Is that a 5 window Coupe, with the roof whacked off??? Not for the faint of heart. Than again, none of this old car shit is. Cool project Brother Mike has Mad Skills
Hey I recognize that car! Love to see it back on the road again. I wonder if it ever spent time with mine on the streets of Fairbanks. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I’m back for more.. I seam sealed the body and all floor joint and subrails using 3m products (will post later). I decided to strip the frame and suspension parts. I made an axle puller for the rear drums but the first iteration deformed like taffy due to the insufficient thickness of the bottom flange (had suspected as much but gave it a try). Had success after making a 3/8” flange which was welded from both the inside and outside. I also bought a NOS axle knocker, basically an oversized Acorn nut which bottoms out on the axle and can then be hit with a sledge to break the bond between axle and hub. After a couple of whacks the puller made short work of it. The axle bolts / perches were extremely stubborn and repeated heating, penetrating oil,etc. only let me remove one nut with the impact wrench. The second ended up rounded and mangled beyond hope. I ended up chiseling out little pieces and cutting the perch flush. More heating and banging finally drove the perch out. With the first perch out I could rotate the axle to break the bond in the radius rod. But it took a come along - no chance by hand. Now the perch still held to the axle, but some creative hammer work finally got it out. Everything was pretty crusty, but the cotter pins were the worst part of getting everything unbolted. The brake pedal assembly had about 1/4” of hardened grease and dirt buildup, but cleaned up nicely with the wire wheel. The frame mostly only has surface rust, except where the rubber ball of the front radius rod sits in the crossmember. The rubber trapped moisture and partially rusted out the cup. I will remove the entire plate prior to sandblasting and replace the cup. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I was pleasantly surprised that the rear axle bearing races and axle tapers are in nice shape the axles rotate freely. I am still debating whether to drop the original axle or to go with a new one. Anybody have any recommendations? I am considering Kohler Kustom or Sid’s. https://www.droppedaxles.com/axles Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Just found this thread and spent the last few hours reading through it. Inspiring, great work and very well documented!
The body is sealed with 3M 08500 water based sealer. It’s for inside our outside application. Easy cleanup and stays flexible and can be painted over. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_NG/company...338+8710891+8711017+8711413+3291863225&rt=rud Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Removed the spacer from the rear crossmember. Interesting to see that Ford used their own version of pop rivets. The problem area is the socket of the wishbone, where water accumulated between the rubber ball and the metal and rusted out the metal. I removed the crossmember plate to fix the rust through an d found the underlying socket to be rusted as well. I got a model A stamped cap, but it uses a larger 2.2” rubber ball, compared to the 39/40 Merc with two diameters. I decided to try to use the model A cap inside the frame, and make a new thicker crossmember plate to take up the space. The problem is obviously how to make a socket to reduce the diameter from 2.17” to 1.8” of the Merc rubber ball. I had a 3/16” plate which is the right thickness, but without a BIG press or forge there is no easy way to shape the cup. I pie cut the area to be able to hammer small section against the stamped piece. I made a separate piece for the center and started tracking everything in place. Now I wouldn’t have done this if it were not just a spacer. The overall thickness of the cup will be 3/8”, about double the stock thickness, once the model A cup is welded in place. There will be a lot of welding and grinding. But I’ll give it a try. It’s only metal... Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Nice work on your car! So maybe heating it up with a torch... and getting a ball from a trailer hitch/reciever in the right size and hammer that down on the plate would save the grinding time. Just a thought.
Good ideas, but I don’t have a hitch laying around. I found metal places which make half spheres, but only in .120“ thickness. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Grinding and welding inside and outside... After cutting out the stock inner socket, fabricating the new piece using the model a cap. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The bolt pattern of the Merc cap is smaller so the holes had to be filled and redrilled. I temporarily tacked the inner and outer pieces together to make sure everything is lined up. Welding in the nuts and using weld through primer before welding the inner plate in place. I added slots in the top plate to bend the sides down so they contact the crossmember. The two vertical pieces are about 1/8” taller than the crossmember. I suspect this was done to register the stock plate side to side during assembly. Anyway, I wanted to keep the socket at the same height so I will bend the ends down before welding the plate in place. I will use JB weld to fill any irregularities and gaps between inner and outer socket and to keep rust from forming. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Thanks but I probably would do it differently now. This was a total overkill, but once I dipped my toe in it I had to go down that road. The top plate would be plenty strong by itself and I should have just turned a half sphere on the lathe and welded it in the plate and be done. Unfortunately the lathe at my work was just moved and has no power at the moment. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Final fitment; applying some jB weld to fill any remaining voids between the spheres and clamping in place. I will weld the plate solid after cure. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Moving on to popping some frame rivets where rust developed between x member and frame rail at low spots on the lower rail. I drilled out the rivets and use an HF oscillating tool with flat carbide burr while keeping a gap open using a chisel and whatever I had laying around, working on small increments. After getting all loose rust out I used metal prep to neutralize the remaining rust and prepare for Por15 application next week. Letting everything dry out now... Starting to straighten the frame rails and crossmember using whatever fits in addition to the trusty BFH and dolly. I will use 3/8” carriage bolts with the heads slightly ground down to mimic the stock rivets. Thought about welding the frame and x member along the seam but decided against. Don’t want to trap water in the seam and also don’t want to locally change the springiness of the frame. There are cracks in the frame where the rear lever arm shocks were mounted. Work hardening of the frame eventually led to material failure. Will be easy to fix, but don’t want to provoke a similar result by welding in boxing plate/ x member. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The Jalopy Journal
