1952-59 Ford Dagels 1953 ford customline

this is an ongoing project kept finding problems here is the latest
tomorrow the roof and left side go into primer and the the blocking starters











the 49 truck in the back ground is getting a 3"chop

 

nice work, i found a 55 merc wagon here with the top rusting off in the same place and i think im p***ing on it because of that.

 

my 55 wagon p***enger side roof is way worse than yours was, i bought a new roof from a guy on ebay for dirt cheap but i would like to tackle possibly repairing mine..what all did you do to repair yours?

 

I wouldn't prime over that rust.................

 

street dream I didn't prime over the rust I sand blasted to bear metal and treated with rust inhibitor then repaired it and primed

I could not leave it rust colored like a R## R## this one will be my daily driver and do not want to get wet and need to hold in the cool air I have nothing against R## R##s ( look in my album I have one)but some cars need to be nice

I have a 53 2dr post I am parting out mostly body panels and ch***is part I you live in DFW area holler I will see if I have what you need But I wont ship the part you need to pick them up

 

Did you lead that whole thing?

 

Could you post more info on how you did the repair,a buddy has a '54 with the same roof issue I would like to send a link to.

 

I've got the same issue as well. I had planned on cutting off the entire rain gutter/rust area and just replacing the metal, leaving the gutter off in the process. The problem I have is, I've only seen a handful of these without the rain gutter that looked OK. It's lookin good, G***er1.

 

I sand blasted both inside and out do not know how well the inside gets done cant see it very well

The out side I do till all rust and seam sealer was gone (lead does not stick to seam sealer or rust the cleaner the better)

Applied several cotes of flux (it will bubble then turn brown)trying to get it in all nook and crannies ,wipe off ( the surface now should be shiny)and then applied the lead first heating it up till it runs you should never see red metal don't over heat the body (hoping it pulled into the seam like soldering copper pipe)

Then letting it cool some and adding it more like tooth past constancy (like you would normally do filling dents) and work it flat about 1\4 inch thick

worked 6" at a time and done all the drip rail it takes about 2 hr to sand blast this area and 6 HR to lead all the drip rail most of the time I wind up using 2oz of flux past and 4# of lead (6 sticks)

I then clean the surface well and prim and paint the drip rail, then apply 3m fast and firm seam sealer to the drip rail for a finished look and paint the roof make sure you treat the inside with rust converter and then paint so the metal cant rust

my fealing is as long as you can fill the holes with lead and you get a good bond between the parts all should last a life time.

I do not know if this is the right way but it is how I do it some just use dynagl*** of epoxy to repair the problem) I have done it this way since a old man should me in the early 90

"just some added info"
If you ever looked at how these were put together the roof panel has a small bend at the edge and sites in the drip rail then it looks like it is spot welded down , the seam sealer is put in the channel to seal the roof (most old seam sealer has asbestos in it were a respirator to be safe) this cracks with age and water get in and it rusts poor design but most cars were done this way

The gap you see in the picture was just filled with lead much larger gap and it would need steel welded in first I was told by the old man that a 1\2 inch gap was fillable with lead and would last forever

 

Well the roof"s done blocked it 4 times, upper half of rear fenders are done and deck lid is done .

Now its time to pull the doors thinking about adding power window kit while there off.

Do not think I will go with the yellow I had plans for, now leaning towards Orange.

Got lucky and found NOS trim for the sides just need a good set of grill bars to re-chrome, and a hood bird.

Orderd all the rubbers and fuzzy so it will be sealed up tight.

 

Looking good!

 

Got a couple of days to work on mine again.

Got 2 fender on the parts car that were in a lot better shape then mine.

The driver side had no rust just hit by fork lift dent 18" x15" 5" deep.

The p*** side had 3x7 area of rust but the brace was excellent.

So welded in a patch in the p*** side

Pulled the big dent 4 hr of dolly work some filler blocked 2 times and walla new fenders. well a lot better the most.

Got the bumper's, bumper guards and 5 grill pieces at the chrome shop (ouch $1500) will be back in Dec

found NOS side trim and now all I need is the hood ornament and trunk handle (any one have some nice one)

Got to have it done by May.

So far me and 2 others will be driving or clasics (67 Chevelle, 55 Chevy and my 53 ford) from Fort Worth we are going to go to Oklahoma City get on Rout 66 run to Oat man AZ. them up to Las Vegas and back.

 

What we do to get a little more room for a larger radiator

Looks like I will be working on mine turkey weekend held up on parts on the customer 67 chevelle

So pulled the motor back out and notched the pan so I could move it back and down for a little extra room at the radiator now need to redo the mounts
A little cutting




Some welding






some grinding





A little paint after checking for leaks






Now put the pan back on and redo the mounts hope to get them done, the dash pulled and sand blast the firewall, door jambs, floor and trunk so I can get the repainted this weekend

found a NOS trunk bird on ebay now just need a hood bird looking at a 50 Cadillac one to go with the motor

 

some more progress decide a larger radiator would be necessary with the Cadillac motor this one is 32" wide 17-18" tall it will set a little further forward then the original right on top of the frount cross member was necessary to remove the cross member and modify it with 1x2 tubing

the original one



now pulled out



here is a look at where I will cut it so the lower part car be reused this way you can bolt back up the lower shield and the soon to be modified frount sheet metal/core support





may be hard to make out but the radiator sets on the 1x2 tubing the channel of the radiator laps over both side of the tubing holding the bottom in place
the skid plate bolt back just like it did from the factory and a modified core support with hold the sheet metal in place thats next time

 

here what the new core support looks like 3.5" wide then stock

had to move the motor back and down for fan alignment and clearance



a side shot of the motor ,fan and raidator



and the new cadillac hood bird

 

Thought the new PS gear box would have been here by now its holding me up on making the headers. Got the dash pulled and door gutted they will get sand blasted along with the firewall, door jambs and frount floor over new years weekend and poss painted depending on the weather

o ya hell must have froze over its snowing on christmas day in fort worth Texas

 

some paint started dash and door trim what can I say Orange




Should be a easy car to spot in a parking lot

 

Main body has been blocked the last time if the weather is warm sun 01-13-13 will shoot 1 final coat of primer, shoot the inside jams and firewall trunk Orange and under coat the floor . Then I can install the deadening mat







Decided to go with a 20 gal fuel cell ( will make it easier to install the in tank fuel pump for EFI will weld up the stock filler hole and install a filler tube so it will still fill behind the license plate

Put 3" in side,6"out side so I had a little more ground clearance. I will put a metal floor around the cell on the inside to seal it from the p***enger compartment





Started the dash, waiting on a couple connectors so I can wire it, Used a set of autometer (Ford Gauges) need to know just what the motor is doing to much money and time in the motor to trust the original ones
Still looking for a tach to fit where the clock goes.





If every thing goes right will build the 2004R trans next week. All the parts even the billet parts are now here (wow $1500 in parts to build a trans) but it will be built proof

 

your oil pan notch is almost identical to what I did in my 51 only diff is that I was able to add an almost identical piece to the front and not loose any capacity. A friend of mine advised me to pour acetone into it to check for leaks and sure as hell found a couple small areas where it barely seeped thru. Rather than reweld found some aircraft tank 2 part epoxy sealer a nice bead smoothed in and all is well.

Your car is looking great, loving the orange dash.

 

I used lacquer thinner does the same thing got lucky only 1 pin hole welded it and should have no more leaks

 

Good to see someone making progress. The paint work looks great. Should be nice when youre done.

 

Looking great,If any one runs over you with that color he Is bound to be blind.
Tony

 

Last week after sand blasting the inside I repaired all rust out spots with metal. Applied seam sealer to all joints, Shot with Pore 15 top and bottom then a good coat of rubberised under coat in side and out.

So I could jambed last night (01-12-2013) now it can start going back together.
Monday I am still on track to install the fuel cell and then start the rebuild of the 2004R trans









To late to change colors now so Obama Orange and cream it will be and at present looks like I am on track to be done for the trip to Vegas with a couple of my customers in May

 

still at it using a Speedway wiring harness only problems I have with theirs is the rear wires are a little short



new gear box and column



dash switches were a pain had to lengthen the wiper switch 1/2 inch used a head light stem now the stock bezels work



most wiring kits use gm head light switches but the hole is 1 size to big simplest way to fix cut the hole from the ford and weld it to the gm switch







I should have cleaned the coating off the switch but is fine

the dash just needs the radio now and the glove box and it can go back in the car switches all look stock but now we have elect wipers and late model headlight switch which the new harness already has the connector for

also installed a duel cone speaker in the stock location will also have 2 speakers in package tray

 

Hope you have better luck with that dual-cone speaker than I did,it sounded like **** and very tinny and after three months in the dash the outer cone was falling apart.I ended up putting Pioneer 4"X6" speakers in the doors.Your build is really coming along,thanks for the update.

 

Here a shot of the cover for the fuel cell it will be sealed when the car is done this set up gave me 20 gal tank the space for internal fuel pump for fuel injection

Heil-arced a 2"alum tubing neck in the tank

Used the last 2"of the stock filler neck and turned the inside of the tubing for a tight fit this let me kept the stock looking filler neck. I want the car to look stock but run and handle like a new car





and a shot of the back of the car

 

She's coming together and looking good!!!

 

Customer really slow down progress but have to make money to.
Spent a few hr here and there this week and got the trans done.
Built to handle 700 Hp Hope it will tame the Cadillac





All that left is the 4th gear pressure switch and tcc solenoid



Also got the p*** door hung and aligned

 

Looks great!

 

wow beautiful