What to look for - 1959 Edsel Villager

Ok guys -

After numerous business trips, and other life-issues, I'm getting ready to go look at a 59 Edsel Villager (not local to me). It's been in the desert its whole life, so rust should not be an issue. It has the 332 FE in it (2bbl), 2 speed mile-o-matic, and 3.10 gears in the rear.

I've looked at numerous cars in my life, but havent any experience in station wagons. Are there issues I need to look for mechanicaly? How is the 332 FE 2sp in a wagon with those gears? High RPM's at speed? From what I can tell - it shouldn't be at too high of an RPM at speed.

How about the 332? I've heard lots of things about the FE 361 (58-59 in Edsels) and the 390 and other FE family engines - but not the 332.

What about other things I should look for in this wagon? Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

See the thread on mice, etc. "squatting" in your new car. You don't know what critters may be in there. Also, even in the desert, there is moisture, so you may have some rust (not as much as in other areas of the country, but maybe some.) Check the wiring to make sure any furry residents have not chewed it up. Beyond that, I think a wagon is just a larger version of the same make of car. As far as the engine, others are more familiar with it and will be more help.

 

Thanks for the info KRB -

I will check for rust anyway - the whole "Desert car all its life" is a "suposedly" and I take it for what its worth - ie - will bring a magnet with me to check for filler.

Good point on the electrics and critters - does anyone know if 59 edsels had a fuse box? Dunno if this is one of those cars that did not.

Luckily I have a good experienced 12 year old mouser here at the house who LOVES mice. He keeps bringing me "presents" every couple of days....

 

9 p***enger - 2133
6 p***enger - 5687
332 was used in 58 and 59 only.
My 1962 Ford Country Squire w/ 352 with a 2bbl ran out of power after 65 mph
Just taking off the top of the air cleaner it would peak at 75.
Put an Holley or Autolite 4bbl on it

 

No fuse panel as you would normally call one.It has a wierd electrical origination point that contains fuses wrapped inside a bakolite shell.

A press in and turn to remove deal.

As I understand it the 59s have no aftermarket sheet metal replacement panels availiable.No floor pans or 1/4 panel metal.

Hopefully being a desert car you wont need anything BUT the hot weather usually fries all the rubber.Then the rain water that gets past the dried up rubber seals will sit in the floor pans and rust them thru.

My experience with desert cars is also that every nook and cranny will have dirt in it from the blowing winds so expect tons of crud behind the cowl and perhaps into the heaters blower motor/fan system.

Hope you get a good price on it Good Luck.

Oldmics

 

Check this place for floors:
http://www.cl***icent.com/ford.php

 

Check Mill Supply, They may have other things too.


http://www.rustrepair.com/index-mf.html


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I have right and left 1959 ford 4 door p***enger car RUST FREE used 1/4s for sale if you need them to repair lower 1/4 or dogleg rust. They will work on the wagon.

 

Good Link on the floor pan sheet metal.

EMS also has 58 Ford floors.

The 59 is supposedly a different critter and the parts are not made.

Not doing one myself I dont know if these availiable floor pans could be easily adapted or not.

Anything can be fixed.Hopefully he wont need any sheet metal.

Oldmics

 

The myth of the dersert rust free car is just that! One thing to look for is rust in the floors. It will have it if it has sat for any real amount of time. Some one up the way mentioned rubber and soft surfaces being bad in desert cars... You don't know the half of it! The most common thing that happens, about ten years into the car's life down here is the window rubber contracts and cracks at it's corners. At that point, every time it rains, water comes down the inside of the dash, and down into the carpeting where it stays for month if the windows are rolled up. It's almost always a blessing in disguise to buy a car out here with no gl***! Fortunately, it's not nearly usually as bad as salt damage back East. Just don't expect no rust.

 

I owned a '59 Edsel s/w for many years and used it as a daily driver. The wagon is based on the '59 Ford body and therefore is different than the sedans. Except for the front sheet metal, all ford body parts will fit the wagon. You can use Ford quarters, doors etc on the wagon.

The rear body mounts can be a problem for rust, they are in a position where the wheels throw mud and what not on them and if not cleaned out will create a rust problem.

IMHO the 332 is not much of a motor. I put in a newer 390 with 428 CJ heads, a hotter cam and a C6, which was a bolt in other than moving the cross member and fabricating the kick down rod. It pulled well and gave me reasonable fuel economy. Granada disc brakes are also easy to install on the '59 should you wish to do so.

They are a really distinct car and I sometimes regret selling mine, but I got an offer I couldn't refuse.

WC55

 

The rust deal....the rubber rots away. Dust gets everywhere, it packs the crevices at the bottom of the car, fills the rockers, etc. Then when the rains come along, the water leaks in and soaks the dirt, and it rots away the metal from the inside. You might see some bubbles in the paint, if you whack it with a hammer it will go right thru. So look over the car everywhere, get it up in the air on stands to inspect the bottom.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I have experienced the "Cracked rubber and rust" issue before on other cars. It can get bad. The worst part down here, and I agree, is the dry-rot rubber and interior. The good thing about this one is new rubber and interior. Exterior is suposedly clean, but needs some things fixed (some missing trim from the front, hood alignment etc).

Suposedly its got an amature restoration, and stock drivetrain.

Interesting about the fuse issue - I'll have to take a close look at the wiring. The owner did say some of the electrical has "issues" but I'm not afraid to learn....if I can re-wire a Model T coilbox, I can re-wire an Edsel.

332 is a dog eh? Well at least it'll move under it's own power and be driveable for a start. 390's are everywhere down here, and I may "upgrade" to one while I use the 332. Can't be as bad as the Inline 6 though.

I've read about the C6 swap for the FE's - and it looks doable.



The problem I've run into is how rare cl***ic cars seem to be getting in AZ. I remember as a kid you could find them everywhere! Model T's, Model A's, old 50's Chevy's, 30's cars, Edsels, everything. Even an old lady down the street in Tucson where I grew up owned a Willys-Knight Delux Sedan with dual Side-Mount tires.

But it seems everyone is snagging up the desert cars, and heading east or out of the country!

Looking forward to seeing this Edsel. Anything else I should be wary of?

 

'Zactly! If we keep telling them the rust free car is a myth, maybe they'll leave our remaining stock alone... HA HA! Hinest to god truth though, AZ didn't really have a large enough population until after WWII to have a super huge stash of early cars at least. The later stuff seems better stocked though. Where the heck is Palominas?

 

Palominas is a little unincorporated town down near the border in Cochise County --- South East of Sierra Vista about 20 miles or so. 11 Miles west of Bisbee. A LOT better weather than Phx or Tucson!

I live right near the San Pedro river near Hwy 92.

There are some decent stashes of 50's cars near hear....

Yup - once AC and Evap Coolers became popular - the population bloomed in all of Az from the 50's on!~

 

I heard that Milo died. You know, the guy with the yard in Huachuca City.

 

squirrel, you mean Fort Auto parts down there on the main drag? Quite a stash there... Never had any luck getting any one to answer questions though.

 

We'll see what Sue does with it. If I hear any useful info, I'll try to let folks know.

 

Milo Died? I heard he has Alzheimers, and his son and Wife finally got around to begin selling off his stuff. They're prices are not as high as they used to be, but things are finally moving. Hadn't heard he actualy died yet tho.

That place has been there for YEARS - I remember as a kid going by there and my dad would just salivate! Then they had the fire and we were SURE it would be sold for s****....nope....

I know of a few other small stashes - none as big as that tho....

 

I'm veering O/T here, but it seems like all the little rural yards of stuff in this state are drying up and s****ping out at an alarming rate the last few years as these older guys are p***ing away. Five years ago it seemed I could have anything automotive anyone could need by 2:00pm... Now not so much.

 

Hey Need Louvers - to bring this back to the topic - the fact that our state's levels of cl***ic cars is diminishing is why I have expanded my searches for a good 59 Edsel to outside of our borders.

The last time I saw a 59 Wagon anywhere NEAR Arizona was back in 06. This one is in better shape suposedly, and a full on inspection next Sat will tell the tale.

I'm wondering how "bad" a 332 in a wagon could really be. Afterall, I've seen plenty of the wagons with the 6cyl, and 292. Of course the 361 would be favorite, but beggars can't be choosers, and it's an FE.

How are the mile-o-matic 2 speed for driving? The last time I had a 60's car with an automatic was my grandad's old 64 bel-aire 4dr sedan with the stright 6. The good ole power-glide. It shifted "ok."

What speed does the mile-o-matic shift at? Anything I should look at on it? I'm more of a manual transmission guy, and have steered away from them for years, but this one has one. I'd love for it to have the manual 3 speed but....it is what it is.

Also it has the 3.10 gears in the rear. How are they for a wagon? I see where it's sort of in the middle of choices of 2.69 to 3.89.

Hrm - it's a no SP or PB car. I did see the article on replacing the single can master cylinder for the dual chamber from a mustang drum/drum. Best would be disc brakes - but I'll be making it driveable over time. It's not like it has to be 100% daily driver right off the bat.

On rust - the owner did send me a bunch of pics - one of the underside. You could almost eat off of it. If the car was upside down that is....

One last question: Back to the 332 --- would a 4bbl instake and carb, and dual exhaust help? It's got a single right now. One thing I've noticed is a lot of times engines are choked down when they're stock. It seems back in the 50's there was a lot of bolt on performance parts mainly because designers weren't as efficient as they could have been.

Just a thought...

Thanks for all your replies folks!

 

It'll be kind of sluggish with the 332, 2bbl, 2 speed rearend, and 3.10 gears. But that's compared to a hot rod...it should be just fine to drive around. The trans will shift at different speeds, depending on how hard you're pushing on the gas pedal. It'll probably kick down into low at any speed below about 50 mph if you put it to the floor.

I had a 58 chevy wagon for a while, with a 4bbl 283, powerglide, and 3.36 gears. I expect the Edsel will drive very similar to it.

 

Sorry 'bout that, I did go pretty far O/T. Best of luck on this purchase,'59s have always been my favorites as far as Edsles go.

 

I had a 332 interceptor in our (long since sold) '58 Country Sedan wagon for 5 years and liked the power and highway cruising speed it had. It was a factory 4 bbl, cruise-o-matic. '58 was the first year for the FE. I liked it!

 

Here is some data about the 332 '59 Edsel wagon:

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/edsel/villager_2gen_edsel/villager_edsel_2gen_wagon/1959.html

You can choose different engines and compare specs.

 

I've got a 1959 Edsel Wagon with the 2 speed and the same gears. I don't know for sure which engine but the door tag says its the 332, but it does have a 4 barrel on it. After I got it home and rebuild the carb and dizzy it runs really nice. Freeway speeds are fine but over 65 (and yes it will go well over) it seems to just be pushing it a little too much so I keep it 65-70 or under it's happier under. That said I will be changing mine to a 700r4 with an adapter from bendtsen's for a deeper first gear and better freeway economy. I might have to change the rear end gear with that, but I have to get the correct sized tires on first.

http://www.transmissionadapters.com/...structions.htm


Look in the spare tire area for rust too.

 

would be a lot easier to just find some 2.75 gears and swap them in, you'd lose a little acceleration, but 75 mph will be nice.

 

I am also building a '59 Villager 6p.
was a 332/2sp and now a 390/COM.....4V,no PS or PB.
I installed '79 Tbird disk, Mustang master and aerostar springs and it was so simple it would be a shame not to upgrade.
Just have the firewall forward done so far, but a super car with little rust.

What I started with.....


Where I was a week or so ago

 

Thanks for all the info guys!

A "little sluggish compared to a hot rod" is going to be fine by me. She's bone stock right now - though that will change. I'm more of a fan of "period correct" and sleeper mods - things that make it still look stock but drastically change the drive-ability and reliability.

The 332 will get me around for a while - and I may get a few mods that will improve it's drive-ability and be swappable to future plans.

The ultimate plan will be a 390 (lightly modded with better cam and crank), c6, and different gearing in the rear for long haul cruises. A slight drop in the front and rear, sway bars, and disc brakes. Maybe some under-dash AC.

Nothing too radical.

Cosmetically I'm not going for a show-queen. Just something clean, drivable, and presentable.

For now - I get to inspect it, and if all claims are up to par, she'll be on the way home sometime next week. Then will work to get her in shape - and maybe scrounge an engine to build while I drive - nothing like having a drivable project! Biggest mistakes I've made is to get a car, and tear it apart to work on it without driving it - much prefer to get it on the road, and have something on the side to work on for it! Of course - 4bbl manifols, and dual pipes to start with....lol.

 

Also forgot to mention - I may work to get the 58 in my avatar back --- gonna send some feelers out to the guy who has it now....

 

Saturday can't come soon enough!!!

Thinking of a list of things to take with me - my bag of investigative tools:

Magnet (to check for rust)
Mirror on a stick (to check underneath)
Compression Gauge (engine condition check - +/- 10% readings)
Voltmeter (to check for electrical gremlins)
Spark plug socket set (to check condition of plugs)
Flashlight (all the better to see with)
Stethoscope (to listen to the engine in case of knocks)

Anyone think of anything else?