67 Country Squire - Adventures in Poor Impulse Control

Loving this thread, I’m in MA as well and hope to see this on the road at some point. 

So still have flocking on the mind ><

Trying to get a selection of blue nylons from flocking overseas - FlockIT in the US has limited nylons. The mustang photo in the last post has me considering doing a black/light blue. 

This kind of shows why I need to do something - all different shades, but also in well worn states. The door card I almost like, but in contrast to the near mint a pillar pads / destroyed kick panel, it doesn't work.
DSC04720 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

My fear with flocking though is it comes out like this (not that this is wrong, just 100% wrong for my application):

vs:

My carpet samples also came in - not sure which way to go as well:
DSC04724 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

Original appears to be nylon loop. Going to wait until the flock colors come in, and see how close I can get on match. The original carpet (50+ years old) is pretty ratty, so not sure if keeping it blue is the way to go.

 

I had to look up Flock It... I remember my Dad talking about it (about antiques) in the 60's. They claim its better than then, but that picture of the blue is HORRIBLE. And yes, I will step up and say: yes, it is wrong; 'course that is just an opinion, but any time tacky is "in style", its never for long.

Are you planing to restore the faux wood sides, or go two tone blue exterior? Other colors in mind? Grey primer would make a certain statement ( but might be considered a BAD statement by some!)

A mix of two blues, black and some tasteful wood highlights would be a nice old school look interior.

I'm unsure on the exterior - The faded silvery blue is growing on me - still no idea what the original paint code was. Would keep it woodgrained, but the original 3M DyNoc isn't available in that pattern. The fiberglass trim for it is in E36 M3 shape - best case scenario with those bits is to attempt to visually repair / smooth, and use them as castings for new molds. Goal right now is no projects that keep it from moving more than a weekend. OEM stamped style control arms came in. Going to see about modifying them for the coil-on spring QA1 setup up front. Both the hotchkis and PMT strut bars are a weird design (and both kits look like a copy of eachother). Not sure why they go back to a bushing in this application vs the spherical end used for the Mustang style arm. I'm going to pull one off while swapping the lower in this weekend and see if I can cobble something from a circletrack parts catalog.

jronald said:

I've been procrastinating on this. I knew all the rubber was gone under the car (endlinks are typical for the rest of it):
IMG_20200305_144512 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

I've checked for play every time I've swapped wheels around and its always felt tight (for a 60s steering box). There was a slight click in the steering on the way back from Vermont, and a week later, sadly this happened:
IMG_20200323_113639 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

IMG_20200323_113635 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

I’m loving this thread but sweet baby Jesus this makes me cringe every time!

jerrysarcastic (Forum Supporter) said:

I’m loving this thread but sweet baby Jesus this makes me cringe every time!

believe me, it makes me cringe too - trying to look at the brightside on it could have been way, way worse. On the plus side, made a little progress on fixing it. I've got a set of OE Style lowers, and going to put in the QA1 doubles I've had sitting. These put all the load on the OEM studs that bolt from below the arm. Have seen this rip out / tear the stamped arms. Ground the studs out, and going to use 1/4" as a reinforcement. My original plan was the 1/4" from below, one uncle suggested cutting the old arm up and using it as a reinforcement below, but this is the least work, and should be more than enough for the year or so these arms are on the car. about 1/2" of suspension travel loss, but not a major concern.

IMG_20200404_190848 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

Little more progress, but nothing significant. Steering linkage is shot, and the steering box seals too. With the updated lower arms, running the QA1 coilover kit. Ordered the service bits for the OEM arm, and the strut rod bushing kit. Broke down and ordered the Unisteer rack and pinion conversion kit. Should have it back on the wheels by next weekend (I hope).

New front springs are a bit shorter than the OEM:

IMG_20200405_151211 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

IMG_20200406_184805 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr
Driver's side is pulled apart, looks like a week+ of downtime waiting on everything to come in. I mentioned above I bailed on the fancier front suspension this pass - OEM upper is camber adjustable, Lower is fine as I won't be lowering the car. Long term I'll be changing the strut rod out to an adjustable, but can be done quick with car on ramps. Video shows why this needs to be done (will be using ES kit with OEM rod for the short term). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPhRhZYLTpI&feature=youtu.be&t=1m19s

OEM calipers are cool (and ridiculously heavy). They weren't wearing 100% even, so going to clean them up and rebuild. 
IMG_20200406_183310 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr
 

I read through your trip and plans for this big old wagon and they're pretty awesome!  I've got a similar boat of a car in my garage and I'd love to use it as my tow rig but I just don't trust it enough with its drivetrain and even upgraded brakes.  I'd love to set the body on a modern 2wd truck chassis and call it a day.  But for now, I'll live vicariously.

It's funny this should pop up at the top. I've always been a fan of the '65-67 Galaxies as those have the most aesthetically pleasing and was trying to remember the name of the wagon counter part. After remember it was the Country Squire, I began searching to see if any were for sale, and nope!

These things seems exceedingly rare these days. As period correct as the wood vinyl and trim may be, I'd personally do away with it in favor of a true two-tone scheme, or a single solid color.

Nitroracer said:

I read through your trip and plans for this big old wagon and they're pretty awesome!  I've got a similar boat of a car in my garage and I'd love to use it as my tow rig but I just don't trust it enough with its drivetrain and even upgraded brakes.  I'd love to set the body on a modern 2wd truck chassis and call it a day.  But for now, I'll live vicariously.

drive train should be fine - ford FE, C6 transmission and 9" rear were a combination used in trucks for decades. its a full frame wagon, that is boxed the whole way. I wouldn't tow an enclosed, but more than enough with for a miata on an aluminum trailer. While my frame isn't in the greatest shape, have a line on a replacement that is local. Means I can start prepping the spare and reinforce the damaged area for now. depending on how shiney I go, rear disc conversions are $300-600, retaining shoe parking brakes. The original brakes were good enough to handle pikes peak, can't see any roads being worse than that (and will be testing the upgrades at mt washington this july asssuming the event happens). 

Azryael said:

It's funny this should pop up at the top. I've always been a fan of the '65-67 Galaxies as those have the most aesthetically pleasing and was trying to remember the name of the wagon counter part. After remember it was the Country Squire, I began searching to see if any were for sale, and nope!

These things seems exceedingly rare these days. As period correct as the wood vinyl and trim may be, I'd personally do away with it in favor of a true two-tone scheme, or a single solid color.

I'd start looking for a ranch wagon - same thing, but lower trim without the woodgrain and fiberglass trim. The wagons are tougher to find in decent shape - realistically this was not the ideal one. I spent the better part of a year trolling South West US craigslist to find one. 

   If you get a light aluminum trailer you should be fine.   I started out using a Volvo 850 to tow my race car.  My aluminum trailer is only about 700 lbs.  You do want trailer brakes, easy enough to set up.

TED_fiestaHP said:

   If you get a light aluminum trailer you should be fine.   I started out using a Volvo 850 to tow my race car.  My aluminum trailer is only about 700 lbs.  You do want trailer brakes, easy enough to set up.

Yea, its not going to be an ideal tow rig, but for the national event stuff / camping trips it should be just right. I have a 97 F250HD that would be used for anything serious. Right now, its looking like ~3500lbs between car and trailer. I don't plan at towing speeds past 70 and with the current gearing thats about all I like to do anyways. C6 final drive is 1.1 and its a non lockup converter. I'm slowly being convinced for a TKO 5 speed swap, since tunnel shouldn't need enlarging, and works with a toploader bellhousing. With the swap, 3.50 / 3.73 rear gear seems fine for dual duty. I was originally planning a c6 overdrive tailshaft, but the cost would be roughly the same, and I'd be happier with a manual. Never mind it cuts almost 100lbs off the car and simplifies cooling requirements. 

Those seem just as rare in this particular body style. While the 50s are still attractive and I'd love to have one, this is THE bodystyle that I love the most. I'll just have to keep an eye out.

IMG_20200408_194111 by Jacob Ronald, on Flickr

This pile of parts won't harm anyone ever again (unless I drop them on my foot scrapping it).

That escalated quickly!  New parts inbound I hope?

11GTCS said:

That escalated quickly!  New parts inbound I hope?

New lowers being upgraded. The photo is a stretch, as I'll be reusing the spindles and upper arms, but new mounting bars/bushings/joints on the arm. Hotchkis front bar to replace the OEM.

I've placed an order for bits to make a strut rod. I was able to deflect the bushings by hand - great for suspension movement, bad for keeping the wheel located in the wheel well. 

Steering box is going away. Unisteer complete power steering rack and pinion kit arrives today. I'm trying to find a lower column bushing, but need to pull mine apart and measure. This isn't the kit I wanted to run, but solves the issues. 

After having a wheel come off, I'm not deffering maintenance further. 

For a color, what about Plymouth Ice Blue?  Ref: https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0514-183544/1970-plymouth-superbird/
 

Maybe something close to that if not exactly?  Something either a little more blue or a little more silver?

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

Still Not sure - I'm kind of leaning towards Arcadian Blue:

I'm pretty sure thats the original color anyways - since I found a bronco that's faded similarly:

vs fresh respray:

I keep thinking there was a 60's Plymouth shade of blue that was really more like silver metallic with a hint of blue added.  I may have dreamed that up though. 

I like the faded Bronco more than the fresh Mustang.

Mercedes color code DB-353, "Light Blue Metallic" from the 60's seems closer to what I've got in my mind;

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

yea, thats closer. Turns out I was wrong anyways - The ford blue is "blueer" than the one you linked. Either would be good. 

Door Tag Q - Brittany Blue. That mustang has me thinking even worse thoughts on white roof - Have been tempted to Tint Tropicool it to cut down on the heat, but white roof, White siding, with the original paint code - would just need to find wood grain to match

In reply to jronald :

I bet someone makes replacement wood grain.  That would look awesome with the blue and the white top.  Maybe look through some issues of Hemmings Motor News and see if any vendors are there?

11GTCS said:

In reply to jronald :

I bet someone makes replacement wood grain.  That would look awesome with the blue and the white top.  Maybe look through some issues of Hemmings Motor News and see if any vendors are there?

Wood grain was originally 3M DiNoc. The pattern is discontinued, though there are a ton of wood grain offerings. Nice thing about 3" wide fiberglass trim is the vinyl doesn't need to be cut exact. The resin I was looking at to make new trim from is a bright white, which would POP. 
Now not sure if to leave it white, and use this as the woodgrain instead:

https://vvividshop.com/collections/wood-grain/products/white-maple-wood-grain?variant=13582859460

or use the above to wrap the trim pieces, and go for something different as the grain:

In reply to jronald :

I see you’re way ahead of me.  The bottom pattern looks pretty close to my memories of those types of car “in the day”, just without the black horizontal lines yours has.    I bet the lines could be put on, I’m sure you’re already on that too.   Good point about the fiberglass trim, still need to be neat but not crazy neat.   Keep up the great work, hope to meet someday down the road to see the finished project.