A Grrl, A '60 Edsel, Tar Roof Shingles. . .And Cut Off Wheels. . .

Yes. Tar Roof Shingles. But I'll get to that in a moment. . .

So about a month ago, I was fortunate enough to drag home a 1960 2 Dr. Edsel Sedan (1 of only 777 ever made), and I'm even more fortunate to have the next two weeks off for Spring Break, so that I can tear into her and see what I've REALLY gotten myself into. . .

Here she is, coming home:

(Note, for larger size pics, just click on the thumbnails)





Headed out to the shop today, to soak up some fine Texas Spring Sun, and start the journey with "Miss Maxine."

Here she is, sittin' pretty out in back of the shop:







And then started in on her. Now, I knew that she had no floorboards in the rear (the front are pretty crusty too), and yup, su****ions were confirmed:



Nope. No surprises here. . .Knew that this was gonna be the case, and was prepared to deal with that. . .Movin' on. . .

Discovered some very "interesting" upholstery "solutions" along the way, as well. Pulled the back seat and discovered that the person who owned this car at some point was not remotely acquainted with a sewing machine, but had a prediliction for "Liquid Nails" and . . .



Straightpins. Yes, those are straightpins, just left to hold the vinyl fabric which had been Liquid Nailed to the previous upholstery. . .

Apparently, this person also thought that Liquid Nails was the solution for the TWO "headliners" (one glued on top of the other), and the ****tastic Hobby Lobby foam which was glued under the vinyl and fabric:



But here's the "solution" that made me go

Pulled everything out of the trunk, and knew that the metal was probably going to be shot. Yup. It was, but fortunately, only in the center part of the trunk pan.

However, what I was not expecting was the "creative" solution of covering the entire trunk pan with Tar Roof Shingles. Yup. 3 deep in most places. The person who did this was obviously proud and meticulous in doing this -- the shingles were even notched to fit various areas of the trunk:

Center Trunk Pan:

 

You just don't see many 1960 Edsels. I am all for creativity, but that is a bit much. There is a trunk floor on ebay right now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1960...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

maybe the owner was a roofer..maybe this is what came natural...

 

Tar Shingles, everywhere. . .


Had a good chuckle about the whole thing and thought to myself, "Well, at least she's finally in good hands!"

By the end of today, got her cleaned up pretty good, pulled most of the "junk" outta her trunk. . .



And decided to go ahead and tape the trim on, just to see what I've got, what I might need to track down over the next couple of years, and I encountered this:





Now, either I'm an idiot (which may very well be the case ) or I'm missin' something here. . . I moved each piece of trim on either side, and for the life of me it looks like there's got to be something missing between the end of the long side piece and the tail. Anyone?

Her dash looks great. . .as does her center horn ring. . .and well. . .no matter how much work she's gonna turn into. . .she's mine. . .





Here's the WTF have I gotten myself into moment. . .


But she's worthy of restoration, and I am pleased as punch to be back working on an Edsel. . .

Now, if I can just get Audrey, the '59 in paint, by the end of the year. . .all will be perfect in the world!

 

you scored big Frankie..nice car..finding one is a big deal even if it is a little rough around the edges..closest one I could find was fourdoor in Columbus..get to work!

 

Beautiful eyes!!!!

 

x 3

 

Thanks, sweet talkers. . .now get out here and help me cut all the rot off this '60. . .

And Rix? Rough doesn't even begin to approach it. . .She's a bit of a basket case. . .but worth saving. . .

I'll be cuttin' out the worst of the rot I can get to, tomorrow. . .

Cannot get the @#$@#$!@#$@# bolts on the chair rails to break free, so I soaked'em over night in PB Blaster, but may end up just cuttin' them off tomorrow.

 

X4 on the eyes.

only 777 of em.., glad to see you bring another back to life.

funny what people will use..the guy who had my ford must have been related to your edsel previous owner.
used liquid nails to install the roof vynl on mine, what a mess

 

Nice car. Great to see you bringing her back to what she should be. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

i have about a 4 month head start on you. you might look up mt post on my 59 edsel wagon build. its a lot of cutting out rust and welding in metal. wow, iits a ton of work. good luck with it and dont give up.

 

Ya know...when you're flat broke, ya got a cool car and ya don't want the trunk to leak anymore (or what ever you got in it to fall out)...ya use what ya got laying around and fix it best ya can...

LOL... at least YOU will do it correctly...yes...???

R-

 

Yes, sir. I promise. No tar roof shingles, no Liquid Nails. I get to learn to weld on this one, and luckily my beginner welds will all be hidden .

And Greg, your wagon is comin' along really nicely -- glad I don't have THAT much metal to weld up (although the next Edsel WILL be a '58 Wagon. Then my set will be complete).

 

I could use them shingles on my back porch ....
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"

 

I knew an old guy that was a heck of a car builder. He used to put tar and shingles on the insides of doors and quarter panels for sound deadening. This was 20+ years ago before all the stuff that's out now. He said it made the doors more solid feeling when you shut them.

His name was Jim Benedict and he owned a bodyshop called Inwood Paint & Body in Houston. P***ed away a few years ago from what I'm told.

 

I saw what the previous owner did in the trunk and thought, "Tarnation!"

I think it's awesome that you're saving a rare car, even though it's going to be a great deal of work. You rock.

 

At least the tar shingles were not liquid nailed in,...be grateful for small pleasures

 

Nothing a gal like yourself can't handle.

Show that ***** who's BOSS!

 

Most of the "big stuff," yeah, is re-popped.

Trim - Nope. The styling on the '60 radically changed from the '59 Edsel, so it is unobtanium.

Floorboards/trunk panel patches are repopped, have new rockers (they came with the deal, along with a new set of hood latches, since mine are frozen), have all the tailight housings, but will have to make new lenses, but basically, the whole reason I bought this car was because of the gl***.

Front and back are dayum near perfect (there's a small chip in the front). She has almost a complete set of trim -- missing the long side spears for the back (the ones that swoop down along the back fenders) are gone. That's gonna be the tough trim to find. . .but I plan on workin' on her for a couple of years -- she's a project, to be sure -- and that trunk is gonna be a bear. . .

I'll get there. . .one step at a time. . .

 

MISS Print and not Mrs? Or is that a misprint?

My what lovely eyes x 27,436 (straightening tie, combing hair)

Wow what neat Edsel, never seen a 2 door sedan, only seen a few 60's at all. Luckily the floorpan stuff is the same as Fords and fairly common. I think there is a little pointy cap that finishes off that side trim.

I think the red lenses are 60 Comet also.

 

All restorations are a long work commitment.Edsels just seem to require more attention than others due to the scarity of parts.

Heres my 58 Roundup ready for paint this upcoming weekend.

Oldmics

 

I dont know if I'm sticking my foot out...or not. BUT, I knew where three 1960 Edsels were at one time. The old guy had a barn full of Edsels thinking they would turn into a retirement fund. Right before he died he was trying to sell off a few of the ones he didn't want. Its been 6-7 years ago, but if you want me to see if any are left I might be able to do so. They are in Oregon.IIRC, they were two sedans and a wagon.

Sam

Where I am right now in Wyoming, there is a 58 hardtop and two 59 4dr hardtops...and the price might be real right on all of them.

 

Floors are the best place to learn to weld (grind?). You'll be amazed at how quickly you get good at it, and have a feel for setting up the machine. Oh yeah, X 27437 on the beautiful eyes, but I'm happily married, so I didn't really notice

 

Roof shingles! Maybe the poor soul was broke. What ever the case, it's funny. I once made an alternator bracket out of some wall cornering.

 

To my eyes, the '60 Edsel looked even more bizarre than the '58s and '59s. Some years ago I heard someone refer to the '60 model as a "Canadian Edsel", like they were only built or sold there. Don't know if that's true, but "Canadian Edsel" always sounded like a species of tree to me. Kind of like a "Dutch Elm", I guess.

There used to be a couple '60 Edsel convertibles that showed up occasionally at car shows in the area a few years ago but I haven't seen them in quite a while. Don't know if I would consider them as beautiful but they did get your attention!

And not to be too "big brother-ish", but you night consider resetting the date information in your camera. It says that these pictures were taken in 2017! Sometimes this can give you some issues with downloading images or formatting your memory card. And besides that, it's kind of freaking me out!

 

I have found the 60 uses the same front and rear floor pan as a 60 and 61 Galaxie, Starliner and Fairlane. It also is the same as a 62 Galaxie. The 63 Floor pans are slightly different but are very easy to make work. If memory serves me the difference is in the direction the beads run?
The trunk floor is only common to the 60s year model but the do reproduce the lower center part of that and it actually fits the car without to much drama. I have not found a repoped floor pan, especially the rear pans that I would use however. None of the ones I have seen even have the correct shape to them.

I have a 60 Starliner here and will try to see what the trim looks like on it where stainless side meets up with the pot-metal rear part of the fin.

Scott...

 

Diggin' the car, the eyes and the grrl.. But golly gosh.. You use all those big multi-sillybull words and it confuddles me.. .......

 

This will be a car like no other. (Well, like very few others). I like it.

Pretty sure there are only two.

 

just roofing shingles, that's crazy, by code tar paper is required. cool car good luck with it.

 

Very cool car! Gonna watch you build it here on the HAMB