'57 Ford Custom Police Car.

[W-409]

I have wanted to do a more detailed WIP Thread on here for a long time. The idea is to tell in more detailed way how I do these things and I hope that someone will find these things helpful, or at least enjoy the progress on this '57 Ford. At least I enjoy reading and looking those very detailed WIP-Threads and I learn lots of good tips and tricks from them.

I got this Revell / Model King '57 Ford Police Car kit as a Birthday Present a couple of days ago. The kit is an excellent one, everything seems to be correct. I'll be building something like Sean's Box Art Build from this one. I'm a bit afraid of that black paint job, but I hope it will turn out somewhat successful...

Here are pictures of all parts trees and parts that are included in the kit: http://s486.photobucket.com/user/nigot58/library/57%20Ford%20Police%20Car?sort=3&page=1

I started from the engine, as usual. I glued the block halves together with liquid glue. I normally use Plastruct's Plastic Weld or Tamiya Liquid Cement. This time I went with Tamiya. After the parts dried, I sanded the seam between those halves smooth and brushed more liquid glue on that seam. After sanding that again, it looked good for primering. Just the regular Spray Can Primer that can be found from any Hardware Store was sprayed on. It looked really smooth after primer, that no Putty was needed.

At the same time I removed mold seams, flash etc (Though there was very little of flash) from other engine parts that will be painted the same red color as the engine block. I sprayed the same Primer on those parts as well.

If everything goes alright, tomorrow is the time for red paint.

The chassis/interior part needed some putty work. First I sanded the molded in Copyright Textes away from the chassis. Then I put some putty to smooth things out and same thing on the interior side to cover ejector pin marks. There are a couple of Ejector Marks left, but they will be all covered with seats or dashboard.

Also the Dashboard needed just a little sanding. I started removing a couple of mold seams of it with a file and then continued with 600 and 1,000 grit sandpaper and finished with 2,000. After Primer it looks ready for paint as well.

[cobraman]

I hear that's a great kit. Happy belated birthday !!!!!

[BluePopsicle]

Happy Birthday! I look forward to watching this one. =)

[charlie8575]

Quick notes, Niko.

Prototype research has shown that Revell's painting instructions are off.

The dash and metal interior parts should be medium metallic gray.

The steering wheel and column are both black. Gloss for the column/stalks, and flatish for the wheel rim with semi-gloss spokes and hub, except the horn button, which is more a silver finish.

This is a very correct restoration and will give you an idea of what things should look like.

http://www.classiccar.com/ford/custom/ford-e-series-custom_14916/?age_min=1957&age_max=1957&keyword=Ford&page=5&limit=18&back=

Charlie Larkin

[PappyD340]

Great start Niko, and a belated Happy Birthday!!!

[W-409]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate the kind words!

Charlie: I usually never look at the painting instructions on model kits. But I haven't found that good reference pictures of this type of cars... All seem to be the "Basic" '57 Ford Customs. I guess the gray dash and other metal parts will be painted with Revell or Humbrol Enamel Paint from Airbrush. I just have to go and pick on bottle up.

Those pictures are really helpful, Thanks a lot!

I forgot to say on the first post, that all reference pictures and information about these cars would be highly appreciated. I'm not a Ford-Expert....

[W-409]

Today I went to our Capital, Helsinki, where was a Christmas Swap Meet with lots of cool Hot Rod style stuff for sale. One of Helsinki's Model Shops was on the way back home, so I stopped there and found a bottle of gray paint to be used on the Metal parts in the interior. It's a Semi Gloss paint, but hopefully Gloss Clear Coat will do the trick...

But I got something visible done as well. I painted the engine Yesterday with red straight out from Spray Can. I think it turned out okay. I think the most important thing when painting engine or any other part that has lots of curves and different kinds of shapes, is spraying many light coats instead of just one light and one wet coat. Now I put the parts in Sauna so they hopefully are dry tomorrow and I can start assembling.

[charlie8575]

The semi-gloss might actually be a better move than gloss for the interior parts. They tended to be a little flatter finish.

A sauna? I would think the humidity in there would cause all kinds of problems with paint drying? I suppose when in Finland, you use what you have...

Charlie Larkin

[W-409]

Yep, it might be true that the Semi Gloss paint would be correct. But I think that I will try a light coat of gloss clear over the dashboard without any polishing etc. So that it would look like metal part, but without the "Show Shine".

Oh and I forgot to say that the sauna is unheated. When it's unheated, it really makes paint dry faster at least in our house. A bathroom where the sauna is, is a bit warmer room than rest of the house.

During the Winter, my painting process is a bit more complicated than in the Summer. On Summertime I paint outside and take painted parts immediately inside and put them in the sauna. Winter is a bit harder, I have to paint in a garage and leave those parts there until they are 'Touch Dry' and then I can bring them to the sauna. Because a fresh paint doesn't like it when the temperature is below the freezing point, even though walking from garage to inside the house takes about 20 seconds.

[Guest]

Looking good.

[slusher]

Very nice work so far Niko, ....

[W-409]

Thanks Lee and Carl!

Today I thought that the engine is dry enough and painted the transmission with silver. But I can't get any further, because I have no idea what color I should paint that part that is circled in the picture. And what part it is? I'm really not a Ford Expert...

[charlie8575]

That, Niko, is an auxillary oil passage. Ford Y-Blocks had problems with their internal oil galleries sludging up, and as a result, the upper part of the engine would lose lubrication. Ford added that extra gallery around 1955-56 from what I understand to help maintain oil pressure.

From the pictures I've seen, they generally seem to be red along with the rest of the engine.

The bellhousing should be oxide red primer. Hull red, or a mix of flat red and flat brown to simulate that color, would be a good approximation. The transmission is cast iron. I like Tamiya X-10 Gunmetal for simulating that.

Charlie Larkin

[W-409]

Thank You, Charlie. I had really no idea about the function of that part. I don't ever remember seeing it before. Another thing that I had no idea about was the color of the bellhousing. I thought that it might be a different color than the transmission, but really had no idea so I left it the same red as the engine is. Thanks for the information on that, too. I'll go ahead and paint it with some kind of a mixture...

The transmission is painted with Humbrol Gunmetal, and I think it looks pretty good.

Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it, since I want to get this one correct.

Now Let's Paint!

[espo]

Niko, I have been enjoying your progress on the '57 Ford. Charlie has been giving you some very good advice on the color of things and such. As a past owner of two different '57 Fords many years ago including a standard coupe the only thing I would suggest is that originally the valve covers were painted black with the decals on them. The valve covers on the sample photos are from the T-Bird engine dress up kit This may very well been an option on this engine, but if you chose to use the "factory" valve covers in the kit the indentations.in the covers should be on the bottom side. Another possible source of information is Collectible Automobile magazine . Try collectibleautomobile@pubint.com. Their Aug, 2011 and April 2012 issues both have a lot of info and pictures on the '57 Fords.

[W-409]

Thanks David! I really appreciate your help on this!

You're actually correct about the valve covers. I don't know where did I get the feeling that they should be painted red, even though the reference pictures that I used clearly show their black color... Maybe it's because Chevy valve covers usually are the same color as the block. Well luckily I have paint stripping liquid very close and I will remove the red paint and spray some black over the valve covers.

I have found pretty much pictures of the engine, but in the interior everything isn't that sure. And I have a very little idea about the chassis. I have to go and visit at my friend's place to see if he has those magazines (He has lots of them! ). Thanks for the tips.

Today I painted the bellhousing with red oxide primer that I mixed using Humbrol Brown and Red paints. I will put some flat clear on it tomorrow and post a picture then.

[charlie8575]

Niko, I have been enjoying your progress on the '57 Ford. Charlie has been giving you some very good advice on the color of things and such. As a past owner of two different '57 Fords many years ago including a standard coupe the only thing I would suggest is that originally the valve covers were painted black with the decals on them. The valve covers on the sample photos are from the T-Bird engine dress up kit This may very well been an option on this engine, but if you chose to use the "factory" valve covers in the kit the indentations.in the covers should be on the bottom side. Another possible source of information is Collectible Automobile magazine . Try collectibleautomobile@pubint.com. Their Aug, 2011 and April 2012 issues both have a lot of info and pictures on the '57 Fords.

David,

You've now got me wondering!

I've been purposely searching out 312s online because I know a lot of the details were different between them and the 272/292. All the 312s I've seen have red valve covers unless they have the dress-up package or some type of aftermarket valve cover, and the black ones were on the smaller engines. Have the wrong covers been installed on these engines?

Charlie Larkin

[W-409]

I guess I'll paint my valve covers black and that's why I started removing paint from them yesterday. Once they are in bare plastic, I can continue the engine. I did something, though. The bellhousing was painted earlier with a mixture made of Humbrol brown and red paints and then it was clear coated with a flat clear. Yesterday I painted the transmission with Humbrol Gun Metal.

Just a fast little update to show that this is not forgotten yet!

[Speedmaven]

That line on the side of the Y block's oil pan is the oil pump and pickup tube. The 292 and 312 have an external oil pump at the back of the driver side of the block, and the pickup tube runs along side until it goes into the pan and down into the sump. Coolest thing about it is if your pump goes bad, there's no need ot drop the pan. The bad thing about it, is that it leaks all over everything...Hard to keep it sealed up. Those auxiliary lines went into the valve cover from a pressure source, like a oil pressure gauge fitting with a TEE added to transfer the oil to the rockers. Mainly, those were needed because of the low quality oils available back then, paraffin based oils would sludge up and clog the small oil galleries to the rocker shafts. Sorry to ramble on, just shedding a little light on the old Y block...

[W-409]

Thanks James! That's a great information, since I don't know much about these Y-Blocks, it's good to learn these things.

As far as the project goes, it's not forgotten. I finally got the valve covers from paint removing. I'll shoot some Primer on them today and I'll paint them black as soon as possible. I'm working on a couple of Mild Customs at the same time, so the progress isn't too fast, but at least it's better than no progress at all I guess...

[crazyrichard]

nice kit and build !

[W-409]

Thanks Richard! It is a nice kit and it's a lot of fun to build.

Well I haven't done lots of progress with this, but anyway I was able to get the valve covers painted and decaled (Finally!). They are painted with Maston Spray Paints straight from the can, and before installing the decals, I trimmed the excess decal film away around the decal. Then there won't be any silvering. Now I will start putting the engine together and detailing it.

[W-409]

I started assembling the engine. I started by gluing the cylinder heads and intake manifold on place so that I test fitted them first and when they lined up nicely, I lifted the intake manifold off and put some glue to hold the heads on place. That way I got the intake fitting correctly without a big fuss. Then I glued the oil pan, timing chain cover, water pump and valve covers on place. Carburetor is installed, too. I'll need to paint some more parts next, and I have to do some minor black washing for the engine, too. I don't want it to get looking dirty, though!

[buxxx69]

This is awesome ! Cant wait to see the rest.

[A.R.C.]

This is a really cool build!