It would have taken a long time to clean that body in and out as a 5 hp compressor would never keep up. Not to mention the mess and it still cost a lot in the end anyway. He had it done in a week under primer and delivered. Best money i've spent so far. As far as the 312 being a favorite, i agree to a point but i don't have one and the cost was to high. The 351 was in stock with 6000 miles on it. I am NOT however going to put a bunch of braided lines, nor billet anything, or junk it up with modern ****. It will be a simple painted motor with a 352 air cleaner with a smattering of chrome Budget is very important here. 390 would have been my first choice.
I hvae read your thred and it was a nice build of a vicky. So keep on so we can see it ready. /Stefan
I'm gained a few steps. I have all my panels roughed out. Fenders needed modifying which was a ***** as i was dealing with rust to boot. I hand pounded the panels and lots of compound curves in a small area, Not the best but with some more tinkering i hope to smooth them out a bit more before welding. Then i have to take the fenders off and make a inner structure. Lots of hours here.
While i'm waiting for parts to finish off the bumper mods i thought i might tackle the grill. Stock ones are hard to find and expensive if you can find a good one so i went with a 12 bar instead of factory 9 bars. Got the basic layout done.
Since i got the car in a basket basicly, i thought i would do a parts inventory for wants and needs. So i started placing the parts on the car. It's kinda motivating to see what the car would look like in the flesh. Easy to spot the missing stuff as well. Actually it was just a lazy day in the garage playing. Color still has me thinking thou. No idea at this point.
I'm not a flat paint fan. Reminds me of someone hiding bad body work or ran out of money or just lazy. At least that's the way i see it Oh it will be shiny but color has not popped out in my pea brain yet. Paint has to meet some criteria I like to drive so maintenance is important to. So fancy candies and pearls are out, I have one black one and never again i'm i washing one of those every 2 hrs. My 50 is cream and love the maintenance on that one and it really suited the car in my opinion and thought of that color for the 56 but i have one already. I think it would look great in cream thou. I'm not sold on 2 tone for the car as it's to stock looking but that would depend on combo of color. Lots to chose from but nothing has tickled me yet.
I had a idea..Has anyone used 56 merc headlight bezel before. Similar cars that share some parts. I have to modify the fenders anyway. Wish i had to set to eye ball it. Opinion?
Got some welding done on the out side. Now take it all apart and build the inner structure. Sure is time consuming. Fender panels will be dollied out after the fenders are off. Also filled the hood ornament and holes. Gaps are going to be good.
I like the shiny paint idea, but those Merc hoods look a bit too heavy to me. That is just my opinion though. I really like '55-56 Olds bezels, but they are used a lot. If you want to use the Mercury fenders, I think they should bolt on, and you might save some work there.
I was toying with idea of the merc bezels only and retaining the ford fenders and stay with the ford hood but i think i'll stay with the ford bezels. Thanks for your input thou.
Due to cir***stances i sold the car to a friend of mine. He will be taking over the duties and is more than capable. Maybe he will start a new thread to completion.
Best of Luck, hope all goes well for you. Hope he see's it thru and keeps us all up to date on the progress. Bob
Hello everyone. I am the lucky guy that will take over this incredible build. Tedley and I have been friends for over 30 years and have very similar like and dislikes in builds. He has done some great work on the 56 and i will be continuing on with his styling and vision as it is very similar to what i would have done if i had started the build. I am not the greatest with pictures and updates but will do my best to keep the build pictures coming. here it is in its new home.
Tedley, sorry to hear that cir***stances got in the way of your project, hope it's not too serious and will be history soon. Nice to see that a friend got it and will carry on with it. I was in the same position a number of years back with a 55 Crown Vic that I spent three years at and sold it back to the same guy I bought it from for a very good deal in the hopes that he would finish it. It is in worse shape now than when I had it and sitting outdoors. The pics are when I had it. Also kgdb, are you going to continue with this thread? If you decide to start your own, could you post a link here. Thanks.
If any wants to follow I have started a new thread. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/56-ford-vicky-project.969325/
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