff than they were going to replace and still came in at 25% of the cost.

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Ain't that the truth. Somewhere along the line, keeping up with the Jones'es became a national pastime. The first bodywork I ever did was using aluminum screen wire and Bondo to fix rust holes. Thought it looked positively professional way back then. My how things have changed.

Too early for a punch list and rather than focus on a plan, I've been settling for getting small stuff done. I keep telling myself it all has to be done eventually, but I'm leaving a lot of half done tasks in my wake. I did manage to get the brake leak fixed and now have working four corner discs. Cut and fit the hoses and spark plug wires and mounted the coil on the engine.

The e-brake came in from Jegs and I decided how to install it. Because of the work I did to the firewall, I couldn't use it for the forward mount. Had to make an angled bracket to bolt to the side of the cowl. There are fifteen bolts that hold it together and due to the tight spaces, it goes together like a Rubik's cube. Each bolt has to be installed in a certain way and in the correct order. But at least it's going to work. I machined the mounting pads for the remote trans cooler today and marked the location for the holes, but will have to finish up tomorrow. Keep having to order parts I forgot, which contributes to the "half fast" pace.

Speaking of parts, the tube grille and the halo headlights came in at the end of last week. Both look great. The lights will require some mods to the buckets as the locators don't match up, but that's an easy fix. Also received the billet knobs for the wiper and headlight switches and re-drilled them for the correct shaft size. Like I said, lotsa little stuff but it all adds up. I have to take a day tomorrow and put brakes on the Ranger. It failed inspection and I choked on the quote to fix it. Bought more stuff than they were going to replace and still came in at 25% of the cost.

Very nice install on the E-Brake... that is a clean application...

[texasld]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I have to take a day tomorrow and put brakes on the Ranger. It failed inspection and I choked on the quote to fix it. Bought more stuff than they were going to replace and still came in at 25% of the cost.

I's outstanding what they will git you for. "You blinker fluid is empty, your muffler bearing is shot and worst of all, the air in your tires need to be changed from summer to winter air. Total will be $1,499.99 plus tax.

[Gus350]

Hey Vic the engine looks real good what type of distributor are you running, and is the coil mounted to the head. I'm trying to try and figure out how to best hide the coil on a 350.

Thanks Kevin

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Gus350

Hey Vic the engine looks real good what type of distributor are you running, and is the coil mounted to the head. I'm trying to try and figure out how to best hide the coil on a 350.

Thanks Kevin

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.

[swamp rat]

No doubt i'd be lost on that one! Nice seat frame work, are ya gonna split the upper and have some kind of divider section there as well? Maybe i missed it, pretty tired right now.

Another thing comes to mind, how lucky is it that you and Kathy can actually agree on colors and materials ect.. Anytime it comes to that kinda stuff or painting a house me and Meg just end up butting heads, i learned that if i'm gonna do something i just do it and don't ask LOL!

[Elliot949]

Well if your rear passengers did the "Getto Lean" it would probably be pretty comfortable... LOL