Just got another project - '58 Ford Skyliner

Sounds like they used it as an off road vehicle. Odd that is wasn't better taken care of considering what type car it is. I love that body style.
I'd guess they liked to pull way up in the garage when parking!

 

If you need parts, this guy has 3 Skyliners, one he's restoring and 2 for parts:

http://www.callingallcars.ca/

 

Well, after accidentally dropping the master cylinder and breaking it, I decided to work on the top. I unbolted the jack screws for the rear deck and got it to open. They've been hit with PB Blaster and hopefully I can get them to unseize now that I can reach them. Anyway. No bad rust and I have a spare tire, which was quite shocking actually since my father-in-law's garage was littered with tires and wheels that didn't fit anything. The top went through the next two steps of its operation and tried to lift, but one of the rear latches isn't unlatching, so that's the next project. Anyway, it's open.







Something anyone who has a '57-'59 wagon should notice is that the Skyliner has a completely different floorpan than the sedans and wagons, with the gas tank in front of the axle and the spare tire under the trunk floor.

 

Fords at that time were notorious rusters because McNamara's Whiz Kids didn't want to spend the money to upgrade to electrostatic paint rigs; it caused a bit of a fight between McNamara and Iacocca (who was in charge of sales, IIRC), and eventually, the board overruled McNamara.

 

None of the rear sheet metal is common to any other body style, either. The quarter panels are (I think) around 4" longer that say the convertible quarter panels, to accommodate the top mechanism.....

Regular '58 Ford, overall length - 207"
Skyliner overall length - 211"

 

I think it uses the longer Mercury chassis, if I remember correctly.

 

My shop teacher in 79 was a skyliner fan haven't thought about him for years and ran into him at a flea market ...he was old in 79!.

said he just spent $75,000 on one last year from California ...guess that kept him young .

 

At the moment, still trying to pull the 57-year-old balljoints off and trying to get the top to work. Still an ongoing project.

 

Use a BFH to smack the knuckle (or control arm if designed that way) several times; the hits deform the hole enough to break the two apart. If it works on a '55 Star Chief, it'll work on your Skyliner.

 

The balljoint required some mindless destruction and hitting a balljoint separator with a 20 lb. sledge hammer for about 10 minutes and a grinder to cut off the original rivets that held them in place. One side is done, then I needed a break, so... Success!

http://s549.photobucket.com/user/Breadbox_photos/media/Skyliner/Trunk video_zpsr3ckjj0k.mp4.html

The roof is still stuck on one side but it works up to that point. The trunk had a seized screwjack and a bad connection at the lift motor circuit breaker.

 

I hate using pickle forks, unless it's attached to an air hammer. I'm pretty sure my arthritic left thumb was caused by the hammer hit it took years ago.

 

I don't think you are supposed to do that! But according to Newton's law of relatives it usually happens several times in life. After that most shadetree mechanics figure it out or hire some kid.
Some of those rivets are a pain in the backside also. At least Chrysler got it right on late model stuff. You have to replace 90% of the front end to get new ball joints.

 

The V70 is the same way. They're built into the control arms, so you get new control arm bushings, and usually tie rod ends, too.

 

I did the same on a Beemer, which I had each side changed in about 15 minutes. Surprised the Hell outta me.

 

UPDATE: It WORKS!

http://s549.photobucket.com/user/Breadbox_photos/media/Skyliner/Top%20Opening_zpseq0tlcte.mp4.html