OK kiddos! I've been working on the truck again. Yippie! I had to modify the oil pan so that it wouldn't interfere with the Mustang II IFS I installed. Then I modified the stock motor mounts, and put the engine in place. I've also had to modify the rear engine mounts to accept the headers. I've finally got those in place. And it seems like every little thing leads to another issue to solve. Here are some pics of the progress.
The oil pan still easily takes 5 quarts, and I think the baffle will help control the oil flow a little better than stock. I probably should build in some windage control or tray while I'm at it, and I haven't figured out where to relocate the oil dip stick. Maybe behind the oil filter on the driver side close to the back.
I had to modify the rear motor mount brackets slightly to accept the header collector. And I've started running the exhaust- which is super fun. I've got a little problem now with my rack and pinion input shaft coming right up to the collectors. A lot of guys are telling me to weld up some new ones. But I also want to run Ram Horns and the exhaust on that runs the exact same path as the collector of the headers. So, my solution is to weld up a few new brackets, and move the rack 2 inches to the passenger side. Which will end up routing the steering shaft between the exhaust headers and the motor, and provide and almost straight shot to the steering column.
Slow and steady wins the race. I've spent the weekend helping my bro' in law change his timing belt, water pump, thermostat, pads and rotors, and just about everything else on his OT car. Finally finished the exhaust out the back. It's DONE! Started working on my dual gas tanks. I'll post more pics tomorrow.
I also just realized I hadn't thrown up the pics of my grill. So I wanted to run a 51-52 grill. But the teeth presented too much of a problem for my meager steel working skills (I would like them to be chromed, and I can't cheat with chrome). So I decided not to run the teeth, but just the 51-52 bar, and then modify the buckets to take a 56 bezel (headlight trim) so they look frenched. Here was the process.
Kinda looks like its startin' to pull off a Bonneville Dry Lakes race truck, with cleaned up aero mods.
I've spent the last two weeks building two Aluminum gas tanks. I made them out of 5052 H32 Aluminum. I spent a long time cutting out a template, making sure it would fit under the cab, and give me the most volume possible. Getting the fill spouts to shoot the gap beneath the cab, and between the cab mounts was also quit an adventure. It measures out to be 12 x 10 x 37, minus a 2 x 10 x 5 recess for the running board brackets. All said they measure out to 18.75 gallons apiece, for a total of 37.5 gallons total carrying capacity. Should make my Y block happy on long trips. I bought my sending units and also the roll over vents through Mid '50 Ford. I bought my pick up tubes, and my dual tank valve and switch through Tanksinc.com, and finally my aluminum weld-able bungs through summit racing.
On a separate post I learned a ton of cool tips about building a gas tank. Too bad I was already knee deep in the process, otherwise I would have radiused the edges as described by dreracecar. All I have left to do basically is cut the sending unit holes, a couple holes for the roll over vent, and the drain plug and weld in the top. Viola!
The Jalopy Journal
