I'd use that motor, well as a matter of fact I did in my Model A. Do you really need speed parts at 345 hp and 475 ft lbs? I guess in the Edsel speed parts would be more important. They are HEAVY! Good luck with it. I'm going to use Kanter for my rebuild kit.
I've posted these pic's before, but never get tired of 'em. By the time you cut away the rust, remove the roof so you don't need to replace the broken glass, and hack off about a ton or so of other unnecessary weight you'll end up with this. A 5.0L will power it nicely too.
The Pacer and Ranger models came with the E-400 motor. This was 361 cubes and 303 horsepower. The Corsair and Citation models came with the E-475 motor. This motor had 410 cubes and 345 horsepower.The Pacer and Rangers came on the shorter Ford chassis and the Corsair and Citations came on the longer Mercury chassis.The Edsel has 14" wheels with a 5X5 bolt pattern.There are tons of Edsel specific parts. I bought my convertible to "drop it" and put on dog dish hubcaps but it would have turned into a love affair as Fat Man Fabrications doesn't make an Edsel specific drop spindle kit. Here's some pics of mine before I sold it a few monthes ago. I have a spare set of wheels if you can use them.......go to www.edsel.com They have a ton of information and links...P.S...make certain your push button shifter works properly. It's the weak link to the excellent running gear. Good luck...Mike
Perfect new re-pop tail lamp lenses are only $125.00 for the 4 piece set for the Pacer and Ranger...$150.00 for the 4 piece set for the Corsair and Citation...and $100.00 for the station wagon.....Mike
See what happens when you miss a few days, somehow I never saw this post until today and then only because I cuaght your avitar, here are some of the source I have been using http://www.amwmag.com/B/Edsel_World/hauptteil_edsel_world.html http://ejh1978.tripod.com/edsedselrestorationpage/index.html http://www.edsel.com/ http://edselworld.com/ http://edsel.net/ http://community.webshots.com/user/edseldude http://groups.msn.com/EnglishEdsels/restorationpage2.msnw http://groups.msn.com/58-59EdselGroup/_whatsnew.msnw http://www.fordmuscle.com/ http://www.cardomain.com/ride/742152 http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/edselmail/ That should keep ya goin for awhile now here are places I have bought parts for my 1958 Ranger, use kanters complete front end control arm bushings and ball joint kit if you stay stock front suspension, gasser style would be cheaper and easier (the stock setup was no joy) and do take it to ALL Edsel functions if you gasser it, it is sorta fun to have guys in walkers freaking out on you!!! or maybe I just like Fucking with the 100% stock crowd?? go to these web sites and order there catalogs most are free on line. www.macsautoparts.com www.dennis-carpenter.com I got my motor mounts here for $18.50 each www.concoursparts.com www.dearbornclassics.com www.classicautoparts.com Well thats about 2 years of searching for you, hope it helps. edsel
Pardon my asking but where did you pick this one up? It looks exactly like one belonging to a friend in Berkley. I've been planning to make an offer on it. It would be appropriately weird if there were identical clapped-out Edsels in this area. By the way in 58 Edsel Citations and Corsairs were based on Mercurys and assembled at Mercury plants. Rangers and Pacers were Ford based and made at Ford plants. Quality control and just about everything else was better on the Mercury lines. The Ford plants were notoriosly slipshod and had labor management issues. Those cars were what people remember for Fucked up. But parts in general are shared with ford and there is a strong club and the price of stuff has remained fairly cheap. Ford windshields should fit. If you have the MEL motor you have a factory hotrod. Teletouch Transmission? Lucky Devil.
And here are a few pictures for to wet your imagination some. your glass issue shouldnt be too bad, the windshield new is around $300, I found one at what used to called Eagle automotive parts but I cant seam to remember there current name, the side glass is flat and the rear is both full sized edsel or merc Egay and grayhound ?? The rear end is ford 9" as mentioned earlier and 5 on 5", I used a 1970 mustang 9" to get 5 on 4 1/2" to match my front disc brakes from a 1975 torino (direct bolt in) but I think I heard this does not work on the corsair/sitation but I not positive. Pm me anytime. edsel
What the hell heres some more. I have lots more but the file sizes are too large and Im not good at resizing yet. Ps the push button trans is ok when working, but is a pain I removed all the relays and motors and soon the whole column as well as the really funky heater system and plan to put it all on egay (unless a hamber needs any of it ), I used a C-6 and probably floor shift unless I get lazy and use the column shift on the column from my engine/trans doner truck. edsel
Any of those pics your ride? If so, any idea where the skirts came from??? I'd die for a set of Fender Skirts for my Pacer!!!! Little_E
No little_E non are my car but my was in one of the online photo albems I posted, and I did just see some cruiser skirts on egay buy it now $450 so I guess you would have to kill for it !! did you ever get the vent window you needed ?? edsel
For what it's worth, my good buddy Kevin has a set of nice (very usable) bumpers for an Edsal.... Anyone want them?...I'm sure he'll let them go for a fair price... He's in Cold Snowy Michigan, just down the road from me... Mark aka Abonecoupe31
Yours is safe...mine was in Kern county. I've read that the windshields will interchange, but that the back one was specific to the Corsair. Wonder how hard it would be to make in tinted plexiglass?
There is a guy in PA who has a SHITTON of Edsels. Go to Edsel.com click on Gallery and go to Edsel Hoards, Hugh Leslie's "Lemon Grove" I talked to this guy when I was looking for a fender, he wanted like 400 for a good fender. He has what it takes and he knows it, so he charges a pretty good price for stuff it seems to me. Also, I am now a member of the International Edsel Club, so I have a Member Directory so I could look for people out your way for you and they advertise parts and such in the monthly newsletters, I'll keep an eye open for ya.
I think it would be a bigger PITA than to find a used or NOS one but medium blue plexi looks real cool.
What I would do is gut that ED to the max, add lexan windows and run the 410 close to stock if it's in decent shape. You could get the weight down to about 3500 lbs, which is doable with some judicious panel gutting. I'm not a drag racer but I'll bet that you could run high 12s with some budget traction work. Or if you insist, I'll take the shell off your hands and build a circle burner out of it....
Here's a quote from tom Sneary who was an Edsel district manager in '58......"In those days especially, a new car dealer could make full gross profit on new car sales for the first thirty to sixty days of a new model. However, it was rare if a new car dealer could receive his full thirty or sixty day allotment. Part of our franchise package was a written commitment stating the dealer would have his full thirty day allotment on hand before announcement day.We were informed the separate plants were behind schedule and the Ranger and Pacer for our District would come from the Ford Plant in Louisville, Kentucky and the Corsair and Citation would come from the Lincoln-Mercury plant in Michigan. The Ranger and Pacer were on a Ford chassis and the Corsair and Citation were on a Mercury chassis.The first cars shipped came to the Ford Plant on Grand Avenue in Dallas. One morning about 3:00 A.M., I received a phone call from our Service Manager, Bill Showalter, urging me to get dressed and rush down to the Ford Plant. What I saw was unbelievable. Some of the car doors were roped closed. Some bumpers were roped up. Many of the cars equipped with the air bag shocks were practically on the ground. The "gear shift" was in the center of the steering wheel and if you used reverse, the trunk lid would open. Unbelievable. We then learned the dealers were receiving cars in the same condition. We were then instructed to contact all of our dealers and ask them if they preferred to receive their allotment with these kinds of cars, or take half their allotment with the cars in standard condition. Many of our dealers were former new car dealers who had canceled their franchises thirty to sixty days earlier and had no new cars to sell for some time. By far the majority replied to ship their allotment and they would fix them. Unfortunately many could not be fixed. The condition of the cars could not be kept quiet and competition had a "field day". It cost a fortune to get the cars corrected.&
DAMN! These cars aren't rare, he just owns them all! Holy crap that's a bunch of Edsels. UPS just smashed a musclebike of mine, I can only imagine what they'd do to a windshield.
I used to pit for a dirt car...trust me, the thought already crossed my mind....it would give the American Stock class hell.
Damn, that bites about the skirts. No, I didn't get the vent window yet. I figured its flat glass so I could get someone local to cut it when I really need it. I'll be on the road this spring and right now that is all that matters. Little_E
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