Hey Greg! Yah driving with this behind it will be tricky, but when I was younger I once towed a 58 Edsel behind my dad's long bed extended-cab chevy truck on a flatbed trailer. Now THAT required planning.
Hey All! Sorry for the delay - but a new Niece, work, and the holidays got in the way. However, recently I got the "new" grill put back on, and thought I'd post a few pics I took of it today. The grill is far from perfect - but is perfect for a driver - which this will be. Just a few gremlins I need to fix - the tank is cruddy and the gas line gets clogged easy - so I get to pull the tank and get it cleaned - then it's on to brakes - and front end / suspension work. Enjoy the pics it's a little dusty from sittin!
Dust color? Lol. Thanks for that...it's odd having it painted the same color as the interior....it was a strange choice by a PO
Quick update: So I took the front wheels off, so I can try to find the correct rims for this car. While they were off this morning, I decided to take a few pics. The steering linkage is in sad shape. So if I get this right - I need a new drag link, tie rods, and steering box to convert from power to manual? Also I may need to do a full rebuild on the suspension. It's worn out pretty good. That MAY be pricey - I've never done one before and may enlist the help of someone more talented. The odometer on this car reads 89,xxx - that may be 289,xxx. Who knows how long the odometer / spedo have not worked! Also - the master cylinder is leaking, so it looks like my power brake upgrade may happen soon. I did note the driver's side rubber line was replaced, but not the passenger side. A full brake rebuild will definitely be in order - to include wheel cylinders, pads, etc.
Are you planning on going back to factory power steering or a newer set up? If you are staying with the factory style I can see that your car was a power steering car as I can see the control valve assembly on the end of the drag link in the third photo. You will need to put the slave cylinder back on that's missing, probably have the control valve rebuilt or replaced, install the hoses and pump and you will be good to go. HTH
Hey Jeff - Thats where I get to the "which way should I go" route. My finances are limited since my daily driver crapped the bed, and I'm still paying on the replacement for a few months. Maybe I shoulda sunk the money into the Edsel and had that for a daily for a while - but - cest la vie. How good is the stock power steering setup? I'm missing some parts - slave cylinder, pump, pump mount - etc. Are they hard to find? Are they available rebuilt somewhere? Conversely how hard is it to go to a manual setup? I have MOST of the original system in place I think. Thoughts?
The stock setup works OK, the only real drawback is the tendency for them to leak over time. Finding the power steering stuff shouldn't be real hard to find as the components are the same as a Ford. I am not positive but I believe all you need to change it back to manual is a different drag link, idler arm and possibly the pitman arm. I am fairly certain the tie rods and steering sector are the same.
I'm not positive, but I would think power would cost a lot more that manual, and just plain more complicated. I would think unless you went with new power components you might end up with having to rebuild the parts.
Jeff / Greg I did see somewhere (cannot remember where) that the steering ratio is different in the manual steering box. But I doubt that would make THAT big of a difference. Will definitely have to start looking for the manual parts - I'm not a fan of adding something that could leak. Drugasm - Thanks! El Caballo - Thats pretty much what I've heard as well. The engine for sure as it's an FE - the transmission - rear axel - brakes - etc. Most skin and trim is different though. Some stuff is left over from other cars - the tail light lenses for example are from the Lincoln.
Make sure the manuel box doesn't leak before you put it on. also a good time to upgrade to dual master or even do Disk. (I did, with '79 Tbird)
A lot of 59 Ford parts will cross over to the 59 Edsel, the chassis and drivetrain are pretty well the same. Mercury, not so much.
Manual steering box & pitman arm fits, only ratio is diffrent, manual about 5.5 turns, power steering about 4.7 turns. I made this conversion 1 year ago, parts came form 1959 edsel, and now they are in my 58 pacer. Tie rods are same, you need link with control valve, 4 hoses, pump with bracket maybe pulley too.. You should do this, much nicer to cruise !!!
Well - today I tackled pulling the gas tank. I've been experiencing fuel starvation. I drained about 20 gallons of gas, and then took off the fuel sender etc. I checked inside - wow - DIRTY inside! One question - there is an area near the front bottom that looks like it may have a plug or something welded on. Is this about where the fuel pickup is? Should there be an access or something here - or is this normal?
Hi I have to look later, a few weks ago I put out my gas tank. At the moment it is laying beside the car.
Nope. I "think" there's a screen/filter on the end of the pick up tube though. I think you should be able to see the end of the pick up tube through either the fuel sender or filler hole.
Sorry for the delay folks - I got busy with work and life. I took the tank to a local shop to have it cleaned out - and of course - it's rusted out - but not where you would think....the seams rusted bad - from the inside out. The guy thinks it probably had water in the gas tank for several years at one point. This will be the second car I had that suffered from sitting with water in the tank. The first was a VW -- the owners son "helped out dad" by filling the engine and tank with "fuel" from the hose. I'm suspecting something along the same lines here as there are no huge signs of rust - and the rear floor of the wagon is NICE - as is the top of the tank. I MIGHT be able to get it welded - but I think the headache is not going to be worth it. I'm probably going to shell out the dough for the Bob Drake replacement tank. Also you would think finding stock wheels for this thing would be easy down here in the southwest. Well.....seems every place I've gone to has scraped out all the 14" 5x4.5" bolt pattern wheels - or only has what I currently have - late model Ford Truck wheels. I have a few resources left - and will keep trying. Also after much research and such - I've decided to go BACK to PS on her. After I locate the right tie rods, drag link, and steering box and such to conert to manual - I'd have spent a little MORE than finding the pump and slave cylinder and have both rebuilt. I still have the check valve on there and will see if it's possible to get it rebuilt as well. More to follow...
Wecome to Edseldom. Join the "edsel restoration and preservation" facebook page. We have alot of edsel gurus there that can answer all your Q's. Happy Edseling!!
I learned the stock Station Wagon wheels are rare to find anywhere and they aren't the same size as the other Edsels/Fords. Also often when you restore the wheels you paint them all over including the holes for the bolts, causing risk of the nuts slackening off and destroying the wheels. No wonder they get harder and harder to find
Alright folks - I have confirmed there are NO late 50's early 60's ford wheels with the 4.5x5 bolt pattern within 100 miles of me. I did find out two of my rims are stock - and two are not. The two that are not have "vents" on the sides - and have a different offset. ugh So - I'm asking for alternatives. I've always stuck to stock - but aside from stock - what would be a good alternative style wheel? Thoughts? Pics?
I think my neighbor has a wheel off a 61 ford car laying in his yard....they can't be THAT hard to find! Did you ask Don Searles if he has any? He has a huge pile of wheels in his yard. On Moson road about a mile south of 90, across from the HAM radio place, look for the Christmas trees growing in his yard
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