1957 Ford Del Rio "Shooting Brake" Ranch Wagon

[Bullybeef]

I have no options for you to do the trim manipulation, but I’ll follow along as I may( doubtful( Again with the negative vibes Moriarity)) learn something. 

[BDSchindler]

I have no clue on how to replicate the trim but in looking at the rear wheel well on the PV car vs. kit car...the PV wheel well looks cut higher into the quarter panel than the kit car.  Maybe it's just my eyes but...

[DJMar]

  On 10/3/2024 at 2:51 AM, BDSchindler said:

I have no clue on how to replicate the trim but in looking at the rear wheel well on the PV car vs. kit car...the PV wheel well looks cut higher into the quarter panel than the kit car.

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It certainly looks that way to me, and it also appears the side trim "V" is extended towards the rear of the car. It's really hard to be sure since the pics aren't scaled, but the old eyeball engineering says yes.

[LennyB]

  On 10/3/2024 at 2:51 AM, BDSchindler said:

I have no clue on how to replicate the trim but in looking at the rear wheel well on the PV car vs. kit car...the PV wheel well looks cut higher into the quarter panel than the kit car.  Maybe it's just my eyes but...

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Yes, I agree I looks that way and I think it has been to some extent. Maybe when I get home from vacation I’ll take some measurements.  

  On 10/3/2024 at 3:25 AM, DJMar said:

It certainly looks that way to me, and it also appears the side trim "V" is extended towards the rear of the car. It's really hard to be sure since the pics aren't scaled, but the old eyeball engineering says yes.

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Yes, the side trim has been extended, that’s what I’m trying to replicate. You will also notice the curve of the trim follows the curve of the wheel opening more closely on the PV body. 
 

PV made their changes very subtle so it’s hard to tell what they changed some times.  

[BDSchindler]

  On 10/3/2024 at 3:25 AM, DJMar said:

It certainly looks that way to me, and it also appears the side trim "V" is extended towards the rear of the car. It's really hard to be sure since the pics aren't scaled, but the old eyeball engineering says yes.

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maybe i can resize the kit photo for comparison

well, not perfect but it helps.  I did crop and flip the PV photo.

[espo]

Looking at Brians nice side by side pictures of the kit body and the "Shooting Brake" edition, the side trim looks to have a gentler slope as it passes over the door section. The chrome trim extending too the rear looks to be in the stock position on the body. 

[LennyB]

Thanks Brian, as I’m looking at it now the rear wheel opening is clearly enlarged. If you follow the shadow below the taillight forward it goes above the wheel opening while on the PV it goes straight into it.  So I think I need to start by changing the wheel opening as that will change the perspective on the molding.  As David mentions the slope of the molding looks gentler and I agree because I think the point at the end is at the same height on the PV as the original. Which would mean the molding is longer but doesn’t go down any further.  
But what bugs me a bit is the rear section of the molding after the bend looks parallel to the ground on the PV but appears to go downhill on the kit. But that may just be the rake on the PV. 

[NOBLNG]

Burnish some tape down on the moldings and make a few patterns/templates before sanding anything off.

[DJMar]

  On 10/3/2024 at 11:58 AM, LennyB said:

PV made their changes very subtle so it’s hard to tell what they changed some times.  

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Not sure if you've seen this, it may be of some help.

https://www.torqtalk.com/home/arp-bob-florines-jon-kaase-racing-boss-nine-shotgun-powered-57-ford-del-rio-ranch-wagon-part-1-the-build

 

[LennyB]

  On 10/6/2024 at 4:26 PM, DJMar said:

Not sure if you've seen this, it may be of some help.

https://www.torqtalk.com/home/arp-bob-florines-jon-kaase-racing-boss-nine-shotgun-powered-57-ford-del-rio-ranch-wagon-part-1-the-build

 

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DJ, no, I had not seen that. That will be a big help, I really appreciate it ?

[LennyB]

Hi All, I'm back from my short vacation. Thank you all for your input and ideas, it really helps a lot.

Before  I start carving up this body I decided to do a little more photo editing. I took a few more pics of the kit body to get one to closely match the PV pic. Then I overlapped the two and scaled and adjusted the PV to get the approximately the same size. With the PV on top I adjusted the transparency so I could get a good idea of how things lined up. I have to say the results were surprising.

I was so focused on the molding but it appears that was not changed all that much. The "V" is actually just shifted a bit to the right. And as espo pointed out the slope is a bit gentler. But it doesn't dip any lower. ? The big difference is the rear wheel opening. As the image above provided by DJMar indicates the wheel opening was raised 2 1/2". Along with the eyebrow over it. 

So I think at this point the first thing to do is cut out the wheel opening, remove 0.1 inch from on top of it and shift it northward. Then maybe scribe the new door edge and see how things look at that point. Wondering if it is even worth doing anything with the trim.

Another observation is the gas door. The larger of the two doors and the one favoring the left is the PV. As it says in the above illustration PV shrunk the door, but that doesn't appear to be the case here. Maybe the kit door is smaller then it should be. I think I can probably just leave that as is.

That's all for today, have to get back to laundry.?

 

 

 

 

[customline]

Gotta put my $00.02 in here, Len.  The changes to the side trim are pretty subtle and to try to duplicate it may not be worthwhile. The side trim is a very prominent feature so you want  it looking right.  

[LennyB]

  On 10/8/2024 at 7:43 PM, customline said:

Gotta put my $00.02 in here, Len.  The changes to the side trim are pretty subtle and to try to duplicate it may not be worthwhile. The side trim is a very prominent feature so you want  it looking right.  

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That’s the way I’m leaning at the moment.  Let’s see if I feel the same after I alter the wheel opening and door?

[Bills72sj]

The B pillar, the wheel opening and the door lengthening will get you the best bang for your buck. Maybe shave the gas door. Chop the top a bit if you are into that.

[DJMar]

 

[customline]

  On 10/8/2024 at 10:15 PM, LennyB said:

That’s the way I’m leaning at the moment.  Let’s see if I feel the same after I alter the wheel opening and door?

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Yeah, good way to start. Maybe make a template for the the wheel opening and do it all in pencil first. Measure twice, cut once ?.

[bobss396]

I tend to remove side trim from almost everything I build.

[customline]

  On 10/9/2024 at 12:43 PM, bobss396 said:

I tend to remove side trim from almost everything I build.

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I do it because my painting skills suck. Makes it a lot easier to buff it out ?

[LennyB]

Finally took the knife to the old wagon and started by cutting out the rear wheel opening. Decided to leave the rocker panel intact and cut the front just above the rocker. Made it a bit more difficult to do the surgery but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I drew out my cut lines in pencil and then laid out some scribing tape and initially scribed the top cut with a Tamiya scribing tool and then switched over to the backside of an X-Acto #11. Rod Stewart was wrong, the first cut is not the deepest.

After the top cut was done I did the front edge which was marked square to the rocker. Then the rear which I cut on a slight forward angle. I did this so that when I slid the wheel opening upward it would tighten up in the opening. Lastly I cut the little dog-leg in the front.

Once removed I glued a piece of Plastruct .080 triangle along the cut line as a guide. This is slightly smaller then the 0.1" I needed to remove but the cut will make up the difference.

The I scribed some more until I had the 0.1" removed.  Here is the cut piece placed into the cutout. I was happy with the fit at this point.

I glued some flat styrene strips around the perimeter of the opening for added strength and to help with alignment. You can see how it looks from the inside if you look all the way thru.

Then the wheel opening was glued in place. Have to make up  filler pieces for the dog-leg and the lower rear fender.

 

I used a couple of pieces of flat styrene for the rear of the fender glued together in a staggered formation to form a lip so to speak. Then the lip was glued to the inside of the body while the rest of the piece hung down to fill in the gap. This added strength to the piece.

Here is the raised wheel opening in it's rough state. A bit of cleaning and filling and we should be good.

 

 

After this gets cleaned up we will move on to relocating the rear door edge.

 

See ya next time.?

 

[Steve H]

Nice surgery Len! That is some clean, well thought out work. Looks like fairly minimal cleanup.

[customline]

Real nice work, Len. I had issues with moving the door edge back but it's really unavoidable because of the angle of the B-pillar. I still would think a while about the trim mod.

[LennyB]

  On 10/13/2024 at 11:38 PM, Steve H said:

Nice surgery Len! That is some clean, well thought out work. Looks like fairly minimal cleanup.

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Thanks Steve, appreciate the comments. 

  On 10/14/2024 at 12:03 AM, customline said:

Real nice work, Len. I had issues with moving the door edge back but it's really unavoidable because of the angle of the B-pillar. I still would think a while about the trim mod.

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Gonna take it one bit at a time and she how she looks after each change.  ?
After the door edge probably do the T-Bird door handles.  

Edited October 14, 2024 by LennyB

[dino246gt]

Very nice surgery!

 

[customline]

  On 10/14/2024 at 9:10 PM, LennyB said:

Thanks Steve, appreciate the comments. 

Gonna take it one bit at a time and she how she looks after each change.  ?
After the door edge probably do the T-Bird door handles.  

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Door swap?

[Zippi]

That's coming along pretty nicely there Len.