1968 Ford Wagon - Fergus

wheelsmithy wrote: Inspiration.

This makes me feel funny!

An old full size wagon with larger wheels and a lower stance you say? We should be friends.

My wheels happen to be 17x8 steelies meant for a Jeep, but Summit carries a bunch that would fit the Ford as well. Watch your tire size, there weren't many options to choose from that had the correct diameter. Now I need to paint them in a manilla color and get some Olds center caps.

NOHOME wrote: What is the wheelbase on Fergus versus the Panzerwagon? Might be time to try one of these there "Chassis Swaps" to move Fergus up into the 21st century. Link to a builder on Retro Rides who swaps Durango chassis under everything he sees. Very practical guy and the swaps happen at a speed I cant comprehend. http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/193473/shelby-mustang-motor-international-truck Leave the rest just the way it is.

Funny you post that, that guy built that truck is friends with a college friend of mine who sold that truck for him. WMS is his dealership in Upper Sandusky, OH. He's currently building a Dodge sedan on a Durango chassis right now.

In reply to stuart in mn:

I remember the Barn Finds episode when he found that car. Pretty much the Holy Grail if you're a wagon nut. It's cool to see him using it for the series.

ssswitch wrote: Fergus is perfect as is.

This bears repeating. Just get Fergus sorted out and enjoy. It may not be the most exciting route for some, but that's OK. There's something intrinsically cool with just enjoying an old car for being what it is.

I just completed a 15-page Fergus read-a-thon here at work and feel the need to burden you with my thoughts on the whole project. Before I begin, please know I just checked our inventory of used shop manuals to see if I had one for 1968 Ford LTDs. No dice. If I found one, I was going to ship it to you for the shipping price, which would be really cheap.

Anyway, I cut my 14-year-old teeth on these cars so a couple of the aforementioned thoughts. First and foremost, the original cruise surge you experienced was a vacuum leak (probably from the base plate) which you cured when you cleaned the carb and tightened it back down. Second, I saw pics of your sway bar end links. They are nasty and not in a good way.

Third, your radiator is clogged. The car should run at about 190-195 degrees tops going uphill with a load of roofing shingles and the AC on. Have someone re-core the rad for you with a modern core. It probably will have an extra row over the original and be superior in every way. Fourth, you could spend the rest of your natural life on those brakes and make them work great for one stop at a time. Multiple stops in quick succession was the province of Ferrari finned iron-faced aluminum drums (and some Buicks) only. Find an old disc brake LTD and grab everything from the firewall forward including the vacuum booster.

Also, bone stock badass dad ride is the way to go.

Okay, enough with my thoughts. Gotta get back to work. I'm getting the mal'occhio from the boss. If I feel it necessary to burden you any further, I will do so. Keep up the good work and bring ol' Fergus back.

In reply to Jerry From LA:

I had a big long reply written out, but it all boiled down to: thanks. All of your advice is appreciated.

We had a powder blue 67 Country Sedan with a 390 and a 3 speed auto. It was hell on wheels - especially when those skinny early 70's tires broke loose!

Great save Deuce - keep up the good work!

Like Jerry from LA I just did the readathon and noticed your comment that Fergus still floated after the shock change, all the sixties cars that came with bias ply stiff sidewall tires got softer springs so as not to jar the customers teeth out. When radial tires with their softer sidewalls came along Detroit stiffened up the springs. You put soft tires on a soft spring car and you get a boat that floats.

Indy-Guy wrote: More to ponder:

Oh, wow, "Wayback Machine" time. My folks owned one of those; I spent my first two years of driving doing 'grocery gettin' with the family German Shepherd hanging her head out the window. 390cid/4brl with a slushbox, and I can attest it got kinda floaty around 95mph.

I think this fall I need to put Fergus on the lift and get him driving around again.

So, is this the place where stalled wagon project owners come to commiserate?

I was hoping for big update about driving it around for the 4th of july! I love wagons.

mazdeuce wrote: I think this fall I need to put Fergus on the lift and get him driving around again.

You're gonna need him to chase parts for the truck resto. The Mercedes is too nice.

Jerry From LA wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: I think this fall I need to put Fergus on the lift and get him driving around again.

You're gonna need him to chase parts for the truck resto. The Mercedes is too nice.

This. Plus I've got to think that Fergus has more carrying space, which would be great for medium truck parts.

Ferdinand is awesome (as are all your projects), but I miss Fergus. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

So, is this the place where stalled wagon project owners come to commiserate?

Guess so!

So I’m buying Fergus and the pickup is happening the first week in May.  I’m not sure if I should just keep this thread alive or start a continuation thread,  but in the meantime I decided to run a Marti report.  Here is some interesting Fergus info:

Keep it going here as a continuation. Keep the project history and progress linear.

Agreed. Keep the continuity going.

Looking forward to the progress.

Cotton said:

So I’m buying Fergus and the pickup is happening the first week in May.  I’m not sure if I should just keep this thread alive or start a continuation thread,  but in the meantime I decided to run a Marti report.  Here is some interesting Fergus info:

Maybe it's best that Mazdeuce won't be around to see Fergus go?

Well May 2nd to be specific.  We had worked that day out,  but if something has come up we’ll figure it out.

May 2nd is Wednesday and the plan isn't to leave for One Lap until that evening at the earliest. All kids of spare time built into the schedule. 

That Martini report describes the car as it sits. Well the AC is out, but all the pieces that weren't melted in the engine fire (happened before my ownership I swear) are there. I still think it's a super weird combo which is why I was attracted to it. 
I'm looking forward to passing it on and seeing is back on the road. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

It’s a very odd combo. I can’t wait to get it back on the road and cruise into a cars and coffee shifting that 3 on the tree!

KInd of neat that it was built at the St. Paul plant.  I toured there once, although at that time they were only building Ranger and Mazda compact trucks.  I did talk to a guy a couple years at a car show who had worked on the assembly line there back in the 1960s, he may have had a hand in that car.