Technical A Kid's First Project: 1957 Fairlane 500 Town Victoria.

indeed i am, i need to buy my next run of alliance haha, i forgot to buy it earlier

 

Those windshields were designed to pop out in a wreck. I saw one in a 1958 Ford do that around 1965. It t-boned another car, the whole dealie popped out, skipped across the hood of the other car, hit the pavement and never fell over. It never even broke. The gasket and trim came with it.

I had 2 rust holes in the floor pan of my new 1966 Belair in odd spots. I used fiberglass to fix them. Of course this is hidden but an option.

 

the floors are far gone enough to justify patching. this little spot would be a PITA to fix and should stop the leaking into the cabin

 

well, i had a bad time today.

cracked, twice.

the seal isnt even fully installed because it wouldnt go, the string kept breaking.

 

Ow, sorry about that

 

now i need a windshield and it still has problems

 

Everything has to be surgically clean before the "new" one goes in. I used a new gasket and shot paint all around the opening first.

I had a mobile glass guy. He us now retired. He came to my shop and installed mine, which had to come out once for a 2nd attempt which worked.

 

the gasket area was somehow rot and dirt free. just had some rubber cement that was still pliable, felt like it was fiberous (probably asbestos!)

i cleaned it really good, guess i didnt do it well enough, plus the edges were nearly falling apart on this windshield, time really didnt do it very good.

 

I'm sure you already know this but the Std 57 Ford windshield is taller than the Fairlane.
When looking for one, make sure it will work. A center height measurement should be enough.

 

Wow, I just discovered this thread, and it is extremely similar to my own ‘57 Chevy thread. I’m inspired though to see you driving yours, mine still isn’t roadworthy and I bought it in 2017 when I was 19. I’ll have to read through this whole thread now!

Edit: hell I even had an ‘09 Crown Vic for a few weeks back in 2018 as my daily. Rear end blew up and I sold it quickly, but so funny to see the similarities in your thread to my own experience.

 

im currently driving a 1996 crown victoria,

i believe you were mentioned in here somewhere. my 57 was roadworthy. then i broke it :/

 

Old glass is brittle and can't be manhandled too much. You can shop around for a replacement. Mine came from Sanderson Hot Rod Glass, IIRC in Washington. He had the best shipping and the box was huge.

 

ordered a rad, i think this winter im going to finally try my hand at welding. wont be on the 57 first though.

i bought a rustyish shitbox specifically to try welding on, a cheap 1993 capri xr2.

as a benefit, its a decently reliable little turbocharged 5 speed car i can beat around in this spring

 

First and foremost, fire safety.
Second, clean surfaces to join.
Third, it takes 10 thousand hours to master something. You will stumble and fail. That's a given. Keep trying.

 

Definitely will, i plan on learning on this because its new, cheap, and relatively lame.

 

Find stuff to practice on, old bed frames on trash night. People throw out lots of metals.