1958 Country Sedan project

"I swing Ol'school man! "

...i hear that my friend

car looks great too !!

 

Jairus,the wiper motor in that pic. of the '57 wagon is out of a '57chevy it's
an old hot rodders trick that's a direct bolt in. I have the chrome headlight
bezels your looking for and a decent grill bar too.

 

Yeah, I figured it must be a Chevy item this weekend as I noted yet another '57 Ford with the same motor. Wish I had learned that before I got the vacuum wiper motor rebuilt.

As for the center bar and headlight doors... what do you want my Oregon friend?

 

I'll p.m. you

 

for

Jairus, like that detail on your clock and all your "old school" stuff as you call it. for pic rating. Keep us informed!

 

Hidey ho good wagon neighbor! Way to jump right in and help a fellow Ford guy(Jairus) out. Welcome to the madness! Tell us about your Ford(s) when you get a chance?

 

Okay dudes, the sun came out today and I got the bug to work on the car. Sooo.... with the clock working spot-on I decided to get it installed. Problem was, the clock did not include the correct dash face. Or any faceplate for that matter, so I cut a hole in the blanking plate that came with the car. Works for me for now.



The chrome on the little plastic piece was pretty bad. Pretty much like the plate holding the heater fan switch. So I stripped all the old chrome with "Easy-Off" oven cleaner and shot Alclad chrome paint on the surfaces. Then to preserve it shot some clear lacquer. But that dulls the surface a little so for the frame along the bottom and up the end I wrapped some Bare metal foil. This material is real metal and the look replicates the dash piece to the left (Radio plate) perfectly.

Restoration done one piece at a time!:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

That looks great, let me know when you swing through GA with the wagon, maybe I can go for a ride?

 

Deal!

 

Brake problems in Oregon

I guess in the back of my mind I knew something was wrong.
Took this pic a few days ago when I installed the new clock and just now noticed the little puddle of brake fluid on the ground.

In my defense, we have had rain, rain, rain here lately and more is coming on Wednesday. But looking back I pulled it into the garage for a little check up and while topping off the brake fluid, noticed it was really low. I mean, scary low! So put a bunch in the reservoir and pumped the brakes. The pedal felt firm but I did notice for the first time a slight drop in the pedal height. Almost imperceptible but was there. So... got a trouble light and looked under the car and found the leak right away. The puddle of dripping fluid was the key. Who knows how long this has been going on, but I know my guardian angel was watching out for me 'cause something has been nagging me to check the brakes.
So...the wagon is now sidelined till I can get it fixed.



What happened is, seems the emergency brake cable shielding has been rubbing on the steel hardline for 54 years and finally made a pin hole resulting in an eventual leak and a drop in fluid via the master-cylinder.



So, the plan is to cut the line at the wear point and flare it. Then install a joint fitting and run a new piece of hardline from there back to the block where the rubber line connects above the axle.
Bleed the system and I should be good to go!


As always... I welcome anyone with a better solution.

 

Good catch there Mr Watson!

 

Out with the old and in with the new!


Tried so hard to use a flair tool and the correct connector to mate the old line with the new but after many hours and lots of attempts first on spare tubing and later on the final pieces... it still leaked. Just could not get the hang of it. So... back to the autoparts store begging for a compression fitting made just for brakes.

First store was out but down the street at O'Reillys ... success!
Back home, trimmed the ends, bolted in the fitting, blead the brakes and it works!
Back on the road!
Best part, no leaks and the whole repair cost less than $20 bucks. (Don't ask me about time spent tho....) Pedal feels more solid than it ever has so I suspect there was air in the line prior to this happening.

 

Hey...my shoes are in that last pic!

 

Awesome, I thought our original master cylinder was shot in the old Trooper as pedal was SOMETIMES(key word sometimes) sinking toward floor when being used. Did a flush and good bleeding and all is good again. Bad master is an ALWAYS problem apparently.

Love seeing all your pics Jairus of any work you do on that old wagon. Using a flaring tool is something I've not tried yet either. Ain't it fun at least trying to learn new stuff? Thanks! and

 

Dang that's a good looking wagon.

Yeah.. brake lines can be a pain.. but you did a great job with the fix.

On to the next.. ha!