began the project in Sept 04 when I got back from the Steel City Cruisers show. Over the
following months progress has been steady and all being well, it should be ready in time to
debut at the A.A.C.I Summer nationals at Billing in June, but unfortunately it wasn't ready in
time and so debuted at Americana in July
NSRA Hot Rod run at Billing. I had been trying to sell the Elky when I received a phone call from Ian Mitchener asking
was I interested in doing a swap. I scoured through some old magazines and found his advert and decided that it would suit
me. More room for my family and I had always had a soft spot for the 58 Edsel.As mentioned we did the swap and the
drive home was an experience. The steering wandered and the speedo was approximately 15 mph out. My little girl thought
it was brilliant as she had loads of room and didn't have to sit in her car seat.(no rear seat belts fitted one of the first job's
on my to do list.) The more I drove it the more I loved it and I could put up with the little faults that it had. After all it was 46
years old.
The next day was spent going over it with a fine tooth comb. My father in law had already checked it out for me as he had
been at Billing all weekend. There were a couple of little faults that needed looking at:
- The drivers door wouldn't lock
- There was a bad oil leak from the inlet manifold
- The steering needed sorting out
- The speedo needed checking
oil leak required a set of new gaskets for the inlet manifold these were ordered from Geordie Paul at Duksville Speed
Shop along with a new set of front and rear brake shoes. The steering box was adjusted and the speedo fault traced to
the gearbox drive being incorrect. All in all it was in very good condition for it's age. There were a few rust spots but nothing
major or so I thought. I carried on using it and attended a couple of shows that year and generally just had fun with it and
isn't that what it's all about at the end of the day. One of the first jobs was to fit a set of seat belts in the rear so that my
daughter's safety seat could be fitted. New air shocks were fitted to the back axle to help the tired suspension when
towing the caravan and a modern radio/CD player fitted.
measured the car for length and width with all the doors open and allowed extra space all round and ended up with a 23feet
by 13 feet garage with an 11 foot door opening. I fitted it out with a good size work bench, electric sockets, lighting and
central heating. I just had one small problem to deal with, how do I get the car into it. The demolition of one outhouse later
and I had access to my Edsel's new home. I couldn't knock the shed down before the garage was built as I didn't have
anywhere to store my tools etc: and besides that would have been far to easy now wouldn't it.
gauge was fitted and a floor mounted floor selector fitted.
The major restoration started on 12-September-2004
I hope to have it finished by mid 2005
Fluids drained and some of the front trim removed
Looks worse than it actually is.
All the front panels removed showing the condition of the chassis. Again no problems, nothing a good clean, wirebrush and repaint won't cure.
Underside of both headlamp mount is the only real problem area. A common fault on 58's.
Mainly surface rust on the remaining panels.
Chassis was treated to three coats of anti rust paint after it had been cleaned. This was then left to cure for a few days. Inner wings stripped back to
bare metal, again these will be treated to 2 coats of anti-rust before being primered.
Inner wings treated with anti-rust paint
Passenger wing stripped to bare metal and rusted metal removed
Floorpan and chassis have surface rust and years of dirt and oil. A good clean will be required
Floorpan after 2-days of scraping and cleaning (Why are the majority of Edsel floorpans green? )The lower edge of the bulkhead has been sprayed
with stonechip to offer some protection from the great British roads.
The underside coated with 3 coats of white stonechip, and then painted in the new body colour. The new colour is Jaguar Primrose Yellow, not
original but its a colour that I like and will look good on the car when finished.
Underside painted Primrose Yellow
Bulkhead painted to allow refitting of the engine. The chassis has been painted with red lead and then given three coats of gloss chassis black.
Front panels. There is some damage to passenger side grille panel that will need repairing.
Underside of front panels showing surface rust. They look worse than what they really are.
Front panels stripped, repaired and finally in primer
Inner wings were stone chipped on the outside(wheel)
Some of the front panels refitted to test fit for gaps and alignment
Underside of headlamps finished and ready for primer. New metal was welded in to replace rusted out old panels Headlamp trim was reshaped so that it
fitted the wing better.
Wings refitted to check for fit and gaps.Wings will be on and off several times for panel alignment.
Front wings finally in primer.
Door gaps are horrendous and will take alot of work before they are ready for primering.
Front panels have turned out okay considering damage to them.
First coats of primer going on. It will need approx 6-coats and then guide coating before I can start wet flatting to get it ready for colour.
Reshaped alternator bracket. The previous one was plain metal bar, so I cleaned it up and added some flitch plates and moulded them in, looks finished
off now. Just needs painting to match engine.
Inner wings and some of the inner front panels in colour.
The other inner wing in colour Inner wings and panels refitted.
Inside of wing
Inner Grille panels with colour on at last Makes you feel like your getting somewhere when the colour goes on.
Door Gaps were really bad and took a lot of work to get right.
Bonnet (Hood ) stripped to bare metal.
Repairs finished and in primer
Underside in Promrose Yellow.
Boot (Trunk) Underside. Mainly surface rust I will clean paint with anti rust and then primer.
Boot primered and colour coated.
Body work is primered and flatted ready for colour. there are a couple of spots to finish on the passenger side sill (rocker panel) and then the door
jambs and interior to paint.
Page 4 Nearly Ready For Colour
Interior stripped out and ready for dash to be removed for priming and modifications to radio mount.
Instument cluster removed. Old radio mounting can be seen in centre of dashboard
I mounted the stereo unit where the original speaker was mounted so that it could be hidden behind the speaker grille. It looked alright but I decided to
remake it to allow the air shock gauge to be fitted there as well. A new panel was made using 20 gauge steel,shaped to fit the opening. It was then
moulded to fit so that it would look like a factory fitment and allow the grille to sit flush with the dashboard.
When finished it was primed and will be painted to match the dashboard.
Interior primed and ready for colour
Door jambs primed.
Steering wheel and other parts awaiting colour coating
The smaller dash panels were removed for painting
New temp gauge panel made from steel. This was fitted between instrument bezel and side panel. I fitted an aftermarket temp gauge as the original lights
didn't work due to the different engine being fitted.
The lower half of dashboard was painted in Rover Arum White to match the roof , side scollops and back panel.
Some colour on at last. Dashboard panels painted in a 1960's Jaguar shade of Primrose Yellow
Drivers side door posts in colour and awaiting door refitment.
Pictures of the dashboard don't do the colours justice
Repainted steering Wheel will look good when it's finally fitted up
Overall view of Dashboard shows how well the colours go together.
Page 6 some Exterior colour at last
( A Pity Its the Wrong Shade !!!! )
Bulkhead(firewall) ancillaries refitted after being painted gloss black.The Teletouch relays are left off and the mounting holes were welded up as the
teletouch is missing
Front wings and panels painted in colour but due to a mistake when mixing the paint it turned out the wrong shade.The supplier rectified the problem just
means more work for me, reflatting and repainting to put right.
Rocker covers painted to match air filter. The Bonnet in colour fins will be polished to match air cleaner rods.
The end is near!
The front panels were refitted with help from my father in law Stewart Revill. Stainless dome head bolts were used in the engine bay. The grille was
repolished and refitted
Looks good from this angle. Just the headlamp bezels too polish and the wiring to reconnect.
Boot lid and rear panels have polished up really well
Gauge panel and dashboard panels refitted. The heater controls were a nightmare to reconnect, you needed four hands to do the job and the fingers
of a child to work in the limited space but got there in the end. New radio/Air gauge housing shown fitted in centre of dashboard
.
Home made pod can be seen in the lower left side of the dash. This will house an after market Temp Gauge as I like to know what temp I'm running at.
Radio/Air gauge housing is hidden by the original speaker grille.
At last it's beginning to look like an EDSEL
The doors were refitted and the gaps reset .New window channel and weatherstrip was used along with new door and dog leg seals.
All new sundym toughened glass was refitted to match the front and rear screens. Many thanks to Paul Weir for supplying the glass.
The wiper cable drive system was an absolute nightmare to refit 31/2 hours and skinned knuckles later and everything was working. The scuttle air
intake refitted with new seal and mesh.
Dashboard trim, ignition switch glove box lock and badge, and original radio (which still works) reinstalled. The heater vents were refitted under the dash
Painted the back panel and scallops in Arum White, but another mix up with the paint colour means that I will have to sort out the correct colour and
repaint the panels
Looks okay but the white was too dark a shade possibly had to much black tint in it.
You can get the overall look that I am trying to acheive in these two pictures. It will look a lot better when the right colour is applied to the scallops and
the roof.
The correct shade of RoverArum White.
Roof just needs polishing and trim re-fitting
New glass and doorpads fitted
New doorseals and dogleg seals. These were ordered from C&G early Ford Parts in America on the Tuesday evening and arrived Thursday at 11
A.M. How many English Company's can match that service.
I made a cover plate for the gap between the bulkhead and inner wing to hide the wiring and air resevoir tank.This was then painted to match inner wings
and attached to two small brackets with stainless screws.
Side scallops polished and awaiting stainless trim to be re-fitted
The Stainless Trim is finally going back on
The car is finally beginning to look like an Edsel It shouldn't be too long before it's finally finished and back on the road.
It's mainly small jobs too do but it seems that the small job's take the longest too finish
My father in law Stewart came over for the weekend and was a big help in getting things moving. I admit that although I enjoy my own company that it is
good to have a like minded person to work with and we do have the crack when working , bouncing ideas of each other. He can be seen here making new
scallop trim fixings
Interior cleaned up well using wet vac and carpet cleaner.
Re-aligned all pulleys for power steering and alternator
Doors were repainted after fish eyeing badly.
Interior door trim was stripped back to baremetal after problems with paint adhesion couldn't be rectified
Rear trim and lights re-fitted
Scallop trim and badging make it look a lot better and nearly finished
Not Long To Go Now!
It won't be long before I run out of jobs to do and it will be finished. It has been hard and frustrating at times but worth it
Front bumpers were refitted after all the brackets were cleaned and repainted
Extra Trans cooler was fitted in front of radiator in direct airflow to aid with gearbox oil cooling when towing caravan. It worked out
expensive after the company which made the pipes up got the sizing wrong.
Almost there just waiting for the new tyres to arrive
The new tyres fitted. Modern alloys will be replaced just not sure yet what style to replace them with
215x75x15 thin band whitewalls give extra ground clearance and fill the front and rear arches out
I couldn't wait any longer to get the car out of the garage and took it for a quick spin round the houses. This was the first time that it had
been driven under it's own power in nine months and it sure felt good to be behind the wheel again
Out on the street where it should be
Back in the garage. There was still a few little jobs to do before the it was ready for the dreaded mot.
Only the trim to put back on and it will be ready.
The Final Hurdle
The last few jobs get completed ready for the MOT
Engine bay finally finished. I know its not original but it looks a lot neater and is easier to keep clean.
Original wing mounting bolts were replaced with polished stainless steel dome head bolts and stainless locknuts. Front panel mounting bolts
will be replaced when I get to see the Stainless Man as they are US unc thread
Interior back together again only a carpet to fit and remake the gearselector console to finish it off
Original brown interior goes well with the new colour scheme and wont be replaced now. I will have the seat tops replaced with original
material if I can get some from America.
The day of the dreaded MoT arrived and the last minute checks were made. As usual it rained, set of for the garage and arrived in plenty of
time. I have been going to this garage (Prescotts in Hollinwood) for a good few years now and he is always fair and really gives the car a
thorough check over. Well I was surprised when he said that it had passed. Surprised in the fact that there is always some little last minute
thing that gets overlooked. So I was over the moon and drove back home in a euphoric state who cared that it was raining me Edsel was now
road legal again and then to cap it all it stopped raining as I pulled onto the main road and the sun came out if only for short while
Parked in the driveway complete with new MOT Well thats basically it finished just the odd little jobs to do and then areally good clean up
and it will be ready for the debut run to Americana 2005 in two days time
.
We spent the week after Americana at this English country pub
The debut run covered 402 miles and used £114:00 worth of petrol which I thought was quite good.
I thoroughly enjoyed being back behind the wheel again and the long times spent in the garage were worth it.
Well that as they say is where the story ends or does it, are they ever really finished as we strive for perfection.
It has been a learning curve for me and in my efforts to improve the great job that the designers did I have learnt a great deal and cannot wait
to pass this new found knowledge onto other's who may be in need a helping hand and encouragement.
My only bit of advice is this:
"Never be afraid to ask for help there is always someone out there who has encountered the same problem that you are going through and if
you don't ask you don't get"
Would I do it again who knows, maybe one day if I could talk my better half into that 58 Round-Up on E-Bay
