1957 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon

[STU111]

G’day Bob, the wagon body came out very nicely.?? Gun metal is a nice colour, I’m planning a custom 70 Charger in that shade.

[slusher]

Beautiful paint, Bob, your doing a great job!

[Zippi]

13 hours ago, STU111 said:

G’day Bob, the wagon body came out very nicely.?? Gun metal is a nice colour, I’m planning a custom 70 Charger in that shade.

Thanks Stu. That Gun Metal should look pretty kewl on your 70 Charger.

9 hours ago, slusher said:

Beautiful paint, Bob, your doing a great job!

Much obliged Carl.

[dragcarz]

Looks great Bob, what do you use for your chrome.

[Zippi]

1 hour ago, dragcarz said:

Looks great Bob, what do you use for your chrome.

Thanks Roger.  I airbrush the chrome from a Molotow pen.

[ModelcarJR]

Your wagon is looking good, Bob! I like the chrome trim and I like the Gunmetal finish! ??

[Zippi]

8 hours ago, ModelcarJR said:

Your wagon is looking good, Bob! I like the chrome trim and I like the Gunmetal finish! ??

Thanks John.  Yeah, the gunmetal turned out pretty good. 

[David G.]

It's nice seeing this one back on the bench Bob.

The paint and trim look great!

David G.

[NOBLNG]

This is coming along very nicely Bob.?

[Zippi]

2 hours ago, David G. said:

It's nice seeing this one back on the bench Bob.

The paint and trim look great!

David G.

Thanks David.

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

This is coming along very nicely Bob.?

Much appreciated.

[Zippi]

Well....I did a trail fit this morning and something is not right.  The front end is way to high.  My first thoughts were I used the wrong front suspension.  Checking the instruction sheet once again and it's the correct part.  I pulled the firewall back out and it lowered the front end a little but not enough.  I'm thinking now that the whole suspension is warped from front to back.  You can see the gap between the firewall and the inner fender.  I'm thinking I can put some glue between the two and clamp it in place to pull the front end up.  If that doesn't work I don't know what.  

[Duddly01]

2 hours ago, Zippi said:

Well....I did a trail fit this morning and something is not right.  The front end is way to high.  My first thoughts were I used the wrong front suspension.  Checking the instruction sheet once again and it's the correct part.  I pulled the firewall back out and it lowered the front end a little but not enough.  I'm thinking now that the whole suspension is warped from front to back.  You can see the gap between the firewall and the inner fender.  I'm thinking I can put some glue between the two and clamp it in place to pull the front end up.  If that doesn't work I don't know what.  

 

 

Oh, so you aren't going for a Gasser? jk

Seems a lot of kits are front high out of the box these days. Never seen a chassis warp like that before though. May be simpler to remove the suspension and do a drop there now that it's painted all nice.

[espo]

I experienced much the same problem on the wagon. In my case I found that the bottom edge of the inner fenders would meet the frame before the chassis would reach the intended position. Sanding the bottom edge on the inner fenders seemed to improve the issue but didn't solve it completely. The top edge of the inner finders also makes contact with the bottom side of the front fenders and that also interferes with the front-end seating as it should. 

[Zippi]

18 hours ago, Duddly01 said:

Oh, so you aren't going for a Gasser? jk

Seems a lot of kits are front high out of the box these days. Never seen a chassis warp like that before though. May be simpler to remove the suspension and do a drop there now that it's painted all nice.

Haha....not a Gasser.  Haven't figured this one out yet.

[Zippi]

17 hours ago, espo said:

I experienced much the same problem on the wagon. In my case I found that the bottom edge of the inner fenders would meet the frame before the chassis would reach the intended position. Sanding the bottom edge on the inner fenders seemed to improve the issue but didn't solve it completely. The top edge of the inner finders also makes contact with the bottom side of the front fenders and that also interferes with the front-end seating as it should. 

I'll check this out this morning.  The top of firewall is stopping the body from going down any further.  I pulled the firewall back out and it dropped down a little but it still has a pretty good way to go.  

[Zippi]

Well...I've checked everything this morning and all parts are touching where they should and the wheel still needs to go up 3/16"  It's got me baffled.  I've spent two days on this and it's trying my patience so I'm putting this one back in the box for a later date.  

[espo]

7 hours ago, Zippi said:

Well...I've checked everything this morning and all parts are touching where they should and the wheel still needs to go up 3/16"  It's got me baffled.  I've spent two days on this and it's trying my patience so I'm putting this one back in the box for a later date.  

Looks like you have added wider wheels and tires. While the '57 Ford wagon has a larger wheel well, inner fender specifically, than the coupe kit, it still is really tight and doesn't leave much room in there without enlarging the wheel wells. Might want to check clearance between the wheel & tire with the suspension and wheel wells. Any minor tire contact, usually hard to see when mocking up the body and chassis, can give you fits. I'm fighting that same battle on an AMT '57 Chrysler 300 build and finally just back off on the tire width and solved much the same problem. 

[DJMar]

Just my two copper about this issue. I first built this kit a few years back and I remember something similar. The problem I encountered was mainly with the firewall.

It needs to sit tight to the chassis pan. The instructions show the firewall attaching to the interior panels, but I've found if you build it that way, the firewall is pulled back and up, and leaves the gap you showed.

On 10/8/2024 at 7:17 AM, Zippi said:

My experience was that the firewall needs to be clamped and glued in place to the chassis pan so that there is no gap. This leaves you with a gap on the interior panels, which I solved with some styrene strip extensions.

I also ended up refilling and drilling the mounting hole in the front suspension in order to drop the front end even more, but as already pointed out, the wheels wells get tight quickly. I was using some pretty small & narrow tires compared to what you've got on there.

This is just a mockup from the stash but you get the idea. I know this doesn't solve your issue, as you said everything is touching where it should be touching. It's more of a heads up for others building this one.

 

[Can-Con]

42 minutes ago, espo said:

Looks like you have added wider wheels and tires. While the '57 Ford wagon has a larger wheel well, inner fender specifically, than the coupe kit, it still is really tight and doesn't leave much room in there without enlarging the wheel wells. Might want to check clearance between the wheel & tire with the suspension and wheel wells. Any minor tire contact, usually hard to see when mocking up the body and chassis, can give you fits. I'm fighting that same battle on an AMT '57 Chrysler 300 build and finally just back off on the tire width and solved much the same problem. 

Those wheels and tires came in the kit so there shouldn't be a problem with them.  Those tires are pretty bloody skinny, way skinnier then even the '60 series on my 1/1 T/A. 

It's a classic case of "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain".

Edited October 9, 2024 by Can-Con

[Zippi]

15 minutes ago, DJMar said:

Just my two copper about this issue. I first built this kit a few years back and I remember something similar. The problem I encountered was mainly with the firewall.

It needs to sit tight to the chassis pan. The instructions show the firewall attaching to the interior panels, but I've found if you build it that way, the firewall is pulled back and up, and leaves the gap you showed.

My experience was that the firewall needs to be clamped and glued in place to the chassis pan so that there is no gap. This leaves you with a gap on the interior panels, which I solved with some styrene strip extensions.

I also ended up refilling and drilling the mounting hole in the front suspension in order to drop the front end even more, but as already pointed out, the wheels wells get tight quickly. I was using some pretty small & narrow tires compared to what you've got on there.

This is just a mockup from the stash but you get the idea. I know this doesn't solve your issue, as you said everything is touching where it should be touching. It's more of a heads up for others building this one.

 

I appreciate all the info DJ.  I did pop the firewall out and fit the body back on the chassis and that only helped a little but it was still way off.  These are the kit wheels and tires so they should work.  There is only about a 1/6" gap between the top of the tire and the inner fender so redrilling the hole would do no good.  For me anyway.  This kit sure has a major flaw.

[Zippi]

19 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Those wheels and tires came in the kit so there shouldn't be a problem with them.  Those tires are pretty bloody skinny, way skinnier then even the '60 series on my 1/1 T/A. 

It's a classic case of "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain".

???

[Zippi]

Guys, I pulled this one back out and drug it across the finish line so I'm calling it done.

WIP: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/195735-1957-ford-del-rio-ranch-wagon/

 

[Andy Oldenburg]

Hi Bob,

just discovered this thread of yours. Very nice work on this build! Clean look of your engine with fine detailing. Are you going to give the engine some patina and grime?

[Zippi]

23 minutes ago, Andy Oldenburg said:

Hi Bob,

just discovered this thread of yours. Very nice work on this build! Clean look of your engine with fine detailing. Are you going to give the engine some patina and grime?

No Sir.  What you see is how it will be. 

[mrm]

Coming along very nicely Bob.