(re) Build thread: My '58 Ford Custom

awesome stuff, im putting a 460 in my 58 so its pretty much the opposite of what your doing ha, but yea ill definatley be PMing you if i encounter any issues with my swap. keep up the great work on this, LOVE 58's

 

I put the 460/C6 into this using Crites stuff. Headers, engine mounts and trans crossmember. It worked out well. Plenty of room. I ground down the ribs on the trans case like Crites suggests but there seemed to be sufficient room once I got it in so I would not do that nasty job again.

 

Did some cleaning up of the dash. The guy who put this together in '66 used vinyl adhesive-backed wood appliqué across the center of the dash and the gauge mounting plate. Not exactly a durable material. I removed what was left of it. I think it looks much better all black. The gauges are vintage SW greenlines. The missing gauge is the oil temp. I have to get it fixed.





Here is the old Country Squire look:

 

Thats for sure it looks so much better now without the fake wood!

 

My goodness but time flies. Got back on it and stuff happened.



The front end is back on. Brakes bled. Headlight switch gave up finally, so I found an NOS Holley replacement on Ebay. Funny how stuff breaks just sitting still, like the ignition resistor. The Holleys were not happy after sitting a couple of years, but they never do age well when they go dry. The surprise was how the Holley fuel pump lost it's ability to internally regulate fuel pressure. Weak needle valves don't do well with 10psi. Parts are on order.
Had the same failure with another Holley fuel pump on a SBF once.

Still love Holleys. Just gots ta know their limitations.

If the parts get soon in I may be able to drive it this weekend. Have not done that in a long time.

 

I'm so glad to see you back on the car! Looking good!

 

She's back on the road! Had a valve stem attempt an escape but was able to pull into a convenient garage for a replacement. 4.56 gears keep the speeds on the local streets nice and legal. I only pushed into the secondary carbs once but she was eager. I kept running into a Sherriff's deputy in a Crown Vic around my neighborhood so I just gave up the idea of sneaking out a full 1, 2, 3 run.

All gears in the Fordomatic built by Art Carr back in 1966 worked as well as ever, and it still shifts fast and hard. Harder than my C6 built with Broader parts.

I need to do some cleaning and buffing of the paint and I think it will be time to find a new owner. I'm not doing this car justice by not driving it.

 

Question for you, how is the exhaust system installed? I mean, from the headers does it run between the frame and rocker panels? Since the frame on these Fords curves out towards the rockers I wasn't sure if there was room to put an exhaust system through there. I have a '57 Ranchero that I'd love to put some fenderwell headers on one of the days, but I have it lowered and I wasn't sure how I'd run the exhaust system.

thanks
David

 

Just discovered this thread, nice to see FE power back in the 58 Tom. I have always liked 57 thru 59 Fords, mainly because as a kid my dad had a 58 2 door Ranch Wagon, which I just thought was the coolest thing. As a kid, I hoped to get the 58 as my first car, but when I was about 13 or 14, my dad was teaching my grandmother how to drive, and she stuffed the nose into a telephone pole, and the car was totalled. Sad day.If you do sell it Tom, I hope it finds a good home, and doesn`t wind up with 20" wheels, air bag suspension, and a LS Chevy engine.

 

It has a very short system. Each side has a pipe from the headers that p***es under the frame rail to just inside the frame rail to a gl***pack to a ~18" tail pipe with a turn down. A tab welded to the frame mates to a clamp on the tail pipe. One bolt, three flange bolts and it's off. Obviously it was built back in the day to p*** the Junior Stock tech and be easily removed. I have plenty of ground clearance with this car so going under the frame rail is not a problem.

I think you would have to route your headers and exhaust pipe so that the pipe curves not just toward the oil pan but just slightly forward so you can curve around the frame rail where it kicks up for the front suspension. Most cars running fenderwells have raised front ends otherwise you have issues with tire clearance. The F70-14s I run and all I can fit without raising the front end more.

 

Thanks Rory!