I haven't done anything yet on the '48 other than getting some decent roller tires and wheels on it, but it really has me thinking. (dangerous) I'm part way through a '31 Model A Coupe project, and the body is at a friend's body shop to re-do some previously done patch panels and some other work. Driveline work is mostly done with a 2.5L Chevy S-10 engine, Borg Warner 4 speed (looks like a T5), narrowed 8" ford rearend, and disc brakes on a '35 axle with a reverse eye spring. Somehow, with all the work done on the '31 I'm considering putting it up for sale and switching my interest and efforts to the '48. The goal for the '48 would be to make it a really nice driver....one that my wife would/could drive. It would need to have a lot of comforts built in to take the drama out of driving it. Power steering and brakes, AC, perhaps cruise control. No doubt is wouldn't exactly fit the bill for HAMB friendly, but in searching the HAMB for ideas for the '48 I don't think it would be the only one here, built in the style I'm thinking. I'm thinking it would make a great driver. I'd be interested to hear of others, if there are any, that have pulled the plug on one project to switch to building something entirely different? Success and happy to have made the switch, or perhaps regrets for stopping on or selling the project that was in progress? Thanks Lynn
Bought a car last week. Ins company totalled my OT Chrysler. Found a replacement one year newer with 11K less miles, exact same model and options and this one even has a sunroof. Believe it or not I had a couple hundred bucks leftover from the insurance settlement. No pics, it did happen but it's not H.A.M.B. friendly.
The attraction of owning an old car is not having all the latest gadgets. You might as well pull that flathead out right now. You have a used up 100 horse engine that just may be able to push that big car down the road. Youll never be happy when you start added that shit to it. It will be very difficult to adapt it let alone drain what power you have left in that engine. I suggest you get the car running and driving first. My wife loves my 37 coupe and would never let me sell it. This thing has an original drivetrain and a 50 flathead. No creature comforts. Very reliable. We drive it out of state quite often on vacations. Don’t start tearing that thing apart until you’re sure you want to make it a “new” car again.
Well, Petejoe.....you have me thinking of plan A again, and that was to see if the flathead will free up and perhaps run. Did some general cleaning of the interior, dirt, busted up floormats, junk in the trunk, and so forth today, but also pulled the spark plugs out of the engine and squirted each cylinder with some ATF to let it soak. I had tried to get it to turn over when unloading it from my trailer by putting in in gear as it came off the ramps, but the engine didn't budge. I was rather encouraged today though by the fairly clean look of the spark plugs and the little I could see through the spark plug holes. Pulled the dipstick and was really happy to find clean looking oil without the dreaded "milkshake" look from possible water contamination. I've become more patient as I've gotten older so I plan to let the car guide me in whatever direction it tells me to go. Lynn
It’s sure sounds like you have a runner. Be patient let it soak. For a good good while. Next. Put a breaker bar on the crank nut by lifting and then dropping the car slowly onto the bar to provide slight torque to the engine. Let the car hang there for a while. Of course be smart while setting this up.
After you take petejoes advice, take the engine apart and fix it correctly. I have a car that had a stuck engine. It was forced to run but has very very low compression. Fix it right
I have a Very rusty bolt/nut holding two pieces of old rusty metal together. Just to TEST the ATF/Acetone mix, as a rust penetrant, I've had my rusty bolt/nut sitting in a jar of ATF/Acetone mix now for 3 years, and every few months I take it out and try to get the bolt/nut to come loose. IT WON"T Budge, even using 1/2" drive tools. Anyone getting ATF/Acetone mix to work, DIDN'T really have Hard Rust to penetrate. You should use a good rust penetrant in the cylinders. PB Blaster,,,Liquid Wrench, etc. Also, the oil in the crankcase probably looks good, because Water, Heavy Sludge and other junk is heavier than oil, will separate and go to the bottom of the pan. Pull the oil drain plug, and capture what comes out first. If nothing too bad comes out, and is mostly clean oil, then that would be a good sign. Wish you good luck with the build. Picture of my Rusty bolt/nut... Tried to break it loose 10 min ago,,,NOT.
You're right, and I am aware of the oil being less dense than water and floating to the top. It was encouraging that the oil level was right where it should be on the dipstick...not over full.....which would at least suggest nothing "extra" in the pan. I will drain the oil though to see if what's in the pan is a "cocktail" of oil, water and who knows what. Lynn
My wife gave me a bit of assistance and served as an observer this morning to see if the '48's flathead would turn over. Unloading it from the trailer it seemed it was stuck, so I didn't really have very high hopes. But, I hooked my compact tractor to the car, put it in 3rd gear, and was pleased that the engine turned with what seemed like a very light pull with the tractor. Clicked it into 2nd and it turned there too. YAY! My wife seems to have more of an attraction to the '48 than she has to my '31 coupe I've been working on, so this might mean a change of focus. Lynn
After almost a month of ownership I continue to mull over different build scenarios for the '48. I probably won't be a popular choice to many here but at the moment I'm leaning heavily toward a 302 Ford w/C4 transmission that a friend has (old circle track street stock engine-good internals but nothing wild), 8" Ford rearend w/parallel leafs (picked up a complete 59" wide rearend yesterday), and this is the part that will likely be viewed dimly, Mustang II IFS. The main reason for the above combo is to make the car a really nice, comfortable driver....one that my wife might use on a somewhat regular basis. In looking at various Mustang II IFS offerings there are many choices; Heidts, Speedway, u-weld-it crossmembers from Welder Series and one I found last evening from an e-bay seller. Here's a link to that seller's e-bay listing; https://www.ebay.com/itm/1941-1948-...te-Front-End-Suspension-Kit-NEW-/400526227401 The last kit (e-bay one) is about $200 less than Speedway's comparable kit, and Speedway is $400-500 less than Heidts package. The e-bay seller is from Hudson IA, and for some reason I seem to recall a parts dealer from there having a less than glowing reputation. I've also considered locating a Mustang II to cut the whole front clip and combine it with a crossmember configured for stock control arms. That would also seem a viable lower cost alternative to an "all new parts" kit. I'm pretty careful with my money but I also know the pitfalls of spending to little and really being disappointed in the end. I'm not building a show car, I just want to make the '48 a solid, reliable, comfortable driver. I've really thought about the IFS vs I-beam a lot. By the time I'd get the parts together to lower the front to where I want it with the I-beam (nothing radical), and upgrade the brakes, I'd be spending a significant amount of money and the car still might not drive and handle as well in the end as it might with IFS. So, if anyone cares to offer opinions, especially on the choice of IFS systems and the e-bay seller in particular, I'd appreciate it. Lynn
Hey, Lynn; Nice find. Why not keep the '31 for yourself - since it's this far along, & make the '48 the wifes' ? Contrary to popular opinion, having a few creature comforts available is nice sometimes. Not everyone enjoys wrestling w/old idiosyncrasies all the time, everytime, they use it. Esp as a daily, in crappy weather. ;( . FWIW; awhile back I had a '47 ford 1/2t pu, w/a stock flat v8 in it. For a # of reasons, I used an AMC Pacer front suspension, & made brackets to bolt it to the frame. Worked really well, surprisingly well - , got me what I wanted at a very nice price. I also added ps for the rack (couldn't find a manual rack), alt, & ac (old piston-type, current rotary style would be much smoother n use less hp to run). Had plenty of power to roll down hiway @ 70. Don't think you'd be happy w/a C-4 behind the flattie, but a 3-71 or 4-71 under those 2 97s would solve that. . Be careful of the M2 aftermarket stuff. Most not "engineered", nor installed, correctly. 31Vic had a really good thread on why this is, but somebody got a wild hair about the info & the fact the discussion revolved around M2 & blew the thread away. Was actually the perfect thread showing/demonstrating graphically why NOT to use/install that. But I digress... An oem setup might work ok, if it's installed correctly, although the '48 weight might be on the high side. The AMC pacer should work fine, iirc the width is correct for the very late 40's fords, & is heavy-duty enough to work well, due to the design of the pacer. You have a choice of at least 1 drum brake, solid rotors, n vented rotors(bolt on spindles for diff brake-types), possibly manual rack, power rack. Bolt circle is small ford, iirc. I still have the front suspension/etc n brackets from the '47, if you're interested, as it was some of the few pieces worth salvaging of the 47pu. Marcus...
Continuing on the '31 and starting on the '48 is sort of the plan. My shop is a bit tight to have two cars going, but I think it can work out. I guess I'll just work on whatever one can make the most significant progress as time and parts are available. The '31 coupe's body is currently at a friend's body shop for some patch panels. Until it is ready to come back I can get some things started on the '48. I did some searching for the Mustang II thread you referred to. I did find one that talked about the pros and cons of MII suspension, but I don't think that was what you were referring to. I'll continue looking. I'd want to go into that with eyes wide open, knowing what to expect. Thanks Lynn
Buy some CLR, read the directions, try it on the paint (rust). You will be suprised. To be safe, test it on a small inconspicuous area first.
Want to build your own? Everything in the pics for $100 bill. Got this stuff years ago then sold the car I got it for. Crossmember, lower control arms and new bushings still in the box. I'm about 5 hours north of you. SPark
Hey, Lynn; Unfortunately, the (the very detailed n tech-y) thread I mentioned was disappeared by some mod. Too bad, really, as it proved why M2 front ends were better left somewhere else, & what to look for if you had one. Might try dropping a note or PM to 31VickywithaHemi , he might be able to walk you through it, iirc, the subject was a hi-buck truck that he was saving from other shops' mis-deeds. It's not that I don't like M2 setups per-say, but the primary issue is that almost all M2 setups don't position the top A-arm correctly; as in proper angle from spindle bj to the frame mounts, including the anti-dive. Spindle articulation, roll-centers, etc are fu'd in almost all installations, because the top frame mounts aren't low enough, as guys don't want to notch the frame, which may not be strong enough, esp after being notched for proper upper A-arm geometry. Surprised this thread is still here. Good luck w/the project. Marcus...
The Hudson, Iowa supplier is Gearhead Enterprises. Everything they sell is the cheapest grade, probably made overseas. Lots of bad press about their stuff. It's not Hoffman products, but close. But it is cheap! A couple decades ago I cut the whole crossmember from a Mustang II and welded it onto the frame of a 39 Chevy. Lots of careful measuring and cutting, and it slid right over the front frame horns. A little bracing here and there, and it worked great. The whole shebang for a couple hundred dollars. I did buy a larger disc brake kit for it though.
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