1952-59 Ford The Geissler 55

Well here's the 55 that we are building for the Geissler family thus far

As it arrived...the car had a thunderbird block that had been rebuilt by the family's Mechanic in Laredo. Unfortunately the car was torn apart and then set outside for a year or so as he gave them the run around. The block was left with the spark plugs out and the valve covers not bolted leaving the engine open to the elements. Needless to say the block is trashed and half of the parts for the car are now missing.







We tore the car down and put everything in our blasting booth to see what we were working with...





After blasting we saw what was ahead of us and got to it. We ordered replacement panels from EMS and what was not available we fabbed in house.









We found a donor car in central Texas and picked it up. I wish we could have started with this car as it was very very cherry. So....we cut out the complete trunk floor, rear body panel, and the p***enger's quarter panel. We are in the process of putting these panels in now...I'm glad we found the parts car because it was 100% complete and now we have all the small do-dads and trim. I'll post more as we get there.

 

Good stuff, definitely keep us updated and post those pics...sure helps out the newbs like myself to see others work.

 

I wish I had the room to do that to my car...

 

Looks great! Looking for a car to do for the Geno family? Keep the pics coming.

 

All the panels we needed off the parts car were removed, prepped, and blasted for installation. The panels were then temporarily gapped and held in place with self tapping screws. Making sure that everything fits and latches saves lots of headaches later.









Here's the donor parts

 

We've got to get everything to fit...











Moving right along.

Merry Christmas guys!

 

Nice progress! I wish I had your skills with a welder.

 

These are the builds that need to have a "picture progress build book" to show all the work being done. After it is done and perfect it's hard to tell anyone and have them believe all the work that was done. Looks great!

 

Thanks for the kind words guys! Ede {pronounced Eddie} is my our shop's fab/weld guy, he's on the HAMB as niceguyede. In the pic is Christian, he's Ede's helper and I'm really proud of the work he has done on this car thus far.

Our engine builder just let us know that he is done with the motor so we will post pics as we build the frame out....

 

Awesome work. I really dig this thread- thanks for taking the time to post!

 

Well we have moved along at a good clip on the 55'. The car is now a roller with all panels gapped and hung and body work has begun. This is a snap shot of how we got there...

We finished with all welding that was needed on the shell so we could spray the bottom before it was bolted back to the frame. This meant we had to pre-gap the doors and gap the relation to the wheel skirts.



We then seamed sealed the interior and underside. The bottom was coated with Upol's Raptor kit. This stuff dries with a nice texture and is hard not rubbery.





We then moved on to the frame. Unfortunately we found that the front control arm bolts had wallered out the frame leaving the arms loose and out of alignment. Our parts car was pretty rusted out on the cross member so we had to fix the frame. We re-boxed the cross member and added another plate on top where the bolts were to go through. We also had crush tubes and bracing like stock to keep the member from collapsing.





After the frame was ***embled the shell was placed back on. We will hang all the panels and make sure all latch with no surprises before we start blocking. Once the outside is completely blocked the car will be dis***embled and prepped for paint so there will be no tape lines.








Now is the time to modify any panel so that everything fits just right.

 

wow tremendous work! more please!

 

Our transmission case is cracked...let me know if any of you guys have a three speed case near DFW. Also the pinion gears are bad in the rear. It would be cheaper to rebuild one, if anyone has one. We are putting a 351 bottom block with a street-able edlebrock top end kit. This will be hooked to a stock three speed overdrive.

I'm open to any suggestions on what to run on the rear...

 

Use a Ford 8" rear from an early Mustang , Maverick or Comet . If you are real lucky , you might find a 9" rear from a 66/67 Mustang but the 8" Ford rear will do you fins . The width is about 1/4" off . I am doing the same thing to my 55 Fairlane fordor Town Sedan !
What tans case do you need ? I have a spare Y block 3 speed trans sitting here doing nothing ! I am in Pa but I can take all the parts out of the case to save on weight for shipping .

Jim

 

We need a stock three speed coming out of a 54 through 56 ford. The car has a overdrive on it, but from what I'm told the three speed case is the same with or without? I post the numbers if need be. Thanks for the tip on the mustang rear. I have one sitting here so I'll see how it goes. I was hoping for a explorer to fit so it would have disks, but they are to wide. Also I don't really trust a lot of the rear width charts that are out there....

 

The center chunk is offset on the Exploder rear end, you can shoerten the long axle tube and use two short axles to get it narrower...

 

In a word, this thread is "awesome!"

I will have to say, this is the first time that I have ever seen this much care and wonderful detail given over to a fordor car, not that it's a bad thing, believe me. What is the story behind the car? there has to be a good one if the family is investing so much TLC into the car...it looks like they will have much more invested than what the street value would be, so I am sure that somebody LOVES this car.

Nice project, and beautiful attention to detail, guys! Lovin' it.

 

The family hails from Laredo Tx. This car has been in the family for a very long time and is or was the mom's car. The kids, along with dad, brought the car in after having the car at the family's mechanic shop for 3 years. You know the story, guy starts project then gets on dope....
Anyway Mom was convinced that half her parts were gone and she would probably never see the car again. The kids both learned to drive in the car and knew how much Mom loved her soooooo....they scooped it up and brought it here as a surprise. Mom has know idea that the car is being knocked out to the way she always wanted it. All would be happy and great except that only a few weeks ago Mom was found to have cancer and it seems to have gone to her liver. She is scheduled to start cemo in a week...
That is why we are busting our ***, but every car gets this much attention here. Maybe I can get Pops on here, he seems to be a pretty cool dude and is knee deep in thunderbirds of this vintage.

 

Alright - that's what we suspected. Can you say, "cover story"? Hope and pray that mom Geissler turns out ok. Cancer is tough!

and...we hope and pray that this car gets done in time for mom to see it and enjoy it if the worst is going to happen to her. I just dis***embled a 55 Town Sedan like this one, gonna use the frame for a body dolly for my 55 Sunliner...maybe I have a few knicknack pieces if you need them.

 

great build!

 

Thanks for the kind words guys. I hope none of this seems spamy I just thought some of you guys might enjoy seeing the build and I know that when I hit a bump you guys can help.

 

Please keep posting the progress of this car.The detail of the pictures taken have answered the question I have asked so many times, "How do they do that?" . And I am always impressed by the ability of old cars to bring back family memories. Good job.

 

I like that frame dolly you made!

 

hey fellas, any more updates?

 

I can post some more pics today. The car is in the mud zone (getting bondo slapped on and blocked) and the pics will all look the same untill she rolls into the booth.

The Tin Lizzy Affair here in DFW are busy doing the seats and my engine builder is rebuilding the trans...

 

hey fellas, how's it going down there in Texas? been about a month since your last post and the work has looked good. just curious...

 

Need more pics so's we can make sure your doin it right!

 

Wha?... What day is it?

Gonna try to post some pics tonight. It's been very busy crazy here lately...need to take a break.

 

So I haven't posted since we started on the body work side of things. Once you get started on the bondo all your pictures will look the same until paint. In fact, it's easy to get lost in the sea of bondo and primer and it can drive quite a few nuts. We like to gap everything and then start floating. This means that when we bust it down for paint, it will all go back the way we had it. For a straight finish we try our best to get all the metal as close as we can, but it really all depends on the customer's wants and finances. We then coat generously with the dreaded bondo though about 90% winds up on the floor. After a quick rough in we follow up with coats of Slicksand, blocked to our liking. Since bondo and slicksand is cheap compared to the final primer we make sure things are right before the last coat.

Things usually go like this:
1. Install panels and gap until happy or sanity is teetering.
2. Latch all panels closed and in some cases install rubbers.
3. Apply bondo and rough out straight.
4. Switch to Slicksand and finish blocking
5. Finish with surfacer sealer
6. Bust car apart and prep back sides, seam seal, and cut in
7. Paint panels or if a two tone or candy re***emble and then paint car complete
8. Hang doors and deck lid on the car
9. At this point we like to install the engine and get all the mechanical stuff done, then we hang the front sheet metal. This makes it easier to work on and keeps us from belt buckling the car.
10. Color sand and buff.

Your mileage may vary....