Customikes Artistic Metal Magic

Mr and Mrs Graves story about their 1956 Ranchwagon

 

 

I bought a 1956 Ford Ranch Wagon early in 2008 to use as my daily driver.  Although the car was running at the time of purchase I was hesitant to drive it the 50 miles to my home, so I opted to tow it home and check it out mechanically first.  I found the brake shoes were on backwards and the wheel cylinders were leaking. After fixing those two items, I had the interior redone - seats, door panels, headliner and carpet.  The front seat had been replaced with mustang bucket seats.  The car came with a 302 and C4 trans.  I started to drive my Ford every day and the C4 trans went out. I replaced it with a used one for $40.00.  I put the shifter back on the steering column from a Mustang floor shifter.  The rear end oil hadn’t been changed in 30 years. I replaced the both axle bearings. I replaced the trans cooler.

 

My biggest challenge came when I decided to install disc brakes. I purchased a disc brake setup from a company in Arizona. They sent me a kit for a 65 Galaxy and would not send me the right brake setup. I found a 75 Granada disc setup locally for $125.00 and installed it with the power booster from the Arizona company.  Everything is working great.

 

Someone in the past had lowered the front of my Ford by heating the coil springs.  I replaced the springs with new ones with 1 ½ inch drop.  The disc brake spindles dropped the car 2 more inches.

 

Now that the car is mechanically sound and the inside is nice and comfortable, it is time to focus on the body work. The body is pretty straight but has a few normal dings after 52 years on the road.  We were having a problem with the doors closing properly.  Mike is doing a great job.  The doors are working fine and the dents are quickly disappearing.  He enjoys working his magic on classic cars so much that he doesn’t even let the bad weather slow him down.  When it started to rain I went inside to work, but not Mike; he put on a rain coat and kept on working!

 

Steve Graves