Hi, Ive been a member on the forum for a while as I've wanted a Wagon for ages but not found one until this weekend gone. A mate picked up 3 old cars from a barn literally a few miles up the road, he sold one for good money and wanted a quick sale on the other two to get his space back. That left a '63 Rambler Classic Wagon and a '65 Ford Country Sedan, another mate had the Rambler and I had the Ford. It was a quick spur of the moment decision, but helped by the wife who liked it too! The car is a Canadian made RHD 390ci 4v which has been in the UK from new which means its got an interesting history with it, but also means its got a severe case of good old English rust, it is very crusty, but it was cheap. The VIN was a bit of hard work decoding, 471C65R###### but am I right in thinking the 4 = 8 cylinder, 71 = Country Sedan, C = 9 Passenger, 65 = 1965 and the R = right hand drive? Also got some other numbers on the door plate which I am getting nowhere with: 5SS 675 JC3 any ideas? It was an elderly owner before and despite the bodywork issues it appears to have been looked after quite well mechanically so I am hoping that it won't be too much work to get a ticket on it. I can then have some fun driving it and if it proves to be mechanically sound Ill get the bodywork sorted too. Its going to have to be on a budget for now though as I am just nearing completion of a long term build of my Hot Rod. Cheers Phil.
to the forum. I'm sure by now you know every member here. You English dudes are rather the slow voeyour type. Nice wagon and not bad shape for the shape it's in. As for the following comment I borrowed, I know some guys from the UK that fit that description! I'd rather see the 32 Hotrod! "good old English rust, it is very crusty, but it was cheap".:banana:
I know, been quiet for a while, but only just got a proper wagon. Here's a picture of the rod as requested, still a way to go yet but feel like its getting somewhere now. But does mean the wagon is on hold for a month or so anyway.
I see your just up the road in Somerset, the logbook on the Country Sedan tells me that it spent the '80s in Crewkerne.
Nice purchase, Phil. I can verify that your wagon is a 'Country Sedan', just based on the chrome trim it has. Not sure I missed it in the pics, but I believe there is supposed to be some kind of "Country Sedan" script on the quarter panels. Does your wagon have the the dual-facing rear seats in the cargo area. or perhaps just a rear-facing third seat? (or, you could just have a 6-passenger model...) I'd be interested to see how Ford accommodated the right-hand drive. Can you post up a pic of the instrument panel and steering column? Thanks, and welcome to the SWF! Marshall
Congrats on the wagon ! You may be able to obtain some info on it from Ford Motor Company of Canada Research Unit The Canadian Road P.O. Box 2000 Oakville,ON Canada L6J 5E4 they are pretty good at sending you any info that they may have on your Canadian built wagon, send them a letter with the VIN and see what comes back. Good luck
Welcome to the nuthouse we call home! Great wagon indeed. certainly nothing that can't be fixed, I'm sure. The body looks very, very solid by Ontario, Canada standards! Interesting how the car was adapted to the British lighting standards. I'd have done things a little bit differently, but then, that's me; different. For the front lights, I would try to find the grill assembly from a 66 Country Squire or LTD. It is die cast and chrome plated, which looks nicer than the stamped aluminium, but the big benefit is that it has 2 lights per side, so one can be the parking lamp with a clear bulb, and the other the turn signal with the amber bulb. A very easy thing to fit. For the rear turn signals, I would use an 1156NA bulb fitted into the reverse lamp socket and get rid of the amber lenses that look like add ons sitting on the quarters. For reverse lamps and rear fog, I would mount them under the bumper on a trailer hitch. These lamps are easily found,, too. It would tidy up the look significantly. Otherwise, let us know what you find with the old girl when it comes to mechanical issues. I'm sure someone around here can help out with what you need.
Its has the dual facing seats in the back. It totally agree on the way they converted the lights, I think the ones mounted in the rear quarters are off an old beetle or something like that, but they will be coming straight off and I had the same idea to put an amber bulb in the reversing light, or even just get the brake lights flashing again, I did that on a '68 Rebel I used to have and I never had any trouble with that. We don't need to fit fogs on cars over a certain age in the UK, no worries with that one. On the front I was going to lose those ugly ones from the grille, the side repeaters and the lights up on the wings and just fit an amber bulb inside one of the headlights, or even I have seen lights with an amber LED halo in them which I thought might be different. I will also fit a smaller rear number plate, that actually fits in the bumper recess, with LED bolts. The dash is a '63 Lincoln one, pretty ugly if you ask me, unfortunately missing the time piece too, but have plans to blank the hole with '50s pinup sticker. Cheers Phil.
Really? that's around 6 miles from us. We do our food shop there, - only place local that has a Waitrose. Welcome to the forum. Great looking car btw.
I dig the color of your hot rod. I am just finishing up remodeling the master bath and bedrooms. Painted the walls almost that exact color. New carpet gets installed tomorrow and that project's done, except for installing a new ceiling fan.
That is the base, stamped metal, grill for the 66. you can see how similar it is to the shape and contour of the 65. Here is the LTD grill that fits in the same opening: As you can see, provision for separate parking lamps and turn indicators are already there, so all you need do is choose the correct colour of bulb for each purpose, and you are ready to go. A simple, clean way to make the car meet the lighting standards.
I must admit I do really love the colour of the Rod too, it was an unusual choice, but everyone who sees it does comment on how well it suits it. I picked it by matching the paint with an old scrapper V8 Pilot (English version of the '36 Ford) I had. Two very nice looking cars and great ideas to do the conversion, trouble is not many grilles available to choose from over here, so as I'll be on a budget for the time being I guess I am stuck with the original one for now, but Ill certainly give updates when I get round to starting on it as I will definitely clean it right up from how it looks now. I am hoping to spare sometime at the weekend to check out the brakes and get the engine running a bit more smoothly, getting rid of the 4 year old petrol will probably help!
