Projects 59 Custom 300 rust bucket... A journey back to the road

Thanks again Bob. Yeah I'll be joining Ford Barn and the sub forum. Haven't gotten around to it yet but it's on my list to do this weekend. Steinauge, we just had a brand new harbor freight open up near me. I'm excited about it... Seems like they have everything! I'll let you know if I have trouble finding one though. Thanks for the input!

 

I was blowing through all sorts of wire wheels and the angle grinder is a must. Get the insurance on it, they have 1 and 2 year plans and its cheap and good on something that gets abused, dropped, etc.

 

Good idea! I've been eyeing their media blasters too... But I'm not getting ahead of myself. I think my next biggie purchase will be their Mig 170... 20% duty cycle at 120a I believe... For $168 for now... Doesn't sound too bad. Anyone have experience with their welders? Keep in mind I'm a beginner

 

I need to buy a mig welder. I gas weld all of my thin materials.

You may find some reviews on the HF tig welder somewhere here.

 

Maybe these youtube videos might be some inspiration for you. Good Luck with your 59, you are on the right forum to get lots of help. https://www.youtube.com/user/slipkungen/videos.

 

There are some build blogs around on '59 restorations. My car was only about 75% apart and I was having a tough time keeping track of things. Below is one I followed.
http://dougjenkinsgarage.com/blog/category/1959fordskyliner/

 

I think you should just enjoy it as soon as possible,so grind an glass it. The hard side of my view is that its a 4door,but should be fun anyway,but you may at some point find a 2door body that would be worth changing out.

 

Thanks for the replies! Copper Top, thanks for the idea. YouTube is one of my favorite resources! Thanks again for the leads on info Bob. You certainly have a lot of good information! Dana, that is kinda where I'm headed. I threw my hands up, said this won't be a show car... Never was intended to be. Honestly I want something to drive to and from car shows, not win a trophy with... maybe get lunch with friends... Just cruise... Step back in time...This car is going to be a mile maker. Now my next project, it will be much more pampered. Right now I'm just cutting my teeth... Perfecting technique I suppose? I'd rather practice on a less valuable but still awesome car.... That's what I'm aiming for right now.

 

Glad to see youre carrying on with the project. You have a good attitude about it. Good to "cut you teeth" on a car like this, then like you say the next one can be pampered. gotta learn somewhere.
not everything needs to be a show car.
Just have man

 

Here's an idea...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/that-far-and-no-chop-62-impala.956403/

 

That HF mig welder works fine for sheet metal and other light work .At that price it is hard to beat and considering what you are doing will be badly needed!

 

Any progress??

 

Yes and no... After my last string of posts I wound up in the ER again... This time for heart issues. Thankfully they are under control. I have been taking it easy for the last month or so. I put my main energy into getting the rest of the engine together and running. Apparently I am missing most of my original throttle linkage. The bracket, sping, and rods are gone. In its place is something that was temporarily rigged up. Not suitable at all. Also discovered my radiator shroud/frame is in worse shape that I realized. I am currently looking for these parts without much luck. I'll be putting out a want ad for them soon. I did get the grinder with a cup brush going on a few of the problem areas... HF has a sale coming up so I will be buying the welder. My main focus is getting it to a point where I can go out and crank the engine up and run it for a bit. Then brakes and clutch. At that point, pending a quick floor patch and I'm going riding. From then on it will be refinement. Thanks for checking in. I truly hope this is my last bout of bad luck. Pictures coming soon.

 

Oh no, sorry to that. Hope your doing better

 

Thanks. I'm really too young to have these problems... At least that's what I'm told. Ive just about caught up with what I needed to do around the house and yard... Looking forward to getting back in the zone. I'm really trying to find that throttle linkage. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

Take a picture of what you have. You have the pedal arm through the firewall? I have some odd parts around that came with my Ford.

 

Will do, thanks Bob. I have the arm through the firewall. I'll send you a pic detailing what I believe is missing.

 

I went back and looked at your pics,that looks like mostly stock linkage that has been put together wrong.Looks like you have enough there to make something that will work. Making things like throttle linkage is light,fussy work and can be fun.Especially if you are not up to carrying around engine blocks quite yet .

 

So here are a few more pics of my linkage... I'm beginning to think that maybe what I'm referencing may not be right for my vehicle.
Does this appear to be a proper rod? I referenced this pic below and it looks like I'm missing this bracket with this spring. Is that why I'm missing return at the pedal?
I'm wondering if what I'm looking at is for a model with automatic tranny for the kickdown... I just don't have any return on my pedal... Any ideas?

 

The second pic is of an automatic trans linkage install; the rod going down and disappearing is the kickdown linkage for the trans. The manual trans cars won't have that linkage or the bellcrank/brackets as shown. It appears that you may not have the OEM carb on the motor, but the linkage appear to be OEM.

 

I had a few boxes of loose parts that came with my '59, which was a 3-speed with OD from the factory. I know I have some of the linkage and will look for it later. This is what I had on the firewall... circled in orange, nothing else.

 

Thanks for the input Steve. I'm going to reference that carb model... It is a Holley that looks to be from that era but may not be oem as you say. I have an autolite I may put on it. Does anyone know if the pedal return spring action is supposed to come from the carb or a spring somewhere else on the linkage? I'm ordering a manual this weekend. Thanks again.

 

Thanks Bob. Yes mine has that linkage through the firewall too. Was there a spring action on that portion or did it just pivot freely?

 

Your carb return spring may well have connected to the rod that goes between the carb and your firewall pivot on one end, and connected to a simple bracket at the front of the motor. All that spring has to do is pull the throttle closed when your not stepping on the gas. If the spring connects at the same location on the carb as the rod does, and the other end connects to something that won't move at the front of the motor, it will pull the throttle closed. That is what you need. The stronger the spring (or the more its stretched) the harder you will have to press on the gas pedal to get the motor to rev up. Gene

 

Thanks for the input Gene. I figure I'll rig something... Was just hoping to set it up "right". I know on my truck, which is a later model, has a carburetor that has the spring action built in. I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something at the carb.

 

Early cars (particularly Fords) didn't always have a secondary spring on the linkage, depending on the carb return spring only. Somewhere along the line (mid '60s?), the feds started requiring a secondary spring as a safety feature (actually a good idea) so if one spring failed, you'd still get throttle return. Adding one is a good idea, just don't get carried away on spring tension or driver fatigue can result.

 

Great point Steve... And thanks for the info! I definitely can see the benefit from a second spring. I figure I can rig something up.

 

Checking with Owens salvage about a radiator core support and another hood... Seem to be hard to find... I may try having the existing core support repaired. Should have it off this weekend. I'm so ready to get this thing rolling... Screw cosmetics for the time being I want to roll.

 

Try this guy on eBay, he has loads of old Ford parts. If you don't see it, call him. Owens should have the parts you need, he told me he has lots of '59 Fords.

eBay in general is where I've found many used and NOS parts for my car.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odk...A0.H0.X1959+ford.TRS2&_nkw=1959+ford&_sacat=0

 

Did a brain-dump of where I get a lot of parts from on eBay. I've bought from most of these sellers at least once.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/allamerican...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/autonutsare...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/billsspeeds...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/galaxieperf...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/kosiski-aut...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/jonesvintag...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mejones54/m.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mikesfod/m.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mostlyford/m.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/nospartsltd...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/stilwellsob...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

http://www.ebay.com/sch/westernsm/m.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654