1958 Country Sedan project

I'll be stopping by the parking lot first to look at the wagon!

 

Hey Marshall, the weather looks good for the weekend. Rain today and tomorrow... but Friday through Sunday is suppose to be nice.* Unfortunately being a vendor, the Wagon will be parked in the back lot behind the hall.
Hope to see you and 67Fury there. Be great if we can figure out a way to get that man a running engine...









(*Weather is important because I have not fixed the wipers just yet.)

 

Okay... to all those who felt my squirting silicone sealer on my windshield was a bad idea... at least it works! I did the dirty deed on Tuesday night, pulled the car out in the rain Wednesday afternoon and 30 minutes later it rained. Rained hard and all the rest of the day and that night.

Only one tiny slowly oozing leak appeared! That was were the rubber split and shrunk leaving a 1/2" gap and so I was not totally surprised. The dogleg, which leaked like a hole in the roof before, is tight and completely dry!

Drove the Surf Wagon (Rat #2) all day yesterday running errands, took my daughter to the movies and dinner before she goes back to college and loaded t-shirts up in the wagon for the show tomorrow (Saturday).
In fact, poor "Big Cheese" was wiping down his windows (Rat #1) to be able to see and for the first time... MY glass was clear and the interior dry and warm!

So.... if any one of you guys has a 1964 Chevrolet Belair Wagon... could you please scan and email me the heating system diagram please? We got to help poor Big Cheese get some heat working in that ol'longroof Chev. Seems the hot water is not circulating through the core meaning that a valve somewhere is disconnected from the heat/cool control thingy.
See you tomorrow at the show!

 

Not a bad idea at all. I live in the Seattle area and have done it to my share of cars when I wasn't able to replace seals... You do whatever works. Nothing worse than a car that leaks (for those of us that live in the country's rain belt).

 

It's pretty cold here in the Pacific NW. With the temp hovering slightly above 40 I ventured out into the sunlight and began chipping away at the old dried and dead drivers door seal. This is what has been flooding the back seat floor these past few weeks whenever it rains. The other seals tend to leak too... but only slightly as much as the one foot length that was missing out of this door.


I got enough seals to do all four doors and the tailgate. Although ran out of time to do them all today. Also had to pull the latches and locks in the tailgate as it was hanging up some making egress difficult. Now the cargo door should seal and work smoothly again.


Now that the drivers door seal is new, I have to slam the darned thing to get it closed. Never had to do THAT before.

I'm tired, but it's a good tired. Time for beer!

 

Isn't that fun?

You put on new seals and the door doesn't want to close any more. Give them some time to seat in and it will be better (been there, done that).

After I replaced my door seals, I still get water coming in over the top of the door - can't figure it out. Keep your eyes open the first few times you wash it...

 

Aaaaah, the good ole door and window seals. I'll swear I paid more for all the new rubber seals for door, tailgate, and window seals than for the wagon! And almost as long to install as the paint job.
Yes, the doors shut harder for awhile but it was all worth it. Now that we moved to Florida, the sunshine state(?) , we discovered it also rains hard here. Never more than a tiny trickle in one vent wing window. All of that work pays off after driving them a few years. Never give up on the ole Ford. But do me a favor and spend $10 on a new horn relay!

 

Wash it? Why would I do that?

Thank you for the suggestions. I like the rust.
Boy, when you get a hold of something...

This car will never be shiny if I can help it. I like the rat rod look and plan to keep the edges rough and the theme straight.

 

I didn't say anything....

Maybe after a few good good slams the seals will ease up a little and be "just right"?

 

Well, I worked all day drawing on a box art project and about 3pm I couldn't sit at the drawing board any longer.

Slipped on the grubbys and started working on the wagon. Today, I picked an easy project with instant returns. The engine in my Ranch Wagon was out of a 1975 pickup and the style of the valve covers make that way too apparent even though the FE motor dates back to 1958. So I searched for months for a decent set of vintage valve covers. But... you know what they want for a nice set of "Powered by Thunderbird" valve covers? Too much when you consider that they are still sheet metal and could still be just as weak and leak as badly as the originals... even after swapping the gaskets twice.

So I decided it was time for cast aluminum. Found a set of finned Cal Custom items that turned out to be just the ticket!

Plus they look pretty cool too!

 

Classy! Everything seems to be looking tidy under that hood.

 

Nothing wrong with a lil "bling-bling" under the hood....Looks pretty cool!

 

Like those finned covers, but I really dig those original T-bird covers...



Keep tryin'.......

 

Pretty sure those only fit a "Y" block Marshall. But I agree, they do look boss.

 

Not much to report. Waiting on parts in the mail.

Sent out the original vacuum wiper motor for rebuilding 10 days ago.
I had purchased a 1963 Ford electric wiper motor but due to the complex mechanics of the '58 wiper action vs. the actions of a '63... retro fitting the motor turned into a huge effort. Simplest action seemed to be to sell the NOS. '63 parts and get the vacuum motor (funky is what someone said) rebuilt making it a simple bolt in and I might come out ahead in the $ department anyway.

I also cleaned up and repainted the dial on the radio so that is ready to go in. (Still need a 6 x 9 speaker tho...)

Ordered a 1957 defroster duct off ebay. That should arrive Saturday.
You see, all this stuff fits into a very small space under the dash. One domino effects the other.

The plan is to get this car ready because the show promoter for the Portland Roadster Show wants both mine and Mark Adams '64 Belair in the show with our t-shirt booth. So hoping to get some of those empty holes on the dash filled up again before the show.