1952-59 Ford my 4.6 dohc powered 57 Custom, aka, doing it the easy way

Took the car out for it's first spin around the block, and then back up on the concrete driveway so I could check some things out. My pro car builder friend has been telling me for years everything may look good, but nobody knows for sure til that first drive. I only drove 3/10ths of a mile, but it was with a big smile on my face. I mean it did go, it did turn, it did stop. I do have some issues to resolve that became apparent on the short drive, or watch to see if they resolve themselves when the car is finished, but all in all not bad, and no cops around, and no tow truck had to be called.
The first pic shows both of my 10 year (so far) projects..the '57 and the 85 year old house I've been rebuilding (the yellow one). That pic also illustrates one of my issues that I suspected but couldn't tell in my dirt floor garage....the stance is not correct. I've got 2 1/2 dropped spindles and front tires that should add another 1 drop. I'm 95% sure at this point I got the wrong springs from Eaton 7 or 8 years ago. I kept waiting for the front end to drop...added engine & ******, etc., then added all the sheetmetal. I'm going to do a seperate post on that with some pics of the front suspension to see if anyone can pick out any obvious problem I'm missing.

 

BTW, concerning the wrong stance...I do only have 3 of the correct wheels and tires on the car due to a backorder. The 4th tire (back left) is one from the days of it being my daily driver. It is 3 1/2 dia. smaller causing the car to sit unevenly. That is accounting for a little of the g***er look. I jacked the car up on that corner the 1 3/4 difference, and it made the rockers pretty much level. (I built the car to have about a 3" rake along the rockers.)
I know the front is going to settle some, and the rear springs currently are 55+ years old, but 3"?

 

The springs will settle, but not as much as you need them to. Options, drive it a bit with 4 correct tires and see how you like it, switch to aerostar springs or lop a coil or 2 off the Eatons. I'd be tempted to cut a bit off the Eatons, unless you can still exchange them.

 

It's been a tastefull odissey keeping up with you Texas. Congratulations.

 

Before I consider shortening the Eatons, I have to verify wire size. If the springs were made the correct length, but the wrong wire size it would have the same result of not letting the car settle. A heavier wire size would just result in a harsh ride even if I shortened them for the correct stance. Admittedly, I don't know much about the manufacturing of coil springs, so I don't know if there are additional factors such as heat treating that can vary the strength.

 

washed the car several times yesterday to clean off the Texas silt that's always flying around so I could buff off overspray and 3 years of grime buildup. The good news is I don't have any leaks inside.. Yahoo!!

 

The car might sit higher than you would like but I gotta admit it sure looks great! HRP

 

Never posted a pic with the bumper on. Also a view from the inside. I'm sure liking the hood scoop.....looks great to me from the driver's seat!

 

This car is an absolute work of art!

 

You are doing a really nice job with limited funds and space. It will turn heads that's for sure.

I'm looking for a used P-AYR 351W block if you or anyone knows someone that might be interested in selling it. I'm installing a stroked 427 in my 56 Fairlane. I could use that foam block to mock up my headers and other areas of concern.

Jerry

 

I'll keep my eyes open. Fortunatly I didn't have to mock up my exhaust. I knew beforehand Cobra manifolds would fit so I was able to forgo the expense of the P-ayr heads. I think some of their blocks have the heads cast on to the blocks, and some don't depending on head options available for that block. In the 4.6's case, 2,3, and 4 valve heads were used,and of course, different on the outside as well, so they kept them seperate.
Ha...on the space....I've never actually owned a garage that you could drive a vehicle into. They always ended up being my shop areas, so I wasn't missing anything, except of course when I'm on forums and the guys are showing their cars in their garage on a lift under a 14 ft ceiling...and they stood back inside 30 or 40 feet to get a good pic.
I need a nap.

 

I posted a wire size on my springs in your other thread and that is .703. From what I see, front springs from 1949 and 1959 were very similar. Lots of parts catalogs & sites list one common spring for all that span of years.

 

One of the guys on the '57 forum posted this from the '57 shop manual...
8...count 'em...8 different springs for '57's with a variation in free length of 1.7", yet compressed length identical.
And we wonder why we have issues when we replace springs with a one size fits 10 years..., not even considering all the mods we've made.

 

I figured as much, I've never come across any concrete values for the springs in my '59, probably the same deal.

 

Did you chirp the tires , Awesome feeling to get it out on the road.

 

Not too much progress to report. I did get the front lights all wired up. I've got high beams, low beams, turn signals, parking lights, hazards, and all my dash light indicators are working. Yay!!! I love Ron Francis' stuff!! I hooked up the headlight/park light wiring with weathertight connectors.
Yesterday I pulled it out of the garage so I could get some plywood down over the dirt floor to get the rear end pulled out. I got a few better pics while it was out.
I finally got some pricing in from a local shop that builds upper end race cars on rebuilding/modifying my rear end. Much to my surprise, he was right in the middle of pricing I had gotten from other shops, so I won't have to bring it to Dallas afterall! Cool! I was in his shop a few weeks ago, and after looking at some of the projects he had going on, I figured there was no way I could afford him. He's going to narrow the case, change to big bearings for a disc brake kit, install new eaton posi, new 3.50 gears, all new seals and bearings, new 31 spline axels,and a taller yoke (pinion flange is correct term, I guess)to get my driveshaft engagement where it needs to be.
I started trying to get some of the stuff undone last night. All those u bolts, spring bushing bolts, brake drums are going to fight me all the way. I finally decided I'd pull the rear with the springs and drums still attached and get it out in the open where I can cut stuff off if I have to. Not an easy job for an old man!!!!
I've got new 6 leaf rear springs on order with McVeighs and new bushings and u bolts.
My 4th wheel that has been on backorder is suppose to ship within the week. Once the rear is done, and back in the car with the new springs, and the correct wheels/tires, I can get back to figuring out what needs to be done to get the nose of the car down to where I want it.
I also signed up with Hagerty for insurance, so I'll be able to get the car registered and driven a little to let all the springs settle in.

 

Had a good day today.....got the rear end pulled out of the car, but the best part was actually noticing that my new NiCopp fuel line was running across the opening in the frame that the front spring bolt was going to be driven out of BEFORE I tried to drive the bolt out!! It had a clamp right next to the hole, so there was no way it was going to just push to one side. I'm sure glad I didn't have to add a new fuel line back on my to-do list.Getting the rear out (springs attached) was alot easier than I had anticipated. Easy job for a younger man.
I fought getting the brake shoes backed off enough to get past the ridge that's priobably worn into the drum, so I decided to pull the rear with the drums (and springs) attached. I've got new U bolts coming, so I just used the cut off tool to get the old bolts off.
Tommorrow I'll try again to get the drums off with the rear end up on jack stands. Hopefully I can see in a little better than when it was on the car. Any suggestions? It is not frozen, btw, it's just the pads holding it on.

 

I finally figured out it wasn't the brake pads hanging up, but the drum was in fact rusted to the axel flange closer in than the studs. Took a torch and a sledge hammer, but I finally got the first one off.

 

Tonight I checked the provided tracking number for the rear springs that were suppose to be delivered today and weren't. Surprise.....according to their often updated tracking, I refused the package twice today and it's on it's way back to Michigan. WTF????? After finally getting past their computerized network, I finally got to talk to a live person. He said someone will call me in the morning. with a new delivery date. After confirming they had the correct address, I explained I was the only one here in the daytime, and I definetly didn't even see a ups truck, never mind refuse something I've been anxious to get, so they must have tried to deliver to the wrong house, but twice?

I mentioned I signed up with Hagerty for car insurance....yesterday I got a call from the agent. He said after seeing the pics, they were considering the car "totally modified", so the premium would be 200. higher. No increase in value, just the premium. HUH?? He couldn't explain what "totally modified" meant. I started doing some shoping and got a quote from Grundy for pretty much the same coverage for almost HALF!! A signed application, pictures and a check is now on the way to them...we'll see what happens.

 

Frustrating day. They cannot intercept the ups shipment at any of it's transfer points, so it's got to go all the way back to Michigan from Texas before they can reroute it back here...all because the driver went to a wrong house and whoever they tried to deliver it to apparently refused the shipment instead of telling the driver he had a wrong address. Half of this neighborhood are village idiots, and the other half don't speak English.

 

I mentioned I signed up with Hagerty for car insurance....yesterday I got a call from the agent. He said after seeing the pics, they were considering the car "totally modified", so the premium would be 200. higher. No increase in value, just the premium. HUH?? He couldn't explain what "totally modified" meant. I started doing some shoping and got a quote from Grundy for pretty much the same coverage for almost HALF!! A signed application, pictures and a check is now on the way to them...we'll see what happens.[/QUOTE]

I have Grundy also, I've only had to use them once and I had absolutely no problems with them, one call handled everything. About $200 a year.

 

I have American collector car insurance. $20000 agreed value for $ 140 a year. No complaints so far.

 

I had Moose look into my mind and photoshop what I had envisioned...unreal, it was actually like he SAW what I had in my mind. What do you guys think?

 

Yes sir, absolutely love that lowered stance!

 

I say go for it. Flames and all!

 

Looks great, my only suggestion would be to french the headlights, the 57 bug eye look just doesn't do it for me anymore.

 

One of my projects on the list to do after the car is finished is to find another set of '57 rings and alter them so they are an inch or so shorter than oem. I like the frenched look, but I also like the oem look, so, like the grille, I decided to leave it and not change it for the sake of a change. The car I saw with the shortened version was a big improvement imho. I think it's going to be one of those jobs that is much more involved than one would think.

 

I think everything we do to our cars is more involved than we think it will be but that's half the fun, modifying our cars to our liking.
So far, I can't see anything on your car that I would change other than that, keep up the good work.

 

Update on my leaf spring/UPS fiasco....as late as 9 am this morning, the local ups distribution manager ***ured me the springs were not going to be returned to the shipper as the tracking number info indicated, but would in fact be loaded on another truck in Michigan headed back to Texas and would be here Friday.
This afternoon about 2, I get a call from the shipper saying ups had in fact returned the shipment to them.

 

That's a bummer. Nothing more frustrating than dealing with shipping problems.