1967 Ford Squire wagon restoration

It's like "The knee-bone's connected to the leg bone". See one, you've seen the logic of them all.

 

Here are some updated pics of before engine bay cleaning and after cleaning and sanding.
DEGREASED AND POWERWASHED:



Grinded and Sanded almost ready for paint:

 

WOW!! That is clean! Nothing like down to the roots resto!

 

I wished the engine bay in my truck was that clean...

 

I will give you guys some of the behind the scenes updates that have occurred over the last 2 weeks.

The first setback was the transmission. I took it to a notable transmission shop to have it looked over, new seals and gaskets and to freshen it up. Apparently there was nothing fresh in there! It was all rotten. Its repairable, but it needs many parts but the most noteworthy are both drums, and servos are all shot. That is going to run me about $1200.:banghead3:

Second setback. I did not tell you guys this in the beginning but the main reason I pulled the motor was that when we had the car up on the lift, we found that the block had a JBweld patch on the side of the motor which was weeping small drips of coolant.
Once we took off the patch, we found a 4 inch small crack. We tried to have it professionally repaired, but sadly enough the cast iron just continued to spider web into multiple cracks. The block is gone and I am without a motor and not very happy.

I was at a turning point and gave it 2 days to decide whether to part the car out or continue on. I know that the engine and transmission are not big deals, but all the small issues and the big ones are adding up quite a bit. I had no idea how hard it was to find parts for these wagons.

Needless to say, It has all added up to more than I ever thought.

We decided to......


keep going!

We figured most of the cats are out of the bag and that's what happens when you take a chance on buying a 40 year old car.


Dr B

 

That's precisely the lump I had in my throat when I blew my own 302 in my wagon, in my own yard, tuning it up. What now? Do I get the donor car, do I just swap motors, where to go. A million doubts and a vision and direction brewing on the backburner. I'm glad I went ahead with it.

Like I said in another thread today, the Retro Look and Feel of these machines just isn't an option. We've got history in our hands, and I think I took the right leap of faith into this deep pit of expense, and effort. Looks like the road less travelled, again.

 

Sorry to hear about all the trouble you are having.I just had a friend to scrap a running 352 that he pulled out of a 1 ton truck. 352,360 gets really bad gas mileage but a 390 does better and they are always on craigslist here.

 

ahh man why you gotta make me feel bad norm?!? this is the debate i run into everytime i think about doing soething to the wagon...

 

Sorry Rafa, you know it's a tough balancing act with the stuff you've already dealt with. I lucked out with the donor parts car - it was the tipping point that pushed me into this project. Made it affordable and doable, for me. The Roller Paint job allowed me to do a decent job.

If I had to drop the $3,100 they wanted for a rebuilt engine AND $6,000 for paint, I would have scrapped it. But I got the interior done, a more efficient engine, and added at least 10 years of reliability to it. If I total it all up, I don't think I spent more than $1,500 in cash, and about 2,000 hours actually working on the car, and another 1,200 finding information, reading the manuals, and wire-brushing the small parts.

It's been a good exercise for me. I re-learned some old skills and gained a whole bunch more. Don't regret one single moment. Plus, I can fix almost anything on this car without paying huge service bills.

 

right on,
i cant wait for warmer weather to roll mine a new color!

 

...thats why i just get them running and then......4 sale!!!

 

We we able to find a new completely rebuilt motor with the correct 67 390 block for the wagon! It has rebuilt 64 heads on it and should run very well.

I have to figure out the engine color. I have seen some 66 ford wagons have a black block with blue valve covers, and air cleaner. So I am not sure if the block for the 67 should be dark ford blue or black. I have been told by some that they thought the entire engine was dark blue in 67

I will post pics when the new motor gets to the shop.

Dr B

 

I wonder if this would help? :
http://www.lovefords.org/tech/Vin/paint/engine.htm

EDIT: And this:
http://www.lovefords.org/tech/Vin/paint/default.htm

From Here:
http://www.lovefords.org/tech/

 

Its been a while sine I have given you guys an update:

Thankfully, I decided to remove heater box: I think this is why the prior owner threw in the towel on it or would it be the cracked JB welded block?

Anyway, he replaced the heater core, and had to see the rust around the mating surface of the firewall. I'm not worried, It can be fixed.

Just rollin with the punches.
Thank-you sir may I have another!!!

Removed most of the dash, and tar like carpet pad.

Found floor rust under drivers side floor. Dont worry it can be fixed..lol

Under dash, found all hvac vaccum lines blocked and hvac doors zip tied open/shut. HMMM what temp of air would you like....how about medium hot. Dont worry I'll fix it. Just need 3 new vaccum hvac motors.


Purchased correct 1967 remanufactured 390 (the original cracked motor could not be salvaged)

Completely rebuilt MX original transmission since it was rigged and needed all new drums it may have lasted another 300 miles. Cant beleive my brothers made it 500 miles from NC with this car.

Engine bay/front clip stripped ready for chassis black.

Waiting for a clear day and help getting the wagon from my garage to the shop to paint engine bay and install new motor and transmission.

From there its going to get soda blasted and then to the body shop.

New purchases:

Complete salvaged tailgate assembly. Rusty, but 75% less then the original.

Complete third seat assembly to convert the wagon to a 10 passenger. Got to have the third seat! I figured, what the heck, I am going to make it the way I would have ordered it. I will still stick to stock specs in what ever I update.

I will post some pics soon.

Yes, we are still having fun.