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1948 Ford F4 build thread

Discussion in 'The Antiquated' started by Hivolt5.0, Nov 8, 2011.

  1. phat rat
    Joined: Mar 18, 2001
    Posts: 4,920

    phat rat
    Member

    That's the way floater axles are. But if you break an axle the wheel can't come off
     
  2. Dubbzilla - the flatbeds are really cool. This guy created a detailed drawing package for a Ford script flatbed that can be used to create your own. Look on his Tech Page for the drawings.

    http://fatfenderedtrucks.com/

    I downloaded the drawings and had the bed made. The only difference is the bed is put together with bolts instead of rivets.

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  3. 49F1Jeff
    Joined: Oct 24, 2011
    Posts: 184

    49F1Jeff
    Member
    from Oregon



    I used a grade 8 bolt in the correct length and diameter, then used the bench grinder to round the head so it will sit down in the axle. The original bolts have a slotted head, but I found that vice grips work just fine, followed by a coat of paint. ;)

    By the way, this is a great thread! :)
     
  4. servi53
    Joined: Jun 28, 2006
    Posts: 338

    servi53
    Member

    great work on your challenging build, keep at it
     
  5. 8flat
    Joined: Apr 2, 2006
    Posts: 1,392

    8flat
    Member

    I believe they used a booster from a Corvette, I'm not sure if it's 7" but it's a tight fit. I can measure it tonight and I'll try to get some decent pictures of it and post them for you.

    Gary
     

  6. Thanks Jeff! I'll go get some grade 8 bolts and use those.

    btw, great verse in your signature.
     

  7. Thank you. It's has definitely been challenging but fun and I've learned a lot.
     
  8. Gary, pictures and measurements would be great. thank you so much.

    David
     
  9. phat rat
    Joined: Mar 18, 2001
    Posts: 4,920

    phat rat
    Member

    One thing to be aware of. Most of the aftermarket boosters touted as being for hot rods are marginal in braking performance. I had an 8" dual diaphragm booster from MPB and it was a worthless POS. It took a year of phoning before I got anywhere with them then only for them to say that it was bad from the start and they would replace it. Guess what the replacement was also a POS. A $10 junkyard booster took it's place and has been on the car for over 65,000 mi and performs great
     
  10. wow, that's a bit discouraging since many of the aftermarket boosters are marketed as brand new. I'm glad you were able to find a good one. Do you remember what type of vehicle you pulled it off of?
     
  11. phat rat
    Joined: Mar 18, 2001
    Posts: 4,920

    phat rat
    Member

    As far as I know they are new. They just don't work properly IMHO. Many of the 80's and 90's GM have an 8" booster. I happened to pull my off an Astro van. But S-10, Monte, Cutlass I forget just whatall are the same except for the rod to the pedal. That was 10 years ago and sometime I can't remember 10 sec ago. LOL.
     
  12. I can definitely relate to not remembering what happened 10 seconds ago. :D
     
  13. The "new", and much safer, rims for the truck finally arrived! Now I just need to see if I can find someone to either buy the tires that were purchased for the original widow maker wheels or swap them for some tires for these new rims.

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  14. Worked on pulling the drums off of the rear axle today. Thank you to those who instructed me on how to do it. Everything went just as explained. Here are a few pictures of what I discovered. Someone, at some point put new wheel cylinders in but they obviously didn't take any pride in their work because they didn't clean up anything. Judging by the grease trail on the drivers side the axle seal has been leaking for quite some time. Which brings up a question, where is the axle seal???? I'm used to regular rear ends, not these floater style so please forgive my ignorance here.

    The nut holding the drum and such on is 3". Someone in the past used a chisel to loosen and tighten the nut but I wanted to do it the proper way. I called around to see if anyone had a 3 inch socket. Unfortunately at $210 I wimped out and used a chisel too. I'm so ashamed.
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    Inside of the drum on the driver's side.
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    Here you can see how much the axle has been leaking. Keep in mind the rear end is upside down. Grease doesn't normally flow up....unless you're in Australia. haha
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    And the axle shaft. Guess I have lots of cleaning to do.
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    Both axles had this rust on them. Should I be concerned??? Obviously I need to clean it off but should I be inspecting anything else???
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    And the passenger side. Again, the axle is upside down.
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  15. OahuEli
    Joined: Dec 27, 2008
    Posts: 5,243

    OahuEli
    Member
    from Hawaii

    Your second picture shows the inner seal. They are similar to a front hub seal in terms of location. As for the axle rust, just clean it up good and wipe down with gear oil. Once you start driving and that oil mist starts floating around in there it'll keep the axle pretty rust free. I'm guessing you won't be doing 10,000 rpm launches with 36" Monster Mudders on there so you should be all right.:rolleyes: You may want to replace the gasket that seals the axle to the hub also. I've made them out of Garlock gasket material.
     
  16. I see what you mean in the second picture. I thought that might be the case but wanted to ask just to be sure.

    I'll be sure to clean up the axles and put some oil on them until they're ready to be reinstalled in the rear end.

    As for the 10k launches, you don't think the old truck will pull the front wheels off the ground??? :D

    I was wondering if there was supposed to be a gasket between the axle and hub; there was silicone between them as I took them apart.
     
  17. Well, the pinion seal is also leaking on the rear end. Gear oil is dripping from it. Any suggestions on how to fix that? I mean, can you replace that seal without taking the whole rear end apart?
     
  18. I've been spending some time trying to get the drums and axles cleaned up. I cleaned and inspected all of the wheel bearings (they all look great), cleaned up the drums and painted the inside portion with Zero Rust and then had them turned. Had to go to three different shops to find one with a big enough lathe to turn the rear drums but they all came out great.

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    Now it's time to prep and paint the outside of the drums.
     
  19. farmer12
    Joined: Aug 28, 2006
    Posts: 7,717

    farmer12
    Member

    By the time you're finished, you'll have it all looking like new again. Great work!
     
  20. Thanks Eric! While I don't have all custom fab work you have on your car I'm trying my best to make this truck as nice as I can, but more imporantly safe.

    Blessings!
    David
     
  21. farmer12
    Joined: Aug 28, 2006
    Posts: 7,717

    farmer12
    Member

    I agree, safety first, then style/looks.
     
  22. I worked on the dust caps the past couple of days. I'm not sure how they got dented so bad but it looked like someone got mad at them. I tried to find some in better condition because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to repair these but I gave it a shot. Here is what they looked like before. sorry for the upside down pics.

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    After roughly 6 hours of work I test fit the dust cap just to make sure it still fit.....it did!

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    The one on the left had the big dent in the side and you can see how I worked it out in this pic. Perfect???? No, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. The metal was really hard to work back into shape; at least it was for a novice like myself.

    [​IMG]

    Here's what I used to work out the dents. My metal working tools are limited so I used what I thought would work. I used the torch to heat up the metal and used the pick to work out the big dents in the sides. I used the brass and metal punches to work out the dents on the top and corners and I used the L shaped piece of metal and the socket as dollies.

    [​IMG]
     
    brEad likes this.
  23. OahuEli
    Joined: Dec 27, 2008
    Posts: 5,243

    OahuEli
    Member
    from Hawaii

    Nah, being able to stop is HIGHLY over rated.:rolleyes::D
     
  24. OahuEli
    Joined: Dec 27, 2008
    Posts: 5,243

    OahuEli
    Member
    from Hawaii

    Thats pretty creative; I'm not sure how many people would have put forth the effort you did but its pretty cool in my book.<label for="rb_iconid_14">[​IMG]</label>
     
  25. eastwildlife
    Joined: Jan 30, 2011
    Posts: 23

    eastwildlife
    Member

    Nice work, reading with interest here. '48 F-4 fighting the vines this way.
     
  26. Thanks OahuEli! Definitely would have been easier if I could have found some in better condition. I guess this is kind of silly, but it was encouraging to see those dents getting worked out.

    Thanks eastwildlife!
     
  27. Fighter-of-Wars
    Joined: Nov 3, 2008
    Posts: 293

    Fighter-of-Wars
    Member

    The pinion seal is not to bad.

    For ease you should remove the driveshaft from the pinion yoke. There should be a nut holding the yoke to the pinion shaft, remove the nut. Now if your lucky the yoke will slide off. If your not lucky, like me, you will need a massive puller and a torch to get it to come off.

    Once that is done the seal is behind that round piece that is bolted to the axle housing. Remove the bolts and the round piece should come off easily, replace the seal and using either a gasket or sealant start going back together.
     
  28. Well, after waiting for a couple of months I finally starting to get some of the parts back from the powder coater! Boy these parts look good. I can hardly wait to start putting this frame back together!

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  29. Although I haven't posted much lately I've been steadily making some headway on the F4. I finally got all of the parts back from the powder coater so I've been busy putting the spring packs together and a friend came by and helped me mount them on the frame.

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    I also put the brake pedal assembly together. Since the truck is running an automatic now I ground off the clutch pedal arm. I was going to post a pic of it assembled but for some reason I'm having issues uploading the pic.

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  30. I also got the master cylinder and booster mounted. A guy on the Ford Barn helped me with this. I was debating what size master cylinder to use since most of the "kits" come with either 1 inch or 1 1/8 inch bore masters but the factory one was 1 1/4 inch. The guy on the Ford Barn was dealing with brake issues on his COE and ended up getting a master with a 1 5/16 inch bore from a Chevy truck and now he has good brake pressure so I bought the same master for the F4. He also helped me by sending me a bracket he cut out on his water jet to mount the master/booster to the frame. He sent the bracket in pieces so that I could weld it up as needed. I ended up having to "tilt" the master/booster combo towards the center of the truck in order to clear the frame rail. Even though I'm using a 7 inch dual booster it is still a tight fit.

    Here you can see the slight angle on the bracket.

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    It's a tight fit around the booster but everything clears.

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    I still need to devise a way to connect the brake pedal to the booster but I plan on using a rod end to help with the slight angle of the brake push rod. Do you guys see any issues with this??
     

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