1952-59 Ford The Geissler 55

Original paint codes were used. Torch red and snow shoe white. Red first...





Masked off and then on to white...

 

Unmask and lay down some high solids clear...

 

We always do the shell first. We can start buffing it and then when the parts are ready we just hang them on the car. That way we don't have a bunch of parts lying around. I'll post some pics as it's buffed.

 

You guys do great work! Wish you were closer to me.

 

I need some help guys! I still need an 3sp with overdrive for this car. The owner is set on having the three on the tree. Our case was cracked and I thought that the case were the same, only the overdrive would bolt on. So I bought a 3sp case out of an original 55 two door and it was a a bit to small? Any info on these trannies would help.

Were putting in a 351w but keeping the column shift. Any suggestions? Trannies laying around?

 

Thats looking great man, do keep em coming. Love it. My 56 is in primer about to be painted, this gets me excited.

 

wish mine was that far along

 

fellas - thanks for posting those great pics!!! beautiful work on that 55, man she is looking sweet. I don't want to even know how many total man hours you've got in her so far, but this family will appreciate the attention to detail when that car is all done. I don't know much about transmissions, and all that I've got laying around is just a couple of the old 55-56 3 speed standard transmissions with no overdrive. I think people used to call them the "paper trans".

I wonder if a good 1957 T85 3 speed with overdrive would not work in that car? I was thinking about putting one in my sunliner eventually.

Maybe someone like Randy Connor out in wisconsin has one?

 

I bought a good 55 3spd with overdrive from a local Tbird club member that lives down the street from our shop. He also supplied us with all stock type parts for our power steering conversion. It was like getting a new kit because he had fully gone through everything. He gave us the center drag link for power with tie rods, hoses, new push pull ram, and rebuilt valve. Very clean!

Tomorrow I will mate the ****** to a early cast iron 289 bellhousing. Since the ****** has a smaller output shoulder I'll have to mill a ring in the lathe to center the output to the crank. The fly wheel might also need a new pilot bushing milled that extends out toward the ****** to give the output shaft a little more room which will eliminate any wear on the crank bearings. Oh the joy of mating old with new.

I'll post pics as I go...

 

Well today I made a centering ring to align the output shaft of the ****** to the crank. I used a Wal-mart plastic cutting board since they're cheap and machine well.

I started with a 2x6 and cut me a square to use as a backer board for the plastic...



Using double sided tape I stuck the plastic board onto the wood and marked me a center...



Chucked it on the lathe and measured the inner diameter of the bell housing, gave her a cut and then measured the outer of the ****** shoulder and cut that to, leaving me a ring...



All I had to do was unstick the ring and viola...



Placed it on the shoulder and it was a perfect snug fit...



And now with the bell housing...



Now I have to drill and tap the mounting bolts. Word of caution here, if you decide to adapt a ******, try to find cast or steel since aluminum housings usually don't have enough beef except where the original bolt pattern was at. Once the ****** is bolted down we will mount the housing to the block and see if we need to machine a longer pilot bearing.

 

Wow! Very nice work. This family will be very happy to see the level of craftsmanship that you all have displayed through this bodywork and paint job. Thanks for posting pics.