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Projects 1915 Ford street rod

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Retired, Jun 20, 2020.

  1. Nicely done! Those trunks are SO small! Putting in saddle tanks and extending the floor gained you a very useful space.
     
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  2. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    The bucket seats are cut in two so I now have an individual seat bottom and a seat back.

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    The front mounting holes on the seat bottom have locator pins screwed into them.

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    There are holes drilled into the wood seat base that these pins fit thru. The hole for the pin on the other side of this seat is located behind the metal seat riser.

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    The material is cut on the seat back and it is tucked in and glued tight around steel tube seat frame.

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    I bent up an upper mounting bracket out of thick sheet metal that fits in under the seat frame.

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    Both seat bottoms are positioned on the seat base.

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    The seat back is set in place and I marked where the upper mounting bracket needs to be placed.

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    I removed the seat back and screwed the upper mounting bracket in place.
    This bracket is mounted 1/8 inch higher then the location of the marks that I had made on the wood seat back.
    That way the seat back is held up high enough so the two cut ends of the steel tube seat frame don't rub together.

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    The two steel frame tubes sticking out from the bottom of the seat back have holes drilled into them to fasten them to the plywood behind the seat back.

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    This seat back is hung in place on the mounting bracket.
    I purchased a upholstery hog ring kit off ebay and I'm waiting for it to be delivered so I can fasten the extra material up under the seat back before I finish screwing it to the plywood.
    You can see that I have fastened small metal pieces to the front of the wood bottom seat base. These are mounted over the holes for the locator pins so the pins don't wear the holes out in the wood.

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  3. You are very thorough and thoughtful in your approach to everything.
     
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  4. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    Back when I made the post on adding a pressure cap to the radiator, I had shown you this photo of the original, un-pressurised, winged radiator cap with the Motometer on it.

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    The fill hole in the radiator under this cap is sealed off so this cap is now just a dummy for decoration.
    The glass is broken on one side of the Motometer but that glass is still available and easily replaced.

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    There are thousands of model - T and model - A cars and trucks out there with the exact same Motometer gauge on their radiator so I decided to remove my gauge from the wings and put something else on it. Like most everything else on this project, I wanted it to be different from what everyone else has.
    I bought this brass figuring off ebay to replace the Motometer.

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    Most of the body was cut off and the head and neck are soldered onto the wings to form my new dummy radiator cap.
    This is my ......... " T-bird " ............

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  5. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    T-bird. Now that is clever.
     
    loudbang, Retired and Thor1 like this.
  6. MarcioD
    Joined: Jun 25, 2020
    Posts: 14

    MarcioD

    This is one incredible build. I'll visit my uncle this weekend to help him install the shocks and bumpers from 4Wheelonline onto his Wrangler project. I'll show him your build here. His wife is a swan lover.
     
    loudbang and Retired like this.
  7. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    Sometimes fixing one thing causes a problem with something else and that's what happened when I put a harmonic balancer from a newer engine on this old Hemi engine.
    Somewhere I had read that you could run a blower engine without a harmonic balancer because the blower drive belt would absorb the static vibration like a harmonic balancer does so I had initially put this together without a harmonic balancer.

    Because this is a full fender car, it has always been my intention to keep everything inside the frame rails that are only as wide as a stock Ford model - T. That has been somewhat of a challenge considering that the heads on the Hemi engine are wider then the outside of the frame.
    A regular radiator hose connected to the water pump would have hung out over the top of the frame rails and I didn't want that.
    So ..by not running a harmonic balancer, I was able to make up an aluminum tube that connected to the inlet on the water pump and ran down the front of the engine between the power steering pump and the timing chain cover.

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    The bottom of this tube connected to the outlet tube on the bottom of the radiator.

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    As you can see here, the red harmonic balancer is right where the inlet tub use to be.

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    So I need to change the location of the inlet tube for the water pump. I start by cutting a top section off the tube.

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    After figuring out where to run the new tube, I started welding a piece of aluminum pipe to it.

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    This is the new finished water inlet tube.

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    It now runs down behind the power steering pump.

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    And comes out under the power steering pump, pointing forward toward the radiator. A flexible radiator hose about 14 inch long will connect this with the outlet on the radiator.
    This is the lowest point in the cooling system so the drain plug is in this pipe.

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    Here's how the new cap looks mounted on the radiator.

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    Last edited: Sep 9, 2020
  8. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    I had built a dash for this car that held this speedometer and used " idiot lights " for the electrical charging, oil pressure and water temperature indicators.

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    I have changed my mind and I'm going to build a new dash that will use these more nostalgic type of gauges.
    .... the gauges are all the same diameter, the gas gauge looks bigger because the face is closer to the camera and pointing more up at it. .....

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    Along with changing the gauges, I have also gotten rid of the power windows, power trunk lid and power slide on the steering column so the whole wiring system needs to be re-configured.
    I have pulled the fuse panel out of the car and here is what I'm starting with for my re-wiring.

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    I've started on the new wiring with mounting the ignition coil on the firewall.

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    The control box for the electronic distributor, the ballast resister for the coil and the horn relay are mounted on the inside by the plastic base for the fuse panel.

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  9. I think mounting the ballast resistor on wood is a bit of a fire hazard.
     
  10. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    I was thinking about that myself.
    The resister spring on this style of ballast resister is closed in ceramic all the way around so the resister spring is not exposed on the back side.
    You can't tell it from the angle of the photo, but there is about 3/32 inch air space behind it with only the area right around the mounting bolt touching the surface that it is mounted to.
    I also have a piece of high temp. exhaust gasket material mounted behind it.

    Ballast resisters get hot to the touch but they don't get hot enough to even burn the paint off the metal that they are usually mounted to so with the air space and the exhaust gasket between it and the wood, I don't think there will be any problem.
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2020
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  11. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    The piece of metal is cut to size for making the new dash and a quarter inch lip is bent up along one side that will fit up under the windshield frame.
    When I built my sheet metal brake, I made up a pipe that bolts to it so I can make radius bends and I'm using that to form a radius along the top of the dash panel.

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    I also used the pipe to form a slight curve along the bottom of the dash.

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    The bottom of the dash is curved to fit these four bezels that came off a mid 50's Ford dash.

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    The dash panel is put in place for it's first trial fit and to figure out how far I want the bottom of the dash to stick out from the lower crossbar.

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    The bottom part of the dash is bent up and it has a thicker strip of steel welded to it with two locating pins and three 1/4-20 threaded holes for bolting the dash to the lower crossbar.

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    This is bolted in place on the lower crossbar.

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    Then the dash panel is set in place the the bottom sections are temporally fastened together with screws.

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    A thin strip of metal is temporarily fastened to the back corner on each side so the dash panel won't spread apart when I remove it from the car.

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    This is ready to have the bottom pieces welded together and to have the two end pieces made up and welded to it.

    [​IMG]
     
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  12. Nice save on the lower radiator connection!
     
    loudbang, Thor1 and Retired like this.
  13. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    The ends of the dash are finished and it's time for another test fit.

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    While it is in the car, I marked where the speedometer go.

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    The hole for the speedometer is finished.

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    The dash goes back in to make sure that the speedometer fits. I had to trim a little of the wood out under the windshield frame to get the speedometer to go in all the way.

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    The holes for the other gauges are drilled out and 1/4 inch locator holes are drilled for the 8 holes for the control switches and cables.
    I'm thinking of cutting out a section on the right side of the dash and put in a glove box with a lid that opens and closes.

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    With the clearance holes drilled out for the controls, I now have a dash full of holes.

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    There are two stamped backing plates that go behind the dash with particular size and shaped holes for locating the individual control switches and cables.

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    Seen from the back side, there is a hole in the center of each one for a dash light socket and bulb.

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    Those bulbs will make the letters on each of these plastic bezels light up at night.

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  14. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    NICE custom dash it's "SMOOTH DADDY OH" :)
     
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  15. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    The glove box door panel is cut out of the dash and a piece of piano hinge is welded to the bottom edge.

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    The bottom of the dash is drilled and tapped so the other side of the hinge can be screwed to it.

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    here is the dash so far with the glove box door attached to it.

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    I took four strips of sheet metal and bent them lengthwise at a 90 degree angle. These strips will welded together to form a " Z " channel for each side of the glove box opening.
    Here I'm punching holes in one of the strips so it can be spot welded to one of the other strips.

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    Before I weld the strips together, I make sure that the front piece fits properly on each side of the opening.

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    Then the back strip is welded on to form a side panel.

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    I have this pair of old glove box door stops that I'm going to use so the door doesn't open too far.

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    I need to mill a slot in each of the side panels for these door stops to slide thru.

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    The two side panels are welded to the dash.

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  16. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    Where did you find those plastic dash bezels? Did you make them from scratch? This is way more than Ford did in 1915.

    Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  17. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    They came off a 1953 Ford dash.
     
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  18. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    I'm using my tube bender to form a radius in a piece of 1/4 inch square steel rod.

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    This is formed to fit on the inside of the glove box door.

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    The two pieces of square steel are welded to the side of the glove box door.
    Then another straight piece of square steel was fit across the two front ends of the square steel rods and welded in place.

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    I cut out a piece of sheet metal to fit over these square steel rods and I'm using my metal roller to form the radius in it.

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    The piece is bent along one edge and holes are punched into it for welding.

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    This piece of sheet metal is then welded to the inside of the glove box door.

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    Here's how it looks with the door closed.
    The welding leaves little pock marks on the finished surface of the dash and they will all be filled in with glazing putty later.

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  19. Mike Colemire
    Joined: May 18, 2013
    Posts: 1,428

    Mike Colemire
    Member

  20. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    I machined out two small blocks of aluminum to mount the two glove box door stop brackets to.

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    Each of these are fastened to the inside of the glove box door with two countersunk flathead screws.
    The door stop brackets are then attached to them.

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    Here is how the brackets look from the back side with the glove box door closed.

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    A 3/4 inch hole is drilled thru the top of the glove box door and a notch is milled out with a 1/16" diameter endmill.

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    This hole is for the door latch.

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    Here is how the latch look on the back side.

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    Next I machined some angled surfaces on a small block of brass.
    Then I soldered that block onto a flat piece of brass to form the striker plate for the door latch.
    I also drilled and tapped the back side of this for a #4-40 countersunk screw to make sure that this solder joint doesn't ever come loose.

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    This has two slots machined into it for the adjustment on the mounting screws.

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    This striker plate is attached to the top of the glove box opening.

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    This is how everything fits together when the glove box door is closed.

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  21. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    Machined up some parts out of brass today.
    The smaller round tubes have a hole drilled half way into them and the other half of the part is drilled and tapped for a #8-32 thread.
    The larger round tubes are capped on one end with a clearance hole for a #8 screw.

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    This is the hardware that will go with these parts.

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    The large round tubes are soldered onto the flat strips.
    Then the parts are assembled in this order.

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    This makes up two little spring loaded plungers.

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    The plungers are mounted to the top of the glove box opening.

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    With the glove box door closed, the plungers are compressed in about 3/16 inch.

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    When I push the latch button to open the glove box, the two plungers push the door open this far.
    From this point, the weight of the door makes it open the rest of the way.

    [​IMG]
     
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  22. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    Going thru some old picture albums and I ran across some more photos that were taken back when I was first working on this.

    Fitting the fenders and bending up the running boards.

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    Then setting the splash apron in place.

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    Here I'm starting to fit the trunk pieces together.
    ..... Note the leaf spring suspension on the rear axle. .....

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    Welding the 1 inch square tube framework inside the trunk.

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    Making the outer frame for the trunk lid.

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    This is the finished trunk lid.

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    I had decided to go with a coil spring rear suspension instead so the leaf springs were removed.
    This is the two lower control arms for the rear axle with a sway bar fastened to the two of them.

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    The rear axle is installed and I'm getting ready to make the top mounts for the coil springs.
    ..... Note the rear axle now has the quick change housing mounted to it.

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    The top spring mounts are finished.
    You can see the two upper axle control arms showing just under the frame.

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    This view show the two upper control arms running from the center axle housing out to the frame rails on each side.
    The upper control arms keep the rear axle centered and also keep it from rocking forward or backward.

    [​IMG]
     
  23. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    The dash is painted with the gauges installed and I'm fitting the switches and cables in place.

    DSC02803.JPG


    Of course the original switches from the 53 Ford dash are easily fastened right in place to complete the dash.

    DSC02804.JPG


    With the switches on the left side, the top left was original a cable for opening an outside air vent.
    It is now going to be a push - pull electrical switch for turning the power on and off for the transmission overdrive lockup solenoid. The round red light on the far left will light up when the power is on for the transmission switch.
    I have to make a special bezel nut to fasten this switch into this hole and I have to cut the knob off the air vent cable and drill and tap it to fit the electrical switch.

    The lower right switch on this group is for the electric windshield wipers and the original switch had two speeds.
    I have a newer wiper motor on this that has a variable intermittent cycle and I have to modify the original knob to fit this new wiper switch.

    DSC02805.JPG


    Here is a closer view of the controls.
    That top left bezel originally said " AIR ". I masked over the " I " and panted over the other two letters.
    When the headlights are turned on, there is a thin ring around the back of each of the eight bezels that lights up and the letters themselves light up.
    This transmission switch will have the ring and just the little vertical line light up.

    Under the speedometer there are the turn signal indicators and the bright headlight indicator.

    DSC02806.JPG
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2020
    ClarkH, David Gersic, Thor1 and 5 others like this.
  24. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    Looks like that dash came from a plane. :)
     
    Thor1 and Retired like this.
  25. I like that dash! It has some class, has some style!
     
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  26. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    I have managed to get the dash wiring completed and mounted the dash in the car..

    DSC03039.JPG

    DSC03040.JPG

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    This gives you an idea of how it will look at night with the dash lights on.

    DSC03044.JPG
     
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  27. Gearhead Graphics
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 3,890

    Gearhead Graphics
    Member
    from Denver Co

    Its been a month, at the rate youd been going I assume the car is done and youre having too much fun driving to update us?
     
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  28. phat rat
    Joined: Mar 18, 2001
    Posts: 4,920

    phat rat
    Member

    Nice work. But I have to wonder why you feel the need for power steering on it
     
    Retired likes this.
  29. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    My garage is not insulated or heated, so I don't work out there in the winter .... It's 28 degrees today ...

    No need ... just something that I had laying around and I decided to use it instead of a standard steering box.
     
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  30. Retired
    Joined: Jan 4, 2009
    Posts: 328

    Retired
    Member

    With spring being here, I'm back to work on the model-T
    The wiring for the headlights is run thru the conduit tube that is on the front fender braces.

    DSC03522.JPG


    The transmission cooler is mounted in place between the front frame rails.

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    A long time ago, I had made up a cover out of aluminum to fit over the front frame rails.

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    The wiring for the alternator is run up the outside of the frame and is ready to attach to the alternator.
    The alternator can't be mounted until after the timing is set on the distributor because it blocks the timing mark for the crankshaft.

    DSC03525.JPG


    The two windshield wipers are operated by a cable that goes back to the wiper motor under the passengers seat.

    DSC03529.JPG


    I made up a sheet metal panel to cover the wiper assembly.

    DSC03528.JPG


    The heater is mounted in place with the hoses and wiring run to it.
    The wiring that is showing going down the inside of the cowl will be covered by the upholstery panel.
    You can see the groove at the edge of the floor that the bottom of the upholstery panel will fit into.

    DSC03526.JPG


    The fuse box is mounted in place and most of the wiring is completed.
    The coils of wiring that you see inside both sides of the cowl are for the front turn signals, the horn and the front parking lights.
    The wires will be run to these items later as they are installed on the car.

    DSC03527.JPG


    The dash is completed with the wiring being done while the dash was still on the workbench.
    There are connector plugs that will connect this wiring to the cars wiring when the dash is installed.

    I still need to figure out where the hole needs to be drilled thru the firewall for the choke cable to run thru.
    I also need to mount a gas pedal and run the linkage out to the throttle lever on the back of the blower.
    I want to do both of these before I install the dash so that I have a clearer area to work with.

    DSC03530.JPG


    Once I get the dash installed, I will get it running and that is as far as I'm going to go with it.
    I'm going to then put this up for sale and whoever buys it can finish it.
     
    ClarkH, loudbang, Thor1 and 1 other person like this.

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