1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

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Low58Corsair
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1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:45

Here is the Slow buildup of what has been my dream car since I was 6
It's a 1958 EDSEL Corsair, ford's tremendous flop of the 50's.

I bought it off of ebay down in missourri so me and my lady loaded up the truck
and trailer and headed down to pick it up April 7th.

Here are the pics from the auction that i decided to buy based on.
edsel_corsair_1.jpg
edsel_corsair_1.jpg (24.21 KiB) Viewed 17192 times
edsel_corsair_2.jpg
edsel_corsair_2.jpg (19.86 KiB) Viewed 17192 times
edsel_corsair_3.jpg
edsel_corsair_3.jpg (23.08 KiB) Viewed 17192 times
edsel_corsair_4.jpg
edsel_corsair_4.jpg (21.18 KiB) Viewed 17192 times
edsel_corsair_5.jpg
edsel_corsair_5.jpg (26.03 KiB) Viewed 17192 times
So we left saturday night at 11:30, right as my lady got off of work, I drove till
5 then she was gonna let me rest for a few hours, as soon as she started driving she
lost all interior and exterior lights except the headlights as it's pouring rain. she just
nudges me, looking concerned about the sudden darkness, so I replaced the popped fuse and
we kept driving and got down to the guy's shop at 11:30 after taking a wrong ramp when going thru
Saint Louis.

Got the money
edsel_corsair_6.jpg
Pulled the car into the guy's shop to give it the once over before closing the deal
edsel_corsair_7.jpg
edsel_corsair_8.jpg
edsel_corsair_9.jpg
loaded the car
edsel_corsair_10.jpg
edsel_corsair_11.jpg
edsel_corsair_12.jpg
edsel_corsair_13.jpg
edsel_corsair_14.jpg
Headed back,
edsel_corsair_15.jpg
edsel_corsair_16.jpg
edsel_corsair_17.jpg
Got some food cause we don't have these close to home
edsel_corsair_18.jpg
Stopped for food a couple of times and an antique mall cause that's one of
my lady's vices in life.
About 150 miles from home it starts snowing, just sudden blizzard.
There was an hour and a half where I couldn't go over 20, cars flipped over, on their side,
a camaro hanging on top of a dividing fence, it was nuts. but we finally made it home at 1:30,
unloaded the car and passed out.
Last edited by Low58Corsair on Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:52, edited 1 time in total.

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Low58Corsair
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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:47

Next step, April 9th, I put new wheels on it as it had mis-matched bias ply & radial tires, mis matched spinner & standard hubcaps

Car on the lift at the shop I used to work at
edsel_corsair_19.jpg
edsel_corsair_20.jpg
edsel_corsair_21.jpg
edsel_corsair_22.jpg
edsel_corsair_23.jpg
Last edited by Low58Corsair on Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:52, edited 1 time in total.

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Low58Corsair
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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:51

however... when it was on the lift, I found
edsel_corsair_24.jpg
Nothing a little welding can't fix..
edsel_corsair_25.jpg

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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:54

However, before I would drive it, as it had been sitting since 1981, the brakes and suspension needed to be thuroughly gone thru: April 18th Nothing really exciting going on, just the greasy, boring work.
Rebuilt the carb, still needs adjusting, new heater and radiator hoses, rebuilt the heater core, new t-stat, new battery,
new brakes:
aANY1062.jpg
I rebuilt the power steering control valve unit cause it had too much play and was leaking:
SANY1061.jpg

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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:56

April 25th, still working:
aANY1145.jpg
bANY1144.jpg
cANY1143.jpg
dANY1142.jpg
eANY1141.jpg

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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:58

May 1st: it may not look like much but it was a uphill battle to get here
SANY1226.jpg
SANY1227.jpg
it's not easy to install springs when you can't use a spring compressor, the external one would hit the frame and the internal compressor you couldn't remove once the spring was in place cause the coils were too bunched together so that part took me FOREVER! :uh: :uh:

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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 19:59

and now a little added flair that came in the mail today...
SANY1228.jpg
SANY1229.jpg
I thought the car needed these for that old school flavor :biggrin: :cool:

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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 20:04

May 8th: quick random picture my lady took while sitting in the car bleeding the brakes
aANY1278.jpg
my lady climbing out from helping bleeding the brakes
bANY1281.jpg

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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 20:07

May 10th: first time the car moved under it's own power since I backed it off the trailer the day I bought it, now street legal! :D and that's me. ;)
SANY1292.jpg

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Re: 1958 Edsel Corsair 2 door Hardtop

Post by Low58Corsair » Mon 30. Nov 2009, 20:10

May 18th, took to it to my old work at the time, which I'm now working at again.
a00_0363.jpg
And since it was a nice sunny warm day I finally got out and took a photoshoot of my car at my work so here's my Edsel...
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g00_0370.jpg
h00_0368.jpg
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j00_0371.jpg
k00_0372.jpg
and you can see the old faded paint of the once proud E475 valve cover
l00_0373.jpg

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