Projects My New "59" Edsel Ranger.

House and kids come first. If MOMMA is not happy nobody is happy. Keep up the good work. My 40 got sidetracked about 25 years because I chose to spend times with growing family and a couple of remodels. Frank

 

That wood floor is beautiful! Is it laminate?

 

Thanks. No luck with the motor. I'm gonna pull it when ever I get the time. Probably throw a 302 in like squirrel suggested.

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Great find. I live in Southern Indiana and found my 59 Villager in a field. I love that air unit under the dash. Looking forward to updates.

 

Been a while since I've messed with the Edsel. Today I decided to finally push it in the garage. Pulled the Dog house off and I am about to pull the engine in a day or two. That way I can work on the body and look for a good donor. I'm thinking of rebuilding the 361 later this year. Either way I have plenty of time.

 

The 361 Edsel used the same bore/stroke as the later truck 360 and both shared bore size with the 390, so a easy upgrade is a 390 crank and rods...

 

So I installed a beam to pull the engine via a hoist. I must say it work pretty well. The motor is out. I did forget to drain the transmission fluid. So now I have to make a trip to the store for cat littler (a.k.a Dry sweep). Then I rolled the car back outside, so I can re-pressure wash her and vacuum again. I must of clean up a 5gallon bucket of rust off the floor. Lol I will need to fix the floor pan later but now I'm ready to move on to body work. Nothing to crazy though. I figure I could do that while find a drive train or rebuild the old one. Pretty happy to finally made progress. It was really bothering me that I haven't done any thing to it except free the back break on the passenger side.

 

My '59 Ford was quite the greasy mess when I got it. Probably a 3/8" thick coating on the chassis back to the rear seat under the car. Used Krud Kutter and a power washer to get the bulk of it off.

 

That's what I did. It was a real mess.

 

I still have to dive under and scrape some more off it, at least I'll be in the shade. It comes off easy once you get something to dissolve the top coat of grime.

 

Well I finally pull the heads. One cylinder looks as if a BB fell down in it. There is a decent amount of rust. The intake is ready to pull but the distributor is seized in place. So I guess my question now, is this this savagable? I tried to turn it over with the heads off and she is pretty solid still. Thinking of pulling the pan and seeing if I can get the distributor taped loose from inside. Also cracking the caps loose also. Also I found a running 332 and Tran for sell for $500, thoughts? I post a video. Seems like I hear a taping or a exhaust leak but I might be wrong.

 

Will the 332 & trans be a direct bolt-in? The engine pictured doesn't have much going for it.

 

Are you sure it's not a 223 instead of a 332? My '60 Edsel had a 223 straight 6 and the '59 I had a few years ago had a 223 also....

 

My bad it's a 223. Lol

 

Plug and play and $500 is not that bad for something actually running good.

 

Selling the 59 corsair Parts car 800 o.b.o in the classifieds. No motor, trans or vin plate. never had them since I got the cars. It Does have the a hood but I'm switching it for the one on my ranger. Has cracks across the hinges. 8597073819. will need a 8ft wide trailer or a dolly.

 

Well I passed on the motor above because it sounds to me to have a rod knock. But that could just be me. Last time I was on hear I read something about brake fluid being a pretty good agent to help free things up. So I pour a little in each cylinder. It been about a week

 

[QUOTE="chrisg_ky, post: 12109451, member: see any difference????....

 

On my 59 Ford, I had to break the pistons out. The car had 52000 miles so I didnt bore it or turn the crank, just overhauled the motor with new standard pistons. Its been running well for 18 years now

 

It freed up. It will spin over by hand easily now. The pictures show the pistons in different positions in the cylinders. Excited about that. Now I just have to tear it down the rest of the way. Which should be alot easier now. I'm going to take it to a machine shop to check for cracks and get it cleaned up. Im planning on a very simple rebuild. What so I have done and what should I be looking to spend? I just don't want to spend money where it's not really needed. Would be best to go back stock or bump it a bit with 390 parts? If I can?

 

It would be awesome if I could do that as well.

 

if you havent already could you post a pic of your data plate for the edsel preservation society

 

Check out "my 59 Edsel wagon build", here on the hamb. I have several pictures of my rebuild.

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Found a engine stand yesterday at the pawn shop for 20 bucks marked down from 45. It was old and ugly but worked great. Glad to get it on a stand. Pulled the pan and timing chain cover. The rods are already labeled.

 

You'd probably be fine with a standard rebuild. I'm sure it would be plenty strong all freshened up.