Projects Project 1946 Ford Tudor

Started in on the dash today. It will make it easier for just about everything else coming up to take it out. Garnish molding on the windshield and a few screws under neath, a bolt at each end and it was free.


I had found this a while back in the car and assumed it was the trim piece missing from the glovebox door. Tracy and I started looking at it and he realized it is a factory block off plate for the radio.



Kind of a cool piece. Probably going to use it since my radio is in kinda sad shape.

 

Little but of work and the dash was out.



I got the new wings and speaker grill for a present a few years back. Cant wait to get to the point I can get them all mounted up.

 

I must have been a bit careless either taking the column apart or transporting it to the house. I bent the pot metal bell. We tried to apply some heat and bend it back into shape but it was so brittle it just fell apart.

Looking for steering column parts now guys. If anyone has something for sale let me know.

We got the steering column drop, ignition switch, and column lock off. I won't be using the piece when it goes back together. If anyone needs that let me know.

 

Not sure if this would interest you or not but I've "upgraded" to '46 Lincoln speedo and clock because I didn't have any good Ford gauges and these became available at the right price. The Ford chromed wing bezels needed a small amount of bore enlarging to house them and some revised mounts. They are a slightly bigger diameter and do overlap the wings a little ..... the speedo also comes with turn signal arrows and 110 mph fonts.

There's also a Blue set in the HAMB classified now.

 

Got the housing back from powder coater. Cleaned out the inside the best I could and it looks pretty good.

 

Got all the parts cleaned up and ready to reinstall. Dropped the pumpkin back on with a new gasket and some silicone. Ready to slide back under the car.

 

Got the bolts torqued to about 45 lbs.

 

Got the new shackles installed and leafs bolted up. Axles slid in pretty easy with just a gentle whack to seat the bearing. Seems to all fit pretty well and no weirdness.

 

Finally! Got the tires and wheels back on. Seems like one fender is pushed in a little bit but we can fix that. Clearance to the inside seems okay as well. May flirt with the idea of a 1/4 inch spacer to get the track width looking a little better.

 

Shout out to Currie. Shipping was slow because of the COVID but ordering was easy and parts were exactly what I needed.

Waiting on the rest of my orders now. Seems like alot of businesses are either sold out or delayed on parts right now. Luckily I have enough other jobs to do that no one thing is slowing me down.

 

Your star wheel is backwards and the top sprint ends should be closed up more. But looking good and making progress.

 

Check your linings too.

 

I'd be willing to bet you the linings and the star wheel are just fine.... if they were on the other side of the car.

Looks like I may have got in a hurry and put the backing plates on the wrong sides. Didnt even notice, I was anxious that the non-refundable axles would be the wrong lengths or not fit and didnt even double check.

Good eye and thank you.

 

I gotcha. Honest mistake and easy to fix.

 

Alan Grove brackets arrived today! High mounts for alternator and AC. Looks to be good, high quality brackets. I'll test fit them and then off to powder.

 

Amazing how much work goes into a car that was in pretty decent shape when you got it. Enjoying the read and the pictures(still on page five.)

 

"Project Creep" should be the name of this car.

Maybe "Mouse Cookie" would be just as fitting.

It's mostly of my own doing. I changed my project goals mid build and it has cost me. Hopefully the car will be better for it in the long run.

I'm 38 now. I hope to have this done as a well sorted daily driver by my 40th. And plan on driving it as a daily for the year of my 40th.

My soft goals are 300hp to the tires. With an estimated 25% drivetrain loss, and smaller exhaust than I imagine it was dynoed with I think that's possible.

And I want it to be in the 12s in the quarter. 12.99 would be perfect.

I think its possible. And it's a goal.

 

Got the new brackets mounted up this morning. Everything fit great. One of the AC brackets had a slight interference fit with the bolt hole in the water pump. The water pump housing was just a bit fat.



A little quick work on the belt sander got the clearance we needed.

I am very impressed with the quality of these brackets. If anyone is looking for quality parts, I would fully recommend Alan Grove. I was able to call and talk to them directly. They knew exactly what I needed once I told them what I was working with. They shipped within a day and except for a slight massage fit perfect.

 

Belt alignment looks like it will be pretty good. The brackets arent tightened down to save the lock nuts for final assembly. Clearance was good for the "taller" finned valve covers.

I will need to get a different thermostat housing for the hose to clear but that's not the end of the world.

I need to do some research on clocking the AC compressor. If I can spin the back of the housing where the line come out they wont point over the carb. Or I may be able to mount the whole compressor off the other bolt holes.

Either way, they fit well and can go off for powder now.


Although they would look good chrome too.....

 

On a side note, this one is in the shop for a heating issue. Tracy built it years ago. Chopped Plymouth with a big hemi. Sorry about the back lighting... damn California sunshine.

 

Still looking for a stock steering column. Exploring some after market columns but not thrilled about swapping to a high polish column and double D u joints to make it work.

If anyone has any leads, send a PM please.

 

Found a column for a 46 pickup. Looks like its about an inch shorter than the sedan column. Got it sandblasted in preparation to splice part of the old column in.

 

Mounted the steering box and fed the steering shift up through the firewall.



Once I got the wheel on, I started thinking that maybe an inch shorter in the column isn't a bad thing. I'm 6 foot 2 and around 230lbs, having a little extra room may not be a bad thing. I have a column drop already, maybe bringing the wheel back a bit would be okay.

I'll need to drag the front bench out and see how it all fits before I go any further on modifications.

All of this is getting ready to decide where to mount the master cylinder and booster. Depending on where the pedal assembly falls, I may have the brake pedal on the left side of the column in the car.

 

I did manage to get my electric wiper motor mounted up. Not as sexy as the big fab stuff but still important. Kit from Speedway. Lined up pretty well and came with new bushings for the arms.

 

The brackets for the engine should be done and waiting to be picked up. I may get lucky and get a night this week to sneak out and put those back on.

 

Got a little time to play around tonight. Got the brackets and accessories all bolted up. Spun the AC compressor and it looks like the lines go where they should now.

 

This week in the Central Valley is a good reminder why I am doing the AC.



I dont anticipate getting a whole lot done over the next week or so. Most of my day is spent outside and the older I get, the more the heat just takes it out of me.

I'll be going back to a grave yard shift for the next few months starting next week. Hopefully I can figure out what days I can get some work done over the next 3 or 4 months.

Steering column mods up next. Once the column is the length I can map out where to place pedals and mount the master and booster.

 

Got a few hours to play today. Master cylinder and brake booster mounted up along with the pedal assembly.



Looks like decent clearance around the valve cover and steering. Need to finish the brake lines to the proportioning valve. The rear line is already ran up to the firewall.

 

The brake pedal arm was a bit close to the column but the steel was plenty thick enough we put a few bends in it to clear the column and keep it to the right side of the column.

 

Other than that it was a few small jobs. I got the carb bolted down to run the throttle cable but didn't realize I was missing a specific bracket. Thats on order and should be here soon.

Bolted the fuel lines back on. Thankfully they seem to fit well even though they were bent up before the AC brackets went on. They have good clearance and only seem a little tight on the corner of the water pump. A slight bend cleared that up.

Swapped the plugs I had in to paint the block for the correct AC Delcos.

Spent a little time going through all the boxes and condensing all the parts and trying to organize them.